Are you prepared to last through a temporary disruption of electricity, water, food or fuel? Crazy weather in the future could cause the power to fail for a short or uncertain amount of time. Water could become tainted and come under a boil alert. This just happened in Detroit when a water system failed and a large area was put under a boil alert because air got into the water.
The federal government recommends everyone be prepared to last for 72 hours in an emergency such as flooding, tornado, severe storms, blizzards, a pandemic and there are scores more situations that could cause you problems. Want to see all the different things that you need to prepare for. Click Here
We recommend that you have the following products on hand to deal with power outages and other situations. We have all these products and depend on them in emergencies. In fact, we recently lost power for about 6 hours and pulled out some of these to get through it.
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“As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.”
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Next, we recommend cheap, dependable lighting by using products that utilize AA Eneloop Rechargeable batteries. Here are links to the lighting products, AA Eneloop batteries and the quick charger we use: Top
Power and Lighting
We recommend you use Eneloop AA or AAA Rechargeable batteries. Buy at least 16 of each and use them in all your AA and AAA Battery devices. Try to buy radios and other gear that use AA or AAA batteries. It’s very easy to recharge AA or AAA batteries from your battery bank with the charger we have listed below.
Lighting – Imagine this: You don’t have power and you need to walk around in your house. I own this great headlamp powered by 3 AAA batteries. This is also great for working on cars, especially when you are under the car or truck. This headlamp can be used as a Spot light, a Broad light and as a Red light for nighttime. You can lock it so it doesn’t turn on accidentally and after you turn it off, it shows you the amount of charge left by illuminating 1 to 3 small lights on the side. You can easily adjust the brightness of the light in all three modes. You can also get it to flash the Morse Code SOS.
If you bought the batteries above, buy some of these to store them in. No more batteries rolling around and they work great carrying batteries when you travel. They hold AA and AAA batteries. Like I said above, I own at least 5 of these great products.
Piggy back these on an extension cord to power many things
Buy several of these plugs. You can plug them back to back at the end of an extension cord (way better than power strips) and carry some in your suitcase when traveling. They work great in hotel rooms!
This 1500 Watt DC to AC Power Inverter will run a refrigerator, freezer and several lights with no problem.
Did you know that you have a $20,000 plus generator in your garage? Yes, you do. Using the cables below or a set of jumper cables, you can connect this inverter to your car battery and then run an extension cord into the house to power your refrigerator, freezer and a bunch of lights. Run the car for 10 minutes every half hour to keep the battery charged. You can also connect it to a deep cycle battery (or two in parallel) to power lights in the house. Batteries alone will not provide power for very long to a refrigerator or freezer so use it hooked to your car battery for that.
Did you know that you have a $20,000 plus generator in your garage? Yes, you do. Using the cables below or a set of jumper cables, you can connect this inverter to your car battery and then run an extension cord into the house to power your refrigerator, freezer and a bunch of lights. Run the car for 10 minutes every half hour to keep the battery charged. You can also connect it to a deep cycle battery (or two in parallel) to power lights in the house. Batteries alone will not provide power for very long to a refrigerator or freezer so use it hooked to your car battery for that.
This lantern is powered by 3 D Cell batteries. It runs a LONG time on 3 D Cells. Buy a sleeve of 10 or 12 D Cells and you will have a nice light for when the power goes out due to a storm.
NOTE: Do NOT let any of these water filters freeze or they will not filter water any longer. When done using the water filter, disassemble it, shake or blow it out and let the filter dry. You can also store the smaller filters in a zip lock bag and then put that in your pocket or in your sleeping bag to keep it from freezing.
This is the water filter I used when I hiked the Appalachian Trail. It doesn’t have the same flow rate as the Katadyn Bee Free water filter but it can filter much more water.
I keep one of these in every vehicle I drive as well as in every backpack as a backup. You could actually suck water out of a mud puddle and clean water would enter your mouth. These are a must have item in case of an emergency.
This is very portable and will sterilize water in about 2 minutes. It works but uses power. My preference is one other other filters above.
The Berkey Water Filter is the best you can buy for home use. In fact, use it ALL the time; even with city water. It will get everything out and give you pure water.
Big Berkey® Gravity-Fed Water Filter with 2 Black Berkey® Purification Elements. About this item
2.25 GALLON CAPACITY- The portable Big Berkey Purification System effortlessly purifies water for about 1-4 people each day. Add additional Black Berkey Purification Elements (the Big Berkey System can hold a maximum of four) to increase the flow rate. The system is just 19.25” tall and 8.5” in diameter.
POWERFUL PURIFICATION- Berkey systems equipped with Black Berkey Purification Elements purify water—not just filter it—by addressing over 200+ contaminants in tap water or raw, untreated freshwater sources like ponds, rivers and streams.
ECONOMICAL, LONG-LASTING- A pair of Black Berkey Purification Elements lasts for up to 6,000 gallons before needing replacement. Each additional pair of elements (sold separately) adds an additional 6,000 gallons of purification power to your system. Black Berkey Purification Elements average just 2 cents per gallon of purified water.
INDEPENDENT TESTING- Berkey by NMCL uses several independent third-party labs to test a broad range of potential contaminants and conducts Extreme Testing for lead and PFCs in order to show the effectiveness of our Black Berkey Purification Elements.
DRINK CONFIDENTLY VIRTUALLY ANYWHERE- No electricity, tools or plumbing required. Travel the world, prepare for emergencies, and take control of your family’s everyday drinking water with your Berkey gravity-fed water filtration system with Black Berkey purification elements. Enjoy delicious, nourishing water from the leader in gravity-fed water solutions.
I have owned and used one of these for over 5 years. It is dependable and easy to use. I use it when camping, backpacking and hunting. One small butane container can fit inside or you can buy larger butane fuel containers that last a long time. Another option is the Jetboil Stash shown below:
This is the smaller sized Jetboil and is sized for backpacking. It is lighter and a smaller sized pot just perfect if you want something small to carry in your backpack.
The Jetboil Stash 7.1 oz ultralight backpacking cooking system packs a stand alone stove with titanium burner and .8L FluxRing cookpot into one compact but feature rich and powerful package.
Jetboil’s iconic FluxRing technology ensures a rapid 2.5 minute boil time.
The nesting design maximizes precious pack space – stow the titanium burner, burner pouch and stabilizer neatly inside the .8L cookpot and seal it all up with the included lid for easy and compact transport.
Cookpot has convenient built in measuring markers and snap on lid with integrated pour/drink spout and storage for 100g *JetPower fuel canister and *mini-lighter (*not included), while the attached pour handle makes for easy handling.
Fuel stabilizer keeps everything stable and steady.
Measures 4.4 inches W x 5.1 inches H (112mm x 130mm); weighs 7.1 ounces (system weight excludes fuel stabilizer).
Includes: Titanium Burner, .8L FluxRing Cook Pot with Lid, Fuel Stabilizer, Instructions, 1 year limited warranty. (*JetPower fuel and lighter not included.)