Recent content by GreyCat

Or a small trailer (assuming you can fit a towhitch). GC

I wear decent leggings of various types.... being an older rotund female, branded "bushcraft" trousers not a realistic option. Various configurations and fabrics..... cotton vs synthetic, length to just below knee, full length or a pair of Corinne Dennis fleece lined cycle leggings (no seat...

Its aso surprising what the Ford EcoBlue 1.5L engine (that is the turbo Diesel engine- uses AdBlu to meet Euro 6 standards) does. Comfortably gets 70mpg cruising on the M-way, sometimes more (I have had 80mpg out of it, albeit lightly loaded with a tailwind) and if I ever get less that 60mpg...

I recently found my old Trangia when clearing out the shed for moving. It was like meeting an old friend. It's a relatively new one though (only ~30 years old), not the one I used to borrow from my father when I was a young Venture Scout. He bought his in the late 1970's/early 1980's when he was...

Possibly.... but perhaps not as much as we think. Some middle-class jobs of possibly limited value (e.g. some lawyers) but the basics- the core work- will be required still. Hairdressing, picking up the bins, clearing plumbing and so on..... basics. Smart houses: probably no more than now...

There's also a slightly more sinister implication. Basically, the right-on Graun has just suggested that if you're a young homeless chap that the council "housed" by giving them a tent, if you're homeless ex-forces living in a tent/rough, if you're a neurodiverse "backwoods" enthusiast- then...

Have you considered an unfashionable large Estate car? The SUV type of vehicle doesn't seem to carry as much and often costs more in fuel. TIming belts: it's not just belts vs chains, but also dry belts vs wet belts- be very, very careful with some wet belt engines. Check the motoring...

Numark Henry. Light, robust, sucks well, good range of tools, made in UK, what's not to like? We have a couple of Dysons over the years, battery replacement when they fail is costly. And they are notoriously fragile. I got a Henry (well actually a Hettie, same machine tho) for the new place...

I would say early purple orchid is correct, spotted leaves are a characteristic. When I was a bairn, they grew wild and profusely on the road verges (in the North Pennines). The council mowed once a year when they got around to it- never earlier than late summer, but which the plants had set...

There' 2 challenges to address with backup gennies for infrastructure: (1) They need regular maintenance and testing to make sure they will power up when needed; and (2) For critical data applications you also need a UPS which is big enough to maintain power until the gennie starts and is...

When packing boxes to move to the new place, I rediscovered my original Baygen wind up radio- one of the very first ones. Short wave, medium wave, long wave, FM, no batteries, original robust hand cranked generator in a big sturdy case, what's not to like? Hasn't seen daylight for best part of...

You can get some stuff for breakign down pet urine, has enzymes in, maybe that would work? GC

..... and of course portanle solar that can be taken inside (locked away) at night and hidden during use is safer from being nicked than a gennie which makes a noise. In a big outage, anyone with a portable gennie in a location with any ne'er-do-wells in it won't be keeping the gennie for long...

You understood correctly, and I agree. Which is why I have an Ecoflow power station with batteries (6kWh), charges from mains but also I have the solar panels I can plug into it. GC

On an individual level yes. Unfortunately the use of a lot of solar isn't necessarily great for a national power grid, it would appear that the lack of grid inertia was a key factor in the grid outage in Spain/Portugal. Grid elements are set to trip if frequency changes beyond set parameters...