Back when the government started organizing electric power companies and energy became something for the federal government to regulate, one of the things they did right was to overbuild the system. It was a time when they anticipated massive growth and tried to prepare for it as best they could.
But there was no way they could foresee the massive increase in energy usage that would happen through the years. Today, our systems are woefully inadequate, overburdened in a number of ways.
Much of the electric infrastructure we depend on is far past its prime, with some electric power lines actually still in use after over 100 years. The number of power plants and substations which are still in use after their 50-year life expectancy is on the rise, with maintenance lagging.
More money is being put into unreliable wind and solar power, because it is “green,” than into systems that can be depended on.
What this has resulted in is that the United States has more blackouts than any other developed country in the world. While we are the technological leader of the world, we are doing a better job of exporting that technology, than we are in making use of it ourselves.
Much of that is political, specifically the aforementioned focus on wind and solar power, which only work when the weather is cooperative.
ERCOT
The extreme weather in February of 2021 helped to show just how vulnerable the electrical grid is, especially in Texas.
While there are a number of different things that ERCOT (the Electric Reliability Council of Texas) did wrong, which added to the problem, the basic problem was that Texas was unprepared for the low temperatures that occurred, mostly because there has never been a long stretch of weather that cold in Texas.
There is no way to realistically expect that ERCOT would have been ready for what happened.
More than five million people lost power, most for several days and some for as long as a week. It didn’t happen, but the Texas power grid was minutes away from it all going down. Had that happened, it would have taken months to get the power back on.
Power outages of minutes or even hours aren’t a big deal; but these longer-term power outages can be serious. They’re on the increase too. According to the US Department of Energy, the five year average rate of major blackouts is doubling every five years.
• From 2000 – 2004, there were an average of 44 major outages per year.
• From 2005 – 2009, there were an average of 100 major outages per year.
• From 2010 – 2014, there were an average of 200 major outages per year.
This trend is continuing, so we can all expect to see more major power outages in our own personal futures. Poor maintenance, a result of so much money being put into wind and solar power will only make that worse.
The only real question is when those blackouts will come and how bad they will be.
Planning for Blackouts
Anyone who wants to make it through these major blackouts in some degree of comfort needs to do a little preparation. I had several friends and family members who were part of that five million in Texas who lost their power, water and heat for several days. Fortunately, none of them died, but over 100 people did.
The basic problem boils down to everything we do involving electricity. So losing electricity doesn’t just mean that we can’t watch TV, use our computers and have the lights on; it means that we don’t have such simple things as water. During that freeze, most of Texas was either without water or had no more than a trickle coming out the faucet.
While it would be ideal to be able to produce enough electricity ourselves, to meet all our needs, that’s a bit idealistic.
The reality is that it would cost a lot of money to put in enough solar panels and a big enough battery backup system to ensure that everything in your home could continue operating during one of those prolonged blackouts, it’s just not practical for most of us. We just can’t afford that big an investment.
So, while we should have some solar power, we shouldn’t count on powering everything. For the rest, what are we going to need?
Heating
Heating is the biggest challenge, assuming the blackout occurs when it’s cold enough to need to heat our homes. There are really only two practical solutions; either wood or propane catalytic heaters. Of those, wood is by far the more common. Every other option requires electricity.
Wood heating means either having a fireplace or a wood-burning stove. Of the two, the wood-burning stove is much more efficient, as it can radiate heat from all sides. Make sure that you don’t buy one of those stoves which uses pellets and that you put in a good stock of firewood.
Wood heating isn’t going to heat your whole home. Rather, you’re going to have to drag mattresses into whatever room the wood-burning stove installed in and have everyone camp out there.
I just talked to a friend last weekend who had 20 people camped out in his living room. They were a bit cramped, but everyone made it through the week.
Related: How To Heat Your Home Without Electricity
Refrigeration
Refrigeration is our second most critical use of electric power. If the blackout happens in the wintertime, that’s not such a big deal, as the food can be taken out of the freezer and put I the garage or outside. Just make sure it is in something where animals can’t get to it. But what about the summertime?
The average refrigerator/freezer unit will keep food cold for about 24 hours, without electrical power. Then the temperature will gradually start to rise and things will begin to thaw.
Considering that you probably won’t be able to buy dry ice to keep it cold, you’re either going to have to eat that food quickly, cook it so that it lasts a bit longer or can it. If you can’t do one of those with it, chances are that it will go bad.
In order to be sure that your family is going to have food to eat, you want to have a good stockpile of non-perishable food on hand. This is something we do as preppers anyway, so it really shouldn’t be an issue.
Cooking
But even cooking that food is going to be a challenge, as you won’t have either electricity or natural gas. That means having some alternative means of cooking available, along with the fuel you’ll need. Of all the options, the two which make the most sense for most of us are either a barbecue grille or a camp stove which will burn gasoline.
The only problem with using either of these is that it will tend to mess up the “nice” pots and pans most of us have in the kitchen. Unless you’ve got some cast iron cookware to use, you’d better count on your cookware being damaged. That’s okay; cookware can be replaced.
Coleman still makes their “dual fuel” camp stove, the only one in their lineup which will run off of gasoline, rather than propane. It’s probably the best survival stove there is, as gasoline is probably going to be the easiest fuel to find.
Related: 5 Ways To Cook When SHTF Without Attracting Attention
Water
Compared to food, water is a much higher survival priority. But during the February freeze pretty much all of Texas was without water. Our local water authority couldn’t pump water, because they couldn’t get any of their four diesel generators to start. I think they probably didn’t have the fuel stabilized for cold weather.
Without power, it’s unlikely that any municipal water authority is going to be able to keep pumping water for a week. While most probably have generators, I’m pretty sure that none of them have enough fuel stored on site to make it through seven days. We’ll need our own source of water.
Fortunately, this is an easy one to solve, as we can stockpile water readily enough. But I wouldn’t just count on the water you buy at the local supermarket, I’d put in some sort of rainwater capture system as well.
You’re going to need much more than a few cases of water bottles, especially if you expect to be able to cook and clean.
Light
Light is one of the easier problems to solve. We can either use flashlights, candles or oil lamps.
I’d recommend on planning for a combination of all three, as you will find that you have different needs for different activities.
While a flashlight might work well for some things, it’s not the best way to light a room. Make sure you’ve got a good stock of batteries, as well as oil for the lamps.
Another thing to consider is buying 12 volt LED lighting or battery powered LED lighting. Either one of those run on very little power and can be recharged by whatever solar power you have, unlike other lighting systems which might require a higher voltage or draw more current.
Communications
The other really easy thing to take care of is communications. Our main method of communications today is the smartphone, with just about everyone owning one. Phone companies and radio stations are required by regulation to have backup power, usually in the form of generators.
So it’s likely that there will still be power available to run the system and keep communications going. If you have enough solar power to charge your phones, you’re set.
Related: The Only Form of Communication After T-SHTF
During Those Seven Days
Preparing for a seven-day blackout is one thing, living through it is another. It’s not just good enough to have everything you need; you’ve got to do the right things to take care of your family.
Just determining if you’re in a major blackout or not is going to be the first challenge you’ll face. Don’t expect officials to be forthcoming with information, as they won’t be.
Rather, you’re going to have to take your best guess, based on what’s happening. For the most part, that means if it lasts more than a couple of hours, it’s time to start looking at the situation; is there some sort of weather event going on, which would make a power outage likely?
The other big indicator is how widespread it is. If your neighborhood is the only one without power, it will probably be back on soon; but if the whole city is blacked out, then it’s a major problem and will likely continue for several days. Keep in mind that there’s nothing sure when it comes to such things.
You may decide that the power will be out for a week, only to have it turn on the next morning. That’s okay. You’re better off putting your emergency plan into action and then having to go back to normal, than waiting to put your plan into effect and not starting soon enough.
Actions to Take
The first thing to do is get your family together and tell everyone what is going on. Then put everyone to work preparing to camp out wherever your wood-burning stove is. As part of that, fill every container you can with water, even if you have abundant water on hand. You really don’t know how much you will need.
Chances are that the stores are going to be closed, but if there’s anything you really need, it might be a good idea to make a supply run before hunkering down.
Take cash, as the stores probably won’t be able to use their cash registers, which also means that they won’t be able to take plastic. It would be a good idea to plan on marking prices on everything as you shop, so that when you get to the cash register it can all be added up.
Moving everyone into the living room will make it possible to keep everyone warm, or at least somewhat warm. It would help to block off the other parts of the home, perhaps by hanging a heavy blanket over the doorways, to help keep the heat inside the room you’re staying in.
I’d start cooking or preserving whatever frozen food you have on the second or third day, right about when it starts thawing out. Cooked food will keep longer than raw food, but it will still go bad. Then again, if it is cold enough that you’re forced to camp out in the living room to have heat, you could always put the food outdoors to keep it cold.
The big challenge is going to be keeping everyone from going nuts, sitting there in the living room of your home. If schools and work are still open, then that would solve that problem; but that’s unlikely.
There is little that we can do on most jobs, without electricity and our schools need it just as much. You don’t want to send your kids to school, just to sit there in dark rooms.
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If you’re dealing with freezing weather, be sure to shut off your water heater and drain it (especially if it is in a part of the house you won’t be able to heat) to prevent an expensive replacement of the water heater. Also, drain all water lines to keep them from busting as well. If you can’t drain the lines, at least have the water dripping so that you know when it is frozen. (If at all possible, still drain the water heater). Once that happens, open the faucets fully to relieve any pressure on the pipes when thawing does occur.
If in for the long haul, that water needs to go in tubs. One thing about life like that, CO2 depletes and we get more rain here, in Arizona. But, that’s not good for plants which depend on it. A lot of folks have their gas turned off for summer and run a long hose from the inlet over the roof, to the tank. niio
We had a snow storm 2 years ago that knocked out power to us for 7 days, and others were without power for up to 3 weeks. Luckily for us we had a wood stove for heat, 5K genny for electricity ran twice a day for 4-5 hours, just enough to cook, charge phones and run the 2 fridges inside the house. I keep enough fuel i.e. gas, propane, kerosene and diesel around to last for at least 2 weeks. Water isn’t an issue since we are using a spring fed system with a 500gal holding tank and filtration system, luckily my GF’s grandfather was a contractor and set this place up to be mostly off the grid if needed. Only area we are lacking that I would like to fix is solar, currently we can only produce 500w so I need to buy more panels!
Cell phones? LOL
You only need ONE for emergency use. Anything else is a waste of power and fuel.
Remember, cell phones are a luxury.
Coffee on the other hand….
I am not sure I understand why you say I wouldn’t have propane? Part of my emergency plan is that I have several appliances (heater, lantern, cooker) that are all very “low tech” and run on propane, which I store plenty of since it doesn’t go bad or stale (like gasoline). I have a propane generator, too, but I realize that would be toast from an EMP. Is there a problem with my plan? if so, please let me know!
Why won’t we have natural gas? During every blackout I have lived through the water and natural gas kept running. Now I understand if the whole grid goes down and the gas company can’t deliver it, or if you have an electric pump for your water, but otherwise won’t both of these continue to work?
Here in the big city, I rarely experience any type or kind of outrage. In addition to electric, I have gas, oil, water and sewer services to my home. Location is key. All of my utilities are buried underground and I am located on the same power grid pattern that supports two level 1 hospitals and a city Emergency Dispatch Center. When power is out elsewhere, mine is still up. And/or returned very quickly into service. The only time I have lost electric, during two Northeast Blackouts, my other utilities were not effected. Having said that, I too do have compensating measures in place just in case!
CityChick, when I lived in town I was 3 blocks from the hospital I worked at. NEVER lost power. It was quite the eye opener to move out of town and lose power for weeks at a time.
We are in an area of few houses so we r last on the list to get re connected.
All in all, I’ll run the gennys here as opposed to the homeless and addicts that hung around the hospital, and therefore my house in town.
Peace,
MadFab
Most of the natural gas we use is lifted out of shale formations in Texas, Colorado, and North Dakota using electric pumps. The control systems for pumping it up and routing it to the right pipelines and running the compressors that pressurize the pipes are electric. The power company supplying the West Texas gas fields didn’t get the message and shut off their electricity. Texas has shut down a lot of our coal fired plants over the years and replaced them with gas fired units, they had no gas, lots of other people had no gas, and the system started to fail. Can’t count on the system to take care of you, that is probably rule no.1 for the Prepper.
JH – Yes. I have lots of generational Texas kinfolk and some suffered severely during the outage. The ones who by some stroke of luck, were on a vital part of the power grid near an airport somehow kept power. Once again, location was key. Everybody else went without for the duration. The biggest problem was trying to find a way to get to the one location that had power. The condition of the roads prevented even emergency services dispatch. Hard lessons were learned. Pays to stock up!
You would think that those places pumping natural gas would use some of that to generate their own power.
I believe your understanding is correct. If the whole grid is down, there won’t be any juice to maintain pressure in the gas line and then you would be without propane.
I would mention that the old fashioned gasoline Coleman lanterns provide both light and heat. We used them extensively when the electricity was out on Okinawa during and after a typhoon. We never worried about CO poisoning. I’m still here. I believe that the complete combustion in the mantle has to do with only a small amount of CO being generated. If that is the million dollar question, however, do not call me as your expert. They certainly warm up a space, even at a low setting.
Regarding the issue of lighting. Combustible fuels produce carbon dioxide which can be fatal in a confined space (i.e. inside your house). Solar garden lights will illuminate enough for the things you need to do at night and can be placed outside in the sun to recharge during the day. Remember to cover windows completely so not light is visible from the outside. Uninvited guests might be drawn to the light (think of a moth) – no sense adding another problem (defense) to an already bad situation.
Dennis – I have some solar lights that I can bring indoors, but that’s only good here during the warmer spring and summer months when our sunlight hours are longest and they can easily recharge. Doesn’t work all that well come winter.
CC: Rotate ’em. You only need one or two for light at night. If you have six you can let them charge for a couple of days before using them again. When I buy outdoor solar lights I always check to see if they have an on-off switch. I don’t buy ones that don’t have such a switch. If they have a switch, don’t leave them on all night. Turn them off when you go to bed. If you need a light at night, you can turn them back on for the short period you need the light.
In addition, when you are charging them, move them so that they are constantly in direct sunlight rather than leaving them in one place where they may not get direct sunlight for the entire period the sun is up.
Depending upon the layout of your house, a wood stove can heat much of it. If you have an open layout rather than a lot of walls, the heat it throws will travel farther and more easily.
You can set up battery powered fans in doorways to help move the hot air around, and an Ecofan on the top of the stove can move air around without electricity.
Some stoves allow you to cook on them easily, some don’t. An old scout trick is to put a fine layer of dishwashing liquid on the bottom of pots and pans to make clean up easier.
Coal stoves can be a good choice, too. Coal does not go bad, and many coal stoves can burn wood as well. Wood stoves are not typically able to handle coal, as coal burns much hotter than wood.
In any case, if your stove is big enough to keep your pipes from freezing and bursting, then that’s enough. In that scenario, you’ll have spaces that are comfortably warm and spaces that are cooler.
If you have an outside grill and are considering using that for cooking, try it in different weather situations. Do you really want to have to use it in the pouring rain? Or in a blizzard?
A rocket stove is a good choice because it doesn’t use a lot of fuel. Silverfire makes great rocket stoves that recirculate the burn so you use a lot less solid fuel.
For lighting, Luci lights work well in temps higher than 20F. They are lightweight, no problem with open flame, and recharge in sunshine.
Putting a flashlight on one side of a plastic milk jug will diffuse the light more like a lamp. Having headlamps are great, too, because you can wear one and keep your hands free.
I’d also suggest people learn how to layer their clothing so they can keep warm in cooler than usual temps.
Several years back, we had a snowstorm that really dumped on our county, and we were without power for a few days. Our power was restored on Day 3, and we were one of the first ones restored. Others were out for a few weeks.
Years ago, we had a blackout in winter where we had our neighborhood stay in our house because we were the only ones with a fireplace. We broke out our camping gear, and the kids (I was one) played board games, card games, read books, told stories, sang songs. This would be a great time to teach kids how to knit or crochet.
Gotta keep those wood stoves and fireplace chimneys in tip top condition. Every winter around here there is at least one sad story in the news where unfortunately that was not done and the consequences were a disaster. The political nut jobs we have here in charge of things now, want to outlaw wood burning stoves and fireplaces.
I live outside of town in a small subdivision, the only utility we have is electricity. EVERYTHING else is fend for yourself…. many have wood burning fireplaces (most don’t use them on a regular basis) everyone has a propane tank. Even the road is private, and privately maintained.
My biggest peeve is the party well… can’t get it through some heads that when the power is out, the water is also out…. they can’t relate the 2.
> There is no way to realistically expect that ERCOT would have been ready for what happened.
Denying climate change will do that, there’s a myriad of studies expressing with increasing certainty what the impact will be (some would say more likely and predictable than an EMP pulse), so it would behoove utilities and preppers alike to plan accordingly.
Boomshanka:
The climate is changing, but it’s because of naturally occurring changes in the solar cycles. We are currently entering a period of low solar activity – less sunspots, etc. – which means that solar energy output is less, leading to overall lower temperatures and a weakened meridian flow to the jet stream.
That is what is causing the wild fluctuations in the weather patterns all over the world – the increase in intense weather events (European flooding, snow and record cold in Australia and South Africa), and the alternating heat waves and abnormally cool periods in the US, with unprecedented (in modern history) droughts on the Pacific Coast and in Midwestern states.
The climate is changing, but it is caused by the changes in the sun. Human pollution and mismanagement of natural resources, while a serious problem that does need to be addressed, is simply not the reason behind it. Science, ( real science and not “the” science manufactured and rammed down our throats by a duplicitous political regime bent upon lining their own pockets and consolidating power to a select few, ) can back this up through archaeological records, glacial core analysis, written historical accounts from eye witnesses, long term tracking and analysis of solar data, analysis of tree rings and sedimentary rocks….. The proof is there for those who have a genuine interest in finding out the truth.
For the rest, there is “The Science”.
It’s so refreshing to hear from a person that really understands the cycles that cause our weather on the planet. More people need to hear this. Thank you.
We had a similar storm in 2011 with similar ERCOT failures. They were told to fix the problems, they didn’t. Political and beaureacratic failures of the 1st order. Sadly our Governor is ignoring the real problem of shrinking supply and growing population while using the special legislative session to help him establish the proper Trump credentials for his run against Desantis in the 2024 primary.
JH – The failure of the Texas Grid came from replacing coal, introducing environmentally friendly green energy to key points in the system grid. President Trump revived America’s oil, gas and coal industry making us energy independent for the first time in the history of our nation. Now it’s being undone under the Green New Deal. So if you think you had a hard time tback hen, I’m afraid we haven’t seen anything yet!
The little reply buttons are flakey, so I’m replying to CityChick by replying to myself, sounds kinda Narcissistic…
Everything discussed here is a lot more involved than Trump did this and Biden did that. So called energy independence began around 2010 when an energy company, Apache Energy, using new imaging technology and new analytic programs discovered that a lot of shale formations considered used up or barren actually contained large amounts of recoverable oil and gas in several different layers of rock. They went into the Western Permian Basin to prove their concept by drilling several miles deep and pushing out horizontal bores into the different oil bearing strata. Their idea proved correct, and one of the greatest production booms in history was set to begin. Two things were needed, private industry in Texas had to build an incredible new infrastructure, and the Federal Gov had to remove the ban on exporting natural gas. Obama and the Republican controlled Congress agreed to lift the ban, and Texas green lighted all the new infrastructure. Energy independence had nothing to do with politicians, they just had to get out of the way of private enterprise.
The Covid recession and world wide oversupply dropped the price of oil close to the point of profit for shale oil, so U.S. production slowed way down. This cycle is common in the oil bidness, the small and middle size producers go bankrupt, the major producers buy everything up w/o having contributed to the expense of new infrastructure and, when the price goes up, make a killing.
Energy independence is an idiot claim the politicians make. Most U.S. oil is called light crude because, while it is good for gasoline, it doesn’t contain the complex carbon compounds our industries need to make everything from aspirin and antibiotics to fertilizer and all the plastics and synthetics so much a part of American life. So we export our light crude to refineries in other countries and buy the gasoline they make from it, and import heavy crude from countries like Venezuela to keep our domestic industries running.
Never make the mistake of thinking anything in Texas happens because of the Green of environmental climate consciousness, the only green that matters here is the U.S. Dollars the Fed keeps churning out. Coal fired plants were shut down here because natural gas is so cheap no one could afford to run one. Some were dual fuel and put on gas, some others shut down. The true story in Texas is that conservative Republicans have had complete control of the State Gov for over 20 years. I like living in a state with no income tax, few gun restrictions, and a commitment to personal liberty, but mistakes were made when we deregulated energy, one of the main ones being that the system created makes it impossible to make a profit on a power plant. No power plants are being built in Texas, there is no incentive. That is what the State Government needs to change, and they’re not doing that.
Texas becoming one of the world’s top producers of wind energy was almost an accident. Federal subsidies and Chinese production of cheap efficient equipment made it feasible to build windfarms where the Great Plains reach down into Texas and there is nothing but wind, irrigated crops, cattle, and oil fields. It’s really something to see thousands of acres of grain and cotton spotted with pump jacks and overtopped by windmills, the landowners out there make a killing on energy royalties. Again, for wind energy to succeed in Texas, private industry had to build thousands of miles of new power transmission lines from far West Texas to the cities. I don’t understand how other states have such bad infrastructure problems, pipelines, highways, power lines, bridges, everything is always under construction here. The dang city of Dallas built two new major interstate bridges over the Trinity river in the last decade financed by private fundraising. What goes on in the rest of the damn country that we have to help pay your way, too?
Boomshanka: No denies that the climate changes. It’s the lies and terrorism plus the greed of the nazis that anger us. why aren’t we using geothermal? It’s efficient, free after the plant is put in, and very environment friendly. Solar panels never last long and cause fires. Wind makes the area around them look like the bird apocalypse. And, right when they begin to pay, they’re worn out. Ask any greenhouse operator, no CO2, no plants. there’s proof times of low CO2 are much hotter and drier than other times, but you need to follow al science for that. Where I live, we’re normally in tri[ple digits this time of year, yet now, the government decided our now normal is in the upper 90s. Why are they changing things? Why lie to us? niio
Judge: It was proved that crude can be made in a matter of weeks. Back when Carter caused trouble and the price of crude went thru the roof, they uncapped dead wells in PA and oil poured out. Now we know bacteria feeding on minerals and so on produce it, Cool, ain’t it! 🙂 Coal is being made with garbage, calcium, and heat. Why isn’t that being known to us? Dems dropped coal stock in favor of green. Windmills are fine for a farm or ranch. They work because they’re constantly monitored free of charge by the owner. Get the government involved in any way and green turns into a white elephant. niio
Love my Sol Cook solar cooker and my Eton solar/crank
radio. They can reduce the load on your electrical production.
I have several good solar battery chargers. Covers fIashlights, a radio, phone ect. I have 3 gas generators. From months of experience i know 1/4 gal of gas will run the 1400q gen for 2 to 3 days at 2 hours per day. Ran tv for news, refrigerator 2 hours, and a lamp for the 2 hours. I have stabilizer in gas that I replace about every 6-8 months. I have lamp oil that will light lamps and a little camping heater/one burner stove. Propane cook stove usually used in summer. Rocket stove for winter h e at and cooking. It will burn sticks or wood chunks or put on the gravity fed hopper a b d burn wood chips of bags of pellets. I cook on the 16″ round heat collector. I keep a 3 gal pot of warm water liked all winter. Fine for bathing or washing dishes.
We have 2 wells. One on commercial power. The other has a manual winch that is easily mounted over the 4″ well casing. I have 5, 330 gal totes for garden and critter water storage, 220 gal tote of potable water outside and 22 gal of water in the kitchen. I also have a homemade BBQ where I usually cook of sticks from tree pruning.
I have a kerosene heater that would heat my big workshop but I keep 25 gal of either lamp oil or ticiki fuel in half gal containers. More often I’d plan on it for a camp stove/heater.
When water isn’t running I use a 55 gallon contractor trash bag( tough) and a 5 gal bucket of heating pellets next to the 5 gal bucket with a seat. Use it, add a small scoop of pellets. No drippy contents to worry about. Later with a little kerosene it can easily be burned up to dispose of it. A neighbor uses pellets and composts humanure.
I’ve seen -20° without power for 3 weeks. We dressed in layers. We like a no rinse hair rinse from desert mallow. It’s good for quick wash up and no rinse in most cases.
I’m home bathing my husband now. If wipes dry out I simply dampen them to use them. Baby wipes are good for his diaper change. A paper towel with water and a few drops of baby oil from a 1 qt bottle will also freshen him up nicely. Showers as I’m able and he’s able to walk into shower.
About 15 years ago we had a 36 in. snow, our electric was out for 17 days. No problem, we heat with wood , cooked on the back porch and played lots of monopoly. The real problem was we had about 40 large pines across our lane that had to be cut and moved out of the way.
Propane, gasoline, diesel, coal, wood heat all are supposed to be gone here by 2030. One of the poorest states and many heat and cook with wood. We’re all supposed to be driving electric cars, heating and cooking on electric. I’m working on off grid solar.
Our 3 weeks without power in a snowstorm was survivable but roads were closed most of the three weeks. We dressed in layers, played board games,with 4 kids, let the kids scratch messages in the frost on the inside of the bedroom windows. We all sIept in the livingroom. Called it camping in.
Now my home has been without power for 16 months. Really not bad at all. Doing OK. I have 3 generators but not using them.
While building my house in Linden, Arizona we went through a hard freeze. I was living off-site and got an emergency call that the water main going to my house froze and split. I showed up to find my 9′ stem wall filled with all of the water from the community well tank. The neighbors were not happy. Maybe take that into consideration when freezing temperatures hit and you have no way of heating your home, or in my case, no real home to heat and an exposed 2″ freeze proof line with a brass fitting that didn’t get the no-freeze memo.
First: If you are going to be cooking with an open flame in the house, cook on the top of your stove. If you have a fan vent, the fan won’t work, but the vent still acts as a chimney, even if the flap valve at the top of the vent pipe is closed except when the fan is running. The heat rising in the vent pipe will exhaust some of the CO that is created by the open flame.
Second: Make sure you have an extra, unmounted CO detecter to use in any room where you are using open flame. It doesn’t take much ventilation to clear a room of unhealthy levels of CO. There is a mathematical formula that I find confusing to apply that tells you how much ventilation you need for the size of the flame you are using in the size of the room where the flame is located. I think any followers of this list who do not have a degree in applied mathematics would also find it difficult to apply. A CO detecter solves the math for us.
Unless you are going to be doing micro-surgery, you don’t need the light level that we ordinarily consider adequate. A single Luci light will provide enough illumination for general purposes. Our ancestors lived for centuries by the light of a small campfire or the light of an oil lamp. Solar yard lights will provide ample light for general purposes. You will be surprised how quickly you adapt to much lower light levels.
Locate the dry ice distributer in your town or the adjacent town. Usually it will be in an industrial area. You have a better chance of getting dry ice at the distributer as opposed to the local retail stores which will run out of dry ice very quickly. Move your food to ice chests with the dry ice. Put lots of newspaper on the floor under the ice chest and cover the ice chest with old blankets. That seems counter-intuitive, but blankets are insulating medium. They keep warm things warm and keep cold things cold. We had regular ice survive 7 days in the summer in Wyoming where the car was sitting in the sun most of the day in blanket-covered ice chests. Blankets over your ice chest will keep your refrigerator food items cold. Not frozen, but cold if you are using regular ice. They will keep the dry ice from evaporating longer. Dry ice will definitely keep your frozen items frozen. Don’t dally. As soon as the juice goes out or upon hearing storm warnings, get thee to the dry ice distributor post haste. They run out quickly.
Apparently public entities are prone to not having a generator-testing schedule. The rumor around our town is that the reason the fire hydrants ran dry in the Thomas Fire is that the emergency generators for the water plant had never been tested since they had been installed lo these many years ago. Probably didn’t use diesel preservative in the fuel tanks either. And these are the folks who think they can tell us how to better live our lives. How much brain power does it take to set up a generator testing period of, for example, every three months run them for fifteen minutes — at a bare minimum. Doesn’t even take a lot of money.
Here in the PDRK, they have been busy shutting down the nuclear power plants and the steam generated power plants along the coast in the face of increasing power needs. I don’t know how much juice an electric car needs, but I think it is probably more than my refrigerator. When we are all using electric cars, how much more juice are we going to need? Gabby Nuisance, the goobinator of the PDRK has already decreed no more gas cars sold in the PDRK after, I think it is 2035. Unless we all have huge solar arrays and battery banks in our houses, I don’t know where all that juice is going to come from. It certainly won’t come from windmills off the coast or solar arrays out in the desert. Pretty soon the windmills and solar arrays are going to start running into lawsuits filed by the animal rights folks. I am surprised they haven’t already started because windmills are purported to be deadly to bird life, especially raptors which apparently zero in on their prey and ignore the whirling blades. The various air arms in the military call it target fixation.
Recently I have been experimenting with body wipes for use with invalid patients. As I am not as spry as I once was and bathing my wife has become an increasingly difficult chore. Before starting a regime of using body wipes in lieu of daily showering, I tested them myself. I like the glove style wipes the best. Single sheet style wipes work well also. I find I need three to cover my body. I start with my head and face and work my way to my feet. I can do the same area with two glove wipes. Of course, the glove wipes cost more per unit than the sheet wipes. Both styles leave one feeling cleansed. It isn’t the exhilaration one gets with water cascading over one’s body but for personal hygiene they are a satisfactory substitute and a lot less work caring for someone who isn’t capable of showering or bathing by themselves. In a blackout situation they would be most welcome. In a winter blackout situation, they would be better than a shower because you don’t have to totally undress in order to apply them. You can apply them partially disrobed, so if it is a chilly 53°, they are a better substitute than even the hottest shower — assuming you still have water. They would be especially welcome with 20 of your closest friends sharing the same room where the stove is.
How did one handle human waste when the water was out for an extended period and it was too cold with frozen ground to venture outside and dig a pit toilet? I would like to see how some of the followers of this list handled that problem. Not theoretical solutions, but hands-on “We did it this way” type of reports.
LCC:
Sorry to hear about your wife not being well. I have the same issue with my mother. We’ve had very good luck with Readywipes. They also make a shampooing cap that seems to work well. I get them online through Harriet Carter, but they are also available on eBay and other online outlets. Shop around for the best pricing.
LCC, Your frozen ground question reminded me of a winter deployment to a war-torn region. I Don’t know if this will help, but we used diesel and mogas to burn fecies. Since you’re in the PDRK you may get in trouble for burning but I’ve heard it’s OK to defecate in the streets in some places?
Anyway, we used a 55gal drum, cut them in half, cut two handles in the sides, placed a little diesel in the bottom of the empty container. That gets absorbed in the T.P. and keeps the smell down. (Did the same in the desert to keep the flies somewhat at bay) When the cut drums were about half full, we would add some more diesel and a little mogas (gasoline) to the top. THIS CAN BE DANGEROUS. Keep a good distance and toss in a lit piece of paper to get it started. You need a good stir stick preferably a metal one and to add diesel as needed to keep it burning. Continue burning until you have mostly ash.
Here’s a short-term solution if you do not want to go outside in the cold. When a large group of us would go camping, we would use a 5-gallon bucket and small trash bag. Everyone brought their own trash bags. Again, we would burn the fecies. In this case, we would burn it in a large camp fire at the end of the outing.
Keeping excess urine separate is helpful in both cases. On deployments we would take used water bottles, cut the bottoms off, and tape them together to form a tube. Then secure the tube to a post or tree and direct the discharge end into a hole or ditch. Obviously, women would have to use the make shift outhouse with the cut drums.
Calvaryman: If it is truly an end of the world event, yes, we will be using outdoor accommodations and utilizing burn buckets to rid ourselves of the residue. In short term, however, burning feces in kerosene and gasoline would get the nanny state so upset they would never get their panties untwisted. The farmers had to switch from smudge pots to keep oranges from freezing to spraying water on the trees or using giant wind machines that suck up gazillions of amps to keep running during freezing weather. Ahh, the PDRK, so full of absolutely blindered folk it is a wonder they can find their way to the office in the morning.
I just read an article comparing the cost of all electric cars to gasoline powered cars. According to the folks who wrote the article, and I make no assessment of the correctness of their figuring, but you have to drive your electric car 160,000 miles on the original battery before there is a break even with gasoline driven cars. I know some drivers get really astounding mileage out of their cars before the car gives up the ghost, but how many of us get that many miles on a car before it starts to become difficult to get parts or the upholstery is shot so while the running gear is okay, the car needs to be re-upholstered for a significant sum. Or the paint looks like the car is a refugee from a junkyard?
We may not see civilization in the U.S. fall due to inflation or infringement of rights, it may be because we have electric cars forced on us.
LCC- Those bath wipes are expensive and tend to dry out after a short time. You can find hospital grade shampoo & body wash that is fragrance/dye free which you do not need to rinse off and can use in conjunction with a slightly damp good quality paper towel. Scott’s select a size is perfect. Together it works well, is very gentle with no skin problems and is refreshing. The brand I have on hand is manufactured by Cardinalhealth. It’s distributed to hospitals, but you should be able to find it.
Okay, so what I have heard about for the toilet situation in an emergency is 5 gallon
buckets and lots of sturdy bags to fit and a seat of some sort placed on top. The refuge
can be removed in the bags to the out doors to ‘store’ until can be buried….not ideal, but a
way to manage in case. Lots of air-fresh, hand made or other wise, is good too.
Another source for dry ice is at most bait and tackle stores and even some welding supply stores. As far as the power needs of the PDRK I just heard today that they’ve ‘outlawed’ certain (new) game consoles because they use too much power. Huh! as Chuck said…”I wonder where they’re going to get the power to charge electric cars if they don’t have enough energy to power a game board. Gonna p.o. not only silicon(e) valley but a lot of gamer’s and internet trolls living in moms basement. (I’m in my mid 60’s and being a 4th gen californian, my (now grown) children being 5th gen, we left 20 years ago and swore I’d never be a kalifornia tax payer again except sales tax and whatever tourist tax they charge us when we fly in to SFO or Oak to visit family. Moved to the northern great lakes and haven’t regretted or looked back one time)
Oh yes Chuck, meant to also say God Bless you and your wife. I hope she feels better soon.
LCC, sorry to hear your wife needs this kind of care. Good on you for finding a works let solution.
When we got the place we have now, we weren’t here all the time at first, and had the water disconnected over winter. I made several trips in the winter and arrived with bottled water. Nearby ponds, a spring that’s never completely frozen in anyone’s living memory (oldest neighbor who’s lived here his whole life is now 90), is up the road, and two houses on the street still have easy access to the hand dug wells from the nineteenth century.
I used some of that well water to flush the toilet, and before leaving would make sure all the water was drained out.
Both wells are on the more shallow side, but deep enough to be below the frost line.
I had a solar shower that I used in the bathtub. I heated up some water and mixed it with ambient water. This 3L shower I bought long ago. I do prefer a full US gallon’s worth if water for a shower, but made do with 3L. I also had a basin that I used to capture the water so I could use it again for more soaping or rinsing.
My skin does NOT like whatever stuff is on those wipes, so I’d suggest if others want to use them as you are to test first to see how their skin reacts. You can make homemade wipes. Not nearly as convenient, but you can choose what cleansing agents to use. In an extended blackout scenario, one has enough to manage without having to handle rashes, hi es, or itching from an ingredient in the wipes.
What is your plan for dealing with used wipes? Would you burn them?
I did think about what I’d do for toileting if I didn’t have the well water handy. My thought was to use the old luggable loo 5 gallon bucket, lined with a contractor bag, and kitty litter to add to the mix. Being able to take care of business while staying inside was highly preferable, even if I’d have to manage the contractor bag.
Giving it another think, one could set up a compost bin outside and have it used solely for human waste, although if not managed carefully, it could cause disease.
That’s as close as I got IRL to the no water situation.
A friend’s late brother had an old well in his yard. During an extended outage in an ice storm, everyone in the neighborhood used his well. It saved livestock, and helped some people, too, who had put water aside but were running low. Many melted snow and chunks of ice on their wiidstove tops to use for flushing. It takes WAY more snow and ice than you’d expect, and it also takes WAY more time to melt than you’d guess.
LCC – You need to start with securing a 5- gallon bucket with tight fitting lid for each person in your household. They actually make toilet seats to fit these buckets and turn them into thrones. Then you’ll need a good supply of heavy duty contractor trash bags to line them with, and lots of kitty litter. to add to the mix. Bed pans and urinals found at medical supply shops also come in handy too. Along with plenty of tp and Clorox. When the emergency is over, you simply put the tied up bags out with the trash. If you want a deluxe more long term solution, you can Spring for an expensive composting toilet.
I have used a C-Head composting toilet for years. Most important is to srparate liquids from solids. Solids are well-bagged and put into trash can (totally legal – no different than diapers). Rig up a bucket seat to collect liquids into a funnel directed into 1-gallon water jugs – put cap on those when filled to pour down a septic system or around your property edges. Can also store in large/sturdy laundry detergent jugs. Women throw tp used for liquid deposits into bag used to collect solids – helps absorb moisture from solids.
For everyone who posted their best wishes to me, I appreciate that very much. Thank you.
I also appreciate the suggestions for patient care that were posted and am going to look into them today. Thanks all.
mbl: Old-timers added wood ashes or lime every day to the outhouse. It cuts down on the small, and drives away flies and things that feed on them. But, if they had outhouse flies (black soldier flies) they let it alone. bsf have no mouthparts and only lay eggs. Grubs eat maggots and insect eggs, and completely consume anything in their area. 3rd world nations are encouraging use of methane digester toilets, which also do that, and those are getting common in warmer areas. niio
Nonya, very well said. Urine is being touted as an excellent fertilizer and normally very low in bacteria. We have two 500 gallon tubs that will be used as our septic system and for methane when the troubles start. They’ll be partially buried (south Arizona) and the water saved for the garden by running it into a compost pit. niio
I don’t know why you say you can’t heat a whole house with a wood stove. I live in central Maine; it gets fairly cold here and we heat exclusively with one wood stove, if the power goes out, we cook on it as well. Before we bought this house, we were totally off-grid and never even knew when the power went out. Oil lamps for light, an old battery powered boom box for entertainment, and a lot of books kept us fine. It just got to be a chore hauling water as we got older and we upgraded to a house with power and plumbing last year. When the power went out last winter, we fired up the genny a couple times a day to run the freezer and fridge and life went on.
Wyatt: We used stove fans (powered by heat off the stove) to blow warm air into other rooms. A parlor stove was in the living room, and a fan. When the electric came back on, ceiling fans and box fans could make it uncomfortable in some rooms. niio
With respect to surviving a one week blackout, excessive heat in hot weather, not excessive cold when the temperature dips down below freezing, is said to be the number one killer. Always something to keep in mind as you make your plans.
LCC,
Last year my FIL was failing due to advanced alzheimers. We used those wipes for him between the hospice folks coming to shower him.
Of course it was right in the middle of the lockdowns , so even if ya could find them on Amazon ya couldn’t afford them.
Anyway, I found the medical supple store always had them and for a better price. Ya might check them out. I was buying by the case.
Hope it helps.
Peace
MadFab
What would be wrong with using baby wipes? I have heard that it was used sometimes during the war on terror, especially in the field, if at all. I do not know the specifics, but I had heard more than a few people complain about using them when the water plants went out. I have started using the baby wipes myself since I have heart disease and find that I do not stand up so well on a slick tub bottom.
Baby wipes are good, too, but tend to be flimsy and dry out quickly in the big packs. However, I got a plastic container at dollar tree made specifically for the larger wipes packages and that solved the issue.
I found that Huggies brand made a nice, thick wipe that was perfect, but shop around for what works for you.
Stumpy1: I know the problem, but mine is ear infections. If things get too bad, there’s an old bucket toilet chair to use, and the shower head is on a long hose. Bidet are being touted for all of us. Kits are not too painfully expensive. niio
A note on communications. During a recent ice storm in the people’s republic of Oregon (Portland area) power was down for several days. On the outside of town the smaller telephone coops have fiber to the house. Nice internet speeds in normal times, but the backup power for the customer side laser is your responsibility. 8 hour back up max is what is provided. My neighbors roommate needed 911 @ 11pm, and they had to call from my place because I had had backup power that kept my system charged. Also the cell sites will run out of propane for their gennys if ya can’t get in to resupply them.
One week isn’t a very long time. That’s just a practice run for what could happen even for a weather event. I fear what the “controllers” have in plan for this winter, especially if there is civil unrest with the mandated vaccinations.
There will always be those that will be real thorns in sensible thinking people’s sides unfortunately!….That is when you strong arm them to leave you alone or make them
‘see the error’ of their ignorant ways! When we get more fontrollers than there are freedom seekers we are really in trouble and on our own and that is when a good stock of ammo and
protection arms are really necessary…like back in the good Old West…much was settled
quickly back then!
no more shot for me my wife died 6o 4 days after the second shot no way will i get any shot. biden I wish a long painful death
I think using any flame for lighting could invite trouble.While we do have a good supply of 100 hour liquid paraffin candles our go to light is the dynamo/solar/AA battery lantern.They work well and are inexpensive.
The old time plug in the wall Princess phone always works if the power is out and the cells and land lines are out.
Coleman still makes a stove top oven.
My wife, too, is bed bound, we use a lot of baby wipes but for bathing I use micro fiber wash cloths, very soft and soothing, cheap, and reusable. I draw a large bowl of hot water, add a few drops of her (expensive) flowery body wash, and use the microfiber cloth like a babywipe.
I’ve used a Big Buddy catalytic heater for camping, hunting, and fishing trips for years. The problem with Big Buddy is that the company recommends a supply line with the old style reverse thread connector to the propane tank, then you screw a regulator into the heater and the supply to the regulator. Big Buddy don’t like all that crap and will operate inefficiently or not at all. You need a supply line that attaches to the propane tank with an Acme nut, and to the heater with a Quick-Connect. Big Buddy has 2 access doors for small propane bottles, out of sight inside the left hand door is where the Quick-Connect is located. The heater will run on low off a 15 gallon propane tank for about 48 hours.
Catalytic heaters like Big Buddy combust propane gas across a substrate of platinum and other magic stuff that destroys the CO and CO2 and are perfectly safe for indoor use.
It would seem that a lot of us are caretakers to family members. I would like to see an article specifically addressing prepping for those who might have serious health and mobility issues, or other chronic health issues. I’m sure that there are things some of us may not have thought about, or tips that may be of help to others.
How about it, Claude?
Miss Kitty,
I think that is an EXCELLENT idea.
It doesn’t have to be too long and then we, in the comments can share what we do for family members.
While my FIL has passed, my MIL and Mom are getting up there, also.
Not only that, but accidents and illness can hit any of us, any age. Tomorrow is NOT guaranteed!!
I’ll contribute all I know from personal and professional (22years nursing ED and OR) experiences to the comments, but I am NO writer.
Again, great idea, Miss Kitty ?
Peace
MadFab
Off topic, but interesting. biologists have said this since the beginning of the mask mandate.
MASKS: A group of parents in Gainesville, FL, sent 6 face masks to a lab at the University of Florida, requesting an analysis of contaminants found on the masks after they had been worn. The resulting report found that five masks were contaminated with bacteria, parasites, and fungi, including three with dangerous pathogenic and pneumonia-causing bacteria. Although the test is capable of detecting viruses, including SARS-CoV-2, only one virus was found on one mask (alcelaphine herpesvirus 1).
The analysis detected the following 11 dangerous pathogens on the masks:
• Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumonia)
• Mycobacterium tuberculosis (tuberculosis)
• Neisseria meningitidis (meningitis, sepsis)
• Acanthamoeba polyphaga (keratitis and granulomatous amebic encephalitis)
• Acinetobacter baumanni (pneumonia, blood stream infections, meningitis, UTIs—resistant to antibiotics)
• Escherichia coli (food poisoning)
• Borrelia burgdorferi (causes Lyme disease)
• Corynebacterium diphtheriae (diphtheria)
• Legionella pneumophila (Legionnaires’ disease)
• Staphylococcus pyogenes serotype M3 (severe infections—high morbidity rates)
• Staphylococcus aureus (meningitis, sepsis)
Half of the masks were contaminated with one or more strains of pneumonia-causing bacteria. One-third were contaminated with one or more strains of meningitis-causing bacteria. One-third were contaminated with dangerous, antibiotic-resistant bacterial pathogens. In addition, less dangerous pathogens were identified, including pathogens that can cause fever, ulcers, acne, yeast infections, strep throat, periodontal disease, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, and more.
The face masks studied were new or freshly-laundered before wearing and had been worn for 5 to 8 hours, most during in-person schooling by children aged 6 through 11. One was worn by an adult. A t-shirt worn by one of the children to school and unworn masks were tested as controls. No pathogens were found on the controls; samples from the front top and bottom of the t-shirt found proteins that are commonly found in skin and hair, along with some commonly found in soil.
• https://rationalground.com/dangerous-pathogens-found-on-childrens-face-masks/
Red:
How odd that there weren’t any pathogens found on the shirt, despite the presence of more benign biocontaminants . I wonder if that was because of the moisture and warmth from breath condensation causing these pathogens to “stick” and grow?
Sad to see diseases like TB and diphtheria present, as they were once eradicated in the US…wonder how they got back into the country, since legal immigrants have to have shots for a lot of these things or pass a physical?
Maybe it was the Chinese bats?
The key words in your post were “legal immigrants”, which are probably out numbered by illegal immigrants, but even if not, the illegal ones will bring whatever diseases that happen to be brewing inside them.
But back to the power outage scenario that is not a matter of if but when, what is often never mentioned is that in an indefinite outage (ie: due to emp or solar flareage) what happens to all the solar power plants that need power to prevent them from melting down? Back up generators will only last soo long and we will be screwed from every angle possible! But the government (word translates to Mind Control in Latin, I believe! Ironic coincidence? I think not!) will certainly be deep underground in fully functioning bunkers, completely insulated from EMP danger, with all they need to live for years! It’s a good thing that We The People, are so patient when it comes to what we allow our employees to have on our own dime, that we will have no access to! How have we allowed things to become so far out of control? By very sinister, long term planning that cannot even be imagined by the 1% ers!
Never let ’em take our guns! It’s all we’ve got to defend against the ever creeping socialistic powers that are becoming prevalent before our eyes!
Red,
That is Terrifying!!
I raise 4 of my grandsons and I constantly wash their masks when they were in school this past year( to be clear, they only went to physical school for less than 3 months).
Now I will have to invest in more disposable masks for them for upcoming school year. Jeepers!!
Wonder if the school taxes I paid while there was NO School for over a year can be used to pay for these masks? Lol
I’m sure that Gov. Inslee will get right on that refund.
Most of those diseases are truly Terrifying!
Thanks for the heads up.
Peace
MadFab
PS,
Have always wanted to ask you, what does niio mean? Thanks again
MadFab
Miz Kitty: If it was bats, then they’re human and in congress.
FB banned me for posting this 🙂
niio
Red:
I can think of one oollldd bat in particular (cough, pelousy, cough!)?
Reason 45,798 to eschew fb.
Mike: read Washington’s 3rd Valley Forge prophecy, the black clouds. It tells you what will happen and strongly why we do not lose the guns.
And, something of interest. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3NkPfX-RG4 size of virus compared to openings in masks.
niio
MadFab: Niio is an Iroquois term for Walk in God’s beauty.
Something more OldPrep shared with me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3NkPfX-RG4 size of virus compared to openings in masks.
niio
Miz Kitty: Sorry, forgot to add that the mask acts like an incubator for diseases. It’s warm, moist, and perfect for pretty much everything. a t-shirt is exposed to sun and air, where the inner part of the mask isn’t.
I’m waiting for freaky fauci to declare we should all just put plastic bags over our heads and tape them closed. Yes, he does love Hillary the Genocidal Beast.
niio
A rudimentary type of refrigeration is the Zeer Pot.
Works best in dry climates.
Plain water is all that is required for it to work.
Out of 51 comments only one thumbs down.I guess that the
pathetic weasel troll Illini Warrior couldn’t find anything intelligent to say.He never does.
Kay, what is your problem with I.W.? Why can’t you just leave it alone? Why do you feel you have to make gratuitous remarks such as you just posted. Most of us try to eschew personal attacks. They add absolutely nothing to the information we are trying to gain for what could be a life-ending event. According to the count at the top of the article there were 53 comments. Yours was the only one that was an uncalled for personal attack. By the way, I counted 6 thumbs down most of them near the top of the replies. Sometimes a thumbs down is a mistake. If one inadvertently clicks the thumbs down rather than the thumbs up, there is no way to retract the thumbs down.
As for I.W. never contributing anything useful, that is totally incorrect. I must have missed your contribution to the topic. Please refer me to the helpful comment you made to this list. I didn’t find it going through counting thumbs down because my recollection was that there were more than just one. Sometimes I wonder why the thumbs down and just put it down to clicking the wrong thumb.
You must not have much to do if you can spend time counting how many thumbs down there are. I only did the count because I was disappointed that you too the time to attack personally attack I.W. for no real reason other than some spiteful, petty, pique on your part.
Red; good report on masks.
Looking online I have found about 15 or more reports/articles on tests conducted to find the effectiveness of masks actually stopping viruses. Some of these studies were conducted before and others after the Wuhan virus emerged. I found the results surprising.
Most of the tests found they had no effect in stopping viruses. A few tests found that masks only stopped a tiny amount. Overall, one might conclude that masks might stop about 1% of the virus. Here is a good comparison of sizes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3NkPfX-RG4
It has been said that stopping viruses with a mask is like trying to stop mosquitoes with a chain link fence.
Then add to that the normal flow resistance of the mask material results in much (most in my case) of the air I breath going around the edges of the mask, because they do not seal well against one’s face. Based on this and the contamination build up, as Red reported, I cringe every time I hear about more mask mandates.
For posting it, FB banned me for a month. I’m on FB vacation 🙂 zucker is being blackmailed; that’s all I know but it may have to do with Epstein’s Slave Island. If it’s true, it makes him no less guilty of supporting chicom mandates to the US. niio
It is true that a virus is small enough to pass right through an n95, but respiratory viruses are spread via airborne fluids expelled by an infected person. The droplets and aerosols they hitchhike on are big enough to be stopped by the mask, the droplets dry out and the virus loses function w/o reaching A new victim. Billions of people have masked for a year w/o negative consequences, and masking has shown to be very effective in preventing transmission of covid, cold, and flu viruses. This is so painfully obvious I can’t believe anybody would dispute it. The real world is very different from the deep web, note to everybody, we live in the real world!
Judge: True, but the mask acts as an incubator. If warm, muggy air is constantly being blown over that virus, how can it dry out? worse, fungal and bacterial diseases thrive in a mask.
In Arizona, only 5 towns are complying with the fauci freak zone mask mandate. fauci invested our money in covid, that much is out. He tries to talk around the issue, but is getting hammered. cuomo is still faking being a hero. After all both men obeyed Hitler’s mandate to off the elderly and unwanted masses. niio
Before Irma-geddon hit Florida a couple years ago, I started lining the inside walls of our chest freezer in the garage with 1gallon bottles of salt water a week before it hit us. I also meal planned ahead of time, stacking preplanned meal combos layer on layer.
Meal planning limited the time the freezer was open losing cool air to the hot Florida garage.
Salt water freezes at a lower temp than regular water. Plus the ice blocks took up dead air space acting also as an insulator.
We safely ate out of that freezer , with no power, in the hot humid summer Florida garage for 6 days.
Finally on the 7th day it was over for the food . Luckily the power came on later on the 7th day.
That was one event that lead us to start prepping. Luckily an event like that we have foreknowledge of the upcoming event. Obviously it will not always be the case.
Claude: What is it with your screening program. I have tried to post a response to Miss Kitty’s post about weather and it won’t post. Is your site getting like some of the others that it rejects posts on certain topics. I saved the post to my word processing program so I didn’t lose it like I did the first couple of times I tried to post it.
Judge H: I understand that the Web contains inaccuracies and outright lies. But I find far more of those coming from the TV. Yes, one can find reports in either place where someone says that masks work, but where is the evidence? I find that one has to learn how to find the truth in all the verbal and visual noise, not just accept something at face value. If one goes looking for it, they can find a ton of studies and trials that indicate that masks do not work.
One example is of the N95 mask (the best of those commonly used). They claim to stop 95% of particles greater than 0.3 um. Well, the Wuhan virons are 0.1 um in diameter (1 um = 1 millionth of a meter). Pretty small critters.
Another study found that it takes as little as 300 virons to be infectious. However a person talking for 1 minute spews out many millions of virons. If the N95 mask even removed 95%, then 100’s of thousands of virons still get into the local environment.
Here is an article that is quite convincing including videos. You’ll find it very interesting, even if you don’t want to believe it.
https://swprs.org/face-masks-evidence/
Here is one small excerpt from an article.
The WHO admitted to the BBC that its June 2020 mask policy update was due not to new evidence but “political lobbying”: “We had been told by various sources WHO committee reviewing the evidence had not backed masks but they recommended them due to political lobbying. This point was put to WHO who did not deny.” (D. Cohen, BBC Medical Corresponent).
In my opinion, there are 2 ways to stay free from a Wuhan virus infection. 1. Complete isolation, or, 2. Take maintenance doses of Ivermectin. All the studies and evidence I’ve seen indicate that Ivermectin is probably at least as good as the vaccines in preventing an infection, and it covers a much wider spectrum. There are a significant number of vaccinated people that recently reported Wuhan infections.
One last note; cloth masks are reported to be the worst, and probably worse than no mask at all.
For years before the Covidia the CDC and Fauci’s minions avoided the fact that flu virus is transmitted through the air. They never recommended masks for flu, only handwashing. Same when Covid started, it was obvious from the rate of spread in China that it was transmitted through the air, but it was weeks before anybody here even thought of masks. Weird stuff from The Authorities, as usual.
Ivermectin is goop we use to worm livestock, I am always skeptical of people saying it cures this and prevents that, but one of my wife’s best friend’s husband was cured of stage IV lung cancer by the Ivermectin protocol told about in this link https://www.mycancerstory.rocks/single-post/2016/08/22/Shake-up-your-life-how-to-change-your-own-perspective
I would say hogwash but I’ve had dinner and drinks with her friend and her husband, and the guy is, so far as I can tell, alive.
I think the wormer used is a dog wormer a bitdifferent than Ivermectin, but the point is, this amazes me.
Judge H.: Thanks for the great article on Fenbendazole (Fenben). I had not seen that one. Your right, it’s amazing where long overdue cures have been coming out from. I first heard about Fenben curing cancer earlier this year. My wife’s ex-coworker’s brother was cured from stage 4 lung cancer, with only a few months to live, using Fenben and has been cancer free for about 2 years now. Then I heard of a couple of others through friends. This broad-spectrum cancer cure has been known for quite a few years, and still has not been officially published. That is terrible!!! Part of the reason is that the patent ran out long ago making the drug so cheap, that the pharmaceuticals do not want to invest any money into controlled tests to make it official. The other more sinister reason is that it would collapse their present cancer industry, which we all know is huge!
Regarding Ivermectin; that is another miracle drug that was originally sold as a parasite remover for dogs and humans. Then in 2020 it was found to work very well against the Wuhan virus. But the present administration and the drug manufacturers have been fighting like crazy to keep it out of the public for that purpose. Because the only way the vaccine manufacturers could get an emergency approval of their vaccines, was to state that there was no other drug that would work against the Wuhan virus. In my opinion, this is criminal, given that it would have saved millions(?) of lives. Ivermectin has been around for 4 decade and is one of the safest drugs known.
Hydroxychloroquine is another long time cheap and reasonably safe drug that is also effective against the Wuhan virus. But it was demonized into oblivion because Trump first suggested it’s use in early 2020 From all I’ve learned, Ivermectin works better.
I realize that we have drifted off topic with this, but I think this information is extremely important for all preppers and their medicine chests. That is; two safe and cheap drugs that work wonders against a wide spectrum of cancers and a wide spectrum of viruses (to many to list here). This is absolutely incredible! Might also add that Ivermectin has also been found to have anti-cancer qualities.
Consider, in a hard survival time, or like now, taking a maintenance dose of Ivermectin consisting of one, $5 tablet per month (including Zinc, Vitamin D, and other appropriate vitamins) to ward off some cancers and many viruses. No, I’m not a doctor.
I agree with you Miss Kitty about the science…
This is a good article…our politicians should read it.
Redundant power systems are expensive, but as the saying goes…”better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it”.
It has been discussed here that an EMP would be the ultimate (non-nuclear) worse case scenario. Our government in Washington has known about this EMP risk for over 20 years, and I am not aware of any “hardening” of military or other critical infrastructure. We would lose the Grid and it would not come back.
This year Texas dodged a massive disaster by pure luck. A domino effect occurred when West Texas wind turbines were shut down and then would not restart, followed by critical natural gas PUMP sub-stations losing their electrical heat and the pipe valves froze-up, causing a total loss of the Natural Gas Supply to the huge electrical power generating plants.
I live in far north Texas and had one 20 minute outage. I heard rumors that the northern Texas border counties were switched to the external Oklahoma Grid (Emergency Contingency Plan)…But most of Texas suffered badly.
Also, the ERCOT board of directors…most of them do NOT live in Texas.
I heard there were resignations, so that is being corrected.
Along with all the deaths, I heard a migrant family in Houston, did not understand that running your car in the garage (for heat) is deadly. The mother and her three little kids were found dead in the car.
The science on resources…
Non-Renewable Fossil Fuel resources will eventually become less available and very expensive.
Transportation: Oil (90%);
Electricity: Coal-35%, Natural Gas-25%, Nuclear-20%, renewable-20%)
As a human race, we have no choice but to begin the switch to renewable resources that include:
hydropower: most abundant form of renewable energy in the USA
solar power, wind turbine power is growing but not 100% reliable
Other resources that can be used include
biogas: animal waste through bacterial processes, 60-70% methane
biomass: solid and liquid forms of matter-biodiesel(animal fats, cooking oil, soybean oil), ethanol (fuel additive), solid wastes, wood and wood wastes
geothermal power: steam and hot water beneath the earth’s surface
The glaciers cover about 10% of our planet and are the largest source of fresh water. It appears the glaciers have been receding since the mid 1800s, but the loss has sped up since 1975. A large number of small glaciers have already disappeared. The fresh Glacier water may possibly be altering the salt content and temperature of ocean currents causing El Nino & La Nina climate impacts.
Who really knows for sure where this is going…but of all the information I am aware of, the Glacier loss is most concerning along with the Ozone depletion in the Stratosphere.
We can not keep kicking this “elephant” down the road for our children to face…but that is what is happening.
No, oil, coal, and gas are renewables. We’ve been making all of them for quite a while, and India, as well as other SE Asia nations have been helping people convert sewage into gas for decades.
Bacteria convert minerals and other things to crude. Coal is made by processing garbage with calcium, compressing, and in 6 months we have coal. The best renewable is, of course, geothermal. Plants tap heat, make steam, run turbines, and condense steam to water to use over and over. It’s low tech but politicians are investing and so fight it. the only cost is putting in the plant and tapping the heat. No ashes to get rid of, no fumes, no nada, just profit. niio
Holdent: “Masking has been shown to be very effective in preventing transmission of Covid….”
Painfully obvious? Really? Because I can’t seem to find any studies that show this for Covid. Seems like it would be a simple study. Pick an area & randomly pick half the population to constantly wear masks as mandated & the other, no masks at all. My search comes up empty. Nada. Best I’ve been able to do is find 2 studies: one comparing Danish towns (one doing the works like masks, social distancing, fomite disinfecting, etc. & the other town just going about it’s business like normal. The other study was with new Marines in lockdown in their barracks with masks, disinfecting everything, etc. compared to the town nearby that had no restrictions. Both studies found no difference in the rate of Covid infection. Admittedly, they weren’t mask only studies. The only other was an announcement by the CDC that masks give one a 1.3% more Covid protection. Very fuzzy on how that number was arrived at or if it was made up by computer modeling alone (can you say Al Gore/global warming?)
The Covid virus is about 4 microns in diameter. The holes in the surgical masks that everyone is forced to wear are about 134 microns. So…over X30 larger. Still safe, you say. So could I wear a mask made of window screen? All of Covids travel on breath water vapor particles. All of them? Once again, it seems like we could get better answers than, “This is painfully obvious.” We’ll issue the edicts & mandate you do as we say. Stop asking impertinent questions. Seems like a few experiments like putting patients with active Covid in a device similar to a breath analyzer & measuring viral load without a mask, with N95, with cloth masks, screen door, etc. could give us truthful information. I couldn’t find any studies like this (not for Covid anyway). Are those studies there & I just can’t find them? Help me out, Judge.
As far as blackouts are concerned, there is a good chance that there will be a EMS induced grid failure before 2024, according to this article from Electroverse.
https://electroverse.net/minor-cme-leads-to-geomagnetic-storm-grid-failure-all-but-guaranteed-by-2024/?utm_source=mailpoet&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=the-last-newsletter-total-posts-from-our-blog_1
Be ready for anything and everything.
I have a kerosene heater. Heats the room and then some. The fuel is relatively stables and inexpensive. And don’t laugh, I’ve got cats who will sleep with me,cause they’re cold ,too.
I recently lived thru a tornado that hit my town in Kentucky. 12 people died.
Deadly Tornado Outbreak Leaves Bowling Green, Kentucky Unrecognizable
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUk2dKC7Rxc
It was like living in the aftermath of a war zone. Here is what I learned from this.
Power: We have become so dependent on our little devices for news, communications, entertainment, etc.. My power was out for 3 days. 1 block over from me was out for 2-3 weeks. Cell towers were out for 1 ½ days. Internet out for 3 days. Charging my cell phone was a real challenge. Plugging it in to charge anywhere I was. Friends and Family homes, restaurants, anywhere… You will burn up your battery fast calling family, friends, etc. to check on them to see if they are alive or even still have a roof or a home.
Since then, I have bought a Power Station. SmartTech 9in1 JSL-950 Power Station with Jump Starter and 150 PSI Air Compressor, one 120V power inventer outlet with USB outlets AC/DC outlets from Home Depot. I can now charge my phone and run small appliances (like nebulizer) for a short time if needed. Plus, I can take it camping, on road trips and it does not take up much space.
Also, a Solar Power Bank Portable Charger for USB devices. This charges my phone much faster then my 12v car charger. It can re-charge via solar power but it takes all day. I like the concept. Will it last? Only time will tell.
Lighting: I already had a dozen 80 hour religious candles, tea candles, battery flashlights stocked. Flashlights go fast. Candles are the way to go for any long term power outage! Tea candles last about 4 hours so they burn out by the time I’m ready for bed anyway.
Staying Warm in General: Layer your clothing your wearing. I wear a quarintine cap lol! Extra blankets/sleeping bag on the bed. Cover your head with a blanket or beach towel to prevent heatloss at night. Old people use to call them Night Caps.
Heat: A tornado in winter? Who knew! It got cold in the house. Fortunately, I had already prepped for that with 2 flower pot heaters w/tea candles due to the rising cost of natural gas to heat my home and to offset the thermostat running all the time. They wont heat your home to 75 degrees, but they will take the chill out of the air. Indoor temp gauge said it was 61 degrees so yes they did their job.
The areas were the tornado hit had a funny weird smell to me.. I was telling my friend about the smell when I was driving thru and he was told by gas workers that lines all over the town were leaking natural gas either thru the damaged houses or up rooted.
Food: I have plenty of dried and canned foods in my preps. Had to show my GF how to cook with Sterno. Had instant coffee ready in 20 minutes with powdered milk and sugar with a cigarette. It’s all about the little pleasures in life. Canned beef stew ready in 40 minutes. Some items in the fridge went bad after 3 days of of no power. If I had to go threw this power outage for 4 days? Every thing in the freezer would have been lost.
If you have a large family and a lot of food in your freezer, I would suggest a small tailgater continuous output of 700watts gas generator. They use it sell them at Harbor Freight for less than $100 but they do not sell them anymore. I have found similar generators at Home Depot for a fair price. Every store we visited had larger generators for sale at nearly double the price a month ago.
Shelter: My home was not damaged (thank god) but my neighbors were not as lucky. Always remember, Life can change on a dime.
When the power did finally come back on. I filled up my indoor jacuzzi with HOT water and soaked for 45 minutes lol!
Only about half way through your article but wanted to send this. When I was a Boy Scout one of the tricks we learned about camping with your mothers pots and pans was to use dish washing liquid on the bottom of the pan before you actually put it on the fire. This protects the finish and is easily washed off after usage. Just a little trick that i learned a long time ago.
Scott