OCTOBER 2022 HURRICANE DISTRICT 10 PREPAREDNESS LETTER
It seems a part of the human psyche to grasp at any straw of hope that the safety of the status quo will continue indefinitely. Any soundbite on the evening news that signals that perhaps the spiraling challenges the world now faces will be delayed allows us to be complacent. Further, it’s a natural tendency to believe that if things ever do go wrong on a large scale, that the government or one’s church will take care of everything. Some may even believe that because we have organized blocks, areas, districts and drill once a year, everything will be fine if there is a widespread emergency or major disruption of the resources we take for granted. As one considers an honest appraisal of repeating history, however, and looks beyond the sponsored hype of the major “news” networks, he or she will soon realize that there is no real guarantee that life as we know it in our little valley will continue without more than an occasional bump or two; that sources of the comforts we consider reliable can actually be compromised. While working together in neighborhoods and communities can greatly ease burdens in any case, personal responsibility is imperative. Our motivation is to get you thinking and ACTING ON ideas that will prepare your family for emergencies and hard times.
If you’ve been reading the “Back to Basics” newsletters (including the ones we’ve been attaching to our letters since we’ve been District 10 Captains), there’s been more good information about food storage than we could shake a stick at (I don’t know what good shaking a stick at something would do anyway…never worked with my kids). This letter started out being about storing fuel. But certain things caused a change in direction. With winter coming on and looming shortages of fuel or being predicted in many parts of the globe, whose to say such challenges will not eventually occur here. You’ve got to be able to stay warm, have light, and cook.
We’ve found that there are websites and videos by people who know a lot more than we do. So, why re-invent the wheel. Instead of trying to re-word all of their work, we will share links, along with a little of our limited experience. We’re hopeful that some of you who know a lot about this will add comments to the facebook version of this letter.
Emergency Warmth and Light:
For warmth, it’s always a good idea to keep warm clothing (some NOT made of cotton if possible, but that’s not really a topic for this letter) and blankets or sleeping bags. DON’T fall for the ads about the ultra-thin sleeping bags …you don’t need anything fancy, just clean, dry INSULATION (ultra-thins don’t provide that). This video has some very good points about keeping your family from succumbing to the cold in the event of a disruption of electricity or heating fuel in winter-time. Pay attention to ideas about sunlight and heating smaller areas. It’s a little long and not really professionally done, but worth the watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNZU6LMO-6E&list=WL...
Here are the links she mentioned, and more:
Mr. Heater (There are different choices you can search for different sizes of rooms, and I’m sure there are other brands. We’ve used some of their products and they work very well. Just make sure you store plenty of small propane bottles):
Camping Lanterns (there are probably lots of good brands for these):
Solar Lanterns (We’ve used these a lot. They are easy to use and provide light for a relatively long time…amazing):
Olive Oil Lamps:
If your house is set up for propane, you have at least a temporary advantage for heating or cooking. Just make sure you keep your tank as full as possible.
Emergency Cooking:
There are many ways to heat food. Assuming that you may need to cook when the power is out, we’re going to skip electricity, unless you have a sizeable solar system. We will also leave out natural gas because, even though you may have a stove that will cook with it when the electricity is out, in some situations where there is a risk of pipes leaking or breaking, you will have shut it off at the meter to keep your house from blowing up (I guess that would be a way to cook all your food at once…never mind). Just make sure you shut it off (refer to the August letter for instructions)!
Whatever methods you choose for cooking or lighting, DON’T FORGET THE MATCHES! …or lighters or lighter fluid, or newspaper, or whatever is required to start it. Even if it’s “self starting”, it may not always be. Things wear out or dissipate. Matches are cheap and don’t take up much room so get plenty of the easiest ones to use. Another almost “must” for when the matches run out is a striker. We save some of the lint from our dryer to use with these. Here’s one example:
If you can afford it and you don’t have too many mouths to feed, you may want to invest in the pricey little back-packing butane or white gas cooking units that you can find in sporting goods stores, outdoor websites, or some prepper websites (such as some of the links we have shared in earlier letters) . These are great for emergency kits. Here are some ideas:
If you have more mouths to feed, a propane camping stove may be just the ticket. Here’s a video I shared earlier on how to make one run off of larger propane tanks than the small ones that typically fit them. It will save a lot of money and you having to change tanks:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LX4O1M2yZ8 (you can get the hoses here: https://www.amazon.com/DOZYANT-Converter.../dp/B06Y5XFF6F... but also check stores like Home Depot)
Many people have grills, smokers or Dutch ovens. These can be great ways to cook in an emergency, as long as they don’t depend completely on electricity or natural gas to operate. And, yes, unless you have a wood burning stove with a chimney or one of the products in the link above, cooking outdoors may be your only option. Propane, charcoal, Coleman fuel (as well as white gas or kerosene) or open wood fires are not considered safe indoors, for light or for cooking. It can be argued that with adequate venting some of these would be safe for short periods of time, but all have been responsible for carbon monoxide poisoning. It’s a gamble. More on safety:
If you don’t have a safe indoor cooking implement, or a grill, smoker or Dutch ovens, we strongly suggest you make the investment in one or more of these, and the fuel that goes with them. It may just save your bacon (pun intended) in an emergency. The more options you have the better…and!!! as with anything else, PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE! You want to already know what you’re doing when the need unexpectedly presents itself!!!
An outdoor fire pit is a great place to use Dutch ovens. Dutch ovens are initially an expensive investment, but last a very long time and are a very efficient way cook meals with a relatively few briquettes or wood coals. There are different formulas, but I’ve found that a Dutch oven typically will use as many briquettes as inches in diameter underneath with a couple less on top. If you stack another on top for even more food (I typically cook for large family gatherings with one full of potatoes and another on top full of meat…and sometimes a third with cobbler), you only have to add some on the lid, unless you’re using the small kind with round-top lids. We could discuss Dutch-oven cooking for hours, so I’ll refer you to YouTube, recipe books or your nearest Dutch-oven expert neighbor (we all love sharing our ideas…and you may get a free meal if you ask). If you add this option, get some thick cooking gloves along with other Dutch-oven specific implements, and learn how to clean and season them properly. There are several products that make cooking with them very efficient. Here is one example of a product line that works well with briquettes, propane or both (Source: https://volcanogrills.com/ or stores such as Cabela’s, Sportsman’s Warehouse, etc., in their Dutch-oven sections):
More on Dutch ovens:
Firewood is great if you have it…or if you have a source, chainsaws, and a way to haul it…or plenty of cash to pay someone to do that for you. Don’t count on cutting down your trees if there is an emergency and you need wood, by the way. Hollywood has mislead you if you’re thinking that. It takes several months for green wood to become anything like burnable. Plan ahead. But if you do store firewood, it’s important to learn how to cut and split it safely so you don’t create more emergencies than one you might already be struggling with. And since you probably don’t want to only eat hot dogs and smores if you choose that as an option, it would be good to invest in a grill strong enough to hold pots, pans or griddles. There are always fancy, expensive ones with built in pits, such as these:
…but there’s nothing wrong with just a sturdy, inexpensive grate set up on some cinder blocks over a home-made fire ring:
Your food won’t know the difference.
And there are ways to cook foods directly in coals, including “Hobo Dinners” (as long as you have plenty of tin foil). Or you may just want to throw things on the coals! Here are some ideas to try:
https://therecipecritic.com/hobo-dinner/ (I only use two layers of foil.)
If you do have a wood-burning stove in your home or in your garage or on your patio, Practice cooking on it. One of my favorite childhood memories is eating oatmeal cooked on top of our old Ben Franklin stove during a blizzard that made the power go out for many hours.
One of the most efficient ways to stretch cooking fuel is to use a Wok. Relatively short bursts of heat over a small area work with a wok because of their shape, what they’re made of, and the stir-fry techniques used with them. They work with various sources of heat. If you are interested in learning how to use one there are many online videos. And you don’t have to buy expensive, non-stick ones. Carbon steel, iron or cast iron woks reportedly work the best. Don’t forget the “Asian spatula”!
Some Notes on Fuel Storage:
For safety sake, store propane tanks outdoors (not necessarily where they are visible to everyone).
Wet fuels such as Coleman Fuel (white gas) or kerosene will last a long time if they are kept in the original, un-opened container. After they are opened, however, they will only last a few months and may need to have an additive such as Sta-bil to keep them from turning into “varnish”. While we’re on that subject, the same is true with gasoline in small engines. Always use only Ethanol Free gasoline for your chainsaw, lawn mower, ATV…anything with a carburetor. Regular unleaded with ethanol, especially without an additive, will turn to varnish and clog up carburetors, spark plugs, gas lines, etc. and you won’t be able to use your chainsaw or whatever when you really need it.
Bags of charcoal briquettes store well in just about any dry place…almost indefinitely if stored in buckets or barrels. Take a look:
Store smoking wood, or any kind of firewood for that matter, away from your house as you don’t want the bugs or termites that come with most varieties. Cottonwood and Poplar are especially buggy, usually aren’t the best for heat and are very hard to split once they dry. Willow is also buggy, but burns okay. Pecan is not bad for heating and is good for smoking (it’s a species of Hickory). Juniper (“Cedar”) is the best for not having pests, but I don’t think I’d use it in a smoker. It splits easily and burns long and hot, but is hard on chainsaws. Fruit woods will also burn long and hot and are great for flavoring food. Ponderosa Pine and Douglas Fir are good, all around woods to store and burn. Aspen burns hot but fast and will help keep your chimney clean if inserted in the lineup sporadically. Always keep some of your wood supply covered so there will be some left dry after a storm. Coal is great for a well-made wood-burning or coal stove, but it’s hard to get and you generally have to have some hot-burning wood to get it started. You have to keep it covered (best in barrels with fitted lids) or it loses much of its potency over time.
More Sites Discussing Fuels and Storage:
We hope y’all stay warm, lit up, and well fed this winter and always, come what may!!!!
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