Category: Home Power

Compact Power To Go – Part 2, by J.M.

(Continued from Part 1.  This concludes the article.) Battery The next item to consider is a portable USB battery, frequently referred to as a USB power bank. These range in size from a little credit card-sized 2500mAh up to massive power bricks with over 60,000mAh. Note that USB power banks that provide QC or PD charging levels have recently started hitting the market, and they tend to be somewhat more expensive than the older ones that only provide 5V/2A outputs. I ended up using one that I picked up a while back, which is the Miisso 5000mAh model. It provides …


Compact Power To Go – Part 1, by J.M.

There have been numerous articles on SurvivalBlog.com about the use of various pieces of electronic technology such as flashlights, cell phones, night vision devices, radios, drones, etc., in disaster and survival situations – ‘Tactical Technology for TEOTWAWKI’, ‘Technology After TEOTWAWKI’, ‘Survival Electronics’, ‘Surviving With Electronics’, ‘Survival Electronics’, ‘How To Use a Baofeng UV-5R’ and many others. (Some of those were written by me.) As part of my general effort to lighten up my load and develop a lightweight modular approach to my mobile kit, I recently started focusing on how to power the various electronics I’m carrying. To that end, …


Some Stark Realities of the 2020s are Pushing Us Off-Grid

There are a number of societal changes that have accelerated our plans to fully go off the grid. The day may soon come when we decide to lock our gate at the county road, and hunker down. Our only regular contact would then be with our contiguous neighbors. For many years, I thought that the only circumstance that might necessitate such a move would be a societal collapse. But now, I have many other concerns. The most prominent motivators for taking on the mode of self-isolation include: Currency inflation The surveillance state Increasing regulation Forced vaccination schemes Supply chain disruption …


Preparedness: Now What? – Part 2, by O.C.

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) Into The Pentagon After nine years or so as a defense contractor around the DC area, I was able to secure a job in the Pentagon as a civil servant in the Directorate of Special Access Programs. There I learned about Continuity of Operations/Continuity of Government (COOP/COG) for the first time. It’s fascinating. Although Nancy Pelosi originally claimed that she was not taken to a secure location, she indeed was, based on COOP/COG protocols. I won’t say exactly where, but I think it was [a hardened site] not far from D.C. I …


Portable Power Systems: Providing Remote Energy, by K.R.

As we moved onto our current rural retreat some years ago, one of our first steps was to install a set of grid-tied solar panels, very similar to the system described in the Survival Blog article by St. Funogas on September 10 and September 11, 2022. Similar to the author of that essay, we figured that we would use that system, along with isolated single panels for single applications, until we goft up the nerve to build a full-scale off-grid solar system. However, since that time new products have come out and my thinking has shifted. There is a new …


Lessons Learned From a Winter Storm – Part 2, by Michael X.

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) Generators: TWO is NONE In all this time my second biggest concern, after the generator, was our outside hot tub. When the power is out it becomes a liability. 250 fifty gallons of hot (warm but cooling) water, waiting to freeze and wreck the tub…. The hot tub water temp was down to 74 degrees after one night. My choices were to get the generator going, or drain the tub. Part of the equation for this decision was the availability of the hot tub’s water for toilet flushing. I had only hours …


Lessons Learned From a Winter Storm – Part 1, by Michael X.

I have often bugged my wife to let us try a “long weekend without power”. I wanted to test my preps, byt so far she has not taken me up on my offer. However, recently Fate stepped in and gave me what I wanted. I am writing this to document my experience and my analysis of what I need to do to further my readiness. I have been interested in Prepping for many years. My early introduction to prepping was on this website, and by reading the Patriots novel series by James Wesley, Rawles. Many, many books followed that rounded …


Long-Term Storage of Gasoline Fuels – Part 2, by Tunnel Rabbit

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) Fuel Restoration Techniques These suggestions are appropriate as means of ‘last resort’ in an attempt improve a degraded fuel. Another advantage of storing Avgas is that we can blend it with other gasolines to bring up the octane level and to dilute the degraded automotive gas. Dilution is the solution. The combination of non-ethanol unleaded premium and Avgas 101LL can restore the depleted octane level of the automotive gasoline (Mogas) that has lost its octane rating over a one-year or much longer period of time. This blend can bring it back closer …


My Ten-Day Test-My-Preps Adventure – Part 4, by St. Funogas

(Continued from Part 3. This concludes the article) SOLAR PANELS In this section I’ll cover something I haven’t seen discussed in any of the books and articles I’ve read on solar panels so don’t skip over this next part. I hope by the end of this that some will be convinced they’re a very good idea for now as well as a post-SHTF lifestyle. They’re relatively inexpensive and easy to install with a DIY approach. With solar panels our life can proceed as usual in so many different areas which will make our transition to TEOTWAWKI simpler. Not only will …


My Ten-Day Test-My-Preps Adventure – Part 2, by St. Funogas

(Continued from Part 1.) I started a to-do list for when the test is over. It started with: Can 12 quarts or more of water. Figure out how much water the plumbing pressure tank holds from 50 psi down to 0 psi Many others, mentioned below. I went to bed that night at 21:30. In the fifteen seconds it took for me to fall asleep, a quick thought passed through my head: How nice it was to have complete darkness, able to see all the stars out of my loft window with no little lights from the television and DVD …


My Ten-Day Test-My-Preps Adventure – Part 1, by St. Funogas

With today’s world events, I’ve moved from “remote possibility” to “high probability” that we’ll soon see some major changes in our country and world that most folks can’t even imagine today. I’m not alone in thinking at some point there is a good possibility today’s events could lead into a major war for the U.S. We’ll be fighting some real armies, not a bunch of boys with old rifles riding ponies, as we did in Afghanistan. How hard would it be for enemy with Special Forces-type teams to take out our national power grid without even dropping any bombs? We …


For the Want of a Horseshoe Nail, by 3AD Scout

There is a very old poem, with many variations about for the want of a nail. Basically, the poem goes like this: “For the want of a nail the shoe was lost For the want of a shoe the horse was lost For the want of the horse the rider was lost For the want of the rider the battle was lost For the want of the battle the kingdom was lost And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.” On occasion, I get to teach disaster logistics and I use this poem to get students to understand the …


A Vehicle to Help Adjust Your Thinking, by R.V.

We bought a travel trailer. Our first trip took us from Georgia to North Dakota and back. The unit is built to handle changing sources of energy and limited sources of energy. It is designed to leave no trace other than tire prints. My primary motivation was to be able to join our family together on outings and make camping easier on my wife. I encourage camping and hiking. God will find you and/or you will find God in the wilderness. Our trailer was built by Grand Design. It is a 30-foot model, without slide-out extensions. (I am disclosing the …


Using Grid-Tied PV Panels as a Starter System – Part 2, by St. Funogas

(Continued from Part 1. This concludes the article.) My Grid-tied System My grid-tied system consists of only two components: the solar panels and an inverter which converts the solar panel DC electricity to the AC electricity which homes use. The system hooks up similarly to an electric water heater. The three wires from the solar panels are connected to the inverter in clearly marked places, then four wires go from the inverter to the electrical panel, attaching to a double breaker the same way a water heater does. It’s that simple and can be hooked up without calling a consultant …


Using Grid-Tied PV Panels as a Starter System – Part 1, by St. Funogas

I enjoyed JWR’s recent article titled A Retreat Locale Selection Criteria Update. The updated information for 2022 is especially relevant. Who could have guessed we’d be at the point we’ve arrived at so quickly in the past two and a half years? The covid scamdemic and the blowback from the Russian sanctions alone are enough to make anyone realize we’re rapidly approaching Niagara Falls in our little inflatable kayak. Hopefully, the article will inspire some of the fence sitters to hop over to the get-out-of-Dodge side and make their wish come true instead of holding on so dearly to the …