How long can you (and your family) survive if the grid went down for an extended period?

[Nobodybusiness]

I was part of the 2021 Texas blackout. My house is all electric and I lost power for 5 days and had two water pipes burst. I was not prepared at all. One thing I never thought of was having plumbing supplies to make repairs (copper pipe, fittings). When I could finally drive the roads, the stores were cleaned out of supplies.
I'm much more prepared now but not even close to where I need to be. I now have a stock of copper pipe and fittings, camping stove, coffee pot, candles, canned goods, charcoal stove, etc. I recently installed a propane heater and bought a Bluetti and I'm working on a small 800w solar system. Hopefully, I'll have that done in December.

Hey at least your preparing. Most don’t even bother.

 

[HOU_Castle]

I was part of the 2021 Texas blackout. My house is all electric and I lost power for 5 days and had two water pipes burst. I was not prepared at all. One thing I never thought of was having plumbing supplies to make repairs (copper pipe, fittings). When I could finally drive the roads, the stores were cleaned out of supplies.
I'm much more prepared now but not even close to where I need to be. I now have a stock of copper pipe and fittings, camping stove, coffee pot, candles, canned goods, charcoal stove, etc. I recently installed a propane heater and bought a Bluetti and I'm working on a small 800w solar system. Hopefully, I'll have that done in December.

For the pipe, you need to insulate all of your water pipes at the attic. Then, be ready to close the water main as soon as you find out there will be days of freezing temp, and winterized the pipes for night time. It's tons of works, but better than fixing the pipes and sheetrock/ceiling.

 

[HalfBaked]

For the pipe, you need to insulate all of your water pipes at the attic. Then, be ready to close the water main as soon as you find out there will be days of freezing temp, and winterized the pipes for night time. It's tons of works, but better than fixing the pipes and sheetrock/ceiling.

Pex can freeze solid, expand without breaking, then return to original size once thaw. It is vulnerable to rodent teeth though.

 

[rwh]

For the pipe, you need to insulate all of your water pipes at the attic. Then, be ready to close the water main as soon as you find out there will be days of freezing temp, and winterized the pipes for night time. It's tons of works, but better than fixing the pipes and sheetrock/ceiling.

Good points!

 

[scrubjaysnest]

With 200 aH flooded battery bank and 500 watts solar one of our longest was 49 days. Our worst case was 14 days with about an hour and a half of sun, moving the panels every 15 minutes. Batteries were new arm's had to run the genny every 3 days. Used 15 gallons of gas.

 

[Farm Boy]

Go big, in your system storage, think small in your usage. You can let me know when the grid come back on because I will not know when it went off.

 

[JS43]

1978 the blizzard. 3 days no power. 2 elderly neighbors died. 2008 My neighborhood was hit by a tornado. No power for 7 days. I was last on the blick to get power. Those two incidents are why I have solar now. I'll survive as long as the inverter and batteries hold out. And there are always ways to make things work. ?

 

[OffGridForGood]

Pex can freeze solid, expand without breaking, then return to original size once thaw. It is vulnerable to rodent teeth though.

PEX will take freezing but the valves you put in the system will not.

 

[Farm Boy]

1978 the blizzard. 3 days no power. 2 elderly neighbors died. 2008 My neighborhood was hit by a tornado. No power for 7 days. I was last on the blick to get power. Those two incidents are why I have solar now. I'll survive as long as the inverter and batteries hold out. And there are always ways to make things work. ?

I remember delivering milk and bread on snowmobiles then sitting on a drift looking across with power lines below me. And the tornado in Lynn.

 

[JS43]

I remember delivering milk and bread on snowmobiles then sitting on a drift looking across with power lines below me. And the tornado in Lynn.

I was in Lima Ohio at the time. It was an interesting time to say the least. I thought I was back in Duluth MN. for a few months ?

 

[Farm Boy]

I was in Lima Ohio at the time. It was an interesting time to say the least. I thought I was back in Duluth MN. for a few months ?

I was west of Greenville.

 

[teal95]

I grew up off of the south end of Lake Michigan just barely in the lake effect zone. I can remember a storm that after a week we were running low on milk and break so Mom called her sister. Her and her husband went to the grocery store and drove to 3 miles south of our house, unloaded the snowmobile and brought the food the rest of the way. Lake effect can have a rather sharp drop off line.

 

[Daddy Tanuki]

I hate to bring this up but you guys realize that the government has diesel tanks that hold millions of gallons of fuel and never get emptied. we have one emergency (war stocks) tank at Yokosuka that holds 3 millions gallons of JP51 for the DDG's and it has not been filled or drained in the last 15 years. They had another one they had to emergency drain into bunker barges and the ships as it developed a leak and some holes. After a camera was dropped into the tank it was determined that 30+ years of neglect (not rotating fuel properly) had caused a 15x32 foot section to become riddled with small holes. they drained it off into bunker barges and the ships themselves , used it, rebuilt the tanks and then refilled them. yes they should be rotating the fuel, but they do not as they are lazy over paid GS civilians running it.

so diesel in any of its permutations is extremely stable. just keep moisture out or you will get algae in the tanks.

 

[Hedges]

All good things must come to an end.

Biofuels are included in latest U.S. Navy fuel procurement - U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)

www.eia.gov

 

[Daddy Tanuki]

All good things must come to an end.

Biofuels are included in latest U.S. Navy fuel procurement - U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)

www.eia.gov

trust me its one of the reasons that DLA and USFJ have went hog nuts on fixing all of the tanks and pipelines. they know its going to cause issues.

 

[Hedges]

But I'm thinking biofuel instead of Dinodiesel left in the tanks for 15 years might not work out so well.

Stocks ought to be rotated. Grocery stores fill refrigerator cabinets from the back (so I reach back to get fresher ones.)
My home cabinets, some things in back haven't seen the light of day in over two decades.

For fuel, if it could remain stratified, fill from top, draw from bottom, that could provide rotation.
Maybe the thing to do is have a row of tanks. Always suck one empty, move on to the next. Refill takes up the rear.

 

[Daddy Tanuki]

But I'm thinking biofuel instead of Dinodiesel left in the tanks for 15 years might not work out so well.

Stocks ought to be rotated. Grocery stores fill refrigerator cabinets from the back (so I reach back to get fresher ones.)
My home cabinets, some things in back haven't seen the light of day in over two decades.

For fuel, if it could remain stratified, fill from top, draw from bottom, that could provide rotation.
Maybe the thing to do is have a row of tanks. Always suck one empty, move on to the next. Refill takes up the rear.

everybody is expecting issues with the bio fuel that's why the US government got the Japanese government to start rebuilding all the fuel facilities here on mainland and Kyushu.

 

[AstroBob]

It mean I don’t sit around reading Guns and Ammo or salivating about my next tacticool purchase. And think a .243 is large enough for deer or other targets.

That is a common stereotype of firearms enthusiasts used by the leftist anti-gun crowd. Those that actually know anything about firearms don't read guns and ammo. You might see a copy of Handloader or Rifle. As far as the .243 Winchester, it's fine for deer and varmints, (with the right bullets) but entirely inadequate and inhumane for anything larger, like elk, moose, etc. But I think you may already know that.

 

[AstroBob]

With a good scope, and patience and skill, a 2.18BEE is plenty to take down deer.
Not LEGALLY in most states, but capable...

If you can actually hit things, a .22LR headshot will do nicely on a deer. Wouldn't attract attention, either.

 

[HighDesertOffgrid]

If you can actually hit things, a .22LR headshot will do nicely on a deer. Wouldn't attract attention, either.

Poachers weapon of choice.