The recent Texas ice storm and power outage crisis once again emphasized how important it is to prepare for such events.
There are some people who put significant time, effort and money into preparing. I am not one of them. What I am is a cheap prepper who probably spends about $20 a year on prepping supplies. But I found that just doing that made me much better prepared for surviving the ice storm/energy outage/boil notice event than other people. So here’s a brief guide to cheaply prepping for a range of disasters.
I’ve included Amazon links, but for some items (like batteries), Sam’s or Lowe’s tends to offer better prices. Batteries are among good that can be purchased tax free during the Texas emergency preparation sales tax holiday, which is April 24-26 this year, along with smoke and CO detectors, fire extinguishers and first aid kits.
The Basics
These are just all-purpose tools everyone should already have, listed here for completeness sake.
First aid kit: There are a lot of different makes and models of these, and this is another one where Sam’s offers a kit that’s a bit cheaper than this one. Has a little bit of everything. A good thing to keep in your car for emergencies.
Smoke alarm: Everyone should already have these, but if you don’t, or want more, these are cheap, and it has a silence button so you can put it in your kitchen. This batch seems to be made in Mexico, but First Alert also makes stuff in China, so caveat emptor.
Carbon Monoxide detector. Doean’t say but I suspect it’s another made-in-China item. There are some combination carbon monoxide/smoke detectors, but I think you want to avoid the possibility of a single point of failure there.
Fire Extinguisher: Every home should have at least one, and make sure it’s not expired. This is what I have (I think it’s made in Mexico), but fortunately I’ve never had to use it.
Water leak detector: A lot of people don’t have these, but I consider them essential basic gear, as they can save you hundreds or thousands of dollars in water damage. I had one of mine go off a week before the ice storm hit because a shutoff valve I had closed to plunge an overflowing toilet had started leaking. Usual made in China caveats apply, but it’s very simple tech (two parallel wires on the exterior that water closes the circuit and sets off when wet). That link goes to a 5-pack, because I recommend putting one behind every toilet, under every sink you use, under your water heater, and next to your washing machine (I’ve had mine start rocking for an unbalanced load that pulled the drain hose loose). (There’s an even cheaper five pack from another manufacturer (also made in China) that I have no experience with.)
Speaking of plunging toilets, I imagine everyone already has a plunger, but if you don’t, here’s one, and you might consider one for each bathroom, or at least each floor. Also, the black bell shaped ones are a lot more effective than the small old red ones.
Speaking of things everyone should already have more of, everyone needs flashlights. I have an old bulb-type Maglite, but here’s a pretty close equivalent with LEDs. As a bonus, it’s also heavy enough to conk someone out. I have flashlights in my bedroom, my kitchen and in my car’s glovebox. The highest rated flashlight on Amazon is the Streamlight 75458 Stinger DS, which is about four times as expensive as the Maglite. I assume it’s brighter and with a longer life, and maybe you have a use case that justifies the cost. And if you have a flashlight, chances are you’ll also need…
Batteries. The Maglite takes D-Cells, and you’re going to want, at a minimum, enough to reload every flashlight twice, which should be enough to get you through a couple of evenings of power outages. Check your flashlights every six months when you check your smoke and CO detectors. Speaking of which, those and the water leak detectors take 9 volt batteries, and you want enough around to be able to change out every battery in your detectors as needed. Those links go to Duracells, which I’ve been pretty happy with.
Car jump starter: Much better than jumper cables, and can save you money when you have a dead battery, or beacuse it’s just not cranking in the cold.
Water shut off tool. The toilet valve problem made me keenly aware that I did not have the specific house water shutoff valve tool, so I went ahead and ordered this one, which also has a gas shutoff tool. You need one of these for the same reason you need a water leak detector, i.e. it will greatly limit damage before the plumber gets there.
Sawyer Products Water Filtration System: Austin is still under a boil notice, and the Sawyer system (which I bought the last time Austin was under a boil notice) is Good Enough, even if it is a slight pain to fill and squeeze the bag enough times for my dogs and I to drink (but still less of a pain that boiling water and waiting for it to cool).
Duct tape is useful to have year-round, but especially during an emergency, to patch a small leak or keep something together until the emergency is over and you can replace it. Link goes to 3M all-weather duct tape, which is better than the generic stuff for outside tasks, like sealing around the edge of a faucet cover.
Cold Weather
Here are some specific prep items for cold weather:
Faucet Covers. If you’re a homeowner, you probably already have those, but if not, here they are, and they seem to work better than a rag or dripping the faucet, and neither of my faucets busted in the ice storm. That link goes to the cheap Styrofoam version, but these plastic ones look a bit bigger and stronger.
O’Keeffe’s Working Hands hand cream: I walk my dogs 2-3 times a day pretty much every single day of the year, and I found my hands getting cracked and raw in the cold, even through gloves. O’Keeffe’s Working Hands fixed the problem. I frequently give this stuff out as Christmas gifts.
Carmex lip balm. A small, cheap jar that solves the chapped lips problem in winter. I know some people prefer Chapstick, but to me the main result of using Chapstick is that 30 minutes later you fell a need to use more Chapstick.
Eucerin Intensive Repair Foot Creme: For some reason, my feet were really hurting after a few days of walking around in the cold. This seems to have fixed the problem. A podiatrist had previously recommended Kerasal Intensive Foot Repair for the same problem, and I have some of that on order, but it’s considerably pricier per ounce, and I couldn’t find any locally.
De-icing spray. You can stand there for 15 minutes ineffectually scraping your frozen windows like William H. Macy in Fargo, or you can keep a bottle of this in your trunk.
I think I’ve covered the basics, and I’m not tackling things like food, clothing, generators, etc. Feel free to add anything I missed in the comments.
Tags: China, ice storm, plumbing, prepper, Texas, tools
This entry was posted on Monday, February 22nd, 2021 at 6:43 AM and is filed under Texas. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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Good information. I’ve got most of those listed.
Thanks.
A lifesaver for us was having a propane camp stove and a mix of propane and battery powered lanterns. This of course comes with all of the warnings about using combustibles in the house. I picked up two battery powered CO monitors as back to the one in our alarm system.
A camp coffee maker was a sanity saver. We just had a French press, but I am picking up a 10 cup pot that runs off a 1lb propane bottle. We didn’t have grounds on hand, so we cut open Keurig pods and used those grounds.
A point about those jump starters – don’t leave them in the car when it is much below freezing. I found out they don’t work well when cold; tried to jump start a colleagues car and it would barely turn over. After warming it up it worked fine.
We save large Cranberry Juice containers, rinse them out and fill with water. They hold a gallon each and we store in the basement. We try to re-fill every 2 years. Keep 30 around plus a couple, frozen, in our freezers.
Thanks for posting. Unfortunately there are some rather specific limits on the item cost that readers need to keep in mind. Basically, any generator under $3000 and any emergency ladder or hurricane shutters under $300; all other exempted items must have a unit cost including shipping under $75 per item (which excludes many of the really useful items that we would like to have for emergencies).
Also some very useful items from the recent bad weather are specifically disallowed, so read the rules carefully to get maximum benefit. A critical point for those who wish to order generators is that the order must be accepted and paid for within the time period but delivery can be accepted later (and any shipping cost counts toward the total purchase).
De-icing spray….
70% isopropyl and water, 50%. Cheap sprayer.
Better.
Snow/Ice cover for your windshield.
https://www.amazon.com/SnowOFF-Car-Windshield-Snow-Cover/dp/B00RKR7QFS/
A behavior tip rather than a purchase: if the power goes out or you even think it might, that’s the time to start filling up a lot of water containers and even bathtubs if you got ’em. When power fails, water systems are notorious for failing after them, and you don’t want to start thinking about filling containers after the city reduces pressure or announces a boil-water advisory. But if you have a metal roof, gutters, and downspouts, it’s hard to beat a rainwater cistern plus filter/pump for a reliable water supply backup. You’ll need at least a minimum-size generator, but those can be hand for $200, not thousands of dollars like the whole-house variety.
I had several neighbors report getting surprising warmth from simple candles placed under terracotta pots. Some even heated up small servings of food or tea that way. You’re not going to create a big CO hazard with a few candles. But of course camp cooking gear is vastly preferable if you have a safety ventilated way to use them.
It’s not hard to install a small wood-burning stove even if you didn’t think it made sense to include a real fireplace in the building budget.
FILL PRESCRIPTIONS. Not only will it be hard to get out for a while, but stores close when they lose power. Ditto for filling gas tanks: the filling stations don’t work when the power is off.
Your internet service may not survive a power outage, but you can get hotspot internet on a smart phone if you’ve bought the right phone contract. Community communications are critical in a disaster. People can often pool their resources on things like plumbing fixtures for temporary repairs.
No alternate heat source like a kerosene or propane heater?
And if you have warning, like the lights go out and its 7 degrees, you can use the bathtub storaqe for 100 gallons. Beats melting snow and iciycles for water. WaterBOB Bathtub Storage Emergency Drinking Water Container, Comes with Hand Pump, Disaster and Hurricane Survival, BPA-Free (100 Gallon)
Everyone has a cell phone. Look into getting a Power Bank so you can recharge your phone(s). Otherwise, you can use your car to charge up the phone.
Kerosene lamps provide light and also heat. And you can use them even in a suburban home. Power banks are cheap and I do have the battery jump start, which can charge my phone too.
Not a bad idea, but I don’t have one, beyond candles. And I didn’t use any in the short time I was out of power. And with kerosene and propane you run into both flammable storage, supply and venting issues. (I’m given to understand HEB ran out of propane tanks very early on.) People have died from running kerosene heaters inside. Likewise storing firewood, as not everyone has a fireplace.
If you have cordless power tools with detachable batteries, get a USB phone-charger attachment for the batteries. They hold more power than most power banks and are multi-use.
Alternative to de-icing spray : spare key. Start car, turn on defroster on high. Lock car running, go back inside and drink coffee until windshield clears.
First Aid kit: Let me suggest spending a few more dollars and getting a basic trauma kit. It’s nothing more than a large bandage or two (the sort you see in war movies, with lots of cloth so you can wrap it around the torso, a large leg, even the head) and some blood coagulant, a splint, and a plastic container you can use to stop a sucking chest wound. If someone has a tree come down on them, they slip with a chainsaw in cleanup, etc. Your 3/4″ band-aids aren’t going to help much. You might never use it, but you’ve got it for something ugly (while you wait for the ambulance). (I carry one in my car. I’ve come across a couple of accidents where I didn’t know if it might come in handy.)
Also, something that might cost some bucks, but take a first aid/CPR course. For some purposes you might have to renew those qualifications, but for general knowledge you don’t (unless you forget). And it’s good knowledge to have no matter what the situation.
Another thing to have is some basic carpentry skills, and a saw and hammer and some nails and some wood. You don’t need a lot of skill or a lot of materials. But a small amount of scrap lumber could go a long way toward covering the busted out window or maybe propping a damaged door shut, etc. Also, a sturdy tarp – cover windows, hole in the roof, and so on.
I concur on candles. In a small space they can provide a surprising amount of heat. They can also provide some morale – they’re honestly kinda cheery when everything else is dark. (Those should go in a car kit, too. Your car is a perfect place for the limited heat and limited oxygen usage of a survival candle.)
Bob mentioned juice containers. A cut gallon milk jug (or gallon water jug) works well as a scoop for water. Cut it so you still have the handle, but a fairly large pour opening. Then keep it next to your filled tub for water with which to flush. Toilets and tubs are often close together so it’s handy that way.
If you’re looking for a little more in the way of prep info (still some of it just thinking ahead and not spending much money) check out this guest post at Sarah Hoyt’s blog about bug-out-bags:
https://accordingtohoyt.com/2021/02/15/many-shades-of-bob-by-doug-irvin/
We’re a tad north of Texas and had eight straight days of below zero temps. One thing my wife just ordered for the cars was Hot Hands lap warmers. I hope never to need it but a few hours of extra warmth could be mighty handy.
Not listed in All of the Above. Be prepared to set up a pit for a small fire to boil a small kettle of water. Mine was a 3’x3′ remnant of Hardi-Backer for tile installation, and two 12″x12″ patio tiles set in a lean-together at roughly 90 degrees, for a windbreak.
Nine bits of 2″x2″x12″, leftover from building new porch railings. Built up in three sections of three, 90 degrees opposed, bottom to top. Wee bit of cotton rag (painters cloth) at the bottom of two squares of the stack, aligned with the wind. Splash about 4 oz. of gasoline on the wood and rags. Wait one minute and put lighter to fumes.
When the black smoke stops, put the kettle atop the wooden rick, and about 5 min later, you have boiling water. Take that in to make your tea or coffee or instant cocoa. The wood will burn down to ash, leaving the Hardi Backer ready for the next excursion into boiling happiness.
But you’ll wanna put that Hardi Plank on the curb for trash pickup when it’s all over. You’ll have cooked that concrete matrix down into cracked powder, at the very least.
Jim
Sunk New Dawn
Galveston, TX
On the flashlight front, for something that’s of both everyday and emergency use, we have several combination night light/flashlights around our house. Normally just very good night lights, when the power goes out you can unplug them and use them as a flashlight. They recharge when plugged in. Our power went out for 30 hours, but the night lights worked throughout the outage. I suppose the lights or batteries will eventually wear out, but we’ve had these for at least 7 years and they are still going strong. (Info for the product below says the flashlight lasts 8 hours.)
We’ve had ours so long I don’t remember where I got them, but this product looks similar: https://smile.amazon.com/Datexx-Sentina-Emergency-Flashlight-LED-92MB/dp/B000M7SWTM/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=datexx+nightlight&qid=1614084621&sr=8-1
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