Can I add to this, your indoor clothing is important. Whilst we may be used to walking around all year in 'summer' clothes and (for some) fashion designs, it is very important to have comfortable indoor clothing that keeps you warm too, like Victorians in England did in their cold houses. Wool socks, warm slippers, a wool hat and fingerless cotton gloves, for example, and a warm 'house coat', like a towelling dressing gown or bathrobe, can make a huge difference. Put them on as you get up from bed, before you get cold.
Also your bed can be 'winterised'. Many mattresses are designed for ventilation, so put a second duvet or blanket UNDER' the bottom sheet, so you sleep between two duvets. And if the room is very cold, wear a hat (a 'night-cap') and socks.
And if you are not used to heavy physical exercise, be VERY CAREFUL taking on tasks like clearing snow or chopping wood in unusually cold conditions. Your blood thickens and your heart must work harder, and such unusual exertions can trigger heart attacks - America sufferers a spike in heart attacks in every cold spell, and clearing snow is one of the common features. All the worse if the ambulances are overwhelmed with calls, or emergency services cannot get to you.
I mention this as an optional addition - I have lived high in the Alps, and in Iceland, and have noted that in each the local workmen in winter will meet in a café for a coffee and brandy before starting their hard physical work of the day. It is true that alcohol thins the blood and perhaps protects them, in some small way, from the cold thickening of their blood. I am not offering medical advice here - perhaps a professional can comment more authoritatively. But it is a habit I have adopted.
Lastly, an easy way to see how vulnerable you are before you need to for real, is to turn off your electricity for a day, or a weekend, and see how you cope. Include the family. And imagine you can't get outside too. THAT should make you all think about what you need to do!
What an excellent piece! Concise and very actionable.
Things like this always make me think how valuable older people are in our communities. My mother and her generation can survive a week with no heat or lights and just canned or dried food like they don't even notice it. And they have all the emergency radio doodads, and medicine kits and things, already on hand. They are "braced," as one says, for emergencies. And heck, the way my mother grew up in the first place would seem like an emergency to most people under the age of fifty: no electricity, no freezer, wood burning furnace, only home-canned and preserved foods... and no, my mother wasn't born in the 18th century. :-) But she *will* be 92 in April, so she's seen a thing or two.
When the furnace failed two winters ago on our family farm, my husband and I happened to be there and were without heat for over a week, in sub-zero temps (-17 plus wind-chill). We did have space heaters, but they didn't do much in a drafty foursquare farmhouse out on the prairie. We kept to one room, bundled up, taped doors and windows, etc., etc. That was the week that I went through the house and realized that Mama and my aunt had every single thing on this list, and then some.
Anyway, I am rambling. But I think about this a LOT. Thanks again for your work on this!
Familiar with all of this, Sarah, but will be linking it tomorrow in the Prepping section of my site @https://nothingnewunderthesun2016.com/ for those who may not be.
Good breakdown. for a week's worth. But one should take a longer view as well.
Having lived most of my life on the margins in rural areas this is all second nature...even being raised in my grandparents very patrician home in the 50s the staples and the tools were there to gather around the hearth for a week of ice storm power outages and closed roads.
Always amazed me that people needed to do shelf emptying shopping at a hint of major snowfall in New England. Even on my tight SS budget I replace staples; canned beans, soup, quick pasta, rice every time I shop.
I would add an inexpensive table top butane burner or a camp stove WITH fuel. Being able to heat soup or a beverage is a huge psychological boost as well as more appatizing meals.
Perfect! An actionable antidote for the stress we’re all under. Thank you!
Thank you for this brief rundown. Is it shareable with folks who don’t use substack?
https://www.collapse2050.com/how-to-survive-one-week/
don't forget that your pets need food and water daily as well!
Can I add to this, your indoor clothing is important. Whilst we may be used to walking around all year in 'summer' clothes and (for some) fashion designs, it is very important to have comfortable indoor clothing that keeps you warm too, like Victorians in England did in their cold houses. Wool socks, warm slippers, a wool hat and fingerless cotton gloves, for example, and a warm 'house coat', like a towelling dressing gown or bathrobe, can make a huge difference. Put them on as you get up from bed, before you get cold.
Also your bed can be 'winterised'. Many mattresses are designed for ventilation, so put a second duvet or blanket UNDER' the bottom sheet, so you sleep between two duvets. And if the room is very cold, wear a hat (a 'night-cap') and socks.
And if you are not used to heavy physical exercise, be VERY CAREFUL taking on tasks like clearing snow or chopping wood in unusually cold conditions. Your blood thickens and your heart must work harder, and such unusual exertions can trigger heart attacks - America sufferers a spike in heart attacks in every cold spell, and clearing snow is one of the common features. All the worse if the ambulances are overwhelmed with calls, or emergency services cannot get to you.
I mention this as an optional addition - I have lived high in the Alps, and in Iceland, and have noted that in each the local workmen in winter will meet in a café for a coffee and brandy before starting their hard physical work of the day. It is true that alcohol thins the blood and perhaps protects them, in some small way, from the cold thickening of their blood. I am not offering medical advice here - perhaps a professional can comment more authoritatively. But it is a habit I have adopted.
Lastly, an easy way to see how vulnerable you are before you need to for real, is to turn off your electricity for a day, or a weekend, and see how you cope. Include the family. And imagine you can't get outside too. THAT should make you all think about what you need to do!
Good luck!
Oh yes! Superior advice about indoor clothing!
Thank you, Sarah, for this.
Thanks, I've just written a similar simple english article for people who are learning English. Will expand in class with some of your ideas.
What an excellent piece! Concise and very actionable.
Things like this always make me think how valuable older people are in our communities. My mother and her generation can survive a week with no heat or lights and just canned or dried food like they don't even notice it. And they have all the emergency radio doodads, and medicine kits and things, already on hand. They are "braced," as one says, for emergencies. And heck, the way my mother grew up in the first place would seem like an emergency to most people under the age of fifty: no electricity, no freezer, wood burning furnace, only home-canned and preserved foods... and no, my mother wasn't born in the 18th century. :-) But she *will* be 92 in April, so she's seen a thing or two.
When the furnace failed two winters ago on our family farm, my husband and I happened to be there and were without heat for over a week, in sub-zero temps (-17 plus wind-chill). We did have space heaters, but they didn't do much in a drafty foursquare farmhouse out on the prairie. We kept to one room, bundled up, taped doors and windows, etc., etc. That was the week that I went through the house and realized that Mama and my aunt had every single thing on this list, and then some.
Anyway, I am rambling. But I think about this a LOT. Thanks again for your work on this!
Familiar with all of this, Sarah, but will be linking it tomorrow in the Prepping section of my site @https://nothingnewunderthesun2016.com/ for those who may not be.
Good breakdown. for a week's worth. But one should take a longer view as well.
Having lived most of my life on the margins in rural areas this is all second nature...even being raised in my grandparents very patrician home in the 50s the staples and the tools were there to gather around the hearth for a week of ice storm power outages and closed roads.
Always amazed me that people needed to do shelf emptying shopping at a hint of major snowfall in New England. Even on my tight SS budget I replace staples; canned beans, soup, quick pasta, rice every time I shop.
I would add an inexpensive table top butane burner or a camp stove WITH fuel. Being able to heat soup or a beverage is a huge psychological boost as well as more appatizing meals.
Try to convince my spouse to stockpile pain relief medication 💊