My grandpa's old wind-up clock got him through three major storms last winter. He said waking up in a dark, cold house was bad enough without also having no idea what time it was. That little tick-tick sound meant some things were still working right.
Wow, that really hits home. There's something special about a simple, reliable object when everything else fails. My parents kept an old battery radio for the same reason, and just hearing a voice during a blackout made all the difference. It's amazing how those small, steady things can hold back a little of the chaos.
That "tick-tick sound" ericking mentioned is so true. When a bad ice storm took out our power for days, my old manual can opener was the real hero. All our electric gadgets were useless, but that simple tool let us eat a hot meal. It felt like a tiny win against the whole mess. What's your most reliable low-tech thing?