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7 Bases Crew Base Check Lights-Out Night Power Water Food Light Heat and cooling Communication First aid Gear Family kit Apartment kit Outage plan Storm season Winter storm plan Story

BASE CHECK / LIGHTS-OUT NIGHT

Lights-Out Night

Lights-Out Night is the crew's own drill, built from Ready.gov, CDC and FoodSafety.gov guidance. It is not an official standard.

A plan on paper is not a plan. Lights-Out Night is one evening, four times a year, when the crew practices as if the power were out. It takes about 90 minutes. You find the gap while it costs you nothing.

Before you start (10 minutes)

  • Pick the evening: Base Check Saturday, or any night this week.
  • Tell everyone in the house what is happening and that it is a drill.
  • Do not touch the main breaker. Turn off lights and screens, and treat the house as if the power is out.
  • Keep the fridge and freezer doors closed for the evening.
  • Put the kit, headlamps and radio where you expect to find them.

The drill (60 minutes)

Step Do this Time
1. Light Everyone finds a light in the dark. Time how long it takes 5 min
2. Power Check each phone and power bank. Write down the charge levels 5 min
3. Communication Send a text to your out-of-town contact. Tune the radio to a weather or local station 10 min
4. Heat and cooling Pick the warmest or coolest room. Check blankets and layers 5 min
5. Food Make a no-cook meal. Check the can opener and the cooler 15 min
6. Water Count your stored water. Check the date on it 5 min
7. First aid Find the kit. Check dates and one medicine list 10 min
8. Safety Test the carbon monoxide and smoke alarms 5 min

For kids: give each child one job, such as finding the headlamp or reading the temperature. Make it a game, not a scare.

Debrief (15 minutes)

Sit down together and answer five questions:

  1. What took longer than we thought?
  2. What could we not find?
  3. What ran low or was expired?
  4. Which base felt weakest?
  5. What is the one thing we fix this week?

Write the answers on the back of the Seven Bases Checklist.

After (5 minutes)

  • Turn the lights back on.
  • Update your base status: mark each base you checked as squared away.
  • Reply to the next crew email and tell us the one thing you fixed. We read every answer.

If you want to go further

  • Run the drill with the lights off for the whole evening, and sleep in your chosen warm room. Do not use candles, a gas stove or a grill for heat or light.
  • Include a neighbor, and compare notes.

Safety

  • Do not touch the main breaker or unplug medical equipment. If someone relies on powered medical equipment, do the drill without turning off its power, and read our guide on medical devices in an outage.
  • Keep generators out of the drill. They run outside only, at least 20 feet from the house.

Sources