One Handy Item for Your Preps
When Things Go to Heck, Have a Hand Truck
The Organic Prepper brings to mind just a bit of nostalgia from before there were video games: Down here, we always called them a ‘Dolly.’ As a kid growing up on a dusty farm, that old red dolly was not only a tool but an endless source of fun. It was at various times a firetruck and at others a spaceship we rode down terrace rows stacked four kids deep. It also hauled enough gear miles into the woods for the most ambitious campout. We never needed nintendo… - DD
…Many years ago, I had the opportunity to use a hand truck that belonged to my building when I moved out. I noticed how much it helped to have it around. I could pile boxes on it and easily manoeuvre them around, even up the moving truck ramp. I noted these features, filing them away for future reference.
Fast forward a decade, and I’m living my dream out on a small homestead. One of the first things I bought when I moved onto my land was a hand truck. I found it on an online auction. It is a well-made one, with chipping paint and a veneer of usefulness on it. Today, I smile at my prescience, as I bought this baby well before my back injury. I just knew somehow that it would be useful.
On my homestead on my own, it has allowed me to do all kinds of outlandish things that you might imagine were impossible. I built a deck for my off-grid tiny home, moving huge, solid hardwood skids into place using my hand truck. It is amazing how much of a wide load it can handle!
Before my back injury, I used to haul around cement blocks by hand like it was nothing….Ah….the good old days! Now, no matter how short a distance they are being moved, I go and get my trusty hand truck and slide it…
Geesh... I've lived in this house for close to 25 year and one of the things that was part of the sale was a hand truck, as shown. I NEVER STOP USING THE THING... Pellets for the pellet stove, putting the A/C unit in place, New windows? They're in place and ready to go this construction season.., Take the dock down to lake side (and back in the Fall).... There's that hand truck...
An innocuous item you'd never think twice about - it's damn near essential