Some people say...."You preppers are crazy, we'll never need to do any of the things you say". Really? Well well. If you were prepared for long and short term disasters, what benefits would you enjoy under "normal" circumstances? Today I was on my way home and I came upon a traffic accident. It seems as though a truck hit a pole. After being detoured back to go "the long way home" I found out that the power was out. It had been out since about 2:15 p.m. My trigger point is one hour. At 3:15 p.m. I turned my generator on and started filling the bathtubs (We have well water) in the event the power would have been out an extended period of time because you can never tell how long Delamarva Power may take to repair the damage. Everyone was advised that if they were going to take showers, this was the time and they would have to make it quick - 5 minutes. While collecting the eggs from my chickens and feeding the livestock, neighbors came over and asked if our power was out (they saw the lights). I told them that we were on emergency power temporarily but that if they needed water they could come and get what they need while we had power on. They never needed it but it was good to know I could help. By 6:00 p.m. the power was back on and we were back on the grid. The short term benefit is that we all had water and hot showers while everyone else was inconvenienced - and that's all it was. A minor inconvenience. Had it been worse, we would have reached the trigger for the implementaion of further measures to address a short term emergency/disaster.
I also used this as a drill to find some things that I'd like to change to make the transition more smooth and seemless.
Now think about it. If it were an ice storm and the power had been out for days or weeks, where would you and your family be?
DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
16 comments:
Now think about it. If it were an ice storm and the power had been out for days or weeks, where would you and your family be?
Home. We use gas. We would have heat, ability to cook. In short, we would survive. Electricity is a convenience. People can and have survived without it.
I need one for my house. What size would be good for a whole house?
I'd be with family somewhere else
I'm also a prepper so I know my family and I would be able last several days.But I will keep stocking up on the things we need It is a lifestyle.
I like what I'm seeing with all this prepper stuff. Keep it coming knowledge is power.Thanks Prepper2k12
We bought a 17KW generator after the hurricane scare. We have it just in case and we had gas logs put in our fireplace at the same time. My electric bill is lower and we love the fireplace. We don't go overboard but we are more prepared than most people.
I have eight large poultry houses with two 300 kw generators and 4,000 gallons of diesel. If things go to hell we can turn the chickens out to forage and run the generators for a long, long time.
Buy Ammo for hitting the Obama-Knights wandering around to steal.
You know who I mean "THE WELFARE GANG"
You may be right 6:33 but what about all the food in your refrigerator and freezer. It would be gone. A small genny would keep stuff in your fridge cold and keep it from spoiling. It's a good investment. I just looked on craigslist and you can get a generator for less than the cost of all the food in your freezer. We have lived without electricity for hundreds of years but we have become dependent on it too.
If I smoked meat would it last without a freezer or do I have to freeze it? Anyone know?
Curing by smoking or salting greatly extends the shelf life of most meats.
You may be right 6:33 but what about all the food in your refrigerator and freezer.
Put it outside. We're talking about an ice storm remember? It would take a long time to thaw out in freezer anyway. When it starts, out on the deck it goes.
But long term, a generator would be helpful. As long as you have access to fuel. Electricity is needed to pump fuel too.
So I guess learning to smoke meat would be a skill for long term prepping.
Smoking and salting go hand-in-hand. There is also drying and vacuum sealing. Learn them all. Like the person said a few atricles back. Knowledge is power.
Smoking and salting go hand-in-hand.
Umm, not necessarily.
Meat is often salt cured and smoked, but by itself, that is more for flavor than actual preservation. Ironically, the relatively low temperatures at which meat is smoked actually encourages the growth of one very serious pathogen: Botulism.
Knowledge is power.
January 7, 2012 9:16 PM
Yes is can be. And mis-information and kill somebody.
Smoking and salting go hand-in-hand.
No, it does not.
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