RE Not ready for the camelback

There are 2 main reasons I went with the camelback - the first is it's cheaper than bottled water - and I already carry "Too much stuff", so a full camelback is no big deal, and free. The second is memories of the summer 2002 (or was it 2003?) blackout here in NYC. I got lucky - I was on the subway, but my train was in the station - Times Square in fact. Now, I live in about as far north eastern Queens as you can get - from Times Square, it's a 12 mile+ walk. Not one to sit around (even if I am massivley overweight), I set out for home. About 2-4 miles int the walk, in Queensboro Plaza, I stopped for a bottle of water, and a lifesaver (yes, I carry a 20 Oz bottle EVERY day). LOTS of folks wanted to know where I got the water. About 1/2 mile further (31st and Northern), I got to refill my water bottle, as a NICE company had opened their building front hose bibs. Then I got luck again, as I was walking away, I met my neighbors from my old hose, and they told me that they had called, and were about to get a lift, if we could get to 31st and Broadway.

My theory on this is - if we black out, there is a REAL good chance I've got a 14 mile hump in front of me, with the temps about 100 degs (I know quite a few folks who did that). That camelback will come in REAL handy

We had a small power surge here about 5:00pm - came close to losing it - I can tell - HVAC kicked out, computers all rebooted, and lost lights for a couple of seconds

The BAD news, I HAD four 12volt 7Ah gel Cells - turns out the power strip they were on failed, and they have discharged till dead - grumble. Means I have to lug the 90Ah if I get called out - which I would do anyway