We are fortunate to live in an area that’s fairly distant from any really big cities and a fair hike from any medium size cities.
Our biggest weather hazard is snow, and MAYBE an ice storm. We’re not in an earthquake zone, no flooding occurs here, very little fire hazard as it rarely gets that dry for more that a couple days, likelihood of a tornado is very slim, not near any place where a chemical spill is much of a threat.
However, we are supplied and I need to go take an inventory, organize what I have, and get one of those bugout books that ChocChipCookie talked about.
She should make that a thread unto itself cause I’ve lost track of the posts where she mentioned it.
From Squantos on another thread. Sound advise from ex-military and from someone who has been there and done that:
We can make lists and share em but IMO the best way for a person to prepare for a self reliant event is to conduct the following family exercise ........::
WTSHTF Scenario arrives ya do NOT want to be out in public for a few days or week maybe even months. Best way I tell my neighbors to prepare for such is to get a note pad, a 4 day weekend and then go out back of the house and turn off gas, electric, phones, and water. Live in the home without leaving if possible or turning all the stuff back on for that entire weekend. Live it as just reading , buying and planning ain’t worth the effort unless you have personally tested it and found the pros and cons of each tool or material you have squirreled away for that rainy day !!
Do this during the coldest part of the year as well as a second exercise during the hottest part of the year. Make a list of what does and doesn’t work after you think you have made all the proper preparations by reading all these self reliance and survival threads. Have done the proper shopping and construction and modifications to your home and vehicles and then see what the results really are.
Is that emergency genset loud ? Is it subject to theft where ya have it running ? Do you have a dedicated shed for it with a muffler on the exhaust to keep it as quiet as possible. Are your resources secured in such a manner that cord wood and bulk fuel stored for emergencies will still be there when ya need it ? Do you rely on a large breed doggy that can eat a 55 gal drum of dry dog food in two weeks or a small alert barking alarm system that same 55 gallon drum will feed for a year ?
Is your homes insulation values and landscaping designs such that shade, large eaves and overhangs and small whole house fans will quickly cool your home in the evening and at the coolest part of the day and then when temps start to rise you can close up the home and stay cool till temps start to drop later in the evening ? We did that today when local temps were in the mid 90’s and it was cool and comfortable inside all day without AC on . Thermal heat sinks such as a large concrete covered porch when wet down in the evening will stay cooler all day and aid in the homes cooling . Properly positioned trees and shrubs will provide shade as well and contribute to the homes cooling. In regions where humidity is low we use foggers on our screened in back porch and that evaporation cools the air by 20 degrees easily..
Also we are designing a old style convection system for cooling where we can use stored propane to fire off a ring of burners in a small tall tower we have on side of the home. The convection of the heat from the smallest of burners will cause the hot air to rise out of the home and draw the cooler air on off the cool covered porches if the whole house fans won’t work for what ever reason.
In the winter a small glass door wood stove will easily heat up 1200sq ft of a home and more if as we stated the home is very well insulated. We did last winter which was pretty cold with 2.5 face cords of hickory.
I mentioned generators. We use ours for charging a battery bank system we made from 36 blue top optima marine batteries and use a trace inverter. If all power goes out we will only use this to keep our chest type freezers running. The freezers will run for a week without recharging the battery bank. Also consider the DC to AC power inverters for vehicles, the 5000W one is the smallest I would buy. You can idle the vehicle to power up any emergency needs if ya have not a generator in the home.
Security, a simple revolver and a shotgun go a long way for PDW’s in the home. .... as well the small barking dog(s) I mentioned above. Use lights only in rooms that have the windows blacked out. Not that you do not want to help your neighbors you do not want a band of driveby’s that want what ya have. Stay low profile during the event is at all possible. If you must go out on foot or bicycles go in threes if possible and stay 40 or 50 yards apart minimum and in sight of each member of the group so all can not be subjected to an attack and other two can come to each others aid if such were to occur.
Many many things to consider , more than can be written for the most part. Experience is key. ......just the way we do it here in poohville........:o)
Oh, forgot to add the part about snow. We’re kinda thinking the snow up there could be to our advantage. If there are maurading groups roaming the countryside to steal, our snow will keep them out. It already does now (in the winter that is!) except for those properly equipped. However, if the county quits plowing the road that leads to the community, we could be stuck in.....that’s my only worry with the snow.