My name is J.R., and this channel is all about helping you and your family get ready for different types of disasters and emergency situations. I cover important aspects of preparedness, including power, water purification, and more.
Preparedness should be done in a way that is practical and that helps you be ready for both big and small disasters. I want to do my best to help you be as prepared as you possibly can be.
When I bought our camp trailer a few years ago, the idea was to also have a second space with fridge, stove, shower etc and keep it ready with provisions. The fridge went out but I found a barely used replacement at a great price. All these things require maintenance, $$ and your time, so plan accordingly.
I just bought an Ecoflow solar generator and want to buy solar panels to charge it. I would like to have at least 2 charging points coming from the same solar panels. Are there are any "distribution boxes" or something of the sort that will allow me run cables from the solar panels to different rooms and allow me change which charging point is active at any given time?
Great video! Do what you can with what you can afford. Test your methods before you actually need them so you know for sure they'll function and do what you need them to do. Thanks for the thought provoking video.
Was thinking about the car battery option. Just wanted to throw out how it is very useful inside your home. For instance. Many, many years ago, my in-laws had a power outage right after we were married (early 2000s). They had a pellet stove with an electric feeder and with no power, no feeder. So, fil rigged up a car battery to the stove so they had power. They didn't have those kinds of converters back then. But it's something to think about.
Since the pandemic we’ve stopped travelling and thus able to put in a wood stove and have just bought a solar generator and panels to backup our 2 gas generators, prepping definitely requires sacrifices when money is a concern but the peace of mind it brings is more relaxing than a vacation to us especially with state the world is in now.
I have a couple of power banks with built-in solar panels. They'll take a long time to charge, but they're better than nothing. I do like your idea of charging power banks 1st with portable solar panels and then using the banks to charge devices. It makes more sense than, say, just charging a phone. You can use the power in the bank to charge more things.
We plan on using the candles/oil lamps in the winter, which will help with heat, and the flashlights/electrical lights in the summer when we can charge them easily with solar panels. Can’t afford a generator.
I bought a dorm size fridge/freezer. I also bought a solar generator. I have crank radio/lights that's also solar. 5 of those. I'm not buying anything that uses batteries. I'm prepping for a longer outage. East Texas
Thats awesome 👏🏽 Consider adding some of those micro-wind turbines as well! And I saw some sweet ideas of planting food crops beneath solar panels in hotter climates, the shade cools the plants, yet they still receive enough sunlight to grow This way you could sort of triple your space usage
Thanks again for the video! I made a trashcan faraday cage, got me some rechargeable batteries and chargers all thanks to your videos. I also spent money on a 30 watt solar panel to recharge a small anker power bank and to recharge a few lights. Saving money to buy myself a little bigger power bank so I can run a fan or at the very least make some coffee if I lose power. I don’t function well without my coffee lol. Thanks again! Look forward to learning more and have Been binge watching your videos 🙂🦋
Greetings from Tennessee. While I agree that rechargeable batteries are a good choice, I can't recall you ever saying anything about solar rechargeable battery chargers. You might also think about comparing solar rechargeable LED lights for battery life and recharge times. Keep up the good work. ✌️
I have a number of DeWalt 20V tool batteries. They store a lot of energy in each. Amazon has converters to take the 18-20V of various tool batteries and convert it to 12V. This voltage can then be used by various automotive USB outlets and portable lights. USB is the future power supply for small devices.
Great realistic expectations video A lot of people get turned off or disenchanted seeing their favorite RU-vid prepper or gear guys showing how easy it is to maintain the status quo with all the expensive gear their sponsors send them Most of us don’t have the money to invest thousands of dollars in a complete solar alternative Personally, I have a couple Jackery’s that took me a while to save up for and I will use them as appropriate I pace myself financially as I am a fully disabled veteran with limited income and VA/SSDI Yet I put 3 kids through college, one more to go who just started Still pay their car insurance and am paying off their first vehicles that I promised them - one I do the best I can and don’t buy much for myself I clothes shop in Walmart, I’m not ashamed I food shop in Aldi or ShopRite I buy cans of food for 79-99 cents and stock up when I can Inflation is so damn high today I invest in common sense inexpensive but effective preps You don’t need to spend a ton of money best to spend once on a decent piece of gear then twice on junk Besides, I’ve grown to become so much more resourceful and self dependent I buy when I can and only on the things I have on my gear/food prep list and have chose based on affordability and effectiveness many times with your information I know many are in similar situations So thank you for this video and being practical it’s always appreciated ✌️
Yeah. The only thing I don’t like about the Milwaukee is the coverage area is a little small. However, places that do get air get a lot of it. Thanks for watching!
Yes Left my fridge and freezer plugged into my Patriot solar generator overnight, then in the morning, started the gas generator and plugged the Patriot in. It charged while still running the frig and freezer. My Patriot is 6 years old now and still works great, but i do need to top off the charge twice a year if it doesn't get used.
Yes, you can charge a solar generator with a gas generator. It’s best to do it with an inverter generator since they produce “cleaner” power, but I’ve done it with my regular gas generator that has a built in surge protector. I don’t recommend doing that a lot, but in a pinch, it may be useful.
The other thing about the solar generators is that you need the matched solar panels to go with them, no point if you have a big generator and only a 100W panel to power it, it will take a week to power it up 😞
After a devastating wind storm last summer, we ran our fridge and chest freezer off an 800 watt Duracell inverter, rotating them every 2 hours. We ran the car about 14 hours a day for 3 days. Only went through 1/8 of a tank of gas - and lost NO food. Thanks for the great content.
We have been living with loadshedding - which is scheduled rolling electrical blackouts - for over 15 years. We may not go off every day, but have been known to have rolling blackouts where everyone is off for over 12 hours a day in a 4.5 hours off 3.5 hours on cycle. Our aging electrical infrastructure also means that if something goes wrong it can take days for them to fix it - we've had 3 instances of having our power off for 5 days at a time while I know people who have been off for 10+ days at a time. All this means that we have got used to having rechargeable lamps, backup power banks (these can power wifi for 8 hours or more), having gas for cooking, etc. Eventually I decided to spend a fortune on a 15 panel solar installation with 2 x 5kw inverters, and 3 x5kw batteries. This enables us to go off grid if necessary. As it is scheduled rolling blackouts, criminals know when the power is going to go off and definitely take advantage. Our neighborhood watches do extra patrols at these times and street committees gather outside and walk their own streets to keep criminals away. We have whatsapp groups for each of our streets (or a few streets when they are smaller streets) and are constantly watching out for each other. Our police and armed response private security companies also work closely with our neighborhood watches and are on each others radio networks.
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the alcohol pop can stoves i made i eliminated the gap issue on sides by making up enough cans to make 10 stoves then when assembling i mixed up some jb weld and put on the cans before sliding together then when the jb weld sets up hard its completely sealed and no leaks and gives a sturdy side panel all around
Got solid fuel tab stove your right it's not ment for emergency really unless out door activity went bad use tab as starter . Stove for hikers work well for that.small single or just one other person stuff mostly just warm up it good.some stuff might have use more one tab but that was told by manufacture paper came with stove.yeah I got one had years used it.
