Real Life - When my preps have saved my butt... How about you folks?

[Boyd]

First time I can remember needing my preps was during the midwestern blackout when the power grid went offline for a week. Within a couple of days folks were scurrying around buying up all the bottled water, gasoline etc. We were fine short term with a small generator to run the electric well pump, but we did have a hand pump as a backup. We also ate from our wetpack storage, dried goods etc and cooked out on the grill as much as we could outside. Plenty of hardwood to keep the grill going, or could have broken into the charcoal a bit :)

Second time was these past two years. Michigan's Economy has been in a depression long before 2007-2008 downswing the rest of the country felt. I kept getting jobs at places that ended up folding up and closing down their doors. from Christmas 2008 through the present I do what I can when I can. Not many are hiring in Michigan. My long term food storage has really helped out. With a house full of kids, none of us have starved, and we've learned how to stretch a meal, groceries n supplies so the money we do have on hand can go towards bills n such.

I'd love to hear from other folks! I remember reading a blog from a Teen who helped his family survive Katrina without being overly hungry :) Anybody else want to share?

[crossbow]

my supplies haven't actually saved me yet other than using them every day and replenishing them every month, but they have saved some friends and relatives who have lost their jobs from time to time. It's amazing how 20 pounds of rice,30 pounds of beans and 50 cans on mixed veg, 20 pints of home canned turkey and chicken can make an unemployed person feel. all for under a hundred dollars and it helps rotate the food faster. They have also made a few people open their eyes and start preping a little

[becky3086]

The longest we have ever been without power here is 2 1/2 days. It was a nasty winter storm for us but at the time we had a house with two fireplace so it was just a matter of collecting wood for heat, water was the worst thing, before that none of us had ever stored any water but we sure did after that.
Not too long ago we had a few weeks where grocery money was nonexistant.We have 5 adults to feed. I am not really a storer but we had plenty of food, it was just a matter of making it last. Meat was a little slim. I went out and killed a rooster and skinned him. He went to make a large casserole and pot of soup. I killed 10 quail for a meal as well. There was fish in the freezer from fishing that summer and they provided another meal. I had a big dear shoulder my sister had given me. It made several meals. Anyway, we made due without shopping and it really wasn't all that hard. I imagine longer periods of time would be a lot harder (we'd eat a lot of chicken, duck and quail, lol, oh and beans, have plenty of those stored).

[slingshot]

11 days w/o power

Jan 09 we went 11 days w/o power. Truthfully, I kinda enjoyed it. Makes me wonder about myself! Ice storm brought down the power lines across the roads, limbs, trees down everywhere. People trapped in their houses by limbs & trees, driveways & streets blocked, stores in town closed, shelters opened in a few churches and the school's gym. Complete shutdown.

Got up that morning and started the genset, ran the outdoor wood furnace central heat, got the house warm in a few minutes. Wife cooked breakfast on our propane stove (and hot water heater, and bathroom wall heaters) and sat around drinking hot coffee and watching tv, after I knocked the ice off the satellite dish. Realized how bad it was outside when they started talking about it might be a month before the power was back. Thousands of poles down, more thousands of breaks in the lines, etc. Shelters being opened up, check on your neighbors, take care of your stock animals, several deaths so far, stay off the roadways and away from downed lines, thousands & thousands w/o power, and on and on.

Got busy getting ready to hunker down. Had plenty of genset gas in cans with Sta-bil. Had plenty of food, warm clothes, etc. Put out hay for the cattle first. Took the chainsaw and started cutting out the little dirt road that runs through our property. Got that finished and took the ATV to go our neighbors' houses and help cut them out. Plenty of chainsaw gas & bar oil on hand. Worried that 3 inches of ice on the limbs & trees would dull my chain fast, but couldn't tell the difference. Learned to cut the limbs off even with the ice on the ground. The ice had them glued to the ground and couldn't pull them up and throw them off the road. Took all the men that were willing to work about 3 days to open up our road and to cut out our elderly neighbor that was in bad health. He passed away a few months later, and was bed-ridden when the storm hit. We cut out his long lane to his house (about 1/2 mile) so an ambulance could get in there, if need be. His son was planning on hauling his ATV in the back of the truck to the area, and then cutting peoples' fences to get food to his parents with his ATV. Luckily, that wasn't necessary when we finished with the chainsaws.

Days later the county road crew came through and opened up the road a little better. Had a guy riding in the bucket of a front-end loader being lifted up to cut limbs that had sagged down. He must have really made his boss mad to get that job!

Got to give neighbors a hot shower, in a warm house, hot coffee and snacks, and tv news, and a little fellowship so they wouldn't have to go to a shelter. All kinds of horror stories about the shelters going around.

I only ran the genset when I needed to. Used about 13 or 14 gals of gas during the 11 days. One night it got down to 9 degrees, but we stayed warm just fine. Had plenty of furnace wood put up. Have a 500 gal propane tank. Plus, water to flush the commodes to save time on the genset not pumping the well. Like I say, I enjoyed it. Good test run for a short-term disaster. I took care of my family and helped my neighbors, so it all worked out well. Later, when stories of just how really miserable it had been for so many thousands of families, we felt a little guilty because it was merely a minor inconvenience for us.

[crossbow]

they haven't yet, but i believe the day is getting closer when our preps will be all we'll have for a long long time.