first time posting here so please forgive any mistakes. i write this to help people. there is no affiliate links, only ideas.
we as humans only need a few things to live. food, water and warmth. you might think having a few cans in the pantry and a water bottle is enough. during a temporary emergency it might last you until help arrives, but what if the situation is bigger than expected? what if the help never comes? what if you are on your own for a week? what if...? its good to have the bare minimum, but if you want to last a long time before going to an emergency shelter you need more. TV shows to watch and something to do. one of the modern form of torture is locking somebody away with nothing. you can get some everyday useful items right now delivered to your door for a few bucks. better safe then sorry. the simplest disruption might cause a wave of consequences. we lived thru many such world changing events in the last few years. from the Evergreen fiasco to the recent FAA nationwide plane grounding. it isnt a matter of IF anymore, but WHEN will it happen.
i lived thru the Quebec ice storm of 1998. let me tell you how it was.
it happened fast. branches falling on cars and the ice and snow was stacking up. my busy street turned into a standstill. the power turned off and suddenly total silence. i remember walking in the middle of the mainstreet at night and there was not a sound. the busy fridge compressor of the supermarket was mute, even the hum of power poles was gone. you could only hear the faint sound of trees cracking and ice poping.
the first few days were camping like. its all fun and games after all. no more school, no more work. we got to all bring our camping stuff out. then after a few days the cracks started showing. no more hot showers, no washing machine, the house was always dark inside. the smell of the coleman lantern was asphyxiating. the city water turned on and off and started coming out brown. we coudnt even drive the car out to get to the store elsewhere, trees were blocking the roads. the game was over and we were stuck like this. during the day chainsaws could be heard screaming away working. the nights were scary. anything could happen. the phone lines were down and nobody had cellphones. my father was a Amateur Radio operator, but he coudnt use them. his antenna was broken and we didnt have any off-grid power. old tube radios also took alot of electricity so only the best prepared could enjoy them in that situation.
after a few week it was now our life. habits and daily tasks began forming. fill up the lanterns, warm up water on the wood stove, hand wash yourself with a cloth. share some news from the people on the sidewalk outside. once in a while somebody knocked on our door. somebody begging for candles, a cop seeing if we were alright... one night a woman tried to rush into our house saying she lived here now. that she has a child and since we were a familly that we needed to take her in. my father blocked her way and told her to go. the situation was tense. a stranger felt entitled to our stuff. we didnt have much and our familly never wasted money. meanwhile some random people felt the little we had was theirs. we had to keep the curtain closed after that, nobody should see we had lights out. it was starting to be dangerous. we heard stories of theft and a few struggles. our neighbour chased away somebody in our backyard one night. we all started forming a litle community in our street. we were helping each other.
we didnt know at the time, but we were in the worst place. the power ended up being out 3MONTHS towards the end they forced us to school anyway. i remember wearing my winter jacket and pants inside and getting some homework from the teacher to bring home. we were lucky to had a wood stove and some camping things. other people were forced out by the police and brought to emergency centers. apparently you werent allowed to have an open flame inside your house.
List of things that are useful:
[Water]
Membrane filters
like Sawyer or Lifestraw. very cheap and filter out 99.9999% of bacteria and other nasties. turn ditch water into a fine drink. can be combined with a simple bucket, a brass fitting, hose and a cloth to create an easy way to filter an household size of water easily. might be a good idea to have a geiger counter too just in case.
[Communication]
Ham radios, Meshtastic, Bitchat
comms are an essential part of modern society. to be effective we need to share information. What is happening? is the first question we all ask ourselves. try to get some reliable peer to peer and decentralized radios. they dont rely on infrastructure and can be a life safer. if you are part of a group it can make night and day difference in your effectiveness. Quenshen UV-K5, Baofeng UV-5R, uSDX, Heltec V3...
[Entertainment and Knowledge]
Kiwix
your own personal off-line backup of wikipedia
Offline AI
a must for troubleshooting computers while off-grid
portable HDD and Flash drives
store media for various computers. share and trade. when the internet is down alot of people will want to get various programs and media. having a low cost way to carry those digital assets is essential. in Cuba people smuggle movies and tv shows. a cheap laptop only take 20-30watts of electricity. its a must when power is limited.
[Electricity]
LiFePo4 batteries.
stock up on kilowatts for cheap
everything is electric now. electricity is becoming an keystone in our life. various ways can be utilized to generate some, but storage is important. build your own stacks and save thousands. if you are still on Lead-Acid you are in for a shock. LFP battery are miraculous. if the grid become unstable you could stock up during the UP time and use your reserve during downtime. dont forget about fast chargers and inverters. search for "RV converters" they are cheaper than the lithium chargers.
i wish you all the best.
bellow i will share an old story shared online. it is supposedly from somebody how lived thru the Bosnian war. take it with a grain of salt.
[Selco Begovic - One Year In Hell.pdf]
MD5: afa0885df13710c8e1858ae7bad224c6
SHA1: b7836d87cd74da015ac9932267ace8281b07f0ae
CRC32: 6044ec74
https://limewire.com/d/XZCJs#i6bMuuANAg
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https://files.egali.top/r/qsqLTgCk#g8wIjh5IyE0+onift54Ny2aywY2LBa/Z16yNHQQcuJg=