Looknsee Photography wrote:
The days are long, and I have tons of flashlights.  My rechargeable devices (laptop, tablet, Kindle) had charges (although the Kindle was low), but without power, I lost Internet access.

generally, at&t and comcast have power backup. since the router is low voltage, it is on the ups with the phone and other low power devices. the desktop computers & external storage are each on their own ups. so when the power goes out, the internet, computers & phone are usually still up. a month ago, there was an outage, and everything ran for about 3 hours until the power came on.

the laptops have spare and extended batteries. did get a small 25w solar panel to recharge phone; but thinking about 50w for a bit faster charging. there are also the supplemental batteries to run & charge the phone & tablets 3-5 times. camera batteries are always charged & they can run the led lights for days.

Peter Claver wrote:
But this first episodes really drives home how dependent we are on the trappings (or traps as he puts them) of technology.

I agree....we've been lucky so far to not have worldwide Internet outages. The Internet has been outstanding as far a resiliency, however it wouldn't surprise me that in my lifetime to see some sort of catastrophic outage. I personally think we rely on technology way too much.
Try taking your kids' cell phone or tablet away for a couple of hours and see the reaction

FlirtynFun Photography wrote:
I agree....we've been lucky so far to not have worldwide Internet outages. The Internet has been outstanding as far a resiliency, however it wouldn't surprise me that in my lifetime to see some sort of catastrophic outage. I personally think we rely on technology way too much.
Try taking your kids' cell phone or tablet away for a couple of hours and see the reaction

The internet would be one level of catastrophe.. but electricity/electronics going out altogether would be another thing entirely.

Not relying on technology is a tricky thing though.. the level of technology that Burke is talking about is nearly 100 year old stuff -- elevators, cars, gas pumps, tractors, general farm equipment.  The very point he's making is that unless you can master *primitive* technology (can you butcher a cow? can you figure out how to plow a field? can you make fire? can you figure out when and what to plant.. heck.. can you set a broken bone or treat an infection) then take away the trappings of civilization (even if we were still at early/mid 20th century levels of dependence) and you're screwed.  Our dependence on technology isn't just due to the decisions of the last 10 or 20 or 30 or even 100 years.. it is the culmination of thousands of years of "if this then that".  We're in it now.. there's no going back.

Peter Claver wrote:

The internet would be one level of catastrophe.. but electricity/electronics going out altogether would be another thing entirely.

Not relying on technology is a tricky thing though.. the level of technology that Burke is talking about is nearly 100 year old stuff -- elevators, cars, gas pumps, tractors, general farm equipment.  The very point he's making is that unless you can master *primitive* technology (can you butcher a cow? can you figure out how to plow a field? can you make fire? can you figure out when and what to plant.. heck.. can you set a broken bone or treat an infection) then take away the trappings of civilization (even if we were still at early/mid 20th century levels of dependence) and you're screwed.  Our dependence on technology isn't just due to the decisions of the last 10 or 20 or 30 or even 100 years.. it is the culmination of thousands of years of "if this then that".  We're in it now.. there's no going back.

My wife and I watch a lot of the survival shows like Naked and Afraid. Having some experience in primitive survival, you're right, it's the little things that you don't normally think about that will kill you. Getting hypothermia from not being able to get warm with a fire, getting an infection etc. Poor water supply.
Mechanical technology would survive a disaster and unless there was some sort of mass EMP type event, I can't see a lot of other technology failing.

Looknsee Photography wrote:
My house didn't immediately recover from the power failure:

...  My home theater (admittedly a luxury) hasn't recovered.
...  My whole home audio (also a luxury) isn't working.
...  But most significantly, my phone system stopped working!

The phones are now working, but for a while there, it was nerve wracking -- how can I call for help with no phone?

(Note:  I have an integrated land-line phone system tied into my home security network).

This is why I keep a POTS-based, old-fashioned land line telephone around the house.
(POTS = plain ole telephone service)

Managing Light wrote:
This is why I keep a POTS-based, old-fashioned land line telephone around the house.
(POTS = plain ole telephone service)

Cell phone is far more reliable than land line phone.  If your cell tower is out, just get to the next one.  Best to have to two different cell carriers in a household.

Connor Photography wrote:

Cell phone is far more reliable than land line phone.  If your cell tower is out, just get to the next one.  Best to have to two different cell carriers in a household.

My land line phone has always been very reliable!

Looknsee Photography wrote:
My house didn't immediately recover from the power failure:

...  But most significantly, my phone system stopped working!

The phones are now working, but for a while there, it was nerve wracking -- how can I call for help with no phone?

(Note:  I have an integrated land-line phone system tied into my home security network).

Cellular systems are actually more reliable nowadays than land-line systems. Most people with lans-lines have their service through the cable company - so no cable no phone. Cellular towers are required to have a battery-backup (usually 25-72hours) to keep them up and running in emergencies. Best system of all is old copper land-line system, which really only exists in any number in more rural areas.