TX2Guns: Developing the “Ice-Cube Tray” Mentality
Technology can be likened to a fantastic drug.
When you have it and are USING it, you feel awesome and alive. It helps you through your day. It entertains you. It helps you organize and be more efficient. It connects you to the things you care about. In short, it helps you cope with the world around you. But like any drug, if you take it often enough and long enough, you become addicted, and it is no longer a WANT, it is a NEED. For most people, being addicted to technology is not something they really think about. Like most addicts, each day blurs into the rest so long as technology is there to help them through it.
Where trouble comes into paradise is when these same people transfer this “tech addict” mentality into the prepping world. I think you know what I am talking about, but let me expound a bit further. I once saw this article in some hipster magazine while waiting on a haircut. It talked about “Prepping” and What things you should have in your “SHTF” Bag. Now I quickly realized that most of the people who read these rags would not know a “SHTF” Bag or “Bug-Out” Bag if it slapped them in the face and winked at them, but being the consummate pessimist that I am, I continued on with the article, mostly to amuse myself, if the truth be told.
This one guy from the Northwest had a fairly respectable laundry list of items; waterproof matches, water filtration straws, Small Trauma Kit, Protein Bars, etc… The other cat was from some crime ridden Eastern Seaboard metropolis. His kit contained two items: a Lantern that ran on (4) D Batteries that could “recharge his cell phone” and a windproof lighter. That was it. When asked why so few things in his kit the guy responded “If I can recharge my cell phone I have apps on there like a flashlight and GPS, plus I can just Google some DIY website to find out how to do the rest….” The guy was friggin’ serious. I actually flipped to the end of the article to see if this was some kind of joke, but NO, it was no joke! It was a real article! I let out a hearty laugh right there in the barber shop; this was just too much!
There are so many things wrong with this guy’s thinking I honestly would not know where to start, and I am not going to waste your time listing them anyway. The essence of it is this: People that are addicted to technology think the solution when confronted with a problem (any problem) is to simply get the technology “working again.” Re-charge the cell phone but never mind the cell towers and internet are DOWN. What good is a GPS without access to the GPS Satellites? What good is Googling “How to build a Spindle Rod” without DSL or a cell signal? What good is calling 911 when the cell towers are down and the Cops are too overloaded to answer anyway? Yeah I could open up the whole EMP can of worms, but I won’t for sake of brevity.
The Long and short of it is this: WE ALL, regardless of our Geographic location or State of Prepper Readiness need to find ways in our everyday lives to lessen our dependence on technology one step at a time.
One of the ways I have found is what I call the “Ice Cube Tray Mentality”. Why do I call it that? The first time it came to me was when I was filling up ice trays. Yes, Ice Trays. Those things you can buy 4 for a Dollar at the you guessed it, the “Dollar Store” (Just be sure and wash them before use). Why Ice Trays? Because some time ago me and the better half decided to simplify our lives and we started with the basics. Why buy a $3,000 “Smart” refrigerator that may be able to tell you when you are low on eggs but can also act of both a locator beacon and audio bug for whoever wants to take the time to hack it?
Add to this that when the thing breaks down (typically 1 month after the warranty goes out) you basically have to have a computer tech that works for $300 bucks an hour come fix it because the thing runs off a CPU. Why not just go with a simple bare bones $300 Refrigerator? No it has no “Smart” Chip and the color scheme is limited to Black, White or Stainless if you are lucky. The one we got does not even have an ice maker. But the beauty of it is this: The Less Moving Parts means Less Chance of the thing breaking down! We bought this one over 10 years ago and it is still humming today. We did have to buy a few more ice trays though. That set me back all of $2.00. I have found 6 ice trays are the perfect number for my house, if you fill them up each time you use them you will always have a nice, cold big bucket of ice waiting on you! Simple. Easy. Practical.
So there it is, The Ice Cube Tray Mentality.
Apply it to Every area of your Life and take it in steps. Go at a pace that you find comfortable and you will start confronting NOW one of the biggest hurdles 21st Century man will ever have to face once the lights go out in Georgia For Good.
Stay Alert, Armed and Dangerous!
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About the Author: NC Scout
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GUNS N GEAR
You said it brother. My biggest worry is leverage tech, like chainsaws. I figure we’ll have to live in a much smaller space to be able to heat it.
[…] via TX2Guns: Developing the “Ice-Cube Tray” Mentality — American Partisan […]
Some good thoughts there. Knowledge and hands-on experience of how to do specifics will count more than awesome equipment but no idea how and where to get the materials to work on. I don’t like ‘smart devices’ either and don’t trust them to be built like lower tech. Our Kenmore refrigerator has had no problems since purchased in 1996, except the lever for ice maker began functioning on its own. So now we leave glasses to be left inside for cold drinks.
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Look to the success of the past for a less tech successful future. For example a Rocket Stove is known to most preppers. Twigs burned with plenty of air and a blast furnace cooker. Very efficient. Ever hear of a Rocket stove MASS Heater? Makes even lousy wet pine into effective heating. Instead of throttling down the old iron stove and creating lots of creosote as not to roast yourself out of the house you run a fast burning HOT fire that even eats the smoke and creosote for heat and it is stored in the mass for slow release over 24 hours. I’ve helped build one, CHEAP but lots of man hours to build but that friend went from burning 8 cords of seasoned Hardwood every winter to 2 cords of whatever scraps are knocked down by storms on his property. How many less man hours cutting, and seasoning firewood and reduced risks of chimney fires do you get out of that building the rocket mass heater? In Norway and Russia they are popular called Russian or Masonry Stoves there. They ONLY Burn Pine in them as hardwoods are too valuable there.
For the more rustic version look at the Crimean Oven. Used during the Crimean war to keep hospital tents warm and dry. You have a stone lined trench down the middle of the tent. One end has a stone and mud Beehive oven style burn chamber (and YES you can bake in it afterwards just like a Beehive Oven) and the other end a tall chimney for draft. Just like the baking use of the Beehive oven you run a really HOT fire full blast and the hot exhaust WARMS the soil around that trench to radiate for the rest of the day into your tent.
Semi-crippled soldiers were used to gather branches for it during the Crimean war. Old tech still works.
If you have a spring you can develop and the ground water is cold (sorry FL) you can build both a water source as well as a water cooled refrigerator. It’s called a spring house. Again a LOT of work to build but I know of two spring house built pre-civil war that are still useable.
Another great article from the folks at American Partisan!
Basic technology can literally be a life saver. I try to keep my technological tools at a level where if something breaks, I can repair that tool myself. Will I use advanced tools to save me time and effort? Sure! But I try to have a back-up. For example, a chain saw is a great labor saving tool. If it breaks, depending upon the failure, I may be able to repair it. However, as a back-up, I have a two man crosscut saw. I can sharpen a crosscut saw and it should last many years.
My spouse comes from a third world country, and the people there have a good grasp of technology and its limitations. For example, we have a treadle sewing machine, and the drive belt had deteriorated past the point of repair. I lamented that it was going to take some time to get a replacement belt delivered to our remote location. She just smiled, and proceeded to cut a strip from an old cotton sheet. She wound the sheet until it resembled a cord, and tied it off at the appropriate length. Within 10 minutes the sewing machine was back in use. As she pointed out, in her country of origin, replacement belts were hard to come by, so alternatives are quickly implemented. Think outside the box!
I remember somebody saying a map with a bullet hole in it is still a map; but a GPS with a bullet hole in it is expensive dead weight.
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