“Wouldn’t You Like to Be a Prepper, Too?”
An old prune-juice-based soft drink commercial began running through my head as soon as I fired up my laptop today. With attribution, “I’m a Prepper, he’s a Prepper, she’s a Prepper…wouldn’t you like to be a Prepper too?”
While I was catching up on political news an article by Mona Charen on TownHall put the matter beautifully. The power went out, the wood pile is low and buried in snow, her family is making coffee clumsily in the fireplace, last night they burned an old table, and the kitchen chairs are the backup line of defense. And this is in modern day America in what is clearly an “upscale” neighborhood.
The Editor of Taipan Daily is apologizing because travel conditions prevent most of the employees from making it into work…and the firewalls on their computer system prevent work from being done at home. Protection can be as expensive in unexpected situations as it is to prevent the possible which we hope unlikely, no?
Round Three of the Great Snow Storm of 2010 is headed towards the political and financial bases of our country, and in some areas workers had just barely gotten down to street level before the second onslaught of white stuff. By this time budgets and crews are strained…and it just may be there is a limit to how much sand and salt was stored. That’s the problem: most prepare, at best, for average conditions, and are faced with the storm of the century eventually.
Whiskey & Gunpowder is a respectable financial publication, not a survival blog, so I cringe over how frequently the most useful thing upon which to comment is the necessity to be prepared. Still…why do we fuss with researching stocks, trends, P/E, social conditions, foreign affairs, and political threats to our economic well-being? It would be so easy to buy government savings bonds and sit back and watch the pennies mount up while rewriting old songs. “Green shoots are my heart’s delight…”
The answers are obvious: because we can’t trust anyone else to look after our best interests. Because what is occurring in Greece, Spain, and China has bearing on our financial health. Because at any given time there are winners and losers and he who sits and does nothing has a better chance of being on the bottom of the pile. Our physical well-being is at least as important as the status of our portfolios, collections, and bank balances.
It shocks us, in our post-modern world, to be at the mercy of the elements. Live with it, as humanity has done since the days of the Neanderthal. Snow storms, tornadoes, hurricanes, earth quakes, droughts, and tsunamis are beyond our control.
Some have faith in government and will demand to know why the ten dollar taxi ride to the airport costs a hundred bucks during a vicious snow storm the city is battling futilely: because the drivers willing to face the conditions can charge that. Prospective passengers have a choice: pay up or stay where they are. It is their decision whether to go back to their expensive hotels and costly restaurant meals or chalk it up as a cost of doing business and get out of that Nordic vision of hell. There is no contest in my mind whether to pony up without a blink or risk getting caught in a hotel which may have a generator and sufficient fuel and wonder if the “just in time” inventory will make it to room service. I have been in Rome when the hotel workers and others were on strike and there was no elevator/room service or even hot water. Horrors, there wasn’t even valet parking. Chortle…John and I were camping that week because we had a pair of Old English Sheepdogs with us, at 3% of hotel cost, and all we suffered was cold water.
All of our lives being without the necessities of life has been something that happens in third world countries or temporarily to strangers in New Orleans. A trite but true observation is, “That was then, this is now.” One of the things that “fell through the cracks” of the infamous “social safety net” and absurd regulations to make dirt clean enough to eat (something only Haitians do) is the ability to keep city streets clear and power on when Global Warming dumps five or so feet of white stuff on power lines and closes roads. I haven’t taken time to find out the conjectured reasons a power plant under construction blew up recently, but while that may not be attributable to snow eventually something will give way from the accumulation of weight. Snow is a lot heavier than it looks when falling to the ground so prettily. You will be horrified by how quickly your cozy seventy degree house can fall into the forties.
Some of us only need to be caught once in a situation–however unlikely–to take precautions ever after. It has been sixty years since we had the ice storm of the last century in Brazos County and were confined to the ranch for over a week. All roads to town were closed, power lines were down, Daddy hauled water from our artesian well daily using the tractor, and Mother cooked some pretty good meals in the fireplace. What really saved us was having two big diesel floor furnaces. When we moved to Kansas I already knew the drill: keep the larder and wood pile stacked high and don’t go outside until that stuff melts.
Signature chuckle…now that I count, four times in my life–five, if you count the tornado in Wichita in summer–I have been in situations where only the caution I had learned when I was ten kept my family safe and comfortable for the week it took to get the ravages of nature under reasonable control–and now we’re facing “man-made disasters,” too. On an average every twelve to fifteen years something has threatened to disturb the tenor of my life, and in every situation prior planning has prevented very unpleasant possibilities. In all of them other people died.
I’m kicking myself now because our “new” gas stove (1938 Wedgewood in mint condition!) has not been installed yet because the new kitchen hasn’t gotten that far. Our safety backup to central H/A at present is one big gas wall furnace for the bedroom wing and one fireplace…so it behooves me to go to town today and buy some stovepipe so that the two small wood-burning heaters can be put into service quickly if we lose power. ARE you aware that even your gas appliances may not work if they have electronic ignition? A sensible precaution for those of you in the snow zone, particularly, would be to go turn on one stove burner now and turn it down to simmer…although there was that time in Ft. Sill when the heads of the gas wells froze…The simple and very inexpensive act of being certain you can have gas heat at least in the kitchen may save your lives and will at the very least provide a lot of comfort if you all end up on sleeping bags and comforters scattered in front of the dishwasher, refrigerator, and sink. If you have gas logs light ‘em up now, cowboys. They’ll add quite a bit of cheer. At the very least go pull all the circuit breakers and find out which gas appliances work when there is no power. My darling Charles adds that many such things have a thermocouple which must be heated and to pick up one of the long gas “matches” used with fireplaces and grills.
When the chips and the power grid are down you, your mind, and the precautions you have taken are all that stand between you and at least misery–and quite possibly death. Half the year disasters lead to rigor mortis from extreme heat or cold. Your all-electric MacMansion isn’t the refuge you probably thought it was.
Take advantage of your snow days to improve your chances of survival even in the “best” of times. Right now sustainable heat and supplies of food are most urgent, but I wouldn’t take water for granted, either. Go fill the bathtub in the third bathroom and all of the empty milk jugs (SURELY you save those for times of need?) and big pots you have. You can always use the water later for something else–and no, you cannot melt snow efficiently. Mountain climbers and Artic explorers learned long ago that the heat necessary to produce much water is inordinate.
Use this break in your work routine to inventory what you have and monitor consumption. How are you fixed for candles, fire logs, a Coleman lantern and stove (and fuel), matches, and even hot cocoa mix and marshmallows? Have you put off refilling the prescriptions that are low? Whatever your idea of the indispensible is, other than the ability to keep yourself and the hound puppies fed, warm, and watered, do you have it?
I hate to be dreary, far less a bore, but in time the snow will melt and the death toll will be tabulated. Going on past experience, a lot of people will die in the next few days because they went their happy grasshopper ways. Don’t let it happen to any of you, please. If the only way to get to the nearest grocery store is put on your pony skin boots with the Ho Chi Minh treads and pull your child’s sled, please go now. Don’t count yourselves “safe” unless you know that you can survive at least five days without electricity or resupply of anything including reading material. You Shooters are too dear to me not to nag you to do what is sensible even if it isn’t convenient.
Please?
Regards,
Linda Brady Traynham
February 11, 2010
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Linda Brady Traynham
Linda Brady Traynham is a former editor and analytical project report writer and is now a Whiskey & Gunpowder field correspondent on a ranch in the Republic of Texas. She studied Counseling at Boston University and got her Masters degree in Philosophy from the University of Hawaii.
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Enjoy your articles on being prepared. At 87yrs, I have been theough a few “inconveniences”. Most fun was in Hot Springs Vge. Ar about 12 yrs ago. Lots of trees, ice storm, wires down. Lasted 5 days. Had a fireplace, but my ashtma coudn’t handle the monoxide. Lots of candles, flashlights, clothes, blankets. All appliances electric. No gas service other than propane permitted. We had enough food in place. Kept freezer and refrig closed until necesssary. Had a charcoal grill on our deck. Always plenty charcoal on hand. It doesn’t grow stale. Cooked meals, coffee, tea, If we got cold,we went out to the car and ran it, car port, until we warmed and got the latest news on the radio. Always filled up at half tank level.Read and played cards during daylight. Didn’t like to shave with cold water. She liked my beard. We have 5 children and 10 grandchildren.All well educated, bright,productive/
Fatherly oncern prompted me to list preparatory actions to take now for “when, not if” we are attacked again. Keep your tanks full in case you need to go to a safer area, have plenty cash, including coins with you. ATMs, credit cards, unusable, checks? Got to be kidding. I even gave them pre 1965 quarters, just in case. The usual stock up on food and meds. Cell phones, computers, etc kept charged. They are all techies. Central meting place if communications are out. Lots of fuel for fireplaces and grills.I have had a wonderful life with my partner of 60 years until 2 years ago. My only concern now is my country,which I try to keep on track and my family. Thanks,Linda for letting an old man share his thoughts. With great respect, HMC.
I am a prepper. I am amazed that most folks still don’t prep. Heck I got them in my family. Especially after all the storms and FEMA not going out to help. There are lots of great reasourceses on the net. I’d recommend ferfal’s surviving in Argentina and Preparedness Pro. Good practical info, without all the conspiracy nonsense.
Good solid info from folks that walk the walk or have lived through an “Economic Meltdown”.
* Don’t use milk jugs to store your water. They breakdown and leach. Use your old soda bottles.
Howdy Rancherlady,
Before the storm this past weekend here in DE, my dimwit neighbor failed to stock up on two of his favorite things, cigs and beer. So, as I’m shoveling out when the storm ended, he’s trudging to the liquor store up the street, only to find it closed.
Then, at 4pm, out comes the snowblower that his father in law gave him. Do you think that he took the time to test it before the storm….? Nope. Year old gas in it, all gummed up in the carb.
So, I’m dug out, and despite the driving ban, I go out for a drive. Just a mile down the road and then back to get a look around.
Into the house, off with the boots and sweaty jeans and sweatshirt. Time for a little ‘This Old House” on the tube. Full dark now, a knock at the door……… neighbor……. on with the wet jeans and a pair of sneakers, open the door. “Hey, can I borrow some gas….”
I stopped mentioning anything prep related to this guy some months ago, but methinks he already knows too much…… I will not be making that mistake ever again.
One other thing. You’ve mentioned on more than one occasion that you pick up used trailers for $50/ft. Are your talking about mobile homes or travel trailers?
Uhhh, Linda
I remember when our family first moved to northern Canada from Vancouver. I was 12 and my sister was 15, we loved to be outside and sleep in the tent that had a wooden floor and short wooden sides. No heat, just fresh air and lots of blankets plus hot water bottles for each of our beds. Well, Mother finally laid down the law in December when the temperature dipped to less than -30d F, get in the house or else! Did we ever complain and snivel at that, we liked it outside in the cold! Part of it was we could talk half the night until sleep peacefully came, no parents telling us to quit yacking and go to sleep now stuff. Wow and what a great feeling waking up in the morning, fully refreshed and energized. A few years later when my sister moved away my buddies and I would drift home sometime after midnight on a Saturday, full of beer and there we would go bypassing the house. Out to the unheated summer cabin, -30d, -35d, -40d, it did not matter and no hot water bottles either. Lots of blankets though and young metabolisms kept us warm and toasty plus the best sleep ever.
Linda, snow is a relative thing, by itself it is not harmful, only extreme cold can kill or prolonged exposure to more moderate cold can kill without proper clothing. I still miss sleeping in that tent as it is long gone and I am a bit sisified now fifty years later.
The one reader’s comment on milk jugs is a good one, the worst thing about milk jugs is that minute amounts of milk stay in the pores of the plastic and then rot which causes food poisoning, something not compatible with hypothermia. Great read again Linda, but no hugs, the Canadian Barbarian. Canada North
Dear Lynne: Thanks for the message and another vote for reading what the gentleman from Argentina has to say. We haven’t got any old soda bottles because we don’t drink soft drinks. (This here’s iced tea country.) However, most people drink milk or bottled water, so I was suggesting something they were likely to have on hand. In times of crisis a lot of people do NOT think–and Charles and myself include myself in that category, having gone to bed hungry one night when three trees laden with perfectly-ripened fruit were literally outside our b&b door and we knew we were welcome to them. We fixated on traditional solutions to the problem. Every one of us who makes preparations for any event, be it natural or manmade, increases the chances for others to survive. Perhaps the hundred-year-old record-breaking snow on the East coast will cause a lot of people to think about the benefits of being prepared for the unexpected. Linda
Dear Jack: travel trailers and motor homes. I haven’t checked the price of mobile homes in several years, but back then a used one in good condition could be purchased in my area for about $10/square foot. I see the easily-movable vehicles as useful for many things other than vacations, including guest quarters, storage containers, and preppers’ beloved “bug out vehicles.” I don’t ever expect to become a refugee, but if I do I know I won’t want to be pushing a wheelbarrow! Linda
Great story, Jack, and a very good idea not mentioning our preparations. Unfortunately I write about ours and it is all too easy for neighbors and even strangers to catch a glimpse when your garage door is open. For that matter, many stores track our purchases even if we pay in cash. The BATF, for example, monitors sales of tobaco and alcohol at Sam’s, and Sam’s keeps accounts through membership cards. Wow, that’s one dumb neighbor, huh? Anyone who didn’t stock essentials like booze, gas, and cigarettes probably didn’t think of dog food, either…regards, Linda
Dear Dr. H: Strange are the ways of the SPAM filter which ate my reply to you quite a few hours ago but let me answer Jack twice and Lynn once. Thanks again for telling us of your preparations and experiences, and if my response doesn’t pop up by Monday I’ll answer your charming letter again, then. Cordially, Linda
Seems odd to us in the Near North to read of these travails but then we have a surplus of winter as a matter of course and folks in these parts (SD) accept that they are likely to be snowed in at some point during the season, maybe more than once.
The usual result is that we throw another log in the stove, light the oil lamps, tune up the guitar and banjo and mix up some hot toddies-suddenly it’s 1910! Relax and enjoy.
Nice. I don’t use long matches for the gas thermocouple stuff, though. Just a regular match clamped in a small
vise-grips. Even regular pliers or small needle-nosed will do, but you have to concentrate more. That’s why I prefer the vise-grips!
TN…James? No, you mention SD. How homey your vision is. We spent a lot of my childhood gathered around the piano (Mother and I both played) singing…popped corn in the fireplace or the kind you shake in a pot on the stove…played Parchesi, Bridge, Backgammon, Hearts, and Dominoes…built things like the toy sail boat I wanted to sail on our lakes…One of the very best parts of being our age (Charles and I have 142 years between us) is that we remember what America WAS, and know what it COULD be, again. Other than principles, the two things that keep me focused and writing are the memories my wonderful readers share. The music of my youth…classical, Hawaiian, Opera, Spanish…making things rather than buying them…the contempt I learned for “keeping up with the Joneses.” Hah. Let THEM try to keep up with US. Money does not buy try happiness; it only buys great toys that turn out not to be so great in the long run. A note like yours triggers so many wonderful memories, and even makes the possibility of The Greater Depression sound “good.” If it leads to greater family cohesiveness and a sense of genuine appreciation for what we have it will be well worth it. Obama would sneer at our income, but was anyone ever as blessed as Charles and I? We have love, laughter, life on the ranch, researching together for the articles I write (and he could do just as well if I could coax him to learn to type well), serenity, and reader mail! I just doesn’t get much better than that, short of being able to find my waistline again. Thanks very much for writing. Linda
Steverino, cutie: great suggestion…although for a buck at the dollar store you could buy a nice, simple solution through “candle lighters.” Isn’t life wonderful? My darling Charles couldn’t stand the suspense any longer and handed me a long, slim, red gift box. I’m a very old hand at this, and only three things come in boxes that shape, all good. Nope, it wasn’t a genuine fill with ink Parker pen or silver or gold pencil. It wasn’t even an addition to my beloved bracelet collection. It was a honkin’ big disk of gold embellished with a hand-made Virgin Mary and some graceful “greenery,” or branches, and a nice, heavy matching chain. Oooh! Forget the roses, fellows, and get your lady some carnations which will last five times as long and a golden bauble! She’ll love it, her friends will be envious, you’ll be a hero, and if times get bad enough and you haven’t prepared you can swap it for five gallons of gas or maybe a carton of MRE. Love to all, Linda
Dear TN: Beats me why the SPAM filter ate my reply to you, but let the one to Steverino go through. As Jimmy Durante always said, “Thanks for the memories.” Linda
Linda,
Love your thoughts, you are really on the mark with this one. I was wondering if you might speculate on something that is bothering me. I cant help feel similarities between our (USA) and Weirmar Germany 1920′s situation. And yes I hear about the green shoots, but I see debt increasing on an exponential curve. Someday that debt will have to be paid. Perhaps the difference is we have our military all over the world making sure oil is purchased in petrodollars, and maybe we have better computers modeling and monitering the system, but here’s the question, if the plug were to be pulled, and the world’s economy crushed, whats the average guy to do?
I sure hope you’re stocking upon the 3 B’s. I have read that people get kind of funny after they miss three meals. We saw Katrina, take a look at Haiti. If we have an economic adjustment I think it will make 2009 look like a stroll in the park. Anyway hope you are prepping, I am.
Dave C
Dear Dave: Great letter, thanks, and I like your thought about the Weimar Republic: I see two similarities immediately, not including the hyperinflation most of us expect! First, in a very real sense much of our economic problem evolved from a close parallel to “reparations.” No, we aren’t paying money as a penalty of having waged war, but over sixty years of arterial bleeding via foreign aid and the mess with bloated pension and medical benefits has had the same result. See Governor Christie’s recent speech. Second, when a country is failing there is a very strong tendency to blame those to whom the money is going. More letter; if I continue the SPAM filter will probably snag this.
Dave II: It would be a lot cheaper to pay market price for oil than to maintain troops all over the place, and we aren’t even being reimbursed for the oil we use, far less making a profit. Yesterday I read that half of the police in Allentown, Rhode Island, had been deployed to Afghanistan! The more hopeful of those who are not willfully blind are more inclined to put the breakdown as “if/when.” What’s the average guy who has not prepared to do? Turn thug or starve, I suppose. I’m amused that the MRE’s we sent to Haiti so lavishly are on the black market already. We simply cannot trust local governments anywhere to pass on supplies; more always gets stolen than to those in need.
We were without power for 8 days in January 2009. Although we had a generator, we had no water during the January ice storm because the generator was not wired in to the house, and we are not on city water. Once I wired it into the house, my furnace fan now pumps my gas heat through the house, and my well pumps water. Last obvious problem: electric water heater. I changed it to gas. My utilities have gone down substantially, because gas is cheaper than electricity. I have also installed a fireplace with gas logs which we LOVE! It also needs no electricity to heat the house.
Lesson learned: it takes over 2 gallons of water to flush a toilet. Trucking water to the house in 5 gallon buckets or coolers is a real pain. It is also heavy to carry into the house. Also, in a SHTF situation, no gasoline will be available. The gas stations were knocked out due to no electricity. And hot showers and hot meals are wonderful!
Stores were stripped of milk, eggs, and batteries immediately. Stock up.
Laundries with power were beehives of activity, and were quickly located and inundated by those with no power.
Fortunately, even due to my lack of preparedness, I had a rental house open in a nearby town that never lost power. I was able to use it to take hot showers, and, after a few nights, eventually slept there until the power came back on.
It was eerie coming down my road at night in winter with no electricity. The neighbors had all left to stay in hotels, leaving the road wide open to looters. It was pitch black. Fortunately no looting took place, but I spent several cold nights here to prevent it.
The neighbors threw out lots of food due to spoilage. My dogs approved.
A generator is priceless. Until the neighbors gave up and left, we loaned our generator to keep refrigerators and freezers cold.
Next, I will buy another propane tank and a gas stove, and we will be better prepared for a Schumer hit the fan situation.
Other ice storm lessons learned:
1. Several KY cities lost water once their water tanks ran out. No electricity to replenish them. Many areas in KY were out of power for over 4 weeks. In winter.
2. Today’s children do not do well in adverse conditions. Complaints: lack of immediate access to video games; difficulty in food prep (microwave only); 40 inside degrees in the morning. Lots of whining.
3. Freeze-proofing your house for your absence: Toilets will freeze and break. Drain water out of your house through the lowest outside hydrant and water heater. Pour RV antifreeze in toilet bowls, because regular antifreeze will degrade the rubber seals in the toilet.
4. Make provision for your pets.
5. Your satellite and computer systems will work fine with a generator. You may want to invest in a good surge protector.
6. While a 6kw generator may not run everything in a house at the same time, if it is wired in, you can flip breakers as needed and run most of what you need. Maybe not all at the same time.
7. Stolen generators become an issue. Secure them.
8. Deep cycle RV batteries, run with inverters, can provide long-term power for lights, refrigerator and small items without constantly running your generator. No noise. Buy these batteries, inverters and solar panel chargers or regular chargers for about $500 total from specialty battery stores.
9. A 5 gallon generator tank only lasts about 10 or 12 hours, depending on the load. In a true SHTF situation, it is prohibitively expensive and impractical. Hence, the advisability of deep-cycle batteries above. Redundancy is key.
10. My chainsaw was handy to cut my way out of the driveway and cut up downed trees on my acreage for pulling with my tractor. This took several solid days of hard work.
11. There is the stress of constant motion. With no electricity, even simple tasks consume all your spare time.
12. We have now purchased two 300 gallon fuel tanks: one each for diesel and gasoline. Fuel is used quickly when there is no power. Kerosene goes quickly, also. Long lines formed at local stores at the mere rumor of a kerosene shipment.
13. In a long-term grid-down situation, we would use fuel sparingly. Mainly to recharge batteries.
We enjoy reading your articles, Linda! They are always entertaining and informative.
Wonk in West Tennessee
2010 is the year of the Survivalist.
My mother was a Depression child. My wife calls me Chicken Little. I bought a Lincoln gasoline welder prior to Y2K. She laughed. Now it has 700 hours on it and she says it is one of the smartest purchases we made. When we first started using it we had electric water heater, electric dryer, 2 freezers, refrigerator, deep well and kerosene furnace.It was just big enough to power everything during a power outage. Now we have gas on demand water heater, gas dryer, gas stove,1 efficient freezer and a refrigerator/freezer and a lot of fluorescent light bulbs. I could/should go to a smaller diesel generator as I keep 2 large tanks of kerosene and diesel fuel but the gas is so easy, reliable and relatively cheap, why spend the money? I just checked my deer garden and the deer have been digging in the snow for those tasty brassicas bulbs, my frozen pond is stocked with fish and crawfish, the freezer has striper bass I caught, lamb and goat my wife raised. Oh, it is shrimp season here in Maine, time to buy for the year. Yes, when the lights go out I suffer.
I hear it is hard to get Aladdin lamp parts and a decent shortwave radio. Go figure.
Obama gona hep me get a mortgage an gas fo my car, I voted fo him. Ya, right, the check is in the mail.
Dear Wonk:
May I have your permission to use your excellent letter over on The Texas Ring? This is a superb basic outline that many a family on the eastern seaboard probably wish desperately they had seen long ago. I want to turn it into a dialogue between us, but you get to be the Wise Old Wonk while I agree and add a few coroborating details. My plan is to run the big generator only one hour out of every six to keep frozen goods frozen…and why didn’t your neighbors store food temporarily in boxes on the rafters of their very cold garages, do you suppose? It was plenty cold outside! Four times a day there will be ample power for everything…cooking, video games, vacuuming, washing, recharging batteries…Others, kerosene costs 50% more per gallon than diesel. Plan accordingly! You’re “my” Wonk who “commutes” electronically to a great job on the West coast, right? High regards either way. Linda
Wonk, what a great bunch of info. I’m sorry you had to go through it, but it gives me ideas on what to focus on. I figured about 2 weeks for fuel heating and cooking in the house. I’ll need to correct that to at least 4 weeks. I think that was all I was lacking. But great info nonetheless.
Lynne, I agree on the Wonk, but the most hopeful estimates I have ever seen or heard in the aftermath indicates between three and six weeks minimum following any major disruption of American life. I’m an oddity, perhaps, but my focus can be put simply: “Prepare to thrive, not just survive.” Gentle laughter at myself…my darling Charles and I adore Wasabi mayonnaise, and as fast as our local Kroger’s gets in six jars, we buy them all. A pint of mayo doesn’t go very far. We discovered it about a year ago and were so frustrated we were blending our own. Whoops of joy greeted seeing them on our grocer’s shelf a few weeks ago. Good luck in your prepping.
Hello, Linda and others! Thanks for your kind comments on my post. My first name is Bill.
Sure, there’s nothing copywritten on this. I appreciate your asking, though.
I am about to puchase a solar panel charger for my RV battery. That would keep us in business for a while without having to use my gasoline-powered Subaru howler of a generator. My plan is to eventually have the generator as a back-up only. I have bought a 1500 watt inverter for the RV battery, which powers my refrigerator nicely.
Some folks sniff at gasoline powered generators, and hold to diesel or propane only. Diesel generators will last much longer than gasoline generators. However, I happen to own a gasoline generator, and, with my situation, I am happy with it. Something else to consider: Northern Tool and other suppliers sell generators that are powered by a tractor PTO shaft. 7.2 kw for around $800? Not bad. I like the solar route, for now, due to the quiet. You may not want to advertise your preparedness to those who ain’t.
We have two refrigerators: one mainly for cold beverages (my wine cellar), and the other mainly for foodstuffs. We transferred all the food to one refrigerator for maximum efficiency during the ice storm.
To answer the question you raised regarding food storage for the neighbors: I was able to keep one the their deep freezes cold with a few hours charge per day. The temps ranged anywhere from highs of 40 in the day to lows of 5 degrees at night. Some days were warmer than others; therefore, the thawing. The lady whose deep-freeze I charged kept hers outside in an open tractor shed, so it was easily accessible for me and another neighbor with generators to charge. Another neighbor refused to allow me to charge her inside freezer; she was my dogs’ benefactor. These neighbors are very proud people, who generally vocally protest help. To help these widow ladies, I must just do it, whether mowing their yards from time to time, or clearing snow from their driveways with my tractor. THEN they are very appreciative.
Another point about the locals where I live: they are all good, salt of the earth people, whose ancestors settled my area
in the 1800s. I think that is very important in a crisis situation. Although I am not a local (only 10 years), they have been very good to me and my family.
One point on fuel storage: Of gasoline, diesel, and kerosene, gasoline is the most refined, and kerosene is the least refined. Kerosene can last 10 years, properly treated and stored. Gasoline is okay for 2 years, at the maximum. And that is only with double the recommended amount of StaBil or equivalent fuel stabilizer. Metal containers will store fuel longer than plastic containers, which tends to degrade more quickly. You must cycle through your fuel stocks to avoid spoilage.
Diesel is somewhere in the middle, around 5 years. And propane or natural gas is immortal.
As you can see from my previous article, the usual standards for water storage promulgated by ready.gov, Red Cross, et alia are woefully inadequate. Without a well and the means for pumping water, your life will become miserable quickly. Sure, you can survive with their standards. However, you will flush not one toilet a day.
I DO have a great job. I telecommute a bit, but not to the West Coast. Most of my work is within a 50 mile radius.
I do not visit the sites of my posts very often. Hence, the delay in responding.
Keep up the Lord’s work!
wonk
Bill, dear, I was SURE that was you. Much-needed delighted laughter. I’m pretty good about keeping those of you kind enough to write straight in my mind. I had already written our “interview,” since I expected your gracious acquiesence, so you can see how our “conversation” turned out once I get Michael to post it. Looks like we need to do a follow up–and remember that the Lord says He will bless those who help widows! I’ll answer (applaud) you in depth at http://www.thetexasring.com. I’m with you on the gasoline generators: for everything other than TEOTWAWKI gasoline is the best choice, the least expensive, and could see us through a very lengthly emergency with stabilizers. When it comes to our beloved redundancy, though, propane and diesel are multi-use, too, and make sense.
You were a blessing to me today because I just saw a piece of hate mail so vicious that if it had come in envelope with a local postmark I would be showing it to the Sheriff right now. I came over to see if the hatchet-wielder had been here, too, and found your latest, which soothed my exacerbated feelings almost as much as Charles’ comforting hug. Grateful happy laughter…he and I had exactly the same idea for a one sentence reply but I thought his version was more elegantly offensive than mine! Oh, all right, all of you know that I am always civil to the politics of envy crowd. MY answer was, “Investing is a very personal decision and I wish you luck with any you have chosen.” Talk to you later, Bill, and thanks for the latest advice. Hugs, Linda
Greetings Linda, Wonk and the other Preppers on this thread. I wanted to thank you for your articulate and well detailed approach to survivng this the worst winter in many many years. I also wanted to point you toward another exceptional Internet resource on Prepping, Survivalism and sharing information that will help all of us when the SHTF, or TEOTHWAWKI, or whatever you want to call it. We need to be ready for the worst, and this storm has shown us why. I live west of Fort Worth, and had almost 18″ of snow a few weeks ago. I consider myself to be a survivor, but I was extremely lucky to have the grid to keep me warm. It won’t be there, everytime I need it, and need to be ready for those times.
I hope everyone survived the wintery blast, and hope this summer won’t be as extreme as this winter.
Thanks to Linda for being a beacon in these troubled times. Hopefully we’ll be able to pull through this nightmare.
Best,
BigDaddio
Opps, I forgot the link to this great website, for preppers. It’s http://www.thesurvivalpodcast.com, and it’s ran by another great Texan named Jack Spirko. He’s got a great series of podcasts on prepping, and a forum that has a significant amount of prepping information, for everyone to share.
To the Republic of Texas,
BigDaddio
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