Urban and otherwise "survival"

[radar8756]

... one tv/internet router, ....

the breaking point is the Path to the Internet Provider Office MUST also have Power Backup - usually Batteries -
depending how far away it maybe a dozen Repeaters or more

 

[bobzilla]

Our power is out less than that. which is why it took me forever to actually buy a generator. Hard to justify a generator when your power is never out longer than 5 mins, generally. This was barely under an hour this time.

Oh, we did lose it for 4 hours last week. Planned outage while they trimmed trees that were apparently WAY too close to the lines .

Not including last week, I think Ive got MAYBE 7 hours of downtime in 19 years. One 6 hour outage and a bunch of 1-5 minute outages.

The bigger problem for us was we were snowed in, it was -15 plus windchill and the power went out for an hour. Total electric house. We knew we needed to make a new plan. So we got the gen and then they fixed the lines and we haven’t lost power at all since.

 

[two70]

When I was in high school it wasn't exactly uncommon for the power to go out for days at a time if a winter ice storm blew through. I think the longest outage was around 5 days but we also had multiple 2+ day outages over the years. An indoor wood stove allowed for keeping the house tolerably warm and cooking canned goods for food. Flashlights, lanterns and candles were all kept both on hand and handy for such occasions. Plenty of reading material, playing cards, and games provided entertainment to pass the time. It wouldn't have taken much longer than a week for things to get pretty serious though.

 

[patience0830]

How do you store water? I`ve read keeping water in plastic containers, the water leaches out bad stuff.

Canning jars will store water. They're gonna be heavy so shelving will need to be stout and if you store it that way you'll have canning jars when the garden is ready.
Truth is, you can't prep for every situation. In order of importance, water, food, security/shelter. Then come things like electricity and personal comfort.

If you own ground, things like a pond, a developed spring, a shallow well and some method of filtration/purification covers water.
Freeze dried and canned food for 6 mos might keep you fed until you learn to forage. (In the country)
In the city, EOTWAWKI, you'll either be foraging at the neighbors or you'll be dead and they'll be eating your preps.
So in the city security might be your first priority.

A full basement or earth sheltered home stays pretty cool in the summer and only has to be raised 15 or 20 degrees to be comfortable in the winter.

Most important. Stay in some kind of shape. The line about cardio from "Zombieland" will ring really true if you have type 2 diabetes and need insulin and there is no where to get it or refrigerate it if you could. Type 1 diabetes, you're just ****ed.

 

[Bugzilla]

We were going to go with a generator with limited circuits but the sales person “talked us into” the whole house. Not disappointed we did. Had it about a year now and used it about 10 hours. Most the electric has been out in years. Actually I believe the whole house is easier to install for the installer and is why they push it. Electek sold and installed the generator. Would recommend.