What's in your blizzard & hurricane box ?

Good point, I'm no expert...but that's because it'll get higher than the cutting and scoring teeth, correct??

I'm no expert either, just a regular guy learning things the hard way.

From the picture below, you can see that as the tooth is sharpened back, it also gets shorter. When it gets close to the same height of the raker, you get less "bite" into the wood.

A good thing to look for is the size of the chips coming off the saw. If they are big flakes; good to go. If you literally get sawdust coming out of the saw (like you'd get off a table saw), it's time to sharpen the chain.

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I touch my chain up as needed or with every tank of gas. I've got three chains in rotation at a time and one of them is usually with the local sharpening guy just down the street.

It's a good idea to have a spare bar on hand too. You never know when you'll pinch or bend one. (When I do, it's usually at a time of day when all the stores are closed - figures.)

I also keep a spare spark plug and air filter in my chainsaw kit.
 
Some good ideas here. I like the 12 volt fans, I could run then off the marine battery from the trolling motor.

Carl, unless you're using the rum in the zippo to light a really good cee-gar then you're just wasting good booze. [cheers]
 
It's a good idea to have a spare bar on hand too. You never know when you'll pinch or bend one. (When I do, it's usually at a time of day when all the stores are closed - figures.)

I also keep a spare spark plug and air filter in my chainsaw kit.

Good Picture, thank you!

And good on the extra bar, plug and filter. Those I do not have on hand. And after looking EVERYWHERE for an air filter for my generator and realizing that NO ONE carries one and ordering online...it's something that I think I should do. Even if the stores are open, they might not have an extra.
 
We are still in the first extended power outage since I bought my current house 11+ years ago. Luckily, earlier this year I started reading these survival forums, and I really turned around my level of preparedness. I always had plenty of camping gear, which would have kept us alive, but we are living in relative comfort right now thanks to all of the preparations I made this year.

Food is a non-issue. I have months worth of FD and canned food put away, but we are still working off our normal stock in the kitchen.

We are on town water, and utility gas, which have stayed on. I do have many cases of bottled water as a backup, and we have a hot tub filled with water that we could use to flush toilets if we ever lost pressure.

I have a 3500/4000W Tractor Supply generator, that cost $299. Over the summer, I installed a J-box in the circuit that feeds my furnace and hot water heater, so I can quickly swicth over to a pigtail and plug into an extension cord. I have another cord to my fridge, and a third that we either use for a lamp or the oven/microwave. I had 25 gallons of gas stored, and have only emptied one 5 gallon can so far.

I have a deep cycle battery from my camper, which we have been using to power a small LCD TV and either a DVD player or an amplified antenna. We are also charging our phones and iPods off this. This can be recharged with the generator, but has been going for three days and is still around 11.9V.

We have a ton of LED flashlights and headlamps, and several dozen AAA batteries.

And we have been using jar candles and oil lamps for playing board games.

The only thing I am uneasy about now, is what we would do if we lost natural gas. I have plenty of small propane bottles, so we could cook on camp stoves. Heating the house would become problematic. I will have to work on this next. I think that a bootleg Kerosun heater may be in my future.
 
What some might not know is that when you file the tooth back far enough, you also have to file the raker down.

This is a skill best taught hands-on by someone who has done it often. I was lucky enough to learn from my grandfather, who has probably felled more trees than anyone I know outside of a professional. Saves scads of money over buying a new chain all the time, and is in good keeping with Yankee Frugality. [grin]

He also passed me a bucket of nails last year while cleaning out the shop - they had been removed from a shed some 30+ years ago, and hand straightened.
 
The only thing I am uneasy about now, is what we would do if we lost natural gas. I have plenty of small propane bottles, so we could cook on camp stoves. Heating the house would become problematic. I will have to work on this next. I think that a bootleg Kerosun heater may be in my future.

Pellet or Wood Stove. Wood Stove doesn't require any electricity. The Pellet Stove does for the blower, but uses less draw than a hair dryer and can be ran of a Deep Cycle Battery as well. Before the Generator, I had one of those small cigarette lighter inverters that I could plug an extension cord to and run to the pellet stove. You can then use the car as a generator...not the greatest thing for the car, but it will work and keep you warm.
 
Need to keep food that doesn't require heating (stove is electric, dammit - wife won't use a gas one.)

Um. Just realized I totally forgot I have a one-burner butane/propane thingy, looks sorta like a Primus Classic. I also have tucked away a propane camp stove. We haven't camped in so long I forgot I have them!!
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Mine's evolved over the last 15 years and centers on light, heat, & cooking -

The best investment I've made was picking up 100YO oil lamps at the flea market & auctions and learning how to set them up. Correctly trimming the wicks & burning height, clear kerosene not colored, etc. I had them all running and the rooms were bright enough to read by at night. Side benefit is they put out some warmth, enough that they can be felt when close by. Light makes things bearable.

For heat I have (2) clear kero Aladdin towers like the OP has. We lost power for 40 hours and I'd made the decision to fire one up right as the power came back. They are 12,000 BTU burners so the house would have been toasty very quickly. We were at ~63 degrees when I go started with the Aladdin's.

For cooking, my little Coleman 425 was hard to beat. I set it up on our 3 season porch and we had plenty of hot coffee & grilled meals. I used a cast iron 9" skillet for most chores and a 13x8 fajita pan for bacon & making toast. No complaints from anyone about the food quality. Dragged out my Coleman oven for a go at corn bread but, the power came on.

There are some other things I need to add in-between, but that is mostly it, oil lamps, Aladdin heaters, & Coleman camp cookers.
 
It's funny that these kits are basically as different as bug out bags.

My hurricane kit:
2 light rum nips
2 dark rum nips
1 can orange drank
1 can passion fruit juice
1 lime concentrate squeeze bottle
3 packets of sugar
1 bottle grenadine
1 can mandarin oranges
 
Since we're expanding the basics...

From reading the complaints on threads related to the power outages, a good supply of non-refrigerated food should be a priority for some of you.

Here's some pantry Pr0n;
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12 pints applesauce
6 pints spagetti sauce
3 quarts / 8 pints pork
6 quarts / 8 pints beef
5 quarts chicken

That's nearly a month's worth of home canned meats tucked away in a small closet with plenty of room for more. Not shown are the can rotation racks and dry goods. Having a non perishable food supply is easy once you get started.

The only difficult part is getting started.
 
The best investment I've made was picking up 100YO oil lamps at the flea market & auctions and learning how to set them up. Correctly trimming the wicks & burning height, clear kerosene not colored, etc. I had them all running and the rooms were bright enough to read by at night. Side benefit is they put out some warmth, enough that they can be felt when close by. Light makes things bearable.

I've been wanting to get those old oil lamps when I come across them at Yardsales and the like...then I think...I've got two "active" little girls. Enough things get knocked off counters that I don't need one flammable ending up on the floor. I have about 5 or 6 coleman lanterns that does a good job in the house.
 
For true brightness, and ease of use....propane lanterns. Bright as hell, easy to use.

The keros do give a warmer, more "homey" light, but definitely less of it.

The big thing is to practice with it, before you need it. The post about knowing how to trim wicks is right on - ragged corners lead to smoke, and dirty chimneys, which cuts down on the light.

During Irene, I brought some mantle-types to my Club for our Pig Roast (the roast must go on!). I'd shown my kid how to tie and burn off mantles, and he passed the knowledge on to [older] others, there.

That's one thing I see in the prep lists....practice in getting the lamps ready and running should not be forgotten.

Since there was a good probability that I'd lose power, I lit the lamp before the light went out. Safer that way. And I get to feel like a genius when it works out. [laugh]
 
It's funny that these kits are basically as different as bug out bags.

My hurricane kit:
2 light rum nips
2 dark rum nips
1 can orange drank
1 can passion fruit juice
1 lime concentrate squeeze bottle
3 packets of sugar
1 bottle grenadine
1 can mandarin oranges

Mandarin oranges?
 
I've been wanting to get those old oil lamps when I come across them at Yardsales and the like...then I think...I've got two "active" little girls. Enough things get knocked off counters that I don't need one flammable ending up on the floor. I have about 5 or 6 coleman lanterns that does a good job in the house.

Keep in mind that lamp oil / kerosene is tough to ignite as a liquid. Off a wick or aerolized like in a pressure stove, that's a different thing. I have several 200A Coleman's but the noise & the smell during use was enough to put them into outside only for me.
 
Honey is a great long term food too. It doesn't really go bad, its a natural antibiotic, and its got the sugars you need to keep on going. You don't really need much of it either.
 
A big sack of weed and a pack of rolling papers? I mean WTF, the TV is out right?

I couldn't resist. I haven't touched that stuff in years.
 
For true brightness, and ease of use....propane lanterns. Bright as hell, easy to use.

The keros do give a warmer, more "homey" light, but definitely less of it.

The big thing is to practice with it, before you need it. The post about knowing how to trim wicks is right on - ragged corners lead to smoke, and dirty chimneys, which cuts down on the light.

During Irene, I brought some mantle-types to my Club for our Pig Roast (the roast must go on!). I'd shown my kid how to tie and burn off mantles, and he passed the knowledge on to [older] others, there.

That's one thing I see in the prep lists....practice in getting the lamps ready and running should not be forgotten.

Since there was a good probability that I'd lose power, I lit the lamp before the light went out. Safer that way. And I get to feel like a genius when it works out. [laugh]

I have a few propane ones as back-up, a Berzomatic Dual-Beam and a couple tank toppers. The light is whiter and brighter for sure.* I like the oil lamps though as they are dead silent. However, I just bought a disposable propane cylinder refill adapter so I can take advantage of the stacks of 20 lb. propane cylinders everywhere, even during an extended blackout. In the winter I don't think anyone buys them, it is a summer gas grill thing. From one of those I can keep the small cylinders nearly filled as I need them.

I am glad you noted the practice part. I've gotten stuck a few times with tech that I bought and never unboxed until I needed it. Then find I am either missing a key component, it doesn't work, or I cannot make it work. Mission critical is not the time to discover that. The week before the storm I'd pre-run my chainsaw, snowblower, & Coleman stove as well as bought more disposable propane cylinders, lamp oil, K1 kero, and Coleman fuel.

And that is another thing, I don't rely on one fuel type. Not only do I have the Coleman stove, but also a Bernzomatic propane, and a kerosene galley stove. If I cannot find one fuel type, I will find another. For lamps if I run out of lamp oil I can switch to K1. If I run out of that I can use propane. If propane goes, the 200A's come out. If I run out of Coleman fuel for the stove, I can get naptha at Home Depot or Lowes and use it instead. If all of those are gone, I have a Pyro twig stove and the BBQ. For light we have candles & flashlights if it gets to that. If I run out of D-batteries I have AA to D adapters. One thing I noticed during Irene, D's were gone, AA's were everywhere. It is all about contingencies for me.

*I got an oil lamp just like the first one at an estate sale for $15. The burner is a Kosmos 14 and the flat wick is rolled into a tube by the mechanism. In conjunction with the burner draft, that arrangement burns bright. It really narrows the gap with pressure-lanterns.

canoe-ships-lamp.jpg

This was another estate purchase for $10, an Aladdin A2315 "Watchman". Do note, it uses a mantle and a wick! They are supposed to be incredibly bright and I suspect it will give a pressure-lantern a run for its money. It was my one screw-up pre-storm, I forgot to buy a mantle for it. Doh!

A2315.jpg
 
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Some more about oil lamps - There are so many to choose from, you need to know what you are looking for when you find one. I look for Queen Anne types as I think the burners are the nicest. They are easy to spot as they fount (oil vessel) will have a brass or nickel collar around the top like in the pic below. It is threaded and you can buy brand new replacement burners that screw right in. There are several different sized collar openings but you can find the correct burner by measuring across it. It will be a #1, #2, etc. I've yet to pay more than a buck for a fount when they are missing the burner. A new burner will set you back $20 or way less for used on eBay. Lastly, only use clear kero, K1. Red will smoke more and you get less light. It can even ruin the wick in an Aladdin "Blue-Flame" heater.

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Queen Anne burners are just as easy to spot too. The arms that hold the chimney in place look like flatworms -

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List of some of my experiences the last 3 days below. I must say 3 days was a great exercise particularly for me as a new home owner and not having been through too many multi-day events as an adult. A few more days without would actually have been nice truly test the longevity of our supplies, but its pretty expensive to do it self imposed.



We have a blackout bag in the living room, stocked with plenty of candles, batteries, matches and so forth. Also have a wood stove, and despite not having gotten our seasonal delivery yet my "emergency reserve" served us well.

My father in law gave me an old Stihl chainsaw that needs servicing, need to get on that, but i was smart enough to charge up the batteries and used my Ryobi cordless chainsaw to cut up 8" oak that the town decided was best to dump across the end of my driveway. (or was I just dumb enough to buy a chainsaw that runs on batteries?)

Borrowed a generator from my old man Sunday since they didn't lose power, great convenience item. Researching now and plan to make that investment soon. Beats the hell out of flushing the toilets with melted snow in buckets and going to the outdoor cooler for food. Note to others: he didn't have extra oil, i snagged the last bottle of the kind it needed at walmart. Must stock up on this.

My general practice of keeping the vehicles well gassed paid off, as there were some nasty lines at the few stations open in the immediate area. I will be investing in some containers for rotation and a pump.

Picked up some $12 LED headlamp flashlights at walmart when I went for the gennie oil, awesome investment. This idea came to me after I was getting bullshit at my wifes lack of ability to hold a flash light as I run extension cords.

We were low on milk, and that was one of the few perishables i don't have backup #10 cans of. Wife was pissed as she had a hankerin' for some cheerios and the reason I haven't bought any is because its all non fat [wink] - Read a review/comparison on the different types, going to try some of the Auguson Farms stuff based on that before stocking up.

Lesson learned: Without a generator, and being on a well, it is extremely inconvenient to be behind on dishes.

Made some of the best soup I've had in a long time on the wood stove, Mrs. Grass brand soup starter (homestyle chicken noodle). Will stock up on. Doesn't include the chicken, but worked well since we had some left over rotisserie chicken, but would likely be fine with canned chicken or #10 can stuff.
 
We are now four days without power, and I have got the kids 'praying':

This is my flashlight. There are many others like it, but this one is mine. My flashlight is my best friend. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life. Without me, my flashlight is useless. Without my flashlight, I am useless...
 
I have a few propane ones as back-up, a Berzomatic Dual-Beam and a couple tank toppers. The light is whiter and brighter for sure.* I like the oil lamps though as they are dead silent. However, I just bought a disposable propane cylinder refill adapter so I can take advantage of the stacks of 20 lb. propane cylinders everywhere, even during an extended blackout. In the winter I don't think anyone buys them, it is a summer gas grill thing. From one of those I can keep the small cylinders nearly filled as I need them.

I am glad you noted the practice part. I've gotten stuck a few times with tech that I bought and never unboxed until I needed it. Then find I am either missing a key component, it doesn't work, or I cannot make it work. Mission critical is not the time to discover that. The week before the storm I'd pre-run my chainsaw, snowblower, & Coleman stove as well as bought more disposable propane cylinders, lamp oil, K1 kero, and Coleman fuel.

And that is another thing, I don't rely on one fuel type. Not only do I have the Coleman stove, but also a Bernzomatic propane, and a kerosene galley stove. If I cannot find one fuel type, I will find another. For lamps if I run out of lamp oil I can switch to K1. If I run out of that I can use propane. If propane goes, the 200A's come out. If I run out of Coleman fuel for the stove, I can get naptha at Home Depot or Lowes and use it instead. If all of those are gone, I have a Pyro twig stove and the BBQ. For light we have candles & flashlights if it gets to that. If I run out of D-batteries I have AA to D adapters. One thing I noticed during Irene, D's were gone, AA's were everywhere. It is all about contingencies for me.

*I got an oil lamp just like the first one at an estate sale for $15. The burner is a Kosmos 14 and the flat wick is rolled into a tube by the mechanism. In conjunction with the burner draft, that arrangement burns bright. It really narrows the gap with pressure-lanterns.

View attachment 21750

This was another estate purchase for $10, an Aladdin A2315 "Watchman". Do note, it uses a mantle and a wick! They are supposed to be incredibly bright and I suspect it will give a pressure-lantern a run for its money. It was my one screw-up pre-storm, I forgot to buy a mantle for it. Doh!

View attachment 21751

SCORE on the Alladin!

The mantles are fragile - get a couple extras when you get one. Second there is a special Alladin wick cleaner, to gently remove the crustyness, which improves efficiency. If your wick is improperly trimmed, you'll either get "dead" spots in the mantle, or black carbon deposits. The above being said, they are bright, indeed. Also, they run very hot, so place them with care.
 
SCORE on the Alladin!

Yeah, I did not realize how much until I got home and looked it up. I will definitely have some questions for you once I get the first Lox-On in hand. I think you will appreciate the expenditures on these from left to right to, $15, $5, & $2. The first is the actual Kosmos 14 I mentioned earlier, the next is an Odin "Merveilleux", and the last, a Dietz Comet Boy Scout lantern. The Odin could be the best yet once I get it fully sussed out. The burner is a giant version of the one on the left. I got it lit and had a huge smokeless flame! Gosh I love estate sales!

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