Re: "Sitrep from Puerto rico post Hurricane" in forum "Off Topic".

[radarbob]

Fellow preppers: Don't miss this post!. A real life SHTF situation. Gov't. not able to help, most people unprepared. See what you could be overlooking if/when it happens where you are.

 

[JayMcB]

Anyone want to weigh in?

Water? Katadyn x4. Berkey. Pool shock to make bleach. Borax and laundry soap stored ahead.

Food? Up to you, but I have some stored ahead.

Batteries? Bulk packs. Buy one a month until you're ahead. Flashlights on black Friday

Enough solar to recharge batteries.

Protection? Not mentioning specifics, but scopes matter.

And if you can see at night, it gives you an algorithmic force multiplier. Pick how you do it. Then practice with it some. Rule the night.

Coms? Baofeng, MURS and GMRS. Go ham or go home.

 

[Bill Katt]

Anyone want to weigh in?

Water? Katadyn x4. Berkey. Pool shock to make bleach. Borax and laundry soap stored ahead.

Food? Up to you, but I have some stored ahead.

Batteries? Bulk packs. Buy one a month until you're ahead. Flashlights on black Friday

Enough solar to recharge batteries.

Protection? Not mentioning specifics, but scopes matter.

And if you can see at night, it gives you an algorithmic force multiplier. Pick how you do it. Then practice with it some. Rule the night.

Coms? Baofeng, MURS and GMRS. Go ham or go home.

Rechargeable...along with a solar charger as backup.

 

[clampett]

And if you can see at night, it gives you an algorithmic force multiplier. Pick how you do it. Then practice with it some.

I would love to get a night vision scope for one of my rifles, but at $3-4K, it will not be in my budget anytime soon.

 

[Another_David]

i've been following it closely. the fed is actually doing what it can do--it's just not possible to fix infrastructure for 3.4 million people in two weeks.

here's what I know:

cash society
power plants are mostly okay but wires down. it's an island so unlike Florida, northern repair folks can't just drive in.
water treatment is largely intact but no power to operate means no tap water
facilities like water treatment have working generators but fuel is limited.
generators and fuel disappear at night
curfew--dusk til dawn.
fuel depots are fine--plenty of fuel but distribution has ceased. Jerry can is now a high value item
local gov largely unmanned--staff dealing with their own crisis. feds step in but keep arms distance and prioritize security to key infrastructure (airports, field office, gov ops, fuel distribution)
communications down: cell, internet, landline. ironically there's a slew of info online about which hospitals are operational, civil air patrol flyover photos (http://imageryuploader.geoplatform.gov/ImageEventsPublic/map.html#), etc.

there are lists galore about what you need so here's my top 10 in no particular order:

cash
guns
food
water purification (filter, tablets)
medications
solar charger
FM/HAM radio
transportation
housing
friends

 

[Cabin Fever]

As far as cooling without power, check out usb fans. I have this one... uses just 3 watts and works well for staying cool. Could run off a portable usb charger like the ones used to charge phones.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00WM7TRTY

I have no solar panels. But as a cheap solution i have 12v clips that are attached to a cigarette lighter plug, along with an inverter. Should be able to harvest a lot of power from car batteries to charge small electronics and aa/aaa batteries.

Anyone have a low key solar setup that wouldnt break the bank?

 

[Rob Boudrie]

cash society

Most disasters are regional in nature, so the scenario that cash becomes useless and everyone is bartering with silver, gold and alchohol is rather unlikely. I'll bet it's easier to get $10 worth of stuff in PR for $10 in cash than it is for $10 worth of silver.

 

[Individualist]

In a SHTF resource poor scenario you'll probably be lucky to get $10 worth of stuff for $100 cash. This is where bartering will be a good idea. If you have stores of essentials - water, food, medicines or other desirables - booze, batteries, boolets, you can trade it for other needed items at close to equal value. Cash will be devalued. Necessities will increase in value.

 

[AllaSnackbah]

Fellow preppers: Don't miss this post!. A real life SHTF situation. Gov't. not able to help, most people unprepared. See what you could be overlooking if/when it happens where you are.

copy and paste my OP into your first post here.

 

[Varmint]

Rechargeable...along with a solar charger as backup.

Can you guys recommend a solar charger?

 

[ridleyman]

Bare necessities (from my previous post 2 years ago):

1 dozen Johnny Walker Red nips
1 box xtra large condoms
25 Slim Jims
6 Romeo & Julieta Churchill cigars
4 changes underwear (one/week/month)
3 socks
1 'nother dozen JWR nips
1 box large condoms (eyes were bigger than.....you know)
poncho ($1.99 from Disneyland in 1970s)
1 Penthouse magazine (also from the 70s)
1 box matches
1 qt gasoline
1 'nother box matches
for protection: 2 rape whistles and a rock
1 box medium condoms (my wife weighed in on this purchase)
1 fifth JWR

 

[Taka]

Can you guys recommend a solar charger?

What are you charging?

Tons of great suggestions for a number of items here.
http://www.northeastshooters.com/vb...st-hurricane?p=5652495&viewfull=1#post5652495

Shameless plug.

If you are looking for water and gas storage . . .

http://www.northeastshooters.com/vbulletin/threads/266216-WTS-Blue-15-Gallon-Storage-barrels

 

[Palladin]

Bare necessities (from my previous post 2 years ago):

1 dozen Johnny Walker Red nips
1 box xtra large condoms
25 Slim Jims
6 Romeo & Julieta Churchill cigars
4 changes underwear (one/week/month)
3 socks
1 'nother dozen JWR nips
1 box large condoms (eyes were bigger than.....you know)
poncho ($1.99 from Disneyland in 1970s)
1 Penthouse magazine (also from the 70s)
1 box matches
1 qt gasoline
1 'nother box matches
for protection: 2 rape whistles and a rock
1 box medium condoms (my wife weighed in on this purchase)
1 fifth JWR

Truth

 

[kevin9]

Here's some self-help things I rarely see in prep lists:

• Chain saw with bar and engine oil, spare chains and parts, include in fuel usage calculations, timberjack
• Shovels, pickaxes, 5'-6' pry bar, post-hole digger
• Ropes and cables, shackles and hooks
• Electric or vehicle mounted winch and cables
• ATV, UTV or motocycle

Do not expect help to come to you. Expect to have to make your way to it, with your neighbors if they're good folks.

 

[Taka]

Here's some self-help things I rarely see in prep lists:

• Chain saw with bar and engine oil, spare chains and parts, include in fuel usage calculations, timberjack
• Shovels, pickaxes, 5'-6' pry bar, post-hole digger
• Ropes and cables, shackles and hooks
• Electric or vehicle mounted winch and cables
• ATV, UTV or motocycle

Do not expect help to come to you. Expect to have to make your way to it, with your neighbors if they're good folks.

Good additions.
I'd add a couple of Come-A-longs too

 

[P-14]

Tincture of iodine. 10 drops per liter kills bacteria. Google it for backpackers. Lasts forever instead of those short-life water purification tablets. Good for disinfecting cuts. In water, it gives about 30x the daily recommended dose of iodine to flush the thyroid (think nuclear incident). You don't need potassium iodide pills.

3 wonderful things in that tiny bottle. Keep many on hand. I do. Buy them at the drug store.

On the phone, so sorry for the cryptic text.

Sent from the Warlock Command Center

 

[cockpitbob]

Can you guys recommend a solar charger?

I assume you want to charge phones and batteries. There are tons of small foldable solar panel chargers on Amazon. It's a fast moving industry with new stuff coming out all the time.


Most have a 5V USB output only, but some like this have 5V and 12V outputs and can charge a car battery (very slowly) as well as your phone.

For charging your AA and AAA batteries, you'll want something that runs off USB like this one.

Just remember that a 24W panel will give you 24W at noon in south Texas. You'll get less this far north.

 

[MisterHappy]

Practice with what you have, before you have to use it.

In the last Hunter Ed class I helped with, we were discussion what to bring in your 'survival kit.' Everyone agreed that matches were needed. Almost nobody had ever tried to light a fire on a wet, windy day, with just the stuff around them.

I told them that when it's a nice, sunny, warm day, you won't need to light a fire.

 

[enbloc]

.

 

[cockpitbob]

Long weekend in Las Vegas?

Check the contents of your survival kit.

 

[SpiderMA]

Several cheap solar powered landscape lights

 

[Varmint]

What are you charging?

I have one of these, which I'd use for charging flashlight batteries and phones.

It has a 15V 1A input (for cigarette lighter or wall adapter) - wonder if that'd work with a typical solar panel charger?

 

[Varmint]

I assume you want to charge phones and batteries. There are tons of small foldable solar panel chargers on Amazon. It's a fast moving industry with new stuff coming out all the time.


Most have a 5V USB output only, but some like this have 5V and 12V outputs and can charge a car battery (very slowly) as well as your phone.

For charging your AA and AAA batteries, you'll want something that runs off USB like this one.

Just remember that a 24W panel will give you 24W at noon in south Texas. You'll get less this far north.

Thanks - yeah my battery charger does have a 12V input, which i didn't know til I just checked.

There are so many panels I was wondering which one to get.

 

[cockpitbob]

There are so many panels I was wondering which one to get.

Yeah, too many options is a problem. 2 years ago there were only 2 or 3 good ones. Now......

When I finally decide to get a panel I'll just plow through the Amazon reviews and see which ones score 4+ stars AND have tons of reviews. Then I'll cross-check that with a general on-line search.

The bigger question is, how big? I think I want one small enough for backpacking, but that won't be large enough for home SHTF stuff. I think the consummate prepper would have a 10W-20W one for bugging out without a car plus bigger than 50W at home so you could run more than a couple flashlights and a phone.

I keep intending to put a generator on that stationary bike in the basement . They say you can easily generate 100W with a bike generator and athletes do over 400W. Of course if food is running short I'll be too weak to pedal a bike.

 

[radarbob]

Forget all that research, just go to Harbor freight and buy one. I'm also planning on converting a bike, but you'll prbably do better with a couple of basic solar panels, depending n your conditins, this being New England, consider a small, inexpensive wind turbine. Add a combination of all three for best results.

 

[Individualist]

Y

I keep intending to put a generator on that stationary bike in the basement . They say you can easily generate 100W with a bike generator and athletes do over 400W. Of course if food is running short I'll be too weak to pedal a bike.

 

[Coyote33]

Electric Generator

 

[garandman]

We live near Boston Harbor. After Hurricane Sandy, I scoured reports from coastal residents. First thing we did was look at flood charts. Found an interactive map that allowed me to raise the water level to those levels: 14 feet above high tide. Turns out we won’t flood (we’re somewhere between 24-40’ above high tide) but will be on an island for 12 hours a day. Huge portions of Cambridge, Back Bay, and other areas up the rivers will also flood.

We bought more gas and water cans, stored more fuel, switched to inverter generators, beefed up medical supplies and training, and we even store our inflatable boat and small outboard in the shed.

A severe northeast snow storm with astronomical high tides remains the most likely and dangerous scenario where we live. Flooding, and no where to go because roads behind us are flooded.

Ironically, I lived in Hampton Beach during the Blizzard of ‘78. Our street didn’t get plowed so we were stuck until the marsh behind us started flooding. We went to the fire station (Police station flooded) and evacuated by bus at the next low tide. Two miles inland it was just another snow storm.

 

[garandman]

https://www.cnbc.com/video/2017/09/...-corps-taking-lead-on-power-grid-repairs.html

Apparently a diesel fuel shortage is a big part of the problem.

 

[MisterHappy]

In the other PR thread, I posted this link:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puerto_Rico

If you go down to the economy section, you'll see how well and truly f'd they are, as they have to import almost all their energy. They're in a sunny, windy well-watered and hilly location, and have no solar, wind or hydro generation. It's all imported petro.

This is the whole source. And, when you factor in the Jones Act, prohibiting foreign-flagged shipping from bringing anything from the US Mainland to PR, it's another drag. Hell....they're in the tropics, and have to import tropical fruit, apparently!