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I noticed that in other threads, posters would mention camping gear that would help during an emergency or grid-down event. It made me think that a whole thread could be devoted to items that are routinely used by campers but that could do double-duty as emergency preparedness. I'm sure we all could learn from other people's choices of camping gear, and why they like it. I'll start this off:
1 - We can always cook on an outdoor grill if we have one, but in inclement weather, do you want to cook outside? How about a safe means of cooking inside? I like these little butane stoves because they are cheap, small, safe to use indoors or out, are always handy as an extra burner, and you can get up to 14 hours of cook time from a small whipped-cream sized can of butans, which will store and keep very well:
2 - If you need light, candles and propane lanterns will work, but could be a danger if you have kids or pets. An LED battery lantern like this is cheap, small, bright, and presents no danger:
3 - Water off? Toilets need flushing? Nowhere to go? Get one of these, fit it to any 5-gallon bucket, add sawdust / woodchips / peatmoss or whatever you have, and there will be no odor, no water needed to flush, and the waste can be safely discarded in the backyard with no flies or odor:
4 - If you lose power during the winter in a cold climate, keeping even one room warm could mean the difference between comfort and life, vs illness or even death. This heater is affordable, uses propane but no electric, is safe indoors, and is easy to carry:
How else would you handle sleeping, keeping kids busy, sitting, showering, staying cool, and anything else I did not address? Tell us why you like those items, too!
mmmm. Yes. There's lot of extra gear and supplies to be considered, and the camping stuff will definitely keep you going in an emergency situation whether you're actually bugging out or just riding out a storm that takes the power down. Camp stoves are a great thing to have whether map, LP or butane (many can use all three) and light and heat can be kept up this way as well. My LP camp heaters are an integral part of my emergency/camping gear. Battery powered lanterns as well.
For keeping personal hygiene up to snuff I have a good supply of the dry bath/shampoo stuff like they use in hospital for bedridden patients. Not the same as a hot shower, but little if any water is needed to stay clean. I don't use candles camping but I keep them at home. I like your toilet set up. I've always kept kitty litter around for a dry toilet setup, but it requires bagging and disposal. It does work however and it's cheap. Water can become precious and can't be wasted flushing toilets.
Baby wipes are also good to have a supply of for keeping clean. I always take them when camping. An ample supply of bottled water is a must, and if one has room plain tap water can be stored in larger vessels like drums for non potable use such as washing cookware and even bathing. We take a big plastic bung drum full of such water when camping and dispense it off the back of the truck with a tap I made from spare parts. Such a supply allows toilet use as well.
The essentials such as heat, light and hygiene need to be covered. One shouldn't overlook medical supplies either. If you take Rx medications have extra for emergencies, and bandaging, OTC stuff, and such as well. At least basic first aid supplies. My camping gear has pretty much a corpsmans bag in it. I can even start IVs if I need to.
Certainly those who have a good camping set up have an advantage in an emergency. It pays to be ready to live without power and other utility services. With good camping gear you can do more than just survive, you can actually be quite comfortable.
Ha, Nor, why need I a home if I have this stuff? Just get out of my pickup & lie down -- comforts of home, lol. Good thread tho & v undervalued, you guys. Pay heed to it!
One thing that should be in every kit is a mechanical can opener.
While most prepared foods come in a pop-top these days, I was at a friends house a while back, and their electric under the cabinet can opener died. I had an opener on my knife, but they didn't have any other way to open a can in the house!
I know most foods these days are bought fresh, or comes in bags, but there are those of us that have some canned stuff stored, and if you need it, you should have a way to get into it.
In my country, heat and shelter are the two big things, so if you have a house, a way to have heat without a gas line or electricity, that's a good plan, I also like to have some sleeping bags rated to at least zero degrees. That beautiful bedspread that works well when the house is a comfortable 68 probably won't keep you warm if its only 10 degrees in your bedroom.
Much of the year here at least, there's snow and ice you can melt for water, the cold outside takes care of refrigeration, food that can be stored is always a good idea to have, all the rest is just making your life easier in a crisis.
Ha, Nor, why need I a home if I have this stuff? Just get out of my pickup & lie down -- comforts of home, lol. Good thread tho & v undervalued, you guys. Pay heed to it!
You know, camping for me was always a fun thing, until I had to go down to the TN place when we had nothing there yet. I had to stay over a few nights in my pickup, while waiting for the modular building to be set up. That exceeded my comfort level just a bit, trying to be sure I had all bases covered! I ended up changing and upgrading a lot of my gear, both before and after that trip. It was good, though, as now I feel much better about living in the outdoors.
...In my country, heat and shelter are the two big things, so if you have a house, a way to have heat without a gas line or electricity, that's a good plan, I also like to have some sleeping bags rated to at least zero degrees. That beautiful bedspread that works well when the house is a comfortable 68 probably won't keep you warm if its only 10 degrees in your bedroom.
Much of the year here at least, there's snow and ice you can melt for water, the cold outside takes care of refrigeration, food that can be stored is always a good idea to have, all the rest is just making your life easier in a crisis.
Good thread idea Nor'
Depends on the blankets... Wife and I sleep with the window open fall and winter, down to zero or a bit below. It gets shut most but not all the way if the wind is howling in. Of course, we have a heavy quilt on the bed which she made, plus a goose down comforter underneath that, as well as another homemade comforter folded on the foot of the bed if we need it. And we sleep on memory foam, which is a good insulator on its own. Getting up in the AM is a chilling experience, but I don't drink coffee, so a brisk dressing session is helpful at times. Ten degrees in the bedroom or the tent will certainly chill those without proper bedding. And chilled sleep means bad sleep, and compounds mistakes made the next day or week.
Also, one should not underestimate the extra heater in the bed that a warm woman who likes to cuddle can be... Mine is a heater, gardener, butcher, cook, cleaner, shooter, hunter, can split wood and run the stove, knows how to run a kerosene lamp, make beans and other goodies on the wood stove, and more. Keeping me warm at night is the main benefit, but the other perks are nice... Find yourself a girl who grew up dirt poor and taking care of her siblings, and you can drop a lot of snivel gear....
One thing that should be in every kit is a mechanical can opener.
In my country, heat and shelter are the two big things, so if you have a house, a way to have heat without a gas line or electricity, that's a good plan, I also like to have some sleeping bags rated to at least zero degrees. That beautiful bedspread that works well when the house is a comfortable 68 probably won't keep you warm if its only 10 degrees in your bedroom.
Great idea about the manual can opener! I tend not tothink about those, as we have nothing BUT the manual kind ... why would anyone use anything else?? And I hear ya regarding heat and shelter! Those are life-savers in a cold climate. Those from Cali or Ozarks may not appreciate what us northern boys know instinctively!
Quote:
Originally Posted by countryboy73
Also, one should not underestimate the extra heater in the bed that a warm woman who likes to cuddle can be... Mine is a heater, gardener, butcher, cook, cleaner, shooter, hunter, can split wood and run the stove, knows how to run a kerosene lamp, make beans and other goodies on the wood stove, and more. Keeping me warm at night is the main benefit, but the other perks are nice... Find yourself a girl who grew up dirt poor and taking care of her siblings, and you can drop a lot of snivel gear....
Swiss Army Knife or Multi tool, the Swiss army knife I have has the obligatory can opener but also has Phillips and a small pair of pliers. It's the perfect pocket knife as far as I'm concerned. Just like this one except no scissors, if I was going to buy another one it would be this one because the scissors would be nice addition..
Second on my list is a Ridgerest, forget those air filled ones and go for the solid foam. I have Ridgerest's that are older than people on this forum. Everyone I have ever bought air filled has only lasted a year or two. You could probably get more out of them if they aren't abused and you keep them away from the fire but what the hell is the point of that?
Third on my list would be high quality sleeping back with synthetic fill. I've had the same North Face bag for about 25 years but that was bought before they went corporate, it even has the "return it for any reason whatsoever" warranty they were famous for back then. Undoubtedly it's the very best purchase I ever made, it was $300 back in the early 90's. I wouldn't doubt I've slept in it for entire years worth of nights. It's seen it all from the beaches of California, 0 degree weather in my area and sleeping on the shores of the Susquehanna during canoeing trips. The reason for synthetic fill is I once dumped a canoe and the bag was soaked, I was able to dry it in hours... it was summer out and we had a decent fire. I've also washed perhaps 50 or 60 times. It was a 10 degree bag when I bought it and it's lost some of it's loft but it still works well. I have one seam coming apart, I can actually send it to them for free repair.
Fourth of course would be a high quality tent.
Fifth would be the pillow I have. It can be mashed down into a ball the size of softball with it's own little drawstring. It has that really soft foam about two inches thick and when opened is pretty big. There is pocket in the back of it to stick stuff in to make it thicker. It's almost as good as being home with regular pillow.
Sixth, I have little oil lamp that comes in leak proof case. The globe is about 2 inches across and 3 inches high. The entire base of the lamp with the oil reservoir and feet will push up into the glass making it extremely compact. It's made to be hung inside a tent and will burn for 24 hours on a few ounces of oil. It makes a huge difference in cold weather camping plus you got light.
Last but not least a high quality wool stocking hat and high quality wool socks.
Also, one should not underestimate the extra heater in the bed that a warm woman who likes to cuddle can be...
I had the perfect woman. She'd crawl into the hole in the bottom of the bag to keep my feet warm in the winter, never complained and if I was sleeping even my own Mother would get "smiled' at. This was very important with the jokers I hung around with
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There's lot of extra gear and supplies to be considered, and the camping stuff will definitely keep you going in an emergency situation whether you're actually bugging out or just riding out a storm that takes the power down. Camp stoves are a great thing to have whether map, LP or butane (many can use all three) and light and heat can be kept up this way as well. My LP camp heaters are an integral part of my emergency/camping gear. Battery powered lanterns as well. 
(I need to spread some rep around first....
)
Good thread tho & v undervalued, you guys. Pay heed to it! 
Wife and I sleep with the window open fall and winter, down to zero or a bit below. It gets shut most but not all the way if the wind is howling in. Of course, we have a heavy quilt on the bed which she made, plus a goose down comforter underneath that, as well as another homemade comforter folded on the foot of the bed if we need it. And we sleep on memory foam, which is a good insulator on its own. Getting up in the AM is a chilling experience, but I don't drink coffee, so a brisk dressing session is helpful at times.
And I hear ya regarding heat and shelter! Those are life-savers in a cold climate. Those from Cali or Ozarks may not appreciate what us northern boys know instinctively!
