# How many practice 'off the grid' scenarios?



## Backyardcreek (Aug 24, 2014)

Just curious, how many folks actually practice a 'lock down, no power' situation? We've not done so because there are a few in our group that are just happy to harvest, preserve, etc. but if they were asked to go a weekend without power & water, well let's just say it's not a pleasant conversation :/
FYI though we live near a power plant, if there's a hint of a wind storm, our area is without power for at least 4 hrs. We've always had water, fuel & light provided from our supplies. Yet only a few of us have actually experienced 3+ days without any power. My theory is train the young ones & not so young, how to deal with a power outage. 
Is this reasonable? Any thoughts?


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## paradox (Nov 19, 2012)

We have been talking about flipping the switch off for a weekend and see where the "holes" are so we know what to stock up on or purchase for an outage. We are just waiting for some decent weather and for DH to not have to work all weekend. Wouldn't be fair for him to be absent


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

i get all kinds of practice here....lol...i go over a week often during storms without power.

one of the worst was a week long event that daily temps were over 100f...winter outages are much better....everything goes outside in snow bank for refrigeration needs and the woodstove keeps me warm and safe.....that summer heat....i suffer in it......a box fan is ya friend in hot spells....lol.....i hope to rig ceiling fans that can run on and off grid on the porch soon.


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## calliemoonbeam (Aug 7, 2007)

What Elk said, lol. I get to "practice" at least once or twice a year thanks to Mother Nature. Isn't she obliging??  Seriously, we have huge thunderstorms and/or tornadoes in the spring and fall, prairie fires in the summer, and ice storms in the winter. I'm lucky if I get the power back on in three or four days, it's usually a week or more. I'm with him also in that I much prefer cooler weather outages. I have health issues and really suffer in a lot of heat and/or humidity. But I try to be prepared for them all.

To answer the question, yes I think everyone should practice, and the kids should definitely be taught what to do and how to prepare. Everyone over the age of 3 can have a job in such a situation, suited to their abilities, and they should know what their jobs are and be able to get right to them without a bunch of fuss, reminding or nagging.

All that other stuff won't matter if you don't have any water to preserve, cook or clean yourselves with or power to use all your everyday appliances and conveniences that most people use regularly. You need to know how to use those hand-powered items, how and where to get clean water from, how to stay warm without central heat, how to make a fire when you can't just turn a knob, etc.

Every household needs a plan and needs to practice it so things go "fairly" smoothly in a real emergency situation. If you work at it, having a power outage or other such incident will prove to be no hardship, just a different way of doing things, and it will be second nature instead of panicking and having to hunt for everything and figure things out at the worst possible moment. 

"Prepare for the worst and then hope for the best" is the motto I live by. Hope this helps.


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## MOSSYNUT (Aug 8, 2014)

We never practice because it's just like camping. So long as we have plenty batteries for our fans it's fine We had some hurricanes go through the state a few years back and were without power for a week. Other than having to keep everything from the fridge on ice it wasn't a big deal.


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

off grid cooking...stationary rocket stove...build yaself one.


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## Vickie44 (Jul 27, 2010)

When the kids were little we did practice power failures, just so they wouldnt get scared when they really did come , which was often enough.


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## MOSSYNUT (Aug 8, 2014)

Elkhound I don't want to :hijacked: but could you explain how you made that? If not here in another thread? It looks like you have a pipe inside. What did you use?


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## ovsfarm (Jan 14, 2003)

Same as many others here, we are forced to "practice" the whole isolation/off-grid scenario 2 or 3 times a year, as determined by Mother Nature. We get to "practice" the off-grid stuff a few more times than that, usually.

Just a part of life at the end of the lines....


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## Guest (Sep 29, 2014)

elkhound said:


> off grid cooking...stationary rocket stove...build yaself one.



Ooooh! That's cuuuuuute! How did you make that? Or should I just Google it? LOL!

I would love to can over something like that instead of in the house. I've been thinking about getting a propane stove for the back patio, but that would be even BETTER!


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## wally (Oct 9, 2007)

Elkhound , that stove is on my "to do" list.


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## Guest (Sep 29, 2014)

When my kids were young and we struggled with bills, a bunch of weekends, we would have "Power Outage Night" and would play board games... They were comfortable and safe with oil lamps, etc. I would kill the breaker to the house, to save electricity. LOL!


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## Forcast (Apr 15, 2014)

Yep sure did for four months ............No income at all..........what a pain in the arrs ......so if it all gos down in non freezing temps I can do it......winter like last year I would have a hard time with water gathering unless its snowing and I can melt it. I guess I could close off an area arond the wood stove but man it would be hard.


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

for those asking...i done 2 threads..heres links...for some reason my pictures are gone.i guess when HT switched servers they got lost in shuffle...this was made from rubble from a chimney i tore down. i only bought the top tiles to have a smooth top.but they explain what i done mostly.

i am looking for a colemen stove oven to sit on top of rocket stove to bake with.i am yet to try just using a dutch oven on top to bake a loaf of bread or bisquits.my list is long...and i am lazy...lol


on second thread were i link my pics from photobucket you can see what i done with rest of chimney blocks and an old brinkman smoker i wasnt satisfied with.

http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/sp...ess/vault/484947-stationary-rocket-stove.html


http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/sp...-update-finished-stationary-rocket-stove.html


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

just a few more random pics since they are gone in other thread.


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

http://stovetecstore.net/


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

http://ecozoomstove.com/


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

i hope i dont find the top off an old broken down wood cook stove..i may be building another one....lol


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## Guest (Sep 30, 2014)

Fantastic! Thank you!


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## ET1 SS (Oct 22, 2005)

I am not sure if it counts as 'practice'. Since moving here 7 years ago, we have not documented any month without power-loss at least once. Some months the grid goes down 5 or 6 times, per month.

3 homes in our town are already off-grid entirely, so they do not notice if the grid is up on any particular day. We hope to be the fourth home in our town that is permanently off-grid.


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## soulsurvivor (Jul 4, 2004)

With my decline in health I won't survive long without a/c and heat so the electric situation here took on new meaning in terms of survival. In past years we've gone as long as 17 days without power due to ice storms. Three years ago in order to avoid any interruption in power we had a new heating/cooling whole house system installed along with a whole house generator backup powered by a large outdoor propane tank. The shop is also propane supported with an extra portable generator in case the larger system fails. The house also has a wood stove if all of it fails. We still need to store more wood and kindling and it's on a to do list that is still too long. Because of our age and health we're stocked with food/water for 3 months. If conditions warrant we can ration to as long as 6 months, but our time is up when our medications are gone. 

I'd like to remind any that are practicing "off the grid" scenarios to make certain that all participants are healthy and won't have their health compromised. No sense in dealing with an actual health crisis if it can be avoided. Accidents and injuries happen even on a good day. Use your common sense and always practice safety.


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## badlander (Jun 7, 2009)

With the exception of water we have done off the grid up until two years ago when we finally wired our home. Electricity was provided by solar panels and deep cell marine battery. In the morning we ran a gas generator. (yeah I know, gas isn't exactly off the grid but our coffee maker was one of our luxuries) We have two ponds that would provide us with water if the need arose We would naturally have to filter and boil before it was safe to drink and the ponds will also provide us with fish for protein.

Our lighting was kerosene and we heated and cooked with wood. Was it easy? No. But it assured us that we could do it if we had to. We just hope that we don't ever have to.


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## Cygnet (Sep 13, 2004)

I grew up backpacking, so loss of power doesn't really worry me that much. I know I can literally survive for an extended period of time with not much more than a bivvy sack, a sleeping bag, and some chow. Been there, done that. *grin* Sleeping in a bed with blankets, in a building that keeps the bugs out? Luxury. 

We lose power regularly here in winter, usually during deep snow and/or windstorm. Either one can mean we're temporarily stuck until they plow the roads and/or clear fallen trees. Also, before I moved here, I lived in a remote area that lost power during most major summer thunderstorms, sometimes for days at a time. (I prefer losing power in winter. Losing AC in the desert is unpleasant.) Power outages are no biggy. 

I'm not worried about an extended power outage. The property here was off the grid until the year 2000, when the community finally got together and brought land line power in, so the main house is pretty well designed for off grid anyway. It's naturally cool in summer (log cabin with a wrap-around porch), and the centrally located wood stove keeps it toasty in winter. The stove and backup furnace are propane. Flushing toilets requires dragging buckets of water inside, but that is doable. We have coleman lanterns, oil lamps, and flashlights for light. There's even a hot tub that keeps water warm for days, so a bath is doable without heating water. *grin* 

I live in a fifth wheel, so I often don't even notice a short power outage -- the house batteries just kick in and the lights don't even flicker -- and it has a generator for longer ones. There have been times I didn't even realize that the power was out until I tried to use something like the microwave that DOESN'T run off the rig's batteries. (However, the fifth wheel's wastewater is pumped uphill to the septic tank, so in a long outage, I'll be using the inside toilets.) 

What we DO worry about here is bugging out due to wildfire. We're at the end of a dead end road, in an area that is prime for a bad fire. Depending on which way the fire came from and how much warning we had, our reaction could vary from hauling the animals and antiques and our other valuables down to Phoenix, to bugging out on foot or on quad to the nearest open patch of ground a quarter mile away. _That _is something that keeps me up at night during certain times of year. (We haven't practiced anything but we have extensively discussed various scenarios.)


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## AprilM (Jul 23, 2008)

We have very reliable service and have not had an outage in 7 years, so we practice. It has really helped us to identify areas where our infrastructure could be more friendly to no power. The most important aspect has been practicing with oil lamps and how to teach the kids to respect the danger of them.


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## Maura (Jun 6, 2004)

Were we live we could be periodically without electricity for days or weeks even. The longest we&#8217;ve had an outage was three days. It was the three coldest days of the year but we survived. We have in floor radiant heat, so we didn&#8217;t have to leave. The range is propane, so we could cook. Landlines have their own electricity, so you don&#8217;t loose the phone, but you can&#8217;t plug in a cell phone.

The well pump needs electricity, for we&#8217;d be without water. However, we&#8217;d simply drive somewhere else and get jugs of water.


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## Winterwren (Oct 4, 2012)

We're out in rural Quebec, and when the power goes out here, it can be down for a week... and like Maura, our well pump also needs electricity. We've melted snow for water in wintertime, but have to get jugs of water if we lose power in mid July.

A huge snowstorm knocked out power for 3 days last February, and if we didn't have 2 woodstoves, I don't know what we'd have done: we must have gone through a whole cord of wood to fend off the -30 cold, but at least we had heat as well as a means to cook.

Actually, that experience is what inspired this post on preparedness for Inhabitat: http://inhabitat.com/6-emergency-essentials-for-surviving-72-hours-without-power/

If you have any recommendations as to essentials you keep in the house for those emergencies, please pass them along! I can add them into the article: goodness knows a lot of people are going to be dealing with these power outages in the near future.


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## Lilith (Dec 29, 2012)

Practice makes perfect. I even went as far as putting my kids on the spot. We were scheduled to leave for a surprise visit to yellowstone as a family vacation. I hate how my kids always want to take the kitchen sink with us whenever we go camping. As soon as they got off the bus from school, I met them by the door, handed them a packing list strait out of the boy scout handbook, and told them "I don't want you to freak out, but we have to pack to go right away. I can't explain what is going on, I just need you to do this. We might have to carry our stuff, so make sure everything you take is in your packs, and that you can carry it. Dad and I will worry about food, water, and first aide, but I need you to pack your personal gear." They were concerned, and asked a lot of questions and had a lot of suggesting why were leaving in such a hurry; I answered them with "we don't have time to discuss it right now if you want to make it through the next 4 days." 
The smartest thing I did was after we had everything packed, waiting for grandma to pick us up (they still did not know why), I only let them take what they had to Yellowstone. No exceptions! They had to function for 4 days with just what they packed. It rained, the tent leaked, they had no chargers for their tablets, but they sure decided that they would work on listening to Mom and following the list better.
Some kids did better than others, and I was still quite proud of them for making choices about what was most important when they didn't know what was going on. Strange that the youngest was the most prepared. They had socks and underwear, warm clothes, jackets, sleeping bags, rain coats, toothbrushes, soap, toothpaste, floss, and one kid even threw in duck tape that was not on the list. All of them changed into hiking boots, and long pants without even being told.
We did the entire trip as if we were bugging out. Act normal, but be aware of your surroundings. It wasn't until the end of the trip that they were told that this was a practice run to find holes in our plan. They helped figure out the holes (and decided Yellowstone is NOT the place to bug out to; lmao duh) and we had a fantastic weekend! They were surprised to find out that bugging out is not nearly as scary as it sounded when we first talked about it. I think this practice run helped prepare them for camping trips and a shtf situation. I am going to do it again and again. If nothing else, it will make family trips a whole lot easier to get ready for!


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## terri9630 (Mar 12, 2012)

I think yellowstone might be a good spot. Lots of wildlife that will walk right up to the camp, plenty of firewood and water and beautiful scenery. We had buffalo, elk, raccoons, deer and bears walk right into camp, that's a lot of meat delivered right to your fire. At least until they realize they are no longer protected. Just watch for the wolves....


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## Blackwolfe (Sep 9, 2009)

Yellowstone would not be a good spot to bug out too. First and formost there is the chance that the reason for bugging out could set off the couldera, it is a ancient volcano. The second reason is that there will be a coupld hundred thousand peopld thinking the same thing so that in no time there would be no wild game.


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## Lilith (Dec 29, 2012)

The kids decided Yellowstone was not a good place for several reasons.
A: there was no emergency, and the whole park was packed - it wasn't even summer time.
B: to many gyser basins. 
C: Buffalo are to big. 
D: Wolves suck. (we have them here too tho)
E: We have better places to go closer to home.


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## Cygnet (Sep 13, 2004)

Just a general tip -- when preparing for backpacking trips when I was a kid, we always laid everything out on the floor, grouped by category. i.e., all the cooking stuff together, each person's clothes in a pile, all the food laid out, the tent, tent poles, and stakes, etc. 

We had a list of everything that SHOULD be there. However, then we'd "go through the motions" of, say, cooking a meal -- not actually prepare it, but talk it through. Did we have fuel and the backpack stove? Lighters? A cook pot? Utensils for everyone? Or food -- did we have all the ingredients we needed? Salt? Spices? Snacks? Source of caffeine?

We'd talk out scenarios. Going to the bathroom -- did we have TP, flashlights, a trowel?

Someone would usually remember the trip with the dead batteries for the flashlights, and we'd check the batteries. Or we'd remember the time we had eggs but no spatula, and check to make sure that a spatula was present in the cooking kit. Someone would remember the time I fell in the creek and my sleeping bag got soaked, so we'd all bag our sleeping bags in plastic trash bags inside the stuff sacks. Or the time we forgot the tent stakes and had to weigh the tent down with rocks. (Pretty sure list said, "Tent." Nothing about "Tent stakes.") 

Lists are great, right up until the point that you leave an item off the list. There's no substitute for practical experience and discussion. And for actually looking at things and "going through the motions" to discover missing items or flaws.

Also, if you're bugging on foot -- one thing I learned backpacking was that you should have your most critical survival gear in a fanny pack that is not attached to the back pack, and is not heavy. Yeah, fanny packs are now goofy and out of style, but they're the best way to carry stuff you just do NOT want to get separated from. I generally have a magnesium fire starter, lighter, matches, maglite, knife, cordage, waterproof long poncho (big enough to huddle down in for shelter) or duster or similar coat, critical meds, some snacks, iodine tablets, a metal cup, and a couple of small bottles of water in my fanny pack, and if I've also got a backpack on, the fanny pack becomes a tummy pack. In a bug out situation, I'd probably have a sidearm hanging off the fanny pack's belt, too. 

You'll find there are times when you will need to leave your backpack -- say you just made camp and you're looking for firewood, or you're scouting ahead to see if a trail is passable or you're scrambling down into a drainage to get water. Or you may have made camp, but you want to go out and fish or hunt or gather water/firewood/etc. You still want to have basic survival gear on you at all times. Your stuff could grow legs and walk away while you're off gathering wood, or you could end up in a situation where you just can't get back. That happens a lot around here during summer storms -- I've sat on the wrong side of a creek under my poncho, glumly staring at my nice warm tent on the other side of what had been a creek and was now a raging river, more than once. The creek eventually goes down, but you'll be a lot warmer if you've got a couple candy bars and a poncho with you. 

(Even in good times, I have had a camp stove, pots and pans, food, and a few other items "grow legs and walk off" -- I made camp beside my car and then spent all day miles away fishing in very rugged terrain -- the kind of country where you just couldn't hump a pack or find a flat spot to camp if you did. Returned to my camp, and some of my stuff was gone. Grrrrr. Fortunately, I had the tin cup and tea bags in my fanny pack, and I'd caught my limit of trout, so I had hot tea and fish on a spit for dinner and breakfast.)


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## terri9630 (Mar 12, 2012)

Blackwolfe said:


> Yellowstone would not be a good spot to bug out too. First and formost there is the chance that the reason for bugging out could set off the couldera, it is a ancient volcano. The second reason is that there will be a coupld hundred thousand peopld thinking the same thing so that in no time there would be no wild game.


I don't see how a disease, emp, economic collapse or any other man made issues would trigger the volcano to erupt. Many people may go there, but how many could actually live there without outside help? Human predators may be a problem but they will be a problem everywhere if it's bad enough to leave home. Game will be scares everywhere if it's that bad.


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## Jim-mi (May 15, 2002)

If times get really really nasty . . where the heck are you going to get the fuel to get there . .??

where ever "there" is.........


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## unregistered353870 (Jan 16, 2013)

Three to five times per winter I "practice" off grid scenarios, whether I want to or not. That's not counting anything less than a full day. Usually it's two or three days, but has been as long as about ten days before electricity came back on. Usually goes out a few times in each of the other seasons too, but I hardly notice those ones and they tend to get fixed faster.


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## TxGypsy (Nov 23, 2006)

I've lived without electricity and running water often enough and long enough at a time, that I don't feel the need to simulate it. However I am currently doing a drill of cooking out of my preps. This shows me where the holes are. Turns out I didn't pick up any ginger though I could have sworn I did. Putting it on the list. 

Cooking just strictly out of my pantry and bulk stores also gives me a better idea of how quickly I use something up. It also gets me to thinking about what recipes I can use and gives me a chance to look up new recipes.


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## Blackwolfe (Sep 9, 2009)

You are right all of those wont, but a number of natural things could set it off, say a earthquake or even a small meteor, it could go off on its own, dont forget about how they had to close the park this year because the cauldera had gotton so hot that it was melting the roads inside the park, but hay iffin you want to bugout there then go ahead.


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## terri9630 (Mar 12, 2012)

Blackwolfe said:


> You are right all of those wont, but a number of natural things could set it off, say a earthquake or even a small meteor, it could go off on its own, dont forget about how they had to close the park this year because the cauldera had gotton so hot that it was melting the roads inside the park, but hay iffin you want to bugout there then go ahead.


Hadn't heard about the park being closed, a earthquake and meteor could get you anywhere. There was an earthquake on the AZ/NM border this summer that shook most of NM. We have several small bridges that are closed because of damage and no word of when they can be repaired.

I looked it up. They didn't close the park. They closed one road because it was getting so hot it was melting the asphalt. Seems it happens every few years.


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## Vahomesteaders (Jun 4, 2014)

We can go off grid anytime. Have year round running spring from the mountain that never freezes. Have wood cook stoves, plenty of chickens ducks goats rabbits cows turkeys etc.... Have canned for years, plenty of hunting equipment and traps full medical kits including trauma kits, dental kits, needles, numbing agents suture kits staple kits etc.. . Plenty of antibiotics. While we can't plan for everything im pretty confident in what we got. And we live very remote with only a couple like minded neighbors near by.


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## Backyardcreek (Aug 24, 2014)

First I wish to thank each & everyone for adding to this thread. Practice makes perfect and each time I practice I find an oops. 
While going through my 'emergency' binder, pulling out car GOOD bags & other GOOD bags, I discover 1-items that need to be replaced (for lighter/better quality items) & adding items that I didn't think of or just learned was needed. 
Recently I stumbled across a prep site. Ok thought I was ready but the writer pointed out that for every action, a person should have three ways to accomplish any necessary task. 
Does anyone else practice this?


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## lindamarie (Jul 9, 2013)

we live a practice run everyday, going on 15 years now. Gravity fed water from our spring, heat only wood, root cellar and spring house. Cooking on small propane stove in warm weather, antique wood cookstove when cold, water solar heated when weather warm and copper tubing around wood stove when cold. No refrigerator or freezer for 15 years, laundry by hand. All utilities stop 3 miles away, internet thru smart phone and we have 3 solar panels.

its just me and hubby now, but we raised two of our five kids back here and at times the grandkids.


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## unregistered41671 (Dec 29, 2009)

Sure is good to see you Lindamarie.


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## lindamarie (Jul 9, 2013)

thanks possum belly. Its been a long time. Good to be home.


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

lindamarie said:


> thanks possum belly. Its been a long time. Good to be home.



hi neighbor !!


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## lindamarie (Jul 9, 2013)

elkhound.....im feeling better than I have in a long time, so get ready.....sending yogi back over the mountain to you. I got me a new bigger and better broom to chase him with.


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## Spinner (Jul 19, 2003)

Backyardcreek said:


> Just curious, how many folks actually practice a 'lock down, no power' situation?


I don't have to practice, my crappy power company is so undependable that I often have power outages that last anywhere from a few minutes to 3 weeks. Admittedly, we've only had 3 week outages 2 or 3 times, but they were all the training I needed to get prepped for loss of power. 

I've got the system down pat... gens to power the freezer so I don't lose everything in it. Alternate cooking systems. My normal heat is wood so nothing changes there. Lots of solar lights, tent lights, candles, flashlights, lanterns. 

I hate when I'm forced to practice more. I think I've got it down pat, so they can stop handing out the practice runs any time...:hair


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## Explorer (Dec 2, 2003)

If you are within one tank of gas, Yellowstone would be a fantastic place to bug out to. There are dirt road into the park that are not gated or manned. Years ago I camped alot in the back country (just beware of the grizzlies with your food) and rarely saw anyone else even far away. *Just stay away from developed campgrounds! *


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## michael ark (Dec 11, 2013)

Longest i have been indoor camping was 2013 ice storms. 13 days and i still had to work. People were dying days later from icey roads , falling limbs , live downed power lines and ice falling out of the trees. Time before that was 2009 and that was 10 days.:grin:


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## NJ Rich (Dec 14, 2005)

Hurricane Sandy here in NJ caused us to be without power for almost 13 days. A BBQ grill; fireplace; stored water and a camping stove insured we ate well. Not having power but having stocked a lot of ice kept food chilled.

I think that qualifies as an "off grid drill". I have cooked with Dutch Ovens and campfire cooking and am at home doing that to cook food. I have complete sets of pots and pans; cast iron skillets; porcelain coffee pots; Dutch Ovens; welders gloves; grates/grills and cooking utensils to do it all. 

Do you need cookware to cook over an open fire and not use your expensive pots and pans with plastic handles? Go to Yard Sales and Flea markets. 


Look around the net and you will find thousands of sites full of recipes and cooking instructions that are easy to do. Start with simple dishes and work up from there. 

One major point some people do not know is the cooking is done over the coals of the fire not over the flames. I am set up now to cook outside if needed.


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