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Saca:
Very good points.
I have planned to use the generator as long as the fuel supplies hold out, as I have a truck with a 36 gallon tank, two cars of 16 gallons each, 10 five gallon gas cans, four kerosene cans, and a medium-sized portable genset that I only plan to use for short cycles (a couple of hours every eight hours) to power only the essentials (fridge, lights, battery charger, laptop, etc.) I am confident that I have at least a month's worth of gas on hand at any given time for the limited operation. The stock is treated with Sta-Bil and has to be rotated, as gas does not store well. Diesel will keep several months longer.
I do plan to go the propane route with a large genset, 500 gallon in ground tanks and the boxes wired with essential circuits already designated and plugged into the generator box when we build our next home. We may put in an ice machine as well, which would be on the generator circuit.
If you have access to deep cycle batteries, like boats and RVs use, you can pull them, charge them off the generator, and use them to power small appliances like portable TVs, radios, lights, and fans. I also like NiMH batteries for handheld devices like lights and radios.
You need to have a plan for what you will do as friends, neighbors, and long lost relatives wander by. We plan to keep a low profile and limit accrss from people we are not close to. That would probably include muffling the genset, running it in the garage, and draping the windows if lights are on at night.
Cash is important in post-disaster planning. If you have a gun safe, it is pretty easy. Start squirreling away small bills when you can. Save till you have at least $1000 there, and few if any $50s or $100s. If it were to be bad enough, and US currency were to be worthless, you ned to have spare barter goods or gold and silver coins. I would not take more money out to spend than I needed as word may get around to the wrong people that you have cash on hand.
Again, thanks for the voice of experience, Saca.
TR
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"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat." - President Theodore Roosevelt, 1910
De Oppresso Liber 01/20/2025
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