Preparing for Winter

[Jon the Ex-SquidParticipant 298]

Gentlemen,

I work for several large insurance companies as a technical consultant. Winter last year was brutal, with record breaking snowfalls across the northern part of the US and several ice storms down south. Both resulted in loss of power and highway closures. Insurance companies have their own weather studies done without the political or social influence of what’s read in the news. They’re not trying to hype of fear or address global climate change, they just want to know what this winter will cost them. The weather forecast for this winter is projected to be equal to or worse than last year.

As a single man living alone, I take my precautions seriously. After witnessing some of the damage done by Superstorm Sandy firsthand, I gear my preps towards being as self sufficient as possible. I don’t prep for the end of the world. I prep for a month-long lack of power/heat due to a storm or series of storms.

I enjoyed a cup of coffee outside this morning, watching the sun rise, as I often do and noted the sparkling twinkle of frost along the tree tops. Its not even October. This spurred me to share some thoughts with you on preparing yourself for cold dark nights without power, heat, and water.

The rule of 3: In any extreme situation you cannot survive for more than:
3 minutes without air
3 hours without shelter
3 days without water
3 weeks without food.

Based on the above, and assuming air isn’t a problem, we can see an hierarchy of necessity. -> warmth, water, and then food.

Fortunately, there are some relatively inexpensive means to prepare yourself.

Heat
$85.00 (Amazon) – Mr. Heater F232000 MH9BX Buddy 4,000-9,000-BTU Indoor-Safe Portable Radiant Heater
$5.00 for 16oz (1 pound) Coleman Propane tanks
I own two. They’re safe to run indoors and you can pick up the fuel at Wal-Mart or any big box home improvement store. They’re great for camping and you can put a soup can in front of one for half an hour and have warm soup. The main thing is you can get the fuel cheap, store it, and break it out when you need it without a lot of fuss. The last time I used mine, I used 1 tank during a 2 day period. No need to run it 24-7.

Blankets
Stock up on a few thick blankets. No need to heat the whole house while you’re sleeping. I have a sleeping bag rated to -20 if things get extreme.

Oil Heat
The cost for oil is really low right now so if you have oil heat, I highly recommend you bite the bullet and fill up your tank. Cost will increase as winter demand rises.

Thermal Underwear
They’re cheap and make a huge difference. Clothing is always your first level of shelter.

Your vehicle
Naturally you want to winterize your vehicle and make sure your ties are in good shape. But there are some other things to consider if there’s a long term power outage. You can use your vehicle to charge your cell phone and other electronic devices, get warm with its heater, and listen to news updates on its radio. I highly recommend you get an adapter for your car that lets you plug small electronics into it, either via USB or a power outlet. You can find them online for less than $50.00. Top off the gas before a major storm. I make it a habit to never let the gas tank get below half during the winter.

Water
$5.64 each for 5 gallon of water storage: http://www.containerandpackaging.com/item/H020
I have about a dozen of these and they’re great to fill up in the tub before a storm. They sell 1 gallon sizes too. Easier to haul around the smaller ones and they store flat after you’re done using them. Keeping them in the tub makes it easier to flush the toilet if you don’t have running water.

Paper plates, cups and plastic utensils
I put this under the water section because washing dishes can use up an extraordinary amount of water. Its better, in my opinion, to avoid generating dirty dishes by using disposable plates, cups and utensils during a power outage. If you have to do dishes, immediately soak them after you’re done eating so the food doesn’t dry/crush, which requires more water.

Food
Store what you eat. A lot of preppers have tons of food stored away that they would never eat on a day to day basis. I store stuff I’ll eat anytime, not just during an emergency. When I first started, I simply bought an extra can or bag of whatever I was buying normally. I like clam chowder and chicken noodle soup, so I’d pick up an extra can of each whenever I went shopping. When I got home, I’d rotate out the older cans and eat them first so they wouldn’t go to waste. The goal is longer term storage of food you already like that can be cooked with little effort or, worst case, eaten cold. Tuna. Peanut-butter. Pork and beans. Pasta and jars of red sauce. Great options. Skip the rice and beans unless you already have that frequently in your diet. Nothing worse than a bad case of diarrhea or constipation when there’s no running water because you’ve made an abrupt change in your diet.

Don’t forget your pets! Make sure you have enough food for a few weeks stored up for your dog or cat. Just keep an extra bag tucked away and rotate it out whenever you buy a bag for your pet. Cat litter too.

Get a good bottle of multivitamins. I also recommend a six pack of nutritional shakes (shelf stable, not refrigerated). The kind that are meant as a meal replacer. They help make up for some lost nutritional intake.

Cooking
If you don’t have a fireplace, then I would highly recommend you get a cheap sterno stove. You can get the stove for $7.00 and a 6-pack of sterno cans for $23.00 off Amazon (link: http://www.amazon.com/Sterno-70146-Outdoor-Folding-Stove/dp/B00OBA6X9M). Works well enough to boil water or heat up a can of soup but you won’t be frying chicken on it. You can, however, cook eggs, bacon, slices of ham, etc.

You can also use a camping stove outdoors and there are a ton of different models available for less than $50.00. If you go with the Mr. Heater I listed above, then you can also get a camping stove that uses the same fuel canisters to make storage easier.

Lighting
Buy batteries now, before the first storm hits and wipes them out. I usually buy in July, and then again in early December when they go on sale for Christmas gadgets. I don’t recommend rechargeable batteries, though some people I know have had good success. You can get good LED flashlights, camping lights, and whatnot fairly cheap these days. Tea-light candles are useful but I don’t recommend them if you have pets. I also recommend you get a head lamp LED flashlight. They let you keep your hands free. I have a few of these: http://www.amazon.com/DEWALT-DWHT70440-Jobsite-Touch-Headlamp/dp/B00A992NV6

Medicines
If you have prescription medication, ask your doctor for an emergency 30 day script. Be honest and tell him you’re concerned about the weather this winter based on how bad it was last year and you’d like to have an extra 15-30 day supply. It shouldn’t be a problem for non-narcotic prescriptions, though you may have to pay out of pocket if the insurance company won’t cover it. I always keep a spare bottle of aspirin, ibuprofen, and stomach meds (ex-lax, pepto bismol, and Imodium AD) in the house, and sample or travel sized bottles in the car. I can’t really speak much about first aid stuff as I’m no expert but generally speaking, if you’d needed to take something in the last year, odds are you’ll likely need it again in the next year. Not something you want to try to drive through a foot of snow to get.

Toilet Paper
Folks talk about alternatives to toilet paper. I’m dubious. So I keep a month’s worth in the house at all times. This is really not something I want to run out of at any time, not to mention during a blizzard or ice storm. My tombstone will not read: “Died while driving in the snow to buy toilet paper.” That would be pretty s~~~ty. (Ha!)

Baby Wipes
I have a six pack of flush-able baby wipes for use during a storm. Not gonna waste the water on a shower or bath. These will do in a pinch. I got a metal pencil box, put a pack inside, and then I can leave them next to the portable heater to warm up.

Summary
The way you prepare differs based on where you live (house vs. apartment) and in what region (north vs. south). I tried to keep the above suggestions pretty neutral and easy to incorporate, even if you’re renting a basement studio in Manhattan. Generally speaking, its unlikely you’d be without power AND water for more than a few days except in the case of a pretty large event. So the main thing is to take a look at your current situation and ask yourself, “How can I get through something like this, on my own, for several days?” For most of us single guys, we’re on our own, so we need to be as self sufficient and independent as possible.

There’s obviously a ton of different things I didn’t cover, like first aid and defense, and I’m happy to answer specific questions, but my goal here was to hopefully provide some inexpensive solutions to a loss of electricity and water for the winter ahead. Get a way to keep yourself warm, heat food, store water, and ride out a storm’s aftermath for several days.

[WallyParticipant]

Jon, awesome list, thanks for sharing

"what a waste of a life, to marry, give up your freedom, just for the hope of not dying alone. Don't get married Son."

[RusskyParticipant 13503]

I heard of people making s~~~loads of money buying shovels by trailer loads and selling them in areas hit by unusual winter weather

proud carrier of the 'why?' chromosome

[Robert HallamParticipant 696]

Thanks for the heads up. I’m actually going to do something about it. Normally I wouldn’t bother, but we have just had a 10-year recurrence wind storm that downed power for two days. No TV, no fridge (freezer melting), no computer, no lights, —- a real pain. Even the traffic lights were out most everywhere and traffic at intersections was horrendous,

[uchibenkeiParticipant 7965]

winter and gynocentrism are why i left canada for thailand.

I bathe in the tears of single moms.

[Jon the Ex-SquidParticipant 298]

Yeah normally I wouldn’t post something like this but all the weather predictions are looking pretty brutal. You can stay warm and fed for less than $200.00 and I’d hate to see one of my brothers suffering when there’s the slightest chance I can help.

Be glad to hear anyone else’s advice on the subject, or share a story about an extended loss of power if you have one.

[ScandinavianParticipant 590]

I’ve been prepping for quite some time. I probably spent somewhere around $15 000 on gear. I have enough to keep a whole camp clothed and sheltered. I still laugh my ass off when the power is gone half a day (I live in a town of 250 000 inhabitants so it’s never gone for long) and I cook on my MSR whisperlite and creep into my Carinthia defence 6 and sleep like a baby even in -20 Celsius. I usually use this stuff for hiking/camping so it’s not only prepping.

Anyhow; just wanted to thank you for a great post Jon! I would love to see more of this here; hands-on advice. From how to survive a winter offgrid to pretty much anything that can interest or be useful to a single MGHOW.

[MattNYCParticipant 2329]

Jon this is great advice, thanks for sharing. I live in NYC so people don’t really do any sort of reasonable precautions here, aside from buying out the gallon jugs of water at their corner store. Good to have some solid steps for waiting out a couple-day-long s~~~show of a snowstorm.

[MattNYCParticipant 2329]

uchibenkei wrote:

i left canada for thailand

Uchibenkei, do you mind if i ask how you managed the relo to Thailand? I mean, from a financial/employment standpoint, i know most people do it with one of the following options:

1) Retire/semi-retire – building enough of a nest egg to support you in a lower-cost of living geography
2) Work remotely – Having a business or employment that you can do location-independent (research/authorship seems popular, as is skype-tutoring and i know some guys do remote consulting, etc.)
3) Work in Country – Tutoring English is popular in many places. I don’t know of a “standard wage” for this, depending on where you are, but can work out as supplemental income to options 1 or 2 above.

I’m working on a financial plan to do a combination of #1 and #3, with a possible stepping stone as #2 for a few years (if i could be paid an NYC salary in a developing country it’d be easy street!).

Still other guys will go the “marry a foreigner route & live in her country” but obviously not a credible option here.

Thanks!

[IGMOW (I Go My Own Way)Participant 2572]

Pardon the interuption. Game of Thrones just entered my mind…

Now we return you to your regularly scheduled programming.

"I am my own thang. Any questions?" - Davis S Pumpkins.

[ShinyParticipant 2307]

I’m surprised Ned took that long….

Great post Jon. I am also stockpiling and making preparations – I’m in a mild clime but expect Europe / China to go broke any day now, and lovable chaos to follow – and have a quick question for you or anyone else.

I am planning to get solar panels soonish and am wondering, will they just automatically work in the event of a blackout? If civilization crumbles, I’m mainly worried about the fridge. Or are they wired into the fuse box such that in the event of a blackout they stop working? I realise that’s counter-intuitive but the energy providers here in Oz are such ruthless bastards nothing would surprise me – the thought of people surviving without them must make them gnash their teeth.

[Jon the Ex-SquidParticipant 298]

Shiny wrote:

I’m surprised Ned took that long….
Great post Jon. I am also stockpiling and making preparations – I’m in a mild clime but expect Europe / China to go broke any day now, and lovable chaos to follow – and have a quick question for you or anyone else.
I am planning to get solar panels soonish and am wondering, will they just automatically work in the event of a blackout? If civilization crumbles, I’m mainly worried about the fridge. Or are they wired into the fuse box such that in the event of a blackout they stop working? I realise that’s counter-intuitive but the energy providers here in Oz are such ruthless bastards nothing would surprise me – the thought of people surviving without them must make them gnash their teeth.

Glad to hear it. Solar panels (PV panel – photovoltaic) convert sunlight into direct current (DC), which is what cars and a lot of boats and campers/RVs use. Its not what’s used in your house. Electricity that comes from the power company is AC (alternating current). So to use electricity generated by a PV panel you need solar inverter (converts DC to AC).

There are two major ways you can use solar panels: grid tie-in or independent. A grid tie-in connects the solar system to the electric grid and basically sells the electricity back to the power company. An independent system only provides power to your house. Both have pros and cons.

With the grid tie-in, you don’t need to store the electricity you generate during the day but the cost is higher due to the hardware you have to buy to connect it to the grid safely. You can set it up so the solar provides power only to your house if the electric grid goes down, which requires either storage capacity (batteries) or you only have electric during the daytime. Its a great way to keep your electric bill down and some places offer tax deductions if you go this route.

With an independent system, the electric flows from your PV panels to whatever you have running off them. Deep-cycle golf cart batteries are great to store the electricity generated during the day so you can power stuff at night.

Of note, you can also set up batteries to charge using the electric grid, storing electricity for your use if the grid goes down, and completely avoid solar panels.

So that’s a really really basic overview. Yes you can have stuff kick on automatically through the use of additional hardware. I’d HIGHLY recommend you pay an electrician set up the systems so you don’t burn your house down or are injured by exploding batteries.

Having said all that, if your main concern is the fridge, here are 2 options to consider:
Solar powered dc fridge: http://www.bensdiscountsupply.com/sundanzer-DCR50-refrigerator.aspx
Electric/Propane fridge: http://www.campingworld.com/shopping/item/dometic-americana-rm2451-2-way-refrigerator-single-door-4-0-cu-ft-/12773

The second unit runs on electricity, and then shifts over to propane if there’s no electric and a certain temperature is reached. They both cost around $700.00, which is probably less than you’d spend on solar panels, the inverter, and batteries.

You can also get a cheaper solar ice maker and a really good cooler chest. Make ice during the day and dump it into the cooler chest at night.

Or get a little generator.

Or just cook what’s in the fridge before it goes bad and eat shelf-stable, non-refrigerated items after that.

Depending on where you live, you probably don’t want to advertise the fact that you have electricity while everyone else doesn’t. Folks won’t think much about someone grilling out back on a charcoal or propane grill, but seeing those gleaming solar panels up on the roof will put a glint of envy in their eye. Or hearing a loud generator running on an otherwise silent street. So be mindful of what options you use. Personally, I think battery storage is the way to go for something non-catastrophic. Batteries + inverter + power cord gives you a lot of flexibility. You can even rig up a system to charge the batteries using your car.

Hope that helps!

[ShinyParticipant 2307]

Wow, comprehensive answer, thanks for that bro!

[Anonymous 42]

You don’t have to tell me anything about winter, I just finished rebuilding an old Gravely 450 (Studebaker corp.) industrial lawn tractor, it has a drive-shaft that runs a 42 inch snowblower, it’s from the early 1970’s, and the only snowblower I ever saw that sucked up 3 inches of water with 18 inches of snow on top of that, and not f~~~ing CLOG! , it throws snow up to 75 feet away. The lawnmower deck attachment is also shaft driven, the snowblower sucks in rocks and spits out gravel, the mower splits cor-wood and no damage!
I sold my undependable piece of s~~~ f-350 plow truck, I’m much happier with Studebaker’s Gravely design!

One thing I suggest for anybody living in a forest; a leave vacuum trailer for a lawn tractor, and a big ass 11 hp. leave blower, I save s~~~loads of time on leave removal. I use to actually burn the f~~~ing leaves and ruin the lawn before I became equipped….
I have my Gravely snowblower, Towtruckster (now with front winch too) and 55 gals. of gas and diesel for the generators. I like being the only one around with lights and heat after the power goes out!
P.S. I use carbide studded snow tires on their own set of rims, STUDS WILL SAVE YOUR LIFE!!! If you live in snow, sleet, and ice, get them! If you travel rural mountainous terrain like I do, 4WD, AWD, and chains for the front and rear, also I travel with a snowmobile suite, boots, gloves, and goggles. I could survive for days, where other will not survive the night. Be prepared, I learned to be this way by almost getting frostbite being stuck in a blizzard. F~~~ THAT!

[RennieParticipant]

. Batteries + inverter + power cord gives you a lot of flexibility. You can even rig up a system to charge the batteries using your car.
Hope that helps!

Do be aware that battery performance is degraded by cold temperatures.

[Author]

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