Basic Supplies for a Winter Snow-Storm Power Outage
November 4, 2011, Submitted by: Ken Tweet
Here are a few of the basic items that you may want on-hand while in ‘survival mode’ during a winter snow-storm power outage situation. These are very minimal considerations, but they at least should provide a small amount of comfort inside your home, and will hopefully get you thinking about other items to have on hand.
These 5 survival items can be purchased for less than $200 and will provide enough heat to be comfortable in a room, enough light for the dark, a means of cooking for food, and the taste of percolated coffee in the morning.
Mr. Heater Buddy 4,000-9,000-BTU Indoor-Safe Portable Radiant Heater
During the winter, the immediate concern will be heat. This particular heater will safely and effectively provide plenty of heat for a room. You will have bigger problems if the outdoor temperature remains consistently below freezing while at the same time the power outage lasts much longer than a day (pipes will begin to freeze and may rupture), but this heater will provide a first level of defense for a short term survival situation.
GASONE Portable Gas Stove
This portable butane stove will do the job. I like the fact that it’s flat and will support a heavy or fairly large pot, whereas some other portable stoves are upright and precariously support a pot or pan. This is one of the portable stove’s that I own, and I have been very happy with its performance. I also recommend the Coleman dual-burner stove, but it is larger, and more expensive. Be cautiously aware that a Coleman-type stove / propane stove will build up carbon-monoxide and should be used outside. Butane though, like the one listed above, is OK for in home.
Farberware Classic Yosemite Stainless Steel Percolator
How many of you have thought of this one… most coffee drinkers use ‘drip’ coffee-makers to make their coffee – which require electricity. So, to make that cup of coffee with a portable gas stove, you will need a percolator.
Rayovac Sportsman Xtreme 300-Lumen LED Lantern
This LED lantern is compact, and will provide many hours of battery-efficient light. I’ve owned this model for years and it has served well.
Dorcy 180 Lumen High Flux LED Cyber Light Flashlight with Batteries
Of the many flashlights that I own, this Dorcy flashlight is amazingly bright and is a great value for the money. I really like the design of this one, as a general purpose home flashlight.
OK, so, what else should you have on hand for a short-term winter snow storm power-outage emergency?
Should go without saying, but, of course you should have an adequate supply of food. Be sure to keep some ready made canned food ‘meals’… things like canned stews, chunky soups, ravioli, chile, spaghetti and meatballs, things like that.
It would be a good idea to have a cold-weather sleeping bag. Instead of sleeping under your normal blankets, a good cold-weather sleeping bag will keep you much, much warmer at night.
Since your electricity is out, how about reading a book or two while you sit in front of your cozy Mr. Buddy Heater…
If your power outage lasts much longer than a day, and if it is very cold outside, you will need to take your survival mode to ‘Level 2′, which will require that you have more supplies than the the basics listed above. But, that’s for another post…
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one other item I highly recommend is a headlamp
this allows you to use both hands and provides spot lighting exactly where you need it
I would go with a type used by backpackers such as Petzl,Black Diamond etc
these give you MUCH longer battery life as compared to something you would pick up
at the local big box store
get one for each member of the family
especially the kids
Thanks! Nice post. I was just thinking about all this today because power out in a winter storm is VERY possible here.
power out for 6 days
hypothermia claiming victims
people accosting the utility repair crews ?
http://news.yahoo.com/tempers-flare-over-6-days-conn-power-outages-205359326.html
if you have any doubts whatsoever as to how the general population will react in
a major crisis,stories like this should serve a a real RED FLAG
@Satori, Excellent find on that article. You are absolutely correct. Given a real magnitude disaster, it will get REAL ugly. I hope people take notice.
One item that I especially recommend for a winter storm power outage are those OUTDOOR fire pits. Gas stoves I would ration off the fuel to cook food. To heat water you can use these fire pits outside and heat up water for many purposes. These fire pits you can heat up pots of water using all sorts of different items that will burn. Wood and newspapers can used and seem to be everywhere, even dead tree branches can be used for fuel. Charcoal can also be used to slowly heat up water.
After days of no heat it sure is nice to be able to clean yourself off for example with a nice warm or hot bath, just like the pioneers of days past use to do. Snow is water and will melt in a pot over a heat source. As long as you have a safe place outside that is dry, no rain or snow coming down to put out the fire, you could heat up water as much as there is wood to burn. You can also use warmed water in hot water bottles to stay warmer, or even jars that are thick enough to not break with hot or very warm water in them. I can tell you when you get cold, a warm hot water bottle sure feels good.
K-Mart has a 20″ fire pit with wheels on it for $39.99 on sale. They have these sales all year long on this. You could move it to somewhere dry and safe and heat up water using all sorts of fuel. These fire pits have a grate around them to protect against sparks also. A spark arrester is what it is called.
Also something to make life easier starting a fire is to get some of that fire starting gel they use for starting fire in pellet stoves. This gel alcohol does not stink like lighter fluid and does not flame up so much so if you put too much like lighter fluid does.
Nice post and oh so true for a day or two. Look forward to the post on “level 2″ mode. Being a camper and having quality camping gear to use in a pinch decreases the survival stress for minor power outages.
For those that are going to use these only for “emergencies” I highly recommend that you practice in a non-emergency setting to get a feel for their capabilities in your environment. Also, make sure all members of the family know how to safely use and operate.
Was looking at that Thomas Jefferson quote about tying a knot when you reach the end of your rope and hang on. A survivalist has a knot, in fact many knots already tied at the end of the rope, and another rope with a hook at the end to get back to safety rather than hanging on for dear life.
You can have drip coffee as long as you can boil water: Melitta (and possibly others) offer plastic drip coffee funnels to use with their standard paper filters. Of course, you can also use the percolator as a soup pot