What’s in your black out box?

[notafanofsugar]

I read an article in the guardian today which said that Britons are preparing blackout boxes.

First aid kits, torches ... fairylights?: Britons prepare blackout boxes

Casting an eye back to the 70s power cuts, we test the conversational gambit for this winter, ‘what’s in your BOB?’

www.theguardian.com

Strangely enough I have made an emergency box with my OH. We have bought a generator off Amazon but hadn’t realised that it could be interpreted as blackout supplies until I saw the article. God only knows what mess the government will lead us into this winter.

Our black out box has candles, torches and firefighters.

What is in your blackout box?

 

[Outlier]

Don't forget the matches.

the most important aspect of a blackout box is being able to lock it, and remembering where you have hidden the key. Otherwise everything in it will "walk" and never be put back or replaced.

 

[TooSweetForMe]

I don't have a "blackout box" per say. I live near the OBX of NC, so we have to worry about hurricanes. I have an evacuation kit with flashlights and batteries, battery-operated radio, battery-powered cellphone charger, extra bg meter & strips, lancet and needles, alcohol pads and extra batteries for my meters. Also keep stocks of bottled water, pb & jelly, crackers of various types, canned goods with pop tops, clothes, sturdy shoes, toilet paper & paper towels, wipes, cleaning supplies & gloves, reading materials, some cards, and copies of important papers and some cash also. If you lose power ATM's won't work. I check my strips and food/water for dates every 6 months and use up if going out before my next date for checking it.

 

[Antje77]

I’ve ordered a trongle emergency light and guess what it’s not arriving until ... December. Probably be too late.

If the power goes out at night before december, just go to bed.
Once you wake up the next morning you'll be able to see your loo rolls again!

And if you have a whole family this is the perfect opportunity to play hide and seek until bedtime.

 

[TooSweetForMe]

@Brekkie I get the canned veggies and stuff with lower sodium. Also with a hurricane, you lose power often for up to a week or more at a time. You need to think more about being able to eat and have your energy.

 

[TooSweetForMe]

@Brekkie we have days worth of warnings for when a hurricane will hit, and they are mostly during the summer and fall so we have time to cook up stuff and store in fridge to be heated up in disposable roasting pans on a grill. We can also cook meats on a grill that are in danger of thawing out and going bad. If it looks like it will be a bad one (Cat 3 or higher) I have a cousin who lives about an hour away with a generator who will come and get me. She is further inland and north of me, so she has less of a flooding risk than I do.

 

[Riva_Roxaban]

Have a look out for dehydrated veggies in the supermarkets, they are only small 125 mg packets butwill feed four people when hydrated.

We have these in our our emergency box as they do not take up much room., along with tins of corned beef and othe canned stuff.

A helpfui tip is write on the end of the tins what it contains BB for baked beans, spag for spaghetti etc. with a laundry maker.

A disposable cigarette lighter is a must as well, to light a fire or candles etc.

 

[zand]

Nothing new, just the same stuff I have every Winter in case of power cuts. Matches being the most important item so that I can light the gas fire and gas hob without the pilot lights. One year we were without electricity for 60 hours. It wasn't great, but it wasn't really a big deal either.

 

[Lamont D]

I have plenty of candles and a torch and now matches. And a lighter. Fresh food is important for a few days.
If it is anything like the seventies/eighties, there will be announcements on when the blackout will happen.
some will be in daylight, some will be early evening, but the duration will not be longer than four, five hours.
Your freezer should not be opened during the blackout. If you have the freezer bags, make sure you put them to freeze before, and lay on top of the food to preserve the cold.it's just another barrier.
do not carry candles around. Have them stationed around the house so that when you need a room, you can see the candle before it. Get proper candle holders. Solid ones, that don't tip over with the height of the candle. Don't put them on Xmas trees!

This government will use this opportunity to persuade you that there is no option for their plans throughout this winter. There are always options and as this country has found out, with the same clowns in charge, we will all suffer from their dogma.

Blackouts are unnecessary and so is austerity. They have completely knackered this country

A general election is now a prerogative. And we will have to live the consequences for many years to come.

 

[Lainie71]

I have a beefy torch, box of matches, candles (various), battery LED lights, hot water bottles should we get cold, battery packs for phones etc - if it hits the fan we have a generator and our workshop is warmer so it will be like glamping! We are planning on using our outdoor stove for cooking, I mean we need to make something good out of a bad situation, its just a shame we cannot take the people that caused this situation out of the equation!

 

[Lainie71]

I have also got some of those big bottled water for drinking.

I’m sad to say I’ve never owned an outdoor stove. @Lainie71 I am concerned about cooking as there’s 4 of us. Can anyone recommend an outdoor stove please?
I know nothing about outdoor cooking I’m afraid. Kids hate the smell and smoke of BBQ around in the summer. I think especially my sons asthma flares up and he finds it difficult to breathe. I would use stove top cooking one pot likely.

I do sympathise as I have asthma and I too hate the smell but its further down the garden so I don't think it will be as pungent, my husband is going to find out what we can use so its more friendly for the environment . You can pick up a relatively cheap camping stove that take the small bottles of gas, I wouldn't recommend using it in the house, they are specifically for outdoors

 

[Aishia]

Fork handles. No sorry
Four candles.

 

[Aishia]

I would like 2 black out boxes really. One for the essentials and the second box when you opened it you
would just hear the sound of laugher to ride us through the storm.I bet the 'laughter box' would sell out.