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Erik Hogan's avatar

Perfect advice for being prepared! Now I'm going to check out Near Zero!

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Jan M. Flynn's avatar

Near Zero should be sending you baksheesh for being such an effective affiliate (I know that's not at ALL what motivated you to tell us about them) — and I am powerfully attracted to the idea of pre-packed emergency bundles. I could obsess forever about this stuff, but why do that when people far more experienced and savvy than I hav already done it?

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JULIA HUBBEL's avatar

Also, in all fairness to Scott, they don't pay us writers. He has some very influential folks talking about him elsewhere; he most assuredly doesn't need me. That allows me to write about what I like and what looks good.

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JULIA HUBBEL's avatar

Precisely. People who already know what should be in a kit are a lot smarter than I am. I still put all kinds of things in that I simply don't need. It's a really bad habit. Bottom line for me, Jan, is that if it's well done, works, and doesn't bust my budget I am in.

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Tim Ebl 🇨🇦's avatar

“Whether it’s extreme heat or extreme cold, like our Canuk friends up north are sharing with folks in the upper Midwest, to those of us in the Pacific Northwest who are watching our precious trees either fall from ice or burn from fire. “

We have wood heat as a backup for winter. When you start getting emergency alerts on your phone that the there might be rolling blackouts, the modern human is usually screwed. All their heat relies on electricity to run the furnace or baseboards.

We can sit in the dark beside our wood stove. The neighbours will show up so they don’t freeze to death.

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JULIA HUBBEL's avatar

I love this. So true. I also have an insert. The only electrical part is the blower, but it puts out major heat. When my HVAC system was down for three months that's how I stayed warm. Exactly.

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Paolo Peralta's avatar

Insightful ❤️

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JULIA HUBBEL's avatar

Many thanks, Paolo.

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Fraulein Zen's avatar

I am woefully unprepared for most of my travels. The exact opposite of my husband, who solo motorcycled from Georgia to the Arctic Circle and back, free camping most nights. Now the two of you would get along like peas and carrots!

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Tim Ebl 🇨🇦's avatar

I’ll have to check out Near Zero too.

I pack a lot lighter these days. Have you ever been that silly person who jammed a bunch of old school gear in a giant pack, and was too top heavy but figured it would be okay, and ended up slipping and sitting down in a 3 foot deep ice cold mountain creek with their smart phone in their back pocket?

I have, lost my pack and had to retrieve it downstream. My phone was broken and drowned, and I was soggy and cold that night.

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