The Lost Skills of Independence by Claude Davis: Book Review

I’ve been reading Claude Davis since The Lost Ways came out, and that book is still the one I hand people when they ask me where to start prepping. Then came The Lost Ways 2, and after that a whole run of good books he put his name to next to co-authors. So when word got around this spring that he had another one coming, and that this time it was all him, cover to cover, I cleared a spot on the shelf before I even knew what was in it.

When I received The Lost Skills of Independence, I opened the box at the kitchen table, which turned out to be a good idea. My son had the book out of my hands within a minute. My daughter took it off him about ten minutes after that and started reading the skill cards out loud around the house. By the time dinner was over, the two of them were negotiating with each other about which projects we were doing that weekend, and I want to be clear about how strange that is. I have a shelf of survival books in this house. My kids have never asked me about a single one of them.

So we did two of them that Saturday. The blue barrel root cellar (page 28) took us the whole morning and half a pot of coffee, and the DIY plastic bottle home heater (page 34) took the afternoon, and both of them turned out pretty impressive. My son still walks out to check the fridge every couple of days like he’s inspecting something he patented.

Stay with me on this one, because it’s the book you’ve been waiting for since you’ve became a prepper. Trust me on this one! 

The Lost Skills of Independence Went to #1 Almost Right Away

The early-bird version of the book came out in August 2026, and it wasn’t long before it was carrying the #1 Best Seller badge on Amazon.

It’s a spiral-bound hardcover, 262 pages, and the people who got early copies have it sitting at a 5.0. A couple of the retailers stocking it are already showing backorder, which tells you plenty about how fast the first run went out the door.

Davis has had bestsellers before with The Lost Book of Remedies and The Lost Super Foods, so this isn’t new ground for him. Even so, I’ve watched his releases for years now and this one climbed quicker than any of them.

What’s Actually Inside the Book

The cover is what gets you first. It’s a proper hardcover, spiral-bound so it lies flat and stays open while your hands are busy, printed on thick paper that doesn’t curl or tear when your fingers are wet and your hands are dirty. 

Every single skill has full-color, step-by-step illustrations, and from everything I’ve heard those were drawn by human illustrators rather than run through an AI generator. You can tell just by looking at them, since they’ve got that hand-inked, old-school catalog quality that machines still can’t manage to fake.

There’s no ordinary table of contents either, which I liked more than I expected to. The front of the book gives you 200 illustrated skill cards, each with its page number next to it, so you spot the little drawing of the thing you’re after and go straight to the page. My daughter figured that out before I did.

Each skill page lists the materials, the tools and the ingredients up front, then walks you through the steps with a drawing for each one. So you know exactly what you need before you start, instead of getting halfway in and discovering you’re short a fitting and it’s Sunday.

Below you can see the chapters of the books and what they cover.

Self-Sufficient Home Projects

This chapter walks you through 20 practical home projects worth a closer look. I built the EMP shield trash can in a single afternoon, and it came together without a hitch.

There’s also a fridge that keeps food cold without electricity, plus a solar heater you put together out of plastic bottles. I did that last one with my son, and it turned out to be a fun way to finally use up all those bottles we’d been stashing in the garage.

Fundamental Survival Skills

This chapter showed me how to turn saltwater into drinking water, purify it with nothing but a plastic bag, and pull dew off the grass with a t-shirt. It also walks you through getting out of a car that’s gone into water or caught fire, even when the doors won’t open. That part took me only a minute to get through, but I’ll remember it forever.

Lost Kitchen Secrets

This chapter made me feel like I’d opened my grandma’s cooking book. That’s how I found out you can bake bread inside wide-mouth jars and it keeps for five years, and I tried it, soft in the middle just like the page said.

It also showed me I’ve been cleaning my cast iron wrong for years. On top of that, there’s curing meat, canning, and keeping a pantry stocked without a fridge.

Lost Healing Remedies

Reading this chapter, I found out that there’s a weed growing along my driveway that works as a mild painkiller. You break the stem, put the sap under your tongue, and wait a minute. You can also find other interesting remedies with the most common U.S. plants. 

Independent Living Skills

The chapter goes from sweeping your house for hidden microphones and cameras to getting out of zip ties, which is a strange jump until you read it. Then it drops back down to the ordinary stuff, like fixing a sink or a split hose. On top of that, a handful of home projects I haven’t seen anywhere else.

Self-Sustaining Garden

That’s how I found out that my fence has been useless for eleven years. I’ve learned that I can use it to grow a hidden garden that can hold 150 pounds of food on it. I also stopped throwing away eggshells and wood ash after reading what you can do with them.

Dark Psychology

I didn’t expect this chapter in a survival book. Still, I’ve read it three times. When someone insults you, the first five seconds of your answer decide how they’ll treat you from then on. There’s also the CIA method for getting the truth out of someone, without asking them a single question.

My Family’s Favorite Skills in the Book

I’ve got a well and I’ve got storage, so I figured the water section wouldn’t teach me much. Then I hit the saltwater page. I’ve been reading about that method in scattered fragments for twenty years, but nobody ever laid it out properly, step by step, with the materials listed out front. So I’m trying it this fall, and if you’re anywhere near the coast you’ll want that page more than you think.

My wife went straight for the gardening and remedy chapters. She made the honey-fermented garlic the first week, and there’s a permanent jar of it in the pantry now. But the one that actually won her over was the stop-bleeding powder (pg.174), since she’d just spent an afternoon dealing with a cow that tore her flank open on the wire fence. And with the kids running around barefoot half the summer, it gets used on scraped knees more than anything else.  

My wife in the process of making the stop-bleeding powder

My son claimed the Self-Sufficient Home Projects chapter as his personal territory. We built the off-grid refrigerator (pg. 24) first, since that’s the page he put his finger on, and it turned into a genuinely good weekend instead of a chore. The illustrations are the reason. He could follow them himself without me reading instructions over his shoulder, so he was building and I was just helping him when he needed an extra hand.

From there we did the plastic bottle heater (pg. 34), and the pallet food fence is marked for spring. He’s the one bringing up what we make next now, which is worth more to me than any single skill in the book.

Here’s how our projects turned out:

The water bottle heater (picture 1) and the off-grid fridge (picture 2) build by my son and I

My daughter’s still in primary school, so the drawings got her before the words did. She flipped to the Amish bread in a jar and hasn’t let it go, so we’re baking it Saturday. It’s simple enough with adult supervision.

What I Didn’t Like About It

The spiral binding bothered me at first. It looks cheaper than a sewn hardcover, and it refuses to line up neatly on the shelf next to my other Davis books.

But I’ve come around on it, since it lies dead flat and stays open while your hands are busy, which is exactly what you need when you’re following steps with wet hands. And it means you can tear a page out clean, so you can make copies or throw a few skills in your bag when it’s time to bug out.

Why It’s Worth Getting This Book as a Prepper

I’ve got six or seven survival books on the shelf, and after the first read I could have written most of them myself. Water storage, rotate your cans, three ways to start a fire. Fine when you’re starting out, but I’ve been doing this eleven years and I don’t need the beginner’s chapter again in a new cover.

So they sit there, and the only thing I’ve genuinely learned in the last few years came off forums and from an old neighbor who cures his own bacon. 

Meanwhile, The Lost Skills of Independence is made out of 200 illustrated cards instead of a table of contents, so you flip until you see the drawing of what you’re after and that card tells you the page. Each skill is a page or two, materials and tools listed at the top, so you know what you’re short on before you commit to anything.

Here’s why you should get your copy ASAP:

• If the grid stays down past a week, your freezer becomes a liability. This is where you learn pemmican at 3,500 calories a pound, bacon that holds five years, and the Forever Sausage that kept German pioneers alive on the Oregon Trail.
• If your stored water runs out, you’re down to whatever FEMA gives you. But you can filter your water using a ceramic pot, or make a multifunctional hand pump. The 3-barrel water harvesting system it’s something you’d want to try next spring.
• If an EMP hits, you’d still have a working car, a Faraday cage in the garage, and the trash can project that keeps your electronics safe.
• If someone in your house gets hurt and there are no pharmacies available, you’ll want the Amish painkiller and the antibacterial pine tree tincture. Plus a dozen more recipes you’d want to save for later.
• If the power bill keeps climbing, the off-grid fridge, the plastic bottle heater, and the trick for cooling a house without electricity start paying you back the first summer.
• If things get bad and you’re stuck with other people, one person always takes the blame for the group. This chapter shows you how that person gets chosen, so it won’t be you.

Don’t Buy This Book If….

… you’re content letting the grid, the supermarket and the pharmacy handle everything for you, because none of it will interest you and the money’s better spent elsewhere. Don’t buy it if you’re planning to ride out your retirement in a rented box in the city, with somebody else’s hands on your heat and your water. And don’t buy it if you want it for the shelf, since it only pays off once you’ve actually built something out of it.

But if you’re the kind of American who works for what he has, who’d rather fix a thing than replace it, and who wants his kids to know how any of this gets done, then The Lost Skills of Independence by Claude Davis is your book. Those are the values it came out of, and they’re the ones it hands down.

Where to Get the Lost Skills of Independence

I’ll be straight with you about my hesitation. I already own most of Claude Davis’ books, so I assumed this one would be a repackaging of things I’d read before, and I nearly let it go by. I ordered it on the strength of the sample illustrations instead, and it’s now the one book out of the whole collection I’d grab first if I had to walk out the door in a hurry.

Right now you can get the early-bird offer running at 76% off, which is the lowest it’s been since launch, and three bonus guides come bundled with it: Wild Edibles and Medicinal Herbs You Can Forage for or Find Around Your House, How to Become Self-Sufficient on a 1/4 Acre of Land, and The Patriot’s Bug-In Guide.

There’s a keep-the-book guarantee on top of that as well. You get 60 days to put it to work, and if you’re not satisfied they refund the price and you keep the physical copy anyway. 

Not sure yet? Then watch a preview video of the Lost Skills of Independence and see for yourself:

They’ve told me that copies are already going on backorder at some of the other retailers, so I wouldn’t sit too long on the early-bird price. Get your copy now and step into the next level of your prepping game.

Eleven years into prepping and I’ve bought plenty of books that taught me nothing. This one’s different, and the proof is that it’s still on my kitchen table with three people in the house using it.

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The post The Lost Skills of Independence by Claude Davis: Book Review appeared first on Ask a Prepper.

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Easy Chicken Noodle Soup Mix in a Jar

This jarred chicken noodle soup mix is part of my series on making meals to eat later. They make great gifts for new mothers and for the holidays, and you can take a pot of soup to someone who is sick at the last minute. When my grandkids call me to say they have a cold, they always ask me what they need to get through it.

My first response is always chicken noodle soup. The second choice is green tea, with honey and lemon. And don’t forget Vicks VapoRub. I also love my one essential oil called “Breathe.” I can’t get low on that crucial oil, or I go into panic mode.

Chicken Noodle Soup Mix in a Jar is the Perfect Gift

You can gift one of these jars to a neighbor who is under the weather, or make a pot of soup for your own family at the last minute by just adding water to the jar’s ingredients and then cooking it. Who doesn’t love a hot pot of soup, right? I like to drop these soups off as surprise gifts, or give them to someone when they are sick.

Ingredients for Making The Soup Mix

• Dried Parsley: Parsley has a delicious, slightly bitter taste that complements other flavors well. Used to enhance the different flavors of the soup.
• Garlic Powder: A spice that is created from dehydrated garlic and also used to enhance the other flavors of the soup.
• Sweet Dried Basil: Sweet dried basil has a distinct flavor and is a milder version of regular dried basil. It has less of a licorice flavor.
• Chicken Bouillon: Made with a variety of seasonings, including salt, chicken stock, dehydrated vegetables, and fat.
• Bay Leaf: A very aromatic leaf that, when infused with a liquid, gives off a subtle minty flavor.
• Dehydrated Carrots: Dehydrated carrots are nearly as healthy as fresh carrots. When properly dried, carrots retain most of their minerals and vitamins.
• Dehydrated Celery: Dehydrated celery is crisp, light, and delicious. When properly dried, celery retains most of the flavor, minerals, and vitamins of a fresh celery stalk.
• Dried/Minced Onions: When dried, onions develop a richer flavor than fresh onions. Perfect for soups! Adds a kick of sweet onion flavor!
• Wide Egg Noodles: The eggs in these pasta noodles help create a thick, hearty noodle when cooked.

Filling The Jars

Grab a wide-mouth quart (32-ounce) mason jar and layer the dried vegetables in the order listed. Start with the onions, carrots, celery, and then the noodles. Place the sweet basil, garlic powder, one bay leaf, and the bouillon in a small bag. Seal the bag; it will go on top of the dry soup mix ingredients. Place a lid on the jar and seal it with a FoodSaver or DicoRain

You’ll need a Funnel to fill the jars with the dry ingredients; trust me. As mentioned, the seasoning bag will go on top of the pasta. These are so fun to make, my friends! These would make great gifts to take to someone who is sick or having surgery; the list is endless. The recipient will be so excited to make this delicious soup! Seasoning Bags I used. I bought the 3.5” x 5.5” size bags. You may want some Twine or ribbon for the gift tags.

Chicken Noodle Soup Mix in a Jar

I think my favorite part about this whole soup-in-a-jar mix is that it’s ready to go. When you’re hungry, you can get one of these out. You can spend a day preparing a batch of jars for future use and then retrieve one when needed. Additionally, it’s a blessing to someone else when you give them this Chicken Noodle Soup Mix in a Jar.

What the Soup Looks Like

When it comes to chicken soup, I think it’s one of the yummiest recipes you can make. The recipe itself can vary significantly, but this is my favorite. If a family member asks you to make them Chicken Soup, you get out this recipe and make it for them. They will be so thankful they know someone who can make a delicious soup. Suggested Dehydrated Vegetables

Step One: Place Dry Ingredients in a Soup Pot

When ready to cook, place the dry ingredients in a large stockpot.

Step Two: Add Water and Seasonings

Add the 7 cups of water and the entire contents of the soup mix seasonings onto the dry ingredients.

Step Three: Add the Bouillon Cubes

I threw the bouillon cubes in, but they quickly floated to the bottom. After the soup comes to a boil, simmer for 20-30 minutes, or until the vegetables and pasta are cooked to perfection. Stir to make sure the soup is well mixed, particularly the bouillon cubes.

Finished Product

Remove bay leaves. Add the 2 cups of cooked chicken to the heated soup mixture and stir until heated through, then season with salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy.

Easy Chicken Noodle Soup Mix in a Jar

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Easy Chicken Noodle Soup Mix in a Jar Recipe

What can I serve with this soup?

• Homemade Biscuit Recipe
• 2-Ingredient Biscuit Recipe
• Dinner Rolls
• Homemade Cracker Recipe

What size jars can I use?

You can use quart mason jars (32-ounce size) or any jars equal in size. I have a ton of canning jars, so these were my first choice.

Should I use a FoodSaver to seal the jars?

I used my FoodSaver to remove the air from the jars so I can store them in my pantry.

Do I need Oxygen Absorbers in the jars?

You can use oxygen absorbers, but I don’t. I only want these jars to be used for relatively short-term storage.

Can I store my soup in bags instead of jars?

Yes, you can, but the edges of the pasta may tear through the bags. I’m sure some people use Mylar bags, but I prefer not to; it’s a personal preference. I have jars, so I opt to use them.

What is the shelf life of these soup mixes?

You may remember that Mark and I took classes to get our Master Canning and Preserving Certificates. We have been canning as a family for over 55 years, but I wanted to learn the latest safety tips.

According to our class, if you process food at home, it will remain safe for one year. From experience, I know we used my homemade grape juice when it was two years old, but I’m just sharing the facts. Everyone has their impression of shelf life; I get it. Please do what you feel good about.

Are there Gluten-Free Noodles?

Yes, a reader mentioned that she uses a particular brand, but it is no longer available. Yay, for another option for our GF friends! Gluten-Free Pasta

Could I use rice, quinoa, or lentils in this recipe instead of noodles?

I love what the wide egg noodles provide in this recipe! If you’re interested in rice, quinoa, or lentils, you’ll need to be mindful of how to cook them compared with egg noodles.

Could I replace the dehydrated vegetables with dried vegetable flakes or powders?

I highly recommend using the dehydrated vegetables in this chicken noodle soup mix-in-a-jar recipe! We use larger pieces of vegetables in this recipe, similar to those found in traditional chicken noodle soup. If you were to use carrot flakes, celery flakes, or onion powder, you would have the flavor, but a thinner soup. It all depends on the results that you’re aiming for!

Could I add additional dehydrated vegetables?

I love the dehydrated vegetables that are in this recipe as is! Adding more dehydrated vegetables would make the flavor different from a traditional chicken noodle soup. If you’re interested in adding more dehydrated vegetables to this chicken noodle-in-a-jar recipe, I recommend adding any of the following: red or green bell peppers, potatoes, peas, tomatoes, or any other vegetables of your choice.

If you like this Chicken Noodle Soup Mix in a Jar recipe, check out my Soup Mix in a Jar Series!

• Friendship Soup Mix In A Jar
• 3 Bean Chili Soup Mix In A Jar
• Pasta Fagioli Soup Mix in a Jar

Final Word

I hope you enjoy this Chicken Noodle Soup Mix in a Jar recipe and the rest of my Soup Mix in a Jar series. I feel a strong urge to teach others to cook from scratch and make the process as easy as possible. Families are busy, and I get it. Let’s teach them to cook with the ingredients from their pantries at home. If we stock up, we’re prepared for the unexpected.

Plus, what a great example for the kids and grandkids: breakfast, lunch, and dinner don’t have to come from a fast-food drive-through. If you have a favorite easy-to-fix soup, I’d love to hear about it. Stay safe and stock up. May God bless this world, Linda

The post Easy Chicken Noodle Soup Mix in a Jar appeared first on Food Storage Moms.

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5 Secret Items Preppers Don’t Talk About

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

Ask anyone the kinds of things that preppers stockpile and you'll hear the same things every time: food, water, flashlights, batteries, first aid kits, etc. These things are the foundation of any serious prepper plan, and for good reason. They're things that will keep you alive when the power goes out or the store shelves empty.

But there's another category of gear that a lot of experienced preppers rarely bring up in conversation. These are things that don't make it into the typical beginner checklists, not because they're useless, but because they sit in a legal gray area or carry a reputation that makes people nervous. In the right scenario, they'll become extremely important.

The catch is that many of these tools are restricted, heavily regulated, or outright banned, depending on where you live. That doesn't mean you're out of luck. For every one of them, there are legal alternatives that get you most of the way there without actually breaking the law.

This particular list comes from the YouTube channel, A Small Town Prepper. You can see their video and list below.

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1. Crowd Control Weapons: Pepper Spray, Mace, and CS Gas

Pepper spray, mace, and CS gas devices are the unsung heroes of self defense. They're fast, effective, and built to deter rather than kill. That makes them great for home defense when you don't want to escalate to lethal force. If you're facing a group or an aggressive intruder, a compact deterrent that deploys in seconds can bring a bad situation under control quickly.

The complication is legality. In some countries, states, and cities, owning these devices, especially the high-powered versions, is illegal or tightly restricted. Before you stock any of them, check what your area allows.

If you can't get the real thing, there are workarounds. Wasp spray is legal in most places and has surprising range, which makes it a reasonable stand-in. You can also make a homemade pepper gel using hot peppers and an oil base, strictly for defense. For a hands-off option, motion-activated deterrent systems can cover entry points and warn you before a threat gets close.

2. Body Armor and Ballistic Plates

Nobody is suggesting you're walking into a war zone, but in a genuine breakdown of order, stray gunfire becomes a real possibility, and protection from it could save your life. Body armor and ballistic plates guard against random fire, looters, and raids, and they're especially important in dense urban areas where a firefight could break out with no warning.

The appeal of body armor is that it protects you even if you never fire a shot yourself. It is purely defensive. The downside is that some regions restrict or even criminalize civilian ownership, so legality is a genuine barrier for a lot of people.

The alternatives are more improvised, but they help. A tightly packed stack of books or a layer of ceramic tiles can absorb a surprising amount of energy as a DIY insert. You can also reinforce a room you plan to shelter in using sandbags, steel doors, and ballistic blankets. The point is not to prepare for combat. It is to have a layer of protection ready for the moment danger shows up unexpectedly.

3. High-Powered Slingshots and Crossbows

High-powered slingshots and crossbows change the equation in a world without easy access to ammunition. They are silent, reusable, and effective at short to mid range, which makes them a smart choice for stealth hunting and quiet defense. Because they do not burn through cartridges, they hold up well over the long haul when resupply is not an option.

Legality varies a lot here. In many rural areas these are perfectly fine to own, but urban centers often regulate them heavily or ban them outright.

If the high-powered versions are off the table, you still have options. A compact survival bow is lightweight and just as capable in trained hands. A wrist rocket loaded with ball bearings uses the same principle as a slingshot in an even smaller, more discreet package that most people wouldn't immediately read as a weapon.

And primitive tools like throwing spikes or an atlatl or worth learning. Plus, you can craft them from materials found in the field. The real advantage of all of these is stealth. Defending yourself or taking game without announcing your presence can make a serious difference in a survival scenario.

4. Lockpicks, Bypass Tools, and Entry Gear

At first glance, lockpicks and bypass tools look like something out of a burglar's bag. For a prepper, they're actually about access. Picture the grid down and the keys to your storage shed lost, or an abandoned cabin that could shelter you from a storm sitting behind a locked door. In those moments, the ability to open a lock without destroying it is genuinely valuable.

The problem is that in many places, simply carrying these tools can look suspicious, and in some areas possession is illegal. Know your local laws before you add them to a kit.

There are lower-profile alternatives. Manual pry tools take more effort but get you through most doors. Shims and credit-card-style bypass methods handle certain lock types with almost nothing in your pocket. A lock bump kit is another route, designed to knock the pins into place so a lock opens, though the legality of those kits also varies by region.

Access to resources can be the deciding factor in a survival situation, so having a way in matters, as long as you stay mindful of the law.

5. Concealed Gear

Last on the list is concealed gear: hidden knives, credit card tools, belt buckle blades, and similar low-profile items. The appeal is discretion. You can carry them every day without advertising that you are prepared for anything, and they work as a genuine last-ditch option when everything else has failed. They also handle everyday survival tasks like cutting, prying, and getting yourself free of a bad spot.

As with everything else here, the legal picture is mixed. Plenty of places restrict concealed weapons, even when they are part of a survival kit, so check the rules where you live before you carry anything.

If concealed blades are a problem in your area, safer substitutes still cover the practical need. A keychain multi-tool is useful, portable, and legal almost everywhere. A paracord bracelet with a hidden blade gives you a real tool that reads as an accessory. Flashlights and pens with built-in tools are practical, non-threatening, and go virtually anywhere without a second glance.

The best tool is the one you actually have on you when you need it, and concealed gear makes that easy.

Final Thoughts

The gear on this list ranges from crowd control devices and body armor to silent weapons, entry tools, and concealed everyday carry. Each one has a place in a survival plan, and each one comes with legal strings attached that differ from one region to the next. The common thread is that the most effective tools aren't always the flashiest. Oftentimes, they're the ones people avoid discussing in the open.

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The post 5 Secret Items Preppers Don’t Talk About appeared first on Urban Survival Site.

from Urban Survival Site

Nutritional Yeast: Benefits, Uses, & How to Store It for Long-Term Pantry Prep

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The post Nutritional Yeast: Benefits, Uses, & How to Store It for Long-Term Pantry Prep appeared first on The Survival Mom.

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Power Outage Survival: What to Do in the First 24 Hours

Power Outage Survival: What to Do in the First 24 Hours! There’s nothing quite like the moment the lights flicker, hum, and then go dark. Whether it’s a summer storm, a winter ice event, or an overloaded grid on a hot afternoon, power outages can occur with little warning. The good news is that the first 24 hours are the most important window you have, and if you know what to do, you can keep your family safe, your food protected, and your stress level much lower than it would be otherwise.

Power Outage Survival: What to Do in the First 24 Hours

The First Few Minutes

As soon as you realize the power is out, take a deep breath. Panicking won’t bring the lights back on any faster, but a calm and clear head will help you make good decisions. Grab a flashlight or headlamp rather than lighting candles right away. Candles are a fire hazard, especially with kids or pets in the house, and a good flashlight gives you plenty of light without the risk.

Check whether the outage is just your home or the whole neighborhood. Look outside to see if your neighbors have lights on. If they do, it may be a tripped breaker or a blown fuse, something you may be able to fix yourself in minutes. If the whole street or town is dark, you’re likely looking at a utility outage, and it’s worth calling your power company or checking their outage map online if you have cell service.

Take a moment to unplug or turn off major appliances and sensitive electronics, such as computers, televisions, and window air conditioning units. When power is restored, it sometimes comes back with a surge, and this simple step can protect your equipment from damage. Leave one lamp switched on so you know the instant power returns.

Protecting Your Refrigerator and Freezer

This is one of the biggest concerns in the first 24 hours, and it’s one people often get wrong. Keep the refrigerator and freezer doors closed as much as possible. A full freezer will hold its temperature for about 48 hours if left unopened, while a half-full freezer will last about 24 hours. A refrigerator will generally keep food safely cold for about 4 hours if the door stays shut.

If you know a severe storm is coming, freeze water in containers ahead of time and place them in your fridge and freezer. These act like ice blocks and buy you extra hours. If the outage continues, a cooler with ice can help you keep your most important refrigerated items, like milk, eggs, and medications, safe.

It helps to know which foods are the most forgiving and which ones you need to watch closely. Hard cheeses, butter, and condiments like mustard and ketchup can typically handle several hours without refrigeration. Milk, soft cheeses, eggs, leftovers, and anything with mayonnaise are more delicate and should be the first things you eat, move to a cooler with ice, or plan to toss if the outage lasts too long. A good rule of thumb passed down for generations still holds true today. When in doubt, throw it out. It’s always better to lose a bit of food than to risk a foodborne illness.

If you have a food thermometer on hand, use it once power is restored. Refrigerated food is safe as long as it stayed at 40 degrees or below, and frozen food that still has ice crystals or feels like it’s at 40 degrees or below can safely be refrozen.

Keeping Everyone Warm or Cool

Depending on the season, temperature control quickly becomes a real concern. In cold weather, close off rooms you’re not using, dress in layers, and use extra blankets. Gather the family into one smaller room to share body heat, and keep everyone away from drafty windows and doors. Never use a generator, camp stove, or charcoal grill indoors, including in garages, even with the door open, since carbon monoxide poisoning is a serious risk.

In hot weather, keep blinds and curtains closed to block the sun, drink plenty of water, and, if you have a battery-powered fan, use it. Wearing light, loose clothing and keeping a damp cloth on the back of your neck can also help your body regulate its temperature. If the heat becomes dangerous and lasts for many hours, it may be worth heading to a cooling center, a relative’s home, or anywhere with working air conditioning, especially if you have young children, older family members, or anyone with a health condition at home.

Communication and Safety

Turn on a battery-powered or hand-crank radio to stay informed about the outage and any weather warnings. Keep your phone in low-power mode and avoid unnecessary use so you have it available for a longer period in an emergency. Consider keeping a small battery pack or power bank charged and ready at all times, since it can give you several phone charges without needing to plug in.

If you have a car, don’t leave it running in a closed garage while charging, as this poses a carbon monoxide risk. If you do need to charge a device in your car, pull it out into the open with the garage door up, or better yet, park it in the driveway.

Let a family member or a trusted neighbor outside the affected area know your situation, especially if you have young children, older family members, or anyone with medical needs at home. If someone in your household relies on medical equipment that requires power, such as an oxygen concentrator or refrigerated medication, have a backup plan in place well before an outage happens, whether that’s a generator, a battery backup system, or a location you can travel to.

Keeping Kids and Pets Calm

An outage can be an adventure for kids, or it can be frightening, and a lot of that depends on how the adults around them respond. Keep your voice calm and steady, and if it’s safe to do so, let older kids help by holding flashlights or checking on the pets. Board games, cards, and simple storytelling by flashlight can turn a stressful evening into a memory the family looks back on fondly.

Pets pick up on stress just as easily as children do. Keep them on a regular schedule as much as possible, make sure they have access to water, and keep leashes and carriers nearby in case you need to evacuate on short notice.

What to Have Ready Before It Happens

The best time to prepare for a power outage is before one ever happens. A simple kit can make all the difference and should include a flashlight or headlamp for each family member, extra batteries, a battery-powered or hand-crank radio, a battery pack for charging phones, a manual can opener, and a supply of non-perishable food and water. Add a first-aid kit, any necessary medications, cash in small denominations since card readers may not work, and a paper list of important phone numbers in case your phone dies.

It’s also worth doing a walkthrough of your home to identify what runs on electricity that you rely on every day. Garage doors, well pumps, sump pumps, and security systems often rely on power more than people realize, and knowing this ahead of time lets you plan a backup for each unit. Keep this kit somewhere easy to grab in the dark, because that’s exactly when you’ll need it.

The First 24 Hours in Review

The first 24 hours of a power outage are all about keeping calm, protecting your food, staying safe with heating and cooling, and having a way to get information. With a little bit of planning ahead of time, you can turn a stressful situation into one that your family handles with confidence, whether it lasts an hour or stretches into the next day.

Generator Safety and Regulations During a Power Outage

When the power goes out, a generator can feel like the answer to almost every problem, keeping the lights on, the refrigerator running, and the furnace or air conditioner working. But generators come with real risks and real rules, and understanding both before you ever need to use one can protect your family, your neighbors, and even the utility workers trying to restore power to your area.

Please note that I’m not an electrician or an attorney, and local codes vary widely from one city or county to the next. Always check with your local fire department, building department, or a licensed electrician for the specific rules in your area.

Where Generators Should Never Be Used

This is the single most important safety rule, and it can’t be repeated enough. A generator should never be run inside a home, garage, basement, crawl space, or any partially enclosed area, even with the doors and windows open or fans running. Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless gas, and opening a door or running a fan won’t clear it out fast enough to prevent poisoning. Every year, people die from generator-related carbon monoxide poisoning, and the majority of those deaths happen during storm outages when families are trying to stay warm or keep food cold.

A generator should be placed at least 20 feet away from your home, with the exhaust pointed away from windows, doors, and vents. Even at that distance, wind patterns can carry fumes back toward the house, which is why a working carbon monoxide detector on every level of your home is essential, not optional.

The Backfeeding Rule

One of the biggest legal and safety issues with generators involves something called backfeeding. This happens when a portable generator is plugged directly into a wall outlet to power the whole house. When this is done, electricity can flow backward through the home’s wiring and out onto the utility lines. This can seriously injure or kill utility workers who are out repairing lines, believing them to be dead, and it can also damage your home’s electrical system.

If you want your generator to power your home’s circuits rather than just a few devices plugged directly into it, you need a transfer switch or an interlock device installed by a licensed electrician. Many cities and counties require a permit and inspection for this kind of installation, especially for larger standby generators that are permanently wired into a home. This is one of the few generator rules that are genuinely legal requirements rather than just safety recommendations, so it’s worth taking seriously.

Fuel Storage Rules

Gasoline and propane used to fuel a generator need to be stored properly, and this is another area where local fire codes often apply. Fuel should be kept in approved safety containers and stored outside the home’s living areas, ideally in a locked shed or other protected structure, away from any source of ignition. Many local fire departments set limits on how much fuel a homeowner can legally store, so it’s worth a quick call to ask.

Never refuel a generator while it’s running or still hot. Spilled fuel on hot engine parts can ignite instantly, so always allow the unit to cool completely before adding more fuel.

Weather and Electrical Safety

Generators and water don’t mix. A generator should always be operated on a dry surface, ideally under an open, canopy-like structure that allows airflow but keeps rain off the unit. Touching a generator or anything connected to it with wet hands can cause a serious electric shock, so dry hands and a dry ground are both important.

Only heavy-duty, outdoor-rated extension cords should be used to connect appliances to a generator, and cords should be checked for cracks or damage before each use.

Load Limits

Generators are designed for emergency standby power, not for running an entire home the way utility power does. It helps to know in advance what your generator can handle. Add up the wattage of the appliances and devices you plan to run, and compare that number to what your generator actually produces, keeping in mind that some appliances draw significantly more power when they first start up than they do once running. Overloading a generator can cause it to fail or overheat, so it’s often necessary to stagger which appliances are running at any given time.

Should You Get a Permit

If you’re considering a permanently installed standby generator rather than a portable one, most areas require a permit before installation and an inspection once the work is complete. This typically applies to the electrical connection, the fuel line if it runs on natural gas or propane, and sometimes the placement of the unit itself relative to windows and property lines. A licensed electrician or generator installer will usually know exactly what your local jurisdiction requires and can handle the permitting process for you.

The Bottom Line

A generator can be a wonderful tool during a power outage, but it’s not something to figure out on the fly in the middle of a storm. Take the time now to understand the safety rules, check with your local fire department about any fuel storage or permit requirements, and if you’re installing a standby unit, hire a licensed electrician to do it right. A little bit of preparation now means your generator will be a source of comfort during an emergency rather than a source of danger.

Final Word:

Power outages often show up at the most inconvenient times, but they don’t have to catch you off guard. A little preparation now means a lot less worry later, and it means you can be the calm, steady presence your family needs when the lights go out. May God bless this world. Linda

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