Nothing sends us back a century or two like an electric power outage. So much of what we call civilization lives or dies on the "juice" that we get with the flip of a switch. Home heating and cooling, lighting, appliances, tools, television, computers and many other modern essentials have an incurable addiction to controlled streams of electrons. With the primary electrical grid down, you're just going to have to give up on most of these familiar conveniences, but there is an array of portable power sources that can provide lighting, cooking heat, run a few tools and even let you listen to your favorite tunes or watch a little TV.
General Guidelines
-- Since I'm focusing mostly on more portable and longer-term alternatives to conventional technologies, I'll just give an admiring nod to those well-prepared few who have gasoline-powered, natural gas or propane back-up generators. In many ways these are ideal backups for routine power blackouts, especially the natural gas and propane-powered generators. Unfortunately most of us either can't afford them or don't have the proper set-up conditions. In any case, they are heavily dependent on relatively large fuel supplies, a factor that may limit their long-term utlilty. Still, there are few things sweeter than the sound of the back-up generator kicking in; and thank goodness most hospitals and public safety buildings have them on hand.
-- Short of these larger fossil-fuel generators, there are no conventional backup systems that can compensate for all but a fraction of the normal electrical demands of an average household (about 14,500 watt/hours per day per house -- without air-conditioning!). Refrigerators, air-conditioners, ranges, microwave ovens, electric furnaces, dishwashers, clothes dryers - the list goes on - all pull far too many watts. As far as alternative sources go, at present there are only about 250,000 American homes that use some significant level of photovoltaic (PV) solar power, and over 90 percent of these have only limited PV power output, typically used for water heaters. The reason is both cost and the often daunting square footage of the solar array. Click here for a more in-depth look at going solar. Don't get me wrong. Solar PV's will be a significant component of the "wave of the future", so now's a great time to explore solar technology in its more compact forms as practical emergency/survival tools.
-- So what about all the more common types of portable camping and emergency equipment for lighting and cooking? Keep them! Use them! I love my candles, kerosene lamps and conventional flashlights. Just a few suggestions: 1) For safety and improved light use your candles in a lantern; 2) Never store liquid fuels in your house or anyplace else that you don't want to burn down; 3) If you choose to depend on liquid hydrocarbon fuels for lighting and cooking, I suggest you check out the rugged, efficient Coleman models of Duel Fuel Stoves and Duel Fuel Lanterns. I'm not so keen on most liquid fuels anymore, but I make this suggestion after I heard a FEMA official suggest that you use your barbecue grill as an emergency cooking device. Fine for burgers and ribs, but coffee and pasta?
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Technolithic Recommends:
Since there's an almost complete overlap in equipment, this is one instance where combining STAYING PUT and EVACUATION makes sense. All of the following products can be used just about anywhere, although I admit that carrying the heavier solar power units for an extended period may not be much fun. I also have to qualify what I just said above about liquid fuels. Although I would never depend on it as a sole fuel source, I like ethanol (or ethyl alcohol) because it has the quick, dependable light of other liquid fuels, but without the toxicity and fumes. It may not burn with the brightness or heat output of petroleum fuels, but ethanol can be mixed with water to stretch fuel stores. And besides, after the curtain falls, I'm sure there'll be plenty of moonshine stills popping up in the neighborhood where I can replenish my stocks. I've already got some leads!
First Essentials, or make sure you have the following on hand:
1) An emergency, hand-crank powered radio with built-in flashlight, siren and cell phone charger. I have the Eton FR250 version endorsed by the American Red Cross, but there are other similar models available, especially several made by Grundig. These versatile, inexpensive devices are often included in prepackaged emergency kits, but check your kit to make sure one is included.
2) Wind-up LED flashlights with hand-crank power that provides about an hour of light with 60 seconds of winding. Numerous versions are available, but check out my favorite, the three-bulb LED Illuminator.
While were on hand-crank power, there's also an excellent hand-crank table lantern made by Freeplay. As with all new technologies, there are many cheap, poor performers out there, especially with wind-up devices. Typically it's because there's too much cranking and not enough light. Well that's not a problem with Freeplay's Indigo lanterns -- they have the same crank efficiency as the best wind-up flashlights!
By the way, Freeplay, a UK company with a strong humanitarian bent, also makes a superb heavy-duty crank-powered portable energy source, the FreeCharge Weza. The only reason I don't own one is a rumor that if other recharge sources are unavailable, it requires at least five hours of foot pumping to get the Weza's battery up to a full charge. A full charge is not necessary for jobs like jump-starting a car, but I'd prefer not to have to work so hard if I needed it to run an appliance. On the other hand, if I were living in some perpetually overcast place like Seattle, crank-power might be better than waiting for the sun to stay out. In any case, I'm not casting stones so I still encourage you to find out more about the Freeplay product line.
Next up: create your own portable "mini-grid" with the latest in solar power.
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Solar Power: Recent advances in solar power technology have made a whole new source of energy available for emergency and survival scenarios. Portable solar power units are now available in a wide range of outputs and configurations. With so many to choose from, the challenge is figuring out which units are best suited for your needs and budget.
First, a brief primer on solar power units. The photovoltaic (PV) cells that make up solar panels produce DC current that first charges a battery and then can be converted by means of a DC/AC inverter into the AC current used by virtually all electrically-powered devices. All solar power sources operate on this basic model. Almost all small and medium size chargers supply DC power directly to the internal rechargeable battery in the device being charged. This is the technology typically used to charge cell phones, sat phones and digital cameras, a convenience breakthrough that's proved to be a real bonus for travelers in remote places. With their portability and ease of use, these chargers certainly have their place in emergency and survival settings. The best models of this group include the small, sleek Solio Universal Hybrid Charger and Brunton's rugged SolarRolls and Solaris foldable panels. Although these are excellent traveling and camping products, their power is only available when the sun is shining. In addition, only the larger panels of this type have the output to move beyond powering small hand-held devices.
I feel the best strategy is to go one step further and get a portable solar power unit that combines a respectable output with its own rechargeable battery that can run all types of devices -- laptops, small power tools, portable stereos and even small TV's -- around the clock, day or night. The addition of a battery makes them more expensive and heavy, but it's money well-spent. Here are a few of my favorites in the solar power world.
Portable Solar Power Packs:
RadioLabs Portable Power Packs combine high performance solar panels in padded foldable mounts and 12-volt battery power packs in ballistic nylon carrying cases. The solar panels come in four sizes -- 10, 15, 20 and 30 watts -- that can be connected to either an 8 or 16 amp battery. The larger the panel the faster the charge rate and a bigger battery means more available stored power. Battery output is delivered via a "cigarette lighter" type plug which can be easily adapted to accept a variety of jack and plug connections. The flexible solar panels have corner grommets for attachment to a backpack so you can charge on the go. Because I'm so impressed with the quality of this line, I've ended up with several overlapping components, but if you're a first time buyer go for the highest capacity panel and battery combination you can afford. Another great company, CT Solar, sells similar portable solar power components that are interchangeable with RadioLabs gear.
Advanced Energy Group Solar-PowerPAC is another excellent product that offers portable back-up power in a fully integrated unit built around a modified Xantrex power pack with a 21 amp 12-volt battery. There are three sizes of solar panels to choose from -- 10, 20, or 30 watts and all come with a simple wire kit for connection to the power pack. The handiest features are the easy-to-use 115-volt AC outlets (just like the receptacles on your walls at home), an air compressor, an integrated utility light and jump-start cable ports. Like the Radiolabs' unit, the Solar-PowerPAC can also be recharged by conventional power sources and used as a day-to-day portable energy source. Solid performance -- Xantrex units are considered to be the best around -- has made the PowerPAC popular with a broad range of customers, from the FBI and NASA to missionaries and recreational campers.
Of the two, the RadioLabs Packs are lighter and more compact (they are designed to be carried in a backpack), while AEG's Solar-PowerPAC has a modest edge in power and ease of operation. If you're at all squeamish about wires and minor electrical challenges go with the Solar-PowerPAC; if you want the ability to carry power on your back just about anywhere, try RadioLabs' Portable Power system.
Other Handy Solar Power Devices
Solar Battery Chargers: Always keep a stock of rechargeable NiMH batteries on hand. To simplify things I make sure that I only have devices that run on D, AA, and 9-volt batteries, a range that covers most conventional devices. There are a number of simple solar power chargers for these types of batteries - basically a slotted box with solar panels on top. If these batteries seem redundant with the power sources described above, they are! That's the point. Besides, I have a lingering suspicion that if things go south, all those specialized rechargeable lithium-ion batteries in our cell phones and computers will be hard to find. In addition, one of the dark secrets of the Li-ion batteries is that they start to irreversibly degrade from their manufacturing date, even without being used!
Once you have the solar power to charge batteries, you can think about picking up a couple of lanterns from Coleman's newer line of battery-powered lanterns that use high efficiency fluorescent or LED bulbs. Depending on the battery array, you can now get hours of bright light from "D" cells. Use them at night, recharge them by day.
Solar Lanterns: The latest generation solar lanterns -- I recommend the Solar Navigator SL-9000 series -- generate enough light to illuminate a decent-sized room with an energy-saving 9 watt fluorescent bulb. This model includes a built-in solar panel and 6-volt rechargeable battery. Don't confuse these with all those underpowered, mostly decorative, outdoor solar lights. Use the Navigator type lanterns as long as you have a continuous run of sunny days to recharge them. If the clouds roll in for awhile, switch back to hand-crank or conventional emergency lighting.
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Driven by decades of innovation in camping and survival cooking, there's no reason why you can't enjoy hot meals whenever you've got the time to fire up a portable stove. Hot meals have long served as fundamental taste-enhancing, morale-boosting components of the basic human survival game-plan (remember what we typically gathered around before we harnessed electrons?) -- and in any case heating is required for freeze-dried foods and recommended for MRE's.
No rocket science here; basically, all you need is a controlled sustained flame that will boil water. This temperature is all you'll need to warm freeze-dried foods and MRE's (or cook soups, stews or make hot beverages). Your only considerations are fuel type and cooking rig.
Technolithic Recommends:
First of all, make sure you have an abundance of fire-starting materials. These should include not only igniters (matches and lighters), but also starter fuels. There are abundant choices in both categories, but a mix of waterproof matches (lots of Coghlan's), butane lighters (a bag of the regular kind, but get a fancy windproof one if you like) and a couple of magnesium fire starters will do to get things started. Wet Fire Tinder is the best fire starter out there, but I like to have some Fire Ribbon around because this "camper's napalm" has some other unconventional uses. Similar products work just fine, and once again, it's great to have redundancy. And even though I feel naked without matches, it turns out that the newest cooking technology eliminates much of the need for an abundance of fire starters.
Stoves:
I have to admit that if I were headed out for a little conventional backpacking, I'd be sorely tempted to pack my trusty Primus with the no-fuss dependable butane/propane fuel canister. But returning to the point I brought up at the beginning of this section, I'm after something different here, namely fuels that have much better availability during the "long emergency." I'm after gear that won't send me back to the camping supply store for more fuel canisters (think about it -- how many of those special fuel canisters are within 10 miles of your home?). It may seem a bit of a stretch, but read on to see how to beat rigid fuel dependence.
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Sierra Stove: This lightweight, dependable stove uses just about any type of combustible -- twigs, bark, fuel sticks or any other solid fuel. Using a battery-powered adjustable speed fan, the Sierra creates a forced air system that quickly produces a super-hot, efficient fire that can bring a quart of water to a boil in four minutes. The less expensive stainless steel model weighs just 1 pound and travels in a compact nylon carry sack that can also hold a kettle, pan and windshield. One AA battery provides six hours of cooking; an optional D cell extends cooking time to 35 hours. Batteries can be recharged with your portable solar battery recharger. You essentially have unlimited fuel with all the cooking heat you'll need, although you'll have to spend more time cooking than you may be used to -- welcome to the world of your forefathers! It's basically the same system used in the Philips' stove that's making life easier for thousands of poor families around the world.
Trangia Stove: The classic Swedish camping stove, introduced in 1925 and still used by the Swedish army, has long set the standard for dependability and performance. The Trangia burns alcohol, typically ethyl alcohol or ethanol (sold as denatured alcohol in stores), but also isopropyl (rubbing alcohol), grain alcohol (aka "fire water") and even high proof liquor like Bacardi 151 (what a waste!). The stove is super simple, consisting of a brass burner or fuel pot that holds the alcohol and a windshield base that controls airflow and supports the cookware. Fill the burner with fuel, light it up and you've got a cooking fire, all with no moving parts, valves, tubes, tanks, etc. There's an adjustable burner cover, the "extingusher", that allows for flame control, but it's not something most users spend much time with. If you're going to use a processed fuel for the long haul, you can't beat alcohol. It's far less toxic than hydrocarbons, there's a lot of it out there now and if all the "revenuers" disappear, there'll be a lot more. Trust me!
Solar Ovens: If you've got sunshine, these simple cooking tools take care of the rest. In place of photovoltaic cells, these ovens use the power of the sun in its simplest form: heat. Inspired by gardening hothouses, they are little more than well-insulated boxes about the size of small suitcases that let solar heat in through a transparent top panel and use the captured heat to cook food in pots resting inside. They cook just about everything, using a "slow" heat that preserves flavor and moisture with little chance of burning or overcooking. With full, constant sunlight the interior temperatures and cooking times generally match those of conventional ovens. As a bonus, solar ovens can also pasteurize water -- very handy when those "boil drinking water" alerts come out. They can also quickly heat up freeze-dried food. Two models to consider are the lighter (10 lbs.) Sport Solar Oven manufactured by the non-profit Solar Oven Society and the Global Sun Oven, the undisputed "Webber" of solar ovens. Both will "run" for years on free fuel, making them ideal survival tools.
NOTE: Solar ovens are not only becoming popular as cost-saving, "green" and emergency cookers here in the States, they're also being sent overseas by the thousands to make life easier for impoverished families in the developing world. Interestingly, the ovens are also on the radar of hard-core survivalists who like the idea of cooking in their remote camps without giving off tell-tale smoke!
Questions or comments? Send your emails to technolithic@discovery.com.
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