Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Are you ready? Part Deux.

There's an excellent post up over at Random Nuclear Strikes in which he details the results of the recent 48 hour trial run of his SHTF supplies that he conducted thanks to Mother Nature.

It's times like this that I'm glad I'm on well water, with a manual pump for emergencies, and that our heat is provided by a hojillion gallon propane tank, and not an electric furnace. Also, having been stranded in the house by an icy road for a few days, I try and keep about a week's worth of grub on hand. I'm hardly Suzy Survivalist, though, and that post made me think of a few things I need to improve.

11 comments:

Paul said...

www.practicalpreps.com

...join us....

Anonymous said...

For year's there's been the old joke about how the Southern people run to the store if there's so much as flurries in the forecast. Ask anyone who's lived down here long enough and they'll tell you it isn't the snow they're worried about, it's the weatherman not getting the forecast right (which happens five days out of seven, anyway) and an ice storm setting in. I don't care where you're at, a half inch of ice will ruin your day.

Tam said...

The road leading to my house is a lane-and-a-half wide, hilly, twisty, full of blind curves, and shaded by trees. In a half-decent Southeastern ice/snow storm, it could remain iced over in the shady spots for a few days. The rear tires of my car are 245/35-17s.

Unless it's an emergency, I'm staying put, traction control or no; I'm not risking a slide into a forested gully to go get a gallon of milk.

Anonymous said...

I think the point is to pick stuff up before things get dodgy.

Man, I bet a Christmas eve ice storm would be a hoot.

fuzzbert_1999@yahoo.com said...

Another subject Tam - Do you know anything about what's going on with RTB?

Anonymous said...

Don't forget the coffee, bobg! Some of us get cranky without it...

Anonymous said...

I think the Mormons require everyone to stock a year of food at home. Probably just the staples, but still, not a bad idea. Water would also be a good idea, I think. Even with a well, problems can arise.

Anonymous said...

I live in San Antonio...cold weather is not a problem, but the heat during the summer sure is. I live in an apartment, so my space is limited. I keep some water on hand, but have to figure out a way to store some more. My armament could be better, but an SKS, 12 gauge and S&W 9mm should suffice. Need more ammo, though. Bad part is that my roommate is a diabetic with arthritis. She can't walk very far.. So unless we are able to leave in a vehicle, we have to stay put...though I think if it was an ongoing situation with civil disturbance, I would set up my tent where there is water nearby and hunker down for the duration.

Anonymous said...

Heh, here in Seattle we got a little lesson in preparedness.

I have co-workers who are on Day 6 without electricity and aren't scheduled to get it back until after Christmas.

Got trees down everywhere here. Winds hit 60-80mph in the lowlands and well over 100 in the passes. Chinook Pass, east of Mt. Rainier hit 138 mph.

Anonymous said...

Waiting for the storm here in the Denver area to get gone. We're at about two feet of snow so far; not as bad as the 44" we saw here, March '03 (the city recorded about 32"). We always have a week or two of food and water on hand; the heat is gas and can be operated manually (check with your dealer!), but I'd still like to get a small generator operating off the gas line. The college kid is supposed to leave catch a flight from Akron (his lady lives nearby) sometime tomorrow a.m., for Chicago and home. I expect he may get a day or two at the Chicago airport, instead. Of course, if his lady (and her parents!)have been watching the weather... We were supposed to head up to Estes Park on Friday, but Saturday or Sunday will have to do. Oh, and guess who has the only snow blower on the block? Bless you all. OldeForce

David said...

Here in the CA desert heat is usually more a concern than cold. But several years ago we had a cold snap roll in and stick around a while. Temperatures around 25 degrees for about 4 days. Everything was just fine until a main distribution point for the gas lines froze.

Suddenly half the town was without gas. Furnaces weren't working, and water heaters in garages started freezing.

I just pulled the gas fireplace fixture out of the fireplace and burned up the old pile of pine that I had stacked out back that we use in the patio firepit. Many of my neighbors were not so lucky.

Don't count on city gas or water being available in an emergency.