My survival experience.

H

hollowdweller

Joined
Sep 22, 2003
Messages
13,182
Kidding.

Last night I got home and the wife said to turn on the front porch light to give her some light to feed the dog at the dog house across the road. Right at that time all the lights go out.

Felt my way over the dining room table to my Surfire. Used it to find my head lamp. Used that to find the lighter. Used the lighter to light the kerosene lantern and candles.

Milked the goats by headlamp. Crashed out and the power was back on this morning:thumbup:
 
hollowdweller said:
Kidding.

Last night I got home and the wife said to turn on the front porch light to give her some light to feed the dog at the dog house across the road. Right at that time all the lights go out.

Felt my way over the dining room table to my Surfire. Used it to find my head lamp. Used that to find the lighter. Used the lighter to light the kerosene lantern and candles.

Milked the goats by headlamp. Crashed out and the power was back on this morning:thumbup:
Click to expand...

cool HD...:thumbup: very similar thing happend to me last thursday.... the misses went out with some friends, i was home with the boys, at around 9:15 i was ready to relax.. so i decided i was going to watch a movie.. then the power goes out.... i grabbed the surefire and found the headlamp, lit some candles and read my self to sleep.... when i awoke the power was back on...
 
Mine came Thursday night while watching the football game. Went out to the fridge in the garage, NO PEPSI:grumpy: Upset.... but i overcame it with a A&W Root beer.

;):D:p
 
hollowdweller, you should seriously consider getting a generator, candles can be very dangerous. I got a medium size generator(6600watts) due to the Y2K scare and am really glad I did. It cost about 2 grand including installation and will run 2TVs,some lights, the furnace,refrigerator,microwave, and well pump. The power goes out a lot here and it gives peace of mind especially if something longterm were to happen. I moved to this rural farm from the NYC area some 15 years ago and feel much more comfortable and secure being away from the masses.
 
I bought a brand new Generator made by Generac"?" . It has electric start , 6gall tank, and a roll carrier. Its 13500 cranking and 7500 running. It has briggs and staton engine. I paid 500.00 brand new........I thought it was a good buy. I use it all the time.
 
I dont need a generator but because of Hurricane Katrina i thought i would get one. I didnt have one then and i sufferd....BIG TIME..
 
I hear generators "generate" a lot of interest when the powers off for more then a day.
My advice would be to not to broadcast it to too many people, and keep the curtains drawn. If you have a generator then chances are you have lots of other useful things.
Oh, and good work with the surefire.
 
brizbane said:
hollowdweller, you should seriously consider getting a generator, candles can be very dangerous.
Click to expand...

Generators aren't without risk either. During the ice storm of '98 here in Maine, several people perished as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning due to running generators without proper ventilation.
 
x39 said:
Generators aren't without risk either. During the ice storm of '98 here in Maine, several people perished as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning due to running generators without proper ventilation.
Click to expand...

I believe that is natural selection at its finest. If they don't have enough common sense to know engines put out carbon monoxide, they don't deserve to own a generator.
 
Similar experience as well, we were getting ready to head out to a dinner one night and then there was a black out. It just so happened one of my cousins who lived nearby was outside checking the other houses to see if it was the whole suburb that blacked out. He had one of those huge El' cheapo triple d cell lights that he always used to mock my Fenix L1D with. So I happily spent the next few minutes following his lights beam and covering it with mine everytime he pointed it at something.
 
Weve considered a generator. Especially when we were milking 7 goats by hand and the milking machine would have made it much less work.

On the other hand there is a stillness here when all the power is off. No electrical appliances humming. I remember when it was off for two weeks driving home from work and seeing lanters and candles flickering and it was REALLY dark all the way from the main road (which had power) to my house.:thumbup:

Before we retire we are really considering a solar system, for both hot water and supplemental power. Probably not to replace the electric but just get our bill down more for living on a limited income. Probably go that way rather than a generator.

Although I did see a generator converted to natural gas once and we have free natural gas. That was tempting.:thumbup:
 
I endured 5 days with no electricity in the Texas heat one time. I had a total electric house in town. Fences and concrete all around so you could not get a breath of air thru the house. Borrowed a generator and a window unit AC for the bedroom from a friend. That kept my freezer, refrigerator, and me from going bad. It was bad enough that neighbors went to motels! Bought my own generator after that. They are not the "end all" but they can sure make things a lot more pleasant on a temp basis. Its always a good idea to have flashlights and candles around. I like the Aladdin lamps too. They put out some serious light for a oil lamp.
Free natural gas? I think I would convert my car, heat, hot water, generator, and anything else I could to natural gas. The solar system should help keep your electric bill at bay but man I would take advantage of all that free natural gas I could.
 
My experience so far with the generator is as follows. Bought it, along with a stand alone A/C as a contengency to the hurricane theat here in the Houston are. (I remember being without power for two weeks back in 83) Now that I have a family of my own, I vowed never to have to endure the houston summer again sans power and A/C. Well, I use the h eck out of the A/C, helps to drown out the cutain climbers when I work nights, but thegenerator has proven to be the best hurricane repellant I have ever seen. It could also have to do with the fact I keep the gas cans full and rotated along with water and food stuffs. If that is all that it takes to keep the canes away, I shall carry on with vigilance. On a side note, the generator works great for running fishing lights.

Better to have and not need.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top