When a blackout stretches past 72 hours, convenience quickly gives way to more urgent priorities like keeping food cold, charging phones, heating water, and finding enough light to get through the night.
That was the mood of a thread on the r/Hawaii subreddit, where residents traded generator routines, battery-powered workarounds, and one increasingly familiar regret of not preparing for backup-ready solar sooner.
Here's what to know
In a thread, a poster broke down the saga on Reddit.
"Tonight will make 72 hours no power," the user said. "Broke out the generator to charge up everyone's devices and lanterns, boil some water, and run the deep freezer for a while. What else we doing to get through this?"
Some of the most practical replies centered on other ways to keep smaller devices running.
"I learned that I can charge my phone off of my lawnmower batteries!" one user exclaimed. "Basically check all large rechargeable battery packs for a power out port. Our car battery jump kit also has this option."
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The discussion also reflected how quickly backup gear had become scarce.
"Costco is out of generators," one commenter lamented.
More background
Battery packs came in clutch for one user.
"This was a lifesaver for us after three days no power," a user wrote. "We have finally been restored this morning in Keaʻau. I hope everyone else gets power back today! Stay strong, this too will pass."
People in the thread also described adjusting their routines around whatever power source they could access. One commenter said the household was "going to work for all power needs - A/C, hot showers, charging, etc." while relying on a generator at home only for "the fridge and freezers."
The outage also pushed the conversation toward longer-term home energy choices. The same commenter joked that the family's entertainment consisted of "giving the family tons of s*** for vetoing solar for years."
"Bet solar just got a LOT more attractive," another replied.
One commenter cautioned: "Solar doesn't help you unless you have battery storage for that solar, which is what we are saving for."
What can be done?
The thread drew a distinction between heavy-load uses and small-device charging. A generator may be best used for heavy loads such as food storage or water heating, while phones, lanterns, and similar devices may be better served by lawnmower batteries, jump kits, or other large rechargeable packs.
The discussion also pointed to two separate resilience questions of whether a household needs a generator at all, and whether solar should be paired with battery storage so it can continue providing backup power during an outage. One commenter said solar panels alone may not address every need.
Some commenters were feeling generous.
"If someone's on or close to the Windward side and is still without power and wants to borrow a generator, hit me up," they offered.
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