Let's talk about staying warm without power....

Check out the store. Stickers, mugs, hoodies, shirts, etc.

[mo-po]

Florida Man giving advise about "the room where it happens", and how to keep it warm. Your empathy and sense of social responsibility to help other people goes far sir!

[MegCraftedArt]

Don't forget pets. Don't leave them outside. A dog or a cat (or several) in that small room or tent can make it much warmer. They didn't call it a "Three dog night" for nothing.

[debrasmith]

I value Beau for many reasons. His instinct to give people the knowledge they need to survive makes me truly admire him as a human being.

[FlippedOutGymnast]

Never underestimate the value of a candle in a metal coffee can.

[tawnya]

I live in the Texas desert. It was 2°F this morning. I had ice on the inside of my doors. I use propane heat so I don't need electricity to stay warm. I saw someone talking about a bathroom alternative if pipes freeze. I use 5 gallon buckets and cedar shavings. They're reusable. They can be cleaned and bleached. The cedar takes care of a lot of smell. It is an alternative if you can't flush. I came here in January 2017 in a tent. It was 17°F. I used a plastic tarp as well to trap heat over my tent. The condensation collected from breathing froze on the inside of my tent! Lol Me and 10 dogs stayed warm and survived, even with no heat source, by doing exactly what Beau is saying. Appreciate you, Sir.

[MissJean]

I’m 58. When I was in 5th grade, my teacher, Mrs. Potwardowski, read The Great Brain series by John D. Fitzgerald. In one of the books, the boys are camping with their father and they took rocks “warmed” by the fire, wrapped it in a blanket, and put it in their sleeping sacks to keep their feet warm. I related this story to my mom when we were camping. She took a rock from the middle of the fire pit, wrapped it in a towel, and put it in her sleeping bag. About 20 minutes later, my sister, in the tent, started to complain about the smoke. That red hot rock melted the polyester sleeping bag and burned through the floor of the tent. The moral - warm rocks people, not red hot. 🖖

[corimyers]

Beau you are dead on. I told my daughter last year (we're in Texas) we are self-saving Princesses. We got through it but barely. Just to be clear on things because folks were making jokes saying Texans don't know how to deal with cold weather. Understand it wasn't the weather it, was the lights OFF for a week. Our homes are built to withstand heat, not cold. Our EVERYthing is about withstanding heat. We don't have snow tires or even coats that could handle that kind of cold.
I have two fireplaces in my house that I couldn't use because one, I had no wood (folk in Houston don't really normally have a use for firewood other than cosmetics for a 'cool' day). And two I just moved in right at start of COVID. There was no one I cold get to come check them then and damn sure not once the cold started. I learned half way through the storm what a Flue was and closed them but it was already 30 degrees INSIDE the house at that point. I woke one day and my daughters cat, who we had in bed with us, would not respond to touch and then I touched my daughter to find she was also ice cold. I thought I'd lost them both. i finally dug out candles and put them in a pot in the fireplace and used the furniture movers blankets (they left them behind) to cover the windos upstairs along with tape and bags. Put every blanket I could find in the house in that room. No tent but laying under a few on top of others got us warm. Then we went out to find no food. Restaurants had lights on, no one inside. Meanwhile, homes had no power. Finally happened across Jimmy Johns' on Katy freeway who was opening. Got in and bought food. Saved our lives. That was day 3 (I think, lost all track of time). Phones didn't not work, cell towers down. They told us rolling blackouts was what to expect, not turning the power off for days OFF. So we prepped for rolling blackouts which we've had before and not all that dissimilar from a hurricane. We know how to do those.
We had no running water, which I didn't even consider. I had filled a few jugs but it was gone quick.
Where was our government? In Cancun.
There were good choices I made that saved our lives. And this year I made more like investing in a portable solar panel and power bank that can run a heater, TV, fridge and phones and lights. Everything in my house it just about solar-powered or rechargeable. The government will not come. And as Beau said, sometimes it's Just Us. Today we're good, power is on but I'm ready. NEVER again. It's not that Texans cant do it...just didn't see it coming. Never catch us slippin twice. Thanks for the video Beau.

[francoisdumont]

Sometimes there is justice, and sometimes there is just ice.

[philpaine]

People often wonder why the cost of living in Canada and some northern U.S. states is higher than in the sunbelt. In the south, any cracker box can be called a "house". Where you have harsh winters, a house is a sophisticated machine to keep you warm in winter and cool in summer. People pay higher taxes because they have to pay for the crews and snowplows and salters and dump trucks that keep the streets and roads clear. Pipes are laid deep and insulated. But most important, people have to be educated to deal with the cold. For thousands of years, the Inuit people of the arctic passed on the knowledge and the home-grown technology that allowed them to live in temperatures far, far colder than anything Texans will ever experience. Thankfully, we a have learned from them. There is no need for anyone to die in conditions that someone in Nunavut or the North West Territories would consider a pleasant, balmy day. Listen to what this man says. He knows what he's talking about.

[roberthollingsworth]

Thanks from Texas for the tips. They will help in the short run while we are working on getting a real state government that represents the actual needs of its citizens.

[MrJonsonville]

I spent by birthday in 2009 homeless on the streets of St Louis in 10 degrees F. I did not have the advantage of a room of any size to warm up, but I did wear every piece of clothing I owned. I slept under a bush in the snow until sunrise, when it became clear I was in someone's front yard and visible by the street. So I got up, did some jumping jacks to get the blood going...I walked down St Charles Rock Rd. until I came to an alley, and one of the stores it was behind happened to be a mattress store with a mattress out by the trash. I broke down a few boxes, laid them on the box, and slept for another 3 hours. Keep in mind this was my 27th birthday, so I was young and healthy. I was still frozen to my core, and don't believe I would have gotten through as well had I been a senior citizen or a child who was alone. Luckily I had a ticket to fly back to CA that day, so this was only a night. I had technically been homeless since February 2009, but through hustles such as selling burned dvds I could afford a motel room 90% of the nights. It just happened that I didn't have any money on my bday night because it was all spent on this plane ticket home to CA. But wearing all my clothes that night saved my life, I am sure of it. If you have a roof over your head and a dining table to hunker under, you are luckier than many in this country (the homeless population is getting bigger by the day). I am no longer homeless, I'm employed and doing just fine. But just remember....you are an adaptable, resourceful homosapien and when your brain kicks into survival mode you will think of things you wouldn't otherwise think of. You will make use of your surroundings. It was an incredible lesson in the adaptiveness of our species.

[userunknownx]

Please, remember to take your cell phone with you if your are shoveling your walk or car. You may do this every winter and never had a slip in fall, but this might be the year it happens. A friend of mine lost her fiancee. He was in his early 40s and had a snow related heart attack.
Take care and stay warm!!

[stryfespoint]

Welcome to another great installment of Beau's helpful tips for survival brought to you by empathy, common sense and a genuine love & concern for humanity.

[gnaskar]

For layers: First layer is anything that absorbs sweat without becoming cold (wool is great, synthetics are ok, cotton and silk is bad). Second layer is anything poofy, anything that holds a bubble of air around you. Third layer keeps the air in, windbreakers, coats, etc. Goal is the same as a tent: Create a small area that is heated with body heat around you.

Anywhere two articles of clothing meet have alternating layers tucked into each other: sweater tucked into gloves, gloves tucked into jacket, etc. you want as little of that precious heated air to escape out when you move, so create good seals. Most winter clothing already does this, but if you have wide sleeves or pantlegs and nothing to tuck it into, you can just tape it in place, or tie it down with a rag.

Minimize the amount of bare skin. Heck, wearing a mask to cover part of your face does actually help a little, and most people have those now. The t-shirt ninja halloween trick can help cover your face up to minimize exposure, but a proper woolen cap would be better.

First enemy is moisture: try your best not to get wet. Second enemy is wind, take shelter from it if you can. The cold itself comes in as number 3.

Oh, and moving around builds body heat faster than standing still. Jumping jacks are the go to self heating technique in Norway. Be aware, however, that this will move blood from your core to your extremities, which can cause harm when the cooled blood comes back. It's great when you are cold, but will make things worse if your fingers are already turning black.

That should be the 101 as taught to Norwegian children.

[Maddiehere]

Cast iron pans or pots hold heat for a long time.

[adamthethird]

Repeat after me kids:
"America is the Greatest Country in the World"
-My teachers growing up

[julianapurvis]

As a Texan who is waiting for the grid to break again on this freezing morning, Thank you.

[leasmith]

Listening to Beau's advice, especially during a weather disaster, is like curling up on a warm hearth with your kids and pets snuggled in beside you. Take care, everyone.

[tsbjelland]

It's time to make a Blanket Fort!

[Dachusblot]

Hey Beau, Texan here. I will never forget watching your video last year while cocooned in layers of blankets in the dark, wishing that I'd known a lot of the stuff you were saying just a couple of weeks before. Proud to say that this year I was prepared months in advance. Luckily it looks like this year is much more of a normal cold snap compared to last year, at least where I'm at. Haven't lost power yet, but I'm also further south so that makes a difference. Either way, even if this one isn't as bad as last year, it's nice to feel prepared. Everyone down here's been panicking about the freeze all week; we're all still traumatized from last year. It's pretty clear that most people have completely lost all faith in our leaders and our infrastructure to take care of us. In some ways that's probably good, but it's also pretty sad.