Give it all up for 24 hours...If you dare!

I'll get back too all really soon but damn my time is up! GO for it ! Have a great weekend all! Loves Restless!


Now if I could only see the damn off button! Not kidding it is frickin dark in my house and never is!

Good night and good wishes PJ

reply to post by restlessinMT

I LOVE VENISON! And I do not waste any part! I used to go Pheasant Hunting every Thanksgiving Morning and bring home the Limit...2. My Grandma has an incredible way to cook them as long as I plucked...you have to soak them in very warm water for a while then PULL!

There is so much game here in Mass and despite Multiple Mountain Lion Sightings, Tracks and even one that was run over by a car in Conn. right down the road as Mass is small...the Officials will not admit that there is a Growing Lion Population. I have seen one from a distance of 300 yards. It took down a Deer. 7am in November as it was still a bit dark.

The BEARS are becoming a problem and my Parents Bird Feeder was pulled down. Steel Pole in Cement! There was a picture of a Female Bruin with 2 cubs in the local paper crossing the road. Estimated weight...400lbs! Split Infinity

This is a great idea.

Just turned out all the lights and everything and it's dark as heck in here.

Kind of nice but sorta creepy because the shadows are flickring because of the screen light

Like the shadows are moving

Almost like Shadow People coming at me frosruykldvm,.x ik

rtf
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dhjjjjjjjjylil

We do a monthly disaster prep, each one with a different theme/scenario.

We also do evacuation drills. While the wife and I load bug-out bags into our vehicle, the children practice "pack the extras in x number of minutes." I tell the eldest how long they have to pack the kitchen, and they do the rest. Eldest knows how much room will be available based on what the adults are packing, and knows what to grab: Convenience and comfort foods for the first 2 days, then start grabbing staples, cooking gear, and cleanup items.


You can vary it each time, to keep the kids thinking

-toxic waste spill in your neighborhood
-blizzard, and you family will be boarding another family of travelers who have been snowed in for the night
-the house is on fire (!)
-one of the family has been taken to the hospital; who will go to stay with them, and who will get kids ready for school in the morning
-tornado
-nuclear mishap at the nearest facility
-EMP. Cannot use anything electrical


You will of course need to edit the scenarios for the level of fear you think they can bear.

Wow, so many people from Massachusetts!!

You guys must be with me, in Western Mass, to have felt the effects of the '11 blizzard.


Good work OP. Now cook three meals, breakfast, lunch and dinner, without the power. Or do it with a generator, still not very easy.

My brother recently went on a 15 miles "nature walk" (bug out). Walked everywhere over all kinds of terrain, showed back up in his backyard and camped out, had dinner and made a list of everything else he had forgotton.

You'll never really know what you need/want until you need/want it.

reply to post by restlessinMT



After Hurricane Rita we didn't have electricity for a month. It wasn't a big deal to my family- just camping in the house instead of in the woods. A lot of people couldn't take it though. People's true personalities started creeping out within a few days of not having life's little pleasantries readily available. The divorce rate skyrocketed in the months following the extended power outage.

I'm afraid that if our country ever experiences a widespread EMP episode and a large portion of our citizens are without power nation wide that many people will go cuckoo for cocoa puffs! I applaud you for taking the opportunity to familiarize your children with the concept of living without electricity. At least they wont be in complete shock if that scenario comes about!

reply to post by restlessinMT


That's gonna happen. I can't even get off ATS for an hour.

Twice last year we had no power for a week at a time in the NE USA ....we did ok! And we had some fun dealing with it!

I just did this for 5 days during the hurricane Issac. Didn't have a choice in the matter. No fridge, no freezer. We ate well. We cooked everything in a BBQ pit and had water that we bottled before the storm. 5 days is Easily done. Most food will last 1 and a half to 2 days before it starts going bad depending on if it was frozen or not. Keeping food on ice it will last even longer. In a urban situation like this people will flock to you to cook for them if they see you have a BBQ pit, so they share the food they have too. Some people have deep freezers that will keep food frozen for a week after the power goes out. Have some good LED flashlights, candles and a few books and your good to go.

I used to live out in the country. Power outages were common. Ike took out our power for 3 days...in michigan! We always kept oil lamps on hand, wed light them right away. Was kind of fun when the power was out actually. We had well water so the water lost pressure after one flush. There was an artesian well at a rest area a few miles out of town.....you shouldve seen the place when the power was still out 2 days after ike came. we waited for over an hour just to fill up some water jugs. And this wasnt "good" water, we only used it for flushing toilets. Definitely shouldve been boiled before drinking.

Oh yeah, about 3 hours after the power went out, it was ice cream time! Why waste good ice cream?

Ah... good on you OP for taking the plunge.

Round these parts, the house doesn't last 10 seconds without someone using electricity in their current activity.
I should give it a go for a day to see how everyone copes haha.
I'd like to think that personally I'd be fine with it... and I'm sure my acoustic guitar would smile

Orthodox Jewish Shabbat is all about this.

However for the rest of us when the power goes out. It's bitter sweet.
I remember one of the last power outrages my girlfriend and I only had
A battery powered radio playing with love songs being dedicated. It was
very relaxing and A new feel and calm was within us and the house.
Tend to put down the need, wants and routines of daily life when it's shut
down for us.

I always wanted to implement Shabbat traditions within my life.

reply to post by restlessinMT


Something is wrong with you if you turn off all your major appliances and stuff. Especially when you have three kids to boot as well. There is no lesson to learn from what you have done. Moving along now...

For those of us who know survival; ie homeless, military service, death and taxes
Need I say more
It's refreshing to get away from all the things that control the way you live
Don't forget to plug the alarm clock back in
Don't want to be late for the day job Monday morning

reply to post by watchitburn


Good for you, string out the time, it is not so bad. We gave up tv a few years ago, then sold our log home, a big one early this summer and moved aboard a small houseboat on an isolated lake front. No electricity except a couple of solar panels and two batteries.

As time went along, we built an eighteen by eighteen cabin in the woods and now live there, minus all except a gas light. We carry in our water filtered from the trout stream, and installed an outdoor composting toilet. We don't even have cell service in this valley and we love our life here. I am at a friends home at the end of the road right now using his internet and his home for the weekend, but really not, we prefer our little cabin by the creek to this place, not cozy at all, so will return after our soup tonight. It's been three months and my wife tells me, NO ELECTRICITY, EVER AGAIN AND CERTAINLY NO TV. Oh yea, we heat with a little wood stove here in MI.

last summer we went three weeks with no power, its not cheap when you cant keep your food cold,

I think a true test would be to make an in-ground cold storage/freezer then live for 24hrs or more without power. I just see what youre doing as good prep for the kids a bit of an eyeopener but it is not true survival training.

you ever have to use an outhouse? or get your daily water from the spring and bring it inside every morning thats living right there especially when you have horses chickens dogs ducks to feed and water.

I am not trying to downplay your lesson here just trying to be more realistic because we have lived without power.

Well we are back and all went well... as I knew it would. But we have all come out better in knowing what we must use sparingly and what we are lacking. The kids did great but my middle child, he is only 6, did not like sleeping in the dark but was fine after a little encouragement and the addition of his dog and sister in his room was no problem. He was also mad the i pad was dead thus useless to him.

My youngest son is 3 and he did give in to curiosity or to just add some good old fuel on the fire and informed me at a point he swallowed a small chain necklace! Great a possible emergency during all this! Well like I mentioned I turned off everything except the fridge and freezer and my cell was still charged. So ask-a-nurse just suggested keep an eye on him and the other end for the next few days. Nothing yet but he is his usual crazy little self so no worries but kids!!!

I must say being without power is nothing new to us either but we have not had to endure what a lot of you have during hurricanes, ice storms, just mother nature at her worst but I feel better doing this now and then to know where we stand on our supplies and my kids think it is fun camping out at home!

I must say I made the best breakfast ever on the BBQ! Made toast and the best scrambled eggs ever. Did I mention we have our own chickens... yep and yummy.

Things could and can change. It was nice out but no open fires because of the stage 2 fire alert in MT. We have not had rain for 50 days but we have seen worse a few years ago.

It was nice to have the fridge and freezer still working or of course would have to eat as much as possible ASAP or preserve it another way quickly!

So it went well but will do it again in a few months. Winter is a different beast but likely we have plenty of wood and a wood burning stove. It would not be the first time relying on that stove to keep us warm for a day or two but you know... I do love my AC and cannot deny it!

Anyways I have a new list of gotta do; learn and get! It never ends and never will!

Loves Restless!

I go out of state to "prep" twice every week.
I use the computer once a week at best, and might watch 3 hours of tv per week.

I have no cell phone, no fb page, and use candles and moonlight in my cabin on a nightly basis.

Haven't been to a Wal-Mart in 5 months, etc.

I don't see why a person who loves nature/freedom/privacy, etc has a problem walking away from electronics.

Quick, easy, and something to keep the kids entertained. These 16 brick rocket stoves can be made with any used bricks, as long as the corners aren't too worn. My 2 boys love building them just for fun, but it's handy for booiling kettle with no leccy

Nice start

Ive survived 2 true disasters.. and it warped me. Made me a prepper.. not for aliens or nibiru, but power outages and wacko people when power outages and shortfalls of goods are disrupted. Anyway, our power goes out here pretty regularly with storms and such. 7 days a few winters ago... and Im in the st louis metro area. People went insane-o. I was way too busy getting things situated to go insane. I keep full freezers and etc.. I was securing the longevity of my food investments and doing WORK.. something no one seems to do around here when there is an emergency. If they did they would find less time for mischief. By the 2nd and 3rd day ,home invasions and robberies where the snow wasnt cleared off.. genius criminals thought no one was home if they didnt see cleared side walks. Everything pretty well stopped due to the amt of ice and the danger. Ambulances couldnt get anywhere.. it was a mess because idiots didnt listen to the news and prepare. They decided after the power went out to go get their perishables ( go figure) from the gas station and we heard crashes on the highway for days. Sounded like gunshots all night with the green yet frozen trees popping and splitting.. and NO ONE was doing ANYTHING for their neighbors.. no one had even checked on our elderlies when my husband and I went to see if they were okay. We had a house full by the 4th day. Im not overly young and have been through a lot of "weather"... but the reactions of people here in that particular storm shot home the idea that if there is a disruption in ANYTHING the public will go complete full on wacko. It was just a winter storm and I was chambering my mossy due to these morons... could you imagine an earthquake, war, or a grid issue??

Yrs ago when I was a kid and went through a severe hurricane and another series or tornadoes which wiped a town off the map... people helped. I was a child but still felt more secure due to the people I lived by pulling together and we ALL helped eachother. Not so today..... today they will steal your chained generator outside of your home and break in to steal your TV.. with no electricity to watch it . Madness. You have not figured this in with your kids.. the work and the common sense of a true loss of power.. the chaos of people today. Its not a sit around and tell stories anymore.. its a guard your crap and check that your neighbors arent dead scenario.

Ive made jokes before about Edison ruining it for the belief in ghosts and relying on faith and religion when frightened out of minds. Light.. electricity.. dispelling the spooks and spectres. Now believe me, when it is pitch black and dead silent.. the spookies come back from childhood.