Emergency Prep.

Coffee Black · 05-07-11, 09:07 PM

I was thinking about this while reading and replying to the "personalities" thread.

What is your herp prep for emergencies? I didn't have one and in December 2008 I lost most of my collection due to 9 days without power because of the ice storm that happened here in NY and a large amount of the northeast. I lost everything but a king and a JCP and the JCP was at a friend's house with a generator because I had recently moved 100 miles away and was trying to build a new enclosure for him. Since then I've decided to be more prepared. We have a large amount of heat packs on hand and my new landlord assured us he has a generator for the place should the power go out for a prolonged time (something I looked for when moving.) Fridge be damned I'll hook up a power strip and 20 heat sources to the thing.

I know this is a random topic but just figured I would throw it out there and try to hear other ideas from the community as far as emergency preparedness goes. I don't want to go through that again and i don't want anyone else to, either.

infernalis · 05-07-11, 09:13 PM

I live in a part of NY where power failures are a part of life, so I have propane heaters, Deep cycle RV batteries and a big RV power inverter to keep everyone comfy.

In a few years I plan on being totally "off grid" power wise, so the utilities will be of no consequence to me.

stephanbakir · 05-07-11, 09:19 PM

Generators are all i currently have, but in case we ever need it we have a wood burning stove, it just isn't hooked up (all the pipes are in place, its just in the basement for now)

Coffee Black · 05-07-11, 09:26 PM

RV batteries as in recreational vehicle as in big damned battery? haha. We're looking into buying a home but it will take time but I'm looking at options for power including photvoltaic and/or a big freakin generator.

infernalis · 05-07-11, 09:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coffee Black

RV batteries as in recreational vehicle as in big damned battery? haha. We're looking into buying a home but it will take time but I'm looking at options for power including photvoltaic and/or a big freakin generator.

Yes, I hate the noise of a generator, we spend all summer in the woods, so I charge up the batteries during the day and run our whole camp off the inverter at night. silently.

during the winter I have the same stuff in the house. Deep cycle batteries go dead faster if you leave them out in the cold and don't use them, so I make sure to cycle it a few times when the snow flies.

Lankyrob · 05-08-11, 04:07 AM

Interms of power we are preety much set, no powercuts since the 1980's here but we do have gas powered heaters available if required.

The other emergencies to be prepared for are health issues, we have a highly respected herp expeet in our reptile shop who is available at most times of the day for helping sick herps and overnight we have all our reptiles registered with a specialist vet (works out £150 cheaper to see a vet in an emergency if the animal is registered) and a £15k animal treatment fund which is kept purely for emergency use.

We also keep one spare ceramic bulb and one mvb in the house in the event that one blows.

mistersprinkles · 05-10-11, 05:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lankyrob

Interms of power we are preety much set, no powercuts since the 1980's here but we do have gas powered heaters available if required.

Ah, civilization... How I pine for the Norwegian Fjords...

We had the power grid for pretty much the north eastern 1/4 of North America crapp out on us for a few days back in 2004. After about 48 hours people were just wandering darkened streets lined with melted ice cream like zombies.
I made that last part up but my friend who owned a little store was complaining about all the losses to melted ice cream. There were no actual zombies.

27233a · 05-08-11, 04:51 AM

generators are ok aslong as u have enough fuel for the duration, as u wont be able to get any during a powercut unless the gas station has its own back up power, which here in the uk they dont. in coffee blacks case a generator running for 9 days is going to use a substantial amount of fuel

infernalis · 05-11-11, 05:20 AM

where I live, the is a bar "conveniently" located 1 mile from a very sharp corner with a primary utility pole at the exact point of impact should a drunk driver fail to negotiate the corner and slide off the road.

That pole gets broken off at least twice a year.

Ahhh the power of booze. (hate the stuff)