Stumbled up on this found it very informative. Put it here because alot of this information goes hand in hand with preparedness for an EMP.

http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/ ... sta73.html

Good post

I like the: light, water, cooking, heating/cooling, and communication.

The basics

Thanks for posting this article. Short, sweet & to the point.

cheers mate

if my power goes out it means i have to check the battery bank.

I'd miss my power, but I'm set up to do without.

But we've got a generator to run stuff we've GOT to have sometimes. I'd run the freezers an hour or two a day, until they're empty. Then I'd turn them into smokers for curing meat.

I've got a 7" HDTV, for news and such that can charge of a car lighter.

We've got GMRS and CB radios.

I've got food cooking down with grills, fire place, pits, solar oven, etc.

I have no delusions that it would be as easy as life is now. But me and mine would get by when many would not.

30 years ago I built a Super Energy Efficient house.
For years we heated it with a Kerosene heater. The kids and pets never bothered it.
Our house is so well insulated, it takes 1 gallon of Kerosene to heat it to 70 degrees all day. That is with leaving the door open for oxygen.
The local thieving Utility was raising gas and electric rates and bills, while making record profits, leaving people to freeze to death. The PSC just approves another rate hike anyway. I always find it interesting that utilities apply for a rate hike as soon as the last one was approved.
We have the lowest utility bills in our area that did not stop our bills from going up...
You can not trust a Utility owned and managed by a company many thousands of miles away.
We stopped using the heater a few years ago, it is cleaned, and stored, it is still available when needed, and have Kerosene stored for emergencies. I have generators, and crank lights, as well as Kerosene and oil lamps, among others.
We live in the Frozen North, where it gets very cold and snowy.
Doing all the work when you build the house in the first place is the answer.
The house looks the same as all the others, but it is what is inside that counts.
We had a major power outage a few years ago, no electricity for a week.
Like the Navy Seals plan, Prepare and train for what can go wrong.
Then, it will be No problem!
That is if you are mentally and physically prepared.
Japan should be a warning to all Americans.
Wake up, and be ready at all times, You never know what might happen.