Summer's ending, back to school sales are all around, my kids are moping about the required reading they didn't do...and it's time to triple-check the hurricane supplies and plans.

I had a fairly horrid time of things in Superstorm Sandy - but it would have been far more horrid had I not done the tedious prep work month after month after month before.

Take the time, look around, get stuff while you can.

thought I'd repost a pic of a couple of ideas to solar heat water... in 2004 I was without power for about 6 1/2 days, and hot water heater cooled at about day 2...city water was not interrupted

simply run it through your garden hose but limit the flow rate with a nozzle...125' of 7/8" hose holds about 2 1/2 gal, and can get to 135F in about an hour in Florida summer...be careful

black painted garden sprayer for shower water pressure

3mil 33gal trash can liner, laid open end over a 2x4 will hold 5 gal of water and reach 125F+ in 1 hr... you must dip the hot water out of the bag as it has a serious scald potential





if you are new to hurricane land, have lots of tips

Regarding improvised solar heated showers, as noted above the water can easily become too hot.
Might it be worth the use of a thermostatic mixing valve ? These are widely available from plumbing supply houses.

They only work if you have a supply of hot and cold water, both under pressure.
But in the example given of a length of black hose in the sun, and fed from a pressurised supply, a second cold supply and a thermostatic valve should give good results.

Another option is a 12 volt submersible pump and a drum of warm water. This has the merit that the temperature of the water in the drum wont change significantly during the shower, and can of course be adjusted before hand.

Or just empty the hose into a bucket and add cold water until you reach a nice temp.

Why improvise a solar heated shower? Nice units are readily available. My experience is that they work very well. We did a field project in which we filled our showers as we left camp for work in the morning, returning to pleasantly warm bags in the late afternoon (summer and fall conditions). This procedure worked well for four of us, eight days consecutively for about three months. I got to the point where 2 1/2 gallons per shower was more than enough. I have also used the showers by heating water on a stove and mixing to the correct temperature. They are great items that are compact, workable, and fine morale boosters.

MDinana...that's what I do with the garden sprayer...

hikermor... I don't have room to hang the gravity bags in my shower...actually I have room, but I place a 33gal plastic trash can in the shower to hold non potable water, and my room is limited... the sprayer is convenient to mix, transport, and provide water pressure

after the long power outage in 2004, I did an after action debrief with my kids.... the lack of hot shower and batteries for their entertainment gizmos was the most common complaints... the trash bag was investigated for use by those in condo/apartments without access to garden hose...

i'm fascinated by this new shopping concept of "back to school and hurricane supplies". I'm shocked that Walmart doesn't offer a special like this :-)

Pete2

Pete2, you have to move to Florida to see the hurricane cum backtoschool specials.

most years the state of Florida offers tax free days for both school and hurricane supplies...

a thread on another forum got me thinking about a 12v battery power station... I don't really need a 120V inverter, as I've pretty much converted to 12Vdc... so I just got home with a deep cycle trolling motor battery to work with my fans, mini TV, and Eneloop recharger....also picked up another 12Vdc power tap... last week ordered some of the AA to D adapters, ones that take 2 of the AAs... to see if I can get 6 hours on my ceiling fan running off AAs

under Electronics for DUMMIES... if you try to hook up your digital portable to your cable, make sure it attaches to the cable source and not out of the DVR box... dumb.. dumb...dumb....

A solid 12V backup system is smart. You can power a whole bunch of stuff directly from 12V, you can charge 12V with solar, wind, wall chargers, other vehicles, more.

You can harvest a 12V, large capacity battery from a lawn tractor or vehicle. If you have an inverter you can power it from a 12V battery and keep lots of things running.

If you can't have a generator, you can still use a silent 12V system like a Xantrex to keep some basic loads running at least part time.

just finished attaching a 12v cigarette plug socket directly to the (-) terminal of a deep discharge battery, inline fuse....could have used a marine unit for more water resistance, but didn't... the OEM handle works well... didn't need a battery box

When this thread came up, I just smiled, put my feet up, and thought - "How fortunate to live in southern California, where there are no hurricanes (nearly - one is reported to have reached Los Angelesin 1928, I believe).

But anyway, a tropical depression in the eastern Pacific is spinning northward, pumping moisture into our atmosphere, resulting an a 20% probability of rain tonight and tomorrow morning, with a chance of thunderstorms!

And it isn't even earthquake season, yet.....

hikermor,
I'm happy that you're happy in socal. I'm even happier that I'm NOT!

Lack of hurricanes is a plus living in SoCal, and there are other advantages. There are drawbacks, as well. It is fair to say that the region is overpopulated, for instance.

It is ironic that, once being a professional Arizonan, who used to dis "Calidamfornians," I came to the state, went native, married a local, and settled down. If she's happy, I'm happy. And I still get back to Arizona once in a while.

I don't think there is anyplace that doesn't have advantages - and drawbacks.

There are lots of overpopulated places, but they don't have the natural beauty of SoCal. I went to the Channel Islands recently. What a wonderful place! From the madness of the cities you can get to a place like this to be utterly alone with nature, within hours. I am also particularly fond of the ocean, and I just could not get over the vastness of the waters and the heavens, surrounding me from all sides. Of course, I also liked the sea lions, the pelicans, and the little unidentified furry critter that dashed away from the bush when I got a little too close unknowingly. Too bad the dolphins and the whales forgot to pay me a visit on this trip.

To make this ETS-relevant, of course I had my little kit with me. I didn't get to use any of it, fortunately. I do think my strategy of using one pair of shoes for all the varied activities on a trip probably doesn't work so well. I'll have to make room for proper boots next time.

Which island did you visit? I worked there for sixteen (mostly great) years and I still get out occasionally. A very special spot.

If small enough, your furry critter was probably a mouse - not too may terrestrial mammals on the islands

I went to Santa Cruz! I got on shore at Scorpion Harbor & slowly wandered toward Potato Harbor, just me and my camera. It's such a beautiful place. I recall you're an archeologist. Perhaps because the place was so isolated, it seemed unfathomable that I could share the experience of being on that island with the ancient people who have long since vanished, yet there was also a deep sense of connection. There were other contradictions: the island was both barren and rich, both gentle and harsh. When I was there the weather was quite mild, but on an island so exposed to the elements, I can imagine feeling the full force of a storm. I have a picture to show JPickett what he's missing!

In the future I'd like to spend more time and see more islands. I may get a chance this winter to visit SoCal again. For us day visitors the Channel Islands are very enchanting. I wonder what they look like after a decade and a half...

I wasn't sure of the size of the critter, as I was focused on taking a macro picture of a bug. I saw a blur and was startled by the breeze. It was big enough to scare me a little, actually. Was I lucky enough to have an encounter with a fox?

LesSnyder, A neat installation, but:

I would be tempted to insulate one of the terminals on that battery.

A friend dropped a spanner and it bridged the terminals on a battery by him. Big bang and a large spanner was melted into two with droplets of molten metal everywhere.

This seems an appropriate place to ask those of you with better electrical knowlege than I; what's the best type of battery for a 12 volt system? I'm interested in low-no maintanence (ie no water to add), deep cycle and high amp hours per dollar. Don't need a brand so much as difference between SLAB, aqueous gel, etc.

I meant amorphous gel

Ian... good call... I removed the (+) protective cover for the picture, and did not make comment of the need to have one

"earthquake season"

Guess what?

A news media organization (I can't give their name, but their initials are C.B.S.) and an international relief services organization based in Washington DC that has a logo that looks like this + will be coming to visit me at home for an interview Friday for a piece they are doing on hurricane preparedness.

I'll give you guys the takeaway I plan to give them at the end of the interview (shhh...)

Buy extra toilet paper now, and stay off the damn roof, no matter how much you want to clear the stuff that fell on your house.




Yes, that's me, in an ambulance, with head trauma from being knocked out by a swinging 4" branch and hip damage from the resultant fall onto the only large rock in my front garden. I fell off my roof while trying to get to the holes a giant fallen tree had made there, mostly because I wanted it to stop raining in my house.

"They" say a picture is worth a thousand words.

I go with SLA / Gel - simple, generally works when you need it.

using solar water heaters can save you money but there are some units that you can readily buy if you don't become successful with making one.