Day 3:   TERRORIST ATTACK 

                      EMP: electromagnetic pulse...

     
Our country has just suffered a severe terrorist attack.  This has rendered all electricity and  electrical devices in our entire country to be useless.  This includes lights, cell phones, computers, vehicles with electrical ignitions, generators, and most municipal water pumps.

Today's Tasks:

• Cook and clean up all of your meals without power or water.

 1. Use a Solar Oven: Nobody likes heating up their kitchen in the middle of a hot summer afternoon. Cook any of your regular foods outdoors using the power of the sun.

 2. Cook on Your Fire: If you are out camping, don’t just stick with the usual hot dogs and marshmallows. Experiment with making “food storage” meals. Boil water and make a “just add water” meal. Or use freeze dried eggs, sausage, and veggies to create your own omelets for breakfast.

3. Make a #10 Can Stove: Simply push some hangers through a #10 can and give it some ventilation and you can make a little outdoor stove that can use wood, charcoal, or InstaFire. This is great for boiling water or roasting hot dogs, and kids think it’s fun! 

4. Make a #10 Can Oven: Lay the can on it’s side and stick a wire rack inside and put charcoal underneath. Then wire the lid back on and it makes a perfect mini oven. 

5. Make a #10 Can Grill: Who knew #10 cans could be so useful right? To make a perfect little grill you make slices in a #10 can and then bend the strips back, cover them with foil, place charcoal inside and a grill over top.

6. Do Your Canning Outdoors: I often think if there were a powerless emergency I would want to hurry and can a bunch of my freezer foods. Why not practice canning out on your barbecue grill or a camping stove or even a butane stove and see if it works. Practice getting your pressure right if you are pressure canning, and see how much fuel it uses as well. The added benefit to this is not heating up your kitchen!

7. Pull Out Your Dutch Oven.

8. Use Your Coleman (or other) Camping Stove: Most people who enjoy camping have some sort of propane or butane camping grill that they use. Don’t be afraid to pull out the grill at home even if you aren’t camping. Experiment with cooking some regular family meals on it as opposed to just usual camping food. Pay attention to fuel usage and make a plan for how much to store. You can learn a lot by simply practicing.

9. Make a Cardboard Box Oven: This is another fun idea to do with kids. This is a bigger oven than the #10 can one would be and can be used just like a regular oven with charcoal. If you make one and practice with it, then you can always keep it in your storage and have it ready to go in an emergency. Or just keep the materials on hand to whip out a new one should the need arise. 

          

       10. Experiment With Fuels: Whatever stoves, ovens, grills, etc. you have, fuel is going to be your main concern in a powerless emergency. We did a whole series last February about different fuels. You may want to review it and try to pick up a few of the different fuels and experiment with them. Here's an oven that can help prolong your fuel ration.

• Walk or ride a bike anywhere you need to go today.

• Entertain yourself (and your kids if applicable) without electricity the entire day. Get out the board games, UNO, etc...

• No electronics. This means iPods, cell phones, laptops, ANYTHING.  They are all fried, even generators are destroyed.  You may only get online to discuss the challenge. ;)

• You can only drive if your car has a non-electric ignition (i.e. 1960 's or older)..       unless you are going to work and it's too far to walk.

• You aren't able to communicate with your family. Did you have a family plan in place? 

• Remember... toilets require water to "flush".

                      **CHALLENGE**

                                *make this a surprise for your family*


      You see a pack of looters making their way through  your neighborhood.  You have fifteen minutes to collect your grab list items (things you wouldn't want damaged or stolen) and one meal worth of food to eat (72 hour kits would be great for this). Evacuate on foot to a nearby park and stay away from your home for at least 2 hours until the looters have moved on. (Even if you think you can defend yourself, this is a practice exercise to use your kits and evacuation plan.)

“We can rest assured that if we have done all in our power to prepare for whatever lies ahead, he will then help us with whatever else we need."   ...Elder Bruce R. McConkie

??What are some ideas on how you would live and function in a sustained post-EMP environment??