@nolnocluap's Inaugural Prepping Update #1: What Preparations Have I Made Today?

Hi again Steemit! Last night I decided to try something new in the form of an inaugural post in what I hope will become a series of updates on my movements in the financial and investment spaces. There's a lot of interest in those areas on this platform but I'm very aware that it's not something that attracts all of my followers.

I'm proud to be part of @pennsif's "Preppers & Homesteaders on Steemit" group (see here for a recent reference) and the thought occurred to me that last night's idea could be extended to cover my near daily thoughts and progressive actions in the prepping space for the benefit of the Steemit community.

I don't in any way claim to be an off-grid expert; I'm just an individual concerned about taking prudent steps to build a level of autonomy over time and gain some useful skills and knowledge in the process. As such, the information I offer here is the result of my experience, trial and error and I offer it in the vein of community.

Homesteading and prepping is one of those areas that can appear daunting to not only those starting out but also those who have already made inroads into self reliance. I'm not immune to these feeling myself. When I posted my first video walk-through of some of our supplies four months ago here I remember feeling completely under-prepared. For me, the supportive comments that came from that post were are great way to calibrate our efforts collectively and share tips and tricks. For the astute follower, yes, that image above is a screenshot from the video in question. Well done!

What I want to achieve with this and subsequent posts it so convey the idea that prepping is not an event, it's a process. What's more, it's a necessarily lengthy process. I know all too well the desire to live in a completely prepared environment; a turn key fallout shelter for want of a more descriptive term where all that needs doing is to kick the feet back and wait for the end of the world.

...the reality isn't like that however...

I try to aim for small, incremental steps that over time build a sense of confidence in my own skills, adaptability to change, resilience to shock that was either anticipated or completely unprepared for. What's more, prepping seems to have a stigma associated with it that I'd like to put effort into dispelling. Many of the things that I strive to achieve in this field can be viewed simply as efforts to make day to day living easier. The topic I'm going to talk about here is a good example of this; something that will save on our power bills at home. To that end, I'd like to introduce the topic of my inaugural prepping update.

The EcoZoom Portable Wood Fired Rocket Stove

I've had my eye on these for some time. Having seen them introduced on YouTube some time ago (possibly at full spectrum survival or off-grid with Brad and Kelly) I've been attracted to this stove for many reasons. I'd mentioned somewhere in a post some time back that I was interested in acquiring one and someone replied saying they were looking forward to me reviewing one. I'm sorry to that individual that I can't recall who it was or even which post we were discussing... nonetheless, today I made the step of ordering one online after I was prompted by an excellent video posted recently by City Prepping that I'll link to here.

My thoughts on the usefulness of this product go as follows:

• The propane or gas cookers typically used for camping are designed for light weight convenience and don't provide the ruggedization that I am looking for in a heavy use piece of survival kit (although I do own a Coleman LPG/Propane cooker as part of my setup and use it now and then to keep it functional)

• I'm very attracted to the idea that these stoves can be run from fuel laying around on the ground. No matter how prepared you are with cylinders, camping cookers will eventually run out of fuel. Being on acreage here, it'll be a long time before I'd run out of wood to burn so that's a real plus.

• These stoves also burn coal and dual fuel is a great advantage when selecting kit.

• The portability is a great feature.

• Having been alarmed yet again yesterday at the receipt of our most recent electricity bill, I'm wanting to actually use this stove daily. It can be easily set up on outside on a table or bricks or other suitable platform and used to cook meals regularly as it's maneuverable and portable. that should save using the oven and electric stove top significantly, especially as we are into the warmer months now and spending time outside will be desirable anyway.

• I've experimented with a solar fire starter that I own (and have posted about on Steemit) and they're very difficult to get a flame from. This stove provides wind sheltering so that a flame can be more easily started with or without a flint or lighter - although I've yet to put that to the test!

They're now available in Australia at http://ecozoom.com.au/

So What Exactly Did I Buy?

I decided to go with EcoZoom's larger model. It has the additional air flow control door and I've typically found that going with a larger and more rugged option is a good move for anything that you want to reliably operate for you for some time. EcoZoom offer this model in a kit along with a reasonably priced carry bag (another thing I'd really recommend, you want convenience) and what they call a "power ring" which is simply a cylindrical attachment that encases the pot or pan and vents hot air around the sides of the container effectively increasing the area of heat exposure rather than allowing hot air to vent freely up the top. EcoZoom claim a 25% increase in efficiency. At first I wasn't concerned about that but changed my mind later and decided to give it a go.

There's a fairly comprehensive video produced by EcoZoom on how to load the stove, light it, use it and clean it below.

The link describing this combo is here

I very nearly purchased a bunch of their cast iron cookware also. I've heard very good things from the prepping community about decent solid cast iron skillets and the like. Again, the advantages of robustness, cleanliness etc. come into play here. As you'd imagine however, given that this is an online purchase only, the postage from Melbourne is a little hard to digest. It's approximately $50 extra in postage to get a Dutch Oven (you can cook a whole chicken in these, the versatility is worth the investment in my mind) and a skillet shipped to me so after agonizing I decided I'd get the stove first and start using it with the cookware that we currently have. We can then at our own leisure look to upgrade to heavy duty cookware.

I did a little research here already and there seems to be a bit on offer. Some of Anaconda's offerings for example can be found here. I particularly like the sets, especially the one that comes with a wooden carry box.

Conclusion

So this is just an order at this stage. With any luck we'll receive the shipment by the end of the week or early next week at which point I'll likely do an unboxing video. I'm very excited about this purchase, not something that comes with every prepping endeavour. I think it'll be fun to see what culinary delights will be made possible once we mate the flame with a cast iron Dutch Oven.

Herein lays the benefit above and beyond end-of-days considerations. Have a little fun with your prepping purchases and efforts. Try to target improvements to your daily life as it is now in a way that just so happens to make you more resilient for shocks and surprises in the future.

Happy prepping everyone, thanks for your interest and keep following for more updates on my journey as I share it with Steemit!

@nolnocluap.