9-11 Thoughts, 10 Years Later

     Today marks an important day in out history that we should never forget, 10 years ago we were attacked in a most vile and cowardly way, sadly it seems too many have forgotten.

     The goal of terrorism is not only to inflict death and mayhem but to also inflict fear and change, on that day they achieved those goals  and the fallout is ever present even today. History does indeed repeat time and time again so if we do not want another event to happen it would behoove us to stay vigilant in ourselves but not to the extent that we find ourselves giving up every single freedom that so many have worked tirelessly for  or given their lives for, there must be balance.

     Terri over on her site has a few things also on this day so please if you have a moment drop in.

Heroes And The Price Of Liberty

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Katadyn Vario Product Review

This weekend I was able to do a product review on the Katadyn Vario water filter. Out of the box the unit is fairly small and should fit in most peoples BOB along with the filter also comes a basic repair kit of O rings and a small cleaning pad as well as a carrying pouch.


This unit while plastic seems to be decently built but one of the weak points that I observed is the pumping handle, if you get in a hurry or are rough this seems to be the area to break. I would also add that the two hose barbs that the inlet hose and outlet hose connect to can be subject to breakage if mishandled. Overall though if you do not abuse the pump you should get good life out of it for the class it is in. Also one good feature of this filter is that you can connect various types of bottles directly to the bottom of the unit making one less thing to hold.



The reason this unit is called Vario is that you have two modes to choose from when filtering, mode one is when you can bypass the ceramic filter and only use the carbon filter. This mode allows for faster flow of about two liters per minute. Mode two is where you use both the ceramic and carbon filter at the same time, this would be used for the worst water you need to filter such as water contaminated with Klebsiella terrigena, Giardia and Cryptosporidium. Efficiency of the filter in removing the previously mentioned bugs is around 99.9%




Speaking of the previously mentioned filters (Ceramic and Charcoal) about $20 and $30 respectively seems a little pricey for a ceramic filter that is good for about 1000 gallons and a charcoal filter for 50 gallons. When you add the cost of the filters together you are over the 50% replacement cost of what a complete new system would cost. Your results may vary though depending on your water quality and conditions.




Overall for a filtration system that is under $100 in cost along with it's low weight and compactness and being made by the Swiss buts it in the buy category for me, is is the best? No, but it is a good piece of gear at a reasonable cost and should provide a good amount of service. As I tested it on well water that I am sure was being fed from a lake I found the taste to be very good, I can't vouch for what it removed at the microscopic level but as I am here writing this today I am alive and kicking so that's a plus.




You can check out further reviews of this filter on the Amazon site link that I provided above or you can also visit my store in the link bar at the top of the page or go to the link here.



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Irene, The Unprepared and Under-prepared

     No one is immune from a natural disaster in this world, at some point you will be exposed, that's a fact you can not change.

     While the above statement holds true and you can't change it you can lesson it's effects on you and your family with a little forethought. If you look at the situation this week and weekend on the east coast you know that far too many people came up short with some very basic items. This is nothing new and it happens every single time there is some sort of disruption in our daily lives and it just does not need to happen.

     We as in with many other things take far too much for granted and it has a nice way of turning around and biting us in the AZZ, I am guilty as anyone else being the procrastinator that I can be sometimes. I believe we dodged a pretty big bullet with this hurricane, yes there were fatalities but not quite what some people were predicting and less in this case is always better.

     One good thing that did happen was that many who were asked to evacuate did so, better to err on the side of caution if you can, still there will always be die hard's that will want to remain behind and that is their choice. With that choice though please be prepared and keep in mind "what are you protecting" stuff can be bought again so is it worth it?


   
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SHTF Is Not The Only Reason To Prep

Terri from SurvivalGoddess has an article out on a familiar subject, I do enjoy reading on the subject from a women's point of view, especially when us men seem to focus on a narrow field so please check her out if you have a few.

SHTF Is Not The Only Reason To Prep

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Dow Jones, today's causality

     Well today did not go to well for the American stock market, the Dow ended up -634.76 points to cap the day or -5.5% down.

     Asian markets took a beating as well last night and so did the markets in Israel, Global economy at it's best. You can say that the downgrading by S&P last Friday really rocked the world's financial markets and in a way that might be a good thing, yes I know people lost money and that sux but if you invest in what amounts to legalized gambling then there will always be those risks. The reason I see it as a good thing is that we have been  living beyond our means for some time and the reality of it all has finally come home to bite us in out collective ass.

     We never seem to learn a good lesson until it is too late, we are going learn a lesson off of this one way or another, I hope. I am not going to hold my breath though, common sense seems to have left the building a long time ago especially when it is something government is involved in.

     To me we are just one step closer to being in a world of hurt, I would love to know when or how far it will go but a psychic I am not so I will just go with the good old gut and ear-ball it. I will say though that we are in for some changes in the future and they are not the good hoe and changes that were muttered years ago by a certain person, time will tell. 

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