the day after tomorrow...

so i just finished watching this flick (again...hey i like it!!!)
and i realize the scenario is very improbable at best,you know,the insane,instant freeze parts of the movie!
but,if drastic weather did roll in all of a sudden,would you be able to bunker down for a month?
2? more!!!?
i have a wood stove for heat,plenty of wood,and i wouldn't be afraid to burn furniture,or the like if need be.
i got plenty of canned food,plus there is a lke close by to fish.
i live in a rural area,so the snow is clean and can be boiled to drink,cook etc.
i have one of those crazy big bbq's that i can burn wood in to cook.
i think i would have to turn the water off to the house in case pipes star bursting.
make sure the oil is turned off to the furnace - just in case!
i really have to increase my candle supply,because you can never have too many!
they are usefull for a lot more things than just light!
matches,lighters,batteries etc... thats just a given.
what would you do in this scenario?
any more tips you can share???

reply to post by reficul


Get a Zippo lighter and then after your other lighters die, you can use the flints out of them for your zippo.
It will also burn other flammable liquids.
A must have IMO

Corn chips and bbq sauce,awesome for firestarting and the occasional cannibalism

dryer lint is a great firestarter

well to all of you that posted a tip on what is good to start a fire, i worry about those whou don't know how!!!
i can star a fire using many different methods,one of my favorite is steel whool,a 9 volt battery,and some dry leaves/twigs!
(i'm sure you can find it on youtube!)
i'd like to hear how to preserve fresh meat with salt,and the frozen ground!
i'm not one to enjoy throwing out whole roast beef,and steaks and stuff just cause the power
is oof for a month or so!

reply to post by reficul


if you want to preserve meat get a smoker, and jarring supplys, my grandma up in AK does it every year when the fish start running

Lubbock, Texas, had its first freeze this morning, when they hit 32 degrees.

The typical date for Lubbock's first freeze is November 2nd, so we're a bit early.

We live in an all-electric house, and I have often worried about a "Day After Tomorrow" scenario, but there are a few abandoned houses in the field next to us, and I believe there is an abandoned wood stove in one of them. We could rig something up to survive, but it would be a lot of work, for sure. I also save dryer lint, as it really is an excellent way to get a fire going in a hurry (so is burning plastic grocery bags, but bad to breathe the fumes). We have lots of food stored, and lots of water, but the heat is going to have to be jerry-rigged if such a scenario were to happen.

The record low temperature for where I live is minus 38 degrees Farenheit. It can get darned cold out here, which most people don't really think about. They usually think of heat when they think of Texas, but the western part gets Canadian air which shoots straight down along the eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains, and the wind is bitter cold, indeed.

When we moved out here in January 2011, within two weeks we had blizzard conditions, with 0 degrees F and a windchill of minus 20 F. Our heater died and the well froze. And, of course, I thought of the DAT movie.

reply to post by reficul


In an above zero environment,One could actually make a water cooler to preserve parishables,with water from an above resovoir,that would constantly cycle down to hose through the cool ground and up..just offf the top of my head

reply to post by all2human


na,thats not efficient.
there is no point in having 'cold' water,'cause ya got to boil it anyway to be safe to consume.
where i live in canada,that water would freeze and trap bacteria in it! plus frozen water doesn't follow the laws of gravity(in a good way anyway!)
i thing pre boiling water and storing it in pre sterilized mason jars,and storing them in the ground would
slow any germ growth. you can always re boil it before use.
as for the other poster,i have experience canning,and smoking.
smoking my meat turned it into jerky!!!
i'm looking for a more 'native' way to preserve meat/fish

If it gets THAT cold, I don't think you'll be doing much fishing unless you've got the tools to go ice fishing. Also, you would need a really good wood stove, a triple burner that utilizes everything you burn more efficiently. Also, It would be better if you had a basement with the wood stove in it that you could secure off. Definitely prep your toilet and water pipes and turn off the water immediately. You would need a potty bucket of some sort, a rocket stove or solo stove to cook on if the wood stove isn't designed for pots and pans. You would probably need to have on hand a couple cords of wood at minimum.

You know, when we were kids, we made "snow ice cream" with snow, sugar, vanilla and cream every year it snowed. We never got sick from eating snow. I wouldn't worry about the snow if the only condition was an amazingly quick freeze.

reply to post by reficul


water wouldnt be to consume,just to cool
i edited my post..

Don't worry about chopping firewood if you live in the city, just get old newspapers that most stores throw away, and use this method to make your own logs that will burn just as long.

There are people that have lived in places like Alaska and there are people who have not. Cold weather is not the end of the world or a crazy survivalist adventure, end of story.