Recently we suffered an electrical blackout that affected our entire county because some maniacs decided to shoot up 2 electrical substations.  40k households.  For us, it lasted 4 days.  We were lucky as I have a generator and had gas.  Others weren't so blessed...  A good thing it didn't happen in freezing cold, though there are colder places.  A lot of helpless people suffered.  It doesn't take long to start feeling it.  Please be prepared.  Not trying to be chicken little or anything.

Don’t hurt to grab an extra can of beans when you’re at Wally World once in awhile

Ayup, a pantry is a good thing for anybody. Canned and dry food lasts quite a while but it's good not to leave it there indefinitely, I rotate goods in ours, take it from the front and add to the row in back. Pasta keeps for a long time and a jar of  warmed Ragu and some spaghetti is an easy yummy dinner. You DO have to be able to boil water though, Colman stoves can be had for reasonable at yard, garage, etc. sales. A charcoal hibachi works in a pinch but not indoors unless you have a fire place, they consume oxygen and return Carbon Monoxide! it's a B A D trade.

It doesn't hurt to have a store of "dry lite" camp foods either, it's a little spendy but it's decent eating, balanced and nutritious. A camp cook book isn't a bad thing to have in the kitchen, lots of campground chow is tasty goodness.

And believe me if you're hunkered down waiting for power, snow plows or the water to go down, good food and enough of it goes a long way towards lightening your mood.

Frosty The Lucky.

I have been a "prepper" all my life. When i was a kid it was bringing in the harvest, canning and preserving food for winter. Now it is anything from a bit of financial hardship, natural disaster, or even zombie apocalypse. Living in Ohio we do not have a huge worry over natural disaster, however the Dayton area was hit a few years back by 18 tornadoes in one night (i slept through it all and got up the next day going "what the .... happened?" ) however i have lived in places like the gulf coast and Florida that is prone to hurricanes. It has always amazed me how many people who have lived in those places their entire lives or many years wait until the very last minute to get needed supplies. It also amazes me how those same people will many times call me a "crazy prepper" just becuase i can go 6 months with stepping foot into a grocery store. 

Like TW says, prepping in easy. 1 or 2 extra cans of beans or soup or a case of water when shopping every week and you will have a nice stockpile built up in almost no time. Do not forget other things as well, meds, first aid, candles or emergency lighting, batteries, radio, etc. But above all do not forget about your furry family members as well. 

And to address what happened in NC that should make even more people on the ball to get prepped. A couple idiots were able to take shots at a power station and knock out power to 40k shows just how vulnerable our power grid is.

A chicken coop with a half dozen good layers will keep a small family in eggs 

I like to keep a half dozen kerosene lanterns around the shop and a 5 gallon can of kerosene too

  I was prepared back on the farm but now I am urban.  One thing I am glad for is the city kept the water and sewage on generators.  VERY thankful.  It makes me wonder though....

Hurts to hear about people doing this kind of thing, and like you guys said it's good to be prepared because you never know.

I had heard something about that Scott. Glad you are back in power, and it is a good reminder. If you have a generator better check it before you need it. I need to check mine. 

  I know somebody that could help you in a pinch if you have a problem Aric.  He comes highly recommended! 

  Jeff, it is too late when the lights go out.

I agree. I have a wood stove, generator, extra food and a near by creek if need be.

  I feel bad for the folks that don't.  

I think blacksmithing and the general DIY attitude leads to being more prepared. 
their are a surprising number of shelf stable heat and eat meals to be had at the world of Wally to include options for heating water for food, drinking or washing 

  I may have plugged too much stuff into that generator, when I turned on the coffee pot it tripped the circuit breaker.  Next time I'll get out the calculator....

  I agree blacksmithing and DIY attitude helps to adapt and deal with things.

One thing I grabbed when out getting chicken food and bedding to clean the coop this weekend was new gasket material for my wood burner door. The old stuff is falling apart. Gatta be safe as well as warm. I have natural gas heat but also a wood burner attached to the system. The wood burner saves a lot of money in the cold months.  

  We have a fireplace but I haven't had it inspected yet so I am leery of firing it up.  Never had one before.  Better safe than sorry.  I already miss a real furnace, I don't trust heat pump.

9 hours ago, TWISTEDWILLOW said:

I like to keep a half dozen kerosene lanterns around

I found an Aladdin mantle lamp at a yard sale that we used for light. It started innocently enough to pick up another, but got way out of hand. I kinda got interested in collecting them and restoring the old ones, along with kerosene wick lamps. We have so many now we could keep the light on in Chicago. Here are but a few.

 

 

Cool collection.  For those unfamilar with mantle lamps, particularly the Aladdin brand, they will put out about as much light as a 60 watt incandescent bulb.

GNM

11 hours ago, Irondragon ForgeClay Works said:

We have so many now we could keep the light on in Chicago

Just make sure to keep ‘em away from that O’Leary cow!!!  Lol

thats pretty cool Randy! I think I’ve got one of those style lamps in the shop somewhere too!

 

I love Aladdin lamps, great light levels for the same fuel and no soot. Our power is really reliable here and I have a welder generator in the shop. I'd still like to have one of the wall sconce Aladdins in the living room but finding a place it won't glare in the TV is a challenge. 

Nice collection Randy you have some lovely lamps. Don't live in earthquake country do you? 

Frosty The Lucky.

 

There are several minor fault lines west of us but they only produce quakes in the low range magnitude 1-2 so far. They are considered rare here. Granny and the animals were very good at picking out the small ones when they occurred. Now if the New Madrid lets go that will be a different story. Axle and I "heard" this one but I didn't feel any shaking.

https://www.ky3.com/2022/09/19/earthquake-shakes-part-carroll-county-ark-monday/

Cool lamps. That reminds me of my grandma's house. She had a bunch and some early electric lamps that looked like the oil lamps and even the on off switches were still like the little dials to adjust the wick height.  And they all still worked. Unfortunately my aunt and uncle bought her house when she passed on and either threw away or sold almost everything she had. For example her dining room table was made from a 4' wide x 6' long x 2" thick slab of walnut, with leaves. There was a matching china cabinet and glass fronted knick knack cabinet my uncle sold for $250. She provably paid a couple thousand for it all. 

23 hours ago, Scott NC said:

but now I am urban.

Being urban you have to think out side the box. It is easy enough when you have a large home with a basement but if you are in a small home in the burbs or an apartment things get tricky. You have to look for wasted space. For example under the bed just off the top of my head. 

Very nice! I have a small collection of old lamps too.

On 12/10/2022 at 1:38 PM, BillyBones said:

if you are in a small home in the burbs or an apartment things get tricky

  Trailer houses too.  Plenty of unheated storage underneath though.  I had one on the farm and the floors were made of partical board and you had to watch how much weight you piled in it.  I had a bad spot by the front door and an "overweight" fellow visiting me put his foot through the floor.

  Btw, if you store stuff under the bed, there's nowhere to hide when the lights do go out...

  That is a nice collection, Randy.

Be able to find/use matches in the Dark too!

  The trick to that, is doing it  without stubbing your toe or falling down the basement steps in the dark....