Post by Christine on Dec 21, 2008 7:13:59 GMT -5
During the six day ice storm and cleanup effort, I found that some of my disaster equipment worked well, and some fell short.
GOOD: A AAA or AA Maglite-style penlight. Even during the day, I found many situations where I needed light to properly complete a task. Whether it was fetching a tool from the cellar, or putting grain in the animal buckets in the garage, these places were often dark, even in the middle of the day. A small Maglite was easy to keep in the pocket, offered up enough light to keep from tripping over things. Best of all, it could be held betwen the lips to shine on what I needed to see. Having a light that required manual manipulation proved to be too cumbersome when so much of my work required two hands. These lights use very little battery power if you shut them off when you're not using them. Just be careful not to store batteries inside of them. When the batteries leak, the flashlight needs to be discarded.
BAD: Coleman Fluorescent Lantern - battery powered. This light provides illumination when I head out to the barn at night to tuck in the animals. Unfortunately, recharging it during an extended disaster is very difficult. The 12 V charging system doesn't seem to work very well, and finding 110 VAC for a long enough time to recharge the battery is almost impossible in a disaster.
GOOD: Aladdin Mantle Type Kerosene Lantern. These wick and mantle lanterns provided light similar to a 100 watt light bulb, were easy to fill, and easy to light. I could refill them in a second with a gallon jug of kerosene, and they used very little fuel. On the negative side, they get very hot, can be a fire hazard if not closely supervised, and have a very fragile mantle that can be damaged without too much effort. Have extra mantles available.
GOOD: Honda-branded generators (not just generators with Honda engines). They're ultra quiet, start on the first pull, and run forever on a small amount of gas. This generator provided power for two years on the boat, and has continued to provide excellent service with very little maintenance. On the negative side, the oil changing system on the small portable units (3 KW and smaller) causes a mess every time I have to do this kind of maintenance.
GOOD: Husqvarna Chain Saws: I'm sure that Stihl, Echo and Jonsered fit in here too. We bought this saw to clear away the trees and branches that fell during the ice storm. It's more than powerful enough, very smooth running, and reasonably quiet. The design is well thought out, and it's easy to run. On the negative side, these units do require a lot of preventative maintenance if you follow suggestions in the owners manual. Also, keep a spare chain on hand. It's too easy to ruin a blade on a Sunday afternoon at 4:00 PM when there's still trees in the driveway.
GOOD: The five gallon, water cooler, water bottles with the handles. We had to lug 60 gallons of water a day to keep my animals hydrated. The easiest bottles to pick up, fill, transport and handle were the round, water cooler bottles that had the built in handles on the side. The lids stayed in place during movement, and they were easy to pour without getting water all over yourself. They were also rugged enough to avoid cracks, and breaks. The worst ones? The rectangular water cooler jugs with no handles. I hated touching them every time we made the trip to the farm where a generator was pumping water.
More to Follow.
Kip
GOOD: A AAA or AA Maglite-style penlight. Even during the day, I found many situations where I needed light to properly complete a task. Whether it was fetching a tool from the cellar, or putting grain in the animal buckets in the garage, these places were often dark, even in the middle of the day. A small Maglite was easy to keep in the pocket, offered up enough light to keep from tripping over things. Best of all, it could be held betwen the lips to shine on what I needed to see. Having a light that required manual manipulation proved to be too cumbersome when so much of my work required two hands. These lights use very little battery power if you shut them off when you're not using them. Just be careful not to store batteries inside of them. When the batteries leak, the flashlight needs to be discarded.
BAD: Coleman Fluorescent Lantern - battery powered. This light provides illumination when I head out to the barn at night to tuck in the animals. Unfortunately, recharging it during an extended disaster is very difficult. The 12 V charging system doesn't seem to work very well, and finding 110 VAC for a long enough time to recharge the battery is almost impossible in a disaster.
GOOD: Aladdin Mantle Type Kerosene Lantern. These wick and mantle lanterns provided light similar to a 100 watt light bulb, were easy to fill, and easy to light. I could refill them in a second with a gallon jug of kerosene, and they used very little fuel. On the negative side, they get very hot, can be a fire hazard if not closely supervised, and have a very fragile mantle that can be damaged without too much effort. Have extra mantles available.
GOOD: Honda-branded generators (not just generators with Honda engines). They're ultra quiet, start on the first pull, and run forever on a small amount of gas. This generator provided power for two years on the boat, and has continued to provide excellent service with very little maintenance. On the negative side, the oil changing system on the small portable units (3 KW and smaller) causes a mess every time I have to do this kind of maintenance.
GOOD: Husqvarna Chain Saws: I'm sure that Stihl, Echo and Jonsered fit in here too. We bought this saw to clear away the trees and branches that fell during the ice storm. It's more than powerful enough, very smooth running, and reasonably quiet. The design is well thought out, and it's easy to run. On the negative side, these units do require a lot of preventative maintenance if you follow suggestions in the owners manual. Also, keep a spare chain on hand. It's too easy to ruin a blade on a Sunday afternoon at 4:00 PM when there's still trees in the driveway.
GOOD: The five gallon, water cooler, water bottles with the handles. We had to lug 60 gallons of water a day to keep my animals hydrated. The easiest bottles to pick up, fill, transport and handle were the round, water cooler bottles that had the built in handles on the side. The lids stayed in place during movement, and they were easy to pour without getting water all over yourself. They were also rugged enough to avoid cracks, and breaks. The worst ones? The rectangular water cooler jugs with no handles. I hated touching them every time we made the trip to the farm where a generator was pumping water.
More to Follow.
Kip
