Put Away the Generator!

[AZ Prepper]

Put Away the Generator!
http://www.azprepper.com/blogs/put-away-the-generator.html


After reviewing a list of “100 Items to Disappear First in a Panic“, I noticed the very first thing that was listed was a generator. And this is quite often the first thing that people think about when the power goes out. And in a short-term situation, this is definitely a nice thing to have. A generator (with the knowledge of how to connect it to your home grid via the breaker box) can keep your refrigerator running for enough time to keep things cool inside, can power the television for news/entertainment, can give lighting if needed, etc. After storms or extended power failures, this is a great thing to have.

However, lets say that there has been a catastrophic event which will end up causing a long-term power failure (terrorist attack, pandemic, huge natural event, etc.). And lets say that this power outage will last for many weeks or months. And lets assume that besides power failures, there is a disruption of food deliveries into the city, water service, etc. So in all, there is more of a need for survival and a huge lack of modern comforts. In this type of situation, the worst thing you can do is crank up your generator periodically and let everyone know where you’re at and that you’re more prepared than most. This is a sure way to get unwanted guests coming over to see what else you have that they might want. And no longer how prepared you are, you cannot shoot every bad guy in the city.

So in a long-term emergency situation, put the generator away and try to stay out of site as much as possible.

When it gets dark, pull the blinds/curtains if you have candles or light sources. Give the image of being in dark like the rest of the houses.

If there’s a food shortage and you have plenty of food for yourself and your family, you might want to consider decreasing your rations a great deal so that you lose weight like everyone else. Eat enough to stay healthy, but not so much that you have excess fat.

If there’s been an EMP and has wiped out all vehicles, but you’ve planned ahead and have spare parts to fix your vehicle, keep it parked. If you’re the only one driving around, you won’t have that vehicle very long. And when spare parts become available, let people start buying those spare parts for hundreds and hundreds of dollars, while your fully functional vehicle sits in the garage waiting for a large number of vehicles to start appearing on the streets. It will still be there for an emergency.

The list of things could go on and on. But the important thing is to think things through. If you are in a city, you WILL NOT be living it up while everyone else isn’t. Plan accordingly. If you plan right, you can still survive in relative comfort without giving the impression of getting fat during hard times. And doing this just might save your life…

[Garnet]

Generators always vanish in places there are major storms (usually hurricanes, but also places were there are major snowstorms). We live in a rural area, on our own farm. We do have a generator, but only to run the well pump, to fill water troughs, and flush the toilets once a day. Generator comes out, gets turned on for about 20 minutes, then shut off, and locked back up, inside an armed house. If things are really ugly, we will dip water from our 1/2 acre pond, or the two creeks, and not let anyone know we have a generator.

Food shortages are a huge problem, no matter what. Even if you loose weight along with your neighbors they are very likely to know you have food, if your house is anywhere close to theirs. Skip eating breakfast and lunch, then walk around your neighborhood at dinner time. You will be simply shocked to realize you can figure out what almost everyone is eating, because of the food/cooking smells coming from their house. You can even smell a delivered pizza, when you are hungry enough. So you may be eating a frugal meal of bean soup, but if your neighbors have not eaten in a few days, you may be shocked when they follow the scent right to your door.

After Katrina, I read everything I could about what happened before, during and after. I wanted to know what kind of mistakes were made, and learn lessons from it. I read one thing, and I do not know it if it urban legend or not. It sounds plausable enough to be true. Many people ran generators after Katrina, to keep their refrigerators cool. Theives would park a lawmower next to the generator, start it up, then turn off the generator and steal it. If it's just running a refrigerator, and not lights or a fan, the homeowner might not realize what was happening.

Make false walls, and hide your food storage behind them. ALWAYS have "Easter Eggs." By Easter Eggs, I mean ALWAYS have goodies for the bad guys to find and steal. A little food, a few candles, maybe a box of ammo, or even a gun that is broken. Bad guys break in, find what they want, and leave. They have no idea they have left behind tons of food, medical supplies, ammo, ect. If they don't find "Easter Eggs," they may trash your house searching until they do find your whole supply, or ambush family members to get supplies.

~Garnet

[fuzzy]

I am sooooo thankful to be out of the city and perched up in the mountains! We can run our genset, cook, shoot guns, and howl at the moon and nobody cares! It makes me weak in the knees to see herds of vulnerable people on the sidewalks & streets of big cities. They look like some kind of plague of ants. Those poor people haven't got a chance if a long-term truly TEOTWAWKI situation ever occurs!

[AZ Prepper]

I am sooooo thankful to be out of the city and perched up in the mountains! We can run our genset, cook, shoot guns, and howl at the moon and nobody cares! It makes me weak in the knees to see herds of vulnerable people on the sidewalks & streets of big cities. They look like some kind of plague of ants. Those poor people haven't got a chance if a long-term truly TEOTWAWKI situation ever occurs!

Very true. And some of us know that and plan accordingly.

And some of us are jealous of those of you who are out of the cities...