Emergency Preparation

[freebird5825]

Are you concerned for your water supply? I am guessing that you are in the Marcellus Shale hydrofracking area.

Not concerned about contamination as much as reasonably assured that municipal water supply will remain intact in extremely prolonged cold weather. The head pressure will be better closer to the water treatment plant, i.e. supply pipes would not freeze. I would keep a faucet partially open to maintain flow into my home.

I'll have to see if I am in the shale area you mention. I'll go goggle it.

UPDATE: I learned something new today.
http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2011/03/ap_interview_new_york_drilling.html

The answer is yes. See the table of NY towns listed at the link below. I am near Syracuse.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcellus_Shale

 

[samclem]

Seems there are a lot of tinfoil hats being worn on this thread.......

What's the rational argument for not buying cheap insurance against unpredictable low probability/high impact events? whistling: individual whistling past the graveyard )

 

[FinanceDude]

How so? Reasonable preparations for 3 days to a week with no services after a disaster don't seem like tinfoil hat territory. It takes that long for the gubmint to get it together and start sorting out the mess.

Currency? Extra shotgun shells? 2-3 weeks of MRE's? Sorry, that's tinfoil hat stuff. I have enough canned goods at all times to last for a week or two. My reverse osmosis system stores 5 gallons of water, I can easily disconnect the tube and drink the purified water. I suppose after two weeks we would get a little hungry..........

 

[brewer12345]

Currency? Extra shotgun shells? 2-3 weeks of MRE's? Sorry, that's tinfoil hat stuff. I have enough canned goods at all times to last for a week or two. My reverse osmosis system stores 5 gallons of water, I can easily disconnect the tube and drink the purified water. I suppose after two weeks we would get a little hungry..........

You think 5 gallons of water will last you a week? Impressive (and smelly).

I don't have a firearm in the house, for the record. As for the rest, better safe than sorry. For a small amount of money I cut off the tail exposure of potentially very bad downside scenarios, albeit not that likely. Worse comes to worse, we use the MREs while camping.

 

[freebird5825]

How so? Reasonable preparations for 3 days to a week with no services after a disaster don't seem like tinfoil hat territory. It takes that long for the gubmint to get it together and start sorting out the mess.

I used the Red Cross emergency literature online to formulate my plan.
People up north in the Watertown area had the Army's 10th Mountain Division and larger cities had their own NY National Guard to help out, but smaller towns in the affected area were completely self-sufficient and dependent upon their volunteer fire departments. I live in a very small town.

 

[Bestwifeever]

You think 5 gallons of water will last you a week? Impressive (and smelly).

I don't have a firearm in the house, for the record. As for the rest, better safe than sorry. For a small amount of money I cut off the tail exposure of potentially very bad downside scenarios, albeit not that likely. Worse comes to worse, we use the MREs while camping.

Well, you did say:

Eventually, I will put a little cash into a more extensive and organized prep setup. High on the list would be a firearm or two, more food, and water storage.

People like Brewer who have little kids have more to be concerned with, of course. I could see getting a gas generator here in case of an extended power outage during the winter, but no changes other than that. Thank goodness we have our vintage 1999 Y2K disaster water thingies still in the basement.

 

[brewer12345]

Well, you did say:

I sure did. I also have a couple of hunting dogs flopping around the house, including one specifically bred to hunt bears and wild boar. But mostly they are just happy, four-footed clowns.

 

[GRambler]

We went 8 days without power in the dead of winter after an ice storm a few years back.
Worst part was we still had to go to work. Had we not had to do that another week or two wouldn't have been un doable, and this was without a generator.
Since we still had to work we'd go to a friends house to shower every couple of days.

We cooked on the gas grill, used candles and some flashlights, and the fireplace for heat and light.
Just closed off rooms we couldn't heat and stayed in the family room. Had plenty of food.
I was more worried about pipes freezing in unheated bathrooms than anything.
But I'd say the most depressing part was going to work. Since it was the dead of winter we'd leave in the morning dark and get home in the evening dark to a cold dark house. Barely get the living area warm before bed time. That got old fast.
So we bought a generator, and of course we haven't needed it since.

 

[bruce1]

Ok ten to twenty gallons of gas plus what is in the cars. Enough food in the house to last a month in a big pantry. I buy at sales. BBQ own gas well, two generators, gun, other gun, target rifle, fireplace, 200 yards nearly clear line of site in most directions, $1000 Cash in small bills, 100 oz silver in 10 oz bars, 200 to 300 oz silver in coins (collector), heated outbuilding with water, live chickens, 4WD explorer and probably more.

 

[bruce1]

People on medication should have spare ready to go,

 

[Bestwifeever]

I sure did. I also have a couple of hunting dogs flopping around the house, including one specifically bred to hunt bears and wild boar. But mostly they are just happy, four-footed clowns.

Photos, please--I need a happy, four-footed clown fix today .

 

[East Texas]

I also have a fireproof box with all my important papers and pictures in it .

It needs to be heat-proof also. It's the heat that ruins documents / electronic media / pictures in a safe.

Lots of tin foil.

That was just too funny.

----------------

As for us, we're good for six months and could stretch it to eight or nine months depending on circumstances. We'll lock the gate and stay at the ranch. We've told family and friends that if we have not specifically said they are in our plan, they are NOT in our plan. Don't show up at the gate and whine. You won't get in. I've offered to help them create their own family plan and none of them have taken me up on the offer. Their lack of planning will simply not be our problem. I'm sure lots of you want to take me to task for that.... it is what it is....

One of the best resources on prepping is coming offline next month. Another site created a mirror of it so the information will continue to be available for awhile. Drum-Runners.com

I have a template I created years ago to help the novice "prepper" learn to prep. If you're interested, and if I can figure out how to do it and keep the formatting, I'll post it here. Let me know if there's an interest.

 

[HFWR]

Currency? Extra shotgun shells? 2-3 weeks of MRE's? Sorry, that's tinfoil hat stuff. I have enough canned goods at all times to last for a week or two. My reverse osmosis system stores 5 gallons of water, I can easily disconnect the tube and drink the purified water. I suppose after two weeks we would get a little hungry..........

Whatever...

 

[Telly]

I have been thinking of Emergency Preparation plans for years, but haven't implemented any yet. I started with Plan Preparation A, which was replaced by Preparation B, etc. After reading this thread, I think I'm ready to start the 8th preparation plan.

 

[freebird5825]

I used the Red Cross emergency literature online to formulate my plan.

Here ya go...
Preparedness Today - Family Disaster Plan - American Red Cross / CDC

 

[samclem]

It needs to be heat-proof also. It's the heat that ruins documents / electronic media / pictures in a safe.

A cheap way to do this is to build a drywall box all the way around the safe. It doesn't need to be pretty or burglar-proof, but it should be at least an inch thick (more is better, use several thicknesses of standard 1/2" or 5/8" drywall, and reinforce the edges so it doesn't come apart as the material heats and distorts. The fireproof caulk used for fireplaces is a good glue for this project, backed up with screws). Drywall is cheap--less than $10 for a 4'x8' sheet. It will help protect your documents from heat in three ways:
1) It will not burn, so it will help block your safe from the radiant heat of other burning stuff in your house.
2) It is heavy, and has a high heat capacity, so it will heat up rather slowly.
3) Most important: It has a lot of water trapped in the gypsum. The material can't exceed 212deg F until all of this water boils out, which helps buy time.

If you bought an expensive fireproof safe or file cabinet, it would have gypsum in the walls.

 

[brewer12345]

Photos, please--I need a happy, four-footed clown fix today .

Let me see what I can get out of DW, as she is the photo jockey. In the meantime a puppy pic or two:

 

[Bestwifeever]

You just made my day, Brewer--those are such sweetie pies (and look at Porter being such a good sport with the young'uns).

 

[brewer12345]

You just made my day, Brewer--those are such sweetie pies (and look at Porter being such a good sport with the young'uns).

He was really sweet with the pups. Showed them the ropes and made it clear he was boss, but always very gentle with them.

The beagle is now 30# and extremely muscular (from wrestling above her weight class all day). The Plott hound is 50# and tall enough to table-surf.

 

[aaronc879]

I predict Wisconsin will have a HUGE influx of refugees if there is a big natural disaster, that is, if anyone can find us on a map..........

Now THAT would be a disaster

 

[Bestwifeever]

He was really sweet with the pups. Showed them the ropes and made it clear he was boss, but always very gentle with them.

The beagle is now 30# and extremely muscular (from wrestling above her weight class all day). The Plott hound is 50# and tall enough to table-surf.

The Plott has a gorgeous coat--will he/she get bigger?

 

[East Texas]

I see the beagle is on the bed which is on the crate. Is the pup in time-out? BTW, kudos for crate training.

 

[East Texas]

A cheap way to do this is to build a drywall box all the way around the safe. It doesn't need to be pretty or burglar-proof, but it should be at least an inch thick (more is better, use several thicknesses of standard 1/2" or 5/8" drywall, and reinforce the edges so it doesn't come apart as the material heats and distorts. The fireproof caulk used for fireplaces is a good glue for this project, backed up with screws). Drywall is cheap--less than $10 for a 4'x8' sheet. It will help protect your documents from heat in three ways:
1) It will not burn, so it will help block your safe from the radiant heat of other burning stuff in your house.
2) It is heavy, and has a high heat capacity, so it will heat up rather slowly.
3) Most important: It has a lot of water trapped in the gypsum. The material can't exceed 212deg F until all of this water boils out, which helps buy time.

If you bought an expensive fireproof safe or file cabinet, it would have gypsum in the walls.

Good idea. How would you put a door on this? I would think thin metal hinges would melt. What kind of latch / closure would hold up to heat?

 

[brewer12345]

Heh, she hopped up there with a stolen bone that she and Copper were squabbling over. Definately not a typical pose for her. She was fully crate trained, but now sleeps with my eldest daughter.

Mr. Plott might get another inch taller and we think he will go from his current 50 to about 60 pounds. Hard to imagine him attacking a bear until you see his teeth, but he is a really gentle boy.

 

[bbbamI]

I have been thinking of Emergency Preparation plans for years, but haven't implemented any yet. I started with Plan Preparation A, which was replaced by Preparation B, etc. After reading this thread, I think I'm ready to start the 8th preparation plan.

ahhhh...that would be Preparation H.