We lost power here for 3.5 weeks following Hurricane Ivan and again for a while after Dennis. Our portable generator was a miserable failure. I said never again. I put in a 40 kw diesel generator and an automatic transfer switch that fully powers all my buildings and sleep soundly during storm season.

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Originally posted by gearhounds:

quote:

Originally posted by ggile:

And it’s even worse in the summer; you can always make yourself warmer, but the inverse is far from true.

I'd beg to differ. I hate the heat, but rather outages in summer. We had a bad ice storm Sunday into MLK holiday this past January. Temps dropped to zero with crazy wind. People without power for days. Pipes will freeze, burst, toilets an split, boilers ruined. Not everyone has a generator or wood stove for heat.

one drawback to apt. living,
no place to run a generator w/o pissing off the other tenants.

You can make yourself warmer but you can't make your pipes warmer.

While I'd hate to lose the meat in my freezer, I could care less about power in the warm weather.
I have have a generator just to turn the heat on long enough to keep the pipes from freezing in the winter.

Seriously? Going into survival mode over a power outage? Is there any evidence that crime goes up during a day or two service disruption?

You want your best survival tool? Your car. Use it as an excuse to see friends, go hiking, go to the lake. If you're really concerned about your family that's the safest approach.

And if you're concerned about looting and property then I question why have a basement with a sump pump, or why that isn't the most reinforced, worry free part of your house. Because way more property is damaged every year by water instead of theft.

I see no need to got from CCW to OC when the power goes out.

Not to mention, my kids wouldn't care either way.

I believe no man is an island. No one can prepare for everything. My attitude about preparedness has evolved from me and mine to us and ours.......voluntarily. In that sense I would have helped my neighbor who doesn't prepare and in doing so, likely created a greater bond, helped him to see the value of preparedness and in my time of need, he'd be there to help me. Just a thought. Sounds like Socialism except it is voluntary which makes it edifying.

Perfect example: I have neighbors who do not own guns (for whatever reason)(prolly wives not down with it). I know that if society were to collapse we would need to protect our neighborhood from those who would do us harm to take without giving and damage for self interest. In that case I would want as many of my neighbors as possible to be able to help me defend the neighborhood. So I have been picking up these cheap ARs for sale recently and storing them in my safe.......ammo too. That way we are all served and perhaps something I need but can't provide might be shared in kind. Maybe that could work for you.

Being prepared for a power outage should not be in the realm of "prepping."

It should be common sense, not some sort of additional readiness.