New Blog

Hey guys,

I came across a new Montello blog today....

http://montellosurvival.blogspot.com/

Have a great weekend.

Big Berkey: new filter system modification....a try at video!

There isn't much elbow room in a shipping container or a teardrop trailer. But, who needs elbow room when you have the great outdoors as your living room? That said, when it comes to mobility, space becomes a commodity that rapidly vanishes. In looking at the 5 gallon bucket system I currently use for water filtration / storage, I believed the setup could be made with a significantly smaller footprint and more portable at the same time. The following videos illustrate what I came up with. Yes, the videos suck, but you'll get the idea.

I currently use the 3" one gallon model for batch production in my home. I completed the smaller 2.5" one liter model today and plan to use it as a travel / camping / Montello filter setup.

(Note to self: hold the camera the other way)

The Big Berkey carbon filter....


The two new systems side by side....








The 2.5" model self supporting on top of a one liter bottle....

Heimo's Arctic Refuge

I spent an hour today living my life. I spent an hour today sharing a friend's life over lunch. I spent an hour today sharing my families life at home. I spent an hour today with Heimo in his Arctic Refuge.

http://www.vbs.tv/newsroom/heimo-s-arctic-refuge-full-length--2

In 1980, Jimmy Carter established the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in the Alaskan Interior, cutting off 19 million acres of prime boreal wilderness from the mitts of fur trappers, oil tycoons, and would-be lodge owners alike. Only six families of white settlers were grandfathered in and allowed to keep cabins in the refuge—of them, only one still stays there year-round living off the land. His name is Heimo Korth, and he is basically the Omega Man of America’s Final Frontier.

Raised in suburban Wisconsin, Heimo set off in his teens to the Alaskan Bush to pursue the Davy Crockett lifestyle in more or less the only place it was still possible. Amid numerous setbacks and misadventures, Heimo gradually learned how to master his terrain, provide for his Eskimo wife, and rear children in one of the most inhospitable environments in North America.

In this premiere edition of Far Out, we take a bush plane to the middle of nowhere, Alaska, to catch up with Heimo and his wife, Edna—now reaching their golden years. Over the course of our ten-day stay, the Korths show us everything you need to know about fur-trapping, caribou-hunting, caribou-eating, river-crossing, boredom-staving, bear-avoidance, and bear-defense to live happily over 100 miles from the nearest neighbors. Vegans, you have been warned. Heimo’s epic journey and adventures have been documented in the critically acclaimed book, THE FINAL FRONTIERSMAN, written by Heimo’s cousin, James Campbell.

http://www.vbs.tv/newsroom/heimo-s-arctic-refuge-full-length--2

Enjoy!

Cell Tower: DATA!!!!

The cell tower in Montello streams data!!!!! I was able to surf the net and check email yesterday on my Sprint phone from the property. I haven't been so excited by a surprise in a very, very long time. As I pulled into the valley and powered up the phone, I was ecstatic to see the signal strength light up to five bars. I sent a text message to my wife to confirm that it worked with Sprint, and it did. Shortly thereafter I heard the phone chirp to indicate I had a new email. I thought surely I was seeing things. I jumped on the net and confirmed it to be so....data in Montello!!!!

The four mile drive from there to the property included frequent verification that I still had data services. Admittedly, on my property the data service comes and goes, but it is mostly very reliable. Furthermore, I transacted a couple business deals all in the palm of my hand from the property, the Cowboy, the jeep, the highway.....technology truly is amazing!!!

I later found out that I was roaming. A quick call to Sprint to inquire about roaming data prices made me smile. They said as long as less than 50% of my data was roaming, then there is no extra charge. This works out for me because I'm not out there full time. My buddies Verizon phone was pulling data without roaming. I may switch over to Verizon, but for now I'm still so excited to be able to work in Montello (extended vacations) that I could care less who is providing the service.

Kristian, thanks for the great company! Cruising jeep trails (above Augie's place), shooting rifles and handguns in the mountains, lounging at the Cowboy with Bill and Curt and the usual crowd of comfortable faces, sitting out under the stars, and of course CRAPS in Wendover! Good trip brother, good trip. Bill, may the CRAPS bug bite you more softly than it did me....good luck with that!

See you all in Montello! (and Wendover)


P.S. the Montego Bay in Wendover is an excellent hotel and an ample casino. they gave us the best social and financial Craps experience to date!!!

Koda, thank you for the quote!

This quote from a fellow bloggers website made me laugh, and then not laugh.....good stuff! Thanks Koda!

"If you can't stand solitude, perhaps others find you boring as well"......Mark Twain

12 volt Vizio Flat Panel TV

I was in Sam's Club the other day for some reason other than looking at huge TV's, but their product placement right by the front door suckers me in every time. I found a nice selection of Vizio flat screens in the under $300 range. The TV's in this range were between 19" and 26". I flipped more than a few of them around to see how many watts they were going to gobble up from the off grid solar / wind setup. It turns out that these TV's run on almost nothing, with the average being around 60 watts per hour. But the fun doesn't stop there. The input voltage was 12 volt DC, not 110 AC!!! The power cord plugged into your standard 110 volt outlet, but it had an inline inverter to convert AC to DC and to the magical number of 12 volts, which my system will be engineered to run on. Thus, I will not experience energy loss by having to run the TV off of an inverter. I will have to cut the cord and rewire it or buy a new plug from Radio Shack, but that beats the crap out of paying many times more for an out of the box 12 volt TV that I can only buy online.

Now the question remains, do I really want a TV in Montello?

Almost forgot, the 19" TV was around $170!!!!

The Wild Wild West

Another reason to love Montello: reduced police presence.

Nobody loves to see flashing cherries in their rearview mirror. It is perhaps the most interrupting and disturbing thing that can happen to anyone at anytime without notice. Just seeing a policeman on the side of the road is enough for me. Whenever I see a policeman I inevitably feel like I should slow down or stop doing what I'm doing. Most of the time I'm not speeding and I'm rarely ever doing something to infract the law. So, where does this mindset come from?

I can trace the mindset all the way back to high school. I was 15 years old hanging out in my buddies car outside a movie theater waiting for the guys who went to the other show to get out. A policeman rolled up on us, started asking questions, and then searched the car. My buddy gave consent for the search, but to this day I have never forgotten how that felt. It wasn't my car and he didn't search anything of mine, but it still felt like a violation perpetrated upon me. In the weeks following, I educated myself about my rights and more specifically the power of saying "NO"!

I watched the video below yesterday and was again reminded of a few reasons as to why the founders left England/Europe and fought to the death for freedom.

http://revolutionarypolitics.com/?p=4198

I don't know where our country is headed, but it feels like the police state is increasing. I don't hate the police, but in the few encounters I've had with them I have seen and felt the interrogation tactics that are used in the video. If you don't have time for the video, the take home points are simply: be polite, keep your mouth shut, and if you must open your mouth...say NO!

I have heard the authorities come out to Montello on occasion, but I have yet to see them. I do find the police to be useful, but I certainly appreciate knowing they won't be there for me in Montello for at least an hour, if at all. Like most other aspects of life in Montello, you better be able and willing to take care of yourself! Enjoy the video. Enjoy the Wild Wild West. Enjoy Montello!