Cade's Corner: Don't Forget About Power

We are living in a world where you can push a button and your car will parallel park itself. There’s an app for nearly everything, from tracking your flight information to identifying where your friends and family members are within a couple feet.

Ask yourself: Could you go an hour – much less a day – without your cell phone or laptop?

Yes, technology is incredible and getting better every day. It has made our lives safer, easier and in many ways better. The one common element in all of these electronic wonders is they all need power to work, and that source is often a battery.

But what if all of these batteries failed? Could you make it through life without these items? Could you even make it home? I don’t want to go down the EMP (electromagnetic pulse) road in this article. I just want you to imagine a day without battery-operated equipment.

OK, now let’s take it to the next level and discuss life if our electric power grid fails. No lights, heat, A/C, water or gas for vehicles. Places of work, schools and government all shut down. If you think we have recently been dealing with civil unrest in patches of the country, imagine this on a national level. This is our worst case scenario!

Some of you reading this might say, “This could never happen in America.” Well, ask anyone who lived through Super Storm Sandy in a major modern metropolis.

On October 29th, 2012, Hurricane Sandy, which would later be known as Super Storm Sandy, made landfall in the United States at about 8 p.m. EST. About 8.5 million people in 15 states were without electricity. Airlines canceled more than 15,000 flights around the world. Most gas stations in New York City and New Jersey were closed because of power shortages and depleted fuel supplies. Long lines formed at gas stations that were expected to open. And when it was all over, the death toll from Sandy by Nov. 1 was at least 149.

Don’t Forget About Power

Food – YES. Water – YES. Both are vitally important in your survival planning. But don’t forget about power in your preparation. I personally experienced a prolonged power outage several years ago at my mountain cabin in the thick of winter. I had propane for heat, but no electricity to deliver it via the furnace fan. I had a water well, but no power to deliver it via the water pump.

Now, none of this was a show stopper. I have a pot belly stove for heat and a river for a water source. It was, however, an eye opener that forced me to realize that I not only had a few gaps in my survival plan. It was the motivating event that made me create a fully Off the Grid (OTG) property.

You don’t have to build an OTG property to make sure you will be prepared if/when you find yourself in a Super Storm Sandy situation. In addition to my recommendation of at least 10 days of food and water, it’s time to figure out how you can live unassisted for 10 days without power. My strong recommendation is to add the Patriot Power Generator 1800 and the Patriot Power Cell to your arsenal.

Take steps NOW before it’s too late.

Be a survivor, not a statistic,

Cade Courtley
Former Navy SEAL / 4Patriots Contributor