171 Hours

Power's Back On

Well, the power finally came back on last night after 171 hours.  Just over 7 days.  It sucked, but could have been a whole lot worse.

I've got a few lessons learned...

A head lamp is the greatest invention ever for a power outage.  I used my Petzl that I bought in the spring and my wife picked up an inexpensive Energizer brand one for her when she bought the new generator.  Whether keeping your hands free while filling up the generator in the dark, navigating the breaker panel, or just going to the bathroom, a head lamp makes it very easy.

Old freezers aren't as efficient as a newer one.  The freezer we have in the shop is about 25 years old and although it never went more than about 10-11 hours without power to it while we were at work, we lost all the food in it.  Our refrigerator in the house is only about 2 years old, and the freezer kept everything rock hard frozen.  Most of the things in the refrigerator part also stayed safely cold, but we lost some dairy.  I don't think we'll fill up the freezer again, but will use it for short term rotation things.  Time to save up for a new freezer.

The Husqvarna 435 is a great little chainsaw.  I've picked up an extra bar and chain for it.  I'll gradually get a third bar, and I'd like to have a total of 5 chains.  I also need to learn how sharpen the chains.  I've been through a series of $89 Craftsman saws over the years, and it really pays to spend the extra money up front for a quality saw.  The 16 inch blade is plenty big for most chores, and it's not so heavy as to be unwieldy... but...

Check the kickback brake on the chainsaw before you completely disassemble it because you don't think it is working.  'Nuff said.

Using two-way radios for communications with the neighbors during a SHTF scenario is very effective.

Two is one, one is none.


Coming Up

Now that things are back as they should be, I'll be back on here daily.  I've got a few topics in the works that I've been planning and I'll write about them this week: I changed my EDC kit and my grab bag for the car to better reflect things I learned in my Pathfinder Basic class  in July.  Shannon has asked me to write about grab-and-go kits, especially keeping small kids in mind.  I haven't yet written about my tour of the Buck Knives factory a few weeks ago.


Swiss Army Knives on Sale

Amazon is currently having a great sale on Victorinox Swiss Army Knives.  On top of the sale prices, if you spend more than $50, you get an additional $10 off.  Maybe a Champion Plus and a Classic SD, it's like getting the SD for free.  It's not too early to start thinking about Christmas, and a Swiss Army Knife makes a great stocking stuffer or the perfect gift for that young kid in your family.


Sponsor Of The Week

Our Sponsor of the Week is Directive21.com, home of the Berkey water filter system.  With the recent earthquake and then the heavy Irene rains, my well water was a little dingy.  Having my Berkey on hand gave me confidence in our water's safety.  Directive 21 also has the Aquatank water storage system.  Having one of these for temporary, emergency water storage would come in very handy.  I can see having one in the tub or on a sturdy shelf in the pantry to fill up before a storm comes through, and then draining out if the storm passes without it being used.  Directive 21 has great products and great customer service.  Check them out and please tell them you heard about them at If It Hits The Fan.