Making it through a power outage for 1-hour is very different than 1-week. The knowledge and skills remain the same, but planning and preparation are different. I’ve been in outages caused by ice-storms, hurricanes, thunderstorms, and car accidents. All had the same effect — a power loss I needed to deal with, so I’ve tried a lot of things that worked and a lot of things that didn’t.
Whether you’re here for short-term or long-term planning, here are the things that have worked for me.
The most prominent lesson I’ve learned: “Fail to plan — plan to fail”
I have spent hundreds of hours researching and testing gear. I’ve spent far too much money on crap. These items are battle-tested and can be recommended without any equivocation.
Keep in mind these items are not necessarily all the highest-end items. My goal on this page is to recommend gear that is priced really well while still maintaining a high-quality standard. The stuff I use fit into these major categories:
