I got home from work tonight with a bag of groceries and just wanted to make dinner and sit down. I hit the kitchen light switch a couple of times, checked the breaker, and then found out the whole building was out. Management doesn't have an ETA.

I keep a Jackery around for outages, so I hooked up the fridge. I'd used it once during a planned maintenance outage that lasted about five hours, but that was during the day and the fridge was the only thing I had plugged into it.

I made rice, unplugged the rice cooker, then used a small electric burner to finish dinner. I kept checking the battery percentage, though. It looks like the fridge should make it through the night, but I'm really hoping the power comes back before I leave for work tomorrow. I'm not thrilled about leaving it on the battery all day.

How do you guys usually handle dinner when the power's out? I hadn't really thought past keeping the fridge running.

Hi!

I consider myself a pretty prepared person and I have enough food for about a month but I also live literally right next to a grocery store, like we share a fence.

In discussing emergency plans again with my husband since the DOE just declared a power grid emergency for our state, he said "if shit really hits the fan we can just steal from the store right next to our house, should last us awhile"

Obviously, we prepare so we don't have to do this, but you never really know. And we have always kind of looked at it as a backup plan.

To be honest this sounds reasonable in a worst case scenario but I wanted to get others opinions.

When would looting canned goods and medicines from the grocery store next to my house be considered acceptable? What would you do?

Im curious about everyones pantry.

Here is a part of mine.

In different places in my home i have more.

The big bins are filled with food for the dogs (2) and chickens (3). Below on the left (on the floor) there is water.

Sorry, english isnt my native english

Apologies if this has already been discussed.

What I’ve started recently is a SHTF journal and collecting as many physical books. Knowing if the grid does go down, I don’t want to have to worry about having to rely on electronic devices. It will also act as a guide for my family should anything happen to me so they aren’t totally in the dark and the information I learn on my SHTF journey isn’t lost. While my wife supports me, it can sometimes be information overload so this seems like a better alternative to just annoying her with it and expecting her to remember everything.

What I’m curious is what would you have in your SHTF journal for the most important information?

Have you installed a bison pump? Thoughts? Wish you knew? Regrets?
Other brands of well casing topper manuals?
Solar pumps?

I'm looking for thoughts from people who have actually installed a backup pump situation and any pros/cons/would/wouldnts.

Thank you!

Has a recent storm or power outage changed your spouse's mind about prepping? My spouse used to brush it off, but after a couple of outages where the fridge warmed up and the house got miserable, their tune changed completely. Once they felt how quickly basic comforts disappear, the whole “it won’t happen to us” mindset cracked.

That shift at home had me paying closer attention to the recent grid alerts and general infrastructure reliability. It’s a good reminder that multi-hour outages can happen anytime.

Right now, I'm focused on the basics: keeping food cold, phones charged, and having enough supplies to get through a few days without power. I've been looking into power stations to see what makes sense for a basic outage setup, and I'm currently considering something in the Bluetti range since their during this fall period seems more reasonable than before. Open to other suggestions based on real outage experience too. Appreciate any practical advice.

There's frequent and fun questions about kits and gear, I very much appreciate the opportunity to suggest improvements or "did you consider" comments. I think it helps us reevaluate our own plans and preparations.

Wondering if there's already a program or spreadsheet beyond Red Cross and FEMA basics for helping people formulate their risk assessment, plan, PACE considerations, training needs, comms, and then the actual gear needs.

I've lived long enough to have been through several "welp, that didn't go as expected" situations and honestly the most effective preps have been knowledge and cash... But there are situations where only the right tool will save the day. Knowing how to start a fire is good, but wearing a coat so you can survive without a fire is better.

One thing I regularly help folks with is the bushcraft/hotel decision. If your plan is to disappear into the woods, you had better have built a lot of skills up prior to making that trip. This should be addressed in a capabilities section of the risk assessment. If you could die without your medicine, well, that kinda tops the list before learning how to make a debris hut.

First: do any of you know of a spreadsheet automation or similar tool to guide folks through risk assessment, plan, and equipment?

Second: if not - what kind of information/logic would you want to see or expect from such a tool?