Be Prepared

[Mills]

Originally Posted by orion5

Did anyone see the premiere of "Doomsday Preppers" this past Tuesday on NatGeo? LINK

Hour long program, broken up into 3 segments. Each segment was a different person, prepping for a different scenario. When I saw the previews for this show, I couldn't tell if it was serious or if the producers were making fun. After watching the first 2 shows, some of the featured preppers do seem wacky, but there were a few good ideas here and there.

At the end of each segment NatGeo had their "expert" (unidentified) evaluate the person's plan, grade it and provide feedback. It was done respectfully, but not always received enthusiastically by the prepper.

Biggest surprise is that they tell you where each prepper lives. All you have to do to survive is find one of these people's houses and clean them out.

The first 2 shows are being re-aired this weekend. New shows are Tuesdays @ 2100 EST.

Love to hear what some of you think about it....

I think that Nat Geo owes me an hour of my life back.

What a joke.

[Mills]

Originally Posted by The Reaper

I'm filling up my vehicles and my spare gas cans and hitting them with Sta-Bil this weekend.

Time to test run the generator and charge the battery bank as well.

I'll hold off on filling up my water supply tank till the power goes out. Probably a good time to grab a couple of fresh packets of pool shock.

Might also be a good time time to take a look in the freezer and the cupboard and see what we need to stock up on.

If nothing happens, we can dump the gas in the cars, and skip a few trips to the grocery store. Nothing lost.

TR

TR, what size water tank do you have? I am thinking of adding one, however I am thinking about going the route of letting the rain fill it up. Just need to come up with a system for filtration.

[The Reaper]

I have a 375 gallon container, several bladders, and water barrels for my downspouts.

TR

[Ghost_Team]

I haven't had time to read this entire thread yet, but the water storage thing caught my eye. There is a company called "LifeSaver" and they make self filtering water bottles and jerry cans that are good for several thousand liters of purified water. I originally had to watch a speech on TED as part of a college class, and this was a one of the topics. If this has been mentioned before, I apologize.

[orion5]

Originally Posted by Mills

I think that Nat Geo owes me an hour of my life back.

What a joke.

Mills, you are right. After 3 shows I cancelled the series on my DVR. Much more info on here and on youtube.

[ODA CDR (RET)]

Originally Posted by The Reaper

I'm filling up my vehicles and my spare gas cans and hitting them with Sta-Bil this weekend.

Time to test run the generator and charge the battery bank as well.

I'll hold off on filling up my water supply tank till the power goes out. Probably a good time to grab a couple of fresh packets of pool shock.

Might also be a good time time to take a look in the freezer and the cupboard and see what we need to stock up on.

If nothing happens, we can dump the gas in the cars, and skip a few trips to the grocery store. Nothing lost.

TR

T, Just a side note that the type of Sta-Bil may also be important if you use Ethanol gas. I was just talking with a bud and he mentioned that he uses Marine Sta-Bil which helps with ethanol fuel treatment. By the way thanks for starting this thread. I have only gotten through page 13 and look forward getting through the rest of it.

[Badger52]

Originally Posted by ODA CDR (RET)

T, Just a side note that the type of Sta-Bil may also be important if you use Ethanol gas. I was just talking with a bud and he mentioned that he uses Marine Sta-Bil which helps with ethanol fuel treatment.

+1 While Sta-Bil is a good thing, I've had several very successful small-engine repairmen also advise that, for fuel stored that you want to use on something that absolutely has to start it's worth considering finding a location that sells you the higher-octane w/o ethanol. (Ethanol in their opinion being a blight on the planet because of its natural tendency to suck moisture out of the air, with the moisture-laden fuel finding its way to said small engine. Cursing that follows is optional.)

[Destrier]

Have truly enjoyed this thread, so I thought I would post a couple of the projects we are working on here at our AOB.

We have just acquired a set of horses for the property. Nino a Perychon-Thoroughbred retired police horse age 12, carriage/wagon trained, jump trained, crowd control, and has been exposed to gunfire. Athena age 2 Euro-Belgian /1/4 standard. Athena is not broke yet but a very mild mannered gal, should be good with allot of work and Nino beside her.

Part of the log pulling and farming portion of the prepper plan here. My neighbor also has draft teams as well so we plan on sharing some of the equipment required. Now for me to build a log skidder. Will be talking to a few of our Amish neighbors since they have a metal shop just down the road.

If all goes well, in another season I can slowly phase out my ATV's that we have used last five years for wood hauling, plowing, mowing etc.


Second project that is coming together nicely is a power trailer (used boat trailer converted) With a propane generac generator, Magnum Energy DC/AC Converter and powered by a vulcan gasifier with backup BBQ grill propane tanks, and 400 amp hours set of batteries at 24vdc. The trailer has a spot for my spare diesel generator as the alternate and some storage. Materials are all on hand now, just need to fabricate it all together. In time will add A solar roof.
We decided to go with the trailer just for the bugout factor based on where we live. It will be horse or vehicle towed.

It should have enough power to run our house with running the gasifier and generator about 6 hours a day. Reality always slightly different however. Have a feeling I may need to get one more set of Batteries or run gasifier twice a day.
Will post pics when assembled, probably by end April.

[Pete]

Derecho could knock out power for a week or more

First off WTF is a Derecho? PC correctness invading weather now? Why not just stick with "powerfull line of thinderstorms"?

http://wtop.com/41/2925313/Electrici...ly-coming-back

".............................Verizon says their crews are working around the clock to fix the problem.

In addition, many Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile customers say they are having issues with phone service.

AT&T technicians are "mobilized and currently working to resolve the issues," according to a company release.

"Due to damaging storms that have knocked out power across the Midwest and Northeast regions of the country, some AT&T customers in impacted areas in Virginia and Washington D.C. may be experiencing issues with wireless service," the company says. ........................................."

While this story mostly deals with power outages and land line phone service notice the cell coverage was also disrupted. This was fairly minor as events go and still problems with cell service. Folks, a real bad something hits - better not count on just your cell phone to rally your "troops".

[JJ_BPK]

Our kids live in West Springfield, just outside the loop. They lost power yesterday and it was restored around noon today. Lost everything in the fridge, but the freezer stuff is OK..

They were lucky. They have a yard full of oaks. Lost some branches, but no damage to the house. I got on them after a storm last yr and they had an outfit come in and do a major trim job.

They still need to get a good gen set.

I understand there were deaths in their area. Don't have the story yet, but I bet it has to do with downed trees and power lines. Dominion Power does very little in the way of preventative trimming...

You can not stick your head in the sand and think "it can't happen to me"..

[JJ_BPK]

Originally Posted by Pete

First off WTF is a Derecho?

I think that's what NOAA called the storm..

[Pete]

Derecho - Spanish - figures

Gotta' be hip, cool - and PC to be a weather person these days.

[The Reaper]

Life without electricity is not kind to us in our modern hedonistic lifestyles.

That is why I recommend that everyone who can safely operate one get a generator. A basic unit which can run a few lights, fans, and maybe a fridge off an extension cord will run you $500-$1,000. Unfortunately, gasoline is dangerous to store in the home, and has a very limited shelf life. Even if you use fuel stabilizer, you need to rotate it at least annually. And, even if you store 25 gallons, that is only a couple of days of constant running for the 5KW gas powered generator.

If you have $5,000 or more, you can get a whole house model with an automatic transfer switch and hook it up to your NG or LP line. Note that if the power is out for an extended time, the Natural Gas lines will lose pressure when their generators run out of fuel and stop the genset. The LP is IMHO, the way to go, but it is more expensive.

Burning LP to power a 14KW genset at moderate load will use roughly 1.5 GPH of LP, or 36 GPD. That means it will cost about $100 per day to make electricity full time on about half my house (no dryer, range, ovens, water heaters, and only one of the HVAC units). The 14KW genset can, if used continuously, run about seven to ten days on a full 500 gallon tank under normal loads. The power company will provide electricity to everything for about $10 per day, so this is not something you want to do full time for an extended period. There are about 350 gallons of usable LP in a 500 gallon tank, and running it empty will currently cost roughly $1000 to fill.

You can use it for a couple of hours in the morning, and a couple of hours in the evening, and stretch it for almost two months, if it is full when you start. If we are without electricity for more than two months, we have bigger problems to worry about.

You can also use deep cycle batteries and an inverter to run small appliances like lights, fans, TVs, radios, etc. in the down cycle and recharge the battery bank when the generator is running. Or just use DC powered devices directly off the battery. You can buy most items in a DC version, if they are using a wall wart, or batteries, though some may be specialty items for camping, boats, or RVs.

I had a two tall pines less than 50 ft. from the house hit by a couple of lightning strikes recently. Ran in on the cable line and fried a lot of electronics. I recommend enhanced grounding, whole house surge protection, cable and phone line surge protectors, and point of service surge protection.

Still waiting to see if the trees die and have to be dropped. Hoping that I get to make the call, and they don't come down on their own.

Best of luck to those stuck in the dark and in this heat. Prayers out.

TR

[Airbornelawyer]

Originally Posted by Pete

Derecho could knock out power for a week or more

First off WTF is a Derecho? PC correctness invading weather now? Why not just stick with "powerfull line of thinderstorms"?

http://wtop.com/41/2925313/Electrici...ly-coming-back

".............................Verizon says their crews are working around the clock to fix the problem.

In addition, many Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile customers say they are having issues with phone service.

AT&T technicians are "mobilized and currently working to resolve the issues," according to a company release.

"Due to damaging storms that have knocked out power across the Midwest and Northeast regions of the country, some AT&T customers in impacted areas in Virginia and Washington D.C. may be experiencing issues with wireless service," the company says. ........................................."

While this story mostly deals with power outages and land line phone service notice the cell coverage was also disrupted. This was fairly minor as events go and still problems with cell service. Folks, a real bad something hits - better not count on just your cell phone to rally your "troops".

I am in Fairfax right now. For what it's worth, my Verizon service is about the only thing that didn't go out. I understand other areas had problems, including a loss of 911 service in Manassas. Where I am, power was restored after 17 hours.

The latest news is that PEPCO isn't expecting to restore service for some customers in DC until Friday. Dominion Power says as of 7PM Sunday that 347,643 of 2,458,276 mainly Virginia customers remain without power. They expect to restore power to 80-85% of these by Tuesday. The others may have wait through the end of the week.

Attached is a photo of a downed utility pole down the street from me.

[booker]

Most of the area around me was without power yesterday. We are on the same loop as one of the DoD facilities, so we had power up much quicker that those further out. From what I understand Verizon cell phones were out all through here as well. I got a ham license for this very reason. My mother lives in WV still, and she made the rounds to all her elderly neighbors to recharge their refrigerators with her generator. They don't expect power for at least a few more days. There are more than a few granola head types out here who are pretty smug about having solar panels and the such right now.

On the topic of solar panels, has anyone looked at the solar generators that are out there (example http://www.thousandsuns.com/solarpod...FV4AodWnccEw)?

We were fine with our store of water and such, but it really got me thinking about a generator.