[CreativeSuiteDown]

hang in there bc, IF it's any help to you, I (not just me, a VERY large area) once went without electricity for very close to 3 weeks.........some went longer....

[DrCeshing]

BC, you oughta be thinking about going gravity fed with your water (if possible) we tried the pump/pressure tank and took it out in less then a year, just a pain in the A$$. We had a sunfrost fridge for a few years that you could run off a car battery, I know you are just starting out but at least you are heading in the right direction. Hang in there !

http://www.sunfrost.com/refrigerators_main.html

[barsikjal]

My dad has a Husqvarna 359 and I really like that saw - What would be the equivalent saw in the Stihl line so I can compare? I dont know anything about saws...

260 and 290 are a little smaller. 361 is a little bigger.

I've got a 260 and an an 066. I use the 066 for heavy blocking. The 260 for everything else. If I only had one saw, I would get a 361. It's a little heavier than a 260, but the extra power would be worth it.

When I was in Jr high and high school, we ran Homelite XLs and XL2s. I would take 3 or 4 out and come back when I had a pickup load of wood or all the saws were broken, whichever came first (about 50/50). When I went to college, Dad realized that his free saw repair had left and he bought a Stihl 021. It is now 16 years old and has only needed basic maintainence and a carb kit a few years ago. He farms and cuts his own wood for a leaky old furnace in a leaky trailer house, so it gets plenty of use - about 20 cords of hardwood per year plus farm cleanup work. It has over 1000 hours on it and runs like new. This is from a saw that Stihl calls a "homeowner/occasional use". I don't think anyone but a professional lumberjack could ever wear out one of their "professional" saws.

I cut aboutthe same amount of wood. My saws are not near that old, and have had no problems yet.

[pirinosa]

Stern Solar showers I swear buy them

Me and the troops are currently using right now because the water heater busted a while ago and im not fixxing it in house thats going back to the bank someday.


They have 4.0 Gallon and 2.5 Gallons Get three of each so you have multiple back ups

Dont get the one with the shower pouch as it totally useless and they charge a few bucks for something that wont fit a standard bottle

The 4 gallons are awesome but they are HEAVY and they get flaming hot which will cause the handle to tear after enough uses.

The 2.5 gallon will do the job just as well plus the have the benifit of getting warmer faster because its a smaller amount and much more manageable.


I cant endorse this product enough because it really be a life saver on multiple levels also there is added benifit of anonmity I had this solar bag laying out and people would walk by and scracth their head not knowing what it was or what it did. I eventually had a neighboor ask and he was utterly astounded when i told what it did and the cost.


Any how glad you shared your experince. got plans to run out and get a hand crank emergency radio and a extra hellping of canned goods after listening to your tail of Murphy.

keep safe and +1 on the Berkey with the creek water .

[Gymnfacymoota]

Thanks for the info on the saw and the solar shower! I'm going to order some of those showers right now!

I REALLY looked at getting a Sun Frost fridge, but they were so expensive. I ended up buying a mass-market, yet most efficient fridge I could, to save some money.
For example:
Sun Frost RF19 is $3,265 (half freezer, half fridge) and uses 372 kWh/yr
Sun Frost RF16 is $3,117 (has larger fridge then 19) and uses 254 kWh/yr
Whirlpool WRT351SFYW is $809 and uses 364 kWh/yr (21.1cuFt)
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_04685182000P

Not all that much difference in electical usage, but much much cheaper. Sun Frost would be good for buying smaller fridges no doubt as there aren't that many offerings except terrible "mini-fridges" for college.

---------------

Non-fridge eating and food ideas:

We've had spaghetti twice, nothing from the fridge necessary (though it is a bit plain without cheese and meat)
Buying meat sauce canned could solve the "no-meat" issue...but we dont buy meat sauce.

Quick No bake Tuna noodle casserole:
2 pouches Knorr Butter Noodles
3 cans of tuna
Fix noodles, mix in tuna, serve.
Its delicious! We used butter which could be in your fridge...but lasts a week or so just fine out of the fridge. Could substitute any oil probably or even just use water w/o an oil.

Been having cereal with powdered milk, we dont have cold water so its cold-ish. The coldish+powdered milk tastes fine on cereal but not so good just to drink. I'd rather just have water.
Kids have been eating cold pop tarts (really healthy! lol)

Kraft mac n cheese makes up decently with just water, powdered milk helps so we were doing that as well.

We have MREs and mountain house stored but haven't tapped into it yet.

--------------------

Also the clay pigeons went over well! It was a good midday activity, fun...Got the neighbors involved and they had fun too! I need another box...ha!

[pirinosa]

I've got 2 or 3 of those gravity fed camp showers packed away. I'm strange when it comes to personal hygene, so those types of items were always a priority. I'll probably starve to death before i go without a shower and a shave.

In a grid down situation Aside from having decent food BEING CLEAN IS ONE OF THE BIGGEST MORALE BOOSTERS THEIR IS.

[E4qC1qQ5]

I manage marinas for a living. You guys have no idea how far ahead of the curve most boaters are! On their boats, they are completely independent of the grid. Sailboats get free propulsion. Most have solar panels on board, which keep their batteries charged. Power invertors make AC current in addition to the 12-volt DC they have. Nearly everyone has a reverse-osmosis watermaker for plenty of fresh drinking water. Fish are pretty much abundant wherever they go. And not much shortage of water for a bath or shower. You guys need to figure it out!

[Yarmark]

For those of you who had power outages, did the water, gas, and other services go out? I've heard water will go out over time if power goes out since the pumps stop working which causes the water pressure to go down. Does anyone know anything about that?

[Liaptoono]

For those of you who had power outages, did the water, gas, and other services go out? I've heard water will go out over time if power goes out since the pumps stop working which causes the water pressure to go down. Does anyone know anything about that?

Not sure about other locations. But here when the power goes out that is all that happens on a limited local level. The other utilities still work, gas, water, etc. Electricity is used by the pumps to pump water into the water towers. And it is the head higth of the water in the tanks that supply's water pressure to the tap at home. On a larger outage, gas may or not go out, depending if your areas gas is pumped into it, it would depend on where the pump is. But here that is not a problem because the gas transmission system uses natural gas to run the pump engines.

Water could eventually stop when the water towers run empty without power, and it does take a good chunk of horsepower too get water into those tanks.

The longest outage I have seen here methinks was about 4-5 days, and the gas and water was still was working. But this is a small town 6-7k in the oil patch.

[SM9WI8oI]

I have a ms290 farm boss jobbie and it works good for most stuff. I put a 20" bar on it for bigger work. I have a 170 for little stuff because its very light and easy to use ( I call the woman saw).

If I had to do it again I would get the 362 (which is the old 361 or old 036 i think) as you can really put some work out with that saw and it's still fairly light. The 290 is a pig for the amount of power (it's heavy). I have never had any significant problems with either of my Stihls. My neighbors run the crap out of theirs and those saws are 20 years old.

I need to get a genset and some kind of a hand pump for my well......I don't really need power for anything else other than freezer and well. I have the money and just keep putting it off. Nice to get a reminder.

[DrCeshing]

LOL , I'm sorry, after years of living like that....... finally I am almost totally self sufficient ( except for propane) I would be screwed without propane, I was talking to a friend today about the old days living in a trailer house and barely having enough power for a few lights maybe a hour of tv, forget about a computer.

Once all the pipes froze and we couldn't even pump water, we went to town and brought 400 gals. up here, he went out in the 40 degree weather and cleaned up , not me I just stayed dirty/stinky. The house was hot in the summer and freezing cold in the winter, (it sucked) we used a regular old wood cook stove for heat,( its still in the barn) I remember one cold morning I went to the bathroom and steam came up outta the toliet (sorry for that thought), damn it was cold and hell hot in the summer.

Jezz, I am so lucky and blessed. I am living high on the hog now !!! lol

AH the good ol days


EDIT; gravity fed water!

[barsikjal]

I should have mentioned that the Stihls that end in an even number (024, 026, 028, 036 etc.) under the old system, or have the second digit an even number under the new system (260, 360, 361 etc.) are the professional saws and have a better power to weight ratio.

Like Mouse said, the 290 is heavy. The 360 is the same weight and has 22% more power.

[Gymnfacymoota]

Power is back as of 10pm tonight. I bought and shot another box of clay pigeons today as my 4th celebration. They sorta look like fireworks when you hit them square. Big orange burst and of course a loud report

Got a list going for supplies for the next time.
Solar battery charger, solar shower, AA powered led lanterns (we have oil lamps, but they added too much heat to an already hot house, will save for winter lighting), AA eneloop batteries, AA D-cell adapters, emergency well bucket.

Also a chainsaw and Natural gas genny for in the future. Our NG comes from the neighbors well about 500ft from our house. We didn't lose gas during this outage, and the well is mostly self pressurized. The pump runs once or twice a month just to swap the well from what I can tell.

[bQXHsKzS]

YAY !!! Soo happy for you ! Five days !! Whew ! Just keep doing what you said....getting ready for the next time !

Enjoy your electricity. It will feel like an awesome luxury , I know !!
We lost power on & off today....yikes, I thought....come back on....come back on.....hold breath......back on !
Whew again !

Edit- Btw, I've never seen a storm where it's bright, sunshiney , but thundering & raining like crazy . Weird.

[pirinosa]

AA eneloop batteries, AA D-cell adapters, emergency well bucket.

WHAT ARE THESE?

[Gymnfacymoota]

AA eneloop batteries, AA D-cell adapters, emergency well bucket.

WHAT ARE THESE?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eneloop

They are low self-discharge NiMH rechargeable batteries. According to that wiki they lose about 10% charge in a years time (unlike normal NiMH which lose 20% on the first day). They're also good for about 1500 recharges (If charged EVERY DAY they will last 4+ years)

They get rave reviews on Amazon and just about everywhere else I've read about them. They are made by multiple companies, but the Sanyo Eneloop seem to have the biggest following. (Duracell's brand of low self discharge are just rebranded eneloops)

[karkinadze]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eneloop

They are low self-discharge NiMH rechargeable batteries. According to that wiki they lose about 10% charge in a years time (unlike normal NiMH which lose 20% on the first day). They're also good for about 1500 recharges (If charged EVERY DAY they will last 4+ years)

They get rave reviews on Amazon and just about everywhere else I've read about them. They are made by multiple companies, but the Sanyo Eneloop seem to have the biggest following. (Duracell's brand of low self discharge are just rebranded eneloops)

eeneloops rock. i use them all the time.

[Tij84ye]

Check out Bison Pumps .... www.bisonpumps.com

If you canned your own food, you would not have to resort to cans of tuna....
http://s995.photobucket.com/albums/a...cannedmeat.jpg

Check out Sun Danzer solar powered refrigerator and or freezer. I think they cost around 1300.00. Mine is a chest style. You can buy a device that switches it from a freezer to refrigerator. After reading about that guy in Argentina, Frugal ( I think) He said the one thing that was the most handy in a power out scenario was a way to keep his food cold. http://sundanzer.com/

Glad you are safe!

[CIAFreeAgent]

ImaCannin!

[Gymnfacymoota]

Do you suggest that I can my own tuna ima? I love fish! Fresh tuna is prohibitively expensive, but we eat a lot of "fresh" salmon, whiting, and catfish. I don't care for tilapia but I will eat it.
I also eat Bluegills and crappie that I catch myself...never tried canning any of it. If is possible to home can fish? Does it keep its texture or turn to mush?

Also, we do have a pressure canner but I have not canned meats with it. I suppose I should!
We can from our garden....carrots, green beans, beets, and spaghetti sauce.
I guess I'll need to add chicken to that list. Once I get my coop built (In progress) and get used to the laying hens that are in a brooder right now, I'll try some meat chickens and I'll try canning them.