Guerrilla Homesteading 101: Let it Rain

They are predicting drought here this year, and it finally spurred us into action on setting up rain catchment to assure our garden gets water without pushing any rationing limits. Since our town is on a number of small municipal wells, water quality can greatly decrease if the aquifers run low, increasing the concentration of things like boron and sulfur.

A few days before a predicted storm, I had a couple of days off, and set out to start saving the rain. 

I began by acquiring two used plastic barrels from the local cookie factory. Given that they had previously contained organic molasses, a decent garden nutrient, I opted to not even rinse them out, as the trace amounts that find their way into the water will actually be beneficial for the plants.

The next step was to level out the ground where I wanted the barrels. I used cheap cinder blocks as risers, and actually leveled it so the barrels would lean slightly towards each other. When full, these barrels will weigh 350lbs each. The idea of them crashing down on my dog does not appeal to me.

I gathered the tools I needed. A drill to modify the barrels, a tape measure and level to get the right size of cut out on our down spout, and a step drill bit for placing the next fittings. I did not have a normal hack saw, so I originally intended to use the sawall here, but instead opted to use an angle grinder, as it would give me a cleaner cut. You, of course, can just use a hack saw.

In the back, you can see the box for the rain diverter I got. I got an awesome deal on it, so was happy to get such a nice one, as it normally sells for around $80. You can easily make your own with an open system, but this closes off the barrels to avoid mosquito problems, keeps dirt out of the water and allows the downspout to be used as normal when the barrels are full.

The Rain Reserve diverter came with everything I needed to set up one barrel. Even the spade bit to place their fittings in my closed top barrels. The system also comes with a nice sticker to advertise their company while warning people not to drink the saved water.

My diverter kit was for one barrel, so I was going to get creative on the connection of the two. I acquired three 1/2"  flanged rubber grommets from the local hydroponics store and the matching barbed irrigation fittings. The 1/2 tubing I bought at the hardware store, as it was much cheaper. The connection will run from the bottom of the first barrel to the top of the second, and the clear tubing will allow me to easily see the water levels inside, though I suspect I will have to scrub it out each year, as algae LOVES growing in clear plastic tubing.

The Rain Reserve diverter came with everything I needed to set up one barrel. Even the spade bit to place their fittings in my closed top barrels. The system also comes with a nice sticker to advertise their company while warning people not to drink the saved water.

The next step in set up was to drill the inlet hole in the top of the first barrel. The manufacturer included the proper rubber grommet and insert for this, though it was a bit difficult getting the grommet through the barrel as it was a cold day and the rubber was not very flexible. Forewarned, I put the remainder of the grommets in my pants pocket to warm them up before I needed them.

Next up was cutting the existing downspout. I followed the measurements given in the manual, but double checked by measuring the gap between the inlet and outlet. 

If you are renting, accept that you are going to spend $15 to replace the cut downspout if you plan to take your rain barrels with you. Most are a continuous section, and those long enough to be made up of multiple sections will almost never have the gap in the right place.

The Rain Reserve divertor in place!

I chose to place the divertor rather low. This way, the downspout can serve as my overflow once my barrels are full.

While I could have placed it higher with no ill effects, the sag of the pipe will serve as an sediment trap during the first rain of the when moss and a dry summer's worth of dust are sent rushing down the drain.

After the first downpour, the capped outlet to the left was half full of dirt.

The next step was where I left the manual behind, opting for my own method of connecting the barrels using the aforementioned rubber grommets and clear tubing.

getting the grommets in place proved to be more difficult than I expected as they are meant for a 5 gallon bucket, and the 50 gallon  barrels were about 4 times as thick.
 

Side view of the grommet

In order to the grommets to fit, I lubricated the flanged end (with spit, use oil if you must) and then pushed it into place with a flathead screwdriver. Wear gloves for this step, I could have easily stabbed my hand if I had slipped.

The Grommet in place

The barbed fitting.

When you place the barbed fitting into the grommet, it pushes out on the edges of the hole, making the connection water tight. Once placed, wiggle the grommet back and forth. An improperly placed grommet will just pop out. (I won't admit to how many times it took me to get this one set, but the rest were easy once I realized how it worked.)

I'll skip the barrel drilling pictures, but I placed a similar fitting on the top of the next barrel and connected the two sections with clear tubing.

Have You Seen This Man?

An old buddy from the GNN days was seeking a picture. I decided I would post a few. While going through it, I found this picture:

I'm the pale kid in camofluage in the picture, which was taken a few days before I walked out of the city. The big guy in the picture is "Papa", a vietnam vet who lived in the door way of a closed down drug store near the corner of 7th And Market in San Francisco. I lived a block way in a cavernous basement beneath 6th and Market and When walking home from night shifts papa and I gradually grew to be good friends, spending many late nights and sunny afternoons discussing life and slinging stories.

On every return to San Francisco, I look for Papa. I haven't seen him since this picture was taken five years ago. If any of you know his real name, his whereabouts, or can contact him, let him know Sean from San Francisco would love to share another cigarette and has a much warmer place to spend the evening.

Papa was a fixture at Seventh and Market, a man who many protected and who protected many in one of the grittiest parts of the city. A disabled vet who lost his right leg in Vietnam after leaving his family hog farm behind, his decline to the streets was inevitable, given our country's definition of "supporting the troops". While I have spent lots of time hanging out with homeless vets from every war since Korea, Papa was one of the wisest and kindest of all. While I'd occasionally help him, he helped me much more than he may ever know.

There has been much recent talk about percentages. Let me assure you that papa is the 1%

He is the 1% who gave his life for his belief in this country. While he did not die, his life was so changed by his wounds that he was left destitute, to fall between the scracks of society as he slept upon the cracks in the street.

He is the "bottom" 1%, disregarded by those who ordered him to a foreign nation for reasons still argued upon by historians and political scientists.

He is the top 1% who, though he has nothing, gives the world to everyone around him. His presence and arbitration in the sixth and market district of SoMa calmed tensions, settled disputes and gave consolation and consultation to others who society had feigned to swallow whole.

He is stronger than 99% of us, who would wallow and consume ourselves in self pity at the lot we were dealt, but who instead still took every day as he could, once explaining to me that he had a good day because somebody had stolen his crutches, and in an hour or two, friends had found him a better set and padded em out real nice so he was able to walk to the Chinese restaurant on the corner for some $1 chicken legs.


Hanging on the closet door behind me is a small nylon American flag that Papa gave me for Veterans day in 2005. He thanked me for serving when he gave it to me. Someone had been through the tenderloin passing them out to homeless vets, and he said he was excited to get it because he wanted me to have it.

I'm not sure what that flag means. Perhaps it is to remind me how small my sacrifices were. Maybe it is to recall the things that are possible when we continue to believe in the fight even when it maims us. I like to believe that it is to keep me thinking of all the things that flag means to so many people around the world, a thing to burn, a product to sell, a symbol of freedom or stamp of oppression. This flag, gifted to me by Papa, simply makes me think.

So, Bigato, there is my pic. I'll post another soon.

There was once some confusion about my identity.

So, here I am.

I wanna rock.

As the weather changes, old injuries come out to haunt. A couple of dislocated knees commiserate with a pair of shoulders who shared their fate. Tingles and pops remind of awesome, decade-old stories, but the fame shines on a point just at the ball of my right foot, where cold weather becomes searing pain and taunts me with the notion that I may have crippled myself away from the very freedom I once swore by.

Yes, five years after the infamous rock in the dark that ended my cross county hike, I still enjoy frequent pains from that damned foot.

An update for those of you just tuning in, Stocked for a 72 mile trek up the rails aside the Eel river, I turned 220 lbs of pack and body weight onto a upturned rock in the middle of the night, and destroyed the inside half of the right foot behind the big toe. Live long lesson learned: Yes, "hiking boots" use less calories to lift than mountaineering boots, but even civilian roads can occasionally call for heavy soles and steel shanks.

I want that rock.

It's probably about two inches long, an inch or so at the bottom and half an inch on the business end, and if you look carefully, you might see shards of shattered dreams left across the narrow end. I collect odd mementos. I am willing to trade my deer molar for this one. Consider it a bounty and a mission.

Sorry....

Real life is oft a sledge hammer to my promises to write more. Thank you to everyone around the world who continue to send messages of encouragement, particularly those who see the bits that only get posted for a new minutes and who e-mail words of encouragement from the four corners of the globe.

Its not that I don't have tons to write about. It's just that I'm not a nomad anymore. I'm a dad. In seven years, I will attempt to conquer the final stretch to complete California by foot, and we'll see if my boy wants to knock out Oregon and Washington with me in the following years.

But you guys jumped on for my backpacking adventures, which I lack now. My passions lie in gardening and self sustaining systems now. I've been back to the 9-5 world for a few years now, and have been doing well enough (considering the current depression) that my wife and I joke about our outmoded and stereotypical gender models. Our boy is beautiful and we struggle to find domestically made toys for him, bought from local merchants.

I still religiously pick up hitchhikers in hopes of someday repaying the karma that drivers heaped on me from 19-31, so I try to keep my ear to the ground. But I'm going to have to expand my horizons if I continue to post. I'm sorry if you are a long time follower and disappointed by the taming of BlackPacker.

Guerrilla Fatherhood 101

I would like to say that my life is boring compared to the more freewheeling days, however, nothing could be further from the truth.

My son is 13 months old now, and every day his little achievements amaze me. Yesterday when I got home from work, he showed me that he had learned to use and aim a hammer on a nice wooden toy he got from some great friends on his first birthday. A few nights prior, he sat in my lap and turned the pages in the book we held, almost drunkenly slurring the word alligator when we got to the page with the grand reptilian pile captioned "9 Green Aligators".

But what about the Guerilla part you ask?

You guys knew me for my how to guides, and honestly, when I wrote the Guerrilla Camping series, I had more years experience than I now have months as a father. Hell, having read some of the "inspirational parenthood" books out there, I suppose I couldn't do worse with an anarchist approach to fatherhood. So, in true old-school tradition, let me introduce Guerrilla Fatherhood 101.

Guerrilla Fatherhood 101.1 - Oh, F*%K I'm going to be a dad!

Looking down the barrel of fatherhood is at once both exhilarating and daunting. First off, relax and recognize that the patriarch of the Kennedy legacy was a bootlegger. I think the first indicator of a successful father is concern and worry at the impending responsibility of fatherhood. This is good, it shows that you know how serious things are about to get, which means you have your wits about you. If you have your wits about you, you can throw all the books and articles about fatherhood out the window, you'll do fine. If you are reading an ex-hobo's blog for fatherhood advice, I'm going to assume you've done your reading, and thus you're interested enough in your child's welfare to not need a coddling approach.

A Changing Mother

Over nine months your partner is either going to become an almost primal and succulent vision of pure animal fertility and beauty or a fat barfing cow. Know now, that you decide this largely with your own attitude, and striving towards the former will obviously be more enjoyable. Enjoy the curves and lushness while they last, you may not get another opportunity (particularly if you are conscious of the impact our kind has on our planet).

Now is the time to abandon all of your previous conceptions of gender roles. They are all wrong. The ideals of an egalitarian balance between male and female are shattered by parenthood. There is no fair distribution of labor when labor pains and breastfeeding are involved. Mom's are built to nurture our children, and as fathers we must nurture and support our partners and our families as we grow together.

You're not going anywhere.

Most disasters will not require you to get out of town, as romantic as the notion may be. In fact, in the bay area, most disasters will completely strand you as bridges, tunnels and overpasses are shut down for inspections or reconstruction. Not only will this keep you in, it will keep essential services out. In the event of a major quake, you can expect to be on your own for three days to six months depending on the severity of the incident. Truth be told, the following advice will help you even if the tremors you experience are a layoff, an earthquake or the proverbial zombie apocalypse. This is what you need.

Water

Water is easy. You turn the tap on, and out it flows. But the terrible truth is that those water lines run underground, often only a few inches away from the sludge that flows out your toilets. With any major flooding or infrastructure damage, your tap water will be rendered unsafe.

You need 1 gallon a day for cooking and drinking, but a safer estimate is three gallons a day if you want to do important things like washing dishes or your stinky ass. You already have 30-50 gallons of water stored in your hot water heater. As soon as a major trembler hits, pour yourself a nice steaming bath. If your water lines are contaminated, this water will not be clean, but it will be cleaner than what you get later. This comes out to ten days of water. You may need to treat it, but at least it is there. Likewise, the tank behind your toilet holds a days worth of water, and if you refrain from flushing, it should be clean.

If you’re freezer is largely empty, throw a few bottles of water in there. Two liter soda bottle are best, since they don’t break easily. Gallon milk jugs work as well, but require and incredible amount of cleaning; I thawed a few gallons from my mom’s freezer and they reeked of spoilt milk, and I wouldn’t wash in that crap, let alone drink it. Frozen bottles have the advantage of serving as thermal mass and will slow the thawing process of any food you have in your freezer.

The blog in the side bar details treatment options, but for the average SF apartment, your best bet is a gallon of bleach. 1 TBS of bleach to each gallon of water will probably kill any nasties, though if you experience an extended loss of services, you will need to boil your water as well. If you have the spare cash, a pump filter will allow you to drink the rainbow water on sixth street without becoming a pigeon.

Food

Living in the city, I always had my slow day stash of food; a buffer that allowed me to stay fed if I lost my job and was forced to choose between eating and paying rent. You’ll want 1000-2000 calories a day, but you can make it on less. My stash was 10 lbs of pasta, 5lbs of rice and 5lbs of dried black beans alongside my favorite canned food. Since then, I have discovered Quinoa and Polenta, both dried food that offer great nutritional benefits and which are pretty cheap in bulk at wholefoods. (Quinoa is a complete protein in grain form) The 20lbs of food above can be had for less than a Franklen if you find them on sale or hit Grocery Outlet in the east bay. My canned foods usually included a bunch of veggies (even though I hate canned veggies) thanks to the vitamin content. Canned meats can be intolerable, but tuna, chicken and Vienna sausages are great in recipes. Canned tomatoes are essential for the pasta and rice.

The 20 lbs of dried food and canned stuff for sauces and tastiness was enough to last two weeks without eating out, and if I really pushed my bachelor’s selection of condiments, might even taste good. Thank god for Siracha and Tapatio. If you frequently cook at home, you can easily adapt your existing pantry to serve as emergency rations.

Fuel

You gas mains are going to break if a cat farts on a fault line. This means your gas range is not going to work. Anybody who has lived in the city for any length of time remembers the rolling blackouts, so if you have an electric range you don’t even need to wait on feline flatulence to suffer a Frisco Famine.

I would personally recommend two stoves; a multi-fuel camp stove and a solid fuel stove capable of burning wood or charcoal. Neither are suitable for indoor cooking, but both can be used semi-safely next to an open window.

Multi-fuel stoves can run on white fuel (naptha, camp or coleman fuel) or gasoline. In the event of a major disaster, you will be using gasoline, which is dirty and VERY dangerous to use inside due to the additives that gas contains. It will also leave a sooty residue on the bottom of your cookware, which is made easier to clean by swiping a bar of soap along the bottom of your pots and pans prior to cooking.

Multi fuel stoves can be had on craigslist and ebay for cheap, from $15 to $50 depending on the model. The Coleman Peak One is the usually the cheapest used stove on craigslist. I personally own an MSR Whisperlite (which will also run off kerosene and similar fuels) and a ridiculously oversized two burner Coleman campstove.

A solid fuel stove is easier to build than buy, and can be made out of a coffee can in less than an hour. A very efficient version of the tin can stove is known as the rocket stove and requires a coffee can and a regular old soup can to construct. Awesome instructions can be found with a quick google search. If you aren’t going to build one now, print out the instructions, as your internet will probably go down before your gas lines.

More info on stoves can be found in the sidebar under the “Playing With Petrol” blog, including a stove which can be made with only a few beer cans, and which will run off rubbing alcohol, Bacardi 151 or any sufficiently strong alcohol.

Shelter

Odds are good that you apartment will be fine, but there have been many a building knocked flat or rendered useless due to the structural stresses of a strong earthquake. A box of trash bags and a roll of duct tape is enough to temporarily cover broken windows, but in the event of a wrecked building, you may find yourself needing some other sort of shelter.

A military poncho makes a functional, light and versatile shelter but, to be honest, for just a few dollars more large camping tents can be had from a number of sporting goods stores for under $40. If your home is unsuitable to remain in, contact a friend to set up in their place or in their backyard. DO NOT stay next to an unstable building.

A sleeping bag is good if you can afford it, but your own bedding will suffice in most situations; particularly if you can crash a nearby friend’s house. Using couch cushions or any other sort of padding (yoga mats are awesome) will keep you off the cold ground, make sleeping easier and keep you warmer. If you have the inclination, a roll up foam mat, or a self-inflating matt such as a Thermarest is easy to carry, packing up to about the same size as a water bottle.

Tools.

A Flashlight with spare batteries. Seriously, if you lack this, stop reading and go get one now. Better yet, get a few.

A battery or crank powered radio. You can get these at dollar stores and they are very important. When you get one, spend a few minutes to find out what you local NPR stations are. Big stations are often computer controlled, and will not have any good information for hours after a disaster. One September 11^th, numerous New York stations continued with regularly scheduled broadcasts for up to 24 hours after the towers fell. Local public radio will tell you the locations of hazards, shelters and resources, often starting seconds after a major event.

A multitool like a leatherman or one of the hundreds on knock-offs is essential. However, after an earthquake a crescent wrench is imperative. A broken gas line can ruin you day, and having a wrench able to shut off your gas line is important.

A prybar of any sort should be kept under a couch or bed. DO NOT KEEP IT IN A CLOSET. After a quake, buildings can lean or sag, making doors impossible to open without a lever. If you find yourself stuck without a bar, remember that doorknob screws are always on the inside, and after pulling out a door knob you might be able to pull open stuck doors.

A cellphone is important, and while it may seem counter intuitive, after a major disaster, you should call one person out of the area and then turn it off. If the circuits are tied up and you are unable to get a call out, text messages will often go out when calls won’t. Turn off your phone once you’ve made contact to let people know you are alright. It may be a while before you can charge it again, and probably not long before you need to call someone.

Heavy shoes are one of the things I would usually forget to mention, as I’m the kind of guy who shines my hunting boots for job interviews. But there will be lots of glass and other hazards lying around after a quake, and flip flops won’t cut it as well as shards of broken windows cut your feet.

Rain Gear can be as simple as holes punched in a trash bag, as cheap as the $5 sets you get from grocery stores, or $150 fishing gear from a company like Dutch Harbor. Do not expect a disaster to happen on a sunny day. Umbrellas are worthless.

Epilogue:

There are a lot of things to really consider when preparing for a disaster, and this list has barely touched the surface. For lots of professional input, visit www.ready.gov for information in preparedness kits, emergency resources and advice. No matter what, make a plan, build a kit and keep your head.

I’m heading out the hills for a week tomorrow morning, but will finish the blog about that $50 kit when I return. Stay steady.