Comments on: Lessons Learned From A Snowstorm, Part 1 https://tridentconcepts.com/2021/02/27/lessons-learned-from-a-snowstorm-part-1/ Where Concepts Meet Reality Sat, 06 Mar 2021 00:41:22 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.1 By: Jeff Gonzales https://tridentconcepts.com/2021/02/27/lessons-learned-from-a-snowstorm-part-1/#comment-35377 Sat, 06 Mar 2021 00:41:22 +0000 https://www.tridentconcepts.com/?p=14788#comment-35377 In reply to Chris James.

I think it is a great opportunity to learn some new things from how others coped with the snowstorm. That was a great idea to repurpose the home brewing station, smart move. The water containers worked great on our end, but I think a couple of extra cans couldn’t hurt. Thanks for sharing. Stay safe.

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By: Chris James https://tridentconcepts.com/2021/02/27/lessons-learned-from-a-snowstorm-part-1/#comment-35286 Mon, 01 Mar 2021 17:30:14 +0000 https://www.tridentconcepts.com/?p=14788#comment-35286 Good advice, Jeff. Glad to hear you guys made it through like champs. Thanks for passing the wisdom on to us.

My wife and I a post-Snowpacalypse debrief to ID some of the weaks spots in our plan & gear, including shelter. Pleased to say we were in good shape (comparatively) despite no power for four days. The biggest ah-ha for us were the grids we could rely on and the ones that are weak and unreliable. LNG and cell service were MVPs, electricity and water not so much. Making plans to build in redundancy before the next utilities failure is the investment focus for us right now.

Because we have already had issues with Austin water failing us in the past, a whole house filter & sterilizer is our answer to the boil ordinances. Additional redundancy came from an unexpected place – our homebrewing equipment. If the filter+sterilizer weren’t online we still had the ability to boil and store large (15gal+) of water and transport it via soda keg 5gal at a time. This was a huge asset to our friends who lost water pressure in the days after the power came back on. You can find 5gal soda kegs at any local or online brew supply store for around $50, or 5gal blue jerry cans for water for even less. It’s so easy and inexpensive to store sufficient potable water in advance of a problem that no one should be forced to buy bottled water when the SHTF.

The plan going forward is to add standby power from a natural gas generator and add 600 gallons of rainwater storage. While this isn’t off-the-grid living by any means, I think it satisfies our “Two is One and One is None” standard for the basics of modern urban survival. Would love to hear how others managed & learned from this golden opportunity as well.

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