Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Thousands trapped on Pine Ridge burn clothes for warmth in wake of storm

argusleader.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

201–210 of 405 posts

Re: Thousands trapped on Pine Ridge burn clothes for warmth in wake of storm

#201

Post by mindslight »

survirtual wrote: post #181
mindslight wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 3 day reserve battery for the house ... All my heating and cooling would be electrical I don't think you've run the numbers here, at all. Battery storage that can provide off-grid heat-pump heating for a single dead-of-winter design night is bordering on impractical. Creating a buffer that could last 3 whole days (4-5x the size) would be blatantly prohibitive. Batteries only make sense for daily cycling to deal wit…

I have run the numbers and with proper insulation and lower sq footage it is completely practical. That recommendation is for people with the money to do it, which is most of us here. I was replying to someone talking about most “rural” people and extended the reply to be relevant to people here. Given I sleep most nights in a hammock in woods backpacking and travel around nonstop, and have no trouble in sub-zero wil…

> Given I sleep most nights in a hammock in woods backpacking and travel around nonstop, and have no trouble in sub-zero wilderness, I have definitely opted out of housing

Okay, I do agree this qualifies as opting out of the housing market.

> Believe it or not, people with ethics and willpower to follow through still exist

Sure. I'm there myself on a few topics, and have lived them for quite some time. But you need to understand that this puts you at odds with 99% of society, and as such your example isn't going to be found as actionable advice by the sheer majority of people - even people who agree with you 90% of the way.

Would you mind sharing your numbers? If I just spitball with a 10kBTU/hr design load, a heat pump COP of 3, and assume that your heating requirements are entirely taken care of by that design load for 8 hours at night, that's still like 3 Powerwalls to last 3 nights. I'd say there are better ways to spend those resources, especially considering that batteries wear out like everything else.

Re: Thousands trapped on Pine Ridge burn clothes for warmth in wake of storm

#202

Post by ArmandTanzarian »

EschatonCometh wrote: post #158
kneebonian wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Some people have been completely isolated in their homes for 8 days. I'd say most people, even in rural areas, don't have a supply that'll last longer than that, except for some hardcore preppers. I wouldn't say that, I try and always have 3 months supply of food on hand in case something happens, even just a temporary job loss, in fact the idea of having less than a full months supply of food on hand seems terrify…

[flagged]

I would encourage Eschaton to re-read the words they typed and consider the irony. "F your peace of mind. It is a narrow banded one." I am not religious, but your hostility smacks of the "narrow bandedness" your post is so quick to call out.

Re: Thousands trapped on Pine Ridge burn clothes for warmth in wake of storm

#203

Post by dzdt »

survirtual wrote: post #59
zdragnar wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From the article, the community has stockpiled resources, but their plows and skidsteers are all out of commission. They literally cannot get to the firewood, and every time they clear some snow out more blows in. Some people have been completely isolated in their homes for 8 days. I'd say most people, even in rural areas, don't have a supply that'll last longer than that, except for some hardcore preppers.

Most people in rural areas have some kind of food store with canned goods. With things like Soylent and Huel, those can also be used. I had 6 months of Soylent back in the day. 2 bags of Huel can last about 6 days and fits in a small bag — it is one of my hacks for backpacking. If you haven’t already, I recommend having a supply of canned beans, canned tuna, canned meats to preference, canned sardines, bulk rice (you…

> No one in the US, for instance, has any excuse because it is all very very affordable

The article is about the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, with >80% unemployment and average incomes of $4000 per year. I expect their notions of "very affordable" may not match yours.

Re: Thousands trapped on Pine Ridge burn clothes for warmth in wake of storm

#204

Post by Ntrails »

boomboomsubban wrote: post #160
Ntrails wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> genetic-exacerbated substance abuse Could you expand on this a bit? Not a concept I am familiar with

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcohol_and_Native_Americans#G... Alcoholism rates among Native Americans is higher than most groups, which leads some to suspect a genetic reason. Currently, there isn't a ton of evidence supporting that idea.

I knew about the alcoholism rates, but had always assumed it was a socio-economic / situational driven thing.

I understand that historically it was used in some sense to control and indeed damage the Native Americans by the colonists? To what extent alcohol was completely new etc I do not know

Re: Thousands trapped on Pine Ridge burn clothes for warmth in wake of storm

#205

Post by bobthepanda »

Bilal_io wrote: post #137
Aeolun wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Another question is why they all still live there?

For the same reason they cannot stockpile. Moving is very expensive. Then how can they afford rent in a more expensive area? How will they find jobs?

We even have the first Gen Z Congressperson being rejected from housing due to low credit score, despite the fact that his salary as a future Congressperson is a known six-figure value.

Once society has deemed you too poor to be useful, it is hard to escape that designation even if you make it out.

Re: Thousands trapped on Pine Ridge burn clothes for warmth in wake of storm

#206

Post by abledon »

soVeryTired wrote: post #200
phkahler wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> For example, your grandmother from your moms side technically made the egg cells that you were born from. That can't be right. Grandma gave mom a single cell. Mom's ovaries with grandpa's DNA too produced the egg leading to me. Or is there some element I'm not aware of that make it more like stated above?

I guess the egg cell you came from was made inside your grandma when your mom was an embryo in her. So the the cell was technically made inside your grandma’s body.

isn't the mother just providing the nourishment for the fetus to grow inside her? and the fetus itself, takes the nourishment, and actually producing the eggs inside itself?

So technically I don't think we can say the grandma is making the eggs directly, but has assisted in the fetus' creation, and then provided the nutrients/environment for the egg creation that the fetus itself makes (which yes, can influence things w/ the generational trauma science coming out...).

Re: Thousands trapped on Pine Ridge burn clothes for warmth in wake of storm

#207

Post by survirtual »

bombcar wrote: post #156
mindslight wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 3 day reserve battery for the house ... All my heating and cooling would be electrical I don't think you've run the numbers here, at all. Battery storage that can provide off-grid heat-pump heating for a single dead-of-winter design night is bordering on impractical. Creating a buffer that could last 3 whole days (4-5x the size) would be blatantly prohibitive. Batteries only make sense for daily cycling to deal wit…

And three days is nothing when you could be without power for a week or more.

That statement was in a context of a paragraph about solar for wealthy people / upper middle class on a site with tech people who, coincidentally, near universally fall in that category.

If you have solar, you won’t ever go 3 days without some energy generation. The 3 days of battery is mainly a buffer for night time when solar is offline.

Re: Thousands trapped on Pine Ridge burn clothes for warmth in wake of storm

#208

Post by Ericson2314 »

Aeolun wrote: post #130
brookst wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thank you for the context. It’s a little cringey to read all of the comparatively wealthy and privileged comments that boil down to “why didn’t they just spend lots of money on equipment and supplies.”

Another question is why they all still live there?

imagine a ghetto but instead of being in a major city like Venice it is 1000s of miles away from any real economic opportunity.

Re: Thousands trapped on Pine Ridge burn clothes for warmth in wake of storm

#209

Post by yjftsjthsd-h »

PenguinCoder wrote: post #145
Avicebron wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also proper organization of the wood, I have a wood stove (had one growing up as well) and learning how to build a little pyramid or log cabin like structure around something flammable helps a lot to circulate air allowing the fire to spread to larger pieces of wood. EDIT: old newspaper is good, I often use "junk mail" as long as it doesn't contain any plastic, where I am stores will still send out some paper flyers.

Don't discount using dryer lint and left over cooking grease as a starter. I have a woodstove at the house, and I use both to get it going. Left over bacon grease on a few paper towels with dryer lint around/on top of it, and a few smaller pieces of soft wood like pine. Larger/heaver wood on top and behind it like oak. Make sure to also pre-heat the exhaust vent pipe, get a draft of air going.

> Make sure to also pre-heat the exhaust vent pipe, get a draft of air going.

How does one do that?

Re: Thousands trapped on Pine Ridge burn clothes for warmth in wake of storm

#210

Post by x0x0 »

xyzelement wrote: post #96
jethkl wrote: post #94

From TFA: “Our wood pile remains inaccessible.” They have wood but they cannot reach it to make deliveries to people in the area. Several decades ago, I recall driving along I90 in SD a few days after a large storm, and we saw drifts as tall as the highway underpasses. It was incredible. Driven snow takes on a texture that is different from powder, more like soft concrete. When the snow is sufficiently deep, there is…

I am sure I don't understand the nuances of this situation but it seems a major failure of foresight and your emergency supplies should be stored so that they are accessible where they are needed if shit hits the fan.

Not sure how they can deliver firewood when the roads are impassible. And in very heavy snowfall -- esp dry powder that you get when the air is, and stays, very cold -- you'll continue to get significant amounts of snow on the roads long after it stops snowing as the wind blows it onto the road.

Additionally, a well-maintained suv with 4wd and snow tires isn't a cheap thing to own and maintain.

And if you get your car stuck somewhere with wind chills dipping to -50F, dying of hypothermia is a possible and/or likely outcome.

You can really tell who has never lived through a serious winter.

Post reply on HN