NO POWER FOR 8 DAYS | OUR TOP TEN MOST USED ITEMS

Earlier this year we had a massive power outage that left us without power for 8 days. This is a list of 10 items that we were most helpful and became must have items for us to have on hand for another emergency.
#prepping #preppersmusthaves #naturaldisastersurvival

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[undercover]

Ignore the critical comments. You did great. Most importantly you and your husband worked as a team and kept your kids safe, warm and fed. Everyone learned something and you're better prepared for the next challenge. I appreciate a below zero sleeping bag for these situations because I can get in it and feel like it saves my body heat better than a blanket. You could have filled buckets & containers with snow. When the snow melts dump water in toilet tank for flushing. You appear very young. I would never have guessed old enough to have 4 children. I guarantee you are miles ahead on handling this than most people in your age group.

[carrotgold]

I bought cheap thin paper plates and a few frisbees. The frisbees hold the plates securely and lessen the need for thick sturdy expensive plates.

[marieagill]

Here's a tip from Jeff Gray's YouTube channel from 7 days ago that I thought you might like: If you can, keep a crock pot filled with water plugged in and heated. He said it doesn't take much power and you can have hot water for coffee, heating food by putting them in mason jars and sitting them in the hot water, etc. His video with this info and more is titled: "Hurricane Helene Learnings: Prepping for Real".

BTW, thanks for sharing your experience and advice!

[swatson]

We had a catastrophic ice storm in 2000. We were without power for 38 days. We live in a dense forest. I have a wood stove and a hand pump well. We have a camp shower. I warmed water on the stove and poured it in then added a little cold water and we had warm showers. After the trees stopped exploding and it was safer to go outside we watered the goats and chickens from the creek. We also used creek water to flush the toilet..I put the food from our freezer in plastic totes and put it in the shed to keep it cold. The temperature wasn't above freezing for 30 days. We have oil lamps. But for the most part went to bed when it was dark and got up when it was daylight. We were too tired from helping clean up down trees to do anything else. We had firewood for three years without having to cut any extra. We

[khallam]

Always keep a single ice cube in a marked baggie at different layers of the freezer. If it warms enough to deform or melt the ice cube, you'll know the temperature changed enough to be too warm for food safety.

[muddyshoesgardener]

Cover a dinner plate with saran wrap or parchment rounds. No washing. Just toss the dirty paper or plastic wrap when you finish eating.

[ginariehl]

Live in North Dakota and went a few days without power in same situation. I packed my freezers and refrigerator with snow to keep cold!

[jabow]

As you empty canning jars of food, wash them (including the lids). When you have a batch, fill them with water, put the old lid on and “can” them (5 min boil).
Store them full. They have come in handy for us several times! Bonus is - drinking water stored in glass!

[charleswalter]

Canning and having some food in a pantry doesn’t mean you are a prepper, it just means you’re not a dumb ass.

[robertchr.]

Hello from Germany, dont forget every car is a generator. Your car plus a cheap inverter keeps your freezer alive, and a few other things. No neet to run it 24/7. Like 1 in 3 or 4 houres is enough to keep the freezer cold.

[SoldByJamie]

I usually don’t comment but I’m so tired of know it alls that feel the need to criticize someone offering advise from a situation they worked through - you did great and all these ideas - other than the know it alls - most haven’t thought of or prepared for - keep sharing - you’re adorable!

[keithbrookshire]

Thank you for sharing your experience. I went through something similar during the blizzard of 1993. As young man I was stranded at home for seven days without power or any way to get out. There wasn't much food in the house but I did have running water.
I didn't realize it at the time but that event changed me deep down inside. It changed the way I would live going forward. As soon as I started earning enough to have any discretionary income I found myself buying generators, (plural), wool blankets, and stocking up on canned food, etc. It was a few years before I realized these purchases were because of the time I spent stranded. Since then I've added multiple ways of heating and cooking without power. More recently I'v added portable power stations to the mix. Because of your video I'll also be stocking up on hand warmers.
Thank you again for this video.

[lifehappens]

We just put all our food in storage totes and coolers outside. We also built a huge fort with blankets and sheets. It was hot. Lol. Oh, we cooked all our food on the bbq grill. It was kinda fun. Almost forgot. The first thing I cooked was using candles. I made grilled cheese and tomato soup over candles! It worked so well!

[dsmadre]

I was without power for 3 days during the Texas freeze in 2021. My pups and I stayed in the master bedroom with our buddy heater, it saved us from freezing. I brought the carbon monoxide detector in the room for safety. I had a Bluetti solar generation to keep electronics charged. I put the food in the refrigerator in tubs on the back porch to stay cold and the freezer never thawed. Finally, I used my camp stove to cook on and most importantly make my coffee in an aero press. Important to be prepared for anything!

[marlysmithsonian]

You are so right!! We live in Clearwater Florida and this was a complete life changing experience. We went without power for 9 days after Milton. The entire coastal side of Florida has NO gas. Absolutely NONE. We had evacuated to a motel, and it was now being evacuated, this also happened with Helene. After Debbie and Helene, there were NO motels with vacancies to run to. We had to leave the motel but couldn't get another motel in Florida and NO gas to go anywhere. And it was extremely humid and upper 80s temps. We had to move the car from the motel to keep it from getting flooded so we went north.We found a truck stop and they had gas!! It was being rationed by the police, but it still helped. We ended up parked between two semis for the duration of Hurricane Milton. Afterwards, our county was closed, but we snuck in. Our community was still flooded, and it looked like a war zone. NO power, NO gas, NO food, NO internet. We slept in the car with the air on after the water receded and that's where we ended up. Friends paid for a few days in a motel but life was gone, imo. A friend took us shopping and got us food and it seemed like the heavens opened. Seriously. After we got power, our water went out. And our bosses wanted us back at work. Our lives have changed forever, you never know until you know, I don't wish this on anyone. FEMA came through and we are trying for a replacement home loan. You are spot on!!

[mimc]

I can attest to how essential those hot hands are to have. I got stranded on the side of the road in 40 degree weather. I was poorly dressed for sitting in my truck waiting for a tow to show up. The hot hands I had in the truck were a game changer.

[muzzlevelocity]

A few of the Hot Hands, as you used them wrapped up inside your blanket, went a long way to keeping the core of your body warm, which meant that your body did not have to do it all and could relax instead. That reduced physical stress which also reduced mental stress, so having them was a fantastic idea. Thanks for sharing.

[outbackeddie]

I put the food in my freezer outside during some of our winter power outages. It's an easy way to save your food, and it's also a great way to reduce the need for a large generator since fridges and freezers require a lot of power.

[mr.wannabe]

The Sunrite propane heater is for outdoor use only. The buddy heater can be used indoors but you definitely need a carbon monoxide detector as even buddy heaters can raise carbon monoxide levels and can affect oxygen levels too.

[uthyrgreywick]

Great video. I've been looking for testimonial videos from people who either used their preps and what was most important. I'm an old grandpa and my parents were raised on farms without central heat, or electricity. What they did wasn't called "prepping" it was called "getting ready for winter" and everyone did the same. I grew up with electricity but no central heat, but we knew how to stay warm in bed at night and the coal stove heated the living rooms during the day. Those days are past for now. I think I will buy a propane buddy heater and some hand warmers, so thanks!