Well, I subscribed to this thread the night of the Pacific NW storm.
Sure am glad I was south of Portland, and not in Seattle.
Da'um. SEA got beat up by momma nature. Shu' we!
OK, THTF preparedness.
As a mountaineer type, I've been working on this one for years (having been slammed by storms
above the treeline on expeditions for many years).
1)
Warmth. This is a no brainer (for all except some modern suburbanites who have no experience with camping). If your power goes off, and you've got no way to power your heating system, just put on extra clothing.
Extra clothing? Ditch the cotton in all except summer. For the other three seasons, get
multiple layers of polyester fleece. If you must be outside in precipitation, wear breathable raingear. For sleeping, have two down sleeping bags per person: one rated to 20-40 *F (warm season), the other (winter) rated to -5*F or -25*F (depending on where on the mountain you live). You'll sleep like a baby.
2)
Water. I'm looking at 100 gallon vertical storage tanks. Bladders can be good, but take up a lot of floor space. If all else fails, yeah, the bath tub with good stoppers will work.
3)
Food. My supply currently is 3 months worth; mostly grains (polenta, rice, quinoa, oats, wheat, flax), beans, canned goods, and LOTs of sugar. Don't forget beer and wine. I'm working up to 2 years. If I run short of meat for the pot (to add to all that grain), the .22 LR and (soon to come) .30/30 could help with that. (Never know what the future could bring, but I'm quite sure it's going to be MUCH more extreme than what we got now. The wise will prepare accordingly. Word up.)
4)
Light. Batteries for flashlights. (Enough for two months.) Tons of candles. Kerosine/oil lanterns rock. (Several gallons of lamp oil and kerosine.) Nuff said. I also agree with ZeSpectre about the importance of ventilating when using kerosene lamps and lanterns.
5)
Entertainment. Two years worth of reading in the form of your favorite books that you want to read but don't have time for now. Add one hot intimacy partner. You're good to go.
_________
Speaking of generators for THTF situations, I've got a used
Honda ES 6500 (6500W) generator for sale that has less than 150 hours total run time. It's in
excellent condition: new battery, new oil/filter, new spark plugs, 240V and 120V recepticles. It puts our enough power for a very large house, several adjacent houses, or a business.
Price is a
fraction of a new one. Send me a PM if you're interested. Like I said, I'm a couple of hours south of Portland.
Nem