09-19-2012, 12:43 PM
(This post was last modified: 09-19-2012, 01:07 PM by Internet troll.)
Looking for a small way to make a contribution to this sub forum and just wanted to share an experience that changed my way of thinking about many things including the need to honestly be prepared for emergencies. I know most people think about water and food when thinking about prepping, I also think having a power source is one of the most overlooked things by casual preppers, yet under the right circumstance can mean the difference between life and death.
Something to think about when prepping
A couple of years ago (2009, 2010?) Delaware County was hit by 3 major snow storms of 18+ inches between December and February. During the first two storms everything was fine at our house, no power outages... no problems. This was good as the area I live in is not overly populated, is very hilly, and has a lot of places you could easily go off the road and run into a lot of trouble if you are driving in severely bad weather.
During the 3rd storm our power went out a couple of hours into the storm. There were white out conditions outside and it would have been extremely dangerous to drive anywhere.
The warmth in the house was gone within 1-2 hours. We were lucky though. When we first bought the house we were in Home Depot and I saw a generator that was on clearance for $400, it normally sold for about a $1000. We had just lost power for a couple of hours a week prior, no big deal, the weather was still nice and power came on about 3 hours later. It was almost a whim that I bought the generator. I did not know what a prepper was then, just wanted thinking about an emergency situation. I did not use it for two years and was thinking about selling it.
Back to the storm, The house was freezing, because I had the generator and plenty of gas I was able to set it up, run electrical cords into the house (specifically my bedroom) and move my wife, son, dog and cat into the bedroom. I also had a kick ass electrical heater that made the room very comfortable.
I hooked up the heater, lights, the t.v and dvd player. We were comfortable in the room, but everytime I left the room I was reminded of just how cold it was. I remember thinking at the time if we did not have the generator something bad might have happened. Like I said staying put would have meant the potential of hypothermia, leaving would have meant a potential accident, getting stuck, and possible hypothermia.
We spent the night in the room listening to the branches breaking off of the 100 foot tall pine tree out back. The next day the branches on one side of the tree had all broken off from the wind and the weight of the snow. The next day the snow stopped and the roads were cleared. We were without electricity for 2 days but the generator enable us to stay in the house and not have to go anywhere or rely on others to help us.
It was an eye opening experience. It brought home the point that so many people here are aware of, shit can happen any time. If you are not prepared you will be shat on. This was a minor thing compared to what many go through, but minor things can have drastic effects if you aren't prepared.
When making preparation please take this into consideration, for some reason I always have a vision that shit will hit the fan during nice weather. I know that is not the case though. The shtf can happen during the worst weather possible when no one else can help you and any escape plans etc.... can be rendered impotent.
A few things that experience taught/changed me. Probably stating the obvious to most here.
-Prepping is a good thing. I am prepared for a lot more than I was 4 years ago and still working on it.
-Prep food/water but don't ignore power sources and heat.
-Know your equipment.... I wasted a lot of time in freezing weather figuring out how that damn generator worked. Under other circumstance it might have been funny but not then. I now know the generator inside and out.
- You can never be over prepared
- shtf can take on many forms.
There is a reason why many pre-electricity heat houses have many fireplaces throughout the house. The house I live in has one working fireplace that really does not heat much. Having alternate methods of keeping warm is important. It takes a while to starve, it takes a while to die of dehydration, it takes hours to die of hypothermia.
Something to think about when prepping
A couple of years ago (2009, 2010?) Delaware County was hit by 3 major snow storms of 18+ inches between December and February. During the first two storms everything was fine at our house, no power outages... no problems. This was good as the area I live in is not overly populated, is very hilly, and has a lot of places you could easily go off the road and run into a lot of trouble if you are driving in severely bad weather.
During the 3rd storm our power went out a couple of hours into the storm. There were white out conditions outside and it would have been extremely dangerous to drive anywhere.
The warmth in the house was gone within 1-2 hours. We were lucky though. When we first bought the house we were in Home Depot and I saw a generator that was on clearance for $400, it normally sold for about a $1000. We had just lost power for a couple of hours a week prior, no big deal, the weather was still nice and power came on about 3 hours later. It was almost a whim that I bought the generator. I did not know what a prepper was then, just wanted thinking about an emergency situation. I did not use it for two years and was thinking about selling it.
Back to the storm, The house was freezing, because I had the generator and plenty of gas I was able to set it up, run electrical cords into the house (specifically my bedroom) and move my wife, son, dog and cat into the bedroom. I also had a kick ass electrical heater that made the room very comfortable.
I hooked up the heater, lights, the t.v and dvd player. We were comfortable in the room, but everytime I left the room I was reminded of just how cold it was. I remember thinking at the time if we did not have the generator something bad might have happened. Like I said staying put would have meant the potential of hypothermia, leaving would have meant a potential accident, getting stuck, and possible hypothermia.
We spent the night in the room listening to the branches breaking off of the 100 foot tall pine tree out back. The next day the branches on one side of the tree had all broken off from the wind and the weight of the snow. The next day the snow stopped and the roads were cleared. We were without electricity for 2 days but the generator enable us to stay in the house and not have to go anywhere or rely on others to help us.
It was an eye opening experience. It brought home the point that so many people here are aware of, shit can happen any time. If you are not prepared you will be shat on. This was a minor thing compared to what many go through, but minor things can have drastic effects if you aren't prepared.
When making preparation please take this into consideration, for some reason I always have a vision that shit will hit the fan during nice weather. I know that is not the case though. The shtf can happen during the worst weather possible when no one else can help you and any escape plans etc.... can be rendered impotent.
A few things that experience taught/changed me. Probably stating the obvious to most here.
-Prepping is a good thing. I am prepared for a lot more than I was 4 years ago and still working on it.
-Prep food/water but don't ignore power sources and heat.
-Know your equipment.... I wasted a lot of time in freezing weather figuring out how that damn generator worked. Under other circumstance it might have been funny but not then. I now know the generator inside and out.
- You can never be over prepared
- shtf can take on many forms.
There is a reason why many pre-electricity heat houses have many fireplaces throughout the house. The house I live in has one working fireplace that really does not heat much. Having alternate methods of keeping warm is important. It takes a while to starve, it takes a while to die of dehydration, it takes hours to die of hypothermia.
Everytime we look the other way when someone else loses rights we disagree with, we make it easier to lose the rights we support.