Tom Brennan · retired firefighter, 31 years

Stay warm, fed and safe when the power goes out.

Thirty-one years on a fire department taught me what gets people through a winter blackout. It is all in one plain, large-print manual.

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Tom Brennan at his kitchen table, the wood stove behind him
The Winter Survival Manual

The manual

The Winter Survival Manual

A Retired Firefighter's Plan to Stay Warm, Fed and Safe

Everything you need before, during and after a winter blackout, in one large-print book.

What you get

  • The Winter Survival Manual220 large-print pages · 8 sections · 40+ chapters
    $47
  • The 72-hour blackout checklistPrintable · first hour, first night, next two days
    $9
  • The fridge-door emergency cardWho to call, the shut-offs, what to grab
    $7
  • The room-by-room fire and CO checklistWalk your house with a firefighter
    $9
  • Every future editionFree updates, no extra charge
    $10

Total value$82

You pay today$47

Get the manual

14-day money-back guarantee · instant PDF · pay once

What's inside

Eight sections. Everything for the next blackout.

Read the section you need tonight. You do not have to do all of it.

I

Heat without power

Keeping one room warm when the furnace stops.

  • 20 ways to heat a room without electricity, ranked from safe to deadly
  • The one warm room: pick it, seal it, hold the heat
  • Body heat first: layers, bedding, hot-water bottles
  • The viral tricks I would never use, and why
II

The blackout kit

What to have before the storm, for under $50.

  • The $50 kit from the hardware store
  • Light without a flame
  • Power for the phone and medical devices
  • What to store, how much, and where
III

The first hour and the next 72

What to do, in order, when the lights go out.

  • The first 60 minutes, step by step
  • Getting through night one
  • Day two and day three
  • When to leave, and where to go
IV

Food and water

Eating well with no fridge and no stove.

  • The fridge and freezer clock: keep or toss
  • Cooking without power, safely
  • Water: how much, and keeping it from freezing
  • A no-cook pantry for one week
V

Medicine and health

Staying well when it is cold and dark.

  • Medicine that needs the cold
  • The early signs of hypothermia
  • Oxygen, CPAP and other devices
  • Falls in the dark, and how to avoid them
VI

Living alone, or looking after someone who does

Nobody should be alone in a blackout.

  • The twice-a-day check-in call
  • Telling family and neighbors your plan
  • The scams that follow every storm
  • A plan for your pets
VII

The house before winter

An afternoon now saves a night of trouble.

  • Frozen pipes: prevent them, and what to do if they burst
  • Drafts and a lower heating bill
  • The furnace and chimney check
  • Generator rules: outside, 20 feet away, and why
VIII

The firefighter's house check

The part only a firefighter would put in.

  • Room by room: what starts winter fires
  • Smoke and CO alarms: where, which, and testing
  • Your way out at night
  • Space heaters, cords and candles
Get the manual · $47

What it changes in your house

Six things done before the first storm

A warm room when the lights go out

A warm room when the lights go out.

One room, picked and sealed the way a firefighter would, holds its heat through the night. No flame, no fumes.

No candle under a flowerpot

No candle under a flowerpot.

The viral "terracotta heater" and the other tricks, checked against what fire crews actually find the morning after.

The space heater in the right spot

The space heater in the right spot.

Three feet from anything that burns, its own wall outlet, never a power strip.

A CO alarm where it counts

A CO alarm where it counts.

Where it goes, how to test it, and the things that fill a house with carbon monoxide during an outage.

Ready in the first hour

Ready in the first hour.

A kit on the shelf and a one-page plan on the fridge door: what to grab, what to unplug, who to call.

Somebody who checks on you

Somebody who checks on you.

The twice-a-day check-in call that brings help when you cannot call for it yourself.

Knowing it, or not

Two ways to get through this winter

This winter, the usual way

This winter, the firefighter's way

A video says a candle under a pot heats a room

You know which tricks are dangerous, and why

The space heater on a power strip behind the couch

One warm room, set up before the storm

The grill goes into the garage when the power goes

A kit and a one-page plan on the fridge door

Nobody knows you are cold until morning

Someone calls at eight in the morning and eight at night

No computer skills needed

How it works

  1. 1

    Pay once

    No account, no subscription, nothing charged again.

  2. 2

    Open your email

    The manual arrives as a PDF within a minute or two.

  3. 3

    Start tonight

    Read it on a tablet or print it big. Start with the section you need first.

Tom Brennan on the phone at his kitchen table
Tom Brennan · 31 years on a small-town fire department, rural Ohio

Why I put this on paper

I spent 31 years answering the quiet winter calls.

I was on a small-town fire department in rural Ohio for 31 years. The big fires make the paper. The calls I remember are the quiet ones in January: a space heater too close to a bed, a grill brought inside during an outage, a candle under a flowerpot because somebody saw it online.

Most of those folks were trying to do the smart thing. Nobody had told them the rules.

So I wrote them down, plainly and in big print: what keeps you warm, what keeps you fed, what keeps you alive, and what to throw out.

I am retired now and I live in an old farmhouse with a wood stove. When the power goes out here, this is exactly what I do.

Tom BrennanRetired firefighter, rural Ohio

No guesses, no scare numbers

Every number in the manual says where it comes from

  • NFPA
  • CPSC
  • CDC
  • USFA
  • Red Cross
  • Ready.gov

Before you buy

Questions

Is it only for seniors?

No. It is written for anyone who could lose power this winter: people living alone, families, and anyone looking after an older parent. It is in large print so it is easy to read by lantern light.

Is it a paper book?

No, it is an e-book: a large-print PDF. Read it on a tablet, phone or computer, or print it at home or at the library. Print the checklist and the fridge card before the storm.

I am not good with computers.

You click one link in an email and the manual opens. If you get stuck, email us and we will walk you through it.

Will you charge me again?

No. You pay once. There is no account and no subscription.

Is it going to sell me a generator or gadgets?

No. Almost everything uses what is already in your house. The blackout kit stays under $50 at any hardware store.

I rent an apartment. Does it work for me?

Yes. The warm room, the kit, the 72-hour plan and the check-in call work in any home, and every chapter has notes for apartments.

Is this professional advice?

It is general safety education from public sources. In an emergency, call 911, and follow your local fire department's instructions.

What if it is not for me?

Email us within 14 days and we refund every dollar. No forms, no questions.

Something else? Write to brennantom09@gmail.com. We answer within a day.

The Winter Survival Manual

Get ready before the first storm, not during it.

The Winter Survival Manual, the 72-hour checklist, the fridge card and the room-by-room check. One payment.

Get the manual · $47

$47 · 14-day money-back guarantee