AlleyGator wrote:

> ~patches~ > wrote:
>
>
>>We live in an area where the power goes out quite often during storms.
>>Yesterday a storm blew up and I knew it was going to be a dilly. I was
>>planning a pot of chili for dinner
>
>
> Sorry you had to go through the mess, but it sounds like you made the
> best of it. After a couple of past disasters and before the y2k
> scare, I became a sort of "survivalist". The main reason the power

It really wasn't all that bad since we had full tummies, entertainment,
and supplies. Funny thing was I could use my laptop if I really needed
to for music or internet but no one in their right mind would connect
with lightening in the area. We chose not to. I was ready to read a
Harry Potter - my latest interest - ebook on my PDA but thought the
company with DH was better time spent. I have to say that we are more
of the survivalist type.

> issue came to be number one is that my house is built over a spring.
> (Kicks self in butt a thousand times). We keep a large supply of food
> and several hundred gallons of water available at all times (spent 2
> weeks without water - not fun). Anyway, the spring issue forced me to
> commit funds that I really didn't want to let go of. I installed a

How do you store that amount of water?

> fairly large solar system to power auxilary water pumps, amateur radio
> gear and I wired 12 volt fluorescent lighting fixtures throughout the
> place. I have inverters in case the need for 110 arises (charging
> batteries, etc). Besides the normal flashlights and candles and

We don't have inverters yet. DH was leary of the battery blow-up
problem and needing an extra battery shed but we have a lot of things
solar including batter chargers even for AAA, D, and C size. They sit
in the sunny windows charging up the batteries. For most lighting we use
the coleman florescent, candles and oil lanterns. I like the lanterns
myself. We have a solar powered/windup radio so we can get local radio
stations.

> whatnot, I felt the need to further supplement lighting. I got a
> baygen windup lantern, the solar powered lighting and a number of
> Krill electroluminescent lightsticks from www.kriana.com. Go for the
> Standard green 180. Once your night vision is going, it will
> illuminate a 30 by 15 foot room with ease and run 180 hours on 2 AA
> batteries. For the heat and cooking needs - there's the fireplace,
> gas grill, charcoal grill, 2 Kerosene heaters (great for heating
> soups, beans etc as long as you leave the lid on to keep the kerosene
> taste out). Coleman style backback stove, coffee-can chimney stove,
> standalone propane burner. If all else fails, I could dig a pit and
> build a plain old campfire. All I'm saying is, yeah, you're right,

Yep we don't have a fireplace but we have a coleman cookstove, gas
grill, wood, and a firepit. We have a tripod for the firepit to hang
heavy pots, a grill, and a sandwich maker. We won't starve that's for sure!

> cooking without power in winter is no fun - on the other hand, I hope
> any disaster happens in winter because the issue of food storage
> becomes a non-issue. So far it's all been in hot weather and it was a
> real pain. The other point is that you'd be amazed how resourceful

That is the truth! When the power goes out in the summer is when I
worry the most. I'd hate to think of my freezers ending up with rotting
food.
> you become when you're forced to do so, even if you haven't planned at
> all. I think most people (as long as some sort of "home base" is
> still intact and not completely washed away) have sort of an inate
> problem solving and survival capability. BTW, if you DO happen to do
> the planning and preparing like we did, you absolutely MUST do test
> runs on everything. I found some huge problems in the original setup

Yep did all that which is why we don't get too hung up on *you can't get
out of the driveway for 4 days because the snowplow hasn't cleared your
driveway* or even like yesterday. I knew I could easily put a meal on
the table and quite frankly thought most around me could too if they
used a little imagination. I don't need to cook to feed us.


> we had. OTOH, you can live a long time with extra clothes, a few
> 2-litre bottles of water and some canned green beans if that's all you
> have available. The worst aspect of huge disasters like the one we
> just witnessed is that no matter how much people planned, it was all
> washed away and useless. You can only"do what you can do and no
> more".

I thought of that too. I am prepared way more than most but if God
forbid it was suddenly washed away what would I do? Well, I think I
would turn toward intuition and get myself out of the area. With the
y2k I learned a lot about survival as to edible weeds/plants. I'd
gather whatever important items I would need for survival - matches,
candles, flashlight, solar battery charger, dried foods (I have a ton of
these), water container, and that type of stuff. A change of clothes
would be nice but not paramount. Being a gardener I might grab a few
seeds but then I would hit the road.
>
> --
> The Doc says my brain waves closely match those of a crazed ferret.
> At least now I have an excuse.