What Does It Mean to “Shelter in Place”?

Resilient Life Public Resilient Life
,
1

As you work on you emergency preparedness it is important to understand the new vocabulary. Terms that you hear quite a bit are “Shelter in Place” and “Grab and Go." It is important to make sure you have emergency supplies that allow you to do both.

Depending on the disaster and depending on the circumstances surrounding the disaster you may need to “Shelter in Place” or you may need to evacuate or “Grab and Go."

The term "sheltering in place" became very popular following 9/11. There was a lot of talk at that time regarding the possibility of a chemical or biological terrorist attack that would make it necessary for you to stay put, usually in your home. It's similar to when families hunker down in preparation for a hurricane or approaching storm.

The basic premise of sheltering in place is that if it is unsafe to leave your residence you will need to stay put and find everything you need to survive where you are. Hopefully, you will shelter in place at your home, but it might be that you have to shelter in place at your place of work, at school or at some other location.

Following a disaster, if it is safe to stay in your home, that is ideal. Whether you know it or not, you will have many emergency supplies at your disposal that will help you survive. The most important part of staying in your home is that it provides excellent shelter to keep you out of the elements. With a little bit of planning and preparation, you can build up your shelter-in-place supplies that will allow you to survive after a disaster.

You will want to have supplies for at least the first 72 hours. It's recommended that you have a shelter in place kit for at least two weeks or longer if you can afford it. Here are some items to have in your “Shelter in Place” supplies:

Water

• Store water in barrels or 5 gallon containers. Make sure you use a Water Preserver to extend the storage life of the water.
• Water filter. Having either a micro water filter or a more robust system will allow you to clean suspect water that you will get at your residence.

Food

• Use the food that will spoil first, then use the supplies in your pantry.
• Have long term food storage, such as freeze-dried food along with enough water to reconstitute.
• Store a wide variety of food in case you need to shelter in place for a long period of time.

Fuel & Generators

• You may have to shelter in place without any electricity or heat. Make sure you have a portable stove that will allow you to cook your food.
• Storing some wood at your house to make a fire if needed is a good idea. Make sure you have water proof matches, a lighter and a flint & steel.
• If you are able, purchasing a generator for your house is an extremely valuable item. Make sure you have some fuel set aside to run the generator.

Warmth

• Store warm blankets with your shelter in place supplies. You may not have heat and it will be critical to stay warm.

Light & Communication

• You should have a quality battery-powered and hand crank multi-band radio to get information from local and national sources.
• For light, make sure you have a combination of flashlights, light sticks, lanterns and candles and all necessary batteries.
• Two battery powered 2-way radios are very helpful to stay in contact with loved ones or neighbors.

First-aid & Hygiene

• A shelter in place first-aid kit should be much more comprehensive than your grab-n-go first-aid kit. Make sure you stock common medications that you and your loved ones will need.
• Have a personal hygiene kit in your shelter in place supplies. You may want to consider a portable potty as well, in case the plumbing is disrupted.
• Stock N95 masks to protect against airborne pathogens.

Daily Items

• Make sure you take care of the most vulnerable ones in your group first. Small children and older people are often overlooked in emergency supplies.
• If necessary, stock baby food and diapers for babies.
• Have a supply of simple but warm clothing for everyone in the family. Make sure the clothing is easy to layer.
• Have some games or other distractions to help keep people occupied and improve moral.
• Have some paper goods, like paper plates, cups, napkins, spoons, forks, etc. that can be used for eating.

Tools

• You may want to have items like a crowbar, small axe, folding shovel, rope, duct tape, plastic sheeting and gas shut off wrench.

Your Recommendations

Comment below and tell us what you have in your shelter in place supplies. What have you found helpful? What do you think would come in handy? Spread the word to others and start the discussion.

~ Brandon Garrett

Brandon Garrett is a preparedness consultant and team member of The Ready Store.  He writes informative articles and information for the ReadyBlog, the Ready Store's blog and educational section pertaining to topics of the economy, resiliency, and preparedness issues. 

Full disclosure: Based on our existing relationship with The Ready Store, PeakProsperity.com will receive a small commission as an affiliate for purchases made through the Ready Store. This will not impact the price you pay and the proceeds we received will be immediately invested to fund new features and functionality for this site.

This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://peakprosperity.com/what-does-it-mean-to-shelter-in-place/

2

If you store gasoline as fuel for your vehicle, use approved containers as a safety necessity. And make sure you use a fuel stabilizer like STA-BIL. Only store non-ethanol gas because the ethanol partially separates out into water, in time.
Also, rotate the gasoline every six months. Just fill your car with the stored gasoline and fill the cans again.

3

Good advice on the fuel. I have found STA-BIL to be an inferior product though. I have been using PRI-G for gasoline and PRI-D for diesel for over ten years. These were developed for the marine industry and work very well. I have stored diesel that I treated once a year for over eight years with no water separation and no algae growth in a 300 gallon tank. I cannot get ethanol free gas here. Yet I have had no water separation in my 300 gallon tank and all of my small power equipment easily over-winters without gum build up clogging up the float valves and jets. I don’t drain the bowls in the Fall and everything starts fine in the Spring. It is the best investment for small cost you can do to make sure your fuel is usable when you really really need it.

4

Alkylate petrol (example http://www.aspen.se/Ireland/About_alkylate_petrol) is very popular in Sweden for smaller machines. It’s more expensive then normal petrol, but has a number of advantages, one of them a supposed shelf life of 3-5 years (http://en.aspen.se/Home/Common_questions_and_answers_)

5

I store very little gas and only the one with the highest octane content. It does not contain Ethanol.
Most of my small engines (generator, trash pump, backhoe) have been modified to accept propane. The modification consists of replacing the carburetor by a bi-fuel one (Very inexpensive from China as all Honda-clones engines uses carburetors with same attachments).
Here is a sample link.
Also, propane has infinite shelf life and is less expensive than gas.

6

We experienced an 8 day power outage years ago in Arkansas. My cast iron dutch oven cooked everythng we needed on our wood stove. Also great on campfires. Learn about residual heat cooking as well. An essential tool.

6 Likes
7

I have an old 1998 Ford Truck which I have always run on 87 octane.
I would guess that you get better mileage with the higher octane fuels.
But … they run hotter.
I am slightly concerned that in the attempt to get better mileage, I will put in the high octane gas, and it will BLOW UP or something.
Now, probably, that would only happen if I did something boneheaded like let the oil get low.
Anybody know ?

Separate subject: I also bought 5 gallons of 111 octane, racing fuel, to try in a Leaf-blower. To see how much thrust I can get out of it.

1 Like
8

I believe you’re wasting your $ on high octane fuel LBL. Back in the day when I was a ASE-certified auto technician, the only need for high octane fuel was for older high compression engines that might be prone to detonation (pinging) if using low octane fuel. Newer computer-controlled engines can adjust for low octane fuels without damage. Higher octane fuels will rarely give you more power. I’ve never heard it causing high engine operating temps, either. Have no experience with “racing fuel”, but believe the same is true. Best thing for your leaf blower and other small engines- especially those not used regularly- is to find non-ethanol fuel and make sure you use a fuel preservative. Good luck, change your oil…Aloha, Steve.

9

Point that sucker towards Oregon and I’ll watch to see if the leaves blow!

10

Some of my newer power products (now old by most others perception) are sensitive to the crap, scale and varnishes that can be in gas (just try filtering the gas out of the pump), and have multiple fine filters that can plug. The really old motors I have (40 years+) just seem to digest gas of almost any age without changing the ambient din. So if gas longevity is an issue, refurbishing some old (I mean old) machinery may be a better bet than newer stuff (usually easier to work on). Or find power product lines made for the third world, but often hard too find here.

11

Octane is measurement of a fuels resistance to detonation. Higher octane fuels require more to burn AKA the higher the number, the harder it is to combust that fuel. This is for high compression or forced induction motors so the fuel doesn’t detonate early, causing a misfire or pinging.
Copied and pasted that.
But have also read, and heard from saw mechanics that running higher octane in hand power equipment as in leaf blowers, chainsaws, etc, causes extra heat which you don’t want in an air cooled engine. Might want to take a look at your piston before, and after running the race fuel.

12

Remember folks, ALWAYS double bag your gas!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XRjNdgAetQE

5 Likes
13

Now that they’ve effectively collapsed the system, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out the timing for another attack. But this time with something that actually is dangerous and deadly.
Psaki just tested positive. Even though she’s vaxxed. On Halloween. And will now quarantine for 10 days. 10 days of darkness.
Now our hospitals, police, fire, rescue have been completely compromised. Also, no one can rely on government data. So even if it sneaks out that people are dying from something new, it will be ignored until too late. If there was ever a time to quarantine, it’s now.

2 Likes
14

Your truck is designed for the 87 Octane gas you have been feeding it…unless your truck is a high performance modification. Increasing the octane of your gas for your low compression engine truck will not increase your gas mileage, but probably decrease it…as the higher the octane is…the LESS flammable the gas is…and in a low compression engine, like your truck, it will fail to ignite properly…WASTING FUEL.
Your trucks manual…or dealer…will both tell you the specific octane rating for your particular truck. You will only waste money and gas…using a higher octane than is required for your engine.

1 Like
15

SARS COV 2 is a bio-weapon. But, both the Pfizer and Moderna “vaccines” are also bio-weapons. All of them were specifically developed together by the same people years ago.
The Pathogen is only the required excuse for the mRNA serums to be injected into as many people on Earth as possible. There is no need for a deadlier bio-weapon than what has already been disseminated.
When coupled with cash rewards, paid to hospitals, for administering specific drugs, such as Remdesivir…which destroys both the liver and kidneys of hospitalized patients, especially those on IV bags…and which causes fluid on the patient’s lungs…which is mistaken for pneumonia…, plus NOT treating patients with any effective therapeutics…such as HCQ, Ivermectin, Azithromycin, etc., people are dying from these bio-weapons…just fine.
The long-term effects of these bio-weapons are still poorly realized by the novice, who think sudden and massive deaths are what is sought by this plague’s managers, who do not wish this at all. Slow attrition is what they seek. They want people to die in a more controllable manner…than all at once.
Already, we are seeing a dramatic increase in prion related diseases and neurological disorders, and a decrease in resources for an effective immune system in people.
If mass death becomes the goal…they will simply turn off the electricity for a few months.
 

5 Likes
16

Your comment “Slow attrition is what they seek. They want people to die in a more controllable manner…than all at once.”
My hubby and I discuss this all the time. He always says: “if there was mal intent, why don’t they just take us out quick and fast. Why the time lapse, why the saline injections etc…”
My thinking is they do this to confuse us. But why? This is a great question… if fossil fuels are the real impetus and lack of resources, then just take us out? No??
It’s very confusing but unless this is just a game of Gladiator, this sure as shit is very confusing… it’s like a neverending Twilight Zone.
When I look around, I have to admit… the majority of people I know that have been jabbed do not appear to have major symptoms. They honestly look pretty normal. I can see that data that Chris produces but could it be that these people ALL have saline shots? Again, more confusion…

4 Likes
17

Hi LBL,
taking the high octane fuel in an old engine without any adjustment might give you some minuscule less consumption only. Also the engine will not run hotter.
The savings and the hotter engine will only come when you adjust the ignition (more pre-ignition for higher octane) something newer engines can do automatically through knock sensing.
And real savings you will only get if you can change the compression ratio - well, which requires engine modification.

18

Prion related diseas?
I would like to know where this info came from.

19

High Octane should be run in engines that specifically call for it and there are many modern vehicles that do. There is some confusion these days about it. It’s not the octane rating that is the issue. It’s the ethanol in the fuel. High octane or premium fuel doesnt have any ethanol in it whereas 87 does. That is why small engines require premium. Also storing fuel that has no ethanol will last longer. Running 90oct in anything that doesn’t require it won’t benefit the mileage or power.

20

My fun car is a 2021 BMW X3M Competition for which 93 octane is the recommended fuel (although it can run on 91).  Shell V Power Nitro gasoline is the fuel recommended in the owner’s manual.  Shell V Power Nitro + is Shell’s 93 octane gasoline and it contains 10% ethanol.  Their V Power Nitro 91 octane fuel does not contain any ethanol (and is the fuel I use for long term gasoline storage for our other vehicles and for our small motors such as the generator).

From what I know about motors, higher octane fuel will give you slightly greater gas mileage but that is more than offset by the increased cost of premium over regular. Also, as Andy in the Sun points out, the knock sensing mechanism in many modern engines will automatically adjust timing (within a certain range) to compensate for the octane rating of the fuel.  And 93 octane fuel will definitely produce more power than 91.  You can see it on the horsepower and torque gauges in the car, you can see it on a dyno, and you can measure it in quarter mile times.