12v prep supplies

[WAB]

I have not seen any post about 12v lighting and such. Check out Marine/boating and suppliers websites. they have all the new Led lights of all descriptions, solar panels, wind generators, 12v Flojet pumps for water and everything you need to hook it up. Check them out.


WAB

[Matt In Oklahoma]

What set up do you have? Do you have any pics?

[WAB]

What set up do you have? Do you have any pics?

I dont have any pics. I have been trying some of the cheap yard solar lights that you can find at Walmart. You can add an on/off switch to them so you can charge them during the day and use them at nite. And can add a few together to charge more than one battery. Dont forget those windup/solar flashlights with radio.
You can also ues the portable solar battery charger.


WAB

[Matt In Oklahoma]

There are a ton of posts about solar, fuel generators and other power sources on here, just keep looking.


I have several of those lights and they were my backup plan during this years blizzard. Fail. LOL They were covered in 4-5ft of snow and i couldnt find them.



I have a windup flashlight in the storm shelter and a shakeup charge light in the glovebox.

We also have LED Christmas lights we use in the camper and house during powerdowns.

I did a post here on garage sales where my wife got a self encased power invertor for $7

https://www.survivalandpreparednessforum.com/showthread.php?1842-Garage-Yard-Sales&highlight=garage

These are all great resources on short term stuff i have but i'm not doing good in the long term 12v stuff. It's an area i need work on

[DIM TIM]

RV suppliers are a great place for looking for 12 VDC system equipment and products. Two that are located within 200 miles of me are...

http://www.tomraper.com/

http://www.mwrvcenter.com/default.aspx

Both have a good service department that sells parts for a wide selection of RV's, and I have a few old catalogs from the Midwest RV Center that contains all sorts of items for 12V systems.
You also might want to try the J.C. WHitney catalog for 12VDC parts and devices.

http://www.jcwhitney.com/

I haven't built anything yet, but I have an electronics background, and I have some things going in the back of my mind for a small scale solar system for emergency lighting and powering a 12VDC multi-band radio for news and weather reports.
Just remember that in the event of any sort of a grid-down situation, OPSEC should be observed religously to keep your home from becoming a target from those that didn't have the foresight to prepare themselves.

[WAB]

RV suppliers are a great place for looking for 12 VDC system equipment and products. Two that are located within 200 miles of me are...

http://www.tomraper.com/

http://www.mwrvcenter.com/default.aspx

Both have a good service department that sells parts for a wide selection of RV's, and I have a few old catalogs from the Midwest RV Center that contains all sorts of items for 12V systems.
You also might want to try the J.C. WHitney catalog for 12VDC parts and devices.

http://www.jcwhitney.com/

.

I had forgotten about them. Thats a great place too. I have found some inverters at a cheap price at TA truckstops too.

Just remember that in the event of any sort of a grid-down situation, OPSEC should be observed religously to keep your home from becoming a target from those that didn't have the foresight to prepare themselves.

That is the best advice yet. There is nothing better than a generator running during a blackout for advertising!! You can hear that thing for 3 miles!!

WAB

[Matt In Oklahoma]

There is nothing better than a generator running during a blackout for advertising!! You can hear that thing for 3 miles!!WAB

I have thought about that alot on SHTF. My take on it is that around here is that yes, everyone can hear it, however up front short term everyone around here uses them, so why not go ahead for the first few days to week and use it. Once i stop hearing theirs then i will limit my usage. Because of the weather related disasters in these parts alot of folks have generators and they will using fireplaces, woodstoves etc. so the smoke won't be a "giveaway" It's not uncommon at all. I think that all the way up to at least a week and maybe more folks will still be in that denial phase and won't be on the lookout for OPSEC failures. Most people I know only have 6-8 hrs of fuel on hand which i find amusing because anything that happens is at least a 3 day event. I think that using the generator short term will also buy me the time to dry my meat, over the firepit, thats in the freezers/fridge to preserve it. I usually have several deer/hogs and small game along with regular groceries. That dried meat could go a long way for stores and trade or a goodwill gesture towards needed neighbors on about day 4-5 when it sets in and the day to day livers start to run low. Right now I lost a hog with the one freezer the other day after the lightening but still have about 4 deer left over from season at about 175lbs of meat.
What do you all think?

[Lowdown3]

Hey WAB, welcome to the forums!

[WAB]

Thanks, Its been awhile!!


WAB

[overbore]

Generator experiences here;

Lived aboard our heavy boat with an Onan diesel gen set, house battery bank, starting battery bank 12 v lights and most radios. In 1998 we were hit badly by a tornado in our home ; lived on a old Onan 5Kw natural gas gen set for about two weeks.
Now we have a rebuilt home, a 7.5 Ng/propane gen set, a 12 Crown battery bank ,Zantec/inverter-charger for our battery emergency power system and have decided that if the TSHTF, we go with quiet gen ops by day and battery power by night as my opinion is that September will be a month of big changes and I do not have time to get solar panels installed and sorted out.

Laus Deo
overbore

[WAB]

Generator experiences here;

Lived aboard our heavy boat with an Onan diesel gen set, house battery bank, starting battery bank 12 v lights and most radios. In 1998 we were hit badly by a tornado in our home ; lived on a old Onan 5Kw natural gas gen set for about two weeks.
Now we have a rebuilt home, a 7.5 Ng/propane gen set, a 12 Crown battery bank ,Zantec/inverter-charger for our battery emergency power system and have decided that if the TSHTF, we go with quiet gen ops by day and battery power by night as my opinion is that September will be a month of big changes and I do not have time to get solar panels installed and sorted out.

Laus Deo
overbore

I would hate to live by a generator. But we all do what we have to do. I have been researching sailboat living and or cruising. I think it is neat to be able to go where you want by windpower. Get tired of one place and just go to another. That is just neat.


WAB

[Patriotic Sheepdog]

Has anyone heard about el-wire? I'm pretty sure it can be adapted to a 12V system. It is an electroluminescent wire, supposed to draw low power. I don't think it would provide a ton of light, but may provide enough for a comm center, or small space without OPSEC issues. Many colors, so if you want you could use red to save your night vision. Maybe good for an LP/OP. I've only started reading about it, so I don't have experience. Would love to hear people's thoughts. Just do a web search for el-wire.

[DIM TIM]

Got to thinking about something that I ordered a while back for a small 12V emergency lighting set I plan to build soon, and wanted to share it. I plan to build a self-contained unit that will have a small, simple table lamp that uses one of these (about 3/4 of the way down the page) bayonet lamp adapters and a bunch of packs of tail lamps from the local auto parts store.

http://www.kansaswindpower.net/lights%20DC.htm

The original idea was mentioned in the novel PATRIOTS: Surviving the coming collapse by James Wesley, Rawles of SurvivalBlog.com fame. The original company mentioned is still in business, but they no longer sell the adapters, so I had to do a bit of searching before I found the company linked above had them. They are not cheap, but they are well worth the money spent IMO. I bought two, and hope that maybe I can get a bunch more some time later. :D

[claymore]

Will check those sites out. Deficient in this area; just a loud genny and a few cheap solar lights from Home Depot.

[WAB]

I bought one of these and then ordered two more.

http://www.amazon.com/Clip-Light-eReader-Tablet-Laptop/dp/B004CFSX30/ref=pd_rhf_p_t_1

You can clip these most anywhere for light. Being an LED, the batterries will last a while. It has two leds for two brightness levels. You could put them on the head of your bed for an emergency light or use it as a reading light.


WAB