Two friends recently suffered bereavements. Their hot water heaters died, on Sundays, as such things will. It was a few days before they could replace them. In the meantime, they were heating water on the stove or in the microwave.
I could sympathize. The water heater in my section of the apartment building I called home conked out on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
It was a co-op apartment. None of the members of the co-op board lived in my section, so it was ten days before they got around to getting us a new hot water heater. (Never live in a co-op.)
In the meantime, I was taking the little camp shower I’d bought for my annual summer glamping trip, down to the laundry room in the basement and filling it with hot water from the sink there.
A camp shower is, essentially, a heavy-duty plastic bag with a shower head. Many of them come with reflectors, with the idea that the sun will heat the water for you. (It will, but not enough. You will need to heat water on the stove, or in the microwave.) If your hot water heater conks out, or your water is turned off, or your shower becomes unusable for some other reason, a camp shower can be a very useful thing, even if you have no intention of ever going camping.
People talk about stocking up on emergency supplies. They usually mean bottled water and dried foods. I’ve never needed either, but I was glad I had that camp shower.
Camp lanterns are another great thing to have, even if you never camp. They are the best things to use during a power outage.
On the downside, they eat batteries. On the upside, they give off plenty of light. You can sit and read by a camp lantern. They will never set your rug or your curtains on fire, like candles. You can put one on a table and it won’t roll off. Flashlights don’t always do that.
Just make sure you have lots and lots of batteries.
A radio that runs on batteries, like you had in high school, is also useful. If there is a weather emergency, and the electricity goes off. You are going to want to keep up with the news. If the electricity stays off for several days, you will want it for entertainment, and for company.
Duck tape is good for repairing just about anything, from a leaking toilet tank to a broken window. It isn’t a permanent fix, but it will hold until you can get a repairman.
Chlorine bleach is noxious stuff. It gives off fumes. It wrecks clothes. But boy does it kill bacteria. If your sewer backs up. (Mine did that every winter for a while.) If you can’t wash the dishes for a few days. If someone picks up a MRSA virus. Bleach will solve a lot of problems.
Just a little bleach in a bucket of water, will kill the E Coli that are living on your bathroom floor, after the toilet overflowed.
Sleeping bags are another piece of camping gear it’s good to have, even if you never want to camp. They’re made to keep out the cold. If the furnace quits, you can wrap up in one until the furnace man comes.
Heavy duty trash bags can be used to keep things dry. Then they can be used to remove heavy duty trash.
On September 11, 2001, my gas tank was low. I planned on filling it that afternoon. Except the lines at the gas stations were epic, and some stations were charging as much as five dollars a gallon for gas.
I knew a guy, who prepared for that, by keeping three cans of gasoline with him. That was fine, until he moved in with a friend, and said friend discovered that he was storing those three cans behind the furnace in her basement.
Do I really have to tell you not to do this?
Keep the tank full, or maybe buy a hybrid. I hear they get good mileage.
Storm season is on its way. Climate change means heavy winds, pouring rains, tornadoes and category 4 hurricanes.
We all know what we need to do to reduce our carbon footprints.
In the meantime, be prepared for weather emergencies. Because they are going to happen.