Are you prepared to last through a temporary disruption of electricity, water, food or fuel? Crazy weather in the future could cause the power to fail for a short or uncertain amount of time. Water could become tainted and come under a boil alert. This just happened in Detroit when a water system failed and a large area was put under a boil alert because air got into the water.
The federal government recommends everyone be prepared to last for 72 hours in an emergency such as flooding, tornado, severe storms, blizzards, a pandemic and there are scores more situations that could cause you problems. Want to see all the different things that you need to prepare for. Click Here
We recommend that you have the following products on hand to deal with power outages and other emergency situations. We have and use all these products on a regular basis and depend on them in emergencies. In fact, we recently lost power for several days after an ice storm and used these products to get through it.
The products below are Amazon affiliate links. They will take you directly to the product on Amazon. Following our links will not cost you any more but if you click on one of our links and buy that product, we will earn a small commission and that will pass a few pennies our way to help keep this website going. Our tried and true product recommendations are below.
Note: If you came here from The Outhouses of America Tour website, you can return to that website by clicking HERE.
Quick Links
- Amazon Prime
- Amazon Home Services
- Power and Lighting
- Communication
- Water Purification Products
- Cooking and Boiling Water
- JetBoil Fuel
- Loveable Loo Information
Amazon Prime
First of all, we recommend joining Amazon Prime. Not only will you get free 2-Day shipping on most products, there are many other benefits including unlimited photo storage in the cloud. You will never have to worry about your digital pictures being lost when a computer fails or phone is lost.
Try Amazon Prime 30-Day Free Trial
Top
Amazon Home Services
Do you need something done to your home, condo or apartment? Home care is all about being prepared. Amazon Home Services offers you over a thousand different services from quality, hand-picked pros and backed by Amazon’s Happiness Guarantee. Click on the banner below to find out more.
Top services available for Customers to purchase include:
*House Cleaning
*TV Wall Mounting
*Smart Home Device Installation
*Equipment and Furniture Assembly
*Plumbing and Electrical
*Handyman
*House Painting
Find out more by clicking the link below…
Next, we recommend cheap, dependable lighting by using products that utilize AA Eneloop Rechargeable batteries. Here are links to the lighting products, AA Eneloop batteries and the quick charger we use:
Top
Power and Lighting
We recommend you use Eneloop AA or AAA Rechargeable batteries. Buy at least 16 of each and use them in all your AA and AAA Battery devices. Try to buy radios and other gear that use AA or AAA batteries. It’s very easy to recharge AA or AAA batteries from your battery bank with the Maha PowerEx MH-C800S Eight Cell Smart Charger we have listed below.
Panasonic BK-3MCCA8BA eneloop AA New 2100 Cycle Ni-MH Pre-Charged Rechargeable Batteries, 8 Pack
Panasonic BK-4MCCA8BA eneloop AAA New 2100 Cycle Ni-MH Pre-Charged Rechargeable Batteries, 8 Pack
Maha PowerEx MH-C800S Eight Cell Smart Charger for AA/AAA Batteries
This charger is so good that I bought 2 of them. Remember this saying in preparedness:
2 is 1 and 1 is NONE
Lighting – Imagine this: You don’t have power and you need to walk around in your house. I own this great headlamp powered by 3 AAA batteries. This is also great for working on cars, especially when you are under the car or truck. This headlamp can be used as a Spot light, a Broad light and as a Red light for nighttime. You can lock it so it doesn’t turn on accidentally and after you turn it off, it shows you the amount of charge left by illuminating 1 to 3 small lights on the side. You can easily adjust the brightness of the light in all three modes. You can also get it to flash the Morse Code SOS.
Storacell by Powerpax A9 Multi-Pack Battery Caddy, Orange
If you bought the batteries above, buy some of these to store them in. No more batteries rolling around and they work great carrying batteries when you travel. They hold AA and AAA batteries. Like I said above, I own at least 5 of these great products.
Buy several of these plugs. You can plug them back to back at the end of an extension cord (way better than power strips) and carry some in your suitcase when traveling. They work great in hotel rooms!
Did you know that you have a $20,000 plus generator in your garage? Yes, you do. Using the cables below or a set of jumper cables, you can connect this inverter to your car battery and then run an extension cord into the house to power your refrigerator, freezer and a bunch of lights. Run the car for 10 minutes every half hour to keep the battery charged. You can also connect it to a deep cycle battery (or two in parallel) to power lights in the house. Batteries alone will not provide power for very long to a refrigerator or freezer so use it hooked to your car battery for that.
Power Cables for between Battery and Inverter
These are heavy duty and are designed to connect between deep cycle batteries and your inverter.
Lantern powered by D Cell Batteries
This lantern is powered by 3 D Cell batteries. It runs a LONG time on 3 D Cells. Buy a sleeve of 10 or 12 D Cells and you will have a nice light for when the power goes out due to a storm.
Communication
Tecsun PL-360 Digital PLL Portable AM/FM Shortwave Radio with DSP, Black
I own and depend on this AM/FM/Short Wave radio. It uses 3 of the AA Eneloop batteries and it runs a LONG time on them as well.
Water Purification Products
NOTE: Do NOT let any of these water filters freeze or they will not filter water safely any longer. When done using, take the filter and blow or shake out as much water as possible and then let the filter dry out. You can also store the smaller filters in a zip lock bag and then put that in your pocket or in your sleeping bag to keep it from freezing.
Fast Flow, 0.1 Micron EZ Clean Membrane for Endurance Sports, Camping and Backpacking, One Size, 8018006 Water Filter
This filter is very cheap but will save your bacon when you need water purified.
This is the water filter I used when I hiked the Appalachian Trail. It doesn’t have the same flow rate as the Katadyn Bee Free water filter but it can filter much more water.
Katadyn Pocket Water Microfilter
One of the best water filters around for hiking, camping and water emergencies. This water filter is built to last a lifetime.
Katadyn Vario Multi Flow Water Microfilter
This is my backup to the above water filter. It is a bit cheaper but filters just as good.
LifeStraw Personal Water Filter
I keep one of these in every vehicle I drive as well as in every backpack as a backup. You could actually suck water out of a mud puddle and clean water would enter your mouth. These are a must have item in case of an emergency.
The Berkey Water Filter is the best you can buy for home use. In fact, use it ALL the time; even with city water. It will get everything out and give you pure water.
Regular Size Berkey Gravity-Fed Water Filter
Big Berkey® Gravity-Fed Water Filter with 2 Black Berkey® Purification Elements. About this item
2.25 GALLON CAPACITY- The portable Big Berkey Purification System effortlessly purifies water for about 1-4 people each day. Add additional Black Berkey Purification Elements (the Big Berkey System can hold a maximum of four) to increase the flow rate. The system is just 19.25” tall and 8.5” in diameter.
POWERFUL PURIFICATION- Berkey systems equipped with Black Berkey Purification Elements purify water—not just filter it—by addressing over 200+ contaminants in tap water or raw, untreated freshwater sources like ponds, rivers and streams.
ECONOMICAL, LONG-LASTING- A pair of Black Berkey Purification Elements lasts for up to 6,000 gallons before needing replacement. Each additional pair of elements (sold separately) adds an additional 6,000 gallons of purification power to your system. Black Berkey Purification Elements average just 2 cents per gallon of purified water.
INDEPENDENT TESTING- Berkey by NMCL uses several independent third-party labs to test a broad range of potential contaminants and conducts Extreme Testing for lead and PFCs in order to show the effectiveness of our Black Berkey Purification Elements.
DRINK CONFIDENTLY VIRTUALLY ANYWHERE- No electricity, tools or plumbing required. Travel the world, prepare for emergencies, and take control of your family’s everyday drinking water with your Berkey gravity-fed water filtration system with Black Berkey purification elements. Enjoy delicious, nourishing water from the leader in gravity-fed water solutions.
Nalgene BPA Free Tritan Wide Mouth Water Bottle, 32 Oz, Gray with Black Lid
Carry one of these in every vehicle you own. This and a life straw or Katydyn water filter will provide you water in any emergency.
Cooking and Boiling Water
I have owned and used one of these for over 5 years. It is dependable and easy to use. I use it when camping, backpacking and hunting. One small butane container can fit inside or you can buy larger butane fuel containers that last a long time.
This is the smaller sized Jetboil and is sized for backpacking. It is lighter and a smaller sized pot just perfect if you want something small to carry in your backpack.
The Jetboil Stash 7.1 oz ultralight backpacking cooking system packs a stand alone stove with titanium burner and .8L FluxRing cookpot into one compact but feature rich and powerful package.
Jetboil’s iconic FluxRing technology ensures a rapid 2.5 minute boil time.
The nesting design maximizes precious pack space – stow the titanium burner, burner pouch and stabilizer neatly inside the .8L cookpot and seal it all up with the included lid for easy and compact transport.
Cookpot has convenient built in measuring markers and snap on lid with integrated pour/drink spout and storage for 100g *JetPower fuel canister and *mini-lighter (*not included), while the attached pour handle makes for easy handling.
Fuel stabilizer keeps everything stable and steady.
Measures 4.4 inches W x 5.1 inches H (112mm x 130mm); weighs 7.1 ounces (system weight excludes fuel stabilizer).
Includes: Titanium Burner, .8L FluxRing Cook Pot with Lid, Fuel Stabilizer, Instructions, 1 year limited warranty. (*JetPower fuel and lighter not included.)
Jetboil Fuel
I carry one of these inside my Jetboil but use the larger size below since price wise, the larger container is cheaper.
This is a larger size for use at home.
I buy a lot of these and store them for emergencies. I carry one with me when I go hunting because it lasts forever!
We recommend the Loveable Loo “Collection Device” for your Outhouse
More information can be found by looking at our Loveable Loo page.
Do you have a story using an outhouse or have a general comment?
“Dump” your answers to the official Outhouse Curator by using this form
