Preppers: Summer Maintenance at the Bug Out Location
Kevin Felts 05.30.18
For those of us who have a remote bug out location, summer can be a time of work, frustration, and heat exhaustion. Summer is supposed to be a time for swimming, boating, fishing, and other fun recreational activities. However, summer is also a time when the grass grows, vines take over, and wasp build their nest.
Some people may visit the camp once every few weeks, or once every few months. Upon arriving, chances are the grass is going to be a foot tall and the edge of the cabin overgrown with weeds.
While the kid play in the creek, the adults time is split between keeping an eye on the kids, cleaning, cutting the grass and weed eating.
Dealing With Grass and Weeds
My preferred weed eater is the Husqvarna 128LD. This is a two-stroke gas powered weed eater which is suitable for most tasks. The head is interchangeable with other parts, such as a steel blade for cutting heavy weeds. The steel blade makes short work of oak and sweet gum tree sprouts.
Sometimes we get what we pay for, and includes lawnmowers. Depending on how much land the cabin sits on, go ahead and spend the extra money to get a quality lawnmower.
To help prevent weeds from growing around the cabin, maybe spray the edge with a grass and weed killer.
Pests
One of the most aggravating things about summer is when someone is trying to enjoy an ice cream, and a red wasp stings them just for the fun of it.
Ever wonder why red wasp are red? I think it has something to do with them coming straight from hell. It seems their only purpose is to sting people for no reason. I bet when the wasp gets back to the nest, all the wasp share stories of who they stung and high five each other.
Because of the red wasp sadistic (maybe even demented) behavior, they are dealt with in a manner which expresses extreme prejudice. If there was a way to buy military grade wasp spray, by golly I would buy it.
Then there are the occasional rats and mice which find their way into the cabin. My family usually leaves rat poison under the sink, and along the edge of where the counter top meets the wall. This is one reason why the counter tops are wiped down with bleach upon arriving at the cabin. You never know what kind of critter walked across the counter top while the family was gone.
Final Thoughts
There have been times when I spent and entire Saturday cutting the grass and weed eating around the cabin. The less my family went to the cabin, the worse the grass and were were.
By making more frequent trips the grass and weeds were kept at a manageable level. The less time I spent cleaning up around the cabin mean more time with the kids.
