Threat of black outs

[Scythe13]

BP gave me a heads up about this late last week. This could well be a blessing in disguise. It could well turn people on to the realisation of the program Blackout. The masses might start to realise the government can't look after them. So, mini-rant over with, next, how WE are going to cope. By we I mean myself and the wife. I'll add recommendations for other people, but please feel free to criticise ideas, as that is how we learn.

First up, the gas issue will not effect us directly. In that sense, we are off grid. None of the things in the house run on gas. We are not even connected to the lines. As for the power outages, that's what would hit us the most.

Light, we have hundreds of candles and proper candle holders. We even have designated places where we have allowed ourselves to put them. Certain restrictions are heavily enforced. Something about pyromania...who knows? The good thing is, we think nights like that are romantic, and in winter seem to be our norm. Best of all, we have a fire bin out in the garden, so I'm up for lighting that up and having a Christmas marshmallow moment haha.

Okay, cooking, this is going to be pretty simple. Over 90% of the food we have does not need to be cooked. Yep, life's easy when you don't need to cook. But with that, it can nearly all be cooked as well, e.g. cold soup (I love it), hot soup (She loves it). Cooking will largely be done outside on the fire or the BBQ, but also in the kitchen with the gas cookers we have. The room is very well ventilated, so it's all good.

Entertainment, if you're stuck at home and you can't find anything to do with your OH, then you should really be concerned. Otherwise there is always cards, books, and preps you can do together. A pen and paper, coupled with plans of what to do next on the house, garden, or other stuff...hours of time consumed.

Water...that'll still be running, but if it doesn't that's covered.

Sanitation...you should really be carrying 3 months of TPaper, soap, toothpaste, razors, and the alike. But that's just as normal stuff, I'm not considering that in amongst your preps.

Heating the house. Last year we were in a cold flat, single glazed, and no heating. We used our genius brains and just put on jumpers around the house. She slept in joggers and a long sleeve tshirt (winter PJ's as she calls them), while I just stole the bed covers...allegedly. But for those with kids, if you have a log burner, use that room for most of your time. If you have an awesome big sofa, why not sleep downstairs?

There were plans for small candle heaters using plant pots and metal washers. Was going to make a few of them, but got distracted. Might be a good project for a few weekends time.

What extra precautions will we be taking? The only difference is that we will be bringing out the winter clothing. Maybe reprofiling the snowboard blade. But that really is it.

If you can't survive a cold winter in luxury, post SHTF, there's not much hope.

Recommendations:

Have a torch in every room and make sure you have spare batteries for it. Rechargeable batteries are best, if you have a solar charger for them. If not, Lithium Ion. In fact, lithium ion are just generally awesome batteries, you cannot go wrong with them.

Next up, candles. Lots and lots of candles. Remember ways to light the candles.

Power, a genny is a great idea...if you have fuel for it.

Solar power should not be overlooked! The sun shines in winter.

As for entertainment, there are some brilliant books out there. Why not go on a walk and get to know plant types. While you're there, you could always just pick up some firewood. Even wet wood can become dry. To dry it out, place it near enough to the fire to enjoy the drying effect of increased heat. Trust me, this works. It might not work as well as 4 year seasoned dry wood, but would you rather have some wood that may not be ideal, or no wood at all? If all you have is crap wood, it's still better than no wood.