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As winter weather sweeps across most of the US, bringing snow and frigid temperatures, authorities are warning people to prepare for outages, tricky driving conditions, travel delays, and more. Current and incoming Arctic blasts stretching from the Midwest to the Northeast and prolonged cold weather could cause serious problems, and you don’t want to be caught off guard.
Whether you’re someone who hunkers down when the weather gets bad or you have to be out and about, technology can make a difference to how you deal with the cold. And while most of the time that difference is reducing a problem into an inconvenience, sometimes — and I don’t want to sound overly dramatic — technology can be the difference between life and death.
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Here’s my plan of action. While this plan evolves as technology advances and my experience grows, I find that this approach covers most of the bases.
Note that you might need to cater to different types of emergencies. Maybe the power goes out for days or even weeks, or maybe flooding is a risk?
My advice: let your personal experiences guide you.
Home kit
The essentials
- Power bank (I love this one because you can leave it plugged in, ready to use) and cables
- LED flashlight
- Waterproof bags for your devices and belongings
- Fire extinguisher
- Long-life spare batteries for anything that takes batteries
- Warm hats and gloves
- Emergency food (remember to have food for your furry companions, too)
Things that are nice to have
- Power station
- Gas generator (be aware that these things come with a load of dangers and caveats)
- Emergency radio
- Multitool
- USB heated blanket (these blankets are super warm, don’t need mains power, and there’s no risk of a fire)
- Entertainment that doesn’t require the internet (such as board games)
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Car kit
The essentials
- Weatherproof power bank (and cables)
- In-car charger
- Jump starter
- LED road flare and flashlight
- First aid kit
- Fire extinguisher
- Emergency mylar thermal blankets
- Warm hats and gloves
- De-icer and scraper
- Snacks
Things that are nice to have
- Multitool
- Tire inflator
- Camp meals
- SOS satellite beacon
- Spare set of warm clothes
- Some entertainment (especially if you have kids in the car, because a book or toy goes a long way when you’re waiting for a tow truck)
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I’ve seen people superglue their hand to their face, smash themselves in the teeth with a hammer while trying to put up storm shutters, struggle for over an hour trying to start a gasoline generator that didn’t have any gas in it, turn an expensive tent into a fireball attempting to refill a gasoline stove that was already lit, slice their hand open with a screwdriver, and settle down to read the instructions for some essential bit of kit as a massive storm approaches.
Add stress and fear into the mix, and you have the potential for a lot of chaos and mayhem.
Not sure how your portable battery pack, generator, or new weather app works? The time to figure this out is now, not when you are hip-deep in snow and the lights are out.
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Oh, and now is a good time to download and print out any manuals you might need.
Also, the more you practice and use your gear, the more likely you are to remember you have it. I’ve known people who forget that they even have some useful bit of kit when an emergency hits.
It’s not a failing; it’s human nature.
Do this job while you have power. This task is crucial if a power outage is likely where you live.
Also, remember to charge any portable battery packs and rechargeable batteries that you might have (you might not need them, but they may help a neighbor out of a bind).
For devices I keep at home, I charge these packs and batteries to 100%. I also have a power station and a couple of power banks that stay on charge all the time for emergencies.
Also: The best portable power banks
For things I keep in the car and forget about for six months to a year, I charge these packs and batteries to about 80%, as this approach is better for long-term storage.
If you have bulky weatherproof cases for your smartphones and tablets that you don’t normally use, now is the time to put them on.
Go on — no one will judge you.
Also: How to get water out of your phone
If you don’t have a weatherproof case, then a Ziploc bag is better than nothing. And if you have small bags of silica gel that come with things you buy, throw one or two of those into the bag with your device, as they’ll help absorb any water that makes its way into the bag.
Fire, flood, and theft are bad news for your device, but if you have a backup, your data is not lost.
An off-site or cloud backup is preferable (even if “off-site” means keeping a drive at a friend or family member’s house).
If all you have is an external hard drive or USB key, then that will have to do. Pop the drive or key into a waterproof bag to give it a fighting chance. Alternatively, you can invest in a waterproof and fireproof storage drive.
Also: The best external hard drives
My solution is to back up to the cloud using Backblaze and also have local backups in a waterproof and fireproof external drive for easy access.
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