Cut open a tauntaun... duh.
-
Happy Birthday ICMag! Been 20 years since Gypsy Nirvana created the forum! We are celebrating with a 4/20 Giveaway and by launching a new Patreon tier called "420club". You can read more here.
-
Important notice: ICMag's T.O.U. has been updated. Please review it here. For your convenience, it is also available in the main forum menu, under 'Quick Links"!
TOTALLY RANDOM POST II
- Thread starter minds_I
- Start date
Can't imagine starting a car in -50F weather. What happens if it doesn't start!
spring is just a couple of months away...
moose eater
Well-known member
Then you have a lot of free time that day, after you hook up the battery charger.Can't imagine starting a car in -50F weather. What happens if it doesn't start!
We typically run silicone heat pads under the starting battery, sealed to the oil pan and transmission pan, and a freeze-plug heater installed into the block, as well.
Often close to 300-500 watts of heating, depending on the vehicle and the required silicone heat pad draws/sizes.
Years ago, between -50 and -60 f. I can recall having 3 vehicles plugged in at the same time, though the 1964 Ford F-100 short-bed, step-side had a circulating tank heater on the block rather than a freeze-plug heater.
A 1974 or 1975 Monte Carlo and my Canadian acquaintance's 1986(?) diesel VW Rabbit were also in the mix.
Ether-based starting fluid was a big hit back then.
Not a damned thing would turn over and fire up that day. But once the batteries are depleted, they have to be charged before they can freeze. That day there were 3 of them to rehabilitate.
My daughter failed to check the headbolt heater outlet fuse (screw-in, round), and went to start her Jeep at about -45 f. Once it fired up she blew her motor. I'd warned her about AMC products being pure junk. She was in her frequent state of independence...
Her independence is now into her for about $30,000 by my estimates, between poor automobile choices and her ex-husband's shenanigans, etc. I guess independence can be expensive.
Three Berries
Active member
I always wondered what made these things. I think it's swamp gas bubbling up.
moose eater
Well-known member
Likely either methane releasing from the rotting material on the bottom of the pond, or muskrats, though with that many so close together, it's more apt to be methane releasing. Or perhaps muskrats recently resettled from some place they're more accustomed to living so closely together. Muskrats from Tokyo, maybe?
Jewish space lasers.... duh.
I have done -40F. I drove Northern Ontario one February to visit customers and to prove myself to potentials because other sales guys stopped going up in the winter. I remember that there was one 3 hour lonely stretch of highway that I saw only one other vehicle - a logging truck - but I did see a moose. Not the kind of place you want to run out of gas. Anyway, the next morning I went out to the hotel parking lot in Timmins to my frozen Honda Accord. I had a block heater plugged in but no battery heater. The seats were solid, the gear shift required 2 hands to shift but the damn car started.
moose eater
Well-known member
Coldest it got that I can recall (unofficially as it was a private mercury and glass thermometer) near my old cabin on the river was winter of 1989, a cold bastard that one. My cabin reached -74 f, unofficially, again.
I was living down in Klawock in SE at the time, in a 100-year-old cannery cabin the Native Band in Klawock had allowed us to fix up, literally across the street from the harbor and the North Pacific Ocean there..
Normally a temperate SE Coastal climate, we reached below -10 f that winter, with water lines laying on the ground in flexible abs pipe, and they froze solid, but were srtong enough not to burst.
--------------------------------
Just had an unknown vehicle pull into our driveway at about 6:15 PM local time. All I could tell was that it had Ford headlights and was likely a pick-up, either 1/2-ton or 3/4-ton, most likely.
I was heading back to the freezer room, and looked out at the garden moose fence, noting it was heavily illuminated, so I checked the floodlights; they were off.
Headed to the living room and see a 'Ford', slowly backing out of the driveway, without having come to the door, and having been as close as my vehicles parked out front, near the house... for a brief while. Too long not to be suspicious.
Did I mention I have a a 230 ft. driveway, and lots of valuables, trailers, vehicles, boat, etc. out there?
Opened the door in my undies (likely an unnerving sight for whom ever), wearing nothing else, and hollered at them (after turning on my bright duel flood lights out front), asking them, "Is there something I can do for you? You lost, or looking for something not yours?"
They didn't stop, though I'm fairly sure they had to have seen the bright double floodlight go on and me standing in the dimly lit entryway.
Threw on my sweater, jeans, wool socks, goose down vest, wool shirt jacket, and bunny boots, and grabbed the 10mm S&W along with a super bright LED multi-setting large flashlight.
I could see how close to the vehicles they had come, and checked for footprints near the fuel tanks. No prints there.
Checked the shed and barn near the 500-gallon fuel oil tank and collection of fuel oil drums, and the boat tanks in the barn; no prints there either.
No prints on my snowmobile tracks around the house, either.
They headed North, up the hill from here, and I suspect they pulled into the neighbor's drive up the hill. If they're missing anything I may hear of it. Not seeking them out to ask.
If you pull into someone's LONG rural driveway well after sundown, in the dark, and get close to folks' personal valuables, see a light go on, but you keep heading out in reverse, and fail to introduce yourself, there's a slim chance you may need body work for the small round holes in your vehicle. It's rude to intrude, and when passively invited to announce yourself, fail to do so. Dangerous, even
Maybe the sight of my Winter quasi-arctic 'albino' lack of tan in skibbies frightened them. If so, I'm glad..
There are reflective street address numbers tacked to the large spruce tree at the end of our driveway which my wife pruned around this last summer. In other words, they're visible.
These were apparently some non-thinkers, engaged in activity where it could have turned out differently.
If they're affiliated with the folks up the hill, then I may or may not hear of it. If the folks up the hill are missing anything, then maybe I'll hear about it, and tell them they're looking for a non-descript Ford pick-up with functioning headlights. either way, I suspect they'll be a bit more thoughtful about entering this drive in the dark and playing 'secret visitor' games without announcing themselves.
If you make a mistake, own it and introduce yourself. Most often that's a better insurance policy for longevity than what these Bozos were doing.
I was living down in Klawock in SE at the time, in a 100-year-old cannery cabin the Native Band in Klawock had allowed us to fix up, literally across the street from the harbor and the North Pacific Ocean there..
Normally a temperate SE Coastal climate, we reached below -10 f that winter, with water lines laying on the ground in flexible abs pipe, and they froze solid, but were srtong enough not to burst.
--------------------------------
Just had an unknown vehicle pull into our driveway at about 6:15 PM local time. All I could tell was that it had Ford headlights and was likely a pick-up, either 1/2-ton or 3/4-ton, most likely.
I was heading back to the freezer room, and looked out at the garden moose fence, noting it was heavily illuminated, so I checked the floodlights; they were off.
Headed to the living room and see a 'Ford', slowly backing out of the driveway, without having come to the door, and having been as close as my vehicles parked out front, near the house... for a brief while. Too long not to be suspicious.
Did I mention I have a a 230 ft. driveway, and lots of valuables, trailers, vehicles, boat, etc. out there?
Opened the door in my undies (likely an unnerving sight for whom ever), wearing nothing else, and hollered at them (after turning on my bright duel flood lights out front), asking them, "Is there something I can do for you? You lost, or looking for something not yours?"
They didn't stop, though I'm fairly sure they had to have seen the bright double floodlight go on and me standing in the dimly lit entryway.
Threw on my sweater, jeans, wool socks, goose down vest, wool shirt jacket, and bunny boots, and grabbed the 10mm S&W along with a super bright LED multi-setting large flashlight.
I could see how close to the vehicles they had come, and checked for footprints near the fuel tanks. No prints there.
Checked the shed and barn near the 500-gallon fuel oil tank and collection of fuel oil drums, and the boat tanks in the barn; no prints there either.
No prints on my snowmobile tracks around the house, either.
They headed North, up the hill from here, and I suspect they pulled into the neighbor's drive up the hill. If they're missing anything I may hear of it. Not seeking them out to ask.
If you pull into someone's LONG rural driveway well after sundown, in the dark, and get close to folks' personal valuables, see a light go on, but you keep heading out in reverse, and fail to introduce yourself, there's a slim chance you may need body work for the small round holes in your vehicle. It's rude to intrude, and when passively invited to announce yourself, fail to do so. Dangerous, even
Maybe the sight of my Winter quasi-arctic 'albino' lack of tan in skibbies frightened them. If so, I'm glad..
There are reflective street address numbers tacked to the large spruce tree at the end of our driveway which my wife pruned around this last summer. In other words, they're visible.
These were apparently some non-thinkers, engaged in activity where it could have turned out differently.
If they're affiliated with the folks up the hill, then I may or may not hear of it. If the folks up the hill are missing anything, then maybe I'll hear about it, and tell them they're looking for a non-descript Ford pick-up with functioning headlights. either way, I suspect they'll be a bit more thoughtful about entering this drive in the dark and playing 'secret visitor' games without announcing themselves.
If you make a mistake, own it and introduce yourself. Most often that's a better insurance policy for longevity than what these Bozos were doing.
Last edited:
i've ended up in yards before because there was no mail box at entrance.. drove into a pond once in a guys barnyard in the dark. thank God for Jeeps and shallow ponds. if anyone comes out, i stop and explain myself, misunderstandings suck...
so you guys want a scary story, i got one for yahh!
me and the mrs are just drinving along on this back road and out of nowhere this monster yeti came roaring out of the cold and darkness at us swinging dick and making this horrible noise!
/i was ascarrrred!
i wasnt looking for trouble so i hit it in reverse and tore ass out of there pdq
but we caught some footage of the beast!
Last edited:
@moose eater you need anti-personnel stuff laid out on your property man. Maybe a ditch or bump at entrance? Gotta be stuff you can do. You grabbed the 10mm? Shotgun! Shoulda grabbed the shotgun. Maybe not. Can you have a Thompson there? Dude had one and was shooting it off and I guess the Feds came next day. 35F here in Boston. Hiding inside.
Three Berries
Active member
9F here this morning south of Chicago, no wind but a nice high pressure. I put in an order for some Climate Change. Need to see if the mower starts. I got rocks to move.
moose eater
Well-known member
When I was growing for profit years ago, I talked with some electricians I knew, and asked about an electro-magnetic plate being shallowly buried in the drive mid-way to the house, and hooked to a buzzer in the house, which would tell me if a large metal object had passed over the magnetic field.
We never did that, but I know it can be done, and probably a good idea for anyone in the boonies with concerns or valuables... and a lengthy driveway.
My 12-gauge is still locked in its case from the trip through Canada with the van where I ended up not taking it.
Class III firearms in the dark in a subdivision is not a good idea (a shiotgun is a much wiser and better choice, as you suggested), but yes, Alaska is one of 31(?) states that permit private (federally papered) possession of class III weapons, to include a Thompson, or what ever else tickles your fancy, providing it conforms to the 1968 NFA and related laws..
We haven't had too many home-invasions involving weed, weapons, etc. in the Interior of our State, but there have been some closer to town. Years ago oneof them ended in the deathof a home-invader who had the grower assume what the grower perceived top be a pre-execution kneeling position,. at which point he grabbed his own shotgun and blew the little thieving teen-asge fucker away.
Parents were angry that their kid got killed. Understandable to a degree... But....Teach your kids not to steal or do home-invasions and their life span likely improves.
Another issue involves the fact that just because a person has ceased growing for money, doesn't mean any rumor mills or loose lips are aware of that. Some might erroneously believe there's still a score to be had.
As a combat vet I knew many years ago used to imply, it's best if you know they're present, before they know that you know they're present.
He''d always wanted a German Shepherd that wouldn't bark at trouble, but would instead burrow its head in his leg and growl quietly if trouble was about. Made sense to me.
Last edited:
if you are going to have to (or wish to) deal with the "problem"(s) yourself, this is perfect. why let them know you are getting ready? i don't want to ever have to shoot anyone, but if it comes to that, i want a shotgun in my hand and a pistol in my pocket...
A good friend of mine had a really tough SOB of a mongrel and he was totally fine with anyone coming into the house but would not let them out without my friend letting him know that it was okay for them to leave.
After meeting him I always wanted a dog like that.
After meeting him I always wanted a dog like that.
i could have used a dog like that years back . "friends" apparently walked out with much of a knife collection over a span of a few months while i wasn't watching. lesson learned - want to keep it? hide it.
moose eater
Well-known member
A friend in Lower Michigan (SW Grand Rapids) in the mid-1970s had a doberman that would let anyone in, like your friend's dog. But when that person reached for the doorknob to leave, the dog had a piece of their keister or pants bottom in its mouth, letting them know they had to stay until the owner said it was OK to depart.
A 'Hotel California' doberman. "You can check in any time you like, but you can never leave.." (not without permission, anyway).
His premise was he didn't just want to know he'd been robbed, he wanted to know by who/whom.
On the other hand, a fellow who was a grower in Alpine Woods near Valdez, nearly 30 years ago, had a couple beautiful rottweilers at his place as part of his protection network. The thieves knew this, and beat the fuck out of his dogs with boards, etc.. (Maybe shot one?).
I always wanted my pups to let me know when there's a problem, be on hand to help if needed, but not get in any cross-fire (proverbial or otherwise) or physical damage unless absolutely necessary. They're more 'family' to me most of the time than my family. No doubt in my mind that if someone harmed my pups on purpose, LEO, citizen, who ever, I'd end them, put them through a chipper, and either place them in the river or compost them in the ground. "Don't harm my family."
Last edited:
moose eater
Well-known member
We had a drummer/guitar/banjo player in a band we had as kids. He'd been stealing weed, coins and cash, maybe other stuff too, from a stash spot in my wall in my bedroom, where I had a small safe hidden behind a vent.
When he'd come over to practice, get high, what ever (about 1975/1976), my old Norwegian Elkhound had to be sequestered for him to enter the house. He was one of the few she tried to chew on, and she was a very friendly pup. She hated cops, bears, and him.
It was later I found out he'd been stealing from me.
His father collected spring knives from Mexico back then; collector grade hand-made stilletos/switchblades. Nice hand carved scales and silver inlay on some of them. Not junk. Nice stuff.
The band member had stated he could get his dad to bring back one for me.
I was in my middle teens or so, & phoned his father, told him about those promises, and about the member stealing from me, weed, cash and coins.
When 'Mike' arrived home that night, his dad was standing on the other side of the door, and when Mike walked in his father laid him out cold with one punch.
Case resolved.
this ^ steal shit if you must, or dare.
Green Squall
Well-known member
Nothing gets me more heated than people trying to harm or steal from my family. I made a post about this a couple years ago, but some piece of shit went on a lengthy night-time burglary spree around here and my dads office was hit, where he unfortunately and foolishly kept some cash he had been putting away for many years. I would do absolutely anything to be able to dole out a proper punishment to that loser, but realistically, it will never happen.
Here's the kicker though....2 years later (recently...it was "low priority") the detective comes in and says they matched his DNA to a water bottle left behind in another office, but they're not even sure they can legally link him to the theft, so charges might not even be filed....The only good thing I can report is that he is still sitting in prison due to priors, so I hope he is having a nice stay.
