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Our current first aid kit needs replacing as it's well past its best before date. I know I need to replace the sterile dressings but is there a life span on things such as non-sterile bandages? Can anyone recommend a good quality multi-purpose kit to keep at home? And does anyone know if you...

Is there a term for ongoing medical care such as wound dressing, how to look after muscle strains and ever broken bones? I'm currently looking after my mum after some rather appalling hospital treatment and she has meant to have a bad wound dressed daily but the district nurse just doesn't turn...

I'm after some advice on a possible stray cat. Firstly I will say I like cats as an indoor pet but not overly keen on them munching through wildlife. Having said that I'm hoping this thread can concentrate on what's best for the cat. We live with no close neighbours with fields and woodland all...

I've just picked up a couple of cheap 2nd travel rods and one has a broken eye. The metal ring has split, but is all there, it is just missing the guide ring. A quick search shows these rings can be picked up cheaply but I'm after some advice of how to do the repair. Is it a simple matter of...

I've been tasked to find a safer way for someone to split kindling into smaller pieces. My first thought was one of those devices that you either screw to a bench or mount in a vice, then place the wood onto a blade of some sort and hammer the other end. Has anyone used such a thing and found it...

I'm trying to track down a method of making a large number of card disks. I've got wad punches which are fine for making holes and ok for cutting a few disks but not a large number. At the moment I need disks 16mm diameter although 15 might do, but in the future other sizes. I've seen cheap...

Can anyone recommend a place that sells seaweed for use in cooking? I'm after something to add to soups, so dried and shredded rather than sheets or powder. I've looked in a few shops but can only find sheets. I'm also after something fairly priced and not to fancy. I have collected my own in...

I've been wondering recently when things start to hibernate and has anyone noticed this getting later at all? We've had a good year for lizards, slow worms and grass snakes and they were still out and about a week or two ago. Last night I counted 8 toads in the garden and again wondered if it's...

Apart from unblocking drains that is. I bought a new and more flexible set of drain rods to make sweeping our chimney easier and found they make a good extendable apple picker but taping a cut off plastic bottle to one end of a rod and then attaching as many rods as is required to reach the...

Does anyone use a mains powered router that uses a mobile network rather than a land line? We need good internet access to work from home but our land line isn't that great and is likely to fail in the next year or two so are looking at a mobile phone router as a possible alternative. However...

Do we have any electricians in the homestead? Our house electric supply has always been rather erratic and we finally had the power company install a monitoring device that has recorded the power exceeds the maximum allowed. It also seems to confirm the monitoring device we have is accurate to...

I need to find a level over 200m. Over a shorter distance I've used a hose and water although that wasn't that reliable. I've also used a laser level but there area I need to do this is wooded so a laser not much use. Do any of the GPS devices come up with an accurate height above sea level? I...

Can anyone recommend a decent CO2 air rifle? One that runs off those small CO2 canisters as I use them for a pistol. I am aware the power and range will be limited but for close range ratting and target shooting it should be fine. I have looked at the SMK rifles but not convinced so I'm...

Not really bushcrafty but something most homes will be forced to have, and I've not had a moan for a while... Anyway, I'm visiting my elderly mother again whilst she has a smart meter fitted as her provider bullied her into one. Fitting was quick, fitter was nice and polite. But the in home...

I'm not a fan of external breast pockets on coats, I never use them and can't see much use for them in everyday life. Annoyingly they seem to be fashionable at the moment and I've struggled to find a coat without them. Is it just me and does everyone else stuff them full or is it another case of...

Anyone tried spreading fungi from one place to another with any success? I found a patch of St Georges where I wouldn't wish to eat them from. Whilst confirming their ID I noticed the following comment on wildfooduk - "seems to grow quite successfully when old mushrooms that are too maggoty...

I know this has sort of cropped up before but I'm after an actual recommendation for a brand of lamp oil thats scent free and does not have much smell when burnt. I'm aware that having a well trimmed wick and not burning the lamp too fast to avoid soot is necessary but I still find oil lamps...

Does anyone know much about otters or where I can get some sensible advice? We seem to have an otter hanging about our garden. It's eaten everything in our pond but tonight it turned up again and walked up to our front door. We are remote and do have all sorts of wildlife about so it could just...

This is a bit of a moan but also a heads up. I've just sorted out a new computer for my elderly mother and whilst setting it up discovered she'd been paying for McAfee anti-virus software. Now this should have cost £27.49 a year if you buy it every year but because she trusted McAfee she'd...

I picked up a 2nd hand wool mix winter coat yesterday from a charity shop. It looks unworn but a quick Google suggests it's what they call vintage, i.e. a few decades old. Anyway, it has a fairly fine metal zip that's a little stiff and as it's such a nice coat I'd like it to last. I think the...