Survivalist, Prepper/prepping issues

[Body-by-Guinness]

Chiefio is again spot on:

https://chiefio.wordpress.com/2024/01/18/prepare-for-grid-down-disruption-events/

[Crafty_Dog]

We have a generator that runs on gas, propane, and , , , I forget the third one haha.  We have gasoline and propane in the shed.  We had an electrician set up a special line that allows us to go directly into the panel so we would not be limited to extension cords.  Our generator is strong and can pretty much run the whole house if we turn off what we are not using.

We have a freezer and a back up refrigerator in the garage, all packed to the gills with back up food so the generator is super important to protect against the food going bad.  We also have dried and canned food too.

And the means to protect it all!

[Body-by-Guinness]

We have a generator that runs on gas, propane, and , , , I forget the third one haha.  We have gasoline and propane in the shed.  We had an electrician set up a special line that allows us to go directly into the panel so we would not be limited to extension cords.  Our generator is strong and can pretty much run the whole house if we turn off what we are not using.

We have a freezer and a back up refrigerator in the garage, all packed to the gills with back up food so the generator is super important to protect against the food going bad.  We also have dried and canned food too.

And the means to protect it all!

I'll note that one of the smartest things I ever did was keep an eye on Craigslist for a fireplace insert. Living in the mountains west of DC, and working in one of the largest suburbs near it, there is always some gov factotum or beltway bandit looking to rid himself of something in the way of his remodel or whatever, cheap. The insert can heat the whole house, I can cook on top of it, make coffee for my adicted wife, while it feed it deadfall from the surrounding woods. If one has a fireplace I highly recommend an insert as a means of addressing cold weather needs. Combine that with three gennies and various other preps like chains x 4 for all vehicles, a plow, and so on and it's easy to tell the difference between my home and those of less prepared neighbors.

[Body-by-Guinness]

Pleased to say the only thing listed here that isn't in my GHBs is sea dye.

And I do a mix of "the scatter method & the one bag method" since I have to deal with non-permissive environments. Basically I add critical items to my various bags set up for various situations and environments, with the major downside being the cost of duplicating materials across the various tool/resource collections.

https://www.backpacker.com/survival/whats-in-military-sere-instructors-survival-kit/

[DougMacG]

I wonder if any new wisdom is coming out of the hurricane aftermath.
1. Build, buy on high ground?
2. You need more clean drinking water than you think?
3. Cellphones don't work in a disaster, therefore...?
4. 

[Crafty_Dog]

"I'll note that one of the smartest things I ever did was keep an eye on Craigslist for a fireplace insert. Living in the mountains west of DC, and working in one of the largest suburbs near it, there is always some gov factotum or beltway bandit looking to rid himself of something in the way of his remodel or whatever, cheap. The insert can heat the whole house, I can cook on top of it, make coffee for my adicted wife, while it feed it deadfall from the surrounding woods. If one has a fireplace I highly recommend an insert as a means of addressing cold weather needs."

This sounds really good, but ours (a simple gas powered one, not very powerful)  looks something like this:

https://www.efireplacestore.com/fireplace-inserts.html

I'm not picturing how something like these is used to the ends your describe-- what am I missing?

[Body-by-Guinness]

"I'll note that one of the smartest things I ever did was keep an eye on Craigslist for a fireplace insert. Living in the mountains west of DC, and working in one of the largest suburbs near it, there is always some gov factotum or beltway bandit looking to rid himself of something in the way of his remodel or whatever, cheap. The insert can heat the whole house, I can cook on top of it, make coffee for my adicted wife, while it feed it deadfall from the surrounding woods. If one has a fireplace I highly recommend an insert as a means of addressing cold weather needs."

This sounds really good, but ours (a simple gas powered one, not very powerful)  looks something like this:

https://www.efireplacestore.com/fireplace-inserts.html

I'm not picturing how something like these is used to the ends your describe-- what am I missing?

I've got an older one that projects a good 8 inches from the fire, both allowing longer pieces of firewood to be used, and also providing additional cast iron radiative surface area to heat the house. This old school one has no blower, using convection instead to make the heat exchange, and that's intentional as, if I'm using the liner to heat the house it's 'cause electricity is out in the first place. I don't know how well electic blower inserts work when the power is out, but KNOW my old cast iron monstrosity (which took four of us to install, even broken down into pieces) can keep the whole house at 50-65F at between 0-20F, with the temp being closer to 80 anywhere near the insert.

I'll also not the 8" or so it juts out from the face of the old fireplace is flat and can be cooked on. I indeed have dedicated cast iron pots and pans set up to cook atop the insert, w/ a cast iron Dutch oven able to handle breads and other oven needs. It's a nice setup.

ETA: here's a vid about installing a newfangled insert: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txmgFDkiDOQ

Here's a current Craigslist insert in my area. It won't be up for long, but if you go to Craigslist > For Sale > and search for "fireplace insert" I but some come up.

[DougMacG]

Thanks for the ideas on wood and gas burning inserts.  Good point about the fan; for sure need backup heat that doesn't rely on electricity.

[DougMacG]

You must buy BEFORE the catastrophe is imminent.

https://robertbryce.substack.com/p/an-inflation-hurricane-is-shorting

[Crafty_Dog]

Thank you BBG.