Hey ladies and gents.
I've just finished reading about how northern Saskatchewan is reported to be without power for approximately the next two days after a massive storm blew through the province. I've also been following the flooding in BC that's happening (stay dry folks!).
And now, as I'm sitting here I'm listening to an old podcast from www.thesurvivalpodcast.com and it mentions perhaps throwing a test situation every so often to gauge how one's preps hold up and to see where one needs or could be improved.
For example, it was mentioned to throw the main power breaker off on one's home for a determined amount of time and see just how things flow when one cannot use the electric stove, or the lights, etc.
I found this to be an amazing idea! It's like a test run. So, I've got in my head of 18-24 hour power outages. I'm thinking of a power outage with no water flowing as well (shut off the main water).
Anyone else do things like this? What other exercises could one implement besides the obvious no power/water situations? I think many of you have bug out travel plans, and while I don't have a plan to travel very far from my home (20 minute drive at the most) I'd like to hear just the basics of how one could or does do that - obviously, we don't need to get hugely informative and in depth about one's plans...for obvious security reasons 🙂
Runs With Scissors
Runs With Scissors
Test runs are a great idea. My family will be running a few of them this summer and fall. As you say, it will give you an idea of what's missing, or extra in your supplies, and what potential obstacles you might encounter.
I plan to focus on a few areas as they relate to SPEED and EFFICIENCY:
1. Loss of utilities - can everyone locate a flashlight and navigate to the meeting area? What then?
2. Evacuation - given a short time window to evacuate, what critical items were not grabbed?
3. Bug In - given a short time window to harden the environment and/or isolate due to infection control, what critical areas were left soft, what items were left outside the safe zone, did the activity produce the desired results?
4. (The worst one when you have kids) Executing the return to the safe zone when an emergency is in effect and everyone is scattered across the city.
Excellent idea runswithscissors. Test runs or exercises are an integral part of any plan. Once practiced the necessary actions that you take become second nature and lead to a very efficient response. Exercises also highlight weaknesses in your plan and sometimes uncover unforeseen problems.
We practice regularly and usually discover something new each time. However I believe that the length of time that the exercise takes is key. The longer the exercise the more useful and realistic it is. However in many situations long simulations may not be possible. Another useful tactic to employ with your exercise are different scenarios as to the causal event or events. It will quickly become clear that there are some events no matter how prepared you think your are there is actually little that you can do. However we do what we can, hope for the best and prepare for the worst.
Forums like this where ideas are exchanged, questions asked and questions answered are very important. If a SHTF circumstance was to ever occur education has the potential to save many lives.
I have done this, just for fun threw the main breaker one day, I dont think my family was pleased with me as they were all watching TV. However after a little bit, the kids enjoyed it and had fun running around the house with just flashlights. I plan on doing this more often and for a longer period, just to see how it feels, and test what I do have in place. I think that test runs are great also... never know what will happen or when....
Great idea!
Read this experience of life without electricity : http://grammomsblog.wordpress.com/2012/06/07/the-98-ice-storm/