How many people here are prepared for an emergency?

[wooddustmaker]

Solar landscape lights work, just ask my kids. The big trick is getting them to recharge them.

 

[Marianne]

Solar landscape lights! I had completely forgotten that! Thanks, unclejoe!

 

[hqueen13]

I wish I could afford to have a propane generator installed. Those things are nice!
Good idea on the solar lights. REI also sells little units that will charge a cell phone via solar. I wanted one because that is my only source of communication, we don't have a land line phone.
I Do worry about keeping freezers running. It makes me want to can the meat instead but that is a lot of upfront work.

 

[Britesea]

Good idea on the solar powered lights. They also have the advantages of being safer in rooms where you don't want open flame (like children's rooms) and they aren't very bright so you have less problem of light leaking through your curtains if you want to maintain blackout conditions

 

[featherjack]

We have a pretty good supply of canned and dried food on hand, a backup kerosene heater (but not enough kerosene stocked up yet), and enough water for about 3 weeks for drinking and cooking. I'd like to get some sort of manual pump for our well, but it's 125' deep which pretty much rules out the usual hand pump.

You'll want this: http://bisonpumps.com/deep-well-hand-pump/

 

[Britesea]

Those look awfully nice... but at almost $1000, it's gonna take a loooong time for us to save that much money. We live very close to the edge, since we only have one income right now. (I'll be eligible for Soc Sec later this year though, so if they haven't raised the age limit by then, we might be able to do it)

 

[Bud]

According to my research less than 1% of the people in the US could live for a month without an outside food source. I have been told that less than 14% of the people in UTAH, the stronghold of food storage, have a years supply. This is not easy to do. Our food storage has served us well even when a disaster was not present. It is really good when there is no pay check. The real secret to food storage is growing as much of your own and canning it as possible. Our goal is to always have about 700 quarts of home canned food on hand.
We need to be better prepared now compared to anytime in American history and maybe since the beginning of time. Don't expect the government to bail you out. Our currency could fail with in a year and the government will be broke. Food will not only be necessary for personal survival. Food could become the trade item to make local communities self sufficient.

 

[DollDoctor]

Woefully unprepared for any emergency. Living paycheck to paycheck it is hard to stock up on things, and anything big like a generator or wood stove is totally out of the question. Right now we are concentrating more on getting out of debt and just keeping fingers crossed. Once we reach that goal we can move on to the next level.

 

[Dragonwriter]

Totally understand. There was a point that we had a healthy supply of food and cash put aside and then our own personal excrement hit the fan and we had to live off of what we had stored. Once we bounced back from that, it was time to move, so we didn't replace stuff since room was already at a premium.
We are slowly rebuilding our preps, but I still believe that should each prepare for what is most likely for each of us. Whether that be cur off from town, flood, unemployment or whatever.

Well I thought I was prepared, but unemployment just makes everything so much more complicated than you can even imagine...well unless you have been, or are going through it, which a lot of folks are. Thankfully we stay pretty stocked around here on food and necessities and it's never too bad off the front end...though we got caught with our pants down this time in the cash on hand department. Honestly, is anyone EVER truly completely prepared? I knew this would come, just didn't know when, and was busy lining up my ducks when the crapstorm blew in without so much as a hint of bad weather to come. So, no, I am not prepared for any emergency, but I think we are prepared enough for most emergencies.

 

[hqueen13]

@DollDoctor we're in the same boat.
Just gotta keep plugging away at it and doing smart things.