Apartment Prepper Series: Power Systems

ey Guys, I figured since I'm focusing the blog on where I am in relation to prepping and sort of making the blog a log of my journey to being prepared I figured on top of the budget survival series I'd start the Apartment Prepper series.  So here is the first topic at hand, emergency power sources for apartment dwellers.

I think one of the hardest things to deal with in an emergency in an apartment is when the power is lost.  You can't exactly run a generator set as easily as you could if you own a home.  So What I've come up with is the use of batteries and battery back-up systems to compromise some of that short term ability.  Keep in mind even a gen-set is a temporary solution and wont last for the long haul.  However getting the fuel to run a Gen-set in a power outage might be easier than finding a power source to charge your battery back-up system.

I've found a few interesting items on Canadiantire.ca that would help in a power failure situation and I've put them on my prepping list.  They really don't conform to the budget prepper ideology but they are handy to have even though they are expensive.

There is the NOMA PowerPlug 150 which is a nice choice, and fairly inexpensive option for roughly $100.00 all things considered.  Basically you just mount the battery backup device to a wall outlet, it allows you to continue using the outlet as well, double bonus and when the power goes out the LED lights turn on so you can find it and you can take it to plug into a small TV or radio, along with a lamp or small fan.  Now this option wont power an A/C unit but keeping a couple box fans around isn't a bad idea!  Plus it's portable!  This item could be excellent for apartment dwellers like myself or even homeowners who may want to try to avoid the gen-set as much as possible or until it's certain that it is a prolonged outage!  It is rated as a 150 watt inverter.

The longer term more powerful option also by NOMA is the NOMA Back-Up Power System 400W.
Slightly more bulky but definitely more powerful, this unit can run a full desktop computer or laptop.  I don't have access to the manual for either of these devices so I can't look into how long they can last or what all they can power other than what canadiantire.ca tells me but I'd guess you could get a couple hours of A/C use out of this unit.

Now I'm not to knowledgeable on solar but if your building faces a direction where you can get sun I'd imagine you could top off the power via a solar panel.  I think solar is a great way to get power in an outage where you can't run a gen-set.

Another item I think is good to keep around are headlamps and LED battery powered Lanterns.  I'm not a fan of Coleman lanterns since they can produce gases you don't want in your home or to be exposed to, I'd rather have some good LED battery operated lanterns and some batteries.  You can get some decent battery operated Lanterns at Canadian Tire as well.  Some are more compact and others are a bit bigger and run on larger battery cells.  Whatever you choose try to find the brightest lantern that has the best battery life.  You'd be amazed how much a small lantern like the one I reviewed here can light up a room when all the power is out.  I do plan on buying more of those next time they are on sale!



Until next time...what is your preparedness plan?

Frazer

P.S. Don't forget to follow us on Twitter and subscribe on youtube!

Random Tips Tuesday - Topic: Apartment dwelling

Quick note: I was going through the posts on the MPN and found that this one was saved as a draft and not posted....this will explain a bit about a prior post and introduce to you Random Tips Tuesday

This is a new installment that I've decided to pick up for Tuesdays.  It's called Random Tip Tuesday and I'll be picking random Topics to post random tips to help people in that situation or interested in the topic of the week.   This week I've chosen some ideas for being ready for survival situations in apartments.  We can't modify things in apartments, we can't put a generator set in, but we can do some things to prep for things like power outages and so forth.  Here are some suggestions so lets dig in to our first Random Tip Tuesday!

1st tip: Get Alternative heating sources.  Winters in Canada are cold and other than wrapping yourself up in cold weather clothing and hiding in a sleeping bag you can still get things done around your apartment while being warm.  If you live on the ground floor you can stick a hose from a propane tank outside the window to a propane heater like the Mr. Heater Portable Propane Radiant Heater  All you do is modify it with a hose so you can leave the tank outside.  Why I recommend leaving the tank outside is it forces you to leave a window cracked for safety from carbon Monoxide.  I'd also keep a couple battery powered Carbon Monoxide detectors around the house just in case like this one from walmart.  In a one bedroom apartment like mine this portable propane heater could keep my apartment pretty warm if the power is out or at the very least keep the apartment livable and the bedroom warn while I sleep.  To avoid the carbon Monoxide problem you can get an indoor safe propane heather like this
Mr. Heater® Big Buddy™ Portable Indoor Safe Propane Heater.  However that is a little pricey.

2nd tip: Buy Flashlights  Buy a whole whack of cheap LED flashlights that you can get at Canadian Tire for around $3 and stash them with Lithium Batteries all around your house/apartment.  This way if the power goes out you have light close by.  I keep one in almost every drawer of my house.  Keep in mind the Lithium Batteries will cost more than the flashlight but they last about 10 years and last longer when in use.  Plus they tend to not leak inside units like alkaline batteries do.

3rd tip:  Use rechargeable batteries for day to day stuff in a house or an apartment in items you use everyday.  Now I don't suggest using a rechargeable 9volt in your smoke detector but stuff like your EDC flashlight or a battery powered radio you use often, even in your camera.  This will save you money in the long run, rechargeable are more expensive up front but the fact that you can use them over and over again is great!  I've got rechargeables in all my EDC gear that I use fairly often and I keep backup disposable lithium batteries on hand for emergencies.  I'll tell you the lithium batteries don't look so expensive once you've got a sufficient amount of rechargeable batteries to work with.  My favorite Rechargeable batteries are the Sanyo Eneloops. With their remarkable ability to hold a charge (85% over a years storage time) they are good for storage in case of short term black out and they are good for using in an EDC bag or just for everyday items since they don't go bunk very fast so you can pull them out and use them and be confident that they have juice.  Most rechargeable batteries I've seen you pretty much need to charge them before putting them in your gear to be sure you've got juice!

4th tip: Be smart with storage. In an apartment you need to be crafty in your storage solutions for our gear and food preps.  Buy furniture that allows you to store items underneath, or furniture with compartments underneath you can use for gear.  I'm blessed to have a storage locker that I've taken the time to reinforce and install an alarm in.  Not everyone has these, not even most people in my building have access to one of the on site lockers.  I've got some nice stainless steel boxes I use to store stuff under my coffee table on the little shelf under it and I use the shelves under my TV stand to store stuff.  I also utilize boxes to keep stuff in and stack them in my closet that isn't full.  One day I'll upgrade to some heavy duty Rubbermaid tubs.  Another good thing to use is masking tape to label your boxes, it peals off easily if you need to relabel something and is pretty cheap!  Use your space wisely!

Well that wraps up our Random Tip Tuesday.  Stay tuned for more random Tips next Tuesday!


[Something to think about, what is your preparedness plan for 2010?]

Thanks for reading!

Frazer

[What is your preparedness plan for 2010?]

P.S. Don't forget to follow us on Twitter and subscribe on YouTube

Oh and my personal Blog Prepping On a Dime might be of some interest.

Let me know what you think

This idea came to mind and I thought I'd ask my readership what they think.

I go out to Manitoba on occasion to see family and so forth. We usually go as a family but now I'm able to on my own since I can rent a car without any problem. (Being under 25 sucked in some situations!) so I was thinking about how Matt from the Kentucky Preppers Network has meet ups every now and then, I was wondering if anyone from Manitoba would be interested in a prepper meetup next time I'm out that way?

Also if you live in Manitoba and want to put together a meet up before I make it out next send me an email and I'll put up a blog letting others know the details and you can all gather together to discuss life out in Manitoba!

Let me know what you think and if there is enough interest I'll be glad to schedule some time in for the Manitoba Preppers Network to meet up!

My voice sounds weird?!?!?!

They guys, I'm listening to myself on the Prepper Podcast right now and as promised here is the link to the show.  Go ahead and listen to it and leave a comment for Matt on prepperpodcast.com and on this blog for me!

You can subscribe to his itunes feed and the RSS feed to use your favorite pod catcher.

Follow Matt on Twitter, friend him on facebook.

You can do the same for me on Twitter and facebook.

So check out the podcast and let me know what you think!

[Something to think about, what is your preparedness plan for 2010?]

Thanks for reading!

Frazer

[What is your preparedness plan for 2010?]

P.S. Don't forget to follow us on Twitter and subscribe on youtube!

Oh and my personal Blog "Prepping On a Dime" might be of some interest.

My Bad - Random Tips Tuesday #2

Sorry this is coming out Wednesday guys, this i what happens when you rely on technology, it fails.  Still it's my bad that I forgot yesterday.  I must not have hit save last week on my Google calender so it didn't remind me to do the post up on Monday...but no excuses it was my responsibility and I messed up!

So in light of my technological blunder here is tip #1.

Don't get to held up on technology, have a hard copy address book that is on paper!  Keep several copies, one in your EDC bag or brief case (you never know when your cell will crap out or the cell towers will be down and you need to use the good old fashioned pay phone!)  One in your BOB, and be sure to enclude every possible method of contact, cell phone, mailing address, skype number, HAM radio call sign EVERYTHING you can use to get a hold of family and friends.  Not to mention my old address book that I keep updated but have had for several years has come in handy when I get new cell phones where the sim card only holds one number so I lose all the extra stuff like fax numbers, email addresses and physical addresses.  Not to mention when you think you wont need a contact and delete it from your cell phone only to realize down the road that you need that number, a hard copy address book is great to have!  Any important documents you have on your computer are essential to print out!  You need a hard copy, maybe even order some Rite In The Rain printer paper so it's water proof.  Make sure you have these copies since they cannot be corrupted on a drive or lost through human error or a fried hard drive!  And for goodness sake use a backup service for your computer like carbonite.com/!

Tip #2

Use a GPS in your car?  Learn to use a map and compass!  This goes for anyone who hikes or goes on wilderness excursions with a GPS, you never know when the unit will get dunked in the water, freeze or just plain crap out!  So make sure to know how to use the old stand by of a map and compass as well have then with you in your BOB and car! Especially if you use GPS in your vehicle or survival kit and BOB!

Tip #3

In your emergency kits, you need some items on and attached to your body other than your pack.  I was watching a re run of Mantracker and one of the guys got spooked and ran while filling his water bladder, he dropped the bladder and had no other means of storing water!  You need some kind of water bottle and method of purification of water on your person.  Especially if you use a water bladder, you need backups in the form of water bottles.  I like the Goyotdesigns backpacker.  It's designed to be capable of boiling water right inside the bottle over a fire so you can purify water that way but also the backpacker model is 32oz or 1liter, so it can be used with a basic water purification tablet perfectly.  Not to mention there are no coatings inside the bottle and it's 100% surgical stainless steel so no BPA (have you ever noticed whatever brand of plastic Nalgene Style water bottle you have that the water inside if left for a couple hours to a day starts to taste like plastic?  That can't be good for ya!)  The short and skinny of this is you need to have some gear attached to your person.  Whether it's a fancy LBV (load bearing vest) or just a big fanny pack you need to have some basic gear like water storage and a way to purify on your body in case you need to ditch your pack or it gets lost!  Back up your back ups by keeping the essential items on your person!

Final Tip #4

Hydrogen Peroxide rocks for getting stains out of your clothing.  One of my brand new white T-shirts got sauce on it some how and it didn't come out in the wash.  So I used some Hydrogen Peroxide and it got the stain out perfectly!!!  I'm wearing my shirt now and it still looks new!

[Something to think about, what is your preparedness plan for 2010?]

Thanks for reading!

Frazer

[What is your preparedness plan for 2010?]

P.S. Don't forget to follow us on Twitter and subscribe on youtube!

Oh and my personal Blog "Prepping On a Dime" might be of some interest.

The concept of "Write Off"

I talk about the concept of write off on the Prepper Podcast.  So I figured I'd write about it before the show airs.  The basics of the concept of write off is that when you build a kit for emergencies you do what I call "write off" the gear in the kit.  Whether it be a medical kit or Bug Out Bag.  What "write off" means is that you don't take the gear out and use it unless the intended purpose of that kit comes into play.  So with the example of a bug out bag you don't want to break into your kit to use some of the gear for a camping trip.  I know from experiance that the headlamp or whatever you used for the camping trip wont make it back to the kit.  Plus the purpose of the kit is to get your through a given situation so if gear is missing you could get yourself in a bind!

Now in my BOB I keep some items that I rotate regularly.  I keep some cliff bars in it and some wet ones that I actually use regularly.  So what I do is when I run out of wet ones for example in my EDC bag I go and take a pack out of the BOB but immediatly replace it with another from storage so that I am never without fresh wet ones in the pack.  So this means for stuff that might go bad over time, wether its food or any other items like batteries you do need to rotate them but just make sure you replace what you take out immediately!!!

So in short you don't have that headlamp in your BOB bag, you don't have the knife, the clothing, the food, right?  Now if an emergency happens and the bag goes into use then you do have the items but not before.  You write them off to you and in your head until the kit comes into play.

This might be tough for some items.  I know that if some of our buddies in the USA had to write off say the Glock 17 and all the 9mm ammo in that kit it would be a tough disision to make and it might hurt financially at first.  The thing is when everything hits the fan you'll be glad you didn't bust into that kit early for fun or edc use because you'll have it when it really counts.

Keep in mind you do need to get used to the gear before writing it off in your kit.  When the world is going to hell in a hand basket you don't want to be learning the mods on your Fenix flashlight or how to use your emergency radio!  So be sure to learn how to use the kit before you write it off

A letter I sent to Leatherman about my experiance with Eastern Outdoors Sales Inc who is contracted to do Leatherman Tool Warranty Service in Canada.  They don't have a website that I could find but this is a letter of suggestions I have to make the Leatherman Warranty experience  better!

Hello Leatherman team,


I want to start by saying you guys make some of the best tools out there! I own several, a Wave, Charge ALX, Freestyle and S2 Juice.  I do plan on buying several of each one for various kits and bags I put together and dedicate certain tools to the kit.


I had sent a S2 Juice back due to a back-spacer popping out of the knife causing the tools to turn 360 degrees.


How I do have some suggestions for you to implement at Eastern Outdoors where they do the warranty repair work in Canada.  The first thing they need to implement is some better customer service in the way of having a better idea of what tools they have waiting for repair and who they belong to.  A good start would be if an email address is supplied on the warranty repair card to send an email saying they've received the tool with a estimate of the repair time.  In addition it would have been nice to receive an email telling me that they had mailed the tool back to me and give me the tracking number on the package.  Even when I called Eastern Outdoors to see how much longer it would take to get my tool the girl who answered didn't even have the information to tell me that my tool had been mailed out the night before and would be in my mailbox that night when I got home from work!  It would be nice if they had some kind of system to be able to know who's tool they have and what the status is of the tools repair or replacement. 


As it stands I called them twice and each time they asked me to tell them when they received the tool in order to tell me if they were working on it.  To me that is bad business to not be able to address a customers concerns and questions without getting information from the customer.  It would seem to me that a system should be in place to know what is going on with the tools received.


My final thought is that you guys should really just send out the tools that are replaced by default like the Juice line immediately instead of letting it just sit on a desk waiting for someone to get around to it.  I understand how it would not be fair if they fixed a tool that came in on Friday before one that came in on Monday.  However when the tool is one that can't be fixed and is just replaced automatically we really shouldn't need to wait for a tool to be sent out in order it was received.  It doesn't take long to grab a tool off the shelf and put it in one of the prepaid envelopes to mail it off at the end of the day.  That seems to me to be a bit like bad business practice to hold a tool that is just going to be replaced!


Anyway keep up the awesome tool designs and excellent tools all around.




Frazer in Southern Ontario Canada


Visit the Manitoba Preppers Network http://www.manitobapreppersnetwork.com/


Or my personal Blog: Prepping on a Dime http://budgetprepper.blogspot.com/

[Something to think about, what is your preparedness plan for 2010?]

Thanks for reading,

Frazer

Don't forget to follow me on Twitter, subscribe on Youtube and friend me on facebook!

Check out the MPN where I am the main contributor.