Necessity vs. Luxury
In one of the survival FB groups recently, there was a discussion about dealing with high temperatures during a power outage, specifically while residing in an apartment building. The question was – in the absence of A/C, what can be done to deal with extreme heat?
As I would have predicted, there were several comments along the lines of:
–Suck it up, buttercup.
–Just get used to it.
–If A/C is a concern, boy are you in for a rude awakening.
–A/C is a LUXURY, not a NECESSITY!
Sure, human beings survived millions of years without A/C, but for someone with COPD, heart disease, or other chronic health issues, high heat can be a serious issue. While it is just a comfort issue for most folks, for some it could truly be life or death.
Two Approaches
Survivalism or prepping, whichever term you prefer, seems to encompass two distinct approaches. The first is to EMBRACE THE SUCK. Great pride is taken in just how miserable one can make themselves and still survive. The second is to THRIVE, NOT JUST SURVIVE. The idea here is to go beyond basic survival and look for ways to make the situation better.
Both have their merits and advocates. You might feel the best way to look at preparedness is to carve away everything that might be “civilized” and drill it down to pure survival. Someone else might decide they want to invest their time and resources into making their life more comfortable during a crisis.
The only thing wrong with either approach is when ego gets a seat at the table during the discussion. As long as you’re taking logical, practical steps to being better prepared for emergencies, you’re moving in the right direction. Do what you feel is right, which might turn out to be a blended approach. A little bit from Column A, a few things from Column B, and away you go.
Hell, if you get right down to it, an awful lot of what we consider a necessity in our survival preps would have been considered a luxury at some point in time. A modern steel knife may have been seen as otherworldly to a primitive culture. A Bic lighter would have been akin to magic to a caveman. We humans have a long and proud history of innovating solutions to make our lives easier, and there’s nothing wrong with taking advantage of that. Just as there’s nothing wrong with seeing just how much you can do without and still get by.
Necessity vs. Luxury
The takeaways this week:
#1 — Don’t judge someone’s needs by your own situation.
#2 – No survival instructor, author, or speaker worth their salt will insist THEIR way is the ONLY way. Those who do likely have a financial reason for doing so.
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Okay, but what do we do about the heat?
Pam how about fans? I hope your windows open, some “modern” homes they don’t. Maybe a solar panel (need DIRECT SUNSHINE) to a controller to a battery to a inverter to your fan? Need to size the inverter for the max load, battery I’d used lithium as you can draw them down with out damage compared to Lead acid.
Pre-AC southerners used to sleep on their porches (sometimes in hammocks) to take advantage of any breeze. Security reasons today I don’t suggest sleeping outside unless your well into the country, have dogs and have a pair of trees for a hammock. Trees cool the air around them by some 10 degrees via transpiration.
There’s usually fan drives in my area during the summer to provide older people with fans during the hottest months.
If you can cool your feet down the rest of you will cool down too, so if someone in your group is getting overheated, put them in the shade with their feet in a bucket or kiddie pool full of cool water.
Take a nap during the hottest part of the day. There’s a reason the siesta is a tradition in warmer climates.
If you have a generator and feel comfortable using it, cool one room of your house with a portable or window unit for sleeping or for the more delicate in your group.
If you live in a dry area (not humid, which alas, rules out most of the South), you can hang a wet sheet in front of a window and it will cool off that room.
And hydrate, hydrate, hydrate.