Ride the Lightning ⚡️

90 DAYS WITHOUT POWER, RANKED You are not leaving. The roof is fine. The grid is just gone. No power, no water pressure, no store deliveries, for 90 days. In each category we will go from most important to least important. The categories are ranked too. The roof is covered, so water comes first, then food, then everything that keeps those two usable. 90 days is what you should be prepared for. Most official lists say 3 to 14 days. Those are minimums, not plans. WATER Without it you have days. One gallon per person per day. 90 days is 90 gallons per person. A family of 4 needs 360. Water filter (a gravity filter is the best buy) Food grade barrels or water bricks Unscented bleach to treat stored water Your water heater tank holds 40 to 50 gallons. Know how to drain it. Rain collection (check local rules) FOOD Rice and beans are the backbone. If you cannot afford freeze dried meals, load up on rice and beans. Rice has about 1,650 calories per pound. Dry beans about 1,570. 2,000 calories a day for 90 days is about 110 pounds per person, or four 5 gallon buckets. Cooking oil, salt, sugar, spices Peanut butter Canned meat and vegetables Powdered milk Multivitamins Freeze dried meals if you can afford them Eat the fridge first, then the freezer, then the pantry. COOKING AND FUEL Food you cannot cook is just weight. Camp stove plus fuel for 90 days Extra propane or butane Lighters and matches One pot with a lid Never run a stove or heater indoors without ventilation. HEAT Cold is the quiet killer. Wood stove or a safe indoor rated heater Fuel for it Wool blankets and sleeping bags rated below your coldest night Pick one room, close it off, and live in it Carbon monoxide detector with batteries. Not optional. SANITATION This is what ends up killing people in long outages. 5 gallon bucket with a toilet seat lid Heavy trash bags Kitty litter or sawdust Bleach Soap and hand sanitizer Toilet paper, a lot of it MEDICAL Prescriptions. Ask your doctor about a longer supply. First aid kit Pain and stomach relief Any glasses or contacts, plus a spare pair A printed first aid manual LIGHT AND POWER Headlamps and lanterns Batteries, rotated Solar panel with a power bank A generator is a bonus, not a plan. Fuel goes bad and it is loud. INFORMATION, CASH AND NEIGHBORS Cards stop working when the power does. Battery or crank radio Cash in small bills, silver and gold if you have it Paper copies of IDs and contacts Know your neighbors. Trade skills, not just supplies. MORALE Books, cards, games, something for the kids. Boring beats hungry. Bored beats panicked. THE FIRST 72 HOURS Fill the bathtub and every container you own before the water stops. Fridge and freezer stay shut. A full freezer holds about 48 hours. Charge everything while you still can. Cook and eat what will spoil first. Obviously we could add security and it is important but depending on where you are, what your aloud to have/own I'm not going into great detail on that. What I can say is have a plan, talk it over with your family, everyone has a job. Don't be afraid to talk to your neighbors you know as well to make sure they are doing their part if you plan on working together. Feel free to add anything I may have missed. Anything you may think would be of added value for others to read and share. Book mark this, come back to it, create a check list. To be clear, I am not a survivalist. This is not survival advice. This is only my setup that I am following with my family. If nothing else maybe just a reminder. ISO Ledger 🛡