Trailer for emergencies- what's your plan?

[Kai in Seattle]

Hi, Carol H--So, well, good points, all.

[Bobbie Mayer]

Originally Posted by larryf

Emergency water at home should not be a problem for most people if they have a hot water heater, that's your 40-50 gallon emergency water supply.

If it is still intact after an earthquake.

[Captleemo]

I have six, 5 gallon cans that I keep full of gas year round. I store the gas for 6 months and use Brother P-Touch labels on the cans so I know when 6 months is up and then I use it it my truck and refill the cans with fresh gas with Stabil added. I have a generator that I can use for my house or trailer and I keep it full of gas too. The water heater as a source of water is a great idea and I have two 50 gallon rain barrels that would come in handy also. Where I live is in the hurricane zone so being able to hook up the trailer and leave is a plus. I understand that any state park in Texas will let you stay free if you are fleeing a hurricane. I also bought one of those little wood burning camping stoves in case I ran out of propane. I guess the plan is to be prepared to bail out and not need to instead of not being prepared and needing to bail out. I look forward to see many more ideas on this subject.

[larryf]

Originally Posted by Bobbie Mayer

If it is still intact after an earthquake.

Many building codes in earthquake areas require they be secured to a wall to keep them from tipping.

[Bobbie Mayer]

Mine is secured, and new construction so probably okay. But it wouldn't take a lot for a pipe to break and drain a water heater.

[Kai in Seattle]

1. 2-liter soda pop bottles, if filled only to the shoulders, are strong enough to take freezing and thawing many times. FEMA suggests tap water (with chlorine added already) will be safe for up to a year, but dn't go past that. Empty, rinse well, and refill -- 6 months is better. If you remove the cap, let fresh air enter, then recap and SHAKE the bottle hard, it aerates the water which is how water comes out of our taps--aerated, so it tastes much better. THAT makes a huge difference in how it smells and tastes.


Water heater IS another good source of water.


2. Pulling together extra medications can be done even if you only refill once a month. In a year you can squirrel away nearly two weeks' worth by merely moving your refill time ahead one day a month (or so). ROTATE your saved pills so you keep only the newest ones in your emergency kit. don't let them "time out." Most meds are good for at least six months.


3. Ponchos and space blankets--much needed and can be folded up very small. Our trailer would work to keep us dry if the house roof caved in. The question would be if we would survive the house roof caving in. Who knows? But dry is better than wet unless it's hot out. Exgra socks and a pair of waterproof boots. Hat and gloves. Sunglasses.


4. Food. There are good meals available in camping supplies. Cost up to $10 for a bag, but if you find a good place to buy them, just buy one per shopping trip. Also: top ramen, cooked: 1 packet to 1/2 cup liquid from a can of vegetables, heated to nearly boiling, with a can of beef with gravy added and a can of vegetables makes a pretty good substitute for those camping meals. Packets of instant oatmeal (again, just add water)--dry powdered milk. Canned chili and plain canned beans (protein)--canned chicken & tuna. Canned vegetables. Try to store things you eat anyway. Weird food isn't all that comforting, though ANY food is comforting when you're hungry enough. Canned food has this advantage--it contains extra water. Though it sometimes contains a lot of salt and maybe sugar, too. Both are slightly dehydrating. six of one, half dozen of the other.


5. Don't forget books, puzzles, games. Those solar lanterns look super and would be vital if you wanted to read when it's dark outside.
those little triangular LED battery lights from Harbor Freight with the red light and blinking light capacity are good for signaling you need help. The batteries last a surprisingly long time. We keep one hooked to every lamp in the house in case the power shuts out suddenly. they cost about $3.99 on sale--and they seem to be on sale every other month. Ke have several in Peanut already and there they'll stay.


6. The big Q I see on these suggestions is this: do you stock up the trailer, or make portable get-away packs? Maybe we will keep our grab and go packs in the trailer--but we've been keeping them in the car in winter, including bottles of water (partly empty in case of freezing) and enough dog food for several days. We will not leave our dogs.


7. On a lighter note (all this talk of disaster is not light, nor should it be)--I discovered that Paul was going out to the car when he had a break at work and eating the emergency pop tarts, peanut butter, and raisins. Nice we could supply him a little extra snack...but...! 8) The man needed bigger lunches!


8. CASH. don't forget to stash some cash.


9. A P-38 can opener can be attached easily with a split ring to any zipper, like on your emergency bag. Any Army surplus store should have a container full of 'em for less than a dollar each. Buy several and hand them out to friends. Practice a few times so using one comes more easily to you. Learning new "technical" tricks under duress can be stressful.


Rotate, rotate, rotate! We had some emergency kits (food, water, bandages, etc.)_ our son gave us and this spring we went through them. OMG, they were 15 years out of date, parts were seeping and gummed together--even the "instant water" packs were bad. (You know what I mean--you buy the packs, and under emergency conditions, reconstitute by just adding water.) 8) . No--the water packs, all three of them, a total of 9 ounces of water, were probably still good. But totally inadequate. We learned that emergency kits aren't a one-time thing. Build them, pack them, and check them every year. I have no idea why we thought those would last "forever." They won't. They can't. And the pre-made kits--one was filled with nothing but large gauze pads, a now-rusted medical scissors, and some rolls of de-laminated sticky tape. Yeah, that'd be really helpful. all the pads had been ruined by seeping packets of food and the tape gum.


You know, by the time we get all our supplies gathered, we have a mound so big we also need an emergency camel--or elephant--to haul it.


Better keep our car well-gassed up and ready to go!


Now I want to start filling Peanut up again...having a safety hoard ready is comforting. And it'd make Peanut nicer if we ever use it for a guest room...our guests will be able to rummage up something they like.




Paul is asking--have I told 'em everything I know, and won't I miss having any thoughts in my head--sorry about the length. This is just such a good topic!

[Dave Fish]

We have both the MH and the Campster. I consider both of them potential escape pods. Each has beading and other supplies year round and water except in the winter.

Like a previous post, I will most likely deploy for emergency communications in a major event once I am sure that the family, including pets, are taken care of. I plan to equip both units as mobile ham shacks as well as having needed survival gear and supplies in each.

Although I am near Bobbie, I am high enough and positioned where I am not concerned about the tsunami but there are other risks such as fire, land slides, trees, etc.

[Borrego Dave]

Originally Posted by Bobbie Mayer

Mine is secured, and new construction so probably okay. But it wouldn't take a lot for a pipe to break and drain a water heater.

The inlet & outlet points are on the top of the tank.

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by steve dunham

It gets 30 below here in the winter so the notion of storing water and food in my trailer would only work about 6 months of the year.
A fiberglass trailer makes a great emergency shelter during the summer or in warmer climates but in wintertime in our area it is not the answer.

Which is why I do not store anything but dry packaged foods in the trailer and keep the emergency water supply by the back door in the house - that way I can take to the trailer or add some of it to the Emergency back pack kit that is stored with it in case we have to leave on foot.

[Roy in TO]

Originally Posted by Kai in Seattle

8. CASH. don't forget to stash some cash.

A very good point. When the power is out you can't buy anything electronically.

When I was in school working at a grocery store, there was a major power outage in the mall. (transformer blew) The manager grabbed a bunch of battery operated calculators. Those who had cash got their groceries.
All the prices were estimated & agreed upon by both staff and customer. The customers got some good deals for the inconvenience. Those without cash had to leave their groceries.

It was a long weekend so I picked up a load of extra hours putting stock back on shelves or into trucks. They brought in a stream of empty reefer trucks. Shelved perishables went into buggies then into the trailers on one loading bay. They had to bring in buggies from other stores. Skid stock in the big coolers and freezers went onto trailers in a second bay.

[Gilda]

It looks like our precautions and preparedness depend largely on our likely disasters. Like others from California who have responded, we prepare ourselves for the inevitable BIG ONE (a 9.2 earthquake and accompanying tsunami are predicted). Californians are frequently reminded to be ready to stay in place for 72 hours without the assistance of professional "first responders". Many private citizens are trained by our fire departments as CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) members so we can assist those who live and work near us in the first 72 hours.

We keep basic supplies in the trunks of our cars. We keep food and supplies at home, outdoors, in case our house becomes inhabitable. We keep all our camping supplies such as tent, stove, food, water, makeshift toilet at home. (We rotate the food when we go on camping trips.) Even if we did have our trailer at home (it is stored 1 hour away) we probably would not be able to drive it anywhere as many roads would be both severely damaged and clogged.

Because we have remodeled our 1950's home to comply with earthquake safety and the fact that our home is built on bedrock, we hope that our home will survive. Of course, if we are away from home all bets are off. If, by chance, we are traveling with our Scamp we should be well-supplied.

As a side note, our Scamp has survived the 2014 earthquake in Napa with nary a scratch! "At 6.0 on the moment magnitude scale and with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe) the event was the largest in the San Francisco Bay Area since the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. It was located to the south of Napa and to the northwest of American Canyon on the West Napa Fault."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvIQ1ZJxUEo

[Ice-breaker]

We don't live in a high seismicity zone so likelihood of an earthquake is very low. We don't live within 1000km of an ocean so chances of being impacted by a hurricane, typhoon, or a tsunami are also negligible. We don't have forests within close vicinity of our home so we are probably safe from forest fires. Our home is on relatively high ground, not close to any rivers or other water bodies, so we are probably safe from most flood scenarios. So I guess my biggest concerns are due to zombies, plague, terrorists, and acts of war.

Since I like to be prepared, I keep the propane tanks in the trailer full, plenty of clothes, bedding, and dried food and bottled beverages. I do have to make sure that at a minimum of once per month, I replace all of the bottled beer in my trailer with fresh ones (making sure that nothing is wasted of course).

[steve dunham]

Originally Posted by Ice-breaker

We don't live in a high seismicity zone so likelihood of an earthquake is very low. We don't live within 1000km of an ocean so chances of being impacted by a hurricane, typhoon, or a tsunami are also negligible. We don't have forests within close vicinity of our home so we are probably safe from forest fires. Our home is on relatively high ground, not close to any rivers or other water bodies, so we are probably safe from most flood scenarios. So I guess my biggest concerns are due to zombies, plague, terrorists, and acts of war.

Since I like to be prepared, I keep the propane tanks in the trailer full, plenty of clothes, bedding, and dried food and bottled beverages. I do have to make sure that at a minimum of once per month, I replace all of the bottled beer in my trailer with fresh ones (making sure that nothing is wasted of course).

Living close to the Canadian border we have to be constantly vigilante .
We have stocked up with the necessary provisions that we will need when the invasion happens. . My only hope is that the Canadians bring their great beer and lots of Walleyes along with them.

[honda03842]

We're a little 'Mormon like', we have 6 months of longterm food supply and a super million gallon water filter. Our park has a generator for it's well and a generator for it's sewer plant. Generally we're in pretty good shape if we're in FL.

Sent from my SM-N920T using Fiberglass RV mobile app

[Ice-breaker]

Originally Posted by steve dunham

Living close to the Canadian border we have to be constantly vigilante .
We have stocked up with the necessary provisions that we will need when the invasion happens. . My only hope is that the Canadians bring their great beer and lots of Walleyes along with them.

We can also bring the poutine!

[steelypip]

We have to avoid mouse attractants in the trailer - we're in the woods on acreage and have lots of the little vermin looking to move in to a provisioned, carpeted hole in Casablanca. That said, we do keep some protein bars, tea and coffee in tins and have 5+ gallons of potable water in the fresh tank any time it's above freezing.

I've considered a tank heater to keep everything happy when it's not above freezing, but that's pretty complicated and, of course, power outages are the most common problem we face, so any such tank heater would have to include some efficient non-plug-in backup system that I have not yet invented.

I've always presumed that we could keep using the sanitary plumbing in the house if we were camping in the Casita - have to keep the black and gray tanks dry when below freezing...

[Jon in AZ]

For us the trailer is not needed as a "shelter in place" retreat- our house is already set up to work for up to a week or so without water and indefinitely without power (or as long as we can stand not having internet ).

As an escape pod, I think I may look into a "evacuation kit" with non-perishable food and first aid supplies. I don't want to keep it in the trailer because of the extremes of temperature, but it would be nice to have it all in one place ready to go.

I appreciate the reminder about cash- I'm bad about never having any around.

I need to make a checklist of things to toss in at the last minute… like the evacuation kit, water, important papers… oh, and don't forget the trailer battery, which is always disconnected and charging inside.

Great discussion!

[Kai in Seattle]

"I do have to make sure that at a minimum of once per month, I replace all of the bottled beer in my trailer with fresh ones (making sure that nothing is wasted of course)."





Of COURSE! Gotta be reasonable aboot it!


LOL
BEST
Kai

[R Evans]

Howdy, This has been a very important discussion. On water storage during freezing weather. I worked a couple of wildfires providing communications for the USFS fire camp. I watched as every firefighter stopped for two one-liter bottles of water as they left for the fire. The bottles were distributed from a refrigerated trailer and each was frozen. This provided ice cold drinking water during their efforts and also a small amount of cooling in their backpacks. I have frozen bottled water in nearly every popular size. I have also frozen 2-liter softdrink bottles very successfully. Just don't overfill. I keep the empty space in the upright freezer loaded with frozen water bottles. This allows use of the 2-liter ice in chest refrigerators for camping instead of ice, keeps the freezer operating more efficiently with a constant load, and will be a thermal ice mass to keep freezer contents cold when the power goes out.

Thanks for all your comments, great ideas, and planning. You have thought things out very well, thanks for sharing.

Richard

[Kai in Seattle]

Hi, Richard,


We fill our 2-liter pop bottles "to the shoulder" with water. Thanks for your post!


Great idea to keep them in the freezer pretty much all the time in case of power outages. So true--too late to make ice after a power outage!


Easy to do, easy to maintain.


So many good and inspiring ideas from everyone!