Preppers

[dart1963]

http://www.sepsllc.com/#!ec-prepcon-iii/cazn

Had a chance to go check this out this last weekend. Lots of good info...

Now, I'm not a doomsday prepper, but I do have real needs as I live in a rural area and have been stuck in my house for days without power. After weathering a snow storm many years ago and being stuck for five days, I quickly went out and bought a generator, you don't realize how much electricity you use until you don't have it.

I keep water on hand, but realize that I need more, with a family of six, water goes quickly. and see below, I have yet to wire up my well for off grid power.

My short list of stuff I have/need more of:

Water... at just drinking, a gallon a day for say a week, I'd need 42 gallons, add in restroom flushes, sanitary use and that number goes up significantly. I will be looking into adding some water bricks.

Gas - Cant run the generator without it. I have two 5 gal. containers I rotate the gas with, use them to fill up the bike so it's always fresh. But probably need to add 2-3 more or a larger container. My generator will go through 5 gallons in about a day and a half.

Food - Simple food that can be cooked on the grill or over a camp stove. We typically have several weeks of food stored already, but I may add into my mix some longer term storage meat items... canned tuna, beef, ham etc... veggies I am well stocked on.

Generator - I can run many things on mine, got a 7000W peak, 5785 normal gen. Can run fridge/deep freeze, window AC, oil filled heater tv, video (games/movies to keep us occupied), lights, etc. One thing that I do need to do is see about setting up my well pump... with that, my stored water requirements would not be as critical.

Four wheel drive vehicle would be handy, but just not practical for me right now... would be just one more vehicle I'd have to maintain.

Anyone else think about these things? Ever get stuck for days and realize how much you aren't prepared for emergencies?

 

[adamo3957]

Lol, in a modern day and age with no imminent wars why should bee be concerned? Saying that I keep a breakout bag packed in the house at all times so who am I to judge...

My break out bag carries enough for me and my wife to camp in relative comfort, gas for cooking as well as utility knife , tinder and a couple of quick rations...

If I was to be put in a true survival situation, long term on one spot is not my thing. Hence mobile gear, also to me first place I'd head is the woods and as far away from people as I can, if I was to stop long term in an area that's where I'd build shelter to suit, and source food from the local area...

 

[98Deathmage]

My house did used to have a gasoline generator and one REALLY bad hurricane swept the east coast and knocked out electricity for weeks. And this is in the middle of peak summer so you need a generator. The are some major downsides to a gas generator.
1. Its very inefficient compared to other gas fuel types.
2. Even my small 10 Kw was consuming 100$ in fuel per day.
3. Needs to have regular mantainence even with no use.
4. Needs to be started and ran weekly to keep it ran-able when you need it.
5. If gasoline is in a shortage(like during the storm I experienced) you may run out of fuel or may be too expensive.

What I would suggest is looking into a propane generator with a tank. I have a 15Kw generator with a 7 day supply of propane which gives my fuel supplier enough time to reach us before fuel runs out.

 

[FastFreddy]

I've got a generator, solar panel and inverter for my marshall stack and Ibanez RG, so I'll be alright.

and fridge for the beers.

 

[Blue-Sun]

Many years ago I lived in Maryland, somewhat off the "beating path". A major snow storm came through and closed the roads for almost a week. At some point the ice/snow brought down some trees that snapped a power line up the street leaving my little area without electricity.

Oddly, I had just filled up all six of my 5 gallon Kerosene cans, as I burned my kero-sun heater to keep my electric bill down during the colder times. So I had 30 gallons of kerosene to keep my home warm and my pipes from freezing. I was quite thankful that I had that much kerosene in stock.

I also had a small propane cook stove and an old time camping coffee percolator, so I was able to make my morning coffee outside on the cook stove.

Being in a rural area, I had already stocked up on a good supply of canned food. Beans, canned veggies, and canned spaghettios were among of a few things I kept in stock, and when you are really hungry, spaghettios are delicious!!

The water still worked as I guess the public water supply was gravity fed...

Kerosene Heater (and kerosene), coffee percolator, small propane cook stove (w/ some propane) and canned spaghettios (manual can opener), those are my suggestions...

Just my two cents...

 

[dart1963]

yeah, we luckily had a kerosene heater that year as well... closed off all the rooms except living room and we all huddled in there.... and 5-10 gal of kerosene seems to go a long ways if we're just heating up two small rooms.

we were just looking at the spaghettios! was thinking the same, we don't have an electric can opener.. can't find a good one that lasts... so no issues there, and I do have camp stoves and grills, put them things to use often.