# Found Some Holes



## UncleJoe (Jan 11, 2009)

In case you've been out of the loop for a couple days, the Mid-Atlantic just had a very early season snowstorm. Snow piling up on trees that still have their leaves is a recipe for trouble.

I usually don't bring firewood into the house before the first killing frost which has been late in coming this year. But since this storm was heading our way we put a half cord of wood in the cellar so as not to be trudging through snow to get to it. Got the generator out of the shed just in case and brought an extra propane tank down.

The power started flickering about 11:00 Saturday morning. It was off and on before failing altogether about 12:00. No problem. We've lost power before; usually not more than 5-6 hours as we're on a main line and the power company is quick to repair it. Since it was daytime we didn't worry about electric. 

When the grid started showing signs of stress I went up and filled the bathtub to have a supply of water close at hand for the toilet. Went to the cellar and got the oil lamps, filled them and brought them upstairs. Already had food and drinking water covered. DW had a big stockpot full of chicken corn soup which we parked on top of the furnace and kept it hot all day. No fighting the mobs at the store for the last of the bread, milk and eggs. Let the storm come. We're ready.

Lights out just before noon. OOPS. No fan for the wood furnace. Now, it will heat the house without it through convection, but it is much more efficient using the fan. OK. I just purchased 2 deep cycle batteries and have a small 400w inverter. No sense running the gen. for a fan. I brought the batteries in, hooked up the inverter, plugged in the fan and we're back in business. 

We spent most of the day reading and in general just being lazy.  As the day passed into evening we lit the lamps. Hmmmm, not quite as much light as I would like for reading. I know :idea: all those solar LED's that line the sidewalk. OOPS. They were covered with snow and hadn't charged enough. Kind of useless.  So, got the aluminium foil out to reflect the lamp light in one direction. Not ideal but it helped. Still no grid at 10:30 so filled the furnace with wood, set a pot of water next to the pot of soup and off to bed. Woke up around 6:00. Still dark so light the lamps and a couple candles. Had hot water for her coffee and my tea. But wait... something smells odd. Apparently the soup, even sitting on the heat all night, had gone sour. Oh well, the chickens won't care. Something sounds odd as well. AH... no fan. The battery had dropped below 11v overnight and the inverter shut down. No problem. got the other battery hooked up and the fan is running again. And to make the morning complete, it appears the bathtub plug isn't a very good seal. All the water had seeped out overnight. THIS is a problem. Unfortunately, with freezing weather approaching, I had just drained the 250 gallon rainwater tank I use for the garden and because I'm a procrastinator, I haven't installed the hand pump on the well yet. Sooo, I pulled out my 10' stepladder, attached a pulley to it, ran a rope through the pulley with a 5 gallon bucket and pulled water the old fashioned way.

Around 10:00 I fired up the generator to plug in the frig and charge the battery. Found out, it starts a LOT easier in the summer than on a 25° morning. 

The power came back on 26 hours later, around 2:00 this afternoon, and in general we weathered the storm fine. But we did find a few holes that need repaired before the the next storm.


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## Wallrat (Oct 28, 2011)

The whole time I'm reading this I'm thinking to myself 'Now this guy's a prepper.' Got to love self-suficient people! Good story.


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## lefty (Sep 29, 2011)

sounds like you did fine to me


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## Tirediron (Jul 12, 2010)

Sounds like things went pretty smoothly , except for the tub drain, water is a big item, and in your case handled with just a little extra effort.

I would like to hear how the same storm affected a sheeple family :gaah:


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## VUnder (Sep 1, 2011)

You did real good. No plan is a perfect plan and nobody remembers everything. Being able to keep going regardless of what is and what isn't, is the name of the game. This isn't about crossing the finish line first, just crossing the line. Thumbs up!


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## FunnyFarm (Oct 26, 2011)

Sounds like you did just fine. Went just about the same here. When the hurricane went through just a bit ago we watched people flocking to shelters. I was dumfounded to see just how many people out there haven't a clue what to do without power or supermarkets. Keep on keeping on...


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## Jimmy24 (Apr 20, 2011)

Good job Uncle Joe. You done good. Nice to be prepared and now knowledge to make it more bearable next time. Glad everything ok.

Jimmy


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## ZoomZoom (Dec 18, 2009)

Sounds like you did just fine Joe. Those weren't holes, just small leaks. Nothing is going to work perfectly but you're fine if you have alternate means of taking care of an issue (e.g. battery/inverter for stove) and the knowledge to kick those things into play you're doing fine.


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## Jezcruzen (Oct 21, 2008)

A prepper friend sent me this link the other day. Might be of consideration for some of you.

Emergency Water Storage

Sounds like you did fine. It is a learning process, thats for sure.


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## bunkerbob (Sep 29, 2009)

Isn't it grand being prepared. I bet some of your neighbors wish they were.


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## Clarice (Aug 19, 2010)

Consider this a test for what may come later. Uncle Joe, I think you were pretty well prepared. Now that you know where the weak links are you'll be even more prepared next time. I know your post has opened my eyes to a few shortcomings in my preps.


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## Grizz (Jan 24, 2010)

Sounds like you had a very sucessful time. Your tub draining all your water made me think i would probably lose mine as well. We will have plenty of drinking water for weeks but i think i will line the tubs and sinks with plastic if i need to.


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## Wallrat (Oct 28, 2011)

Grizz said:


> Your tub draining all your water made me think i would probably lose mine as well. We will have plenty of drinking water for weeks but i think i will line the tubs and sinks with plastic if i need to.


Just a thought, but carwashes often have some really heavy-duty plastic jugs, and they give them away (in my experience). They take some cleaning, but are perfect.


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## k0xxx (Oct 27, 2011)

It seems to me that things, while not perfect, went quite well. You worked around the little problems that arose nicely (adapted and overcame).

My first ice storm I ran out and bought a brand new generator and put it in my storage shed, and then dared the power to go out. It did, so I marched out to the storage shed, opened the box and took the generator out, prepared it as per the instructions, and the set about getting it started. Only it didn't start, ever. It was DOA and had to be returned after a long, cold 4 days without power. I've learned a lot since then.


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## The_Blob (Dec 24, 2008)

k0xxx said:


> It seems to me that things, while not perfect, went quite well. You worked around the little problems that arose nicely (adapted and overcame).
> 
> My first ice storm I ran out and bought a brand new generator and put it in my storage shed, and then dared the power to go out. It did, so I marched out to the storage shed, opened the box and took the generator out, prepared it as per the instructions, and the set about getting it started. Only it didn't start, ever. It was DOA and had to be returned after a long, cold 4 days without power. I've learned a lot since then.


The same thing (almost) happened to me when I bought my first generator; but I was just a kid (I know, I know, most of all you think I'm STILL 'just a kid'  ) and was SOOO excited to have one that I pulled it out immediately & found out I had a dud so it wasn't as big an issue as you had to go through.


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## JayJay (Nov 23, 2010)

I learned early about my draining water---I love hot water---I mean HOT bath in winters, beginning fall.
I run my water and have to check it before I can get in--so the first week we moved here, I got sidetracked and discovered an empty tub.
Two bath tub plugs here now, just in case I wanta use the guest bath/dh's bath..and that'll be unlikely.

As far as giving up things to prepare for what it'll be like in TSHTF world--I am hand washing dishes.
I hide dirty ones in the DW until I have a pan full..yes, saving water using two little pans instead of the huge sinks.
And we start our generator EVERY month.


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## gypsysue (Mar 27, 2010)

So, a good plan would be for us all to test all this stuff out. Fill your bathtub some night before going to bed and notice how full it is. In the morning check and see how much (if any?) you lost. Start your generator to make sure it'll start and that you know how. Same with any other gear.

UncleJoe, outstanding job. You adapted as things came up. :congrat: 

And thanks for the exellent report!


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## JayJay (Nov 23, 2010)

gypsysue said:


> So, a good plan would be for us all to test all this stuff out. Fill your bathtub some night before going to bed and notice how full it is. In the morning check and see how much (if any?) you lost. Start your generator to make sure it'll start and that you know how. Same with any other gear.
> 
> UncleJoe, outstanding job. You adapted as things came up. :congrat:
> 
> And thanks for the exellent report!


Oh, my drain is so crappy...I can hear the water draining without noticing the 
depth...and I didn't buy plugs, sorry---they are those flat rubber pieces..over the drain.

Our regulator doesn't like the cold--it took about 10 pulls to get it going and that never happened before.
Hmmm.


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## The_Blob (Dec 24, 2008)

JayJay said:


> Our regulator doesn't like the cold--it took about 10 pulls to get it going and that never happened before.
> Hmmm.


gasoline generator?... empty old gas out of tank and clean out the carburetor to make sure it isn't 'varnished'


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## UncleJoe (Jan 11, 2009)

bunkerbob said:


> I bet some of your neighbors wish they were.


We have 5 neighbors within about 1/4 mi. I know at least 2 of them went to stay with relatives. DS invited one of them to come over and stay warm but they opted to go to her parents house.



gypsysue said:


> Start your generator to make sure it'll start and that you know how.


I used the gen. multiple times over the course of the year. It always started on the 2nd or 3rd pull. But it was warm outside. It didn't work out quite as well with below freezing temps. It took about 15-20 pulls till it fired up.


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## *Andi (Nov 8, 2009)

bczoom said:


> Sounds like you did just fine Joe. Those weren't holes, just small leaks. Nothing is going to work perfectly but you're fine if you have alternate means of taking care of an issue (e.g. battery/inverter for stove) and the knowledge to kick those things into play you're doing fine.


I agree ... not holes just life ...

Looks like to me ... if a problem came up, you fix it ... which is life. :congrat:


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## PamsPride (Dec 21, 2010)

I use the flat rubber things on my drains too. 
That was a good short test for your preps! Way to go!


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## UncleJoe (Jan 11, 2009)

PamsPride said:


> I use the flat rubber things on my drains too.


We had a couple of those things. I just don't know where they are at the moment.


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## gypsysue (Mar 27, 2010)

UncleJoe said:


> I used the gen. multiple times over the course of the year. It always started on the 2nd or 3rd pull. But it was warm outside. It didn't work out quite as well with below freezing temps. It took about 15-20 pulls till it fired up.


There were times here when it was below zero and we needed to top off the charge on our battery bank (we're totally off-grid, solar power), and the generator wouldn't start. We had to wheel it to the house and bring it inside near the woodstove for a while.

We don't have a bathtub, just a shower stall, so I don't have a drain to worry about plugging, for water storage. We do, however, use 5-gallon buckets and/or a 50-gallon plastic barrel. In the fall we bring a barrel in and put it in the corner of the bathroom and fill it. That's our emergency "washroom" water. A person could just fill whatever they have available when bad storms hit, just in case. Doesn't have to be a bathtub.

In a real emergency those with hot water heaters can drain and use the water from them. That's, on average, about 50 gallons of water.


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## UncleJoe (Jan 11, 2009)

gypsysue said:


> In a real emergency those with hot water heaters can drain and use the water from them. That's, on average, about 50 gallons of water.


Just remember to turn the heater off before you drain it. If the power comes back on with no water in the tank you'll burn out the (electric) element.


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## robsbunker (Oct 6, 2011)

I think it is very important to check out our abilities to stay prepared. A trial run is very important. Recently a blogger and his family went on a camping trip, bug out test, and discovered "holes" too. It was a wake up call, Right away they made changes to their plan. 

We all need to take notes of everyone's stumbling blocks. Like a great cook, make adjustments here and there. We will every be 100% ready? NO, but we will be better off then most folks.


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## gypsysue (Mar 27, 2010)

That's one of the awesome things about this forum! Although we should be testing our gear and plans ourselves, we have the opportunity to learn from each other's tests and real-life experiences during emergencies, storms, camping trips, etc. 

There are things I never thought of that have been brought to my attention in this thread and elsewhere on the forum! Plus it's a great way to learn, right here among like-minded friends!


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

gypsysue said:


> There were times here when it was below zero and the generator wouldn't start. We had to wheel it to the house and bring it inside near the woodstove for a while.


LOL, I remember living in North Dakota and needing to get the bulldozer started to push snow. NO WAY when it's that cold out!(sometimes 15-20 below). The dozer shed had no electricity.

I had a small Homelite generator (I think 2000 watt) that I would warm up in the house, and then wrap it in a blanket and quickly run to "the dozer shed". I would start it and set it next to the engine so the exhaust would blow right on the dozer engine, with a magnetic oil pan heater underneath and a 500 watt work light shining on the other side of the engine (right against it). It would take an hour's worth of running time before the big dozer was rwady for a start attempt.

Note to self: Always have a really small portable generator handy to take to places you never really thought you might need power!


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## mrghostwalker (Sep 17, 2009)

CAMP-205 - Water Bob and Siphon Pump Holds 100 Gallons in FDA Approved Bag


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## JayJay (Nov 23, 2010)

[
Our regulator doesn't like the cold--it took about 10 pulls to get it going and that never happened before.
Hmmm.[/quote]
gasoline generator?... empty old gas out of tank and clean out the carburetor to make sure it isn't 'varnished'

Thanks about emptying old gas tip. That may have saved us a bartering of the old tiller if we'd known.
But, it seems to run quieter now, and it sure started on the second pull.


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