A Conversation With The Great Wonk on Prepping

Author Linda Brady Traynham

WONK: We were without power for 8 days in January 2009. Although we had a generator, we had no water during the January ice storm because the generator was not wired in to the house, and we are not on city water. Once I wired it into the house, my furnace fan now pumps my gas heat through the house, and my well pumps water. Last obvious problem: electric water heater. I changed it to gas. My utilities have gone down substantially, because gas is cheaper than electricity. I have also installed a fireplace with gas logs which we LOVE! It also needs no electricity to heat the house.

LBT: We switched to “instant on” gas water heaters which provide hot water only when it is needed. We’re still using wood because we have our own source, so the trade off will be fuel for the chain saws vs. gas. Your biggest physical blessing is not being on city water. However, my resident electrical engineer and nuclear submarine fellow pointed out some difficulties with wiring the generator in and cautions that you should turn off the power at the pole, or at least red-tag it. I gather in my blithe electrical ignorance that if a workman were working on repairs when your generator kicked in there could be striking effects because (cringe over explanation) the AC you were generating would ran back up to the pole or something.
WONK: Lesson learned: it takes over 2 gallons of water to flush a toilet. Trucking water to the house in 5 gallon buckets or coolers is a real pain. It is also heavy to carry into the house. Also, in a SHTF situation, no gasoline will be available. The gas stations were knocked out due to no electricity. And hot showers and hot meals are wonderful!

LBT: We all know in time of emergency only to flush when there are solids, but another tip is to fold the paper over neatly and put it in a covered container, to prevent overloading the toilet. This will also spare the septic tank if you have one, and big hazards of long-term outages are contamination of the water supply and failure of the public sewer system. Another obvious preparation is to fill all the bathtubs and every pot in the house while the water is still running. For long term storage milk bottles are not suitable, but for presumably temporary emergencies milk, tea, and soft drink bottles will work beautifully. They’re easy to accumulate. As they stack up bag them and tie them to the garage rafters, if exposed, or staple them to the ceiling. EXCELLENT point that the tanks won’t pump at gas stations so even those who get there early may walk away empty-handed.

WONK: Stores were stripped of milk, eggs, and batteries immediately. Stock up.

LBT: You should stock batteries constantly and lavishly anyway. For milk, go to your local feed store and purchase a big bag or two of Calves’ Milk Replacer. Yes, it is quite safe to drink and costs only a tiny fraction of Carnation and Borden. Eggs can be frozen, or scrambled and then frozen or dehydrated. There is a very old product available that can be rubbed on fresh eggs which preserves them for a minimum of a year. The record is over three years and still counting! Wax would serve the same purpose but be messier and at least as expensive. In theory mineral oil will do, but that should always be kept far away from your kitchen and your person since it destroys vitamins.

WONK: Laundries with power were beehives of activity, and were quickly located and inundated by those with no power.

LBT: I guess so–not only clean clothes but all that lovely warmth! The local college has a terrific one that features beer, Margueritas, and snacks!

WONK: Fortunately, even due to my lack of preparedness, I had a rental house open in a nearby town that never lost power. I was able to use it to take hot showers, and, after a few nights, eventually slept there until the power came back on.

LBT: Sometimes the good Lord smiles on even non-preppers. Have you renamed the rental property “Paradise Regained?!”

WONK: It was eerie coming down my road at night in winter with no electricity. The neighbors had all left to stay in hotels, leaving the road wide open to looters. It was pitch black. Fortunately no looting took place, but I spent several cold nights here to prevent it.

LBT: All of you were fortunate; the roads could have been impassable or the hotels/motels/etc. filled. While we’re talking precautions, were the dogs with you? I never enter a house until the dog comes to the door. In times of medium alert, supposing you do not carry, it is very sensible to have a weapon very near at hand to the front door–and check it immediately to be certain a clever intruder has not unloaded it.

WONK: The neighbors threw out lots of food due to spoilage. My dogs approved.

LBT: Good for the hound puppies! I have a “four day” rule: on the fourth day any leftovers go to the animals. Occasionally somewhat older viands are unearthed from the innards of our three refrigerators. Interestingly, dogs will eat things so smelly and moldy we don’t want them to have those antibiotic farms, but this is an excellent thing to remember if times really get tough. Trust your dogs to know if something is edible–at least by their standards. We’ve never had one become ill from getting into green, slimy meat by mistake. In theory we should all have more than anticipated stores of dog and cat food sealed in plastic or metal drums. I, for one, do not want to try to explain to the Empress Smidgett why she can’t have half a can of wet food morning and night and all the “cookies” she wants. Smidgett says, disdainfully, that the ONLY human food fit for feline consumption is her daily thin slice of smoked turkey breast.

WONK: A generator is priceless. Until the neighbors gave up and left, we loaned our generator to keep refrigerators and freezers cold.

LBT: SHAME on you, kind-hearted, generous Wonk! The time is coming when it won’t be safe for others to know what you have and the supplies of gas, propane, and diesel will be finite. This is a good place to put my philosophy: get more than one generator, including the biggest you can afford. They should run on different fuels with gasoline–which has a limited shelf life even with additives–at the bottom of your list. MY rule, already in place, is that when the power goes out the generator will be run for one hour four times a day, since that is sufficient to keep frozen food solid. During those hours, pig out, family. You may cook, wash your clothes and dishes, vacuum, play video games, recharge batteries, fire up your computer (you probably will not have Internet even if you have the magic Sprint box we do that draws the signal directly from cell towers), take hot showers, and do anything else that requires electricity, but when the witching hour strikes the generator goes OFF.

WONK: Next, I will buy another propane tank and a gas stove, and we will be better prepared for a Schumer hit the fan situation.

LBT: Great plans, and unless you have an unreasonable wife (surely not), why not a used one? You could be looking at $2500 easily for a new one! We bought a 1938 Wedgewood in mint condition for about $150 off Craig’s List and parts are still available from the manufacturer. If necessary you could all bunk in the kitchen with the doors closed and a burner on low. Sudden thought…we should probably modify an old ceiling fan so that it can be hand activated to stir the hot air down from the ceiling.

WONK: Other ice storm lessons learned:
1. Several KY cities lost water once their water tanks ran out. No electricity to replenish them. Many areas in KY were out of power for over 4 weeks. In winter. LBT: it can happen from loss of power due to ice storms, tornadoes, or hurricanes, and, of course EMP. A sensible, if expensive, precaution, space permitting, would be a large tank for water. Outages can be tricky, too. After Ike whacked us with the outer, less dangerous edge, MDC (My Darling Charles) had everything repaired and rewired within 24 hours, but 25 miles away–farther out; the damage was to the source in Houston–the hamlet was without for a month.
2. Today’s children do not do well in adverse conditions. Complaints: lack of immediate access to video games; difficulty in food prep (microwave only); 40 inside degrees in the morning. Lots of whining. LBT: Depending upon the age of the children, all we can do is the best we can, starting with telling those six and older that life is tough and Miracle Mom cannot generate electricity other than through brushing her hair and that isn’t a usable form. Stock up on old favorite games if you aren’t already playing those with your kids at least one night a week as I recommend. Books, puzzles, and rechargeable batteries for their hand-held games…3. Freeze-proofing your house for your absence: Toilets will freeze and break. Drain water out of your house through the lowest outside hydrant and water heater. Pour RV antifreeze in toilet bowls, because regular antifreeze will degrade the rubber seals in the toilet. LBT: Wow! Thanks for a great tip. Here’s another: go buy at least one re-build kit for the flushing devices and pick up several of the cheap wax rings that go under the toilets. A leaky toilet would be a real inconvenience in several ways, and my idea of fun would not be removing the toilet and trying to melt the wax ring sufficiently to make it leak-proof. I’d do it if I had to, mind. We had Army quarters in Pennsylvania about 1980 that had enormous furnaces and ample fuel but even so ice would form in the insides of windows upstairs.

4. Make provision for your pets.

5. Your satellite and computer systems will work with a generator. You may want to invest in a good surge protector. LBT: You should already have several good ones. You should invest in an exceptional one. We got two or three as a gift a couple of years ago. Seems like they were worth about a hundred each, but they will handle half a dozen appliances and all it takes to fry every appliance in the house including refrigerators and TV sets is one lightning strike.

6. While a 6kw generator may not run everything in a house at the same time, if it is wired in, you can flip breakers as needed and run most of what you need. Maybe not all at the same time. LBT: Again, check Craig’s List and particularly government auctions. We bought two 10kw, on a trailer worth more than we paid for them, as military surplus. Oh, yes, they had been used hard. One has 9 1/2 hours on it and the other 7!

7. Stolen generators become an issue. Secure them. LBT: Secure or hide everything. Start caching supplies in areas away from your home. NEVER bury things in the back yard; those and pig pens are the first places people with metal detectors look. Find a public place you can access discretely, or perhaps there is a roadside park not far from your home. Forget about hiding things in appliances or ice trays. The best idea we’ve come up with for many uses is PVC pipe which you plug on both ends and bury vertically, not horizontally. Well…no…we haven’t actually gotten that far, but at least we have researched the problem.

8. Deep cycle RV batteries, run with inverters, can provide long-term power for lights, refrigerator and small items without constantly running your generator. No noise. Buy these batteries, inverters and solar panel chargers or regular chargers for about $500 total from specialty battery stores. LBT: How about a better list so I don’t have to try to explain this to MDC who will surely find my description a lot harder to understand than yours. Keep your solar panels in their original box and construct a Farrady Cage for them; they are susceptible to EMP, too. If you want the benefits now, gulp, blanch, and pony up the money for a spare set.

9. A 5 gallon generator tank only lasts about 10 or 12 hours, depending on the load. In a true SHTF situation, it is prohibitively expensive and impractical. Hence, the advisability of deep-cycle batteries above. Redundancy is key. LBT: That and very firm policies. Explain why you are prepping to all of your family old enough to understand. One friend has two cola-guzzling kids and he has stocked NO soft drinks. If I had any addicts I would start pointing out that we have not stock-piled such an expensive, frivolous, space-intensive item because it is not a necessity, no matter that many Americans go through nearly a dozen a day. Build character by asking, “Do you really want that now, or would it be better to go put it on the bottom of your closet so that you can enjoy it if things get really bad? Right now it doesn’t mean much to you because we all have plenty, but someday a Coke could be a treat no one else has if you save yours now.” Deferred pleasure. Planning ahead. No, don’t scare the bejabers out of them, but they deserve to know as much of what we think is the truth as they can handle. Depending upon the strength of the addiction, I might even offer an incentive, such as a matching program. “For every 6 you save–and no fair going to get another ten minutes from now! We’ve measured your consumption and when I count at the end of the week I want to see it has gone down–I will buy and store a 6-pack.” It is time to wean ourselves away from manufacatured goods. Easy for us to say, huh, since we drink iced tea year round?! Well, just last night MDC and I discussed the importance of inventorying the cigarette locker if/when TEOTWAWKI occurs and dividing what is in there into a daily ration either to express our estimate of how long the emergency will last or the length of time it will take us to grow our first tobacco crop. We’ll all have our choice of whether to consume at our usual rate or learn some self restraint. Ugh.

10. My chainsaw was handy to cut my way out of the driveway and cut up downed trees on my acreage for pulling with my tractor. This took several solid days of hard work. LBT: I’ll bet! I suppose you have a back-up saw and several extra chains, a sharpening tool, and plenty of the odd fuel chainsaws use? I have a genuine cross-cut saw hanging on a workshop wall. I hope we never have to use that antique, but since we have the fireplace, two wood-burning heaters (still in crates) and two actual wood cook-stoves the ability to produce firewood is obviously a high priority. If you have the space and get lucky you can probably pick up a cook stove for around three or four hundred dollars. A new one costs $7,000 locally! There are still a few old folks who know how to use them and we’ve been promised lessons. Vented properly one will also be a good source of heat. I plan to use one to heat our nearly-completed carpentry, automotive, welding, and machining shop to at least reasonably comfortable temperatures.

11. There is the stress of constant motion. With no electricity, even simple tasks consume all your spare time. LBT: No fooling! Have your teens try washing their jeans in the bath tub and air-drying them if they don’t believe it. They are going to have to learn they can’t shower and change four times a day. Those jeans aren’t “dirty” unless they smell or you dropped a slab of pizza face down on them. Your clothes will last longer if you take today’s shirt–yes, singular, and the mall is still dead, you know–off and hang it up to air. Never wear the same pair of shoes or your shirts two days in a row. One of my great rules is that it isn’t washing or wearing clothes that “wears” them out, it is being beaten to death in the dryer. What is known euphemistically as “lint” is fibers pounded loose. To finish the tip, spray all new light-colored T-shirts (PARTICULARLY white ones) with about a dollar’s worth of Scotch Guard. Wash them on gentle, and then lay them flat on a towel to dry. Fluff very briefly in the dryer on “air” only. They will stay new-looking and feeling for far, far longer and it really isn’t that much trouble. We should consider where we can put a clothesline out of sight (laundry signals the house is occupied) or a couple of old-fashioned drying racks. While I’m on the subject, kids, that towel you just dried yourself off with after your shower isn’t dirty. ALL you have to do is hang it up with no folds or wrinkles and it will dry naturally and be perfectly good to use for at least three days. With practice it will last a week–and when every inhabitant becomes responsible for washing his/her own clothes, towels, and bedding in households which have neither electricity nor generators you’ll be glad you learned this lesson. I’d love to find an old wringer-attachment…even though we think we’re in good shape for generators and fuels. Oh, misery…what if the DISHWASHER goes out?! I have a rule: when the dishwasher goes out, so do I.

12. We have now purchased two 300 gallon fuel tanks: one each for diesel and gasoline. Fuel is used quickly when there is no power. Kerosene goes quickly, also. Long lines formed at local stores at the mere rumor of a kerosene shipment. LBT: Nice start, depending upon how long you think it will be before the eighteen-wheelers and tanker trucks will roll again. At almost exactly half a gallon an hour (supposing you have both diesel and gas generators) does everybody get that your current supply only sounds lavish? Seems to me that you’ve got about a seven week supply if you run the generator 24/7. Awk! No you see why I intend to cut my usage to a sixth of that.

13. In a long-term grid-down situation, we would use fuel sparingly. Mainly to recharge batteries. LBT: Good thinking, and where I was going in my last response. A little planning and we should all be able to keep some semblance of normalcy and what will then be “luxury” in our lives. We may have our old life back only four hours a day, but during those hours we can have the current benefits of civilization, at least on days when we aren’t fending off Biker gangs or laying low as the locusts sweep past. A big key is to schedule, and another is to determine consumption levels of all sorts of things as quickly as possible. MDC cracks me up telling me that the allotment on nuclear subs is two and a half rolls of toilet paper per man per month, and those of us who shop regularly for a family get the hiccups from laughter. Even when we finally teach the denizens that 5 sheets is ample for even diarrhea, females simply use more than men do. Oh, shucks, I guess I may as well explain how to wipe derrieres efficiently and in complete sanitation. Fold the toilet paper over twice. Wipe. Fold it together again, and wipe again, fold a third time, wipe, and you should be quite done, although you can still fold a fourth time if necessary. Yes, this is something that has to be taught, just like tying shoes. In times of strain put the paper–which is still perfectly clean where you are holding it–into the receptacle provided for that purpose and replace the lid. No, the bathroom won’t smell. If you are ever really desperatea “three pound” coffee can with a lid will do temporarily.

WONK: We enjoy reading your articles, Linda! They are always entertaining and informative.

LBT: Thanks, Wonk, and I feel the same way about your letters. I appreciate your writing today’s article for me!

I’ll close with the tale of our “dress rehearsal” for calamity, when Ike was due to hit us last year, and did, fortunately with the trailing edge, not the leading one. Hurricanes other than in flood plains are over in four or five hours, and tornadoes aren’t any worse. Ike knocked out the wiring to the barn and the well house, tool room, cold room, and shop.

We gave ourselves glittering marks in all categories except one–a vital one. The goat girls said some very pungent things about being locked in a maritime shipping container, and only one singularly stupid hen drowned from gawking at the downpour. We had candles and matches all over the place, a generator set up on the most sheltered porch, plenty of firewood inside, 5 gallons of tea made, vast stores for flushing, freshly-showered bodies, cooked a ham and a roast and made enough potato salad to feed a squad of Marines…took all the obvious precautions and then some. Unfortunately, we hadn’t analyzed one problem correctly, particularly given that we have several generators. We weren’t prepared at our most vulnerable point, when Ike knocked out the power to our water supply! Talk about feeling dumb? Charles had to rewire the entire complex, which was well within his capabilities, and the supplies were available readily, something we cannot count upon in the future. We were proud that there was a protected generator on the porch ready for the lights and all other modern conveniences which were out maybe twenty minutes –and was of no use whatsoever when a storm has downed an electric pole and ripped out all sorts of wiring. We made good use of potential tragedy by replacing fifty-year-old wiring, but thank God (again, as always) for Charles. Electricians were a little hard to come by with wiring down all over town, particularly for wiring the power company doesn’t feel responsible for. Their attitude is that we pay to get it to the main poles, and where it goes from there is the homeowner’s problem. Chuckle…if you smile and ask sweetly, though, ladies, the individual workmen can be coaxed into straightening poles and taking up slack.

Spurt of laughter…the trouble with “prepping” is that it is like any other hobby. You can always think of another great idea (usually expensive) that expands your capabilities to be self-sufficient. Everyone we knew thought MDC and I were insane when we picked up (quite reasonably) a genuine bucket truck! He who laughs last, and so forth. The truck paid for itself literally with what the insurance company gave us for having removed several tons of wood from the roof using it later last year when a five-minute tornado knocked at least 60 years’ growth out of a pecan tree planted in 1843. The truck made replacing the roof with a Galvalume one good for fifty years economical and practical because it is easy to load plywood, styrofoam sheets, and metal on the enormous platform which covers the cab and engine and transfer it to the roof. Getting such things up to the top of a house isn’t at all easy. Our “ridiculous” purchase turned the age-discounted price of putting up shingles into the best roof available. The truck is good for pruning trees, changing the hardware on the flagpole, erecting new poles of various sorts, and who knows what else?

Again, our thanks to guest author WONK, and I’m sure you agree we hope to hear from him again.

Regards,

Linda Brady Traynham

Related posts:

1. Survivalist Weekend: Practice for a Disaster

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