Original Article
Regarding preparedness planning, I can’t emphasize enough to have spare parts for your essential systems! This is a very big deal folks. During times of disruption, we probably will not have the luxury of driving down to the hardware store, automotive store, ordering parts online, etc. to keep our systems running.
I recently received an email that read, “Today the power went out twice and I went to start the generators to keep the refrigerator and freezer working and I discovered that the fuel line to one of the generators had a split in it, and gas was going everywhere. Did not have a spare fuel line and had to go to the auto store to get some hose. If the auto store had not been open then I would have had to run everything on one generator rather than the two. Without spare parts you have something that is essentially junk if the parts store is not open or you cannot jerry-rig something up to make it work. Am glad to discover this split hose before it could not be fixed when I really needed it. Fixed it and both are working now.”
The key to this line of thinking is to figure out what are the ‘things’ that you should have spare parts for. Also, should go without saying, the more handy you are – the better able you will be to identify these things and to actually repair them when they break. If you are not very handy, then I do suggest that you begin to spend some time learning some of the basic handyman skills. How do you learn, you may ask? By giving it a try…
So, what are the things that you should have spare parts for? Well, I believe that you should first look at what you depend upon for immediate survival, followed by secondary survival, followed by comfort level, etc.
For example, If you depend upon electricity for your survival, then you better have a backup, and you better have the essential spare parts for that backup. As exemplified in the email comment above, having a length of the proper size fuel line would have been an ideal spare for the generator. Duct tape ‘might’ have worked in a pinch, for a little while anyway…
Another example is regarding your transportation, your vehicle… most vehicles today have one belt, called a serpentine belt, which goes around all the pulleys of various engine parts. If that belt breaks while out on the road, you will be ‘down’. I always keep a spare serpentine belt with my vehicles (and tools!).
Think of the things that if they break, you will be dead in the water. During my previous career, we would call these types of things ‘gating’ items. In other words, items that gate or block the progress of the next thing.
Even if you don’t know how to replace or repair these things, the fact is that if you know what the ‘things’ are, you may be able to determine the spare parts that you should have. If they need to be replaced later – you can probably find someone who knows how to replace it.
I love having spare parts on hand. It makes for peace of mind!
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Great article. This is something most of us forget until we need it.
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