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I know a lot of people who take pride in spending $10,000 so they can just throw a switch and power 50% of the house. I just can't justify that expenditure. I don't mock them, because some people think that is important to be prepared.
I do wonder sometimes if I made a mistake as it may be difficult to get gas several times a day.
If you have a wide spread outage, the gas stations inside the outage area will not work. You need to store (and rotate) some jerry cans of gas. Or as suggested a propane powered generator is "da bomb" but you are then tethered to a large propane tank.
If you use the chest type freezer to freeze bottles of ice, you can use that to hold other foods cold and just freeze the bottles over again when you run the freezer.
Yes, and those of us living in cold winter climates are pretty well set, with freezers full of meat. Take a plastic bottle, fill it with water mixed with salt at the rate of 1/2 cup salt per gallon of water, and set it out overnight to freeze for free. This solution freezes at a lower temperature than plain water, and works great in a freezer or cooler. Works well in a fridge, too.
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If you're worried about gas, propane is a good alternative. It doesn't degrade as bad, and a couple 100 lb. tanks will last you quite a while in an emergency.
This is true, and 2 of our 3 gensets have been adapted to run on propane. In our case, one shares a metal garden wagon with a 20 lb tank, and the other shares a wagon with a 30 lb tank. Much less bulky, and easier for the wife to manage, without lifting anything. Anybody can pull a wagon, and all the better if the propane tank and extension cords are right there, where we need them.
Freezing milk jugs provides some emergency supplies in a power outage. Both milk and ice to keep the fridge functional awhile longer. I also freeze many liter bottles of water which keeps hiking water cool for the dogs and I.
Many can fast for a long time if they have water to drink. Fasting is, more and more, appearing to be the greatest cure all of them all. Who seen that coming? One fat cat fasted for a year and lost over 300 pounds. Even his skin shrank which is quite unusual. The body goes into a healing mode when there is "no food" to digest.
Only buying groceries about every three weeks, I freeze a lot of stuff. There are pros and cons to being remote.
Decade after decade of hurricanes and major power outages and still most are clueless about needing a transfer switch to get the power to the panel. A semi-auto transfer switch can be had for a little over $1,000 installed.
After a two-week outage many years ago, and screwing around with extension cords, we went whole-house.
Little Honda portables are great as backups or for camping, but can't handle much else.
I'd rather backfeed the generator through the house wiring in an emergency and spend the $1K (and in my area the estimates are closer to $1500 -2000) on other emergency prep stuff. I have an 8000 watt portable gen I've only had to use twice in the past 8 years....I installed a dedicated 220 outlet to hook generator to for backfeeding. Of course I know what I'm doing (which separates me from 99% of the public) and I'm aware of all the precautions I need to take (shut as shutting off mains, etc) to utilize it this way. You can save all the "BUT THAT'S AGAINST CODE!!! - CLUTCH MY PEARLS!!" talk. I'm not blowing $$$$ on something I may need once or twice a decade.
If I lived in an area prone to power loss then I'd get a standalone full time propane generator but for me and where I am it's just not cost effective. My buddy who lives nearby put one in and it cost him over $10K for the install, wiring, hookup, etc and he's used it ONCE for less than a day without power.
If you have a wide spread outage, the gas stations inside the outage area will not work. You need to store (and rotate) some jerry cans of gas. Or as suggested a propane powered generator is "da bomb" but you are then tethered to a large propane tank.
Yeah...but what do you do when the propane runs out??....with gas at least, in a true SHTF scenario, you would still be able to get gas for a while by siphoning or punching gas tanks of abandoned vehicles, etc. But, if such a scenario is prolonged then everyone is out of luck as whatever fuel you choose will run out.
Yeah...but what do you do when the propane runs out??....with gas at least, in a true SHTF scenario, you would still be able to get gas for a while by siphoning or punching gas tanks of abandoned vehicles, etc. But, if such a scenario is prolonged then everyone is out of luck as whatever fuel you choose will run out.
You have got to be Joking.
Unless TEOTWAWKI scenario involves everyone (except you) suddenly forgetting how to drive, or forgetting how to get gas out of vehicles one of two things will happen in the first 30 days. Either most vehicles will still run, and people will be killing each other over the remaining vehicles and gasoline, or almost no vehicles will run and some people will steal the gas out of the abandon ones, followed by ambushes set up to rob (and probably kill) anyone who is still trying to steal gas.
In a lesser SHTF, you would still be stealing gasoline, which might be a consideration for "shoot the looter." And in a lesser scenario, a good supply of propane (in a remote area) will last a well trained prepper for months.
(And, of course, there are some on here who can run either gas or propane.)
If you have a wide spread outage, the gas stations inside the outage area will not work. You need to store (and rotate) some jerry cans of gas. Or as suggested a propane powered generator is "da bomb" but you are then tethered to a large propane tank.
Many home standby generators run on natural / propane gas. Not many fuel worries there......
I'd rather backfeed the generator through the house wiring in an emergency and spend the $1K (and in my area the estimates are closer to $1500 -2000) on other emergency prep stuff. I have an 8000 watt portable gen I've only had to use twice in the past 8 years....I installed a dedicated 220 outlet to hook generator to for backfeeding. Of course I know what I'm doing (which separates me from 99% of the public) and I'm aware of all the precautions I need to take (shut as shutting off mains, etc) to utilize it this way. You can save all the "BUT THAT'S AGAINST CODE!!! - CLUTCH MY PEARLS!!" talk. I'm not blowing $$$$ on something I may need once or twice a decade.
If I lived in an area prone to power loss then I'd get a standalone full time propane generator but for me and where I am it's just not cost effective. My buddy who lives nearby put one in and it cost him over $10K for the install, wiring, hookup, etc and he's used it ONCE for less than a day without power.
I'm a serious prepper and see similar sentiment every time I turn around. "Bro - you sneezed? Don't be stupid, go to the doctor and do it now." "Bro - you bought some fish antibiotics?" Well that brings along a whole litany of Safety Sam lectures.
Snowflakes and Safety Sams do not enjoy a favorable prognosis in my estimations of the outcomes of very serious SHTF scenarios. They will ball up in the corner and wait for the authorities to bring them Big Macs and a doctor. The authorities will be hightailing it to the closest underground military compound.
Don't get me wrong. I spend a lot of time and money on safety and precautionary measures. That includes precautionary measures for the day that calling 911 doesn't do any good.
On the other hand now - your tidbit about puncturing gas tanks of abandoned vehicles? Not going any closer to that one.
What does this have to with a rational discussion?
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