Yesterday afternoon, a brief but violent storm blew through our town and suddenly we were without power. It was a sobering reminder of how dependent we are on the power grid. Your whole mindset has to shift. You go to turn on a light, only to realize it won’t work. You go to the fridge to get something, but stop to think, “Do I really need to let that cool air out just for some left over lasagna?” “How long will the water stay hot in the water heater?” “Where are the flashlights?” Everything changes.
It was relatively benign during the daylight hours, but once darkness set it, it took on a more surreal feeling. While we knew the outage was limited to a small area and the power would likely return in a relatively short time (obviously), it nonetheless was a sobering reminder of how quickly the world can be flipped upside down.
We went to a friend’s house that had power so we could charge up phones and laptops. On the way home after sundown, the most striking thing was the sudden darkness as we approached the area in which we live. We noticed was how easily we could see who had candles or flashlights inside their homes. They stood out like sore thumbs. It was a good reminder that in a grid down situation, we need to maintain “light control”, meaning, if we are using our lights inside while everyone else is out of power, we must black out the windows. Getting out of the vehicle, my first thought was to shine our flashlights around the area because I realized just how easily it would be for someone to surprise us in the darkness. We live in a safe area and since the power outage was only a few hours old, I felt there was little risk of crime. But if the power had been out for weeks, criminal elements would be looking for just this kind of opportunity.
But this situation also provided the opportunity to test out my Goal Zero Solar Generator and associated lighting. I took it out of my EMP container, plugged in a couple of lights and suddenly we had all the interior lighting we needed (see above photo). Again, we knew we weren’t in a serious situation, but the relief and comfort of having lighting has an incredible psychological impact. Candles are fine, but they are a fire hazard. Flashlights are fine, but they are limited in area of effect. But the Goal Zero lights and generator can make a darkened home feel like home again. I highly recommend it or you should get something similar. You can read my previous product review here.
So although it was certainly an inconvenience, I’m grateful to have had the experiential reminder to always be prepared. This was just a short lived event, but had it been a regional outage due to a cyber attack or natural disaster, the whole feeling would be different. We presently have several excellent properties listed that can be totally off the grid, and know of other properties that can provide what you need to survive without electricity. So contact us today to set up a time to see some of these mountain bugout properties, and get prepared.
