Years learning mountaineering skills taught me to navigate more than one type of storm

ON Sunday evening, as the entire country was battening down the hatches for Ophelia, I was watching the run on bottled water in shopping centres around Dublin with a certain detachment.

No last-minute rooting around for candles for me.

Instead, I filled the bath with drinking water and did a quick inventory check on our home disaster recovery kit. Sounds a bit nerdy? I used to think so, too.

It turns out that the years I spent learning mountaineering skills and later, working as an adult volunteer with Scouting Ireland, could help me navigate more than one type of storm.

Mountaineers learn basic survival skills, self- sufficiency and how to keep calm and carry on in extreme situations. I also signed my children up for the local scout den before they could walk or talk. Now, whenever people talk about the fact Ireland is creating a nation of snowflakes, I think about how my six-year-old can light a fire using a few dry twigs and some tumble dryer fluff.

A few years ago we decided to sit down and plan our own family disaster recovery kit, and this was the result:

■ A Trangia or Pocket Rocket cooking stove plus methylated spirits/gas to fuel it. Matches, cigarette lighter and a set of flints for lighting a fire, in a waterproof container;

■ An emergency first aid kit, pain relief medication and water purification tablets;

■ Five days’ worth of tinned foods such as beans, ravioli and noodles. Manual tin opener;

■ Head torch and spare batteries and bulbs. Candles and a hand-powered torch;

■ Whistle, waste bin liners, household bleach and baby wipes;

■ Battery powered radio. Paper and pencils. Local area map and some essential phone numbers;

■ Copies of important documents and a set of family

photographs in a waterproof container.

Depending on your circumstances, you may also need pet supplies, baby supplies or prescription medication. The kit needs to be stored in a cool, dry place and items updated as they expire. Even if you never need it, planning your own kit is a fun family activity while you’re waiting for the power to come back on.