Potpourri for $200 Alex, breaking news drives me off schedule to discuss it. Winter storms and earthquakes are making news. Be prepared or be (un)squared away.
Covering these because they are the topics you mentioned, if you (or our Hawaii contingent) have any more, ask away.
Batteries:
Alkaline "D"s are fine, but rechargeables are better. I like this company
http://www.thomas-distributing.com/index.htm especially thier MAHA chargers, and keep a ton of the PowerEx rechargeable AAs on hand. Avoid devices with AAAs if AA versions are available, the smaller AAAs hold only 1/3 the power. If you are not going with rechargeables, the Lithiums are the way to go with long-term storage for high-power demand items. Buy the freshest ones you can and consider a solar panel for the rechargeables. The solar panels can also recharge cell batteries, but once the towers lose battery back-up or generators, you are sunk. The GMRS/FRS radios are great for keeping a channel open with someone in the immediate area. I also recommend a good multi-band radio that gets shortwave. At least one (if not two) flashlights per person are a must. All of those come in AA versions. Standardize as much as you can, plan for flexibility, estimate usage/power requirements and buy batteries accordingly.
Light:
Candles are a much more efficient nightlight, as long as they are the proper kind, used safely and correctly. The people who do not follow those rules burn down a lot of houses in this country every year.
Water:
Once you hear that the storm is coming and think that you may lose water, make sure that you have your camping stove ready and have plenty of fuel. Bear in mind that you can fill the tub to store a lot of water,, the lines in the house can be drained frm the lowest outlet (if you crack a higher tap), and if desperate, you can use the water in the toilet tanks (if you do not use a bowl cleaning product in the tank) and the hot water heater (turn the HWH power off first so that it does not burn up when the electricity is restored.
If you had the filter system mugwump laid out, or a MIOX, you would not have to boil it. Get a filter system, and learn how to use it now. Print out the instructions while you can, and keep them handy.
Warmth:
We are presently running a Kerosene radiant heater we got from Northern Tool for just over $100.
http://www2.northerntool.com/product..._200316426.htm The radiant aspect means that it radiates heat from the front, so it can be placed along a wall, unlike the convection heaters. You can feel it in on your body, just like a fireplace. So far, the wife loves it. On nights when the temps drop below freezing, the radiant heater helps take the load off the heat pump, which as you may be aware, has to use electric heating strips when the outdoor temps drop too low. Then, you are buying some very expensive heating. Our stove puts out 10,500 BTUs, which is more than enough to keep the 2000 sf house we live in comfortable in anything above 30 degrees. If it got really cold, you could close doors or tack up the plastic sheeting or tarps to "shrink" the size of your heated space to something you could manage. Our houses are usually too big anyway, and I figure that we could collapse the four of us to one bedroom, the living room, the kitchen, and one bathroom. It burns K-1 kerosene at about 1 gallon per 12 hours. I have not had to burn it for more than 4-6 hours at the time. A five-gallon can of Kerosene should last for 5-10 days if you use it judiciously, or you can buy an extra can per week of anticipated needs. It does require D batteries for the igniter. I would stock an extra wick and an extra igniter, and spare D batteries. The smell is noticeable only when starting or extinguishing the stove, then only for a few minutes. About the only downside is that it is either fully on, or off, there are no intermediate positions. You need to open a window or door if it is too warm, or turn it off for a while. It also produces small amounts of carbon monoxide, which means that if you are going to use it while sleeping, and want to be safe, you should have a good carbon monoxide detector as well. Hell, you should have one of those and a good fire extinguisher or three anyway.
Cash:
If you do not have at least a month's expenses on hand (or as much as you can afford) in cash, you are wrong. You will not lose enough interest on it to miss. Get a fireproof safe or strongbox and bolt it to a structural member. Store the cash in it in small bills and gold or silver coins. The person you are trading with will never have change for a $100 or a $50, trust me.
HTH, if you wish, more than happy to chat about anything else you missed.
We now return you to our regularly scheduled broadcast.
Emergency food and cooking requires (DUH!) storable food, and a heat source.
Stoves:
As mentioned above, there are a number of camping type stoves like the multi-burner Coleman that will do almost as good a job as your range, except for baking. You do need to know how to operate it and to cook on it. The cooking requirements for a bachelor are significantly different from a family of six. Have the right gear for the job. In a pinch, you can use your gas grill (or charcoal, for you purists, but outdoors only) to cook, and you can fix simple meals with a small portable camp stove, like the MSR or Coleman offerings. I prefer a multi-fuel stove to the gas cartridge type due to my usual luck at finding odd items when I really need them. If need be, I can siphon enough gas to cook with for a week. You will not be running your range from the generator, though you could easily use a hotplate, toaster oven, or crockpot. Cooking over an open fire takes a lot of practice to get it right. Don't count on being good at anything beyond Smores and hot dogs unless you have tried it. My bride frowns on ash in her eggs.
Food:
For a day or two, most of us can get by on leftovers and takeout boxes. After that, you better have a plan. There are a couple of routes to select from here, or a mix of them. The high-dollar solution is to go with all freeze-dried, which is also very tasty and requires only hot water. Most cannot afford that for very long. You could lay in MREs, but unless you are getting them from Uncle Sam for free, will be about as expensive as the freeze-dried option. Some people have taken the least expensive approach, which is to buy a year's supply of bulk food. For those unfamiliar with this, it includes staples such as wheat, beans, milk, salt, and honey or sugar. The stuff is inexpensive (except for shipping), but the diet is very monotonous, time intensive to prepare, and you better be accustomed to cooking from scratch like an Amish wife. Many of the plans, when closely examoned, will provide enough calories and nutrients for you to survive for a year, but you will look like a survivor of Dachau or a Size Zero model when the year is up. The other option is to accumulate extra supplies of things that you normally eat, plan and create an inventory control, and rotate stock as required. This is the easiest, the least expensive, and requires no acclimatizing of your family to the taste. For me, I would like to have a week or so of freeze dried or MRE's in case of an evacuation, some staples in case of long term disruption (especially perishables like wheat for flour, dehydrated milk and eggs, canned butter and cheese, canned meat, etc.), and several months of extra pancake mix, pasta, oatmeal, peanut butter, and so forth in tje cupboard. The food can all have an extended shelf life if stored properly. A vaccuum food sealer, bags, canning jars, and a cool basement would do wonders here. The local Mormon Church has a lot of expertise at this as well. Note that freeze-dried suppliers are running a serious backlog due to bird flu preparations, and the bulk food suppliers are having some challenges meeting needs as well. Plan early, and remain flexible without becoming completely limp. Semper Gumby.
Just my .02, YMMV. Anyone else have any thoughts?
TR