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Ah, you make a good point and something I need to clarify:
I use that Toughbook every day. And this isn’t my BOB that sits in my closet, this is my every-day pack. I carry 2 packs, one for everyday use, the other is not further than my car and has more of your typical survival gear. If you’re curious to my setup, this is how it’s works: http://www.angryludwig.com/blog-post.aspx?postid=bpCFZPPOIT Oh, and if anyone is interested in a Toughbook, I highly suggest getting one used on Ebay or something. Toughbooks last a long time, and you’ll save yourself a LOT of cash this way. |
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My "Tech-Fu" is weak Grasshopper, I can only admire the thought and skill that was put into the power source.
My complete "Life Re-Boot" thumb drive is only a 4'gigger  so I don't even plan on needing my Blackberry for TEOTWAWKI. If I could find a way to have my GPS do double duty as a "storage device" that would be good.... but heck, I can't even figure out if it is a candidate for a solar charger!
The MULE |
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I think one important thing I can think of when it comes to electronic preps like these is the saving of data. I’m currently in the process of scanning in every personal photo and important document I own. I think storing such data on something small and portable (flash drives, ssd drives, etc.) would be a very practical prep incase a flood/fire/random disaster/etc. takes out your originals.
CML2501 – Does your droid GPS work well without cell phone signal? |
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The droid GPS (powered by Google maps) is the best GPS I’ve ever owned, but its useless in the field as all the map data is pulled in real-time from Google. It requires a data link. I wish Google would make a downloadable version but they don’t yet.
I carry a Garmin Rino 530 loaded with typo maps hiking, camping, kayaking n’ stuff. |
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Quoted:
I think one important thing I can think of when it comes to electronic preps like these is the saving of data. I’m currently in the process of scanning in every personal photo and important document I own. I think storing such data on something small and portable (flash drives, ssd drives, etc.) would be a very practical prep incase a flood/fire/random disaster/etc. takes out your originals. this should help: http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=10&f=17&t=627589#10692655 ar-jedi |
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You guys pooh-poohing a laptop as a survival tool should go read Listening to Katrina by Arfcom's ShaneS. The vast majority of SHTF situations are local or regional, they aren't TEOTWAWKI. Also see the threads we've had here on creating a thumbdrive for SHTF. The thumbdrive is great but you need something to read it on. The OP has taken care of that.
OP, very cool setup. |
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We have had some recent threads on the concept of if people survive shtf what do they plan to do to help rebuild society. Some people just figure they have a firearm and can suddenly be security but I expect a lot of people to be wanting to do that. Someone posted that they plan to build a low efficiency steam engine and run stuff, I want to say it was ops but I am not sure on that so I apologize if I am wrong. As much as I read, and I read constantly, I don't retain 100% of what I read. It takes a really neat idea for me to read something and spend the time to really consider the option and keep that knowledge in my head. And a lot of boring stuff will be useful in bad times so this is pretty important to consider I think. I often retain a general concept of the knowledge but that is not enough to do it, it is enough for me to remember what words to use to search out the info if I want to read it again. To some extent I expect it to be kind of easy to find someone with a cruddy old laptop they can't recharge and want to get rid of. Having the original poster's solar panel and battery would let you run that laptop and read from your storage devices. So taking your thumb drive with you is a good step but you need a computer to read that info. But I admit I consider the idea of borrowing or buying a laptop upon arrival at my bug out destination. And lets talk about bug outs and destinations and groups of people for a second. I have a few destinations in mind and I visit with those friends at least once a year and usually a couple times a year. So if my jeep dies do I start walking? Nope. I have a mountain bike and while some people have paniers and racks and plan to also wear a small backpack I bet I sling a couple alice packs across mine like saddle bags and just push the bike along. I can keep an eye on my surroundings better and wear my most important gear. That bike carries weight a whole lot easier than I do, and it complains less as well. So I have places I plan to head for and I know others will be there and we would probably help out neighbors and others as well. As much as I would like to be a hardass and have posted about it I suspect I might be a softy to those who ask nicely. I have found I don't do well when someone demands something though. But anyway, we suddenly have a diverse group with all sorts of different knowledge and we all have lots of chores to do as well as provide security through the night. I like reagon's phrase about "trust but verify" so I don't care how many people wander around offering to provide security, I will provide much of my own security because it would be easy for theives to say they will provide security and then they let their buddies come get your stuff. A computer can teach while I sleep or eat or sneak off and hide from doing my chores. And if you have a way to charge other laptops or note books or whatever, you can use your media storage devices to put info on them and let them teach as well. I don't plan to use my laptop to rebuild society. I plan to use it to make it darn easy to get some knowledge out there so people are not doing as much dangerous stuff and we can easily share information as well. If you have a couple laptops a few miles apart a thumbdrive is easy to carry on a trip and that secure thumbdrive thread will let you password protect it so only you and yours can read it. Now if my destinations all had laptops and setups to charge laptops then just taking storage devices would be nice but you can't always plan on winding up where you expected to wind up. I have a blackberry pearl and it would suck to read a few pages of info on its little screen and using its little trackball. But if there is no other choice then it is better than nothing but I don't think it would hold up to use for very long. I have owned it a year and have not killed it but it is also not as nice as when it was new. My aunt has a netbook and another aunt and uncle want a laptop but don't really need a complete laptop so a little netbook might also work pretty well. Having the solar panel and battery the original poster showed lets you power stuff up and do all kinds of stuff that way. Anyway, it is just another option to consider and I did not consider it when I used my sony laptop as my only laptop. I consider it a lot more now that I have a toughbook but it is bigger and heavier than what the orignal poster has and mine is not the water resistant version either so I am considering it but not about to rely on it 100%. If I pick up an older model that is fully rugged or whatever I might come closer to relying on it, but I doubt I would rely on it 100%. I have a lot of knowledge in my head if I can't take my laptop. I have a lot of knowledge in my head if I lose my little sas survival manual I keep in my bob. But more knowledge is a good thing and one thing I am looking at spending some money on soon is a ham radio. And having the solar panel for recharging it is another use for that solar panel. Just keeping my AA batteries recharged for my night vision is yet another use for that panel. I will survive without all my luxuries if I have to do so, to think otherwise is to admit defeat. But when dealing with stuff that has been tested and abused by others I think you can come close to having some nice items that are worth taking with you. I don't really plan to be a refugee walking to my bug out destination. If someone took all my other options away I might just stick around and work on making sure they can't take things away from others as well. I consider most of this stuff a thinking exercise. If some local disaster hits and I have to bug out there will be parts of the country running along just fine and life will be back to normal quickly. But things really falling apart to where there is no reliable grid and you can't get fuel to run a generator much if at all, I think a lot of stuff I have downloaded and saved might be awfully useful. I know it is useful enough I have been making some copies of it and plan to keep the info at my bug out destinations. Don't keep all your eggs in one basket, but don't have so many baskets you run out of eggs to fill those baskets. Just size the basket in an appropriate manner and have a few baskets in a few areas so that it is very unlikely for all your eggs to be stolen by the easter bunny. |
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Great post biere.
I’m considering a mountain bike or small dirt bike, it does seem like a better option than “on foot”. I especially liked your comments on: As much as I would like to be a hardass and have posted about it I suspect I might be a softy to those who ask nicely. I have found I don't do well when someone demands something though. But anyway, we suddenly have a diverse group with all sorts of different knowledge and we all have lots of chores to do as well as provide security through the night. I like reagon's phrase about "trust but verify" so I don't care how many people wander around offering to provide security, I will provide much of my own security because it would be easy for theives to say they will provide security and then they let their buddies come get your stuff. I’d have no trouble putting down some want-to-be a hard ass, but I’d probably give away my last bit of food to some family who needed it. The combat survivalist mentality and the lone wolf mentality worry me. I can’t even finish reading a lot of that survival fiction. Antisocial, self-serving, borderline psychopathic behavior masquerading as survival infuriates me. |
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Sigh. If you're seriously worried that 1 in 500 Million chance of an EMP taking out your electronics. . .spend 5 bucks for Static shielded bags like what they ship motherboards out and packaged in, wrap up your gear in them and you'll be fine. No static discharge bags WILL NOT protect you from EMP. Please stop repeating this foolishness. |
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.. Books work good for information storage and retreval. . How many book can you carry? I can fit a libraries worth of tomes in a netbook the size of a standard Boy Scout Field Guide. Not to mention the boost in moral you can provide by playing a movie at night. Never underestimate the effects of a good moral booster. |
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Sigh. If you're seriously worried that 1 in 500 Million chance of an EMP taking out your electronics. . .spend 5 bucks for Static shielded bags like what they ship motherboards out and packaged in, wrap up your gear in them and you'll be fine. No static discharge bags WILL NOT protect you from EMP. Please stop repeating this foolishness. How do you know this? |
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Sigh. If you're seriously worried that 1 in 500 Million chance of an EMP taking out your electronics. . .spend 5 bucks for Static shielded bags like what they ship motherboards out and packaged in, wrap up your gear in them and you'll be fine. No static discharge bags WILL NOT protect you from EMP. Please stop repeating this foolishness. How do you know this? Let's just say as I type this I'm in an RF related lab. Those bags are for preventing static not for blocking RF (which is basically what EMP is on a broad spectrum). My equipment is showing RF transmission through the bags (meaning NO EMP protections). I'd also point out if you go to the link AR-Jedi has provided you'll find he works directly with EMP issues and has said the same thing. |
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Sigh. If you're seriously worried that 1 in 500 Million chance of an EMP taking out your electronics. . .spend 5 bucks for Static shielded bags like what they ship motherboards out and packaged in, wrap up your gear in them and you'll be fine. No static discharge bags WILL NOT protect you from EMP. Please stop repeating this foolishness. How do you know this? Obviously my humor was missed completely. Worries of EMP rank right up there with Yellowstone erupting, a doomsday comet impacting the earth, and mega-tsunamis wiping out entire coastlines. Is it theoretically possible for any of these to happen? Sure but that chance must be something like 14 Bazillion trillion : 1 and ranks just under zombie outbreak which is pure fiction, not a possability. The suggestion to pop electronics into a static bag is like having somebody boil water during childbirth. It gives them something to do and stops them worrying about something that simply ain't going to happen. Better to be planning for SHTF events that are more statistically probable like unemployment, power brownout, death in the family, trucker strike, snowstorms, etc. |
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This thread has gotten me thinking, I'm going home next month and I may ask my mom to let me have her NetBook that she never uses. Beside my "LifeReset" thumbs, I have a lot of info in my PC that would be useful at a BOL.
As I stated in my first post in this thread I am "electronically challenged" so I'm going to start an "Ultimate Solar Power Battery Recharging Setup" thread right after I finish this so anyone with good info please post in it. Thanks! The MULE |
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Quoted: This thread has gotten me thinking, I'm going home next month and I may ask my mom to let me have her NetBook that she never uses. Beside my "LifeReset" thumbs, I have a lot of info in my PC that would be useful at a BOL. As I stated in my first post in this thread I am "electronically challenged" so I'm going to start an "Ultimate Solar Power Battery Recharging Setup" thread right after I finish this so anyone with good info please post in it. Thanks! The MULE Why start another thread. We have several on the subject. |
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I did a 30 day search using "solar power" and only found one other HERE and thought that rather than hijack this thread I would start another.
The MULE |
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Shame you dont live in TX. This is a good idea and would be nice for ecoms or data use.
I run the Sunlinq solar panel here I hunted and got a good deal. I have not had a chance to use it with much other than my ham radio but I like it. I need to bust out a full review and try linking two of them. Mine is the 12v .8Ma version. I get 8-12 v almost all the time. I need to start doing more concise and scientific measurements of output. What is the benefit of this over a 12v 7.4Ah feeder battery, or a 12V higher Ah rated batt? |
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I've seen several good points on solar for the home.
The diffrence with mine is that its intended to be portable; only 4lbs, under 5 with solar panel. If you're looking to setup something simple just get a 25-30W solar panel (no higher) and plug it into this: Duracell 600W Power Pack |
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Missed it. I was talking about the ratings on my panel and was asking about the benefits of your batt set up vs a deer feeder batt.
Have you considered adding Anderson Powerpoles to make your attachments modular. I have power poles for all my accessories, and I know its a big ham thing.... |
| Very nice work , That would be handy with a ham radio and a laptop running psk31 or similar digital mode after a disaster . 13amp hour isnt to shabby for that size or weight at all . I did not read all the details yet but consider this a tag for after work. Its funny how many ppl can not see out there own bubble of thought. |
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Very nice work , That would be handy with a ham radio and a laptop running psk31 or similar digital mode after a disaster . 13amp hour isnt to shabby for that size or weight at all . I did not read all the details yet but consider this a tag for after work. Its funny how many ppl can not see out there own bubble of thought. I believe that comms will be crucial and any scenario. It is the greatest force multiplier. A ham radio and laptop running psk31 at 10 watts can go a long, long way reliably. Being able to have a portable, sustainable comm setup like that would be a major asset. |
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I don't prep for EMP bursts and TEOTWAWKI primarily, so your sustainable power pack idea has given me a framework to finally work up something that I've wanted for a while. Thanks for sharing. I'm a little surprised by the reaction to OPs concept. SHTF can be local or regional, created by weather, civil disturbance, man made disaster, etc. Lots of possibilities are opened up by having portable power at your fingertips to help in getting to safer ground or to communicate with friends/family/authorities if staying at the homestead isn't a possibility. It isn't going to be the end all day saver, but incorporated into a comprehensive solution, it can be a valuable resource to have at one's disposal. |
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Quoted: OP, from where did you acquire the LFP cells? Thanks in advance. http://www.batteryspace.com/lifepo4rechargeablesinglecells1c-30crate.aspx |
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I don't prep for EMP bursts and TEOTWAWKI primarily, so your sustainable power pack idea has given me a framework to finally work up something that I've wanted for a while. Thanks for sharing. I'm a little surprised by the reaction to OPs concept. SHTF can be local or regional, created by weather, civil disturbance, man made disaster, etc. Lots of possibilities are opened up by having portable power at your fingertips to help in getting to safer ground or to communicate with friends/family/authorities if staying at the homestead isn't a possibility. It isn't going to be the end all day saver, but incorporated into a comprehensive solution, it can be a valuable resource to have at one's disposal. Now you know if you have a chip in your gear the ______ (insert your disaster) is going to cause an EMP and make your gear just dead weight , but its ok to carry 1200 rounds of 762 and wear body armor while swinging your 3500 safe queen around with a drop leg holstered pistol after a 5 minute power outage. 
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Interesting discussion overall...besides beans and bullets the little computers are worth consideration...
With the right gear you can use it to set up a motion sensed security perimeter...nothing like having those extra eyes... With todays climate if you did have to take down a bad guy you would have evidence to support your defense... |
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The one poster on here who lived through the collapse of Argentina said a DVD player was a great thing to have for entertainment purposes and the like. As I continue to formulate my BOB, I do plan on having a netbook , solar system and battery device. To me it'd be a good idea to have the sum of much human knowledge stored with me , including medical procedures, drug information ,ect. Do I know what a lethal dose of morphine is? No, but I could have that stored on my netbook, along with bullet loading charts, car repair information ,ect. Knowledge is a great thing to have ,although I don't think I'd take it over a nice rifle :) |
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Quoted: Quoted: frozenny & eracer In short-term SHTF, communications and access to information. In long-term, data-lots of useful organized data. I sorta use it as an external brain for everything I havn’t had time to learn yet. For example: Many of the best how-tos and guides from this forum are among my files. Also I could use it to interface with a lot of modern technology to repair it (everything’s computerized today). Happy Easter! I've thought about this a bit. Communication. The internet will most likely be down very quickly in a SHTF scenario, turning the laptop into a storage device. Maybe not though - I am guessing about that. What happened during Katrina? Did the affected hve internat access? Data. I bet I can store most everything I need on a big flash drive. My WM6 cell phone can read that data, and it weighs MUCH less, and consumes MUCH less power. Interfacing with other equipment. Again, my cell phone will do that if the other equipment has a USB port. And I could carry a USB-Serial adapter if I thought I'd need a terminal to interface to an older piece of gear. To me, a BOB is all about saving weight wherever possible. Subsituting a laptop for a PocketPC just seems...inefficient. T'each his own, though. I've used a laptop and data card to direct a wild fire evacuation involving my family in CA while I was in PA via text messages sent by an email account. Had I been in the effected area my data card probably would have slowed my down or failed, but at that point I would have used VFH and UHF radios we have to accomplish the task. Everything is a tool to be exploited. |
| I like your setup. I plan on opting for a netbook with solid state hard drive. I'll just try to find a pelican case that it fits in. Until then I keep important info on a mini sd card in my phone. The adapter is in my BOB. In most situations I'll eventually find a computer that I can access the information from. A little card is a lot easier to carry around than a library and even if you never get a chance to use it the weight is unnoticeable. Even if it's just an emergency where I'm bugging in I'd rather use a computer to access information than have to dig around in my library. It's still good to have a hard copy backup of everything just in case but you're not going to take that with you if you ever have to bug out. |
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I just finished reading the entire thread.
cml2501 great post. Love your set up. I can't help but think the addition of a ham radio with cable interface for the cf18 would be ideal. This would allow you to send and recieve info from any other like minded person, at a distance. That's the difference. In a true SHTF / TEOTWAWKI situation we cannot guarantee the internet / wifi will be up and running. |
| First hand survival knowledge and skills is of course best but you can store an aweful lot of survival books/information on a laptop. A lot more than you can carry in your backpack. There is also first responder software, such as Wiser, for laptops and mobile phones that could be useful. |
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Because eventually you stop running and make yourself useful again. Your mistake is thinking you need all this stuff during a bug out on foot. Planning on taking everything you need to start a new life in your back pack is silly. I have all the capabilities you describe, but I have them at home, and can take them with me in a vehicle if necessary. I don't have any use for a laptop during an on foot bug out, running from zombies. I don't have any use for recharging things when if I am driven from my home by the government during a crack down on dissidents. I need to stay healthy and strong. Anyone who thinks they will walk 1000 miles and then build a shack in the woods with their computer and gadgets in tow are really not thinking it through well. |
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From my POV, all the so-called SHTFs folks think about may each be entirely different and who is it for me to dismiss one person's preps without having any idea about his skill set strengths and weaknesses or situation.
I think having the ability, skills and knowledge to have a lot of 'power' in a backpack is just great. Expy/never much interest for wearing blinders... |
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From my POV, all the so-called SHTFs folks think about may each be entirely different and who is it for me to dismiss one person's preps without having any idea about his skill set strengths and weaknesses or situation. I think having the ability, skills and knowledge to have a lot of 'power' in a backpack is just great. Expy/never much interest for wearing blinders... We all make judgment calls on our gear. Everyone who posts here gives themselves and their gear up for critique. I love that he has the ability to make such a great portable power unit. I just don't believe its all that useful for most circumstances. Maybe it would be good for surviving the urban jungle? |