When I was a little kid we had a really bad snowstorm and lost power for a week. My dad was bed ridden with a badly broken ankle from a car accident. During the day my mom opened all the curtains on the sunny side of the house which was my parents little bedroom and the living room. My 7 yr old self and my two younger brothers 5 and 3 all bundled up, piled in the bed with my dad and played during the day as it was the warmest place. My mother figured the more body heat the better. Fortunately we had a gas stove so she ran the oven almost constantly. At night my little brothers slept with our dad cuz my mom always said he felt like a furnace at night. She brought two twin mattresses into the kitchen and stacked them one on top of the other for insulation from the cold floor and she and I slept together to keep warm. She was worried about the oven being on with the door open for the heat and wanted to keep an eye on it. Didn’t trust my brothers to not get up etc. She cracked the window a little for air circulation cuz she was worried about the gas. She hung two old holey army blankets on the curtain rods to keep out drafts from the single pane windows. Even with storm windows they were drafty. To top it off our water froze so my grandma would drive over with water every other day for us. When I think back about how much effort and stress my mom was under to keep us all warm, fed, entertained and safe and with helping my dad to and from the bathroom and waiting on him it makes me appreciate her even more. To us it was an adventure. To her it was probably a nightmare.
To wash clothes keep a 5 gal. bucket with hole drilled in lid; use a NEW bathroom plunger, put in bucket w/clothes and water, handle through the lid and plunge away. You do not have to have the lid, but does keep water from splashing. Don't forget to store clothesline and clothespins.
That's my plan for washing clothes. There are some great videos on YT about making a clothes wringer out of rolling pins, some 2x4 wood and a 5 gal bucket. That and some paracord from dollar store strung up in your yard, and laundry problem is solved. Don't forget to buy clothes pins!
You are right about the bucket with a lid. You need to drill into the lid and into the plunger. Just drill about six holes around the plunger. Also make sure you just use a small amount of soap. If you use to much soap it will be hard to rinse out.
@@freddieh5539 if you run out of clothes pins or just can't get them, so many things work instead. Hair clips, pins, even twigs with a split in them work!
@TheKnittinKitten you can hang most things from a regular clothes hanger, and put the hangers on the clothesline. I always use this method for shirts.
Back up power (solar), board games, playing cards, back up ways to play music and ways to watch movies, books, water, water filtration, meds, shelf stable food, toiletries, back up way to wash your clothes and yourselves, back up way to go to the toilet, back up ways to cook (propane/woodstove), hand tools, axes, saws, hammers, fire starters, sewing and knitting supplies (spare fabrics), seeds, bicycles Hopefully didn't miss anything x
I've pretty much taken care of all of these things. I have a tiny house in the ground encased in concrete and a small solar system to charge my phone and power banks, and a cooler. I have a replacement solar system as well. I use a composting toilet, rain catching system, and wood stove to cook on, heat water on to wash up, and heat with. I have cordless tools I charge, but I also have hand tools. I have 2 years worth of food stored up, seeds, a lot of them. I wash my clothes by hand, wash up, no running water, or shower/tub. I grow food and plant from what I've grown. I also use wild foods. I'm 63 on disability social security. If I can do it, so can you. But I started 3 years ago, and never see doctors, using natural things. I'm a damaged man. But I have the LORD as well. 👍😊🙏🙏🙏🙏 Oh yeah, I live alone. Not the best thing to do. So if you have a spouse at least, you're very blessed! 👍😊
I have the bottom of my chest freezer lined with sturdy, clean bottles of frozen water bottles and jugs. In the event of a power outage my frozen foods will last days longer. After they thaw, i have gallons of clean drinkable water.
I did too until I had to take them out to try and creatively stuff more meat in it about a month or so ago. I know I could (and should) can or otherwise preserve it all but we have an upcoming move in which I'm not going to want to risk hundreds of jars breaking (it's a long move and the truck will not be climate-controlled) and having to deal with broken glass and food all over, so I'd rather eat what we are able to between now and then and give the rest to neighbors before we leave.
We're empty nesters, my wife and I practice puzzles with solar yard lights around the kitchen table. Deep cycle batteries on all 5 vehicles (2 trucks, 1 car, 1 boat) and three 2000 watt inverters. Said this here before, I'm on LSD- Life Sustaining Drugs. A few months into no electric, I will simply expire. It's OK. Love you all and this channel. Thank you. God Bless and stay safe.
You might want to learn a little bit more on planting a garden with the fruits and vegetables that you two like to eat. I understand that it takes about 3 years to get the hang of growing crops yourself. If you live in the suburbs then you just need to get an area with the southern view and gets a lot of sun. Do this instead of the puzzles. Once you get the hang of it you can even start canning the stuff you do not need to eat right now. I am also on Life Sustaining Drugs but I have grandkids to see more than just one time.
@@kinglee3990 they're not going to be grabbing around at night in the garden. Puzzles sound like a relaxing way to entertain yourself. And using outdoor solar lights in the house is a good use of resources.
I have asthma so I sympathize. I have bought many herbalist and botany and field guide books so I dont die. You might find a natural cure for your ailment. I found several, plus I am practicing making tinctures and extracts so that I can help others right away. Its nice having nurses and drs, but having an herbalist would be pretty valuable. If you have children or grandchildren, see to it that one or more get an education in plants.
He mentioned throwing mustard out due to lack of refrigeration. Do NOT do that. Mustard is shelf stable at room temperature as long as it only has mustard seed, vinegar, water and spices
If it hits the fan, there will be lots of people withdrawing from their happy pills and all. Need to be ready for that. There will be a lot of pain going on around us and within our families. Some of us will be really hurting. Also plan on things like cloth diapers and any ideas for neighbor kids if you don’t have your own, and new mamas, those who won’t be able to get around because of surgeries and disablements. Think outside the box. When it hits the fan, angry people will become angrier. I hope y’all are praying to Jehovah as hard as we have been. We all need wisdom and discernment, hope and courage, encouragement for each other and a Savior who will be available all day every day because it will get lonely on a different level in a lot of ways. And don’t forget that anything that is happening here in America might be happening elsewhere also. We need to pray for folks everywhere. If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray…I will heal their land. It’s hope, folks. And it’s a promise. God bless you.
YES pray to Jehovah the MOST HIGH in Jesus name. Psalm 83:18 older KJV says "That people may know that you whose name is Jehovah you alone are the most HIGH over all the earth. " Luke 1:32 Jesus is SON of the MOST HIGH. Jesus the Christ is the only mediator between God and humans.
I currently live in Sacramento Ca and I live in alternative housing. I have no heat, or air, or kitchen or bathroom. I do use my neighbors house for bathroom/showering but this property is on well and septic. I use a headlamp at night and lanterns or candles at night. Get some hand fans for summer, thermals, sleeping bags, down/wool blankets for winter. I buy single serve packets of condiments, jelly, etc. (or collect from restaurants). I have a propane grill and a fire pit to cook on. I soak beans overnight and cook in a pressure cooker etc. learning to cook in small amounts so no leftovers that need refrigeration. I grow veggies in pots in small amounts and as I travel they can go with me. I have a really good retirement but I am happy this way and am close to my grandkids while I decide what state I want to buy a house in. It’s a great life actually.
During hurricane Sandy, we had the power go out for a week, because an old tree fell across the power lines on the other end of the neighborhood. After about a week with no power, my dad and some other dads drove around to find the problem, found the tree, and the power company REFUSED to cut it down! So the dads cut it down, and the power company had it fixed 2 hours later.
It happens. When it’s bad not everything can get fixed with a phone call. Be prepared to be your own fixer of everything. Power, food, protection, medical needs, communication. I’ve cleared trees off of my road before the fire department could get to it. When workers and funding are thin we’re all waiting for help or on our own. Learn what you can and be prepared 👍🏻
I made a list of 22 areas for sane living during insane times. I have all the mentioned areas covered (except precious metals and tools) and feel I can keep myself and family members comfortable for an extended period of time. I'm using this summer to gain knowledge of and skills in gardening, foraging, and campfire cooking while I'm whittling away at my list. Having a blast learning how to not just survive but thrive living outside of the system. Not afraid...prepared!!! As always, another excellent video!!!!
how close are you to a primary, secondary or tertiary targets for nuke? I live close to oak ridge, and if it gets hit, all of knoxville will be walking down the road. We will be fine, but the overload might make us want to bug out instead. Or if the wind is blowing the wrong direction that day. Make sure you have contingency plans.
Remember that mankind was hunter gatherers for eons. Unless I shoot my neighbor's poodle and eat it, life will be a struggle in the suburbs during a long term power outage.
Over the last 20 years, I have had two winter power outages where the power was out for an entire day. Each time, the temperature outside was about 10 degrees (Fahrenheit). Rather than running a generator, I took everything out of my freezer and moved it outside. Everything stayed frozen and I never had to run the generator at all. There's more to this story, but suffice it to say my wood stove and other preps kept me comfortable during both of these power outages.
This is what we did during Superstorm Sandy back in 2012. We were out of power for 2 weeks. Luckily we had heat since we had a coal stove and cooked on top of it.
Hi Scootch, enjoyed the video. I spend 3 months each summer on a 45 year old sailboat dependent on solar, wind, and desiel engine to maintain batteries for electricity. Good training for SHTF scenarios. Had to read a lot of comments before getting to a couple which focus on the elephant in the room - - water. Fill those tubs early in a crisis, can always filter the water later if needed. Have a plan for no toilets. Water system pumps will eventually fail so no water to flush toilets or carry the black water away. Invest in a camp or chemical toilet. Everyone will be grateful. Think living in the 1850s, sleep when dark, wake up at dawn. Keep up the good work...
Several years back, now, we had an Ice Storm hit the Northern Oregon Coast. Our entire region was out. Most of the County was out for up to three weeks. OUR Power was restored late on Day 6. MY FAMILY DID FINE! We heat with an Off-Grid Kerosene unit that kept the entire house comfortable. We had a 600 Watt Solar Arry on our Shed, with a line into the House to our small Battery Bank. THT was used to charge and maintain smaller Battery driven Lights. The Solar also kept the Ham Station running, so we had communications. We have Two One-Burner Butane Camp Stoves, so Hot meals were NEVER an issue. The only area we had ANY problems were laundry and Bathing.Bathing was handled by heating up a Pot of Water on he Camp Stove and taking Sponge Baths. Our Food losses were MINIMAL, because as a preppier, I have 90% of our food in Cans and Freeze-Dried. ALSO, during this event, on the Fourth Night, a man from the Power Company came to the Door, asking WHY we had light, and no one else on our Road did. I showed him some our Goal Zero 12 Volt Lights, and explained we were using LIMITED Solar. The conversation ended with me giving him contact information for Goal Zero, and other Emergency supply companies. He did 't ask me about anything else, and I did NOT volunteer anything else. From the street, it DID look like our house was running normally. Now in a fulll blown SHTF, I WILL keep the lights off, and attempt to look just as "Helpless" as the rest of the Neighborhood!
Spent nine months in a cabin with two little kids (one in diapers), no electricity. Running water meant running out to the well, and running back. Wood cookstove, heated water for washing kids & laundry, etc. Fresh milk was courtesy of a goat milked every day. All our food was either dried or from cans. Great memories. Don't know if I would be up to it now, 50 years later, but if it came to that, I could give it a good try. We wouldn't starve.
I grew up in the back country without electricity, plumbing, etc. One thing that really helped us when it comes to light is having some of those solar patio lights. We would take them outside to charge during the day and then bring them in for the night
You forgot almost the #1 priority. WATER. Most, if not, all municipal water supply systems rely on big industrial electric pumps to keep the system going. Yes, those most likely run on generators, but extended outages could mean those generators run out of fuel. I experienced one outage that was barely 8 hours. The generators that ran the city water system ran out of fuel in a couple of hours. We had no water pressure and when power was restored the water system was filthy with sediment and we were under a week long boil directive.
I'm no stranger to long term powder outages. I live in deep south Texas. 2 years ago, during a winter storm, Texas lost power for 5 days. Some may think, 'oh, 5 days isn't long term', but consider no heater, food starts to defrost and spoil, no hot water etc. Not everyone has natural gas stoves or fireplaces in Texas. I thank God I have both. Still very cold though. Now the power company is telling us to prepare for long term outages for the summer! It gets up to 100 degrees here! Texas is exploding with new, migrating residents and the grid cant keep up. Generators only go so far. If no power, can't pump gas. So much to think about. Be blessed and stay prepared.
Welcome to being attacked!! That’s what is going on at the border states. Mainly Tx and Az it of course no one talks about it or cares. It’s not in our back yard. It’s not “me”!!! That’s the problem. I hope y’all stay safe and keep your eyes out!
Something he definitely isn't considering is the heat here in deep south Texas. It can get well above 100 degrees along with very high humidity. People die here every year due to heat exhaustion
You could put some water in a bath tub along with some laundry detergent. Stand inside of it with your bare feet and walk up and down on top of your dirty clothes inside of the water to get your clothes clean. Folks have been doing this to clean their clothes for a long time! I hope this helps.
Winter: move everyone to one room that get day sunlight. Seal room from cold air drafts. In middle of the room set up a large camping tent and bring in bedding and chairs especially at night. Tent helps hold in the body heat and another barrier from cold air drafts.
If you don't have a tent, you can build one like kids used to do (Making forts with the furniture and throwing blankets over the whole thing) One person mentioned stacking cardboard boxes of clothes or other items and putting blankets across the top (or totes). If you have small kids they'll love it-even if only they fit inside it'll help keep them warm...
Or you can move to where it's warm. We are retired and live in a motorhome off-grid full-time. We either winter over in the desert S.W. or S. TX. Rather than use our furnace we have a MR. Buddy heater and keep it on low (4,000Btus) to keep us warm at night when needed. We have good insulation, double paned windows and Reflectix to hold in the heat. During the day the sun is sufficient 95% of the time. We also have solar, a 5500w back-up generator and a large lithium battery bank. Running an electric blanket all night consumes perhaps 1-2% of my battery capacity, which is recharged within the first hour of the next day by the sun. If for some reason I couldn't get propane, this would keep us warm at night. I'm planning on adding more solar, a bigger battery bank and a high-efficiency 12,000 Btu heat pump that could run 24/7 if needed. We also tow a 30mpg car that we use to get food, water and sundries so we only move every 2 weeks or more, saving gas. If you are used to living this lifestyle ahead of time, working out all the details in advance, it will be much less stressful when things turn bad.
@@bluebirdgramma6317 You're right. I remember wring out completely soaked wool socks back in my army days, putting the damp socks back on my cold feet and having them warm up. Wool is an amazing fabric - if you can put up with the scratchiness.
Most people have never lived without power. I have. We used grills, candles, and bought non-perishable foods. Basic things, but so many stress power options in grid down survival. For long term preps, we should be prepared for extended periods without it, even if we have power options.
I camped rough several times. But did have propane for cooking and a place near by for a water source. Food was either fresh caught or can stuff. Or both. Not easy but worked. I am in an apartment,,,so not much to do except can food, water, and candles. Could get bad. Most likely I would leave area
Yep. We are spoiled and soft. Yes, I realize I'm using something right now that requires electricity. I include myself as a spoiled, soft individual. We all are, whether we like to admit it or not.
You Can't Buy "non-perishable foods" Anymore So Much Has Changed The Chemicals Their Putting In The Food Makes It Nearly Impossible To Preserve Food If SHTF Anything GMO Isn't Gonna Be Edible If Your Serious About Prepping Stock Up On Packaged Foods Such As Potato Chips And Cookies Because These Foods Can Be Eaten Right Out of The Box And When The Grid Goes Down That's All Your Gonna Have
You really want to know what it’s like to be without power for an extended amount of time…go without electricity. I was without power for 46 days at no fault of my own-it’s a long story. After 10-12 days, that’s when things got routine like. The best made plan will still have gaps that a person doesn’t think about until you’re living the situation. So seriously, try living without power for 10-12 days. Once I got power back, it took about 10-12 days to recover. Turning lights on/off is such a common thing with electricity and completely the opposite without power. Everything is 4-5 times more time consuming without electricity, so plan accordingly.
I did it for 3 years to get a head start on my mortgage. Oh I remember the feeling of not being able to bring your clothes in off the line before rain, day after day after week. Always wearing shoes so I didn't sweep, vacuum or mop. Balls to the walls.
You might watch what people do in the old western pioneer movies, to learn primitive living. Today, we have brick houses with glass windows, carpets, and doors with hinges and locks.
Remember when the whole city electric grid went down for 3 weeks. Many left for hotels in other cities. But be careful several families died as the brought camp stove and bbq inside the house or garage to cook. They died of invisible fumes. In winter have everyone sleep in one room to keep in body heat. Have portable battery to charge phones and if not possible, turn on motor and charge phone.... One phone per family... Ensure hygiene and temporary toilet facilities yours are frozen. Have each person in charge of one thing ie. water rationing, batteries in flashlights, bbq cleaning, pantry storage, meat preservation freezer/outside storage. Then someone to tally up end of day current food and water availability and plans food for next day.
I recommend getting a good quality canner, and can the excess food. Especially if you have a gas stove, or a two burner, robust propane gas stove. Then put your properly canned good---I recommend the Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving, sold in most stores that sell canning supplies---especially if you are a beginner. You can also use the manual that comes with the canner. Thank you Sootch00 for what you do.
I recommend the "American" as the best, due that you have no gasket that will eventually wear out. It IS expensive but the best. You always get what you pay for. (or vote for)😙
But you still will need to keep your canned foods from freezing and breaking the seals/jars. Even store bought canned foods can burst the cans when frozen. Living in Alaska I learned that lesson the hard way :(
I was in Walmart I asked a 20somthing nonidentifiying looking girl if they had pressure canners..she had no idea what I was talking about. I explained you put glass jars with food in them to can food. Thousand yard stare
Good idea but to my knowledge only All American canners can use alternative heat sources. I know the Presto canners cannot. The All Americans are expensive but they don’t use any gaskets so once you buy it your good to go. Taken care of you can pass them to your children and then grandchildren. I also love my Presto it heats up and cools down much faster but is much thinner aluminum and you will have to eventually replace the gasket.
@@decoy8645 I canned in my large Presto canner for many years on my wood cookstove. It was a matter of moving it/ sliding it around to adjust the heat to keep the gauge where I needed it to be while I crammed wood into the stove. Its doable.
I have heard of people setting up a tent in their living room just to keep the warmth in as much as possible; there was also something about taking a terra cotta planter (upside down), using a candle & letting that radiate heat (also earthships have a cool setup for climate control). Here in Florida, it is the heat we deal with - wet sheet hung in breezy doorway/window? Lights - cool hack: solar stakes, brought in for light at night. Great video as always. Thanks for all you do.
During the Serbian conflict, a lot of survival stuff in this vein came out of Kosovo and you can still find a fair amount of that knowledge online. When you're freezing to death, people get creative. The tent in the house is one thing, but Kosovo had people literally tearing the wood out of their houses to burn; lets hope it doesn't come to that.
When I was a kid my dad was stationed in Japan. The Monsoon season (rainy season) Hit. It rained for six weeks. You can not go out side and play. I learned to appreciate reading books.
Best thing to use for poison ivy or oak is acne pads. They are designed to remove oil from your skin, so if you wipe down after exposure it will remove erucia oil and you won't get the rash.
If you do get the rash, hold a hair dryer on it as long as you can stand it. (Just general knowledge Of course if the electric is on.) I get it so bad, I have to get shots. This is a game changer!
My husband got poison Ivy BAD the first year we moved to our acreage. Terrible maddening rash everywhere! We were told to use one of those green cleaning pads for pots and pads and put some Dawn Dish soap with water on it, and then scour your body, not too hard of course. Never got it since.
We get power outages every year.. for up to 2 weeks at a time. During fire season two years ago we had 3 months of burning nearby and smoke inundating us. Power was out for 30 days. We all have generators here..(well most of us). We also have tweekers listening for generators. Mine has a muffler i added and a foam lined box to muffle it.. but most dont. I can run everything on my 3 different generators including my swampcooler and all my power tools if i have to fix something. Also have hand tools to do the job. As for fuel? Ive got enough propane, gas and diesel to last a year with what we do.. minus the vehicles. Ive got a gas water pump… and a well. Foodwise? Ive got 5 years of stable food stores. Ive got 600lbs of anthracite and bituminous coal… for my forge but i can cook or heat with it. I harvest 10-15 cords of wood a year and use 6 cords a winter. And firearms? Well, i dont need to talk about that.. but as a 24 year infantry vet… im sure I’ll be good in that area. Rural living is good… but the city folks are coming here are unprepared… and without a humble heart. Not very nice people a lot of the time.. and that’s how you get rural folks not to help you or even talk to you. If you decide to move to rural? Have a different attitude than you have in the city. Your money means very little with whats coming. We have money as well. What you dont have is the experience and skill set to survive winter and to feed yourself and children. You may think you do… but with below freezing temps, 4ft of snow.. more coming.. unless you have lived it, you are going to have a hard time without the community. Attitude is everything.
I've been living the last two years without grid power.. granted I have solar, wind and backup generators. But even with that life takes on a very different level of work and figuring it out. Having to watch every watt of power almost all the time... but.. I know that I'll have power unless there is a major EMP... and then I pray that my EMP hardening actually works... I can only day have a plan and have backups of backups.. this past winter it was cloudy for several days in a row almost no wind and it dropped to -40°F. My furnace went out because the diesel lines froze up and all I had was a small on the wall ventless propane heater. It was only enough to heat my master bedroom and bathroom.. which meant all my water lines froze. So no flushing or filling water bottles, and the best part was that all my septic lines froze up too. then also because of the cold my generator wouldn't start so no way to use that to run electric heaters and charge the batteries. Thankfully I was able to get it all back up a day later. Now I have 3 generators that are multi fuel and plan on adding more backup propane heaters and getting a big propane tank. During the day when I have full sun I can heat with electric from the solar. I have a couple of the cheap ebay diesel heaters that I made to pipe into a window from outside. This way there is very little chance of fumes inside. Plus ventless propane heaters... if you have a wood stove you are in great shape stock up on wood and keep it dry and ready. I've been living this off grid life for two years solid and it's no fun... I'd love to hook up to power but it's over $150k to get lines run to my place. Good luck to all those out there.
@dawn7882 it's not that I don't like it.. it's a point to those people who glamorize it and tell other that it's easy to do. I have a ranch and a family in a house. Our power needs are greater. With heat, laundry, we'll pumps, water heaters and the such. I also do this in Wyoming, it's not uncommon for it to drop to -40°F with a windchill of -90°F. It also gets above 100°F in the summer. I have upgraded my heating situation and doubled my solar panels which was immensely helpful. At the time of me writing my last post was a difficult time for my family and me... but we are fine and doing way better this year.
I have to disagree with one point, extreme heat is life threatening. And harder to deal with than cold. I know a guy who regularly passes out once it's 80F. Sometimes he can't make it from the car to the house during the summer. And it's way harder to deal with than cold. You can't just put on another layer, walk around, or make a fire. There's only so naked, still, or in a creek you can get. And your only other option is to have a good basement/underground shelter
We had no electricity for 3 weeks thanks to Hurricane Charley--that was in 2004, the year with 4 hurricanes to hit Florida. We were okay in the daytime, but sleep was all but impossible. So my husband went to the auto parts store nearby--they had power--and bought three large car heavy duty batteries, and three large single fan car fans, one for our bedroom window, and the other two for the bedrooms of the two small cabins where a couple of of guests were staying. The batteries kept the fans running at night and we charged them during the day with our generator--for which I was in the right place at the right time. As generators were scarce as hen's teeth. Everyone was fine except for a medical incident--NOT heat related--which I will post tomorrow.
That's why I'll take -60 windchill over triple digits any day. Our ancestors managed, and if we do it right we can too, but man I'm going to miss the cold when we move.
I'm in phx. If we lost power in July or aug...it wld b life threatening. Way worse than cold. Can always pile on the blankets and cuddle with the dog...
Keep large block ice in your freezers ( mixed with your food ) if power goes out. This will continue to keep your foods frozen at least for several days.
I've found that frozen food is just as effective as ice; why take up food space with ice? More important to maintaining temp is to have freezer completely full.
I was going to donate all our board games, but these will help alleviate boredom. Good reminder. We are looking into the possibility of having an underground house poured. Should make heating and cooling much easier both on and off-grid. Living life with the cycle of sunrise/sunset is actually healthy, and saves lightning resources. I have a couple of hand-crank radios with built-in solar panels. Kinda neat little gadgets! Meat keeps a little bit longer once it's cooked. There are several channels that teach you how to preserve foods the old fashioned way.
I live and work on a homestead in an area where the power goes down for about 20 days every month. I worked hard so that it no longer affects me. I had the Boss put in solar power and generator back-ups. There are back-up plans for back-up plans. As part of that back-up plans, I have a pocket solar USB power bank that also works as a flashlight. I have eBulbs and flashlights and oil lanterns and even a tea light candle lantern. I have more than a dozen ways to cook food. I could not afford 100 canisters of propane. I have a pellet camping stove that I can use firestarter pellets with my mess kit. I have catering fuel cans and supplies for that. I have a fire pit with cooking grate. I have cast iron pans to use on the fire pit. I have small kitchen appliances that Runs on my solar pocket USB power bank including a heating lunch box that bakes small batchs of cookies or muffins or biscuits. I have small kitchen appliances that can be used in the truck. I have a small griddle that fries food. I can use my 6-1 rice cooker in the truck. I can add 2 cups of water (16 ounce bottles of water) and the contents of a pouch and press a button for an easy and quick meal. I put together the pouches myself. I am able to add canned meat to any of my pouch meals. I have a generic Kcup machine for just add hot water meals like instant oatmeal and instant noodle cups. It works on the solar USB power bank or in the truck. I have a bin of just add hot water beverages and meals with bowls and cups and forks and spoons. I have 8 bricks to build a rocket stove. I have the cardboard and gulf wax and cans to build a mini stove. You cut up strips of cardboard and fill the can. You add a wick. You melt gulf wax to pour over the cardboard to fill the can. You use scrap metal with tin snips to build a cooking grate. I have the supplies and plan on making them soon. I have other options as well. I have a bucket for laundry. I have a folding clothes rack that I can set up.in a bathtub to dry clothes inside. I can even put it outside. I even have an old computer with a CD player that can be used to watch a movie which can run on my solar pocket USB power bank. I set the pocket solar USB power bank on the picnic table on the back patio to charge regularly. I have an indoor garden and I have assorted battery operated LED lights to keep my indoor garden growing regardless of what happens. I hope this helps y'all with ideas that could work for you in a power outage.
Keep up the great videos! We have Gosun solar stoves for cooking & heating water (they work even when it's bitter cold outside, IF we you have sunshine.) We also have small camp stoves, twig stoves/SoloStoves, and a BBQ to cook on. We have a Big Buddy propane heater, a solar generator for power, a 12V fridge, camping equipment, and extra wool blankets. Always keep your car gas tank near full - top off when you get near half empty. And keep some emergency snacks and warm gear in your car. Oh, and have some way to filter drinking water.
Add a gallon of water to your deep freezer every 2 days and fill up every inch of head space that you aren't using. That will give you massive amounts of ice for the summer, pulling out a gallon block at a time. But more importantly, it will keep your food cold for tons longer in SHTF. Don't add too much, too fast or it will ruin your food. But you are essentially adding 2 days of stored energy for every block you have in there frozen. Also, to add even more time to your frozen food, cover all 6 sides with thick blankets and just don't go in there but once every couple days. Use these steps and your food can last a month.
solar garden lights can be brought inside after sunset. Get the high lumen varieties. You can't read by them, but they light up a room for a long time. I just went 3 weeks without power here in western NC. I loved cooking on my butane cooker. The radio you mentioned was a life saver. Was my only source of information as to what was going on. Make sure you have some cash, when power goes out you'll have to pay with cash, gas or groceries.
I must be weird but I think I’d love this. It’s camping or its how we lived when I was young. In Texas cold is never a problem hot can be uncomfortable
I experienced that in Mali West Africa. We very rarely had electricity. Do everything active in the early am or pm. Have lots of clean water available to drink. We had a kerosene refrigerator though with a tiny freezer. Sometimes we couldn't get kerosene for the fridge. Had to buy perishables more often. Used a breasure to cook on.
I agree. Important to also plan for neighbors’ kids if neighbors aren’t prepared. And people who are withdrawing from all their happy pills. Lots of things most won’t prep for.
It amuses me to think about this topic, because as a kid we lived on a farm with no mains power at all until we sold the farm when I was 14. We did have a small 32V battery system to could run a couple of house lights for a while, but those batteries didn't last long at all especially if unable to be charged by a generator. So zero mains or even battery operated devices, everything was basically wood fires for cooking & heating, no running hot water, in fact water was also very limited, so a shared bath once a week or bath in the laundry trough after the clothes had been washed using water from a copper, wood fired boiler. Lighting was commonly small kerosene lamps. Oh them were the days, but not necessarily days that I would like to return to. Refrigeration was a small kerosene 'fridge. Now I have solar panels with a Tesla system that provides all basic home power needs and even a Portable Lithium Power bank if the Tesla was on the blink, plus a generator, plus, plus, and I even go camping with just the basics to practice those really basic skills and all of those could be used at home if need be.
That is great but have a backup plan, if you suffer a EMP from either the Sun or some crazy dictator. Make yourself a Faraday cage with a smaller backup plan equipment.
I remember summer of 2020 we lost power for 3 days. Not the longest time I’ve been without power (went a week when I was in HS after a major storm). I remember how dark it was at night. Luckily we were able to get a small generator to keep our fridge and freezer running, and our kids love being outside so they were occupied all day out playing. In a way it was nice to get back to life without tv, tablets, etc. Man, it was hot and muggy though, so we spent time at the neighbors pool and even sat in the car periodically for some AC.
we had an outage for almost 2 weeks one year and my brother in law and his wife set in and started canning as much meat as they could until the power came back on. they had purchased the largest All American Canner and were able to can large amounts of food at one time
I purchased a double burner propane stand. I plan to put my pressure canners on them and can everything. You do not need store bought canning jars. Save all those glass pickle, sauce, salsa jars with lug lids with the rubber seal inside and reuse to can. They work great. Better actually the Ball or Kerr. Never had a seal fail with those. Saves money too!!
LOVE that God has brought me to my "prepper" community! Got food covered by raising animals & gardens, transportation covered with horses 😊 and working on getting my house built. Putting in a gas stove for cooking and a wood stove for heating! Loving it!
We’ve been heating with a pellet stove for over a decade. Yes it uses electricity but only 300W easily covered with a battery and inverter in the short term.
I'm in South Africa. Our grid is on a knife's edge. We are offgrid but there are very few that are. I'm not sure of percentages but probably around 0.01% of the population. For years there have been incresing blackouts. Right now most people experience around 12 hours a day. It's set to increase now as winter begins. When there's no power most people have no water. As it is many communities haven't had water for months and even years. We now have a cholera outbreak in 2 provinces. It's catastrophic.
If you never refrigerate mayo you can keep on a shelf and use it. We do it all the time. But if you refrigerate then it will go bad. Something my husband’s mother taught me. Freaked me out at first but she’s right. We never refrigerate and keep in cabinet.
i deal with electricity for a living. Im telling you the power companies are short on transformers. One nasty storm in my area that damages transformers will cause us to be out for a long time. most of our outages are in winter and we just put the food outside in coolers if its below mid 40s
Yeah But You Guys Can Easily Just Repair The Transformers And Get The Power Back On Eventually Even If It Takes A Few Months or A Year or Two But If Something Happened To The Computer Software Your Not A Programmer Your An Electrician And If All The Computers Were Compromised By The Same EMP Than That'd Be It For America Because You Can't Program A Computer Without Another Computer So Unless You Could Bypass Your "smart meters" And Whatever Else Requires "software" It's Game Over Before It Even Began Because The Truth Is A Programmer Can't Do Anything Without A Computer It Could Be A Simple Glitch A Run Time Error or A Simple Single Event Upset It Doesn't Matter If It Infects Every Computer All That Programmer's Skills Are Worthless So If Your A Real Electrician Believe Me You Should Be Petitioning To Get The "software" Out of Our Grid As A Gamer Who Is Very Much Used To Dealing With "software" I Can Tell You Right Now All The Grid Could Be Perfectly Functional While Offline Due To A Software Bug That Could Take Many Years To Patch And That Isn't What You Want In A Perfectly Functional Power Grid Especially When The Software Running That Grid Is Made In China
I live in central alaska. We set up our downstairs to put up heavy drapes, walling off the living room, dining room, kitchen and half bath when we have power outages in the winter. The living room has a woodstove. In the dining room I have an outlet tied to an outdoor outlet that can be fed by a Honda generarator to periodically cool refrigerators/freezers, run lights and recharge whatever. Im not of the mindset of "its never too late to prepare". Eventually, it is too late to prepare. When the ark doors close, its too late to start building a boat.
There are things that you can do that do not cost money, which don't require much time or strength and can be done in just a few minutes to prepare for when for when you have no electricity. Get up, put things away, put the dirty clothes in the hamper, wash the dishes, dump the trash, clean the shower, change the bedding. You don't want to be living in a pigstye when the electricity goes off, you get sick and have to go to bed, the hurricane hits, or the snowstorm comes.
Excuse me....? 105° heat can be deadly! Sometimes it's hotter! Older people and people with immune difficiency are especially at risk! Even cold water cloths on the body are sometimes not enough under such heat! I'd really like some ideas how to survive heat!
That's Where Heat Pumps Come In If You Can Build A Steam Engine You Can Get The Heat Pump Running Pretty Much All of Our Grid Could Be Powered With Steam Instead of Electricity However Conventionally Steam Generators Produce Electricity, I Don't Know How But Most of Our Appliances That Use Electricity Could Be Converted To Use Steam Instead And All Steam Needs Is A Fire
Power outage when it is hot is just as dangerous. Especially the elderly and those without transportation. Cooling centers may be opened up, but some have no way to get there, and some elderly may refuse to leave. I’ve seen some jurisdictions not have transportation provided for those needing it.
You probably don't read or watch the news. People do die from not having access to air conditioning in hot summers here in Texas, other parts of the southwest. Especially elderly and infants. Every year when it is 100+ degrees even a few days in a row, they show elderly and infants and sometimes homeless who have died. Just tossing this out as a reminder that your channel is global :)
I agree. Even in my youth I could not handle heat. I'm just one of those people. I am a 73 year old female and in extended periods of heat I am utterly useless. All I can 😢do is sit it out and not move much.
Good grief! I tried three times to correct that post. It won't let me. First time that ever happened to me. I am not a 3 year old female. I am a 73 year old female. 😖
I made sure my solar power can run my bread maker, Keurig and Nespresso. No need to live like savages if power is out or SHTF. Freeze dried will be last resort. Of course refrigeration and medical equipment top the list. I have a small counter ice maker to assist in refrigeration for the coolers we have if needed. You can live without a lot of things but adding items can make life much more enjoyable. Beyond just surviving. My first focus was just on surviving. Next added in comfort to it. Love these helpful videos. If you have kids, you are going to need those comfort items. Variety of hard candy treats saved for the right moment. Laptop where they can watch favorite DVD's, games, etc. An eBike with trailer (EMP protected) is one of the most expensive items I bought, outside of solar. My Nevada property closest water source is ten miles if needed. If I had to I can take it to get water which is heavy to carry that distance. And of course solar to recharge it. Pretty much made up my mind, not going to be without electricity. Grid maybe, electricity no.
I completely agree with you! We've made the same preparations as you. We also have solar ovens, rocket stoves that operate off of twigs, and pressure canners with mason jars to can up meats, beans, and potatoes. We decided to set up solar panels and power banks to keep our electrical needs satisfied. Of course we can't run our central air and heat off of it, but, running everything else will be no problem for us.
Great video. Please keep in mind, if the power is down and it is VERY WINDY, you cannot start a fire outside! Have some sterno cans and a foldable grill rack to cover it and cook indoors. Sterno is used at many indoor events to keep food warm. You can even place your sterno underneath the racks on the gas stove. Also, believe it or not, tea lights underneath a stove rack will also cook foods. Do not try to start a camp fire in windy conditions!!! This solution also works during rainy weather. A ferro rod can be indispensable!!! (wet matches do not light ANYTHING) Also, save your dryer lint in an old plastic jar. It makes EXCELLENT Firestarter. Retractable clothes lines and clothes pins! Remember those days? Yeah, I used to help my mother collect the laundry off the line. I personally have 3 retractable clothes lines that I can move around to different locations. They can be used outside, but I have one in my kitchen too for days when It's rainy. Most people don't even know what it is that's attached to my wall. I've been asked many times about it. LOL I used to have a bicycle but traded it for a dorm refrigerator, mostly because I feared that my large refrigerator would crap out on me, and this could hold me over for a little while. I also have a small chest freezer for the very same reason; kitchen fridge goes out (freezer is attached) just transfer to the chest freezer. I guess I should invest in a 3 wheel bike with a basket on the back....to carry things with me if I have to leave. Please note that gas generators must be run OUTSIDE and extension cords must be heavy duty and run inside through an open window or door. I have a solar generator to run at night indoors so I'm not vulnerable with open doors and windows. Daytime gas generator is fine......unless you're the only one with a gas generator, then that makes you a target. Be careful out there people. Trust no one. Watch your six. Always protect yourself and your family.
When we do not have power that is when we get out our board games. We have wood heat and our basement always stays cool in the summer. Our spring water is coming from underground so we can use water reservoir for refrigeration.
Regarding propane for heating or cooking, you should alternate them; heat for a while, then build a fire for cooking, as well as some heat. If you pick and prepare your living area right, you can go a while before you need to start heating again, then bunker down with lots of blankets, a sleeping bag, dogs or whatever.
I lived in a safepark in my van with my dog. I prefered 17 degrees over 98 degrees. You can put on clothes,blanket, snuggle up with family. Propane heat such as a buddy heater can work great for l one room in a house. Very cheap if you learn how to fill your own bottles. Heat could be impossible if there were no shade as well. It can kill fast. Y'all do need to harden up if 32 degrees makes ya run to your car. Just saying.. I'm so thankful to God that I was targeted and learned so much about survival. We're all Homeless without Jesus
Just so people know, hospitals do not run on generators but, they often have large generators to run certain machines and important areas of the hospital if the power does actually go out.
@@jay90374 yeah I guess some, sure. He said hospitals run on generators tho. I'm assuming he meant during a power outage. Just didn't want people thinking the wrong thing.
well what does the generator run on?? and how much fuel do they have stored, or are they expecting it to be delivered?? so it might last for a while....but in a long term Shtf or emp event, you can number those days.
Hospitals are required by law, to be able to run all of their essential loads for a minimum 48 hours on their backup generators. All non-essential loads are removed from the distribution system by means of an automatic transfer switch. After the 48 hours is up, all bets are off.
Those are some really good points to consider. I'm thinking about getting a small solar panel kit with LiFEPO4 batteries, just enough to run a small fridge and my security cameras. Also, a backup solar charger and inverter stored in a Faraday cage in case of EMP.
If you want to run a small refrigerator if you use an inverter, it will not be take more power than the LiFEPO4 battery unless they are 200 or 400 AmpHour batteries. Then to charge them they will need a lot of solar panels. If you are very well off and don't want to spend over $5,000.00, you may want to down size your refrigerator to one that is 12 Volt DC powered and have a 12 volt security camera system, for the camera system the most power hunger part is the recorder. Unless you want to stay up all night long watching the cameras all the time, it may be best to have the motion activated cameras which will alert you if there is movement in the site of the camera. You also want to have IR cameras that will provide invisible light for the camera to see at night time. The cameras do not draw a lot of power it will be your monitor and recorder. They do make recorders that run on 12 volt DC. By having everything run on 12 Volt DC, you do not have to install a inverter to get 120 Volts AC to run your devices. Do not use your solar systems to power heaters, it is the biggest waste of power since it is much better to use wood or even candles to keep warm. Use the solar system to recharge your flashlights, cellphones, and other USB devices.
Yes solar back up is super convenient if not critical. I am set up to run security cameras and a fridge. One thing I discovered is it takes a bigger system than u realize. Inverter and solar panel efficiency can literally reduce your systems expected/rated power by 30% or more, and that’s not considering cloudy days. Remember too your gonna want lights and to mabey charge a phone or run a small fan. These items don’t use much but collectively and over time it’s more than you expect. Personally would spend the money on a larger system than on back up components and a fariday cage but I get the concern and see the point. Good luck!
@@kinglee3990 I have a Poe camera with 8 cameras the entire thing is less than50 watts for continuous recording and power, Ways to save power is to keep the monitor off. You can also power the camera with an external power supply and they have an internal sd card that can store the data on triggered events. You can also turn off the infrared lights at night. It’s possible wireless cameras might use a little less power but once you consider you have to power the wireless router the reduction may be negligible. Remember you won’t likely have internet so you’ll need some sort of local storage and to make sure they can even function without. I’ve tried unplugging a few cameras but this dose t save to much. Many devices with a power brick / transformer are 12vdc u can simply wire them up directly. I think in terms of larger appliances like a fridge it’s more cost effective to get a few more solar panels and run it on ac than to buy a dc fridge but id have to run the numbers to be sure.
I run a solar system with 3 deep cycle batteries. Can power frig freezer and TV plus lights 2 fans and various other items. Now using that type of a pull will require lots of solar panels. But you cut down on what is being used to save energy. Extend your batteries.
Companies are always throwing away wooden pallets. The wood is usually oak, which is good for you because it is a hardwood and will burn longer. Since the boards are flat and rectangular they will be easy to stack and take up less room for a lot of wood. No bugs living in the wood like you might have with tree logs. And it is free right now! 😀
My kitchen stove is propane. I hav used it for heat and cooking along with the fireplace for a week at a time!!!! And in winter a natural freezer outdoors!!!!i hav also pressure canned most of my freezer stuff !!!!!
For washing clothes, we have 3 5-gallon buckets, one of which has holes drilled in the sides and bottom. Drilled holes in the bottom of a plunger, so we don't get suction. One solid bucket is for rinse water. It works. Outside w/ a chair to sit on would be easier on the back than putting it in the bathtub and bending over, but that works in a pinch.
We didn't have power for 3 weeks due to payment issues. We lived off candlelight, read books, went hiking, played games. Going to bed after the sun went down and woke up with the sunrise. We lived in a highrise apt. The walls were over 15in thick concrete we were well insulated. What baffles me is why more homes aren't underground. If you dig a certain depth, deeper than where is freezes, the earth naturally regulates the temperature.
When homes are underground, they can have lots of moisture issues. Even if the they are built above the water table, the cooler walls can result in condensation. Condensation can then result in mold and mildew. This means you may need to run a dehumidifier all the time, or risk living in a place with way too much mold. There are ways to control and compensate; but it greatly complicates things.
Most homes near me have deep basements…mine has 9 foot ceilings. In the basement there’s a concrete room below the garage that is 63 degrees all summer and same in the winter. A bit chilly when the heater isn’t on but manageable for sure.
@@TripleCCC3 I found that to be true when I lived in Wisconsin. Our basement was a constant 66 degrees winter and summer. When it would get too hot, we'd go to the basement as we didn't have a/c. We had furniture in the basement, washer and dryer, lots of storage with clothes, etc. We had a portable stove we used, etc. I live in the south and my home is off grade - so a couple sides are below ground and a couple sides are level with the ground - it's cooler there in summer but were it to freeze and lose power, it would freeze the pipes in the basement. We'd be better off upstairs with blankets, propane heater, etc.
I've been living without heat in Oregon for two years and in the winter my living space has gotten down to 15 or 20 degrees on those days I use 4 heavy wool blankets 1 down and 3 over the top 👍🔥👍
He didn't touch on weapons. Remember, you WILL need to protect your stuff. Those without WILL come for YOUR stuff whether or not they are your best friends in the neighborhood. When it comes to life or death, they WILL try to take your stuff. BELIEVE IT.
Last year there was a bad storm that took out power for almost a week here and it gave me a new respect for prepping for power outages. Having a propane grill and also having meals canned helped make it through.
I live in Cape Town, South Africa and we have a lot of power outages, we have "load shedding" where the power is turned off in different areas on a rotational basis (there is an app to keep track of the times), some times as long as 12 or 13 hours. I built a 50 amp hour 24v solar generator inside a mobile toolbox and this is able to run my 2 fridges and freezer when the sun is shining on the 4 100watt solar panels, or just the one small fridge on a cloudy day. I have a 2 plate gas stove, i built a 2 bucket with a plunger off grid "washing machine". I bought sleeping bags for climbing and nestling in cold weather. I also have a solar geyser on my roof, but it's the old type and not the vacuum tube type. Be happy that you don't have this permanent form of power outages.
good quality multivitamin/mineral. Use sea salt or Himalayan salt for trace minerals. Practice harvesting, eating and drying edible local weeds. Get a foraging book with good pictures.
Make sure you EMP proof your Solar Generators .With your Solar panels you can remove the Diodes or make sure you buy a supply so you can replace the ones that get fried in an EMP attack. Some of your flashlights/camp lights may have electronics in the make sure you have EMP proof them also.
All the research I have seen says solar panels, unless connected, would be unaffected by an EMP. Even if connected, the panels themselves might lose some efficiency, but would still work. Have to protect power stations though.
@@TheFloridaprepper Arthur Bradley says: 2016-05-27 at 16:13 Great comments. People often misunderstand the effects of solar electromagnetic events from those of a high-altitude nuclear-generated EMP. Solar events are primarily a threat to very long conductors (i.e., our electrical grid), whereas a nuclear-generated EMP would have some very high-frequency (short duration) components that could indeed damage very small-scale electronics. The other comment I would add regarding solar arrays is that while the PV cells themselves are low-impedance devices designed for high currents, the bypass and blocking diodes are not as robust. Their failures introduce different effects, from lower efficiency, to complete system failure, depending on the type of failure (open or short). Of course, the charge control circuitry is also susceptible. P.S. I am also an EE (PhD), working for NASA.
In the hills of west Virginia 1956 we (my family and neighbors) had no power and didn't need it , food was from the garden and what did need refrigerator was used before it spoiled, Mason and ball fruit jars were used extensively. Jars were washed and put away till refilled , meat was smoked as soon as the hog or chicken was killed. A deer or two a year and any rabbit or squirrel that was unfortunate enough to get within gun range. (No I've never ate possum or road kill ), coal was used for cooking and heat in winter, everyone had chores to make it all work without fuss, you don't work you don't eat.oh yea ,we didn't have indoor plumbing, shit we didn't have out door plumbing either. Out house blues. Oddly enough we were happy most times. I do think the kids today will die by the thousands if we have a system failure of a month or more . But not me and mine . Think pot belly stove and fuel for it.
So smart, I never thought of that. My basement is not finished, but it is a lot cooler than upstairs. In the heat of the day, it would work great or even at night if it is too hot to sleep.
@@hots4jc I don't have a finished basement either. A blowup mattress or a futon works fine. Even a recliner will work if you can sleep in one of those.
When I first got into solar I bought a DIY kit off of eBay with a charge controller and inverter and battery box all wired they are good for emergency if you have a small budget or new to solar
I've got 2 fuel generators, 2 solar generators, 29 solar panels and store in 3 6Kw Tesla batteries...good to go, even now I run 96% off grid when I'm using A/C and 100% off grid without. Multiple freezers and propane/wood fired grills and ovens here in the suburbs
Always keep a couple extra dozen eggs in refrig and cycle through them using oldest first. 3-4 months in refrig works. I leave mine in cardboard cartons also wrapped in plastic bags as they dry out less when wrapped up. They can go a long while not refrigerated, if that fails. And hardboiled will extend another couple days as well.
If we weren't close to moving, that's what I'd do😊 But whatever don't eat between now and then we are giving away to neighbors. I don't want to risk broken jars during the move.
Most of our neighbors have generators or generac like systems for power. Some of us have extra freezers that people can store things in an emergency. We didnt buy a new freezer, but rather purchased gently used ones for this purpose.
Probably because they didn't drink enough water and didn't stop to take a break when they needed to. Or the fools that go running when it's 100 out😮 . You have to dress differently too meaning wearing a hat and light clothing and sometimes clothing that covers your skin like farmers do ❤ umbrellas are another thing that helps if you have to be out in the sun,like tending your garden, mowing the lawn ect.
My main concern in a power outage is that there is no running water, i can store some water in the apartment, but not a lot, i need to think how to tackle that
Invest in some water storage containers. Collapsible water jugs are a good investment if in a pinch for space. Fill them and use them every 3 months, placing with fresh water.
Thanks for sharing some great ideas here! A few additional tips: Purchase a chest freezer with manual defrost, it operates using the least amount of power, handles opening and closing without losing all of the cold air. It can easily be made to run off of solar power and will stay cold overnight without battery backup. Have a Ladder Mover available to help move ladders and supplies, one person can do the work of four when carrying large bulky items such as sleeping bags, tents, coolers, etc.
I practice minimal electricity use. But I still make things happen. But what I've learned is a semi nomadic way. Its doable, a total manual system, but lots of chores. which is okay to last for weeks and weeks. I even don't use a refrigator. No AC. I have wood heat and minimal propane use. I teach this stuff.
I recently purchased a charcoal grill, and extra charcoal. Also, I have extra large grills that could fit over a fire pit, and a spit which could fit on a hand made upper brace, plus a large cast iron skillet if necessary.
@@BELCAN57 I went out and bought 6 smoke alarms and 6 carbon monoxide detectors for the house and our generator . As far as cooking , I'll have a small burner . So the world doesn't smell the food.
We recently lost power for a few hours. Our dogs went crazy and barked until I went crazy. We live in the country with farm animals. I tried to go outside and couldn’t see anything. I went and bought good solar lights that you shove into the ground and they are along walk ways now. Also bought solar lights that need to be mounted on poles to light up area around the house and barn! Seldom Mentioned during these videos. I have rocket stoves, 2 fuel indoor burner, ways to wash and hang cloth and food stored along with coffee and lots of ways I am trying to prepare. Trying to set up some water infiltration systems. Beyond my Berkey filter.
When I was a little kid we had a really bad snowstorm and lost power for a week. My dad was bed ridden with a badly broken ankle from a car accident. During the day my mom opened all the curtains on the sunny side of the house which was my parents little bedroom and the living room. My 7 yr old self and my two younger brothers 5 and 3 all bundled up, piled in the bed with my dad and played during the day as it was the warmest place. My mother figured the more body heat the better. Fortunately we had a gas stove so she ran the oven almost constantly. At night my little brothers slept with our dad cuz my mom always said he felt like a furnace at night. She brought two twin mattresses into the kitchen and stacked them one on top of the other for insulation from the cold floor and she and I slept together to keep warm. She was worried about the oven being on with the door open for the heat and wanted to keep an eye on it. Didn’t trust my brothers to not get up etc. She cracked the window a little for air circulation cuz she was worried about the gas. She hung two old holey army blankets on the curtain rods to keep out drafts from the single pane windows. Even with storm windows they were drafty. To top it off our water froze so my grandma would drive over with water every other day for us. When I think back about how much effort and stress my mom was under to keep us all warm, fed, entertained and safe and with helping my dad to and from the bathroom and waiting on him it makes me appreciate her even more. To us it was an adventure. To her it was probably a nightmare.
God bless your sweet Mother's soul!❤
Let your mother know that you Love her. One day she will not be here.
I remember how cold it was in the 60s and 70's. Not fun. No heat 2nd floor. I'm from New England
God bless her ♥️ The world needs more strong, dedicated ladies like her ♥️
She probably looks back on that time with satisfaction because she met her challenges! She did it!😃
When they were building Hoover dam they would soak sheets and hang them up it would act like a crude swamp cooler .
My Grandmother would get the lace curtains down, dunk them in water and put them back up. It worked!
To wash clothes keep a 5 gal. bucket with hole drilled in lid; use a NEW bathroom plunger, put in bucket w/clothes and water, handle through the lid and plunge away. You do not have to have the lid, but does keep water from splashing. Don't forget to store clothesline and clothespins.
That's my plan for washing clothes. There are some great videos on YT about making a clothes wringer out of rolling pins, some 2x4 wood and a 5 gal bucket. That and some paracord from dollar store strung up in your yard, and laundry problem is solved. Don't forget to buy clothes pins!
You are right about the bucket with a lid. You need to drill into the lid and into the plunger. Just drill about six holes around the plunger. Also make sure you just use a small amount of soap. If you use to much soap it will be hard to rinse out.
Thank you for your advice !!
@@freddieh5539 if you run out of clothes pins or just can't get them, so many things work instead. Hair clips, pins, even twigs with a split in them work!
@TheKnittinKitten you can hang most things from a regular clothes hanger, and put the hangers on the clothesline. I always use this method for shirts.
Back up power (solar), board games, playing cards, back up ways to play music and ways to watch movies, books, water, water filtration, meds, shelf stable food, toiletries, back up way to wash your clothes and yourselves, back up way to go to the toilet, back up ways to cook (propane/woodstove), hand tools, axes, saws, hammers, fire starters, sewing and knitting supplies (spare fabrics), seeds, bicycles
Hopefully didn't miss anything x
I've pretty much taken care of all of these things. I have a tiny house in the ground encased in concrete and a small solar system to charge my phone and power banks, and a cooler. I have a replacement solar system as well. I use a composting toilet, rain catching system, and wood stove to cook on, heat water on to wash up, and heat with. I have cordless tools I charge, but I also have hand tools. I have 2 years worth of food stored up, seeds, a lot of them. I wash my clothes by hand, wash up, no running water, or shower/tub. I grow food and plant from what I've grown. I also use wild foods. I'm 63 on disability social security. If I can do it, so can you. But I started 3 years ago, and never see doctors, using natural things. I'm a damaged man. But I have the LORD as well. 👍😊🙏🙏🙏🙏
Oh yeah, I live alone. Not the best thing to do. So if you have a spouse at least, you're very blessed! 👍😊
😉👍
God bless you, if I was looking for a husband, you would be my man
I have been liveing rough in Missouri for a out 5 years now on SS and 67 years old
@@MyTi824 well thank you. 👍❤️
@@jerseystotler3615 well, I'm right behind you at 64. 😊👍
I have the bottom of my chest freezer lined with sturdy, clean bottles of frozen water bottles and jugs. In the event of a power outage my frozen foods will last days longer. After they thaw, i have gallons of clean drinkable water.
I would take frozen gallon jugs to work,keep my lunch cool then drink it in the afternoon.peace.
That is a great idea! Never thought of that.
I used to use frozen gallon jugs of water when I helped with the haying as a teenager. (I was the "idiot" stacking the blocks.)
I’m going to do that ! Thank you so much for sharing such a great idea !! 😮😊
I did too until I had to take them out to try and creatively stuff more meat in it about a month or so ago. I know I could (and should) can or otherwise preserve it all but we have an upcoming move in which I'm not going to want to risk hundreds of jars breaking (it's a long move and the truck will not be climate-controlled) and having to deal with broken glass and food all over, so I'd rather eat what we are able to between now and then and give the rest to neighbors before we leave.
We're empty nesters, my wife and I practice puzzles with solar yard lights around the kitchen table. Deep cycle batteries on all 5 vehicles (2 trucks, 1 car, 1 boat) and three 2000 watt inverters. Said this here before, I'm on LSD- Life Sustaining Drugs. A few months into no electric, I will simply expire. It's OK. Love you all and this channel. Thank you. God Bless and stay safe.
The company jase + can give you a year supply of meds if you qualify
You might want to learn a little bit more on planting a garden with the fruits and vegetables that you two like to eat. I understand that it takes about 3 years to get the hang of growing crops yourself. If you live in the suburbs then you just need to get an area with the southern view and gets a lot of sun. Do this instead of the puzzles. Once you get the hang of it you can even start canning the stuff you do not need to eat right now. I am also on Life Sustaining Drugs but I have grandkids to see more than just one time.
@@kinglee3990 they're not going to be grabbing around at night in the garden. Puzzles sound like a relaxing way to entertain yourself. And using outdoor solar lights in the house is a good use of resources.
I have asthma so I sympathize. I have bought many herbalist and botany and field guide books so I dont die. You might find a natural cure for your ailment. I found several, plus I am practicing making tinctures and extracts so that I can help others right away. Its nice having nurses and drs, but having an herbalist would be pretty valuable. If you have children or grandchildren, see to it that one or more get an education in plants.
@@kinglee3990 We canned 600 pounds of food from our 2500 sq ft garden. Trees, apples, pears, plums, peaches and cherries.
He mentioned throwing mustard out due to lack of refrigeration. Do NOT do that. Mustard is shelf stable at room temperature as long as it only has mustard seed, vinegar, water and spices
Most consumers aren't smart. Hopefully, they will learn.
Also mustard is an improvised burn cream.
@@aviciousbeast7757I did not know that I’ve always just tried to have an aloe Vera in my garden
Mustard Plasters
Ketchup also doesn't need refrigerated as well as butter.
If it hits the fan, there will be lots of people withdrawing from their happy pills and all. Need to be ready for that. There will be a lot of pain going on around us and within our families. Some of us will be really hurting. Also plan on things like cloth diapers and any ideas for neighbor kids if you don’t have your own, and new mamas, those who won’t be able to get around because of surgeries and disablements. Think outside the box. When it hits the fan, angry people will become angrier. I hope y’all are praying to Jehovah as hard as we have been. We all need wisdom and discernment, hope and courage, encouragement for each other and a Savior who will be available all day every day because it will get lonely on a different level in a lot of ways. And don’t forget that anything that is happening here in America might be happening elsewhere also. We need to pray for folks everywhere. If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray…I will heal their land. It’s hope, folks. And it’s a promise. God bless you.
We need to seek his face and turn from our sin :-) but well said
YES pray to Jehovah the MOST HIGH in Jesus name.
Psalm 83:18 older KJV says "That people may know that you whose name is Jehovah you alone are the most HIGH over all the earth. "
Luke 1:32 Jesus is SON of the MOST HIGH.
Jesus the Christ is the only mediator between God and humans.
That just made me cry so beautifully said ❤
I currently live in Sacramento Ca and I live in alternative housing. I have no heat, or air, or kitchen or bathroom. I do use my neighbors house for bathroom/showering but this property is on well and septic. I use a headlamp at night and lanterns or candles at night. Get some hand fans for summer, thermals, sleeping bags, down/wool blankets for winter. I buy single serve packets of condiments, jelly, etc. (or collect from restaurants). I have a propane grill and a fire pit to cook on. I soak beans overnight and cook in a pressure cooker etc. learning to cook in small amounts so no leftovers that need refrigeration. I grow veggies in pots in small amounts and as I travel they can go with me. I have a really good retirement but I am happy this way and am close to my grandkids while I decide what state I want to buy a house in. It’s a great life actually.
Retired, I live in a four bedroom, two bath home on several acres in Indiana. I've been Prepping for decades.
During hurricane Sandy, we had the power go out for a week, because an old tree fell across the power lines on the other end of the neighborhood. After about a week with no power, my dad and some other dads drove around to find the problem, found the tree, and the power company REFUSED to cut it down!
So the dads cut it down, and the power company had it fixed 2 hours later.
It happens. When it’s bad not everything can get fixed with a phone call. Be prepared to be your own fixer of everything. Power, food, protection, medical needs, communication. I’ve cleared trees off of my road before the fire department could get to it. When workers and funding are thin we’re all waiting for help or on our own. Learn what you can and be prepared 👍🏻
You are the first responder always.
Way to go dads!
@@hots4jc Today's "dads" would just keep calling for help and watch TV...
@@toml.8210no, just sit around wishing they had a T.V. to watch...
I made a list of 22 areas for sane living during insane times. I have all the mentioned areas covered (except precious metals and tools) and feel I can keep myself and family members comfortable for an extended period of time. I'm using this summer to gain knowledge of and skills in gardening, foraging, and campfire cooking while I'm whittling away at my list. Having a blast learning how to not just survive but thrive living outside of the system. Not afraid...prepared!!! As always, another excellent video!!!!
how close are you to a primary, secondary or tertiary targets for nuke? I live close to oak ridge, and if it gets hit, all of knoxville will be walking down the road. We will be fine, but the overload might make us want to bug out instead. Or if the wind is blowing the wrong direction that day. Make sure you have contingency plans.
Will you share your list. I’ma serious pepper too but I always love listening to different channels etc if just by chance I didn’t think of something
amen!@@margaretburnham5683
Remember that mankind has survived longer without electricity than it has with 😊
Remember that mankind was hunter gatherers for eons. Unless I shoot my neighbor's poodle and eat it, life will be a struggle in the suburbs during a long term power outage.
@@kimmer6 😳
@@kimmer6 right? I can do without electric but I sure would hate if outhouses had to make a return.
@@termodog7951 Save your old corn cobs. They might rub you the wrong way but its more useful than using your sock.
Good point
Over the last 20 years, I have had two winter power outages where the power was out for an entire day. Each time, the temperature outside was about 10 degrees (Fahrenheit). Rather than running a generator, I took everything out of my freezer and moved it outside. Everything stayed frozen and I never had to run the generator at all. There's more to this story, but suffice it to say my wood stove and other preps kept me comfortable during both of these power outages.
We did the same thing during our freeze of ‘21.
This is what we did during Superstorm Sandy back in 2012. We were out of power for 2 weeks. Luckily we had heat since we had a coal stove and cooked on top of it.
Store the food in a kennel cage outside to keep it safe from animals
The power outage for 1 day is no need to empty your refrigerator
Keep a mini fridge and small deep freezer with a generator.
Hi Scootch, enjoyed the video. I spend 3 months each summer on a 45 year old sailboat dependent on solar, wind, and desiel engine to maintain batteries for electricity. Good training for SHTF scenarios. Had to read a lot of comments before getting to a couple which focus on the elephant in the room - - water. Fill those tubs early in a crisis, can always filter the water later if needed. Have a plan for no toilets. Water system pumps will eventually fail so no water to flush toilets or carry the black water away. Invest in a camp or chemical toilet. Everyone will be grateful. Think living in the 1850s, sleep when dark, wake up at dawn. Keep up the good work...
(☞ ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)☞ This is good info 👍
Several years back, now, we had an Ice Storm hit the Northern Oregon Coast. Our entire region was out. Most of the County was out for up to three weeks. OUR Power was restored late on Day 6. MY FAMILY DID FINE!
We heat with an Off-Grid Kerosene unit that kept the entire house comfortable. We had a 600 Watt Solar Arry on our Shed, with a line into the House to our small Battery Bank. THT was used to charge and maintain smaller Battery driven Lights. The Solar also kept the Ham Station running, so we had communications. We have Two One-Burner Butane Camp Stoves, so Hot meals were NEVER an issue. The only area we had ANY problems were laundry and Bathing.Bathing was handled by heating up a Pot of Water on he Camp Stove and taking Sponge Baths. Our Food losses were MINIMAL, because as a preppier, I have 90% of our food in Cans and Freeze-Dried.
ALSO, during this event, on the Fourth Night, a man from the Power Company came to the Door, asking WHY we had light, and no one else on our Road did. I showed him some our Goal Zero 12 Volt Lights, and explained we were using LIMITED Solar. The conversation ended with me giving him contact information for Goal Zero, and other Emergency supply companies. He did 't ask me about anything else, and I did NOT volunteer anything else.
From the street, it DID look like our house was running normally. Now in a fulll blown SHTF, I WILL keep the lights off, and attempt to look just as "Helpless" as the rest of the Neighborhood!
Right on.
Spent nine months in a cabin with two little kids (one in diapers), no electricity. Running water meant running out to the well, and running back. Wood cookstove, heated water for washing kids & laundry, etc. Fresh milk was courtesy of a goat milked every day. All our food was either dried or from cans. Great memories. Don't know if I would be up to it now, 50 years later, but if it came to that, I could give it a good try. We wouldn't starve.
Yes there is lots of alternatives to having electricity and Heat it would not bother me at all
Sure you could,66yo here living off grid. No running water, Berky water filter, wood stove and propane, composting toilet. I split my wood😊
I grew up in the back country without electricity, plumbing, etc. One thing that really helped us when it comes to light is having some of those solar patio lights. We would take them outside to charge during the day and then bring them in for the night
You forgot almost the #1 priority. WATER. Most, if not, all municipal water supply systems rely on big industrial electric pumps to keep the system going. Yes, those most likely run on generators, but extended outages could mean those generators run out of fuel. I experienced one outage that was barely 8 hours. The generators that ran the city water system ran out of fuel in a couple of hours. We had no water pressure and when power was restored the water system was filthy with sediment and we were under a week long boil directive.
agree this is #1!!!!!
I'm no stranger to long term powder outages. I live in deep south Texas. 2 years ago, during a winter storm, Texas lost power for 5 days. Some may think, 'oh, 5 days isn't long term', but consider no heater, food starts to defrost and spoil, no hot water etc. Not everyone has natural gas stoves or fireplaces in Texas. I thank God I have both. Still very cold though. Now the power company is telling us to prepare for long term outages for the summer! It gets up to 100 degrees here! Texas is exploding with new, migrating residents and the grid cant keep up. Generators only go so far. If no power, can't pump gas. So much to think about. Be blessed and stay prepared.
Welcome to being attacked!! That’s what is going on at the border states. Mainly Tx and Az it of course no one talks about it or cares. It’s not in our back yard. It’s not “me”!!! That’s the problem. I hope y’all stay safe and keep your eyes out!
Something he definitely isn't considering is the heat here in deep south Texas. It can get well above 100 degrees along with very high humidity. People die here every year due to heat exhaustion
Lived thru the 5 day outage in south Texas 2 yrs ago. Learned so much of all that was affected.
@@StubbsMillingCo. I heard today, the border is flooded with those who's coming across to USA.
@@splatterkat3838 I am fairly certain that people lived just fine before refrigeration was invented, even in the *deep south*!
You could put some water in a bath tub along with some laundry detergent. Stand inside of it with your bare feet and walk up and down on top of your dirty clothes inside of the water to get your clothes clean. Folks have been doing this to clean their clothes for a long time! I hope this helps.
A plunger would help.
I've had to do that😊
@@dawn7882me too.....aided by 3 toddlers!
Winter: move everyone to one room that get day sunlight. Seal room from cold air drafts. In middle of the room set up a large camping tent and bring in bedding and chairs especially at night. Tent helps hold in the body heat and another barrier from cold air drafts.
If you don't have a tent, you can build one like kids used to do (Making forts with the furniture and throwing blankets over the whole thing) One person mentioned stacking cardboard boxes of clothes or other items and putting blankets across the top (or totes). If you have small kids they'll love it-even if only they fit inside it'll help keep them warm...
Or you can move to where it's warm. We are retired and live in a motorhome off-grid full-time. We either winter over in the desert S.W. or S. TX. Rather than use our furnace we have a MR. Buddy heater and keep it on low (4,000Btus) to keep us warm at night when needed. We have good insulation, double paned windows and Reflectix to hold in the heat. During the day the sun is sufficient 95% of the time. We also have solar, a 5500w back-up generator and a large lithium battery bank. Running an electric blanket all night consumes perhaps 1-2% of my battery capacity, which is recharged within the first hour of the next day by the sun. If for some reason I couldn't get propane, this would keep us warm at night. I'm planning on adding more solar, a bigger battery bank and a high-efficiency 12,000 Btu heat pump that could run 24/7 if needed. We also tow a 30mpg car that we use to get food, water and sundries so we only move every 2 weeks or more, saving gas. If you are used to living this lifestyle ahead of time, working out all the details in advance, it will be much less stressful when things turn bad.
@@SuperSushidog great ideas. Don't forget about old fashioned Wool blankets...wool will keep u warm and cool
@@bluebirdgramma6317 You're right. I remember wring out completely soaked wool socks back in my army days, putting the damp socks back on my cold feet and having them warm up. Wool is an amazing fabric - if you can put up with the scratchiness.
Use down comforters between you and your mattress and over you. Slept that way at my sister's when I was younger in northern NY
Most people have never lived without power. I have. We used grills, candles, and bought non-perishable foods. Basic things, but so many stress power options in grid down survival. For long term preps, we should be prepared for extended periods without it, even if we have power options.
I camped rough several times. But did have propane for cooking and a place near by for a water source.
Food was either fresh caught or can stuff. Or both. Not easy but worked.
I am in an apartment,,,so not much to do except can food, water, and candles.
Could get bad. Most likely I would leave area
Yep. We are spoiled and soft. Yes, I realize I'm using something right now that requires electricity. I include myself as a spoiled, soft individual. We all are, whether we like to admit it or not.
You Can't Buy "non-perishable foods" Anymore So Much Has Changed The Chemicals Their Putting In The Food Makes It Nearly Impossible To Preserve Food If SHTF Anything GMO Isn't Gonna Be Edible If Your Serious About Prepping Stock Up On Packaged Foods Such As Potato Chips And Cookies Because These Foods Can Be Eaten Right Out of The Box And When The Grid Goes Down That's All Your Gonna Have
You really want to know what it’s like to be without power for an extended amount of time…go without electricity. I was without power for 46 days at no fault of my own-it’s a long story. After 10-12 days, that’s when things got routine like. The best made plan will still have gaps that a person doesn’t think about until you’re living the situation. So seriously, try living without power for 10-12 days.
Once I got power back, it took about 10-12 days to recover. Turning lights on/off is such a common thing with electricity and completely the opposite without power. Everything is 4-5 times more time consuming without electricity, so plan accordingly.
I did it for 3 years to get a head start on my mortgage. Oh I remember the feeling of not being able to bring your clothes in off the line before rain, day after day after week. Always wearing shoes so I didn't sweep, vacuum or mop. Balls to the walls.
You might watch what people do in the old western pioneer movies, to learn primitive living. Today, we have brick houses with glass windows, carpets, and doors with hinges and locks.
"at no fault of my own, long story" makes me think it was your fault.
Remember when the whole city electric grid went down for 3 weeks. Many left for hotels in other cities. But be careful several families died as the brought camp stove and bbq inside the house or garage to cook. They died of invisible fumes. In winter have everyone sleep in one room to keep in body heat. Have portable battery to charge phones and if not possible, turn on motor and charge phone.... One phone per family... Ensure hygiene and temporary toilet facilities yours are frozen. Have each person in charge of one thing ie. water rationing, batteries in flashlights, bbq cleaning, pantry storage, meat preservation freezer/outside storage. Then someone to tally up end of day current food and water availability and plans food for next day.
Does three years and still going without electricity count😅 yup, no electricity for three years in two weeks time 😂😂
I recommend getting a good quality canner, and can the excess food. Especially if you have a gas stove, or a two burner, robust propane gas stove. Then put your properly canned good---I recommend the Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving, sold in most stores that sell canning supplies---especially if you are a beginner. You can also use the manual that comes with the canner.
Thank you Sootch00 for what you do.
I recommend the "American" as the best, due that you have no gasket that will eventually wear out. It IS expensive but the best. You always get what you pay for. (or vote for)😙
But you still will need to keep your canned foods from freezing and breaking the seals/jars. Even store bought canned foods can burst the cans when frozen. Living in Alaska I learned that lesson the hard way :(
I was in Walmart I asked a 20somthing nonidentifiying looking girl if they had pressure canners..she had no idea what I was talking about. I explained you put glass jars with food in them to can food. Thousand yard stare
Good idea but to my knowledge only All American canners can use alternative heat sources. I know the Presto canners cannot. The All Americans are expensive but they don’t use any gaskets so once you buy it your good to go. Taken care of you can pass them to your children and then grandchildren. I also love my Presto it heats up and cools down much faster but is much thinner aluminum and you will have to eventually replace the gasket.
@@decoy8645 I canned in my large Presto canner for many years on my wood cookstove. It was a matter of moving it/ sliding it around to adjust the heat to keep the gauge where I needed it to be while I crammed wood into the stove. Its doable.
Thank God I'm a musician, I never get bored, he'll there's a thing called books to!
I have heard of people setting up a tent in their living room just to keep the warmth in as much as possible; there was also something about taking a terra cotta planter (upside down), using a candle & letting that radiate heat (also earthships have a cool setup for climate control). Here in Florida, it is the heat we deal with - wet sheet hung in breezy doorway/window? Lights - cool hack: solar stakes, brought in for light at night. Great video as always. Thanks for all you do.
You can also use Terra cotta planters as a refrigeration source. I don't have the link but you can find the directions online.
@Q yes a coastal swamp,fresh water and salt.......
During the Serbian conflict, a lot of survival stuff in this vein came out of Kosovo and you can still find a fair amount of that knowledge online. When you're freezing to death, people get creative. The tent in the house is one thing, but Kosovo had people literally tearing the wood out of their houses to burn; lets hope it doesn't come to that.
When we didn't have AC (here in the Upper Midwest which gets both humid as well as triple digit stretches) we did the wet sheet in the window thing.
When I was a kid my dad was stationed in Japan. The Monsoon season (rainy season) Hit. It rained for six weeks. You can not go out side and play. I learned to appreciate reading books.
Best thing to use for poison ivy or oak is acne pads. They are designed to remove oil from your skin, so if you wipe down after exposure it will remove erucia oil and you won't get the rash.
If you do get the rash, hold a hair dryer on it as long as you can stand it. (Just general knowledge Of course if the electric is on.) I get it so bad, I have to get shots. This is a game changer!
My husband got poison Ivy BAD the first year we moved to our acreage. Terrible maddening rash everywhere! We were told to use one of those green cleaning pads for pots and pads and put some Dawn Dish soap with water on it, and then scour your body, not too hard of course. Never got it since.
The oil is hard to get off. Have you considered mechanics hard cleaner, which breaks down grease better than dawn.
My doc told me to cover poison ivy rash with baking soda, it worked great. Baking soda has many medicinal uses.
I'm a wildlife technician and spend a lot of time in the "woods". I learned that alcohol will end poison ivy.
We get power outages every year.. for up to 2 weeks at a time. During fire season two years ago we had 3 months of burning nearby and smoke inundating us. Power was out for 30 days.
We all have generators here..(well most of us). We also have tweekers listening for generators. Mine has a muffler i added and a foam lined box to muffle it.. but most dont. I can run everything on my 3 different generators including my swampcooler and all my power tools if i have to fix something. Also have hand tools to do the job.
As for fuel? Ive got enough propane, gas and diesel to last a year with what we do.. minus the vehicles. Ive got a gas water pump… and a well.
Foodwise? Ive got 5 years of stable food stores. Ive got 600lbs of anthracite and bituminous coal… for my forge but i can cook or heat with it. I harvest 10-15 cords of wood a year and use 6 cords a winter. And firearms? Well, i dont need to talk about that.. but as a 24 year infantry vet… im sure I’ll be good in that area.
Rural living is good… but the city folks are coming here are unprepared… and without a humble heart. Not very nice people a lot of the time.. and that’s how you get rural folks not to help you or even talk to you.
If you decide to move to rural? Have a different attitude than you have in the city. Your money means very little with whats coming. We have money as well. What you dont have is the experience and skill set to survive winter and to feed yourself and children. You may think you do… but with below freezing temps, 4ft of snow.. more coming.. unless you have lived it, you are going to have a hard time without the community. Attitude is everything.
I've been living the last two years without grid power.. granted I have solar, wind and backup generators. But even with that life takes on a very different level of work and figuring it out. Having to watch every watt of power almost all the time... but.. I know that I'll have power unless there is a major EMP... and then I pray that my EMP hardening actually works... I can only day have a plan and have backups of backups.. this past winter it was cloudy for several days in a row almost no wind and it dropped to -40°F. My furnace went out because the diesel lines froze up and all I had was a small on the wall ventless propane heater. It was only enough to heat my master bedroom and bathroom.. which meant all my water lines froze. So no flushing or filling water bottles, and the best part was that all my septic lines froze up too. then also because of the cold my generator wouldn't start so no way to use that to run electric heaters and charge the batteries. Thankfully I was able to get it all back up a day later. Now I have 3 generators that are multi fuel and plan on adding more backup propane heaters and getting a big propane tank. During the day when I have full sun I can heat with electric from the solar. I have a couple of the cheap ebay diesel heaters that I made to pipe into a window from outside. This way there is very little chance of fumes inside. Plus ventless propane heaters... if you have a wood stove you are in great shape stock up on wood and keep it dry and ready.
I've been living this off grid life for two years solid and it's no fun... I'd love to hook up to power but it's over $150k to get lines run to my place. Good luck to all those out there.
I'm sorry you're not enjoying off grid life😢. I live out in the middle of nowhere in my old airstream and I love it.
@dawn7882 it's not that I don't like it.. it's a point to those people who glamorize it and tell other that it's easy to do. I have a ranch and a family in a house. Our power needs are greater. With heat, laundry, we'll pumps, water heaters and the such. I also do this in Wyoming, it's not uncommon for it to drop to -40°F with a windchill of -90°F. It also gets above 100°F in the summer.
I have upgraded my heating situation and doubled my solar panels which was immensely helpful. At the time of me writing my last post was a difficult time for my family and me... but we are fine and doing way better this year.
@@japguns1022God bless and keep you and your family!
I have to disagree with one point, extreme heat is life threatening. And harder to deal with than cold. I know a guy who regularly passes out once it's 80F. Sometimes he can't make it from the car to the house during the summer.
And it's way harder to deal with than cold. You can't just put on another layer, walk around, or make a fire. There's only so naked, still, or in a creek you can get. And your only other option is to have a good basement/underground shelter
AGREED!!!!
We had no electricity for 3 weeks thanks to Hurricane Charley--that was in 2004, the year with 4 hurricanes to hit Florida. We were okay in the daytime, but sleep was all but impossible. So my husband went to the auto parts store nearby--they had power--and bought three large car heavy duty batteries, and three large single fan car fans, one for our bedroom window, and the other two for the bedrooms of the two small cabins where a couple of of guests were staying. The batteries kept the fans running at night and we charged them during the day with our generator--for which I was in the right place at the right time. As generators were scarce as hen's teeth.
Everyone was fine except for a medical incident--NOT heat related--which I will post tomorrow.
I'm from the deep south. I beg to differ
That's why I'll take -60 windchill over triple digits any day. Our ancestors managed, and if we do it right we can too, but man I'm going to miss the cold when we move.
I'm in phx. If we lost power in July or aug...it wld b life threatening. Way worse than cold. Can always pile on the blankets and cuddle with the dog...
Keep large block ice in your freezers ( mixed with your food ) if power goes out. This will continue to keep your foods frozen at least for several days.
Just 4/5 fill half gallon 1 gallon jugs with water
We keep many gallon jugs of water in the refrigerator for the same reason.
I've found that frozen food is just as effective as ice; why take up food space with ice? More important to maintaining temp is to have freezer completely full.
I was going to donate all our board games, but these will help alleviate boredom. Good reminder.
We are looking into the possibility of having an underground house poured. Should make heating and cooling much easier both on and off-grid.
Living life with the cycle of sunrise/sunset is actually healthy, and saves lightning resources.
I have a couple of hand-crank radios with built-in solar panels. Kinda neat little gadgets!
Meat keeps a little bit longer once it's cooked. There are several channels that teach you how to preserve foods the old fashioned way.
I live and work on a homestead in an area where the power goes down for about 20 days every month.
I worked hard so that it no longer affects me.
I had the Boss put in solar power and generator back-ups. There are back-up plans for back-up plans. As part of that back-up plans, I have a pocket solar USB power bank that also works as a flashlight.
I have eBulbs and flashlights and oil lanterns and even a tea light candle lantern.
I have more than a dozen ways to cook food. I could not afford 100 canisters of propane.
I have a pellet camping stove that I can use firestarter pellets with my mess kit.
I have catering fuel cans and supplies for that.
I have a fire pit with cooking grate. I have cast iron pans to use on the fire pit.
I have small kitchen appliances that Runs on my solar pocket USB power bank including a heating lunch box that bakes small batchs of cookies or muffins or biscuits.
I have small kitchen appliances that can be used in the truck. I have a small griddle that fries food.
I can use my 6-1 rice cooker in the truck. I can add 2 cups of water (16 ounce bottles of water) and the contents of a pouch and press a button for an easy and quick meal. I put together the pouches myself. I am able to add canned meat to any of my pouch meals.
I have a generic Kcup machine for just add hot water meals like instant oatmeal and instant noodle cups. It works on the solar USB power bank or in the truck. I have a bin of just add hot water beverages and meals with bowls and cups and forks and spoons.
I have 8 bricks to build a rocket stove.
I have the cardboard and gulf wax and cans to build a mini stove. You cut up strips of cardboard and fill the can. You add a wick. You melt gulf wax to pour over the cardboard to fill the can. You use scrap metal with tin snips to build a cooking grate. I have the supplies and plan on making them soon.
I have other options as well.
I have a bucket for laundry. I have a folding clothes rack that I can set up.in a bathtub to dry clothes inside. I can even put it outside.
I even have an old computer with a CD player that can be used to watch a movie which can run on my solar pocket USB power bank.
I set the pocket solar USB power bank on the picnic table on the back patio to charge regularly.
I have an indoor garden and I have assorted battery operated LED lights to keep my indoor garden growing regardless of what happens.
I hope this helps y'all with ideas that could work for you in a power outage.
Keep up the great videos! We have Gosun solar stoves for cooking & heating water (they work even when it's bitter cold outside, IF we you have sunshine.) We also have small camp stoves, twig stoves/SoloStoves, and a BBQ to cook on. We have a Big Buddy propane heater, a solar generator for power, a 12V fridge, camping equipment, and extra wool blankets. Always keep your car gas tank near full - top off when you get near half empty. And keep some emergency snacks and warm gear in your car. Oh, and have some way to filter drinking water.
after living in LA. SC. FL. NC have gone without power few times.
as a prepper now, I am ready. stay safe. prep on
A place a BBQ foil tray on like biscuit tray, fill with tea lights, place a oven tray on top (a little higher than tray) can heat water and heat food
Add a gallon of water to your deep freezer every 2 days and fill up every inch of head space that you aren't using. That will give you massive amounts of ice for the summer, pulling out a gallon block at a time. But more importantly, it will keep your food cold for tons longer in SHTF. Don't add too much, too fast or it will ruin your food. But you are essentially adding 2 days of stored energy for every block you have in there frozen.
Also, to add even more time to your frozen food, cover all 6 sides with thick blankets and just don't go in there but once every couple days. Use these steps and your food can last a month.
True. Had to do it one yr
solar garden lights can be brought inside after sunset. Get the high lumen varieties. You can't read by them, but they light up a room for a long time. I just went 3 weeks without power here in western NC. I loved cooking on my butane cooker. The radio you mentioned was a life saver. Was my only source of information as to what was going on. Make sure you have some cash, when power goes out you'll have to pay with cash, gas or groceries.
I must be weird but I think I’d love this. It’s camping or its how we lived when I was young. In Texas cold is never a problem hot can be uncomfortable
Try 122 degrees outside in the summer with 50% humidity,,, winter is always the best
I experienced that in Mali West Africa. We very rarely had electricity. Do everything active in the early am or pm. Have lots of clean water available to drink. We had a kerosene refrigerator though with a tiny freezer. Sometimes we couldn't get kerosene for the fridge. Had to buy perishables more often. Used a breasure to cook on.
Beautifully said about the mustard. Also, we could mention salt, pepper, ketchup, and sugar are also not in need of refrigeration, great channel.
We are pretty much ready for almost anything and I am saddened by what is coming. I fear We are all in for some real pain.
I agree. Important to also plan for neighbors’ kids if neighbors aren’t prepared. And people who are withdrawing from all their happy pills. Lots of things most won’t prep for.
@@jessicathompson1456Lord, help us all.
It amuses me to think about this topic, because as a kid we lived on a farm with no mains power at all until we sold the farm when I was 14. We did have a small 32V battery system to could run a couple of house lights for a while, but those batteries didn't last long at all especially if unable to be charged by a generator. So zero mains or even battery operated devices, everything was basically wood fires for cooking & heating, no running hot water, in fact water was also very limited, so a shared bath once a week or bath in the laundry trough after the clothes had been washed using water from a copper, wood fired boiler. Lighting was commonly small kerosene lamps. Oh them were the days, but not necessarily days that I would like to return to. Refrigeration was a small kerosene 'fridge.
Now I have solar panels with a Tesla system that provides all basic home power needs and even a Portable Lithium Power bank if the Tesla was on the blink, plus a generator, plus, plus, and I even go camping with just the basics to practice those really basic skills and all of those could be used at home if need be.
How nice ! 😊
I put power right up there with food and water. Since installing battery backed solar six years ago we have never lost power.
That is great but have a backup plan, if you suffer a EMP from either the Sun or some crazy dictator. Make yourself a Faraday cage with a smaller backup plan equipment.
I remember summer of 2020 we lost power for 3 days. Not the longest time I’ve been without power (went a week when I was in HS after a major storm). I remember how dark it was at night. Luckily we were able to get a small generator to keep our fridge and freezer running, and our kids love being outside so they were occupied all day out playing. In a way it was nice to get back to life without tv, tablets, etc. Man, it was hot and muggy though, so we spent time at the neighbors pool and even sat in the car periodically for some AC.
we had an outage for almost 2 weeks one year and my brother in law and his wife set in and started canning as much meat as they could until the power came back on. they had purchased the largest All American Canner and were able to can large amounts of food at one time
I purchased a double burner propane stand. I plan to put my pressure canners on them and can everything. You do not need store bought canning jars. Save all those glass pickle, sauce, salsa jars with lug lids with the rubber seal inside and reuse to can. They work great. Better actually the Ball or Kerr. Never had a seal fail with those. Saves money too!!
LOVE that God has brought me to my "prepper" community! Got food covered by raising animals & gardens, transportation covered with horses 😊 and working on getting my house built. Putting in a gas stove for cooking and a wood stove for heating! Loving it!
Don’t tell Biden about your gas stove lol
We’ve been heating with a pellet stove for over a decade. Yes it uses electricity but only 300W easily covered with a battery and inverter in the short term.
Go solar for power.
You can cook on a wood stove as well.
god did what? lmao
I'm in South Africa. Our grid is on a knife's edge. We are offgrid but there are very few that are. I'm not sure of percentages but probably around 0.01% of the population. For years there have been incresing blackouts. Right now most people experience around 12 hours a day. It's set to increase now as winter begins. When there's no power most people have no water. As it is many communities haven't had water for months and even years. We now have a cholera outbreak in 2 provinces. It's catastrophic.
😢
If you never refrigerate mayo you can keep on a shelf and use it.
We do it all the time. But if you refrigerate then it will go bad. Something my husband’s mother taught me. Freaked me out at first but she’s right. We never refrigerate and keep in cabinet.
My sister does this. Taught me something new. Never would have thought about it else.
i deal with electricity for a living. Im telling you the power companies are short on transformers. One nasty storm in my area that damages transformers will cause us to be out for a long time. most of our outages are in winter and we just put the food outside in coolers if its below mid 40s
Or stick it right in the snow ! 🙂
Yeah But You Guys Can Easily Just Repair The Transformers And Get The Power Back On Eventually Even If It Takes A Few Months or A Year or Two But If Something Happened To The Computer Software Your Not A Programmer Your An Electrician And If All The Computers Were Compromised By The Same EMP Than That'd Be It For America Because You Can't Program A Computer Without Another Computer So Unless You Could Bypass Your "smart meters" And Whatever Else Requires "software" It's Game Over Before It Even Began Because The Truth Is A Programmer Can't Do Anything Without A Computer It Could Be A Simple Glitch A Run Time Error or A Simple Single Event Upset It Doesn't Matter If It Infects Every Computer All That Programmer's Skills Are Worthless So If Your A Real Electrician Believe Me You Should Be Petitioning To Get The "software" Out of Our Grid As A Gamer Who Is Very Much Used To Dealing With "software" I Can Tell You Right Now All The Grid Could Be Perfectly Functional While Offline Due To A Software Bug That Could Take Many Years To Patch And That Isn't What You Want In A Perfectly Functional Power Grid Especially When The Software Running That Grid Is Made In China
Try living 3 months camping .I did it one summer and loved it .This was before cell phones .
I live in central alaska. We set up our downstairs to put up heavy drapes, walling off the living room, dining room, kitchen and half bath when we have power outages in the winter. The living room has a woodstove. In the dining room I have an outlet tied to an outdoor outlet that can be fed by a Honda generarator to periodically cool refrigerators/freezers, run lights and recharge whatever. Im not of the mindset of "its never too late to prepare". Eventually, it is too late to prepare. When the ark doors close, its too late to start building a boat.
There are things that you can do that do not cost money, which don't require much time or strength and can be done in just a few minutes to prepare for when for when you have no electricity. Get up, put things away, put the dirty clothes in the hamper, wash the dishes, dump the trash, clean the shower, change the bedding. You don't want to be living in a pigstye when the electricity goes off, you get sick and have to go to bed, the hurricane hits, or the snowstorm comes.
What a great motivator you are ! My house will be cleaned up- TODAY !! 😳!
Here is an easy one. Cheap and quick. 8 weeks of light from one D cell battery. SIMS DEAD CELL CANDLE >> google it
That should be done whether a person has power or not. That's called being an adult 😊
True dat!
Excuse me....? 105° heat can be deadly! Sometimes it's hotter! Older people and people with immune difficiency are especially at risk! Even cold water cloths on the body are sometimes not enough under such heat! I'd really like some ideas how to survive heat!
That's Where Heat Pumps Come In If You Can Build A Steam Engine You Can Get The Heat Pump Running Pretty Much All of Our Grid Could Be Powered With Steam Instead of Electricity However Conventionally Steam Generators Produce Electricity, I Don't Know How But Most of Our Appliances That Use Electricity Could Be Converted To Use Steam Instead And All Steam Needs Is A Fire
Power outage when it is hot is just as dangerous. Especially the elderly and those without transportation. Cooling centers may be opened up, but some have no way to get there, and some elderly may refuse to leave. I’ve seen some jurisdictions not have transportation provided for those needing it.
You probably don't read or watch the news. People do die from not having access to air conditioning in hot summers here in Texas, other parts of the southwest. Especially elderly and infants. Every year when it is 100+ degrees even a few days in a row, they show elderly and infants and sometimes homeless who have died. Just tossing this out as a reminder that your channel is global :)
the elderly family should take them in and take care of them.
@@debbiec6216 I agree, if they have family. Many don't. Eventually I will be in that position, elderly without family.
I agree. Even in my youth I could not handle heat. I'm just one of those people. I am a 73 year old female and in extended periods of heat I am utterly useless. All I can 😢do is sit it out and not move much.
Good grief! I tried three times to correct that post. It won't let me. First time that ever happened to me. I am not a 3 year old female. I am a 73 year old female. 😖
I made sure my solar power can run my bread maker, Keurig and Nespresso. No need to live like savages if power is out or SHTF. Freeze dried will be last resort. Of course refrigeration and medical equipment top the list. I have a small counter ice maker to assist in refrigeration for the coolers we have if needed. You can live without a lot of things but adding items can make life much more enjoyable. Beyond just surviving. My first focus was just on surviving. Next added in comfort to it. Love these helpful videos. If you have kids, you are going to need those comfort items. Variety of hard candy treats saved for the right moment. Laptop where they can watch favorite DVD's, games, etc.
An eBike with trailer (EMP protected) is one of the most expensive items I bought, outside of solar. My Nevada property closest water source is ten miles if needed. If I had to I can take it to get water which is heavy to carry that distance. And of course solar to recharge it. Pretty much made up my mind, not going to be without electricity. Grid maybe, electricity no.
I completely agree with you! We've made the same preparations as you. We also have solar ovens, rocket stoves that operate off of twigs, and pressure canners with mason jars to can up meats, beans, and potatoes. We decided to set up solar panels and power banks to keep our electrical needs satisfied. Of course we can't run our central air and heat off of it, but, running everything else will be no problem for us.
Where’d you get the EMP protected w-Bike?
A simple quick solution if power goes out in regards to saving food in fridge freezer, is pressure can it all!
Great video. Please keep in mind, if the power is down and it is VERY WINDY, you cannot start a fire outside! Have some sterno cans and a foldable grill rack to cover it and cook indoors. Sterno is used at many indoor events to keep food warm. You can even place your sterno underneath the racks on the gas stove. Also, believe it or not, tea lights underneath a stove rack will also cook foods. Do not try to start a camp fire in windy conditions!!! This solution also works during rainy weather.
A ferro rod can be indispensable!!! (wet matches do not light ANYTHING)
Also, save your dryer lint in an old plastic jar. It makes EXCELLENT Firestarter.
Retractable clothes lines and clothes pins! Remember those days? Yeah, I used to help my mother collect the laundry off the line. I personally have 3 retractable clothes lines that I can move around to different locations. They can be used outside, but I have one in my kitchen too for days when It's rainy. Most people don't even know what it is that's attached to my wall. I've been asked many times about it. LOL
I used to have a bicycle but traded it for a dorm refrigerator, mostly because I feared that my large refrigerator would crap out on me, and this could hold me over for a little while. I also have a small chest freezer for the very same reason; kitchen fridge goes out (freezer is attached) just transfer to the chest freezer.
I guess I should invest in a 3 wheel bike with a basket on the back....to carry things with me if I have to leave.
Please note that gas generators must be run OUTSIDE and extension cords must be heavy duty and run inside through an open window or door. I have a solar generator to run at night indoors so I'm not vulnerable with open doors and windows. Daytime gas generator is fine......unless you're the only one with a gas generator, then that makes you a target.
Be careful out there people. Trust no one. Watch your six. Always protect yourself and your family.
Bad thing about gas generators is your a target because of the noise.
No matter what a person has when things get bad, everyone will be a target.
When we do not have power that is when we get out our board games. We have wood heat and our basement always stays cool in the summer. Our spring water is coming from underground so we can use water reservoir for refrigeration.
Stocking up on charcoal is a great idea to augment gas and wood to cook with.
Regarding propane for heating or cooking, you should alternate them; heat for a while, then build a fire for cooking, as well as some heat. If you pick and prepare your living area right, you can go a while before you need to start heating again, then bunker down with lots of blankets, a sleeping bag, dogs or whatever.
I lived in a safepark in my van with my dog. I prefered 17 degrees over 98 degrees. You can put on clothes,blanket, snuggle up with family. Propane heat such as a buddy heater can work great for l one room in a house. Very cheap if you learn how to fill your own bottles. Heat could be impossible if there were no shade as well. It can kill fast.
Y'all do need to harden up if 32 degrees makes ya run to your car.
Just saying..
I'm so thankful to God that I was targeted and learned so much about survival.
We're all Homeless without Jesus
Just so people know, hospitals do not run on generators but, they often have large generators to run certain machines and important areas of the hospital if the power does actually go out.
Depends on the hospital, the one in our town can run the whole thing completely independent of the grid, with it's generators.
@@jay90374 yeah I guess some, sure. He said hospitals run on generators tho. I'm assuming he meant during a power outage. Just didn't want people thinking the wrong thing.
well what does the generator run on?? and how much fuel do they have stored, or are they expecting it to be delivered?? so it might last for a while....but in a long term Shtf or emp event, you can number those days.
Hospitals are required by law, to be able to run all of their essential loads for a minimum 48 hours on their backup generators. All non-essential loads are removed from the distribution system by means of an automatic transfer switch. After the 48 hours is up, all bets are off.
@@kathyburson8191 they run on diesel fuel and you're right. When they run out they run out.
Those are some really good points to consider. I'm thinking about getting a small solar panel kit with LiFEPO4 batteries, just enough to run a small fridge and my security cameras. Also, a backup solar charger and inverter stored in a Faraday cage in case of EMP.
If you want to run a small refrigerator if you use an inverter, it will not be take more power than the LiFEPO4 battery unless they are 200 or 400 AmpHour batteries. Then to charge them they will need a lot of solar panels. If you are very well off and don't want to spend over $5,000.00, you may want to down size your refrigerator to one that is 12 Volt DC powered and have a 12 volt security camera system, for the camera system the most power hunger part is the recorder. Unless you want to stay up all night long watching the cameras all the time, it may be best to have the motion activated cameras which will alert you if there is movement in the site of the camera. You also want to have IR cameras that will provide invisible light for the camera to see at night time. The cameras do not draw a lot of power it will be your monitor and recorder. They do make recorders that run on 12 volt DC. By having everything run on 12 Volt DC, you do not have to install a inverter to get 120 Volts AC to run your devices. Do not use your solar systems to power heaters, it is the biggest waste of power since it is much better to use wood or even candles to keep warm. Use the solar system to recharge your flashlights, cellphones, and other USB devices.
@@kinglee3990 sound advice your talented you should make a series of videos your self like the different ways to make fire ?
Yes solar back up is super convenient if not critical. I am set up to run security cameras and a fridge. One thing I discovered is it takes a bigger system than u realize. Inverter and solar panel efficiency can literally reduce your systems expected/rated power by 30% or more, and that’s not considering cloudy days. Remember too your gonna want lights and to mabey charge a phone or run a small fan. These items don’t use much but collectively and over time it’s more than you expect. Personally would spend the money on a larger system than on back up components and a fariday cage but I get the concern and see the point. Good luck!
@@kinglee3990 I have a Poe camera with 8 cameras the entire thing is less than50 watts for continuous recording and power, Ways to save power is to keep the monitor off. You can also power the camera with an external power supply and they have an internal sd card that can store the data on triggered events. You can also turn off the infrared lights at night. It’s possible wireless cameras might use a little less power but once you consider you have to power the wireless router the reduction may be negligible. Remember you won’t likely have internet so you’ll need some sort of local storage and to make sure they can even function without. I’ve tried unplugging a few cameras but this dose t save to much. Many devices with a power brick / transformer are 12vdc u can simply wire them up directly. I think in terms of larger appliances like a fridge it’s more cost effective to get a few more solar panels and run it on ac than to buy a dc fridge but id have to run the numbers to be sure.
I run a solar system with 3 deep cycle batteries. Can power frig freezer and TV plus lights 2 fans and various other items. Now using that type of a pull will require lots of solar panels. But you cut down on what is being used to save energy. Extend your batteries.
At your advice, I bought a used wood stove and Ecoflow solar generator. Winter in CT can be cold. Now I need a wood source
Companies are always throwing away wooden pallets. The wood is usually oak, which is good for you because it is a hardwood and will burn longer. Since the boards are flat and rectangular they will be easy to stack and take up less room for a lot of wood. No bugs living in the wood like you might have with tree logs. And it is free right now! 😀
My kitchen stove is propane. I hav used it for heat and cooking along with the fireplace for a week at a time!!!! And in winter a natural freezer outdoors!!!!i hav also pressure canned most of my freezer stuff !!!!!
For washing clothes, we have 3 5-gallon buckets, one of which has holes drilled in the sides and bottom. Drilled holes in the bottom of a plunger, so we don't get suction. One solid bucket is for rinse water. It works. Outside w/ a chair to sit on would be easier on the back than putting it in the bathtub and bending over, but that works in a pinch.
Salad spinner works great for washing socks, underwear and t shirts without power (or not!)
We didn't have power for 3 weeks due to payment issues. We lived off candlelight, read books, went hiking, played games. Going to bed after the sun went down and woke up with the sunrise. We lived in a highrise apt. The walls were over 15in thick concrete we were well insulated.
What baffles me is why more homes aren't underground. If you dig a certain depth, deeper than where is freezes, the earth naturally regulates the temperature.
Not so practical where water table is high.
When homes are underground, they can have lots of moisture issues. Even if the they are built above the water table, the cooler walls can result in condensation. Condensation can then result in mold and mildew. This means you may need to run a dehumidifier all the time, or risk living in a place with way too much mold. There are ways to control and compensate; but it greatly complicates things.
Most homes near me have deep basements…mine has 9 foot ceilings. In the basement there’s a concrete room below the garage that is 63 degrees all summer and same in the winter. A bit chilly when the heater isn’t on but manageable for sure.
@@TripleCCC3 I found that to be true when I lived in Wisconsin. Our basement was a constant 66 degrees winter and summer. When it would get too hot, we'd go to the basement as we didn't have a/c. We had furniture in the basement, washer and dryer, lots of storage with clothes, etc. We had a portable stove we used, etc. I live in the south and my home is off grade - so a couple sides are below ground and a couple sides are level with the ground - it's cooler there in summer but were it to freeze and lose power, it would freeze the pipes in the basement. We'd be better off upstairs with blankets, propane heater, etc.
I've been living without heat in Oregon for two years and in the winter my living space has gotten down to 15 or 20 degrees on those days I use 4 heavy wool blankets 1 down and 3 over the top 👍🔥👍
He didn't touch on weapons. Remember, you WILL need to protect your stuff. Those without WILL come for YOUR stuff whether or not they are your best friends in the neighborhood. When it comes to life or death, they WILL try to take your stuff. BELIEVE IT.
Pellet guns or bb guns to start with, then, IF NECESSARY, something else...
I used those wire mini battery operated lights. I would string them all over. They last for days. Keep extra batteries.
Last year there was a bad storm that took out power for almost a week here and it gave me a new respect for prepping for power outages. Having a propane grill and also having meals canned helped make it through.
How about refrigeration? Without planning for basic electrical backup, frozen and refrigerated food would soon spoil.
I live in Cape Town, South Africa and we have a lot of power outages, we have "load shedding" where the power is turned off in different areas on a rotational basis (there is an app to keep track of the times), some times as long as 12 or 13 hours. I built a 50 amp hour 24v solar generator inside a mobile toolbox and this is able to run my 2 fridges and freezer when the sun is shining on the 4 100watt solar panels, or just the one small fridge on a cloudy day. I have a 2 plate gas stove, i built a 2 bucket with a plunger off grid "washing machine". I bought sleeping bags for climbing and nestling in cold weather. I also have a solar geyser on my roof, but it's the old type and not the vacuum tube type. Be happy that you don't have this permanent form of power outages.
I used to deliver fuel. Even if transportation is up, the fuel trucks need power in the fueling area to fill up to fill the generators.
good quality multivitamin/mineral. Use sea salt or Himalayan salt for trace minerals. Practice harvesting, eating and drying edible local weeds. Get a foraging book with good pictures.
A janitors mop bucket with a ringer and a toilet plunger for the agitator will wash your clothes. Clothes lines for your solar dryer
Make sure you EMP proof your Solar Generators .With your Solar panels you can remove the Diodes or make sure you buy a supply so you can replace the ones that get fried in an EMP attack. Some of your flashlights/camp lights may have electronics in the make sure you have EMP proof them also.
All the research I have seen says solar panels, unless connected, would be unaffected by an EMP. Even if connected, the panels themselves might lose some efficiency, but would still work. Have to protect power stations though.
@@TheFloridaprepper I think the panels themselves will be unaffected but the diodes are electronic.
@@TheFloridaprepper Did you make your own Fara cage ???
@@mannyfragoza9652 That's not what I have seen. But if you have a reputable source, I'd be happy to read it.
@@TheFloridaprepper Arthur Bradley says:
2016-05-27 at 16:13
Great comments. People often misunderstand the effects of solar electromagnetic events from those of a high-altitude nuclear-generated EMP. Solar events are primarily a threat to very long conductors (i.e., our electrical grid), whereas a nuclear-generated EMP would have some very high-frequency (short duration) components that could indeed damage very small-scale electronics. The other comment I would add regarding solar arrays is that while the PV cells themselves are low-impedance devices designed for high currents, the bypass and blocking diodes are not as robust. Their failures introduce different effects, from lower efficiency, to complete system failure, depending on the type of failure (open or short). Of course, the charge control circuitry is also susceptible. P.S. I am also an EE (PhD), working for NASA.
I was out for 14 days after Hurricane Gustav. It wears you down and turns tribal after about 4 days. Your neighborhood is your army.
In the hills of west Virginia 1956 we (my family and neighbors) had no power and didn't need it , food was from the garden and what did need refrigerator was used before it spoiled, Mason and ball fruit jars were used extensively. Jars were washed and put away till refilled , meat was smoked as soon as the hog or chicken was killed. A deer or two a year and any rabbit or squirrel that was unfortunate enough to get within gun range. (No I've never ate possum or road kill ), coal was used for cooking and heat in winter, everyone had chores to make it all work without fuss, you don't work you don't eat.oh yea ,we didn't have indoor plumbing, shit we didn't have out door plumbing either. Out house blues. Oddly enough we were happy most times. I do think the kids today will die by the thousands if we have a system failure of a month or more . But not me and mine . Think pot belly stove and fuel for it.
I have a heart condition, and the heat makes it much worse. I find that if there is no AC, going underground like into a basement really helps.
So smart, I never thought of that. My basement is not finished, but it is a lot cooler than upstairs. In the heat of the day, it would work great or even at night if it is too hot to sleep.
@@hots4jc I don't have a finished basement either. A blowup mattress or a futon works fine. Even a recliner will work if you can sleep in one of those.
When I first got into solar I bought a DIY kit off of eBay with a charge controller and inverter and battery box all wired they are good for emergency if you have a small budget or new to solar
Which one did you purchase?
I've got 2 fuel generators, 2 solar generators, 29 solar panels and store in 3 6Kw Tesla batteries...good to go, even now I run 96% off grid when I'm using A/C and 100% off grid without. Multiple freezers and propane/wood fired grills and ovens here in the suburbs
Cool !! 😊
When it comes to food, if you have a propane grill you can can meats and veggies. Now they are shelf stable.
Always keep a couple extra dozen eggs in refrig and cycle through them using oldest first. 3-4 months in refrig works. I leave mine in cardboard cartons also wrapped in plastic bags as they dry out less when wrapped up. They can go a long while not refrigerated, if that fails. And hardboiled will extend another couple days as well.
Im in south FL, no stranger to power outages, I gotta say I eat much better cooking outside !
1) Boredom
2) Climate control
3) Communication
4) No refrigeration
5) Cooking
6) Repairs - manual tools
7) Conveniences - washing
8) Finances
9) Medical - prescription drugs + over counter
10) Transportation
Think about canning what’s in your freezers, if power goes out for extended period of time.
If we weren't close to moving, that's what I'd do😊 But whatever don't eat between now and then we are giving away to neighbors. I don't want to risk broken jars during the move.
Most of our neighbors have generators or generac like systems for power. Some of us have extra freezers that people can store things in an emergency. We didnt buy a new freezer, but rather purchased gently used ones for this purpose.
Here's the stats for Phoenix metro in regards to heat: Maricopa County identified a total of 425 heat-associated deaths occurring in 2022.
Probably because they didn't drink enough water and didn't stop to take a break when they needed to. Or the fools that go running when it's 100 out😮 . You have to dress differently too meaning wearing a hat and light clothing and sometimes clothing that covers your skin like farmers do ❤ umbrellas are another thing that helps if you have to be out in the sun,like tending your garden, mowing the lawn ect.
My main concern in a power outage is that there is no running water, i can store some water in the apartment, but not a lot, i need to think how to tackle that
Invest in some water storage containers. Collapsible water jugs are a good investment if in a pinch for space. Fill them and use them every 3 months, placing with fresh water.
@@visnuexeExactly!!!!!!!
Thanks for sharing some great ideas here!
A few additional tips:
Purchase a chest freezer with manual defrost, it operates using the least amount of power, handles opening and closing without losing all of the cold air. It can easily be made to run off of solar power and will stay cold overnight without battery backup. Have a Ladder Mover available to help move ladders and supplies, one person can do the work of four when carrying large bulky items such as sleeping bags, tents, coolers, etc.
I practice minimal electricity use. But I still make things happen. But what I've learned is a semi nomadic way. Its doable, a total manual system, but lots of chores. which is okay to last for weeks and weeks. I even don't use a refrigator. No AC. I have wood heat and minimal propane use. I teach this stuff.
I’m honestly glad to know that some patriots and good people will be able to make it through whatever it is “they” have planned for us!!
Did you get acclimated to the cold or heat after a few days? It seemed to work for me.
Thanks for the information. Love the bloopers at the end. They put a smile on my face. Cheers
I recently purchased a charcoal grill, and extra charcoal. Also, I have extra large grills that could fit over a fire pit, and a spit which could fit on a hand made upper brace, plus a large cast iron skillet if necessary.
Whatever you do, make sure you use your charcoal grill outside. Charcoal gives off carbon monoxide and will cause suffocation if used inside.
@@BELCAN57 I went out and bought 6 smoke alarms and 6 carbon monoxide detectors for the house and our generator . As far as cooking , I'll have a small burner .
So the world doesn't smell the food.
We recently lost power for a few hours. Our dogs went crazy and barked until I went crazy. We live in the country with farm animals. I tried to go outside and couldn’t see anything. I went and bought good solar lights that you shove into the ground and they are along walk ways now. Also bought solar lights that need to be mounted on poles to light up area around the house and barn! Seldom Mentioned during these videos. I have rocket stoves, 2 fuel indoor burner, ways to wash and hang cloth and food stored along with coffee and lots of ways I am trying to prepare. Trying to set up some water infiltration systems. Beyond my Berkey filter.