Batteries

[tater03]

One think my husband always makes sure we have in case of an emergency is plenty of batteries. He is forever buying them whenever he sees them on sale.

[Minwaabi]

Another thing you might consider is buying rechargeable batteries and a solar powered battery charger. They've had these in Europe for a while and I just saw one in a sporting goods store around Christmas time. The solar charger unit was about $30 dollars but if you take good care of it you have a near limitless energy supply for your recharger. (Assuming of course the survival situation isn't something like a volcanic winter where you don't have sunlight).

[arppt01]

Rechargeable batteries are a good solution. Though I never used the Solar Rechargers but they are surely a smart solution.

[taiarain]

Solar chargers are available online and in some US electronics stores. I picked mine up from an electronics store, but only because the one I wanted was so far backordered on Gaiam.

[marberry]

buy a crank powered generator , all u have 2 do is crank the lever and you have power

[Danoon]

CCrane has a good solar battery charger. They also have a very good battery charger that can be used with a 10 watt solar panel they sell though the combo is about $200. The small solar charger is a much better price. They also sell batteries though I've never tried any of them.
Their wind up lights and radios are the best made.

[mangyhyena]

I've even seen an option for charging larger batteries with a stationary bike/generator. Put the kids on it for a few hours per day and you can watch some TV. Oh, and it's never a good idea to stop exercising without cooling down---so they should probably walk to the fridge to get you a beer before resting. (just kidding. I don't even drink very often. And I'm not going to use my kids as slave labor so no nasty PM's, OK?)

However, I do have two large dogs. Now, if they came up with a treadmill for them that would charge batteries I'd be very interested in that. Unlike my kids, I would have no problem making the dogs "pay their way" for a change. LOL.

[trax]

Use the kids for slave labor. At least if they're anything like mine. When my kids were growing up, one of their chores was to haul in firewood that I'd split. I figured no big deal it was one of my chores when I was a kid. If I'd waited for them, we would have froze to death. mangy---you'd be sitting in the dark, lol.

[wareagle69]

rechargeable batteries are good for the enviroment and are efficient i also have the windup type of flashlights that work well, i used to stock up when batts went on sale then by the time to use seemed to be dying off