If The Lights Go Out

In addition to what might be regarded as “normal” extreme events (hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes), we’ve also written about “ultra” extreme events such as nuclear war. In every case, there are some crisis survival strategies that can be utilized.

If you’re near ground zero in a nuclear strike, you’re either killed immediately or will die soon after. But if you’re at some distance from the detonation, the immediate problem is fallout and the intermediate problem is the collapse of civil infrastructure. There actually are survival strategies that can be applied in both cases, and we have written about those. After all, humanity survived the Black Death and Genghis Khan, so there’s no need to feel helpless.

In this issue of Crisis Survival Insider, we look at another extreme event that should be put in the “ultra” category and is perhaps more likely than a nuclear war. That event would be a complete collapse of the electric power grid. It’s not the end of the world but it is the end of the world with electricity. We’re not looking at a blackout that might last a few days. We’re considering one that might last months or longer before power can be restored. What can you do to prepare for that eventuality?

If The Power Goes (You Can Cope!)

A good place to start is to read Ted Koppel’s book Lights Out, about how a cyberattack could take out the entire U.S. power grid. Koppel’s scenario is one of many that could play out. The grid could also be disabled by natural disasters, terrorism or simple incompetence. Still, Koppel does a good job of explaining the aftermath of such an event and how most Americans take electricity for granted and are completely unprepared for such an event.

In fact, there is a lot you can do to prepare. One source of comfort is the simple realization that it was not that long ago that the United States had no electricity. Benjamin Franklin and other 18^th century scientists were able to isolate electricity as a natural force and relate it to well-known phenomena such as lightning. In the 19^th century, scientists found ways to generate electricity and store it in batteries. Still, those experiments and technical advances were on a relatively small scale.

It was not until the early 20^th century that electricity for everyday use became widespread in U.S. cities and some towns. It was well into the 1930s before electricity reached most rural areas under FDRs rural electrification program. If your great-grandparents and earlier generations were able to cope without electricity, so can you!

Surviving A Power Grid Shutdown

The following is a description of instruments, tools and techniques that are readily available, extremely useful and that require no electricity. We have intentionally excluded items that rely on batteries or solar power (which also requires batteries). Those are fine and if you have them, use them. But batteries run down and very few homes have the solar modules and industrial scale batteries needed to operate off the grid. With that in mind, here's your shopping list for surviving a complete shut-down of the power grid:

Have a watch or mechanical clock. A good quality Swiss-made automatic watch (which means self-winding) will serve you well. Of course, it tells the time. But watches have what are called “complications,” which are added features devised by master watchmakers. Some complications will let you read the time in two times zones. Other dive-rated watches (called “divers”) are water resistant to 300 meters (about 1,000 feet). Some watches can compute altitude (by letting air in the case that reacts with a mini barometer).

Did you know that you can use any watch as a compass? Simply align the hour hand with the direction of the sun. North will be the point halfway between the hour hand and 12:00 moving clockwise starting at 12:00. You can easily fill-in the rest of the compass once you have North. (Use 1:00 during Daylight Savings Time. The process is different in the southern hemisphere; you align the 12:00 numeral with the sun and then move to the hour hand). Of course, it’s a good idea to have a pocket compass handy anyway!

You can also determine your latitude using a watch (set to solar time in your location) if you separately know the exact time in Greenwich, England (the Prime Meridian or Greenwich Mean Time). This requires two watches (or a watch and a clock). Longitude can be determined by matching the position of the sun at noon or the stars at night to a chart. (Adjustments need to be made if your altitude is materially above sea level). One model of the Breitling Navitimer watch actually has a circular slide rule printed on the watch face that is operated by turning the bezel. I have one and it works fine. Who needs a pocket calculator!

It’s great that watches are so versatile but there’s no reason not to have all of the instruments that watches can mimic. By all means, have a thermometer and barometer. Good quality instruments can make you a serviceable weather forecaster in no time. When the barometer reading is dropping, a storm is on the way. When it’s rising, there are fair skies ahead. A thermometer used in conjunction with the barometer will tell you if a coming storm is rain or ice and snow.

Another useful tool is a hand-cranked radio. This has a battery, but the battery is charged by winding a crank so there’s no need for a separate power source to use it indefinitely. AM/FM bands are standard, but make sure it has a short-wave (SW) band also. Short-wave radio signals can be picked up over greater distances so you may be able to receive news from distant points that are outside your area of no electricity.

For transportation, the best bet is a bicycle. It should have a basket or saddlebag so you can carry food home from whatever local farmer’s market you can access. Don’t buy a top-of-the-line racing bike with skinny tires. Buy something more robust with off-road capability. That can mean fatter tires and upright handlebars, but you’ll still need at least six gears or more to get up and down hills without too much difficulty.

Keep a full tool chest and a workshop or garage full of larger implements. Saws and axes will be good for firewood. Hammers, wrenches and screwdrivers can be used for repairs. Duct tape and WD-40 or other lubricant are good for everything. Shovels are needed for removing snow or perhaps digging a well if the water table is not too deep.

My favorite survival technique is a large well-curated library. It will not only be a great source of education and relaxation, but your texts will be full of practical information that will help with survival independent of any educational value. Start with the Bible and the Boy Scout Handbook, then build your collection from there.

For food, you can stock up on canned goods and non-perishable items like 25-pound sacks of rice. Freeze-dried non-perishable “survival” food kits that can provide hundreds of meals that last for years are readily available. For cooking, you can have a wood-burning stove or barbecue (with a good supply of charcoal or propane tanks).

Put in large supplies of medicines such as aspirin, Tylenol, bandages, antiseptics, ace bandages and more. Aloe plants are easy to keep and are an excellent treatment for burns and bites.

For fresh protein, you can hunt game birds. Good idea to take a two-day course in how to gut them and prepare them for eating. Building a pond stocked with fish is another source of protein. I did that once only to discover the Great Blue Herons and Bald Eagles ate my fish. I called it the world’s most expensive bird feeder. The fishpond idea works better if you don’t have predator birds in your vicinity. A good fishing stream or river nearby is another good source of fresh fish.

As always, the most critical item on the list is water. For this you can drill an artesian well with a hand pump or fetch water from a stream or pond. Be careful to boil before drinking or use purification tablets. Doing both should be a safe approach.

The main point is that none of this is impossible or even particularly difficult. It just means living like all Americans lived until around 1870. Cyberterrorism aimed at our power grid may take us back to the future sooner than we expect.