Prepping In Secret.com

Recently we experienced a power outage, it gave me a chance to trial my systems and gear and made me consider a few things that you don’t think about until you’re “in the moment”. Here’s what I learned.

1. Backup lighting is the first thing you need. You need some easy access downstairs and upstairs. We have USB C – chargeable reading lights in two rooms downstairs. These are magnetically wall mounted. Brilliant for the “secret prepper” as they are a very convenient and aesthetically pleasing addition to the house which don’t require any wiring or DIY to install so are an easy addition to the home. Upstairs, I keep two USB-C recharageble camping lantern in my bed-side cabinet. I was upstairs at the time of the outage and knew exactly where to look, this system worked brilliantly.
   
2. Call 105 to report the outage and more importantly get information. This is obviously a UK based tip, but calling your local electrical board would also work. We were given a reason for the fault (Damaged cable), number of homes affected (300) and an estimated restoration of services time. All this information was very useful and could put you a step ahead of others who don’t think to call.
   
3. Have a mental checklist of your first actions in a power down-scenario. As much as you may think of what you may do in a power-down situation, it was interesting to live it in perhaps a way that a planned drill would not simulate.
   
   My first actions was to get lighting in place, assemble the power banks and head torches in one place before checking mobile connectivity (I checked a news website to get an early indication if this was a major national rather than local issue). I then called 105 whilst having walk down the street to assess the local situation. It was interesting to note the atmosphere, the lack of ambient light from people’s homes almost magnified the quiet.
   
   Once inside, I filled a number of water bottles, kettle and flask with tap water which served to check the function of the water supply and also provide an immediately accessible backup should fresh water fail. This would get you through until first light when further assessments could be made.
   
   I do wonder if I should have considered anything else. The power cut was on a warm spring evening as so no preparations for inclement weather were necessary. I made sure not to open the fridge or freezer so as to compromise the contents – opening a freezer significantly raises the temperature and hasten the thawing of food.
   
4. Head torches are my second choice of lighting. Looking up and down the street it was easily half an hour before I saw any other lights coming from people’s homes – interestingly all head torches which I find to be less practical in a domestic situation. Their strong beams cast shadows and really only benefit the wearer. Whilst they are inarguably useful for a go anywhere, hands free approach, I much prefer lanterns for most situations. Luckily you don’t have to choose and can prep both.
   
5. Think about where you will hang camping lanterns. A camping lantern placed on a table is one thing, hung up high is quite another. We hung one from a light fitting and I kept forgetting that there was a power cut it was that effective! However, it was not ideal and a bit of forethought could have come up with better solutions, even if it was a subtle nail knocked into the top of door frames from which you could hang the lantern off with a bit of paracord – definitely food for thought here. These wouldn’t be noticeable on a day to day basis but would be really useful in a power cut.
   
6. Multiple cheaper power banks are much more useful than a single large solar generator or similar. Again, having both is optimal, but for short term situations phones, tablets and comms are the priorities (unless of course you have mains powered medical equipment!). Our power-down situation lasted only a few hours and being able to sit upstairs with charging phones was very useful. What I did realise though is that my cable storage needs to improve. The power banks were exactly where they needed to be but the correct range of cables had been variously used and distributed through the house and vehicles. This needs to improve.
   
7. Check the output of your power banks. During this situation, I realised my smaller power banks cannot charge my laptop or iPad. Anker have just released a 165W unit with built in cables so this may be an addition to the collection in the near future!
   
8. Consider your devices to be “empty” when at 50% charge. It’s common practice to consider a fuel tank at half full to be “empty” and refuel so as always to have at least half a tank. When the power cut struck, my phone was at 7% battery, I had notice it was at 15% at least an hour before and had done nothing about it. From now on I will put devices on charge when they hit 50%. This gives you extra time should without having to find or mess with portable chargers.
   
9. In a long-term grid down scenario Op-Sec would be more difficult than you might imagine. Living this scenario for real was an interesting experiment – it was clear which neighbours had a degree of preparedness and which did not. Should a power outage become a multi-day affair, I became acutely aware that keeping the fact that you have lights (and therefore power and therefore other supplies!) secret almost impossible without proper blackout blinds. Light leaks out from behind curtains very easily. Most modern houses have UPVC windows as so clip-in total blackout blinds are an attractive and practical solution that can be used in conjunction with curtains. This will be something I will be investigating – it will help with temperature control, blackout conditions are beneficial for sleep and for a cinema-like experience when watching TV. There are good reasons for the secret prepper to invest which will also improve OPSEC come a multi-day grid down scenario.
   
10. Cheap backups for neighbours. In the UK, residential areas are relatively compact with most houses within a few metres of each other. Within a few hours of the power cut, I talked to several neighbours who were lighting candles and were hoping for the power to come back on so they could charge phones. This was interesting to note – I would have liked to have had additional backups to be able to help these people. This would have been a responsible and “nice” thing to do and selfishly, it would reduce the chance of unexpected knocks and drains on your actual preps. Imagine this conversation: “I can’t believe I let my phone run flat” – “Oh don’t worry I’ve got a second battery pack in the car if you like, you’re welcome to use it until the power is back on, I’ve got another one in the house I use for the kids’ tablet but it should charge a couple of phones but once that’s dead you’re out of luck I’m afriad!”. Helpful, clear and definitive.
    
11. Gas is unlikely to go down. Gas networks are of course separate to electricity and the entire gas network going down at the same time is extremely unlikely. Built in Piezo electric lighters on cookers will not work however. Having a camping kettle and lighter to hand would be extremely useful for heating water for hot drinks and MREs etc.
    
12. If you have smart lighting (I use Philips Hue) – trip the lighting circuits on your consumer unit. This sounds odd one but when power was restored, in the middle of the night, all the lights came on 100% and would not turn off until internet connectivity had been restored. This led to a comical and inconvenient amount of swearing and crashing around the house in the middle of the night! If I’d have had the foresight to trip the lighting circuits, when the power came on in the middle of the night, I’d have been none the wiser and could have calmly clicked them back on in the morning.
    
13. Use surge protectors on sensitive equipment. I work from home and use some extremely sensitive and specialist equipment in my business. When power is restored, it can offfer flicker before coming back on properly. Previously a power cut blew an internal fuse in one of my pieces of equipment and caused significant down time as I waiting for spare to arrive. I now carry spare fuses for all these sensitive pieces of equipment but more importantly, they are all surge protected – a measure which has been proven now to protect these devices.
    

There may be further reflections as time goes on and I will be sure to note them in this blog but I was happy with the experience and learning arising from the outage. Let me know your tips below!