Review: Volcano Stove II

Last week I had the opportunity to get in on a group buy for the Volcano II stove. (Sorry, I would have shared the details but I found out about it very last minute and barely made it in myself!) I had heard good things about this stove, and after a brief review of its features and online ratings, I decided to acquire one.

The main reason I wanted to add this to my supplies is its versatility—Volcano stoves can use charcoal, wood, or propane (with the adapter). I found this setup very desirable, since while my fuel may be diversified, this single stove can handle almost everything I throw at it. It’s made to accommodate dutch ovens, or you can lay down the included grill on top and use a normal pan, pot, or cook your things directly on it. And cleanup is as simple as turning the stove over and dumping the remnants out (unless you’re using propane, of course).

Another great feature of the Volcano is its unique heat chamber that channels the heat upwards towards your food, instead of wasting fuel by expelling heat out the sides and bottom. This also means that the area surrounding the stove is cooler than conventional stoves, allowing you to cook with the stove on a variety of surfaces that you normally might not use for putting your stove on.

Below are the pictures of my grand unveiling when I opened and first used the stove.

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Food Prices: Up, Up, and Away!


photo credit: graygoosie

Since most people who know me also know of my passion for all things preparedness, I’m often asked what is a good idea for investing one’s hard-earned money. With $7 trillion (yes, with a ‘T’) of “wealth” having been wiped out recently, people are looking at their 401k results in abject horror. What to do?

Any good investor will tell you that it’s important to diversify, or in other words, not to put all your financial eggs in one basket. For that reason, my advice for the start of a solid investment usually consists of one word: food.

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Huge Pasta Sale in Lehi


photo credit: wagner campelo

In need of some pasta for your food storage? There is a massive sale going on right now in Lehi. Inside a not-yet-opened restaurant near Hutch’s Furniture (95 W. Main Street), an individual is selling to the public boxes of pasta he has acquired in a bulk sale.

Here’s the scoop: all types of pasta are 75 cents per pound. (Contrasted to average bulk prices of $1.50 to $3.00 per pound, depending on the type of pasta). If you buy 10 or more boxes (boxes are between 20-40 pounds), it goes down to 65 cents per pound.

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Are You CERTified?

Too often I feel that we get into a “bug out” mentality that leads us to think we’ll be fending for ourselves in all circumstances, always looking out for number one.

I disagree. While there are a select few instances in which we must reduce our focus to our own life and our immediate family, I think that the majority of scenarios will involve neighbors (ideally and hopefully) working together to get through whatever has happened.

Enter CERT. Becoming CERT trained is an important part of your personal preparedness and a necessary tool in being of use to neighbors during a TEOTWAWKI scenario. Here’s a summary of the program:

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New Author: Connor

Hi everybody, I’m Connor. I’ve been participating in the comments here for a while, and was finally convinced to dedicate some more time to this blog during last night’s meetup.  I’m a big fan of all things preparedness, and while I’m not the stereotypical rugged outdoor type, I try to dabble in enough things to diversify my talents and be adequately prepared for any potential TEOTWAWKI scenario.

I’m a web developer by day, news junkie and political economist by night (and those valuable lunch breaks!), and fill in the cracks with all sorts of other fun things.

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