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PedroAsani |
1. RE: Blackout Practice?
Jun 13 2012, 1:05 PM EDT
I regularly try and find my way around the place at night with no lights. When I was living in France the shutters made it pitch black, and it was a challenge at first, but regular practice meant I could find my way around after a few weeks.
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BamaChris |
2. RE: Blackout Practice?
Jun 13 2012, 2:14 PM EDT
One of the drawbacks of living in the boonies is that storms often knock out power. So far in 2012 we have lost power 4 or 5 times.We practice life in the dark often. Do you find this valuable? |
Zombot |
3. RE: Blackout Practice?
Jun 13 2012, 4:36 PM EDT
I've actually been doing that for years. Color me paranoid, but I figure you never know when bad things will happen, and so I've always tried to get around the house with little to no light. Also, I can get ready for work, including shaving, showering, etc, with no light, because my wife doesn't sleep so well, and I'd hate to wake her up. I definitely think it's a great thing to practice, the sooner the better. It not only gets you used to your immediate surroundings, but you rely less on sight and more on the feel of things, which can be extremely useful. Do you find this valuable? |
TreeLegs |
4. RE: Blackout Practice?
Jun 14 2012, 12:13 AM EDT
One thing people sometimes forget, is that it takes around 30min for your eyes to adjust to very low/no light conditions, but can lose it in a split second once regular/bright light hits them. The older you are, the longer it takes for them to re-adjust. What you can do to help your survivability, is to cover your dominant eye and use the other to navigate. This lets you have one eye always ready just in case you catch a flash to the face. It will take time to get used to and the situation will determine if this is even possible, but movement should be uber restricted during darkness as much as possible. Highly recommended that you start training your ears, nose and touch because they will be your best friends in such a situation. Do you find this valuable? |
IamSlowRide |
5. RE: Blackout Practice?
Jun 14 2012, 2:08 AM EDT
| Post edited: Jun 14 2012, 6:13 AM EDT
Not that all of this isn't good practice and it makes sense but I keep a Mini Krill light next to the bed along with my EDC Klarus and I have chem lights in various places throughout the house, EDC pack has them, kitchen drawer and 2 boxes in the garage with my bug out gear...that being said I can navigate my home in the dark with little or no light but isn't that why we prep, so we have these things on hand in an emergency?
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11ACRBlackhorse |
6. RE: Blackout Practice?
Jun 14 2012, 3:46 AM EDT
"One of the drawbacks of living in the boonies is that storms often knock out power. So far in 2012 we have lost power 4 or 5 times.^THIS^ I feel your pain, especially the stubbed toes. lol We get lots of blackout practice. Mother Nature is one unforgiving task master. Do you find this valuable? |
shadowmancer |
7. RE: Blackout Practice?
Jun 14 2012, 6:49 AM EDT
| Post edited: Jun 14 2012, 6:54 AM EDT
The wild lol I think I am more comfortable in the woods than anywhere else. It can get dark as ink even in daylight some places. I should have been a bear :P I wish I could just live in the woods but it isn't practical ........ yet.The boonies are too overcrowded for me ARC ;) Do you find this valuable? |
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11ACRBlackhorse |
8. RE: Blackout Practice?
Jun 14 2012, 5:25 PM EDT
"Ya at times I really miss my nearest neighbors being miles away lol 1 out of 1 found this valuable. Do you? |
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Zombot |
9. RE: Blackout Practice?
Jun 14 2012, 6:43 PM EDT
"Not that all of this isn't good practice and it makes sense but I keep a Mini Krill light next to the bed along with my EDC Klarus and I have chem lights in various places throughout the house, EDC pack has them, kitchen drawer and 2 boxes in the garage with my bug out gear...that being said I can navigate my home in the dark with little or no light but isn't that why we prep, so we have these things on hand in an emergency?"That's great in theory, but there could always be instances where you either can't get to the stuff, aren't at home, or most likely, don't want to emit any light. If you set off a light source and you're being actively targetted, you just painted the target for them, and you're dead...For me, it's much more about not being seen... Do you find this valuable? |
nate121 |
10. RE: Blackout Practice?
Jun 16 2012, 10:21 AM EDT
we only get a few blackouts a year, most are extremely short, lasting maybe an hour, the longest i can remember was 16 hours long, and that was when i was 6... i can never remember a blackout during the winter eitheri do believe they are good practice as the last one we had i could not find a working flashlight, only to find them again once the power was back, my dad had moved them all... make sure you know where everything is in your house and hope someone didn't move it Do you find this valuable? |
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PedroAsani |
11. RE: Blackout Practice?
Jun 16 2012, 1:36 PM EDT
"Not that all of this isn't good practice and it makes sense but I keep a Mini Krill light next to the bed along with my EDC Klarus and I have chem lights in various places throughout the house, EDC pack has them, kitchen drawer and 2 boxes in the garage with my bug out gear...that being said I can navigate my home in the dark with little or no light but isn't that why we prep, so we have these things on hand in an emergency?"Allow for the possibility that they will break just when you need them, or you need to use them one night for a blown fuse box, and two days later for a local blackout. I didn't need the first aid kit in the car at all for 18 months, and then two RTAs in a week used up almost all the supplies. A third would have been a lot harder to cope with. Do you find this valuable? |
StrykerPez |
12. RE: Blackout Practice?
Jun 16 2012, 4:46 PM EDT
"^THIS^LOL. Sometimes it seems the utility lines to my BOL are not much better than an extension cord strung through the trees. Blackouts happen all the time up there. We're lazy, and have an automatic Generac backup unit though, so power comes back ten seconds later. Although part of my training routines include having a friend text me "DISASTER" at a random time and I'll go shut off the power and water to my apartment, just as if something really happened and I have to live off the grid for 24 hours. Fun, really. Do you find this valuable? |
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IamSlowRide |
13. RE: Blackout Practice?
Jun 16 2012, 5:44 PM EDT
"That's great in theory, but there could always be instances where you either can't get to the stuff, aren't at home, or most likely, don't want to emit any light. If you set off a light source and you're being actively targetted, you just painted the target for them, and you're dead...For me, it's much more about not being seen..."We're talking about power outages not night op's if we were my response would have been different. Do you find this valuable? |
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IamSlowRide |
14. RE: Blackout Practice?
Jun 16 2012, 5:51 PM EDT
"Allow for the possibility that they will break just when you need them, or you need to use them one night for a blown fuse box, and two days later for a local blackout.I do that's why I have the chem lights, no batteries, I understand what your saying though, that's why I try to cover all the variables and utilize redundancy in my preps...is 4 multi-tools over kill...maybe, but I know where each one is and can easily get to them if needed. Do you find this valuable? |
wantmarmite |
15. RE: Blackout Practice?
Jun 18 2012, 11:19 AM EDT
I haven't made a point of trying it. I don't turn on lights when I wake up during the night, I'm sleepy and don't bother opening my eyes anyway. I'm comfortable in the dark, it never bothered me.
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