This is a discussion about a prepping situation that falls somewhere between a short-term disruption, such as bad weather or earthquake, and the end of the world as we know it.  One of the more likely scenarios that I prep for is the loss of one or both of the income-generating jobs in the house.  With a few exceptions, it’s a tough job market out there, and it probably isn’t a bad idea to plan on being out of work, or at least out of work that makes the same money you’re making right now, for quite a while.  One of the key items in the average household that’s instrumental in keeping things moving, so to speak, is the vehicle.

Since I’m a pessimist, I base my plans on one or both of us being at a reduced income for two years.  I’m talking about reduced income, not no income, and I’m assuming that things like gasoline will be available, so we won’t be stockpiling two years worth of unleaded.

First and foremost, we need to take a look at the car itself.  It doesn’t need to be brand spanking new, but it does need to be reliable.  It’s better if it’s a car you can do normal maintenance on yourself without special tools and if you can get parts and supplies from places other than the dealership.  That last one can surprise you, even if you don’t own an exotic or rare car.  For the first two years I owned my minivan, I couldn’t get oil or air filters for it from the parts store or on-line.  It required a trip to the dealer, and it cost an arm and a leg.  Having a car that uses common parts and supplies is essential.  I know people who swear by 1911’s or Glocks because any gunsmith can work on them, but drive an uncommon car that requires parts shipped in from Outer Mongolia and is lubricated with extra virgin linseed oil that must be purchased from the monks of Sao Paulo.

Basically, for me, it comes down to doing the calculus of time, trouble, and cost it takes or will take in the next two years to keep my car running consistently and safe.  If I’m working two or three part time jobs to keep food on the table, will I be able to afford spending time every week or so to fix something on the car?  If we are having to follow an extremely strict budget to make sure that everything’s covered, will we want to be budgeting for quarts of oil, brake fluid, or transmission fluid because of a leaking seal?  I’m not advising anyone to go deep into debt to get a new car, but you do have to decide how much not having a reliable car is costing you now and how much it will cost you later.

One thing you need when you’re working on your car is knowledge.  Unless you’re a mechanic by trade or hobby, taking care of your own car, when you can’t afford to pay someone else to do it, will not be a familiar exercise.  I have had really good luck with the auto care manuals from Haynes, although others swear by brands such as Chilton.  What I like about the Haynes line is that they tend to be illustrated (black and white, but at least it’s a picture), are written at a very basic level that doesn’t assume too much about my mechanical abilities, and they are organized in a pretty logical manner.  I supplement those with videos and articles on the Internet, but you have to put on your logic filters with these sometimes.  Car care forums are as useful as gun forums, complete with holy wars over methods, materials, and manufacturers.

Next, we talk about the supplies.  On average, I will change my oil and filters three to four times in two years.  That means, in addition to beans, bullets, and bandages, I have started stocking up on motor oil, oil filters, and air filters.  These aren’t very expensive for most cars, so picking up an extra filter or quart of oil every so often isn’t hard.  The same goes for things like oil and fuel additives.

The same should go for windshield wipers.  I tend to go through two sets a year, one in the winter and one  over the summer.  For some reason, I’m always surprised at how much they degrade in just a few months of use.  Again, these aren’t that expensive for most cars, so picking them up won’t break the bank if you do it over a couple of paychecks, and having a couple extra sets in the house now will save money in a tight budget later.

I try to keep a set of spark plugs, ignition wires, and other general tune-up items like PCV valves for each car.  These don’t need to be replaced too often, but when the car needs a tune-up, it needs the tune-up.  Again, spending a bit of money now when you have it may save your bacon in the future when things are tight. You should also find out what bulbs, lamps, and fuses your cars use, and keep a supply of them on-hand.  You could also purchase brake pads and calipers to save for bad times.

After that, you get down to things that will hang in your garage or stay in your trunk in case of an ‘aw shit’ moment, but aren’t going to be used as part of normal maintenance.  Most modern cars, if they even have a spare tire, have a temporary spare that will work at moderate speed for a few miles, but needs immediate replacement.  If you have the money, springing for the full-sized spare now will turn an “aw crap, we have to come up with $150 to replace the tire right now” experience into an “aw crap, we’ll have to run without a spare for a few weeks while we scrape together $150 for a new tire” experience.  You can also look at things like serpentine and timing belts, oxygen sensors, and possibly even an inexpensive rebuilt alternator or water pump.    Those are those “low risk, high impact” kind of things that I’m on the bubble about stocking in your emergency supplies.   They’re, for the most part, on the expensive side to spend money on now, but in the event that you need one when things are tight, they will be a godsend in saving money and time later.

Some of these things are what you need to do your own maintenance (You do know how to change your own oil and do a tune-up, don’t you?), but some of them are to have on-hand in the event that something requires a mechanic.  Most mechanics have no problem with you bringing your own parts, and it may save money and time on their fees.

Finally, take a look at your tool kit.  A good metric and standard ratchet and wrench set is a good start.  So is an oil filter wrench, something that I seem to lose around here with a bit of regularity.  Having a hanging light might seem like an anachronism in this day of tactical lights and such, but having a bright light source that you can maneuver into the tight confines of an engine compartment or under a dash without blinding yourself can make jobs easier.

What you stock and what you don’t stock will depend on your situation.  What you want to stock and what you want to buy in the event of need is up to you.  Just remember, there’s a fine line between having what you need and a reality show coming to your house to talk about your problem.  Take a look at your vehicles, research what the normal maintenance and expected problems are, and plan accordingly.

Does anyone have any suggestions for hard-time prepping for your vehicles?

Carteach0 recently went through a few days of weather-induced inconvenience, and seemed to come through it pretty well.  We went through a couple of days of touch-and-go with electricity, but thankfully nothing more than a few hours in a stretch.

Here’s some of the things we did to adapt on our end:

Lighting

We made sure to have a couple of inexpensive LED flashlights with magnets stuck to the refrigerator.  They go for about $3 apiece or less at the hardware store and are basically disposable when the batteries finally give out.  Ours have been getting regular use this winter, but I have a few extras squirreled away in case these start to give up the ghost at the same time we need them.

For illuminating a room, we did a few things.  In the main living area, we had the fireplace and candles ready to go.  Three or four jar candles on top of the china hutch provides enough light to see clearly in most of the room, and the fireplace adds to it.

A couple of new things have been added recently, and they came in very handy.  First, we bought a rechargeable Coleman LED lantern.  It’s the same form factor as the classic lantern, but the bottom is taken up with a battery pack and a storage bay for chargers.  Our model comes with a 110v charger for home use and a 12V charger for vehicles.  It’s kept in my room in the basement, and I plug it in for a few hours every week or so to keep the batteries topped off.  It gave enough light to read by for about 6 hours without needing a charge, and we could have gotten more out of it by using the “low” setting.  It also has a weak, yellow light for use as a night-light if you need it.

Next, we stumbled across LED electrical outlet plates.  Basically, you sacrifice one of the 110v plugs on a wall socket to charge a battery and power several small LED lights that make up the socket cover.  A light sensor on the cover turns the LED’s on when the light level drops, and they were bright enough to light up the bathroom, hallway, and Boo’s room for several hours after the lights went out.  The model we bought has a selector switch that has high, low, and power out settings.  If you use the power out setting, the lights don’t come on as long as there is power to the outlet.  If it’s interrupted and the light levels are low, the LED’s come on.  I’m going to get more of these and put them in strategic places in our basement, like near the circuit breaker and sump pump.

Heating

For the most part, we relied on our centrally located fireplace.  It gave off enough heat to keep the living room and our bedroom warm.  That meant that we had a sleep-out in the living room for the kids, but they didn’t complain.  To keep pipes from freezing, we opened up the faucets in the kitchen and bathroom to let them drip.  To keep the kitchen warm, Irish Woman put something on the gas range to cook all day long, which seemed to work pretty well.  I need to put a box of matches or a lighter in the cabinet above the stove, though.  Unfortunately, our gas oven has a cut-off which precludes its use during a power failure.  That kept me from using a trick I learned as a kid:  Bake when the power is out to heat up the kitchen.  Do they even make ovens with pilot lights anymore?

If the outage had gone on for a long time, I may have had to shut off and drain some of the water lines in the basement to keep them from freezing.  I just don’t have a solution for keeping them warm for more than a few hours.

Entertainment

Luckily, we had kept our devices charged, so we were able to let Boo watch a movie or two on my tablet, and we had Internet via our phones.  Girlie Bear continued her reading of Frankenstein for school, and she thought it was neat to read it by candlelight.  Crayons, paper, scissors, LEGO’s, and games were also used to keep Boo occupied.  It was also warm enough that on the second day of blips that he could go outside.  That was the day I took him sledding after work.

Food

I expressly forbid the opening of the freezers unless it was absolutely necessary.  For the rest of the stuff, the refrigerator kept things cool enough, long enough, that we didn’t have to put things out on the porch in coolers, but we were getting ready to do it.  Irish Woman kept things bubbling and sizzling on the gas range, and we ate well.

Things for next time

I’m beginning to consider installing a static transfer switch that would allow us to run a few of the circuits in the house with the generator.  That would keep a couple of lights, the oven, the freezers and refrigerator, and the furnace running in the event of a power outage.

We are definitely going to get a few more of those LED outlet covers and stash the LED flashlights in different places around the house.  Having lights handy was one of the things that worked out well here, and I want to make sure that we improve there.

One place where our preparations failed was the sump pump.  It’s been a wet winter, and the ground around our house is saturated.  Every time it warms up, our sump pump fills up.  Normally, that’s not a problem, and Irish Woman put in a battery-powered backup a few years ago.  Unfortunately, the marine battery that powers it is as dead as disco, so that’s getting replaced and tested.

On the cooking front, I’m considering adding a new stove to our budget for the kitchen remodel that’s looming in our future.  The current one is gas, and we’re going to stay with that.  I’m going to have to research stoves and find out if they still make them with pilot lights instead of electric ignition.  Yes, pilot lights aren’t as efficient, but an oven with a pilot light could have been used to bake or even just be kept at about 200 degrees to warm the kitchen.  This one is going to be expensive, but it will pay off the next time we lose power in January or February.

How did you all make out?

As I was canning the broth that Irish Woman and I made from the Thanksgiving turkeys, something occurred to me.  All of this ‘prepping’ that we’re doing is not much more than how my grandmothers conducted their lives.

• Homemade is almost always better than store-bought.
• A few essential ingredients will make 90% of what you need.
• It is always a good idea to know the farmer who grows your food.
• Waste is a sin.
• It is better to repair a good tool than to buy a new one.
• Take care of essentials before you even think about luxuries.
• Coffee is an essential.
• It is better to work hard than to spend large.
• Always put away excess for lean times.
• Charity should rarely be asked, but should never be refused.
• Always provide for yourself so that you are not a burden on others.

40 or 50 years ago, the stuff we do to be prepared for emergencies, which a lot of people seem to look at as abnormal, was just considered good sense.

I consider myself fortunate that I have the example of two extraordinary, hard-working women to follow.  I hope that my grandchildren look back at me the same way.