Power Outage! I'm "semi" prepared?

[NKlamerus]

My first winter in Oregon! First time it's snowed hard this year in 7 years apparently.

About 12" in 16 hours.

The truck was ready, chains, shovel, gas, you name it. Also have coolers to pack with snow.

Unfortunately, power went out about 9 hours ago, we own nothing propane. I went to Walmart and bought a 40$ Coleman stove (really upsetting, wanted to get something nicer), no generator, and no grill.

Flashlights are okay, but my lantern is 10 years old, definitely time to upgrade.

Batteries were charged, and multi-tools and knives were A++!

Really need better winter gear, at least some kind of muck Boots.

Batteries! I have some old "c"s but ran out of "d"s

A chainsaw would be awesome, but I have an axe.

It's a nice eye opener as to where I stand.

I work at a pretty large home improvement store, we sold all of our generators including the 4500$ models today. (About 6 of them)

The dewalt 60v/20v chainsaws were hot cakes.

And we only had 2 snow shovels to sell!

[zoidberg]

Nice pics mate.   

Reminds me I need to save for another gene before winter.
My truck usually has snow chains, shovels, chainsaws and coffee in the back. If I had the cash I would add a winch.

[SirVicaLot]

That is quite some snow there! We did not have too much here this year.

We had a similar situation with the buyout at the local hardware stores this summer though. After some pretty bad hail storms duct tape and heavy duty tarp was hard to come by. 

[Vidar]

We have long winters with lots of snow here (northern Norway), and the occasional power outages in this region too. When I saw this thread I thought I'd pop in because we have not prepared anything at all!

Well, that was my first thought anyway. It has not have been a planned preparation as such, but the various things have just always been there. Snowy winters is the normal here so it is less a case of preparation and more of general adaption I guess. Thinking conciously about it now and looking at your list was kind of reassuring though

Snow in coolers - that is a neat one. I feel inspired 

[Aloha]

Nothing like a having an event happen to check your preparedness.  You don't appear to be without a whole lot.   

[MadPlumbarian]

We had a state emergency outage one year, funny thing was our water heater went out that day and I installed a new one, it got warm then the power went out! We were out for about a week, all cooking was off the Coleman, heat wise we bunkered down in two small rooms and ran a mini propane camp heater, as for the food we did something a little diff, I took shoebox size plastic totes and packed them with snow and shoved them in the fridge, every morning I’d take them out since the snow had turned to cold water and repack them with snow, sounds funny but it worked! Maybe cause it was a small fridge, but I didn’t complane.. kids were off school for about two weeks cause the school didn’t have power, and then because of a safety since there was so much snow on the roof, they had to get help and snowblowers up onto the roof to get it off! And it was through Halloween cause that got canceled state wide, and during the day you could just walk outside in a t-shirt it was warm, but as soon as night came it freaking dropped! One night we all bunkered down into our room since it was the most insulated, ran the heater to get it warm then cut it out to go to bed! Worst part was going to the bathroom, just sitting there and watching your breath, the one day I manned up and did take a shower, very quick! I actully had the window open cause I think it was warmer outside, the Mrs went over to our neighbors since they had a propane water heater, worst part was we got power the next day lol
JR

[Vidar]

This is a fun one. A father and son took a picture a year with exceptionally much snow, and then one again in the same spot and time 20 years later. (That is compacted wet snow in spring sometime).

I lived there at the time, and that snow winter was truly crazy. Some people resorted to just digging tunnels to their doors. Others got their home supplies tested as they had to be dug out from the outside. Personally I remember just walking straight out the windows at the second floor.

[SirVicaLot]

Oh boy, that is a lot of snow!

[NKlamerus]

Still no power, we were talking to the lineman working on a line behind our place and they said it was ready. AT THE SAME TIME we watched a line 2 streets over fall And flame out

[MadPlumbarian]

Ouch, we have a transformer like one pole over maybe 100ft, and the one day I stuck my head out the window and litterly within seconds I watched sparks fly! The thing turned colors, all burnt looking but they came out stuck a pole up at it and it was all fine, I guess? Hang in there
JR

[Noa Isumi]

You said you had "C" batteries but not "D"
In most cases things like lights and radios that take Ds can be powered with C if you shim them.
Coins and tape are your friend here.

During the '03 NE Blackout I was living on the edge of the effected zone. The few stores in the next town that where functional where picked over in a few hours.
Fortunately I had been planing a canoe trip in early September and was already stocked but I didnt have lanterns. The only ones I found took Ds but there where no Ds to be had; Cs are relitivly obsolete and plentiful so I used them instead.
 
A power inverter on an old Oldsmobile with a bad transmission was used to cycle the fridge (an hour at a time) a few times a day. I grilled or smoked everything I could to preserve it longer. The shop I worked at was on the next grid so I recharged any small batteries and powertool batteries (shoplight & radio)  there

I was without power for almost the full 2 weeks

Its all part of the fun of life
In 94/95 I was in NWPA and went Sept-May with no gas or water service. Winter without heat smurfs.

[Grant Lamontagne]

During the hurricane we were hit with in 2004 I had an apartment on the top of an old, very tall house and we amused ourselves watching all of the transformers explode in our neighborhood.  It was like a fireworks show!

Don't forget that big red generator in your driveway.  I read somewhere years ago that the engine in your truck was the most efficient generator you could get.  I don't know how true that is, but I know that I have used my Jeep to charge things in the past, sometimes going for a drive and sometimes just running it in the driveway.

Camp stoves are worth their weight in gold in these situations.

The biggest concern for many people is heat- if you heat your house with electricity you can find yourself in real poo poo in a winter power outage.  Fortunately my house is heated with an oil fired furnace that heats water and sends it through baseboards, and that keeps running without power so I am good, but if I had electric heat the first thing I would do is put blankets over every window to try and keep heat in as much as possible, then maybe light a few candles to supplement the existing warmth.  You have to be REALLY careful doing that as candles are usually the cause of house fires in these situations.   

Def

[ezdog]

I am luckier than most as I have a spare little house that is easy to power and heat when the power goes out here!
It has a lot and my neighbors come knocking to see if there is any extra space inside too?
Its great in Winter or Summer and I love Winter Camping but rarely get the chance to do any so.......making Lemonade if I can!

[Grant Lamontagne]

That is a pretty sweet rig! 

That's the kind of trailer we were looking for (Boler, Trillium etc) when we found the Apache that Megan decided she had to have.

I'd rather have a traditional trailer so as not to have to deal with the setup and tear down time of the Apache.

Def

[Aloha]

I've also read things about using your vehicle and an inverter  .  I'm sure there is more to it than that.  It would be nice if someone could provide actually details  .  I'd imagine in areas that are hit "often" a dual fuel generator would be best  IMO . 

[ezdog]

Funny but I was almost ready to buy an Apache too when I discovered the Fiberglass Egg Trailers many years ago and my first one was a 1973 Trillium 1300!
I fix them and flip them and move up to a nicer one basically as I can't really see throwing out the cash for a nice new one ever!
These Fiberglass rigs also hold value so well that you can always sell immediately and at profit too.

So now 7 rigs later and with this Casita there is not really anyting out there that compelling to move up to for my needs.
I use mine as a mobile Hotel room when working jibs out of town and for emergency use they are terrific and it requires no prep at all.

There are also a lot of us that camp together and we have Rallies all the time all over the place and so like in this Forum we have developed a community of people with common interests too!
Check out

www.fiberglassrv.com

If you have not yet.

So a few years ago I stumbled into yet another extension of this sort of and started converting Cargo Trailers into Campers ad this is another fun Hobby that I have,can't seem to get enough?
Here I can get EXACTLY what I want or cn dream of and save a lot too and also easily flip into another one when ready!

That is a pretty sweet rig! 

That's the kind of trailer we were looking for (Boler, Trillium etc) when we found the Apache that Megan decided she had to have.

I'd rather have a traditional trailer so as not to have to deal with the setup and tear down time of the Apache.

Def

[ezdog]

I've also read things about using your vehicle and an inverter  .  I'm sure there is more to it than that.  It would be nice if someone could provide actually details  .  I'd imagine in areas that are hit "often" a dual fuel generator would be best  IMO .

Pretty simple really although not that efficient either to use the huge engine in a car to make ekectricity but for emergency use it sure works as needed.

I use small Gensets though and my Honda 2000 can power my entire Trailer including AC in the Summer if I need it to.

I also use Solar Panels to generate Power and keep the trailer batteries topped off which is a lot ore efficient obviously once you have all the gear to do it.

Its amazing how little you can get by with if you decide to.

[Aloha]

   Appreciate the response.  I really like the trailer conversions.  I've seen some really simple ones.  Whats cool is its easily converted back to a cargo hauler.   

[MadPlumbarian]

I like those lightweight egg / scamps, my father’s got two, unique thing is the doors in the rear and center 2ft of the roof lifts, i remember looking up the name but can’t find anything like them.
JR

[MadPlumbarian]

Ha, I found one!
JR

[ezdog]

I like those lightweight egg / scamps, my father’s got two, unique thing is the doors in the rear and center 2ft of the roof lifts, i remember looking up the name but can’t find anything like them.
JR

Hunter and Hunter Jr. both do that and are really sweet crazy light weight Eggs!

We typed at the same time!

Yep that is a Hunter!

Several people tow them with Tiny Cars too.

[MadPlumbarian]

I noticed
JR

[MadPlumbarian]

Yeah, an easy car / Jeep pull,
JR

[ezdog]

They are also a really simple trailer to own and work on which can be a huge benefit to me.
Fiberglass endures like no other method of construction of these trailers and 50 year old units and brand new ones can be indistinguishable and often are.
We just had a 100 trailer rally in Florida and they spanned every bit of 50 years and all are about the same which is one reason resale values are so high.

Is your Dad a member of FGRV?

[MadPlumbarian]

I doubt it, he bought those two to totally gut them and make them into a sleeping trailer, pack them full of supply’s, go camping, setup a screen tent for everything and just sleep in the trailer.
JR

[Vidar]

Seems I jinxed it... I went to bed, and a few hours later it has fallen about 30cm (12 inches) of snow. And still snowing.   

[redmond]

Here in the Seattle area, similar to Oregon, we had a record for snowfall in February. It seldom snows here but we got 20+ inches total in 3 days. Small potatoes in more winter capable areas, but a BIG deal here. Power was out 3 days for us. We have natural gas for the stove, hot water and a gas fireplace insert. That took care of cooking, showers and heat. Battery LED lanterns and flashlights did for light. I fired up the little 3 KW propane generator to keep the fridge and freezer cold. We had food - a good thing since the grocery stores were cleaned out at the first flake. We did OK.

[Vidar]

The snowfall over night caught me by surprise. I soon discovered that I had smurfed up my usual solution to such matters.

Picture 1 is the car, and it can't get far with that much snow. (Up to a meter high heaps across the road due to wind). The car was firmly parked in such a way that nothing can pass by. Picture 2 is my usual go-to solution - a cute 13 ton excavator. Which sadly was not parked between the car and the road. Instead the car blocked it's access to remove snow between the car and road. Just great.

I'll think I'll add a new quote to my profile: "Keep it stupid simple". 

[SirVicaLot]

The snowfall over night caught me by surprise. I soon discovered that I had smurfed up my usual solution to such matters.

Picture 1 is the car, and it can't get far with that much snow. (Up to a meter high heaps across the road due to wind). The car was firmly parked in such a way that nothing can pass by. Picture 2 is my usual go-to solution - a cute 13 ton excavator. Which sadly was not parked between the car and the road. Instead the car blocked it's access to remove snow between the car and road. Just great.

I'll think I'll add a new quote to my profile: "Keep it stupid simple".

That excavator is one nice multitool though! 

[ezdog]

That excavator is one nice multitool though! 

I was thinking the same!
How big a holster would you need for that one?


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