Some winter weather preps are pretty obvious. Heat, that doesn’t rely on electricity. Light, ditto. Food and water. Emergency supplies in the car, in case you get stuck out on the road. First aid. Warm clothes. Got those covered? Great! Now let’s think about winter weather needs that often slide under the radar until they’re ready to bite.
Here are three winter weather preps that I’ve been reminded of just from folks I know in the past week:
Pipe protection
Most people’s water supply doesn’t fail because zombies blew up the water tower. Pipes freeze. Better yet, when they freeze they expand, so they often rupture while frozen and so spew water all over when they thaw. This is the single most common homeowner claim, and they average about $5000 and a high reading on the annoyance scale — and that’s when insurance and plumbers have your back.
Thermostatically controlled heat tape around trouble sections protects many pipes … but only so long as the power is on. Insulation helps too, but only so much.
The standard tips (insulate pipes, let water drip, open cabinet doors but close garage doors) get you through most cold snaps. When the power’s out for an extended period of time and the whole house cools, these methods fail. Emergency home heat becomes the go-to answer then.
If you won’t be able to keep the house warm enough, shut off the water and drain the standing water in the pipes before it’s too late. You Do know where to find your shutoff and drain, Right?
Here’s a podcast we recorded a while back but had never published that talks about winter pipes!
Pipe insulation reduces your risk of a pipe freeze, but it can only do so much. Still, it’s cheap and easy.
Rakes as a winter weather prep?
It’s never a good sign when your friends start asking “How do you know how much of a snow load your roof will hold?” when they see the weather forecast. If you’ve gotta ask, you’d better have a snow roof rake.
Snow roof rakes are light tools with very long handles and ends designed to shift snow.
A snow rake is a tool designed to coax snow to slip off the roof so it doesn’t overburden your roof timbers and cause a catastrophic collapse. Our neck of the woods saw a lot of collapses last week. Fortunately most of them were old and unmaintained farm outbuildings. With the next foot or so we’re supposed to get this week, more modern structures might start going down if they’re not cared for.
The problem is especially acute if your roof is rather flat; or if you get freezing rain on top of the snow. (I remember one year as a kid where we got a foot of snow and then a full inch of freezing rain. Many roofs were lost and businesses closed for weeks, but Man was that some fine sledding!)
Visualize your alternatives if the snow and ice pile up: Risking the roof coming down on your head, or trying to climb around on a roof with makeshift tools on ice and snow. Bad and worse. Better just to get the rake.
Ice cleats to walk despite winter weather
Guys can be so thoughtful. Sorta. So what did one of Salty’s co-workers buy him for a Christmas present, as he hobbled around the office on his broken ankle? Ice cleats. A mean-but-not-really joke and useful item all rolled up into one; the giver probably earned many Guy Points. Meant as a joke or not, it’s really upped Salty’s walking security on icy sidewalks and parking lots.
No matter how good your boots, they won’t be reliable on glaze ice. Whether from a lot of freezing rain or the normal snow/melt/refreeze cycle, there can be some pretty treacherous footing out there. Salt is great, but when it’s Really cold it can’t melt the glaze. And what happens when the ice melt runs out? This prep is useful for every winter weather spot; but even more so for preppers contemplating winter weather when people are forced to foot transport and there’s no snow removal services to help out.
For an inexpensive yet effective approach, these ‘slipper cleats’ slip right over boots.
We favor the versions with the cleats attached to a ‘slipper’ of rubberized straps. They’re quick to put on and off the boots so you don’t wreck people’s floors. If you may need to do more serious ice climbing, full-on crampons would be a better choice.
Dress and plan for success. Work as a team when doing snow removal from a roof. Here in New England we lose people every year from “just going outside a moment” underdressed for the weather. A slip on ice, a sudden load of snow from the roof and they are unable to save themselves before hypothermia occurs. Pets paws can be crippled from ice abrasion or even ice cuts. Do you know how to fashion a anti-chew cone as to allow torn up paws to recover?
They don’t call it Heart Attack snow for nothing. Or back wrenching snow or etc.. Plan ahead, pace yourself work as a team.
Roof raking requires teamwork as not to be under a snow slide alone. Waiting until the ice storm is done means your roof is very heavily loaded and prone to failure. A SHTF situation in my opinion when your homeless in an major snow storm. Aggressively remove snow if rain or ice expected. Icy snow is very hard to remove with a lightweight snow rake. When I lost a barn the roof did not give any warning creaks etc. It just collapsed under icy snow load.
For some of you the storm is upon you but more storms are coming. Or as folks quote from GOT “Winter is coming”. Think ahead friends, make allies with your neighbors as I have a pact with 2 families to watch/help each others snow removal.
Good stuff! I like preparations for the real world. I welded up a water cutoff tool and zip tied it to the chain link fence next to the valve. The meter reader noticed it one day and said “I like that” “I’ve never noticed it till now”. He had overlooked it for months.
Sleds >>>> the human pull types – the better heavy duty types like for large game hunting carcass preferred – but even the kids sleds can be doubled/tripled up to strengthen the build …..
you’ll be out in all weather conditions scavenging and moving supplies – a must if your bug out plans are northern clime oriented …