What would you do without Electricity?

[Assassin Pilot]

Hey GVan,

Me too! Four aged 6 and under. I'm hip....uh, cool....uh, phat.....wait, I know this one......

Smooth. I watch Dora because I'm just that hardcore.

btw, PHAT is an acronym for "Pretty Hot And Tempting" (aka you are too old for being phat )

Just stay old-school, it's easier for you old people.

[Arkansas_Ranger]

What would you do?
It’s going to happen. Sooner or later, the power will go off, and you won’t know when (or if) it will come back on. This doesn’t have to be the work of evil-doers, either. It could be a sudden ice storm that brings down the power lines. It could result from other severe weather such as a tornado or hurricane, or from a disruption caused by faulty power company equipment, or even something as simple as a tree branch falling on your own personal segment of the grid, or yes even a SHTF scenario. The effect is the same: everything electrical in your home stops working.
For most modern Americans, the loss of power means the complete loss of normalcy. Their lifestyle is so dependent upon the grid’s constancy that they do not know how to function without it. How do you cook a meal if your gas stove has an electric ignition? How do your children find their way to the bathroom at night if the light switches don’t work? How do you keep warm if your wood heat is moved through ducts by an electric fan? What do you do with a freezer full of expensive meat? How do you find out what is happening in your area with the TV and radio silent? What will you drink if your water comes from a system dependent on electrical pumps?
So what would you do, or what will you do?
I'm just curious.

A gas range can be lit with a match or lighter.
A gas water heater is handy dandy.
Keep flashlights in the house along with spare batteries as well as candles and oil lanterns.
You lose the meat and claim it on your home owner's policy.
Get a police scanner. It can keep one informed. Keep the batteries charged.
Invest in a generator.
Most pumping stations have generators.
I'll read less in a power outage haha.


The winters here often bring freezing rain and sleet rather than snow. When those occasions arise power lines break like twigs and roads get blocked very often. So to the above...been there, done that...many times. It's fun though.

[Rick]

you are too old for being phat

What the? How did I miss this? I'll have you know I has hot this very day. Turned the furnace off and opened the front door. As for being tempting. You've never seen my in speedo's so you really don't know now do you?

[JRR]

We lost a freezer jammed full of blackberries, strawberries, fish, venison, corn, beans, etc. The insurance company didn't give us crap for it. Probably $10,000 worth of food, we made $100 after the $500 deductible.

[Rick]

That's one of those deals where the wife comes home and finds you in the middle of the garage floor eating your way past the blackberries and heading into the strawberries.

[Arkansas_Ranger]

Wow really? We had a big power outage once when I was growing up, and State Farm replaced all that food. It was pretty much an honor system - inventory your food and give it a cost kind of thing. Maybe things are different now. So much for working off of precedent.

[Sam]

What the? How did I miss this? I'll have you know I has hot this very day. Turned the furnace off and opened the front door. As for being tempting. You've never seen my in speedo's so you really don't know now do you?

Ohhhh,,,, MY EYES!!! Must get bacon, to block image. lol

[nell67]

Ohhhh,,,, MY EYES!!! Must get bacon, to block image. lol

I agree Sam!!!!!!!!!!

[nell67]

We lost a freezer jammed full of blackberries, strawberries, fish, venison, corn, beans, etc. The insurance company didn't give us crap for it. Probably $10,000 worth of food, we made $100 after the $500 deductible.

My policy only covers $250 of actual cost of food lost during a power outage.And earthquake insurance automatically included in the policy ,I got the insurance through the company I got the mobile home through,since it it was less than half the cost through another carrier,for the same coverage.

[crashdive123]

What the? How did I miss this? I'll have you know I has hot this very day. Turned the furnace off and opened the front door. As for being tempting. You've never seen my in speedo's so you really don't know now do you?

eeeewwwwwwwww! *runs away screaming like a little girl*

[Rick]

Actually, it started out as speedos but once it got all sucked up in places it turned into a loin cloth. I wonder if that's why my voice is so high?

[crashdive123]

I stand by my previous statement.

[SGTD00m]

Prior to this thread being hijacked about grandparents and speedo's we where talking out going with out electricity.

Over here that happens from time to time however i have found a way around it
http://www.amazon.com/Solaris-USB-Ci...d=MXQ5EV27UHT7
these little thing wont power your house but they will recharge phones, GPS, batteries (AAA, AA, C, D cells), I-pods or anything that charges of off usb. If you couple them with a usb recharger like this
http://www.amazon.com/Solo-3-4-Lithi...d=MXQ5EV27UHT7
u can constantly charge from the recharger. It takes about 5 hours of direct light to recharge a phone with just the panels about 2 hours with the usb recharger. Just a handy back up 2 keep the small electronics going.

[Rick]

About the only thing I care about is the cell phone. I just plug them into their car chargers.

[DOGMAN]

What would I do without electricity? I'd have a damned good excuse as to why I always miss the toilet in the middle of the night...

[BraggSurvivor]

What would I do without electricity? I'd have a damned good excuse as to why I always miss the toilet in the middle of the night...

Same reason my wife makes me go off the side deck.

[Sam]

Prior to this thread being hijacked about grandparents and speedo's we where talking out going with out electricity.

Over here that happens from time to time however i have found a way around it
http://www.amazon.com/Solaris-USB-Ci...d=MXQ5EV27UHT7
these little thing wont power your house but they will recharge phones, GPS, batteries (AAA, AA, C, D cells), I-pods or anything that charges of off usb. If you couple them with a usb recharger like this
http://www.amazon.com/Solo-3-4-Lithi...d=MXQ5EV27UHT7
u can constantly charge from the recharger. It takes about 5 hours of direct light to recharge a phone with just the panels about 2 hours with the usb recharger. Just a handy back up 2 keep the small electronics going.

Hey Sarge, I found AA USB rechargeable batteries that have the port built in, nice not having extra things to keep up with. The brand is moxia, the site on line is usbcell.com ( I'm not affiliated with these people) I hope this is useful for you and your friends.

[crashdive123]

Gotta agree with that. My neighbors unfortunatly, did not.....they moved.


Could have sworn that there was a post from Hopeak that said I won't live anywhere that I can't walk out my back door and pee. Don't know where it went. Oh well it's late.

[Ridge Wolf]

Well, when that happens here, right now... we would be hard pressed to preserve the cold food goods. We wouldn't open the refrigerator or the freezer except as necessary and not for very long. I am working towards getting a generator and specially wiring a separate circuit in the house for it. I don't like those generators that sense when the power goes out and automatically switch on... machines break once in awhile and I just don't trust the automatic mechanism.... we are here most of the time anyway so would be here to switch it over. We would be having steak instead of peanut butter sandwiches like our neighbors.

Heat is to be generated by a wood stove shed outside (also hooked up to the generator) and ducted in to floor ducts that I'll put in. Right now, I rely on Cadet individual room wall heat that I put in some time ago. I am in the midst of remodelling the house at present.. it is taking awhile to do that so am wanting to incorporate some survival self sufficiency upgrades at the same time. I am thinking of solar power for the south facing roof side but that is long future.

Honestly ... right now though it is flash lights and kerosene lanterns and warm blankets.

[Rick]

Ridge - Most of the auto transfer switches are gravity switches. The utility power lifts the switch and holds it in place. When the utility power fails the switch drops by gravity and the generator kicks on. When utility power is restored it lifts the switch and shuts down the generator. Obviously, that's a simplified explanation. By the way, you can even buy them used.