What I learned from Hurricane Irma

[Gazrok]

Hello all,

Nope, not dead, just been kind of taking a break from a lot of online prepper stuff. Had some big changes in life, so had to live more in the moment there for a bit.

Living in Plant City, we basically got the eyewall coming and going. I was out of power (and water, since we have a well, and losing the electric, means losing the well pump), for 4 days due to the storm.

Being a prepper, we did a lot of things right. However, being a cash poor prepper, we had some limitations too.

So, things we did RIGHT....

WATER - We had plenty of water. And that's saying something, as we also had to water 7 horses, a pig, a monkey, 6 dogs, 6 chickens, 3 bunnies, a cockatoo, and a ton of cats....and of course, humans. We were 4 days with no running water, but could have easily had water for another week, for all of us, without even dipping into the well with an emergency bucket.

FOOD - Plenty of food too. I had to even take chicken breasts out to THAW yesterday. No generator. How? Before the storm, I consolidated all refrigerated and frozen food to ONE unit. Then, I used the standing freezer to freeze a ton of bottled water. When the power went out, I filled every nook and cranny of the fridge and freezer that didn't have food, with those frozen water bottles.

LIGHT - We had oil lamps, candles, and battery powered lights, and had no trouble here.

SHELTER - We boarded up windows, and felt pretty secure in a concrete block house. The stables are also well built, and closed storm doors, window shutters, etc.

BOREDOM - We had boardgames, movies on powered devices, even internet access via our cell phones the whole time.

So....what did we do WRONG...???

The heat. I did not really count on this. I thought, sure, it will suck a bit...but man, it sucked a LOT. Generators to me, used to be just a bit luxury...(unless I could go full bore with it). Nope. I'm getting a COUPLE of them now. We have central air, but I see the need for some window units to make a couple of rooms cool when this happens. It's become a NEED, not a WANT.

Cell charging. I figured the cars would suffice for this. True, they do, but it's a pain, and you have to have the cars running some to not kill the battery. So, adding some solar battery chargers to the list. At about $25, can't go wrong.

Batteries. For a short term thing, this didn't seem like much of a thing. But, I do see the need for rechargeable batteries. Nearly impossible to find D cells before or after the storm (which is what most large lanterns use). Now I have other light sources, but these are much easier to use. So, we are definitely moving towards these.

Propane. Impossible to find before the storm (or after). I should have stayed stocked up on this, but can get a bit pricey when on a budget. Still, needed more of this. Luckily, I countered with charcoal. Just would have been easier to cook a few different things with a propane burner vs. on the grill.

 

[Silent Earth]

Phew we were all worried bout you and the others in your state, Glad your OK. I always keep at least 4 bottles (15 KG each) of LPG for emergency heat, light and cooking. We bought some of these lithium ion battery packs to recharge of Mobiles if the power went off and there was not enough sun for the PV panel.

 

[Gazrok]

Phew we were all worried bout you and the others in your state, Glad your OK. I always keep at least 4 bottles (15 KG each) of LPG for emergency heat, light and cooking. We bought some of these lithium ion battery packs to recharge of Mobiles if the power went off and there was not enough sun for the PV panel.

Yep, I have a battery backup charger for the cell, but of course, it charges via a cord. Having a solar option would be best. And yep on the propane. I used to be better about that, but lately....

 

[DrHenley]

Hey Gaz, glad you finally decided to come out of hiding. We were worried about you.

Yep, A/C has become a necessity for the Southern Climes. I vividly remember suffering through the sweltering heat during summer school...before schools had A/C. And a particularly miserable night in Pensacola without A/C. I don't want to go back to that misery ever again. I have two small window units that I will deploy in such situations.

But we actually got very cool weather from Irma, and we only lost power briefly several times (a few hours), although our rental house is still without power. We just opened the windows and enjoyed the cool breeze. One night I hooked up a fan to a small inverter to help me sleep.

 

[Gazrok]

Something I realized about my house. Not a lot of windows really, and those we have, none provide for a through breeze...just individual rooms. It's really a strange design, but not made for the FL heat. Heck, can't even open the big dining room window. Just not made to do so.

For next time, we'll isolate two of the bedrooms, have window A/C units, running off a genny to keep those two rooms sleepable.

 

[Danil54grl]

Two of the best preps we have are the well and generator, besides the given of water, food and shelter. We were still able to use the well when electric was out and since we have lines run out to pastures no hauling. Except to my goat barn cause they stayed inside. They hate to get wet and would have probably died of dehydration! When Rita and Ike hit we had two portable generators. One for us and the other went to granny's. It ran some things in the house, like lights, a fan, recharge phones the a/c in bedroom, freezers/fridge. It did not work for my coffee maker so had to perk that on the outside stove or run dryer which was fine since I could hang on a line and also no washer. Clothes were washed in an old galvanized tub. New plunger comes in handy there too. You were lucky electric was only out 4 days. Both our power outages lasted at least 2 weeks and we were one of the first in our areas. I don't think the newer home when built had breeze in consideration, just the older homes. I know the backside of the house doesn't, but the main living area is OK, just wished we were facing north to south instead of east to west. Opening front door and back door helped along with the 8 windows we have in that one room, but only two on the north side. Your house is made of concrete? Does that hold the heat in more than a traditional home? I would think that it would.

 

[Gazrok]

Your house is made of concrete? Does that hold the heat in more than a traditional home? I would think that it would.

Yes, and I would have to say that it certainly does. (and costs a lot to cool too).
Made boarding up a challenge too, as I had to use a concrete bit, and masonry screws to do it. That's why for next season, I'm doing some pre-cut plywood for every window, with pre-set screws. Originally, I wasn't going to take Friday off to prep the place. SO glad I did though.

 

[Proud Prepper]

Use a big window or ceiling attic fan that sucks the air out of your house. Put it in a hall cieling into attic or main room exterior wall. This will create a breeze through any opened window or door throughout the house. You open and close these as needed. Great air circulation and like having a fan at every open window or exterior door. We use this when we run our generator and keeps house cool, if we need it even cooler, like to sleep, we run a small a/c in one bedroom and everyone sleeps there.

 

[Danil54grl]

We've talked about adding an attic fan. I've never seen one in action but hunny had one in the house he grew up in. He says that they are very nice to have when trying for airflow. I would like it just cause I like to keep windows open during fall thru spring to keep electric cost down.

 

[jimLE]

glad to hear your alright gaz..i don't remember who it was,here in dpf..but he pointed out.that harbor freight has rechargeable D batteries,as well as AA, AAA and C'S...i got me 4 D'S,4 AA's and 4 AAA's..

 

[grayghost668]

Plant City ,,,I know it fairly well,I am glad you came thru this in one piece,a hurricane can be a scary SOB

 

[TexasFreedom]

Gazrok,

A couple of thoughts. First, batteries. Skip the A/AA/C/D batteries. Look into lithium ion 18650 batteries. Comparable in size to a C battery in volume but lighter. Look on Ebay, you can get them for $1/each. And the big thing is that you can recharge them 100's of times AND they don't lose capacity like other batteries even if deep discharged. Rechargers can be plug-in, solar, 12v, etc, get a selection. And there are great LED flashlights as well. I have some that do low beam/high/strobe. In low-beam mode, you can get 20 hours out of a single 18650 battery! Only 1-2 hours on high, but high is maybe 500 or 900 lumens with zoom lense. There is also a head-band version that takes 2 18650 batteries. Extremely handy. Just make sure to get one with the switch on the light itself, not "in-line", I've had those switches go bad on me (flexing may be the issue).

Note that LiO batteries are 3.7v each. So 3 of them gives you 11.1v, close to 12v. So many things will run off 3 of these if you need 12v (ie cell chargers). Not the most efficient, but with your situation it would have been great. But you could charge phones & other things off the lithium ion batteries, then set up a bunch of chargers off your car and in an hour recharge dozens of the 18650's without using too much gas. Some 18650 batteries now have a USB connector, I think it's meant to charge with a cell phone USB cable... one more feature.

I'm a big fan of solar panels. But note that you average 5 hours of full sun per day, and allow for inefficiencies up to 50%. So if you buy a 100 watt panel ($100?), on a sunny day you will average 500 watts in output. You lose 10% with the charge controller, up to 20% in battery heat, and so on. And on cloudy days you might get 50 watts out of that same panel all day. So size things accordingly and test everything to get real data.

Also note that lead-acid batteries significantly reduce life when discharged past 50%, with Lithium Ion batteries can easily go 80% or more discharge with 100's of cycles.

 

[DrHenley]

Look for flashlights that can take 14500 and 18650 Li-ion batteries. 14500 is the same size as AA, but is 3.7 volts. A 18650 battery looks like an AA battery on steroids.

There is a type of single-battery flashlights using these called the SK68 and SK98 that go by many names depending on who is selling them. They are often called mini-Cree and Cree, but this actually refers to the LED itself. The most common brand, and probably the most reliable is Ultrafire. The SK68 can use either an AA or 14500 Li-on battery, (brighter with the 14500 obviously) The SK98 uses only a 18650 since there is no comparable alkaline battery size.

I buy the Ultrafire SK68s by the dozen on Amazon and have them tucked away everywhere. You can find them for less than $5 apiece, but currently it's slightly higher that $5 for the Ultrafire brand on Amazon.

I gave Ultrafire SK98s (identical to SK68 but larger, using the more powerful 18650 Li-ion battery) to my brothers in law for Christmas, along with a USB charger. One brother in law remarked that the flashlight is as powerful as the big spotlights they use coon hunting.

Either of these flashlights using the Li-ion battery lasts a long long time. The SK68 I carry in my pocket gets used often, and I recharge the battery maybe once every three months.

Here is a link on Amazon to the flashlights, batteries and charger

Ultrafire SK98: https://www.amazon.com/UltraFire-SK...qid=1505568413&sr=1-1&keywords=ultrafire+sk98

Ultrafire SK68: https://www.amazon.com/UltraFire-30...UTF8&qid=1505568600&sr=1-6&keywords=ultrafire

USB Charger (for both 14500 and 18650) :https://www.amazon.com/battery-Univ...538&sr=1-2-spons&keywords=14500+battery&psc=1

14500 batteries: https://www.amazon.com/UltraFire-14...568732&sr=8-1&keywords=ultrafire+14500+li-ion

18650 batteries: https://www.amazon.com/Ultrafire-Pe...-spons&keywords=ultrafire+18650+battery&psc=1

 

[TexasFreedom]

Good links Doc. A quick comment, the 14500 is basically a 1/2 size version of the 18650.

I got my flashlights from Ebay, I think I got them for $2-3 each and they've really held up with the abuse I give them.

Those same ultrafire 18650 batteries at ebay:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/4x-UltraFir...413870&hash=item3d3543b9a0:g:VgsAAOSwrhBZDTD0

$7, free shipping for 4 batteries (3000 mAhr), compared to $17 on amazon for 2 batteries.

Or a flashlight:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/15000LM-3-M...hash=item5d74491b78:m:mdxSi42RK8B14tEOugFqT3Q

$2.35, free shipping! No battery, no charger, from China. They claim 15000 Lumen (yes, that's a lie, but it will be at least 500 if not 1000 lumen).

I don't get it. It would cost me $3 dollars just in shipping to send you a flashlight from Texas, not counting the flashlight itself nor ebay fees nor paperwork nor profit... But hey, if they list these prices, I'll buy them.

 

[DrHenley]

The SK98s I got for my brothers in law? I ordered them on Dec 2 (shipped from China) and cancelled the order in Feb when they still hadn't arrived. Reordered from Amazon Prime on Feb 6 and gave them their "Christmas Presents" two months late.

I'll spend a few bucks more and get them from Amazon, thank you...

 

[TexasFreedom]

Doc,

I understand. There are good and bad vendors on both ebay & amazon. Coming from China, I'm getting items typically in 2-3 weeks. With Paypal, I can at least file a claim & get my money back. Amazon can do the same via your credit card.

But at either price, these batteries & lights are well worth the cost.

 

[Brent S]

Glad your ok Gaz. Agreed on the AC thing, we suffered a week down there before thinking to get a small window unit for the master bdrm. As Dr Henley pointed out, here we got a cool snap with the storm so the 4 days were pretty comfortable. My generator will run the AC system, but just barely so I have to turn off the water heater and stove before using it. Like I said though it was not a problem this time. The small propane bottles are great, but for 45 bucks a year rental I got a 500gal tank. I did have to fill it though...... which was a little more. The generator was cycled thru the four days and the gauge on the big tank barely moved at all, going from 70% to about 68%. Really pleased with the efficiency. My next thing will be to convert the stove to propane.

 

[Danil54grl]

Glad your ok Gaz. Agreed on the AC thing, we suffered a week down there before thinking to get a small window unit for the master bdrm. As Dr Henley pointed out, here we got a cool snap with the storm so the 4 days were pretty comfortable. My generator will run the AC system, but just barely so I have to turn off the water heater and stove before using it. Like I said though it was not a problem this time. The small propane bottles are great, but for 45 bucks a year rental I got a 500gal tank. I did have to fill it though...... which was a little more. The generator was cycled thru the four days and the gauge on the big tank barely moved at all, going from 70% to about 68%. Really pleased with the efficiency. My next thing will be to convert the stove to propane.

As appliances get to wear they won't work, wevplan on converting them to gas too. Stove and hot water heater.

 

[Maverick]

Look for flashlights that can take 14500 and 18650 Li-ion batteries. 14500 is the same size as AA, but is 3.7 volts. A 18650 battery looks like an AA battery on steroids.

There is a type of single-battery flashlights using these called the SK68 and SK98 that go by many names depending on who is selling them. They are often called mini-Cree and Cree, but this actually refers to the LED itself. The most common brand, and probably the most reliable is Ultrafire. The SK68 can use either an AA or 14500 Li-on battery, (brighter with the 14500 obviously) The SK98 uses only a 18650 since there is no comparable alkaline battery size.

I buy the Ultrafire SK68s by the dozen on Amazon and have them tucked away everywhere. You can find them for less than $5 apiece, but currently it's slightly higher that $5 for the Ultrafire brand on Amazon.

I gave Ultrafire SK98s (identical to SK68 but larger, using the more powerful 18650 Li-ion battery) to my brothers in law for Christmas, along with a USB charger. One brother in law remarked that the flashlight is as powerful as the big spotlights they use coon hunting.

Either of these flashlights using the Li-ion battery lasts a long long time. The SK68 I carry in my pocket gets used often, and I recharge the battery maybe once every three months.

Here is a link on Amazon to the flashlights, batteries and charger

Ultrafire SK98: https://www.amazon.com/UltraFire-SK...qid=1505568413&sr=1-1&keywords=ultrafire+sk98

Ultrafire SK68: https://www.amazon.com/UltraFire-30...UTF8&qid=1505568600&sr=1-6&keywords=ultrafire

USB Charger (for both 14500 and 18650) :https://www.amazon.com/battery-Univ...538&sr=1-2-spons&keywords=14500+battery&psc=1

14500 batteries: https://www.amazon.com/UltraFire-14...568732&sr=8-1&keywords=ultrafire+14500+li-ion

18650 batteries: https://www.amazon.com/Ultrafire-Pe...-spons&keywords=ultrafire+18650+battery&psc=1

This is the new charger I recently added to my gear, works on house current/automobile/solar panel setup.

ThruNite MCC-4S Universal Charger 120v/12vdc

Charges Li-ion/Ni-MH/Ni-CD, LiFePO4
Li-ion: 22650, 18650, 17670, 18490, 17500, 17335, 16340(RCR123), 14500, 10440 Ni-MH: AA, AAA, C

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01JYW3HP4/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[Brent S]

As appliances get to wear they won't work, wevplan on converting them to gas too. Stove and hot water heater.

Yeah, I just don't have the heart to replace a perfectly good appliance. I recently replaced the water heater with another electric one and regret it now..... the stove is more important to me as gas is easier to cook on as well as better for prepping.