The Vent and Rant Thread

[ProfCrash]

Headlamps. A headlamp for each person in the house. THe headlamp allows you to move about safely while leaving two hands free. If you are worried about carbon monoxide, there are lanterns that double as stoves that use candles. REI sells them. They have special candles for them and do a fine job of heating up water and soup and throw off a ton of heat. Very useful and a good thing to have in an emergency kit because they are safer then propane if you have a stable place to place them.

Get the stuff for the coming storm, put it into a nice little bin and stick it in your car. That way you have food, water, extra clothes, and heat source in your car in case of emergencies and you can use it at home if something happens.

[5thWiggle]

If conditions get too bad before you can get a camp stove, you can always make a Buddy Burner or Hobo Stove if you have enough candles or parafin wax on hand. (you don't have to cut the "door" in the bottom of the #10 can, you can punch holes around the bottom with a can opener - this allows air for the burner. The "door" on one side design is for windy conditions.)

I always took a couple camping with me in case of rain, before all these new-fangled bottled gas thingys!

[poohbear_nc]

Also - adapter cables to charge/run your electronics from your car USB ports - after Hurricane Fran, I started the car once a day to listen to the radio and charge the electronic stuff.

[5thWiggle]

Originally Posted by poohbear_nc

Also - adapter cables to charge/run your electronics from your car USB ports - after Hurricane Fran, I started the car once a day to listen to the radio and charge the electronic stuff.

+1

These inverters are small enough to keep in the car, and have a AC outlet for non-usb devices.

[bjones6416]

I think I'm pretty ready. The forecasters are beside themselves with excitement. This from the National Weather Service:

" Short term /00z Wednesday through 12z Thu/... lets just start by saying this winter storm may be of historic proportions for portions of the area. We are looking at significant snowfall totals north /especially northeast/ and significant... crippling...ice totals especially along the Interstate 20 corridor. The highest ice totals will be in a rough wedge generally from the metropolitan Atlanta area and points east...south of I-85...and north of I-16."

Here's hoping they are greatly overreacting!

[speakingtohe]

Originally Posted by bjones6416

I think I'm pretty ready. The forecasters are beside themselves with excitement. This from the National Weather Service:

" Short term /00z Wednesday through 12z Thu/... lets just start by saying this winter storm may be of historic proportions for portions of the area. We are looking at significant snowfall totals north /especially northeast/ and significant... crippling...ice totals especially along the Interstate 20 corridor. The highest ice totals will be in a rough wedge generally from the metropolitan Atlanta area and points east...south of I-85...and north of I-16."

Here's hoping they are greatly overreacting!

I hope so. Sounds like they are getting prepared which is the big thing. I spent a winter in Rankin Inlet Nunavut where it is too cold for trees to grow. Some Inuit people are actually scared of trees because they have never seen any except on TV. 80 kilometer winds and a foot of snow in a day were not uncommon, but the power stayed on and we trudged to work most days. Quite different if this weather is expected for 8 months of every year. Scary if it seldom happens.

I have my fingers crossed for you.

Helen

[cromag]

Good luck, bjones6416! If it's any consolation, the storm that we're expecting for tomorrow night through Thursday started off as 4 inches, then rose to 6 to 8 inches, and they're now predicting 11 inches total of snow turning to ice.

Ugh.

[poohbear_nc]

Our prediction has now changed to include frozen rain with 'significant' icing ... so I'm charging up all the devices, prepaid more on my HDX LTE data plan in case we lose Wifi, located the propane cylinders & lanterns. Fortunately I have 3 cats to snuggle with in events deteriorate.

[Stitchawl]

One thing no one has mentioned is food...
We always kept 3-4 days worth of MRE's (military packaged food that requires almost no heating, just open the package and eat, or retort bags to warm up in boiling water,) in our Japanese 'Earthquake Kit' bag. There is also the camping variety of freeze-dried foods, to which you need only add a cup of boiling water and wait a few minutes. Some pretty tasty choices available, with 'Hawaiian Chicken with Pineapple,' 'Beef Stroganoff,' 'Lasagna,' ' New Orleans Style Rice with Shrimp and Ham,' and dozens of other dishes available these days. Just cuz the power is out doesn't mean we have to live on cold canned beans!


Stitchawl

[cromag]

We have a gas stove, and the weather doesn't affect the gas utility, but no electricity means no igniters, so I have a couple of long fireplace lighters.

Also, we get our water from a well, and no electricity means no water. So, we have bottled water in the garage. But I also bought a pack of disposable aluminum foil pie pans to use as liners for the pots -- so the pots stay clean for the next meal.

[ProfCrash]

We have soups and other such food that is easy to heat up over a fire or on the propane gas grill.

[theinfamousj]

Originally Posted by cromag

But I also bought a pack of disposable aluminum foil pie pans to use as liners for the pots -- so the pots stay clean for the next meal.

That is sheer genius right there!

[HomeInMyShoes]

Water main break last night up the street from us. Everything was fine just twenty minutes previously and then I saw the river running down both sides of the street and decided to move the cars before they froze in place until the end of March. It was -24C last night and now we're supposed to get 10cm of snow today with a 70km/h wind.

Winter has been super awesome this year.

[bjones6416]

Fingers crossed! More sleet than freezing rain so far, which is much better. Snow is supposed to follow this later this afternoon, and then the whole mess will freeze hard tonight. Not great for the roads, but at least in my area (west of Atlanta) power outages have been minimal.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by HomeInMyShoes

Water main break last night up the street from us. Everything was fine just twenty minutes previously and then I saw the river running down both sides of the street and decided to move the cars before they froze in place until the end of March. It was -24C last night and now we're supposed to get 10cm of snow today with a 70km/h wind.

Winter has been super awesome this year.

Good call!