Gadgets to help you through a hurricane

Sorry, airport's flooded, no planes taking off. How about an inflatable raft and a paddle?
 
For the 2 or so weeks after Hurricane Charley hit here we had no power. Myy Photon II (green, with a single 3 volt battery) proved quite invaluable after dark. Also, good leather gloves, leather boots, and of course a good stout knife are great too. Especially those gloves, when you're cleaning up the debris bare hands are definately not recommended.

Edit: Oh, and phones, forget cordless phones, and to some extent cellular coverage. Since most phones nowadays are cordless no one has any way to use them without power, so the cellular networks are clogged up with people trying to make calls on their cells. The older wired phones that don't need to be plugged into the wall worked 2 days after the hurricane though, outgoing calls only mind you but they worked, you should probably keep one handy if you ride out the storm.
 
A headlamp. I lost power for 4 days from Hurricane Floyd. I had a ton of flashlights but it's not easy brushing you teeth with a mag light in one hand and a tooth brush in the other. Plus you are less likely to drop the headlamp in the toilet.
 
How about live somewhere where there worst disaister is when they put too much foam in your cappuccino... like Toronto or something.
 
M35A2 loaded with diesel gen set and Zodiac with pump jet power plant.

Also, Every last Rat you own.
 
MelancholyMutt said:
How about a plane ticket to Los Angeles!
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Yeah, on a Jetblue with a bad front wheel. ;)

There were 4 earthquakes near Bakersfield yesterday.
 
The absolute most two useful items I had the whole time, from my initial evacuation to Natchez on to Shreveport then to Houston and back home again, were in order:

1. Nuwai QIII LED Flashlight
2. Streamlight Twin-Task 3C

I had just received the Nuwai a few days before Katrina. What a great LITTLE light. I had quite a bit of gear, most went unused, but when I did need it I first had to locate it and that's were the Nuwai was priceless, both lights got a real workout. I'm really glad I had 2 decent lights! I had purchaced both in the last year.

Sam
 
MelancholyMutt said:
How about a plane ticket to Los Angeles!
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Close, but with my luck, the plane would land just as "The Big One" struck. Instead, go to Minneapolis. Not much happens there.

Maybe Cleveland. How about Fargo?
 
Good informative thread, cardimon.

In these days of massive hurricanes, earthquakes, and random terrorist attacks, it's always good to be prepared, just in case. The Eton Grundig FR200 in the article is Made in China and feels pretty cheaply-made. I checked it out in a Brookstone store. The Freeplay radios with the solar panel sound great for daytime use, without the need to use the handcrank.

GeoThorn
 
We had plenty of flashlights, candles, batteries, water and canned food, but after Katrina we thought we were going to have to ration toilet paper :( . Thankfully we found a bunch up in a closet during clean up.
 
Hi All-
MelancholyMutt said:
"...Live somewhere where their worst disaster is when they put too much foam in your cappuccino...like Toronto or something..."
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You'll want to be careful about that, too. Toronto is where they had the deadly SARS virus a few years ago.

~ Blue Jays ~
 
Here's my list from personal experience last fall with Jeanne/Francis. It's not the usual "food/water" list, but believe me some of these things will make life more bearable in the long term:

Hard-wired phone: The phone service never went out, even though we were without power for three weeks.
Gas grill with a side burner: A hell of a lot easier than cooking on a small camping stove.
Sun shower: You get real tired of cold showers after a month.
Chemical toilet, or a map of public restrooms in the area: I could go into why, but let me just say that Florida is flat, and when the ground is saturated, septic systems just don't work. Even areas with sewer systems had problems because the power was out. Enough said.

Don't forget that local shortages do not equate to national shortages. The good folks at Campmor had a couple of small things that I had never thought to have available.
 
yoda,
Do you live in Port Charlotte,Punta Gorda Area? I just moved from Port Charlotte after living there for 27 years. I just could stand seeing blue tarps and cageless pool any longer.
 
Yep, been here almost 20 years. For a long time I had planned to move to Arizona or N.C. but I guess I kinda got attached to the place. Must be the weather :foot:
 
Since the poster wanted actual gadgets I should have mentioned a tire plug kit and mini car air compressor for each vehicle. Flats are frequent and many stores are still closed. Even stores with NO damage can’t open because they lack employees.

Is a 870 shotgun a gadget?
 
imho from the way new orleans turned out for a few days a colt AR15 w/a aimpoint and a surefire light set up, or a AKM, and 6-8 spare mags and 4-500 rounds ammo wouldnt be a bad thing to have.
 
Ice and as much as you can buy for at least 3 regular size coolers. Gasoline all the vehicles up, fill up 5 gallon gas cans for the generator, storms are expensive to deal with. Have a plan to what the lowest level of a ditch is you can lay flat on in case you have to evacuate your house when a tornado comes through.
 
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