A neighborhood blackout in Portland exposed three gaps in my prep list

Last month, a tree took out the power lines on my street for 16 hours. I had candles and canned food, but no way to cook the beans without a gas stove. My neighbor fired up a camp stove, and I realized I never bought one because I thought it was 'extra'. The worst part was my phone died by hour six and I had no paper map of evacuation routes. We also found out our hand-crank radio only picked up static in the basement. What do you folks keep on hand for cooking during a long power cut, and how do you test your backup gear before you actually need it?

2 comments

2 Comments

sandrat241d ago

Wait, your neighbor just casually fired up a camp stove during a blackout and you never tested yours before? That's wild to me, I would be panicking trying to figure out if mine even works.

simons282d ago

Paper maps huh. My buddy laughed at me for keeping one in my truck, then that thing saved us when GPS went down on a camping trip. Now I just check my camp stove every few months by boiling water for coffee.