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Power Outage
Topic Started: May 24 2011, 11:11 AM (996 Views)
HandFarming
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I can relate to the power going out. We lived by St Peter and watched storm after storm leave us without power, once for weeks. Which was a blessing in disguise. After the second day of hauling water from the lake to flush the toilet, well that gets a person thinking about how dependent we all are.

We have burned wood for heat since the 80s so that wasn't an issue but no power means food goes bad fast, freezer food needs to be dealt with asap and lights need to be lit at night.

I started our searching for non-grid items about that time, and a lot of people were looking for them too so it's always better to get those things when you can find them.

One place I really like is Gold Rush in Oronoco and any antique shop we pass by. I also like to get stuff from Lehmans if I can't find it and it's on a "can't do without" thing. . . Which if you've been through a power outage for a while, you find you can do without a lot!

I should mention that during the power outage, a large number of the neighbors went to hotels. That's how ready people are going to be if something ever does knock out power for a long time and over a wide area.
You can lead an ass to knowledge, but you can not make it think.
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Mommacat
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You're right, HF, a power outage can be a great "dress rehearsal" for a SHTF situ, and would quickly show areas a person needed to fine tune and also areas that they've got well in hand. We've discussed frozen foods here before and we've come to the conclusion that a person would be well advised to wean themselves off freezers, if at all possible. I remember that my grandmother used to can a lot of meat and also had an outdoor "meat box" that took advantage of our very cold winter temeratures. I generally get a venison every fall and this year I am planning to can most of it. I also plan on replenishing my pemmican supply for really dire situations.
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Grizzly
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As for lighting, we have picked up a number of old oil lamps and kerosene lanterns. I've gone through them to make sure they are ready to go and stocked up on wicks, lamp oil, and kerosene. I've read about how little light they actually put out as for reading or any other night task. The type that come highly recomended is the Alladin lamp. They claim one lamp is equal to a 60 watt light bulb. Lehman's has them but they are over $100. and I've tried repeatedly to get one at an auction and have had no luck. I think the last one I ran up to $80. and quit bidding. Figured I'd spend the money on a new one rather than a used one at that price. Has anyone ever tried one? I'm not real worried about the lack of light but I'm sure there may come a time that you need more.
Our ancestors left Europe to get away from this crap...as seen on a bumpersticker fns
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Raven
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I am thinking that if the power goes out the freezer stuff will have to be dehydrated. HandFarming, that is where your non-electric dehydrator will come in handy if it isn't in the summer. I am anxious to see that. A car will warm up in the winter but not enough to dehydrate quickly enough to keep your food from spoiling. I am pretty much trying to get enough canned to wean us off of the freezers (we have 3). If I can get us down to one that would be a great savings for electricity as well. One freezer you could probably eat fast enough before it totally went bad. Might make for some interesting meals though.
The truth is not for all men, but only for those that seek it. Ayn Rand
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Mommacat
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Grizzly - its true Aladdin lamps are considerably brighter. I'm just not real convinced its worth the extra money.
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HandFarming
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I bought a Coleman lamp after the St Peter tornado. The fuel is iffy and the thing needs to pumped constantly.

I got some small keychain solar lights on eBay and sent a box to Haiti after their quakes. I kept a few for myself. They aren't enough light to see more than a few feet in front of me.

Lehmans has a lantern that holds a small pot on top that looked interesting but I don't think I have time to get it. And yeap, I've seen those nice lamps go for big bucks at auctions but sure would be nice if needed.

And then there's supplying the fuel for it. Alcohol works and will burn if you add oil or other colorant since pure alcohol burns so clean you can't see the flame. The recipe for alcohol fuel for small can sterno like burners is -oyster shells (egg shells if in a bind), dissolve in vinegar until it makes a clear gel then slowly add alcohol and color like oils or pine tree sap. Keep stirring to let the alcohol absorb into the gel. This also makes hand sanitizing gel.
You can lead an ass to knowledge, but you can not make it think.
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HandFarming
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Some of the food preservation things I was working on included the wood fired food dryer. It's an ugly beasty looking thing and I painted it black to pretty it up....which made it worse but now it absorbs some solar heat. The refrig got gutted and a fire is built below it. The new fridges are more plastic so only old ones work. The racks for drying were the expenses as finding stainless and shaping them to fit the unit was the most expensive part but I also bring them in over winter and dry food over the wood burners. It not a perfect system and I would like to convert the wood fire area to propane temporarily because the thing needs loading constantly but it dries food and I can manage a fairly constant temp on it after I added a massive amount of bricks on the bottom.

I was working on an ice house type room but the insulation costs at 6" to 10" got in my way. I have a room to store barrels of anti-freeze that (in theory) get cooled down over the coldest part of winter and store the cold. The husband wanted to add a small cooler to the unit made from a cannibalized van air conditioning pump to keep it cold longer as it might not keep cold till it turns cold again.

Yeap, our family thinks we're just people with too much time on our hands....
You can lead an ass to knowledge, but you can not make it think.
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Grizzly
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Your family thinks you have too much time? Ours just thinks we're weird.
Our ancestors left Europe to get away from this crap...as seen on a bumpersticker fns
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HandFarming
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Lol. That too.
You can lead an ass to knowledge, but you can not make it think.
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Mommacat
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One of my daughters used to watch that TV show "Hoarders" and she thought it was the funniest thing in the world - she kept threatening to send my name in for an "intervention". But, for all the world, I am just a crazy old lady that likes antiques and buys lots of stuff "on sale". :)
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