Originally posted by CX
Thing is, how do you know how much you are going to need?
The power goes out for a few hours, ok we don't need too much for a small time period like that, but stocking for just a few hours would be
iresponsible IMO. The power cut could go on for longer, days maybe.
Common sense will get you a long ways down that road.
What is your past experience in your area?
Prep for a once in a lifetime event? Or just prep for the normal weather related disasters that we have all dealt with before?
If a tornado comes through and tears up some stuff, You are not going to be without power for a month. Two or three days, at maximum.
If a small ice storm comes through and you are on the main line, you are talking a week maximum. If you are back in the back country, think a couple
weeks.
An earthquake will cause more water/natural gas problems than it will power problems.
If it’s a wide spread ice storm, you may be out for a month, but by that time the system for delivering supplies to the people that need it will
already be in place.
If it is just a freak cold snap with an ice storm, don’t worry about it, everything will warm back up in a couple days, and it will be easy to get
the power back on. If it is normally subfreezing and you get an ice storm, then worry because the ice isn’t going to be melting any time soon.
Well water or city water?
Do you have a body of water near by (lake, stream, drainage ditch) that you can get water for flushing the toilet?
If your house has gutters and it’s raining then you have a water supply that is good enough for flushing the toilet and cooking.
Does the city have backup pumping systems when there is no power?
In an earthquake you may have power for lighting and refrigeration but you have no gas to cook anything, or water to drink. So the little portable
electric burners are always nice to have you can boil water and cook with it.
And candles are always a bad idea when you live in a city with a natural gas system during an earthquake.
Depending on that, you can lay out what you may need.
Two taper candles a night is fine for normal activates.
A pack of twelve will easily last a week. (It would be nice to have more, but you can make due with less)
Or a tank of lamp oil is plenty for a normal lantern per day.
Lamps with bigger founts can run two or three days a fillup.
A half gallon will easily last a week or normal use.
A bag of 100 tea lights will last weeks for normal bathroom light service.
A single 2 liter bottle of pop will keep one person a day.
14 bottles will keep two people in drinking liquids for a week, and it will store for a year.
A flashlight and batteries is preferable in the city during an earthquake but the batteries have a limited storage time.
A self contained propane or kerosene cooking system is always nice.
If it is a small ice storm, and you are in the back woods, and you are pretty sure that you are going to be out for a month, don’t worry about
stocking up on a months worth of supplies. Most people (in town) will be back to their normal activities in a couple days, the stores will have re
stocked the shelves in a week, and you can just go to town and get more propane and supplies when you need to.
Try to anticipate what everyone else will do. If most people will be back to normal activity in a few days, then get what you need to last a few days
until the stores get a chance to refill the shelves and then you can get what you need.
In almost any case, I would say a week is as long as you will have to hold out before supplies become available again. Stocking for any longer than
that is a waste of time unless you are truly in the middle of nowhere, a once in a lifetime event happens, or the S truly does HTF……..
You could say “well it may come a torrential rain storm that will flood the roads for a month and I need to stock up for such an event” but if it
has never come such a flood in your, or your father’s, or your grandfather’s lifetime, then It’s not something you should be worrying about. And
if it does happen, surviving the actual flooding will be your main concern. Anything else can be taken care of as it comes.
In almost any case, buying a “box full of (fill in the blank)” just because you are by the store is a waste of time.