No rules without exception

After 258 consecutive weeks, I finally missed my weekly upload of a blog post. There are no rules without exceptions, and in my case, it was the worst storm I have ever witnessed. Gusts of wind up to 31 m/s, 38 hours without power in below zero temperatures, no phone or internet connection and completely cut off from civilization by hundreds of fallen trees. In such circumstances, one must adapt, and priorities must shift.

We had a bad storm back in November 2020. I remember that the wind was so strong in my backyard that I fell. That has never happened to me before. That time, we were quite unprepared. It was our first year in the house and we hadn’t really figured out how much prepping is needed. We ended up completely separated from civilisation. No internet, no telephone, no electricity and no road to get out. That was an excellent wakeup call, to learn just how vulnerable we are. The number one most important addition to our arsenal was a chainsaw. There is no way around the fact that you must be able to leave if necessary. Our road is private, so the cavalry ain’t comin´. We have to saw our way out to the main road. Just process that for a second. If you have an accident, for example cutting yourself with said chainsaw, you will not be able to call for help and even if you could, the ambulance could not get to you. And landing an ambulance helicopter in hurricane strength wind does not sound good. So, you are on your own in a way many of us in the west have never come close to.

The second most important upgrade I did after the first storm was a battery powered 4G router and an external powerful antenna so I could reach other towers that the phone was too weak to talk to. Communication is crucial, you have to be able to call for help. Then we also added a water supply with at least one week of storage but one could probably go two weeks with conservation. Water is even more important than food. I also have a huge cabinet with dry storage food and other useful things with no or extremely long expiry dates. Oh, and how could I forget, Heat of course. Without heat the buildings can get damaged. Badly if we are talking about sub-zero temperatures and the water pipes freeze up. That is one of my biggest concerns. The main building has a wooden fireplace which is fantastic. But the other buildings do not have any fireplaces. That’s why I bought a propane heater, to have something that is independent of the power grid.

Prepping is just like investing in gold. You lock up resources that could have been spent more effectively on something more productive, like the stock market. The gold just sits there. But that’s fine. One of or perhaps the primary reason for buying gold is peace of mind. That gold will keep its inherent value whatever happens. And that will absolutely make you calm dawn and consequently make wiser decisions in general, when the shit hits the fan – which it 100% will. It is just a matter of time.

Fast forward to 2024, and this latest storm was significantly stronger and colder than 2020. However, this time we were ready. I clocked up pretty good mileage on all my prepper equipment. The most important equipment was now taken care of and ready to use again. Another very good sign is that you can drink hot coffee, a true nice-to-have. Still, I found a lot of small Quality if life-improvements; some of which are given below:
1. A big powerbank and/or a USB charger that can attach to lawnmover or motorcycle batteries, with red and black clamps. I had USB charging installed on my XT660 some years ago and they let me use my motorcycle as a phone charger. But next time I want to have the battery clamps. I am sure that you can charge a lot of phones from a regular car battery, for example.

2. UPS power for critical IT equipment. This is quite a no-brainer.

3. Increased supply of fuel for cooking equipment. And increased food supply.

4. Grill basket for cooking in the fireplace.

5. Analog thermometers, a bunch of them, to keep track of the building environment.

6. Small fake battery powered candles. No particle emissions!

7. USB recharge cables for handheld Nintendos. (Quality of Life)

 One thing that I do not have a good solution for right now is how to heat the buildings sufficiently when the rooms are without ventilation. I find this very scary. The propane heater works, but it also produces nasty exhaust that must be ventilated. Perhaps one could use a gas-powered generator to power critical equipment.