By Steve Svekis
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Posted April 21 2007

At the risk of raising your blood pressure, this column contains offensive language. Ready?

Hurricane season.

There, I said it. On April 21.

Maybe we'll get lucky and get a copy of the relatively dormant 2006 season (I wrote about last season in April as well, so I'm hoping to get a streak going).

In the meantime, there's the matter of the hurricane preparation checklist.

Since the end of last year, I have collected a few additions that focus on life without electricity in the aftermath of a massive storm.

Compact butane stove: Poking around my local Walgreens looking for index cards and a spiral notebook for my daughters, I found this item tucked, hidden even, on the other side of that school-supplies aisle.

Distributed by MIL Import Inc. in Miami, the single-burner stove comes inside a convenient 14-by-12-inch plastic carrying case and costs $19.99. The non-refillable butane cartridges are aerosol-can size and cost $1.99 per canister.

I coaxed an hour and 45 minutes of highest-level usage out of the butane can. It handled boiling water just as easily as my stove. During our next extended power outage, this unit will be invaluable to my family.

Obviously, this is a potentially very dangerous product. It must be used outdoors, and the directions read thoroughly.

Meals Ready to Eat (MREs) go gourmet: Hollywood's International Meals Supply is offering a wide variety of self-heating meals, stressing that the meals are as tasty as they are convenient.

The entrees offered: Beef Stroganoff, barbecue (cubed) chicken and black beans, vegetarian chili, cheese tortellini with marinara sauce, beef stew and chicken noodle stew.

I sampled the offerings, and I was a little surprised. First at the intense heat emitted by the flameless heater (you add a tiny bit of water and the drab green bag immediately starts fizzing and getting hot to the touch) and also by the relative quality of the entrees.

Sure, this is no dinner at your favorite haunt, but all the offerings ranged from passable to good. I particularly liked the casserole-style Stroganoff and the tortellini.

Packages include an entree, applesauce, cookie, nut raisin mix, powdered orange drink, coffee, sugar, creamer, salt, pepper, spoon, napkin and moist towelette.

A case of 12 MREs (with two of each entrée) costs $69.95. The flameless heating element is sold separately, with a dozen costing $8 extra.

For more information, check www.mrestar.com or call 866-680-MRES (6737).

WaterSafe 5-gallon Mini - Sink Version
Watersafe: The product, produced by Fort Lauderdale's M.R. Crafts Inc., claims it isthe easiest and safest way to store significant amounts of emergency water and is available at www.mywatersafe.com in three sizes: 65 gallons for use in a bathtub ($34.99), a 55-gallon stand-alone version ($29.99) and a 5-gallon bag for the sink ($12.99).

The bags, which are made of a tightly sealed, three-layer plastic, keep stored tap water potable for an extended period.

For those without Internet access, the company can be contacted at 954-993-5665 or 877-WATER18.

Just-add-water "sandbags": Disaster preparedness author Matt Lawrence (What To Do 'til The Cavalry Comes) alerted me to this invention. According to the Web site (www.basepump.com/ Waterbags.htm), each of these "sandbags" weighs a half-pound each until it is immersed in water.

By the time the bag is done "inflating," its gelatinous innards weigh 34 pounds.

The biodegradable sacks cost $9.77 each, the smallest allotment sold being a box of 72, which costs $560.56. If you want to know more about this product, check the Web site, or call 800-554-1426.

Tire-plugging repair kits: This is more a generic suggestion. Self-repair kits are plentiful and cost between $10 and $30, the more expensive packages usually coming with a carbon dioxide inflation canister.

When a hurricane blows through, there is debris all over the roads. I caught a nail in a tire immediately after Wilma and was lucky to get to a tire shop. I will have a repair kit on hand next time.

Steve Svekis can be reached at heresthedeal@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4412 or 561-243-6600, ext. 4412.