How to stay warm when TSHTF

[sahgwa]

Hey, we don't imagine that we will be in a SHTF situation, but it happens.   It isn't armageddon,  often, it's just life.   You live in a comfortable area, with resources around you.   Your home is well insulated.  There is a fault on the power grid caused by high winds clashing power lines together.   The power system fails.  The outside temperature is 14 F/-10 C.   You are going to freeze to death without an action plan.  

Many people of means would choose to drive to an area with power and hold up.   If you are really lucky, they will take your pets also.  

A variety of situations could cause you to shelter in place.   Okay, so you don't have a fireplace or a Pella stove.   Why would you?  You are urban folk who don't care for the city, but don't embrace the country.  City folk are in even worse peril than you.   So what do you do?

Let's talk about "space blankets".   What are they?   They are mylar-lined very thin aluminum sheets that reflect back heat.   Now, this is important:  They rely upon you being relatively dry.  Why?   Because if you are moist/wet, you will steam yourself, and be subject to the ambient air temps.   You want to be dry.   Space blankets have value.   They can help you conserve heat in dire situations.   They are easy to transport, and cheap in cost.  It's worth having a few around in your survival gear, right next to your first aid kit.

Suggestion #1:   All my adult life, my Darlin' and me have had very good Eddie Bauer goose down sleeping bags.  Some of them (NOT the 'mummy sack series') zip together for couples.   If you can keep them dry and snuggle together, you can survive very dire temperatures, especially if you section off your survival area.  

How to section off your survival area?   The less area you have to heat, the easier it is TO heat.   Take your smallest room, and pitch a small tent, just big enough for you or the two or three or six of you -- whatever is your living dynamic.  

Suggestion #2:  Acquire some closed-cell foam, to be rolled out in dire emergencies, as a ground cover insulation under your tent.  

Suggestion #3:   Acquire a small battery-powered space heater.

All of these things sound extreme, until you need them.    I have friends in the North and Northeast United States.   Hell, I have friends everywhere.   Those in the country/rural areas expect power outages and are well prepared to survive.   

If you are in an area that can have exteme cold and you are part of the power grid, I advise you to have emergency supplies that might just keep you alive in a SHTF situation.  Of course, staying warm enough to survive is no good without an adequate amount of emergency water and food.  

Here's something nobody talks about:    Where do you pee and poop while you're not freezing to death?   Stock at least four 5-gallon buckets with lids.   Cut a six-inch hole in one of the lids, and screw a toilet seat to it from the underside.    Imagine the shame of surviving the cold but having to soil the carpet around your home.  You use the toilet seated bucket, then use another lid to close it off.   When full, set aside.  Begin the second bucket.  

Most of this stuff you will never need.   Still, if you want to ensure that you and your family survive, We're talking about less than $1000 worth of stuff to be stuffed away in a closet.   With the high strangeness of the world, you would be somewhat silly to not at least stock up a month's worth of water and food.   If you choose dehydrated food, obviously you need twice the amount of water, and a source of ignition and fuel for cooking.   

My Darlin' and me have always loved to camp.   We often hiked to camp at a beautiful spot.   There are a plethora of other objects and supplies that might help, such as firearms, plastic sheeting, rope,  etc. etc.  I may or may not touch upon those items.   I might do a thread on bushcraft.   Mostly for right now, I want you all to not freeze to death.  

All best

Lots of wool clothing and wool blankets.

Candles, heat and light :)

[UltraBudgie]

focus on the breath
and the flow of prana that is its subtle body
allow it to move in cycle
through the central channel
giving and taking the warmth of the body
with every motion of muscle and air
turn the mind to the true observer
who sees the world as it is
and realize that every inhale
is an exhilation and every exhale
is an inhilation
the heat is an illusion as nothing
is created or destroyed and everything
is exactly as warm as it needs to be
and if all that doesn't work
burn something

[putnam6]

I had a buddy who tried the terracotta clay pots and Crisco candle trick, for his garage so he could go out there and smoke.

He said it might work in a small, closed-off room, but it was a good hand warmer in his 14-degree garage

[sahgwa]

I had a buddy who tried the terracotta clay pots and Crisco candle trick, for his garage so he could go out there and smoke.

He said it might work in a small, closed-off room, but it was a good hand warmer in his 14-degree garage

Every little thing helps!
He would need maybe 5 or 6 of those. hm

This is a nice page

https://theselfsufficientliving.com/clay...your-room/

[putnam6]

Every little thing helps!
He would need maybe 5 or 6 of those. hm

This is a nice page

https://theselfsufficientliving.com/clay...your-room/

Yeah, this is the idea my buddy needed to direct the air flow

Ive done the Crisco candle for light, but if you crammed multiple candles into one can, it would pump the heat out too

[quintessentone]

Keeping warm is definitely a tricky subject. ETA: The following post is for short-term blackouts not TSHTF. Although having said that I need to start researching non-porous rocks.

------

I'm thinking of buying the Mr. Heater (Buddy) with 20 pound propane hose and fuel attachment.

Then I'm thinking about buying an inverter to connect to my car battery then to my propane furnace, but I need an electrician to swap out the on/off switch to a female outlet, then I need to start storing gasoline.

Then I'm thinking that we have a firepit in the back so I could heat non-porous rocks then bring them indoors for the nighttime and build a makeshift tent-type enclosure in the middle of the room and line it with mylar sheets and put down lots of cardboard sheets on the ground (which I have a large collection). I need to study which rocks are non-porous to avoid explosions.

Right now, I only have mylar sheets, and thick plastic to cover doors/windows, many blankets, woolens to wear, hot water bottle, lots of cardboard, hot drink containers, candles and clay pots but I don't want to have to be uncomfortably cold and/or sweating under many layers without a way to dry out my clothes. 

That clay pot heater has been debunked by many people, but I guess if there were multiples then it might throw off enough heat. I really don't know as I have not tried it.

If I keep being indecisive we may end up having to sleep in the car while it runs continuously and use up the gasoline in the shed. Hopefully gas stations will still be operational during a brownout or a blackout (?) Are they?

[Moon68]

Tip:

If you have a gas hot water heater, the pilot stays on without power, heating that big tank of 30, 40, 50 gallons. You can tent around it to trap the heat and stay fairly comfortable.

Had a big ice storm in the early 2000's (2003?) that left us without power for over a week. Had a ferret at the time and they do not do well with cold. Old Bandit stayed toasty warm for the duration in the laundry room with the hot water heater.

[argentus]

focus on the breath
and the flow of prana that is its subtle body
allow it to move in cycle
through the central channel
giving and taking the warmth of the body
with every motion of muscle and air
turn the mind to the true observer
who sees the world as it is
and realize that every inhale
is an exhilation and every exhale
is an inhilation
the heat is an illusion as nothing
is created or destroyed and everything
is exactly as warm as it needs to be
and if all that doesn't work
burn something

I am confident that those who live in an area where "burn something" is safe, will do so.   I am aiming more for urban/city survival where temps drop down and power is out.  Granted, I've created an odd set of circumstances, but, hey, they happen sometimes.   There is one dear friend in particular whom I  have copied this info that I hope will think about preparing for the worst.   Comfortable people can go somewhere else, usually.   

This is kind of the crux of survivalism -- some people anticipate the worst and prepare for it, and others scoff that the odds are so slim, they aren't going to waste money on it.   I've been around long enough to see both strategies played out, when the unexpected happens.   There will be other SHTF situations I will soon talk about.   I think this is what I can help people with.   I hope so.

[putnam6]

I am confident that those who live in an area where "burn something" is safe, will do so.   I am aiming more for urban/city survival where temps drop down and power is out.  Granted, I've created an odd set of circumstances, but, hey, they happen sometimes.   There is one dear friend in particular whom I  have copied this info that I hope will think about preparing for the worst.   Comfortable people can go somewhere else, usually.   

This is kind of the crux of survivalism -- some people anticipate the worst and prepare for it, and others scoff that the odds are so slim, they aren't going to waste money on it.   I've been around long enough to see both strategies played out, when the unexpected happens.   There will be other SHTF situations I will soon talk about.   I think this is what I can help people with.   I hope so.

Just another reason why gas ovens and stoves are better than electric.... In a pinch, our gas oven can heat the kitchen and dining room.

[argentus]

Just another reason why gas ovens and stoves are better than electric.... In a pinch, our gas oven can heat the kitchen and dining room.

Agree, and thank you.  I would never trade our propane stove for electric.  I always keep strike anywhere matches in a ziplock close to the stove for that reason.   Why in a ziplock?   Humidity can soften the phosphorous sulfide/sulpher/micropowdered glass, and make it unable to ignite.   

Of course, we will never freeze to death where I live, unless there were a dramatic pole shift, or nuclear winter.    That's not the SHTF I'm talking about.  

I think about people in cities and large villages who were not raised in the hunt/fish/camping/self-subsistence culture, and worry mostly about low and middle income who could possibly not have the wherewithall to temporarily move to another area in dire times of no power.   Every year, close to 1000 homeless people die of hypothermia in the U.S. alone.   I know that street people have their own strategies, and in most places there are limited resources.   

The point I'm trying to make is that for those folk close to the edge, to pre-plan for the possible can save their lives if it actually happens.