Active New Top (30 days) Compact Card How to survive a nuclear attack Robert LarsonContributor - November 8, 2022 Many people are talking about the increased possibility of a nuclear attack. Here’s what I learned about how to survive such an attack and what we can do to prepare for one after a few hours of research. Nuclear bombs can be deployed in many ways such as from a missile from an enemy country or even in the back of a van driven into a populated area. Distances in which you will be safe will depend on various factors such as size of the blast and the amount of material between you and the bomb. With a ten kiloton nuclear bomb, all organic matter (that’s you) will be vaporized instantly, wood structures will be incinerated, and glass will melt within 1/4 mile of the blast. At 1 mile out you will be able to survive it. If you do see a distant extremely bright source of light, turn away instantly, close your eyes, lay down on the ground and cover your head. The flash of a nuclear blast is brighter than the sun (can cause temporary blindness if you are looking at it) and emits a 10 million degree pulse of heat called a thermal pulse. Fires will still start and buildings will be destroyed 1 mile away from the blast. The flash of light and thermal pulse will travel quickly and hit you first, shortly after that will be the shock wave. Continue to lay on the ground covering your head, cover as much exposed skin as you can to prevent radiation burns, and keep your mouth open to prevent the shock wave from blowing out your eardrums and lungs. Get as low as you can. The shock wave will feel like a freight train going over you. At 3 miles out, it will take about 20 seconds for the shock wave to reach you after you see the initial blast. If you are driving, pull over and get down low. After the shock wave passes, you have about 20 minutes before fallout starts raining down. Fallout is the powdered pieces of buildings, and everything caught up in the explosion of the blast combined with radioactive material from the bomb which is sent in the iconic mushroom cloud up into the atmosphere. This 20 minute window is critical to find where you are going to be spending the next days sheltering in place. Common injuries you and others around you may be experiencing after a blast are burns, lacerations, broken bones, head wounds, people passed out, and car accidents. Quickly cover any open wounds and stop the bleeding, if fallout touches a wound it will enter your bloodstream and that could be fatal. Remember, you only have 20 minutes to find shelter, so do not stay and help all the wounded around you or you may leave yourself vulnerable. You are responsible for your life. Seconds after an explosion, satellites will pick it up and alert the pentagon and the president who will put the country into Def-con 1 (the highest state of alert) maximum military and local response will take place to assist in your area if the entire nation isn’t going through the same thing you are, but that will take time. You are on your own for the short term (at least 72 hours), possible long term (never receiving help). When looking for a shelter, look out for downed power lines, derbies in the road, buildings on the verge of collapse, fires, and other dangers. Move quickly but be aware. Vehicles, computers, cell phones, and other electronics within a 3 mile radius of the blast may be wiped by the electric magnetic pulse (EMP) that is caused when the nuclear bomb ionizes the surrounding air. If you are miles away from the blast and have the ability to escape the fallout, figure out which direction the wind is blowing and travel perpendicular to that. A standard wood framed house will only stop 30-60% of the fallout, a well sealed basement will block 90%. Try going to dense concrete or metal buildings when searching for a shelter. When entering a building that you are going to bunker down in, remove outer layers of clothing that might have come in contact with the radioactive dust. Use any water you have to rinse off hair and exposed skin. Fallout emits radiation in three ways, alpha, beta, and gamma rays. Alpha and beta are weak and are dangerous when inhaled or on your skin. Gamma rays are the scary ones that travel through flesh damaging cells and causing cancers. The only way to stop gamma rays is to put as much solid material between the fallout and yourself. Head to the center and or basement of whatever building you are in to create as much material between yourself and the radiation. If the building you are in doesn’t have a basement, go up as many floors as you can to get away from the radiation that will land on the ground, but keep at least two floors above you from the radiation that settles on the roof. (Example, go to the 10th floor in a 12 story building) Use plastic, tape, newspaper, or clothing to seal off as many air gaps of the door and the room you are in to prevent radioactive dust from entering the area. Within the room that you have dedicated to be your shelter, place as many pieces of furniture, books, boxes, and material along the walls. If you get exposed to radiation for too long you will develop radiation sickness or die. Radiation damages cells that are normally dividing to make more cells and keep you alive, when they are damaged they may not divide properly and you will feel sick. If the cells can’t figure out how to start working again and dividing you will die. Some of the symptoms of radiation sickness include becoming nauseated, vomiting, or swelling from damaged blood vessels. Fallout loses 90% of it’s potency after 3 days, so be prepared to shelter in place for at least that long. Have enough water and food for that time. An emergency radio is helpful to know when rescue teams are nearby and when it is safe to go outside. When it is time to leave the bunker, again cover up any exposed skin you can, wear a cloth or even better a N95/N100 mask to prevent inhalation. What are iodine pills that prepping groups talk about and do I need it? When a nuclear blast goes off, radioactive iodine is released which can be inhaled or absorbed in our food and water. The body can’t tell between radioactive iodine and safe iodine so it will absorb whatever kind it can. Potassium iodide pills can be taken which will flood the body with iodine and accumulate in the thyroid gland. The concentration of this pill is so high that the entire thyroid gland will be saturated and unable to absorb any more radioactive iodine. So if you have these pills, take them ASAP after the nuclear blast to prevent your thyroid gland from absorbing the bad stuff. Educational website: Check out the Nuke Map https://nuclearsecrecy.com/nukemap/ and see how large an explosion near you could be. Will YOU ever have to worry about this and implement these steps? My thought is it is incredibly unlikely and you probably won’t. But hopefully you have learned a trick or two from this post that will save your life. My greatest realization was that you have 20 minutes after the blast for the real nasty stuff to start coming down. That is more warning than many other disasters such as an earthquake or tornado. Read More 22 108 AdviceScenarios Feedback on Tuesday and Friday news updates John Grayman - November 7, 2022 I apologize if I am retreading something that is already in it’s own column/forum… With absolutely NO disrespect to Carlotta, I have been observing the trend of News Roundup for awhile post Stephanie Arnold… I am a huge supporter of climate activism, let’s make that straight. Carlotta is a boss and always posts great supporting information and facts that cannot be ignored in the long run (no planet, no life, etc.) However, lately most of the Blog postings (from my perspective) revolve around how global warming and the climate crisis are the most critical problem our society faces… I don’t disagree on the long-term view/game whatsoever. But just my opinion here, I thought that the articles/news curated by Stephanie were much more useful/insightful for the mass population at the time…is she no longer part of TP? Again, not a knock on Carlotta whatsoever. I was just was curious if perhaps there could be two different updates-one ‘long term’ and one ‘what’s happening now’? Very proud, and grateful, to have all these resources within theprepared community. Thank you for hearing me out. John Grayman Read More 9 5 WAPI – Skip boiling and make water safe with less fuel Coaster - November 7, 2022 I was watching a video on water treatment and came across something I had never seen mentioned. It’s an indicator that shows when the water is safely pasteurized without the need to bring it to a full boil. It’s tiny, light, and will save a ton of fuel. It would really extend the fuel in a BOB and still be useful to have around even in a bug in situation. Link to the video with the explanation (the whole series is worth watching): https://youtu.be/rIMeq0c7rJM?t=877 Product link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00F7104EY/ Read More 11 8 Gear See what mail you are receiving before it arrives. Informed Delivery by the USPS Supersonic - November 7, 2022 Computers scan and sort every piece of mail that we get. By signing up for Informed Delivery, you get a copy of those scans to your email every morning so you know what mail to expect in the next day or two. I believe that signing up for this free service is one more way to be a little more prepared. Why you may ask? Well, I’ll tell you! Know if an important letter will be in the mail that day, such as a refund check or tax documents. On days I get important letters, I make it a priority to decrease the amount of time it sits in the mailbox to avoid theft. Know if you will even get mail that day. No point risking slipping on ice walking to the mailbox if there is only junk mail in there, it can wait till tomorrow. Get alerts when packages will be delivered so you avoid porch pirates. You get the ability to electronic sign for packages if you aren’t able to be at your home when it is delivered, thus freeing up your schedule and avoiding going to the post office later to pick up your package that you were not home for. Easily schedule redelivery for packages. Sign up for this service so a bad guy or girl can’t. To sign up for this service, you create an account, put in your address, receive a letter in the mail with a code, and enter it into the website to confirm you are who you say you are. The thing though is, if I was a bad guy who wanted to get emails from the USPS with pictures of all my neighbor’s mail and know when to steal stimulus checks or birthday cards from mailboxes, all I would have to do is sign up for an account, steal that confirmation letter out of the mailbox when it gets delivered and I am now able to monitor all the mail people get. If I as the rightful owner create an account, then the bad guy can’t because there is already an existing account. I have enjoyed using Informed Delivery and it does make me slightly more prepared in certain ways. Maybe your mailbox is literally on your front porch and it’s easy to check your mail and this is unnecessary, but for those who have community mailboxes such as in an apartment building, this could at least be a little convenient. https://www.usps.com/manage/informed-delivery.htm Read More 7 1 How would you prep with an EV? sewknot - November 6, 2022 Background I was listening to the radio this morning and they were interviewing a Norwegian pop star about a campaign in the 1980’s to promote electric vehicles. During the piece they mentioned that the Norwegian government has plans to phase out sales of all petrol and diesel vehicles by 2027 (just 4 years time). Many other nations in Europe have similar plans. This got me thinking about how this would effect preparedness, especially as my own country is looking at rolling blackouts and I had just been researching what times and days I was likely to be without power. If you have a diesel or petrol vehicle it’s possible to keep extra fuel for those ‘just in case’ scenarios BUT what would you do instead if you had an Electric vehicle? I’m interested to hear what you do if you have an EV or would do! Read More 9 7 Scenarios Harvest envy thread Sun Yeti - November 4, 2022 In college, I learned to always study for finals in the library. Why? In the library, when I looked around and saw other students surrounded by empty coffee cups who had been there since 6 am. I felt behind and got back to work. If I tried to study in the dorm, I looked around and saw people goofing off, said to myself ‘well, I studied six hours today, that’s a lot more than them, I’m probably fine.” What’s my point? Seeing Redneck’s thread about muscadines (including buckets of grapes at the end) is pretty motivating to get my own vines planted. So, to keep each other motivated to plant crops, learn to forage new things etc. I think we should start posting envy pictures of our harvests. To get us going, here’s a pic of three pounds of juicy ripe figs I foraged from feral plants in the neighborhood (I got about three harvests this size this year). I also got a similar sized batch of wild pawpaws, but neglected to take any pictures. Read More 12 27 Rambo style survival knife or multitool? hikermor - November 3, 2022 Standard recommendation is a full tang, 4″ blade (or more). I have several, including a nice KaBar, but I think a quality multitool is even more versatile. Way back when, I carried an SAK, which served well in youthful escapades, but I changed to a Leatherman PSK when they came out, and I now have several L tools. My current normal EDC is a Skeletool CX, but I will also carry a fully accessorized Wave on occasion. Having gadgets like saws, screwdrivers, and pliers can be really useful, even when the blade is a folder. I have never experienced a problem. It is best when preparing for specific situations, to choose the most suitable items, but for general use I am quite happy with a multitool. Heresy, I know. Please comment…. wav Read More 9 11 Gear Why won’t canned heat boil my water? mr prepper - November 3, 2022 I’m preparing for a winter power outage. Some of the food I bought is prepared with boiling water, and I want an emergency cooking option in case there’s a problem with my gas. I was considering using a butane camping stove, but I heard butane canisters don’t work when it gets cold. Since my building uses electricity for heating, it will most likely get cold, so I think trying to use butane might be a bad idea. I decided to try using canned heat and a Coghlan camping stove to boil water. I had 3-4 cups of water in my pot, and I waited for 20 minutes after lighting the canned heat, but the water didn’t boil. Is canned heat a bad option for boiling water in an emergency, or am I doing it wrong? Would the brand of canned heat or type of pot affect this? In case the type of pot would affect this, I used a regular stainless steel pot from my kitchen. Is there a better option for indoors emergency cooking at cold temperatures? I considered using a propane stove, but I haven’t seen any that aren’t designed for outdoor use. Read More 10 15 AdviceGear FDA guidance on taking potassium iodide after a nuclear bomb goes off Jay ValenciaContributor - October 31, 2022 Many people’s minds are on nuclear war, radiation, and how to survive such a catastrophic event. Wanting to filter out the fact from fiction and the fear mongering from the rational way to prepare, I looked for a reputable resource on what to do. Click here to read the entire FAQ by the FDA about potassium iodide, but I will sum things up below. What does potassium iodide (KI) do? KI reduces the risk of thyroid cancer in people who inhale or ingest radioiodines by flooding the thyroid with non-radioactive iodine and prevents the thyroid from taking on the bad radioactive kind. The non-radioactive iodine then is excreted in the urine. My opinion – This pill won’t stop radiation from getting into your body. And if you shelter in place, have good filtered air, and aren’t eating or drinking things that have been outside and exposed to the radiation, then there really isn’t any point to take KI. Who really needs to take potassium iodide (KI) after a nuclear radiation release? The FDA says that infants, children, and pregnant/nursing women are at the highest risk of developing radioiodine-induced thyroid cancer and should be given priority if a limited number of KI is available. And they should be properly dosed as explained later. Anyone over 40 should only be treated if they are expected to receive a very high dose of radiation that would destroy their thyroid and induce lifelong hypothyroidism (thyroid deficiency). What potassium iodide (KI) products are currently available? These are the only FDA approved KI products on the market iOSAT tablets, 130mg, from Anbex, Inc. iOSAT tablets, 65mg, from Anbex, Inc. ThyroSafe tablets, 65mg, from BTG INTERNATIONAL, Inc. Potassium Iodide Oral Solution USP, 65mg/mL, from Mission Pharmacal Company Below is a chart with dosing depending on which above product you have. This would be good to print and store with whatever KI product you have. See the full post in the link above for a better view of this chart. When and for how long should I take potassium iodide (KI)? Don’t take KI as a preventative before radiation exposure. If there is a radiological event, officials will tell the public if there is a need to take KI. KI is best used within 3-4 hours of exposure, so you do have some time. Taking a higher dose of KI than is recommended in the chart above doesn’t give you more protection, your thyroid can only hold onto so much iodine and extra in your system will cause illness or death. KI protects for 24 hours, so take the above recommended dose daily until officials tell you the threat is over. Should I buy potassium iodide (KI) to keep on hand The Nuclear Regulatory Commission recommends that those within 10-miles of a nuclear power plant have some KI on hand. My opinion – If you live within 15 miles of a potential nuclear target, I would possibly consider it. My summary – Sounds like only certain people are recommended to have KI and only if they use it properly and are exposed to certain amounts of radiation. It isn’t a magic pill that lets you then walk around in the nuclear wasteland and is more limited than many of us probably think it is. Still, preventing thyroid cancer is something to think about. Read the entire FDA guide for more info, better details, and which people are not recommended to take KI. Read More 13 4 Scenarios Ways of heating a MA apartment without electricity? mr prepper - October 29, 2022 I am prepping for a winter power outage in Massachusetts. I live in an apartment with central heating that depends on electricity, so I need a way to keep warm when the power goes out. Looking at the article about emergency heating, it seems that a portable propane heater is recommended for indoor heating. However, I don’t know how to effectively prevent carbon monoxide buildup while using one indoors. Another concern is that I heard that it’s dangerous to store propane indoors, and I’m pretty sure someone will steal my propane if I leave it on the porch. So, I have a few questions about heating my apartment without electricity: Would I realistically be able to use a portable heater in my apartment without dying from carbon monoxide? Would cracking open a window provide enough ventilation without the risk of carbon monoxide buildup, and how possible is this during a snowstorm? How would I store the propane? What’s the most cost-effective way of prepping for at least 2 weeks when using a propane heater? Assuming that a 1 lb propane canister lasts 6 hours, I would need a lot of canisters to heat my space for 2 weeks. Other than using a propane heater, what would be some other ways of keeping my space warm? Read More 8 10 AdviceGearScenarios Any Jiu Jitsu enthusiasts here? adrianalindgren - October 28, 2022 I love how it makes me feel and I use it to cross out my cardio for the day lol Read More 8 12 Long-term wilderness survival skills Eric - October 28, 2022 Could I survive long-term in the wilderness? Probably not. I’m trying to study these skills anyway. If I can develop the skills to make it even a month or two, surely those skills will also be useful for more short-term emergency situations. I’ve bee reading Thrive, a long-term survival guide by Alone S9 participant Juan Pablo Quiñonez. (Thanks for the book giveaway, TP!) He clearly knows what he’s talking about, and is also an excellent teacher. He says in the introduction: “If one had to live in the wild for up to one year with only a single book, what would it contain?” I think he succeeded in writing that book, and I’ll be keeping it in by BOB until I’ve read it enough times to not need it anymore. Chapters include preparation, mindset, clothing, travel, water, fire, shelter, food/foraging, edible plants, fishing, trapping, hunting, bushcraft, winter, health, electronics, and natural hazards. Topics are clearly explained and seem to work well both for learning and for reference. What do you think about the role of long-term wilderness survival skills for emergency preparedness? Are there other books or resources that you like for learning these skills? Read More 9 18 Skills How long, really, is refrigerated food safe after a power outage? PrepPrepPrep - October 28, 2022 I see many many sites, including the CDC, foodsafety.gov, usdairy.com, etc., that tell me which foods are safe to keep and which need to be tossed, *after four hours* with no refrigeration. I do not see a single site that tells me what to do if the food that was “safe” after four hours has now gone 24 hours with no power. Some of my questions are: unopened cheddar cheese, thickly grated Parmesan, an open package of tortillas, the jar of olives that is opened, and basically everything in the freezer, since I was out of town and not there to check for ice crystals. What a nice day to give the fridge a thorough cleaning! 🙁 P.S., I will not be trying any of these foods but am not tossing the ones I have questions about until I resolve the question. No need to kill myself because I want to save a few dollars! Read More 12 11 Saw this great twitter thread about the “San Francisco Seawallpocalypse” quentin - October 28, 2022 Hello all! This is my first post after lurking for a couple months. I just saw this great twitter thread about the seawall situation in SF and thought I would post it here. Really fascinating. Earthquake today is a good reminder of the pending-urban-disaster-no-one-talks-about: San Francisco Seawallpocalypse! 🌊💀🔥 Thread/ — fry (@anniefryman) October 25, 2022 Read More 8 3 Scenarios A comparison of four electric lanterns under $75 Gideon ParkerStaff - October 28, 2022 This is a quick review of four electric lanterns you might want to consider. LuminAID PackLite Titan 2-in-1 Stats: 300 Lumens 4000mAh battery 12.5oz White and red light modes High, medium, low, very low, and SOS mode Pros: The small solar panel actually does charge this lantern. While it is recommended to have dedicated lanterns, solar panels, and power banks, if you were hard set on only having one product and were going to use this in your home preps, the LuminAID PackLite Titan could be a good option. Provides room filling light in both white and red colors. This does feel like a premium item and isn’t a cheaply constructed product. Can charge android tablet, cell phone, or gaming console and power light at the same time. Cons: Buttons are hard to see in the dark and difficult to press because they are not raised up very high. I don’t see many use cases for the very low and SOS settings. Not sure of how durable or rip resistant the plastic fabric is. If you throw this in a pack a sharp cook set or knife could slice it and while it still will diffuse the light, it might expose the electronics inside to moisture. Keep it wrapped in a shirt or bandanna to solve this. There was a strong plastic smell for the first three days of using it that smells like pool water wings that toddlers use. Survival Frog Pocket Light 3.0 Stats: Unknown lumen 1200mAH battery 5.75oz 4 modes – high, low, SOS (strobe), and flashlight mode Pros: Compact for storage and travel, large for use. Lightweight. Because of the diffusion material that the lantern uses, the normally harsh white light was actually very nice to read and work by for a long time. Great job Survival Frog from moving away from that crinkly plastic diffuser that many pop-up lanterns use, this fabric mesh is a much better solution. Cons: Unknown how well the solar panel works because there is no battery life indicator, but guessing not very well. The SOS mode is more of a flashing strobe light that hurts your eyes. Survival Frog QuadPod camping lantern Stats: 700 lumens 2400 mAh battery 8.8oz 6 lighting settings Pros: This really is a great camping lantern. The many settings and adjustable angles make it so you can light up any situation. Glow in the dark button and USB dust cover A very bright room filling light. Cons: USB dust/water cover doesn’t stay in place very well Doesn’t seem like it would survive too many drops onto hard surfaces before cracking. The solar panels are so small that they don’t do anything. I left this lantern in the sun for three full days and it didn’t get any more charged during that time. The SOS mode is more of a flashing strobe light that hurts your eyes. Streamlight Siege X Stats: 300 lumens 2600 mAh battery 7.2oz White and red light modes 7 lighting modes Pros: Durable and small Uses the popular, replaceable, and powerful 18650 battery. Cons: Although the red light is a welcome feature, it is rather dim and not very useful. Summary: Best shelter in place at home lantern: luminAID Titan Best collapsible and nicest looking light: Survival Frog Pocket Light Best lantern for camping: Survival Frog QuadPod Best bug out bag lantern: Streamlight Siege X Video review showing a close up of how the lanterns are constructed and function along with seeing the brightness levels and various settings. Stress testing To simulate these lanterns being left out during a cold winter night, the lanterns were sprayed down with a hose for 30+ seconds and then left in the freezer over night. They all survived the rain and freeze test, but the two lanterns by Survival Frog did get water inside of their housings, so they aren’t very water tight and it may not be the best to leave you lanterns out when it rains. Read More 11 4 Gear Lessons from the Great Shakeout Alicia - October 27, 2022 The only accurately predicted earthquake occurred on Oct 20th at 10:20am. And it happens every year. It’s the Great Shakeout earthquake drill exercise. My workplace participates and this year did the full “Drop, Cover, and Hold-On” through evacuation and assembly in a location away from buildings with personnel accounting. We’ve participated this before, but this was the first since the pandemic and we have partial teleworking now. Lessons I noted: No clear leadership in emergency preparedness at my workplace. I am a volunteer who helps with evacuation communication and personnel accounting for the floor of my office building. As such, I get a bit more information on the planning for these events. Months ago, I gently asked questions and made simple suggestions for clarification of assembly areas (many buildings were sent to a very large parking lot). This was pushed off to individual buildings to address but eventually did get some help the week before the shakeout. Expectations and scenarios weren’t communicated. The assembly area for my building is outside an entry gate, but the path that we were told to use was unintuitive and circuitous. Not one that anyone would take on a normal day. I had no idea that was the expected path. It confused everyone. And then, the plans for what happened after accounting completed were never mentioned in prep, or during execution. So we know where to go, but then what? I personally mentioned to my cohort that in the event of a real earthquake, we would be sent home from this assembly area without re-entering any buildings (which must be inspected for safety). If you don’t have your car keys with you, you’re not driving home. Overall, I received more questions than I could answer – like if the new parking garage would be inspected early so folks could get to their cars. The post pandemic teleworking reality has not been addressed. The processes that are in place were developed when everyone was on-site. Many people were working from home which creates a new challenge for how to determine if someone is still in a building needing help. Emergency preparedness is not well funded at my workplace. It is a large campus-like facility with many buildings and its own security and fire department. All other support is volunteer, including a Disaster and Rescue Team, Urban Search and Rescue team, and the building and floor accounting volunteers – called Fire Marshalls or Wardens. I didn’t test my personal earthquake plans like contacting my husband. He also works where I do, and our assembly areas are not co-located. Overall, I think this was more of a missed opportunity. Yes we participated, and some folks will have learned lessons, but clear guidance, goals, and process are lacking and could have been started beforehand to practice. I’ve not yet heard what outcome the institution reports from it. Did anyone else participate who is willing to share their experience? Read More 15 19 Scenarios Too cold, too hot – are you prepared Shaun - October 26, 2022 Many European countries are ordering government buildings and others to limit their air conditioning thermostat to 77F and heat to 66F. It’s not clear how they can enforce these limits aside from astronomical electricity prices. But if electricity prices rose dramatically and you were forced to implement something like this what would be the impact to you? How would you prepare or react? In my case, we keep the AC at 74F during the day and night. In the winter we set heat to 72F but turn it off around 9pm and back on at 4:30am. It is no lower than 50F at 4:30am and we believe we sleep much better in a cool room. I work at home permanently now and my ‘office’ is next to the garage and on a concrete slab. The room is not very efficient and it’s near 80F in the summer so I use a fan. The drawbacks are I tend to get heat rash and I need a shower at the end of the day. In the winter, the floor of this room is very cold and the room is usually in the low 60’s. I use a closed-cell foam pad to keep my feet warm, wear a vest and a hat. My concerns for the coming winter have less to do with the recommended range of temperatures and more with the reliability of power. How will you adjust? How will our European members adjust? Read More 10 18 Scenarios Safe deposit box vs. other off-site document storage Colorado Jones - October 25, 2022 I’m in process of compiling/inventorying/scanning/copying important documents (wills/titles/insurance policies/etc.) In the past, I’ve stored most of those documents in a fire-proof safe in my home and, as a result of the current process, expect to store digital backup copies on a flash drive (or two or three). I’m contemplating, however, the possibility of storing copies (either paper or digital or, perhaps, originals) in an offsite location such as a bank safety deposit box or, alternatively, in a fireproof safe in my parents’ basement (17 miles from here), my brother’s home several states away or, possibly, a combination of the above. While I do use secure cloud storage for digital files (photos, work files, etc.), my inclination is NOT to store highly sensitive personal information in the cloud. Mostly, I just want my wife to be able to easily locate and retrieve everything if, god forbid, something should happen to me. (Or, in the event that something happens to both of us, our next of kin.) But, secondarily, in the event of a major catastrophe or other SHTF scenario, obviously, I’d want backup copies of important documents in case the originals are destroyed or otherwise inaccessible. Just some initial thoughts on document storage. I would feedback from others who have already done this (or, at least, are further along in this aspect of prepping than I am). Thanks! Read More 7 2 Advice Survival Drill – Escape from quarantine Eric - October 25, 2022 You are working in a large drug manufacturing complex when a a virus escapes. The facility is quarantined. Can you find the anti-viral drug and escape before you are infected? We’ll be playing this Endure-style game on Friday, Oct 14, at 8pm CST / 9pm EST. No experience needed – anyone can join. Come 15 minutes early if you need help getting setup, especially with Discord’s audio chat. Try to arrive on time, but it’s still possible to join after the game has started. Players arriving late will start at a disadvantage and will have some inventory items chosen for them. Endure is about being in the wrong place at the wrong time and surviving in a harsh situation. You are not a hero – just a regular person trying to deal with a bad situation. And you’ll be part of a team of TPers trying to get through it together. Optional: Create a Character Endure characters have a background (who are you), an asset (skill or knowledge), and a trouble (weakness, disability, or flaw). You can create a character based on yourself, create a fictional character, or accept a pre-made character when you arrive. Join us on Discord, find more information in the “#prepper-chat-night > Game Night” thread, and let us know you’ll be joining. Read More 9 9 ScenariosSkills Making your own popsicles to stay cool Bradical - October 25, 2022 A nice frozen treat is a perfect remedy after a hot day outside. And while we are now in October and most of us aren’t thinking about having frozen foods, (I’m always late to the game, sorry) I hope this can be a resource in the future. Now I’m no scientist, but I think cold drinks and frozen food are a great way to stay cool because they go inside of you and cool down your organs and blood that is then circulated throughout your body. Whereas something like a fan or air conditioning cools your skin but takes a while to cool your core. Popsicles and ice cream are readily available and cheap at the store, but have you looked at the ingredients? While they taste amazing, they aren’t that amazing for our bodies. I wanted a healthier option. I could make my own popsicles using the style of mold that I grew up with which has a stick, but you have to constantly hold those and mostly just suck on or lick them, and they melt and get all sticky down your hand. Plus how do you eat the bottom without stabbing yourself down the throat with that stick? I liked the otter pop style of popsicle. These can be sealed if you want to take a break and set them down for a minute, the little caps prevent any melted juice from running out, and they are thin enough that you can bite down on it and swallow a piece of frozen popsicle that will then melt inside your stomach and cool you down more. This pack from Amazon is $10 for 6 silicone popsicle molds. During this past month, I’ve made several batches of these using a few different recipes. To be healthier and to make this more of a useful prep to cool me down and rehydrate my body, I started by making a homemade electrolyte drink and freezing that. Homemade electrolyte popsicles Squeeze a lemon or lime Magnesium glycinate powder Salt Cream of tarter (potassium) Liquid stevia sweetens and does not add calories or spike insulin. Water I’m not going to put down ratios because I don’t remember what I used and don’t claim to have the perfect mix. This tastes good as a drink, but when frozen as a popsicle, all the flavor migrates to one side and then the rest just tastes like an ice cube. The next recipe I tried was a store-bought electrolyte powder mix and I added half the recommended water so the flavor would be more concentrated when frozen. This worked better than the first attempt, but still had a majority of the flavor in the first few licks, leaving the rest pretty plain. I also tried using some leftover lemonade we had in the fridge and this by far was the best tasting because it had so much sugar in it. Go figure… If you aren’t so worried about tracking the amount of sugar you are consuming or don’t care for all those additional minerals then just some plain fruit juice can makes some good popsicles. Read More 8 1 Gear Case study: Long-term food storage without electricity Colorado Jones - October 25, 2022 A fascinating case study in survival and preparedness. What are your takeaways? Climate Change Comes for the Freezers, a Key Tool for Alaska Natives Threatened by stronger storms and a melting permafrost, Indigenous Alaskans are grappling with how to keep the power running to their freezers, which store their traditional subsistence foods. https://archive.ph/wkWn3 Read More 10 4 Scenarios Giveaway: New survival guide book from Alone’s S9 Juan Pablo Quinonez John AdamaStaff - October 23, 2022 Edit: All copies are spoken for To spread the news about the books release, current Alone season contestant JP is sending out 3 free copies to the TP community, with the expectation of a fair review shared here later! (Your help is how we keep the best books list updated too!) The book is THRIVE: Long-Term Wilderness Survival Guide. (It’s 120,000 words, so you’re not expected to read the whole thing. Just a fair shake.) Seems like more of a reference guide “covering modern survival skills with bushcraft techniques, step-by-step instructions, and over 400 illustrations.” First come first served. Reply here (we’ll email the address on your account) or contact us directly via email: hello@thissite Read More 10 15 GearNews Car battery jump starter advice SailorRunner - October 23, 2022 There are alot of vehicle battery jump starters out there these days. They seem like a great replacement to the old cables. I am fine tuning our 2 vehicles car kits in prep for winter in the Northeast of US and want to add 1 per vehicle in place of cables. That said I didn’t see any official TP gear review and wanted to see if anyone has any thoughts or advice? We have been AAA members for over 25 years so they are only a phone call away if needed but as everyone says on here, have backups to the backups and plan for the worst case. Thanks for any comments from those that have or used any of these jump starters. Read More 9 11 AdviceGear < Prev 1 2 3 … 13 14 15 … 57 58 59 Next > Recently Active Chickens for preppers: Important considerations - 12 hours agoNews for the Week 2024-04-15 - 3 days agoAlexapure - 7 days agoPlants with Saponins - 2 weeks agoNews for the week of 2024-04-08 - 2 weeks ago RULES This forum is heavily moderated to keep things valuable to as many people as possible. Full community policies are here. The basics: 1. Be nice to each other. 2. Stay focused on prepping. 3. Avoid politics, religion, and other arguments. 4. No unfounded conspiracies, fake news, etc. 5. Debate ideas, not people. FILTER Show all Advice Gear Meta News Scenarios Skills

How to survive a nuclear attack

Robert LarsonContributor - November 8, 2022

Many people are talking about the increased possibility of a nuclear attack. Here’s what I learned about how to survive such an attack and what we can do to prepare for one after a few hours of research. 

Nuclear bombs can be deployed in many ways such as from a missile from an enemy country or even in the back of a van driven into a populated area. 

Distances in which you will be safe will depend on various factors such as size of the blast and the amount of material between you and the bomb. With a ten kiloton nuclear bomb, all organic matter (that’s you) will be vaporized instantly, wood structures will be incinerated, and glass will melt within 1/4 mile of the blast. 

At 1 mile out you will be able to survive it. If you do see a distant extremely bright source of light, turn away instantly, close your eyes, lay down on the ground and cover your head. The flash of a nuclear blast is brighter than the sun (can cause temporary blindness if you are looking at it) and emits a 10 million degree pulse of heat called a thermal pulse. Fires will still start and buildings will be destroyed 1 mile away from the blast. The flash of light and thermal pulse will travel quickly and hit you first, shortly after that will be the shock wave. Continue to lay on the ground covering your head, cover as much exposed skin as you can to prevent radiation burns, and keep your mouth open to prevent the shock wave from blowing out your eardrums and lungs. Get as low as you can. The shock wave will feel like a freight train going over you.

At 3 miles out, it will take about 20 seconds for the shock wave to reach you after you see the initial blast. If you are driving, pull over and get down low. After the shock wave passes, you have about 20 minutes before fallout starts raining down. Fallout is the powdered pieces of buildings, and everything caught up in the explosion of the blast combined with radioactive material from the bomb which is sent in the iconic mushroom cloud up into the atmosphere.  This 20 minute window is critical to find where you are going to be spending the next days sheltering in place. Common injuries you and others around you may be experiencing after a blast are burns, lacerations, broken bones, head wounds, people passed out, and car accidents. Quickly cover any open wounds and stop the bleeding, if fallout touches a wound it will enter your bloodstream and that could be fatal. Remember, you only have 20 minutes to find shelter, so do not stay and help all the wounded around you or you may leave yourself vulnerable. 

You are responsible for your life. Seconds after an explosion, satellites will pick it up and alert the pentagon and the president who will put the country into Def-con 1 (the highest state of alert) maximum military and local response will take place to assist in your area if the entire nation isn’t going through the same thing you are, but that will take time. You are on your own for the short term (at least 72 hours), possible long term (never receiving help).

When looking for a shelter, look out for downed power lines, derbies in the road, buildings on the verge of collapse, fires, and other dangers. Move quickly but be aware. Vehicles, computers, cell phones, and other electronics within a 3 mile radius of the blast may be wiped by the electric magnetic pulse (EMP) that is caused when the nuclear bomb ionizes the surrounding air. If you are miles away from the blast and have the ability to escape the fallout, figure out which direction the wind is blowing and travel perpendicular to that. 

A standard wood framed house will only stop 30-60% of the fallout, a well sealed basement will block 90%. Try going to dense concrete or metal buildings when searching for a shelter. When entering a building that you are going to bunker down in, remove outer layers of clothing that might have come in contact with the radioactive dust. Use any water you have to rinse off hair and exposed skin. Fallout emits radiation in three ways, alpha, beta, and gamma rays. Alpha and beta are weak and are dangerous when inhaled or on your skin. Gamma rays are the scary ones that travel through flesh damaging cells and causing cancers. The only way to stop gamma rays is to put as much solid material between the fallout and yourself. Head to the center and or basement of whatever building you are in to create as much material between yourself and the radiation. If the building you are in doesn’t have a basement, go up as many floors as you can to get away from the radiation that will land on the ground, but keep at least two floors above you from the radiation that settles on the roof. (Example, go to the 10th floor in a 12 story building) Use plastic, tape, newspaper, or clothing to seal off as many air gaps of the door and the room you are in to prevent radioactive dust from entering the area. Within the room that you have dedicated to be your shelter, place as many pieces of furniture, books, boxes, and material along the walls. 

If you get exposed to radiation for too long you will develop radiation sickness or die. Radiation damages cells that are normally dividing to make more cells and keep you alive, when they are damaged they may not divide properly and you will feel sick. If the cells can’t figure out how to start working again and dividing you will die. Some of the symptoms of radiation sickness include becoming nauseated, vomiting, or swelling from damaged blood vessels. 

Fallout loses 90% of it’s potency after 3 days, so be prepared to shelter in place for at least that long. Have enough water and food for that time. An emergency radio is helpful to know when rescue teams are nearby and when it is safe to go outside. When it is time to leave the bunker, again cover up any exposed skin you can, wear a cloth or even better a N95/N100 mask to prevent inhalation. 

What are iodine pills that prepping groups talk about and do I need it?

When a nuclear blast goes off, radioactive iodine is released which can be inhaled or absorbed in our food and water. The body can’t tell between radioactive iodine and safe iodine so it will absorb whatever kind it can. Potassium iodide pills can be taken which will flood the body with iodine and accumulate in the thyroid gland. The concentration of this pill is so high that the entire thyroid gland will be saturated and unable to absorb any more radioactive iodine. So if you have these pills, take them ASAP after the nuclear blast to prevent your thyroid gland from absorbing the bad stuff. 

Educational website:

Check out the Nuke Map https://nuclearsecrecy.com/nukemap/ and see how large an explosion near you could be. 

Will YOU ever have to worry about this and implement these steps? 

My thought is it is incredibly unlikely and you probably won’t. But hopefully you have learned a trick or two from this post that will save your life. My greatest realization was that you have 20 minutes after the blast for the real nasty stuff to start coming down. That is more warning than many other disasters such as an earthquake or tornado. 

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Feedback on Tuesday and Friday news updates

John Grayman - November 7, 2022

I apologize if I am retreading something that is already in it’s own column/forum…

With absolutely NO disrespect to Carlotta, I have been observing the trend of News Roundup for awhile post Stephanie Arnold…

I am a huge supporter of climate activism, let’s make that straight. Carlotta is a boss and always posts great supporting information and facts that cannot be ignored in the long run (no planet, no life, etc.)

However, lately most of the Blog postings (from my perspective) revolve around how global warming and the climate crisis are the most critical problem our society faces…

I don’t disagree on the long-term view/game whatsoever. But just my opinion here, I thought that the articles/news curated by Stephanie were much more useful/insightful for the mass population at the time…is she no longer part of TP?

Again, not a knock on Carlotta whatsoever. I was just was curious if perhaps there could be two different updates-one ‘long term’ and one ‘what’s happening now’?

Very proud, and grateful, to have all these resources within theprepared community.

Thank you for hearing me out.

John Grayman

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WAPI – Skip boiling and make water safe with less fuel

Coaster - November 7, 2022

I was watching a video on water treatment and came across something I had never seen mentioned. It’s an indicator that shows when the water is safely pasteurized without the need to bring it to a full boil. It’s tiny, light, and will save a ton of fuel. It would really extend the fuel in a BOB and still be useful to have around even in a bug in situation.

Link to the video with the explanation (the whole series is worth watching): https://youtu.be/rIMeq0c7rJM?t=877

Product link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00F7104EY/

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Gear

See what mail you are receiving before it arrives. Informed Delivery by the USPS

Supersonic - November 7, 2022

Computers scan and sort every piece of mail that we get. By signing up for Informed Delivery, you get a copy of those scans to your email every morning so you know what mail to expect in the next day or two.

I believe that signing up for this free service is one more way to be a little more prepared. Why you may ask? Well, I’ll tell you!

Know if an important letter will be in the mail that day, such as a refund check or tax documents. On days I get important letters, I make it a priority to decrease the amount of time it sits in the mailbox to avoid theft. Know if you will even get mail that day. No point risking slipping on ice walking to the mailbox if there is only junk mail in there, it can wait till tomorrow. Get alerts when packages will be delivered so you avoid porch pirates. You get the ability to electronic sign for packages if you aren’t able to be at your home when it is delivered, thus freeing up your schedule and avoiding going to the post office later to pick up your package that you were not home for. Easily schedule redelivery for packages. Sign up for this service so a bad guy or girl can’t. To sign up for this service, you create an account, put in your address, receive a letter in the mail with a code, and enter it into the website to confirm you are who you say you are. The thing though is, if I was a bad guy who wanted to get emails from the USPS with pictures of all my neighbor’s mail and know when to steal stimulus checks or birthday cards from mailboxes, all I would have to do is sign up for an account, steal that confirmation letter out of the mailbox when it gets delivered and I am now able to monitor all the mail people get. If I as the rightful owner create an account, then the bad guy can’t because there is already an existing account.

 
I have enjoyed using Informed Delivery and it does make me slightly more prepared in certain ways. Maybe your mailbox is literally on your front porch and it’s easy to check your mail and this is unnecessary, but for those who have community mailboxes such as in an apartment building, this could at least be a little convenient.

https://www.usps.com/manage/informed-delivery.htm

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How would you prep with an EV?

sewknot - November 6, 2022

Background 

I was listening to the radio this morning and they were interviewing a Norwegian pop star about a campaign in the 1980’s to promote electric vehicles. 

During the piece they mentioned that the Norwegian government has plans to phase out sales of all petrol and diesel vehicles by 2027 (just 4 years time). Many other nations in Europe have similar plans.

This got me thinking about how this would effect preparedness, especially as my own country is looking at rolling blackouts and I had just been researching what times and days I was likely to be without power.

If you have a diesel or petrol vehicle it’s possible to keep extra fuel for those ‘just in case’ scenarios BUT what would you do instead if you had an Electric vehicle?

I’m interested to hear what you do if you have an EV or would do! 

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Scenarios

Harvest envy thread

Sun Yeti - November 4, 2022

In college, I learned to always study for finals in the library. Why? In the library, when I looked around and saw other students surrounded by empty coffee cups who had been there since 6 am. I felt behind and got back to work. If I tried to study in the dorm, I looked around and saw people goofing off, said to myself ‘well, I studied six hours today, that’s a lot more than them, I’m probably fine.”

What’s my point? Seeing Redneck’s thread about muscadines (including buckets of grapes at the end) is pretty motivating to get my own vines planted. 

So, to keep each other motivated to plant crops, learn to forage new things etc. I think we should start posting envy pictures of our harvests. To get us going, here’s a pic of three pounds of juicy ripe figs I foraged from feral plants in the neighborhood (I got about three harvests this size this year). 

I also got a similar sized batch of wild pawpaws, but neglected to take any pictures.

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Rambo style survival knife or multitool?

hikermor - November 3, 2022

Standard recommendation is a full tang, 4″ blade (or more).  I have several, including a nice KaBar, but I think a quality multitool is even more versatile.  Way back when, I carried an SAK, which served well in youthful escapades, but I changed to a Leatherman PSK when they came out, and I now have several L tools.  My current normal EDC is a Skeletool CX, but I  will also carry a fully accessorized Wave on occasion.

Having gadgets like saws, screwdrivers, and pliers can be really useful, even when the blade is a folder.  I have never experienced a problem.

It is best when preparing for specific situations, to choose the most suitable items, but for general use I am quite happy with a multitool.

Heresy, I know.  Please comment….

wav

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Gear

Why won’t canned heat boil my water?

mr prepper - November 3, 2022

I’m preparing for a winter power outage. Some of the food I bought is prepared with boiling water, and I want an emergency cooking option in case there’s a problem with my gas. I was considering using a butane camping stove, but I heard butane canisters don’t work when it gets cold. Since my building uses electricity for heating, it will most likely get cold, so I think trying to use butane might be a bad idea.

I decided to try using canned heat and a Coghlan camping stove to boil water. I had 3-4 cups of water in my pot, and I waited for 20 minutes after lighting the canned heat, but the water didn’t boil.

Is canned heat a bad option for boiling water in an emergency, or am I doing it wrong? Would the brand of canned heat or type of pot affect this? In case the type of pot would affect this, I used a regular stainless steel pot from my kitchen. Is there a better option for indoors emergency cooking at cold temperatures? I considered using a propane stove, but I haven’t seen any that aren’t designed for outdoor use. Read More

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AdviceGear

FDA guidance on taking potassium iodide after a nuclear bomb goes off

Jay ValenciaContributor - October 31, 2022

Many people’s minds are on nuclear war, radiation, and how to survive such a catastrophic event. Wanting to filter out the fact from fiction and the fear mongering from the rational way to prepare, I looked for a reputable resource on what to do.

Click here to read the entire FAQ by the FDA about potassium iodide, but I will sum things up below.

What does potassium iodide (KI) do?
KI reduces the risk of thyroid cancer in people who inhale or ingest radioiodines by flooding the thyroid with non-radioactive iodine and prevents the thyroid from taking on the bad radioactive kind. The non-radioactive iodine then is excreted in the urine.
My opinion – This pill won’t stop radiation from getting into your body. And if you shelter in place, have good filtered air, and aren’t eating or drinking things that have been outside and exposed to the radiation, then there really isn’t any point to take KI.

Who really needs to take potassium iodide (KI) after a nuclear radiation release?
The FDA says that infants, children, and pregnant/nursing women are at the highest risk of developing radioiodine-induced thyroid cancer and should be given priority if a limited number of KI is available. And they should be properly dosed as explained later. Anyone over 40 should only be treated if they are expected to receive a very high dose of radiation that would destroy their thyroid and induce lifelong hypothyroidism (thyroid deficiency).

What potassium iodide (KI) products are currently available?
These are the only FDA approved KI products on the market

iOSAT tablets, 130mg, from Anbex, Inc. iOSAT tablets, 65mg, from Anbex, Inc. ThyroSafe tablets, 65mg, from BTG INTERNATIONAL, Inc. Potassium Iodide Oral Solution USP, 65mg/mL, from Mission Pharmacal Company

Below is a chart with dosing depending on which above product you have. This would be good to print and store with whatever KI product you have. See the full post in the link above for a better view of this chart.

When and for how long should I take potassium iodide (KI)? 
Don’t take KI as a preventative before radiation exposure. If there is a radiological event, officials will tell the public if there is a need to take KI. KI is best used within 3-4 hours of exposure, so you do have some time. Taking a higher dose of KI than is recommended in the chart above doesn’t give you more protection, your thyroid can only hold onto so much iodine and extra in your system will cause illness or death. KI protects for 24 hours, so take the above recommended dose daily until officials tell you the threat is over.

Should I buy potassium iodide (KI) to keep on hand
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission recommends that those within 10-miles of a nuclear power plant have some KI on hand.
My opinion – If you live within 15 miles of a potential nuclear target, I would possibly consider it.

My summary – Sounds like only certain people are recommended to have KI and only if they use it properly and are exposed to certain amounts of radiation. It isn’t a magic pill that lets you then walk around in the nuclear wasteland and is more limited than many of us probably think it is. Still, preventing thyroid cancer is something to think about.

Read the entire FDA guide for more info, better details, and which people are not recommended to take KI.

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Scenarios

Ways of heating a MA apartment without electricity?

mr prepper - October 29, 2022

I am prepping for a winter power outage in Massachusetts. I live in an apartment with central heating that depends on electricity, so I need a way to keep warm when the power goes out. Looking at the article about emergency heating, it seems that a portable propane heater is recommended for indoor heating. However, I don’t know how to effectively prevent carbon monoxide buildup while using one indoors. Another concern is that I heard that it’s dangerous to store propane indoors, and I’m pretty sure someone will steal my propane if I leave it on the porch. So, I have a few questions about heating my apartment without electricity:

Would I realistically be able to use a portable heater in my apartment without dying from carbon monoxide? Would cracking open a window provide enough ventilation without the risk of carbon monoxide buildup, and how possible is this during a snowstorm? How would I store the propane? What’s the most cost-effective way of prepping for at least 2 weeks when using a propane heater? Assuming that a 1 lb propane canister lasts 6 hours, I would need a lot of canisters to heat my space for 2 weeks. Other than using a propane heater, what would be some other ways of keeping my space warm? Read More

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AdviceGearScenarios

Any Jiu Jitsu enthusiasts here?

adrianalindgren - October 28, 2022

 I love how it makes me feel and I use it to cross out my cardio for the day lol

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Long-term wilderness survival skills

Eric - October 28, 2022

Could I survive long-term in the wilderness? Probably not. I’m trying to study these skills anyway. If I can develop the skills to make it even a month or two, surely those skills will also be useful for more short-term emergency situations.

I’ve bee reading Thrive, a long-term survival guide by Alone S9 participant Juan Pablo Quiñonez. (Thanks for the book giveaway, TP!) He clearly knows what he’s talking about, and is also an excellent teacher. He says in the introduction: “If one had to live in the wild for up to one year with only a single book, what would it contain?” I think he succeeded in writing that book, and I’ll be keeping it in by BOB until I’ve read it enough times to not need it anymore.

Chapters include preparation, mindset, clothing, travel, water, fire, shelter, food/foraging, edible plants, fishing, trapping, hunting, bushcraft, winter, health, electronics, and natural hazards. Topics are clearly explained and seem to work well both for learning and for reference.

What do you think about the role of long-term wilderness survival skills for emergency preparedness? Are there other books or resources that you like for learning these skills?

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Skills

How long, really, is refrigerated food safe after a power outage?

PrepPrepPrep - October 28, 2022

I see many many sites, including the CDC, foodsafety.gov, usdairy.com, etc., that tell me which foods are safe to keep and which need to be tossed, *after four hours* with no refrigeration. I do not see a single site that tells me what to do if the food that was “safe” after four hours has now gone 24 hours with no power. Some of my questions are: unopened cheddar cheese, thickly grated Parmesan, an open package of tortillas, the jar of olives that is opened, and basically everything in the freezer, since I was out of town and not there to check for ice crystals.

What a nice day to give the fridge a thorough cleaning! 🙁

P.S., I will not be trying any of these foods but am not tossing the ones I have questions about until I resolve the question. No need to kill myself because I want to save a few dollars!

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Saw this great twitter thread about the “San Francisco Seawallpocalypse”

quentin - October 28, 2022

Hello all! This is my first post after lurking for a couple months. I just saw this great twitter thread about the seawall situation in SF and thought I would post it here. Really fascinating.

Earthquake today is a good reminder of the pending-urban-disaster-no-one-talks-about:

San Francisco Seawallpocalypse! 🌊💀🔥

Thread/

— fry (@anniefryman) October 25, 2022

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Scenarios

A comparison of four electric lanterns under $75

Gideon ParkerStaff - October 28, 2022

This is a quick review of four electric lanterns you might want to consider.

LuminAID PackLite Titan 2-in-1

Stats:

300 Lumens 4000mAh battery 12.5oz White and red light modes High, medium, low, very low, and SOS mode

Pros:

The small solar panel actually does charge this lantern. While it is recommended to have dedicated lanterns, solar panels, and power banks, if you were hard set on only having one product and were going to use this in your home preps, the LuminAID PackLite Titan could be a good option. Provides room filling light in both white and red colors. This does feel like a premium item and isn’t a cheaply constructed product. Can charge android tablet, cell phone, or gaming console and power light at the same time.

Cons:

Buttons are hard to see in the dark and difficult to press because they are not raised up very high. I don’t see many use cases for the very low and SOS settings. Not sure of how durable or rip resistant the plastic fabric is. If you throw this in a pack a sharp cook set or knife could slice it and while it still will diffuse the light, it might expose the electronics inside to moisture. Keep it wrapped in a shirt or bandanna to solve this. There was a strong plastic smell for the first three days of using it that smells like pool water wings that toddlers use.

Survival Frog Pocket Light 3.0

Stats:

Unknown lumen 1200mAH battery 5.75oz 4 modes – high, low, SOS (strobe), and flashlight mode

Pros:

Compact for storage and travel, large for use. Lightweight. Because of the diffusion material that the lantern uses, the normally harsh white light was actually very nice to read and work by for a long time. Great job Survival Frog from moving away from that crinkly plastic diffuser that many pop-up lanterns use, this fabric mesh is a much better solution.

Cons:

Unknown how well the solar panel works because there is no battery life indicator, but guessing not very well. The SOS mode is more of a flashing strobe light that hurts your eyes.

Survival Frog QuadPod camping lantern

Stats:

700 lumens 2400 mAh battery 8.8oz 6 lighting settings

Pros:

This really is a great camping lantern. The many settings and adjustable angles make it so you can light up any situation. Glow in the dark button and USB dust cover A very bright room filling light.

Cons:

USB dust/water cover doesn’t stay in place very well Doesn’t seem like it would survive too many drops onto hard surfaces before cracking. The solar panels are so small that they don’t do anything. I left this lantern in the sun for three full days and it didn’t get any more charged during that time. The SOS mode is more of a flashing strobe light that hurts your eyes.

Streamlight Siege X

Stats:

300 lumens 2600 mAh battery 7.2oz White and red light modes 7 lighting modes

Pros:

Durable and small Uses the popular, replaceable, and powerful 18650 battery.

Cons:

Although the red light is a welcome feature, it is rather dim and not very useful.

Summary:

Best shelter in place at home lantern: luminAID Titan

Best collapsible and nicest looking light: Survival Frog Pocket Light

Best lantern for camping: Survival Frog QuadPod

Best bug out bag lantern: Streamlight Siege X

Video review showing a close up of how the lanterns are constructed and function along with seeing the brightness levels and various settings. 

Stress testing

To simulate these lanterns being left out during a cold winter night, the lanterns were sprayed down with a hose for 30+ seconds and then left in the freezer over night. They all survived the rain and freeze test, but the two lanterns by Survival Frog did get water inside of their housings, so they aren’t very water tight and it may not be the best to leave you lanterns out when it rains.

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Gear

Lessons from the Great Shakeout

Alicia - October 27, 2022

The only accurately predicted earthquake occurred on Oct 20th at 10:20am.  And it happens every year.  It’s the Great Shakeout earthquake drill exercise.  My workplace participates and this year did the full “Drop, Cover, and Hold-On” through evacuation and assembly in a location away from buildings with personnel accounting.  We’ve participated this before, but this was the first since the pandemic and we have partial teleworking now.  Lessons I noted:

No clear leadership in emergency preparedness at my workplace.  I am a volunteer who helps with evacuation communication and personnel accounting for the floor of my office building.  As such, I get a bit more information on the planning for these events.  Months ago, I gently asked questions and made simple suggestions for clarification of assembly areas (many buildings were sent to a very large parking lot).  This was pushed off to individual buildings to address but eventually did get some help the week before the shakeout. Expectations and scenarios weren’t communicated.  The assembly area for my building is outside an entry gate, but the path that we were told to use was unintuitive and circuitous.  Not one that anyone would take on a normal day.  I had no idea that was the expected path.  It confused everyone.  And then, the plans for what happened after accounting completed were never mentioned in prep, or during execution.  So we know where to go, but then what?  I personally mentioned to my cohort that in the event of a real earthquake, we would be sent home from this assembly area without re-entering any buildings (which must be inspected for safety).  If you don’t have your car keys with you, you’re not driving home.  Overall, I received more questions than I could answer – like if the new parking garage would be inspected early so folks could get to their cars. The post pandemic teleworking reality has not been addressed.  The processes that are in place were developed when everyone was on-site.  Many people were working from home which creates a new challenge for how to determine if someone is still in a building needing help. Emergency preparedness is not well funded at my workplace.  It is a large campus-like facility with many buildings and its own security and fire department.  All other support is volunteer, including a Disaster and Rescue Team, Urban Search and Rescue team, and the building and floor accounting volunteers – called Fire Marshalls or Wardens. I didn’t test my personal earthquake plans like contacting my husband.  He also works where I do, and our assembly areas are not co-located.

Overall, I think this was more of a missed opportunity.  Yes we participated, and some folks will have learned lessons, but clear guidance, goals, and process are lacking and could have been started beforehand to practice.  I’ve not yet heard what outcome the institution reports from it.

Did anyone else participate who is willing to share their experience?

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Scenarios

Too cold, too hot – are you prepared

Shaun - October 26, 2022

Many European countries are ordering government buildings and others to limit their air conditioning thermostat to 77F and heat to 66F. It’s not clear how they can enforce these limits aside from astronomical electricity prices.

But if electricity prices rose dramatically and you were forced to implement something like this what would be the impact to you? How would you prepare or react?

In my case, we keep the AC at 74F during the day and night. In the winter we set heat to 72F but turn it off around 9pm and back on at 4:30am. It is no lower than 50F at 4:30am and we believe we sleep much better in a cool room.

I work at home permanently now and my ‘office’ is next to the garage and on a concrete slab. The room is not very efficient and it’s near 80F in the summer so I use a fan. The drawbacks are I tend to get heat rash and I need a shower at the end of the day.

In the winter, the floor of this room is very cold and the room is usually in the low 60’s. I use a closed-cell foam pad to keep my feet warm, wear a vest and a hat.

My concerns for the coming winter have less to do with the recommended range of temperatures and more with the reliability of power.

How will you adjust? How will our European members adjust?

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Scenarios

Safe deposit box vs. other off-site document storage

Colorado Jones - October 25, 2022

I’m in process of compiling/inventorying/scanning/copying important documents (wills/titles/insurance policies/etc.)  In the past, I’ve stored most of those documents in a fire-proof safe in my home and, as a result of the current process, expect to store digital backup copies on a flash drive (or two or three).  I’m contemplating, however, the possibility of storing copies (either paper or digital or, perhaps, originals) in an offsite location such as a bank safety deposit box or, alternatively, in a fireproof safe in my parents’ basement (17 miles from here), my brother’s home several states away or, possibly, a combination of the above.  While I do use secure cloud storage for digital files (photos, work files, etc.), my inclination is NOT to store highly sensitive personal information in the cloud.

Mostly, I just want my wife to be able to easily locate and retrieve everything if, god forbid, something should happen to me.  (Or, in the event that something happens to both of us, our next of kin.)  But, secondarily, in the event of a major catastrophe or other SHTF scenario, obviously, I’d want backup copies of important documents in case the originals are destroyed or otherwise inaccessible.

Just some initial thoughts on document storage.  I would feedback from others who have already done this (or, at least, are further along in this aspect of prepping than I am).  Thanks!

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Advice

Survival Drill – Escape from quarantine

Eric - October 25, 2022

You are working in a large drug manufacturing complex when a a virus escapes. The facility is quarantined. Can you find the anti-viral drug and escape before you are infected?

We’ll be playing this Endure-style game on Friday, Oct 14, at 8pm CST / 9pm EST. No experience needed – anyone can join. Come 15 minutes early if you need help getting setup, especially with Discord’s audio chat.

Try to arrive on time, but it’s still possible to join after the game has started. Players arriving late will start at a disadvantage and will have some inventory items chosen for them.

Endure is about being in the wrong place at the wrong time and surviving in a harsh situation. You are not a hero – just a regular person trying to deal with a bad situation. And you’ll be part of a team of TPers trying to get through it together.

Optional: Create a Character

Endure characters have a background (who are you), an asset (skill or knowledge), and a trouble (weakness, disability, or flaw). You can create a character based on yourself, create a fictional character, or accept a pre-made character when you arrive.

Join us on Discord, find more information in the “#prepper-chat-night > Game Night” thread, and let us know you’ll be joining.

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ScenariosSkills

Making your own popsicles to stay cool

Bradical - October 25, 2022

A nice frozen treat is a perfect remedy after a hot day outside. And while we are now in October and most of us aren’t thinking about having frozen foods, (I’m always late to the game, sorry) I hope this can be a resource in the future.

Now I’m no scientist, but I think cold drinks and frozen food are a great way to stay cool because they go inside of you and cool down your organs and blood that is then circulated throughout your body. Whereas something like a fan or air conditioning cools your skin but takes a while to cool your core.

Popsicles and ice cream are readily available and cheap at the store, but have you looked at the ingredients? While they taste amazing, they aren’t that amazing for our bodies. I wanted a healthier option. I could make my own popsicles using the style of mold that I grew up with which has a stick, but you have to constantly hold those and mostly just suck on or lick them, and they melt and get all sticky down your hand. Plus how do you eat the bottom without stabbing yourself down the throat with that stick?

I liked the otter pop style of popsicle. These can be sealed if you want to take a break and set them down for a minute, the little caps prevent any melted juice from running out, and they are thin enough that you can bite down on it and swallow a piece of frozen popsicle that will then melt inside your stomach and cool you down more.  This pack from Amazon is $10 for 6 silicone popsicle molds.

During this past month, I’ve made several batches of these using a few different recipes. To be healthier and to make this more of a useful prep to cool me down and rehydrate my body, I started by making a homemade electrolyte drink and freezing that. 

Homemade electrolyte popsicles

Squeeze a lemon or lime Magnesium glycinate powder Salt Cream of tarter (potassium) Liquid stevia sweetens and does not add calories or spike insulin. Water

I’m not going to put down ratios because I don’t remember what I used and don’t claim to have the perfect mix. This tastes good as a drink, but when frozen as a popsicle, all the flavor migrates to one side and then the rest just tastes like an ice cube.

The next recipe I tried was a store-bought electrolyte powder mix and I added half the recommended water so the flavor would be more concentrated when frozen. This worked better than the first attempt, but still had a majority of the flavor in the first few licks, leaving the rest pretty plain.

I also tried using some leftover lemonade we had in the fridge and this by far was the best tasting because it had so much sugar in it. Go figure…

If you aren’t so worried about tracking the amount of sugar you are consuming or don’t care for all those additional minerals then just some plain fruit juice can makes some good popsicles.

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Gear

Case study: Long-term food storage without electricity

Colorado Jones - October 25, 2022

A fascinating case study in survival and preparedness.  What are your takeaways?

Climate Change Comes for the Freezers, a Key Tool for Alaska Natives

Threatened by stronger storms and a melting permafrost, Indigenous Alaskans are grappling with how to keep the power running to their freezers, which store their traditional subsistence foods.

https://archive.ph/wkWn3

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Scenarios

Giveaway: New survival guide book from Alone’s S9 Juan Pablo Quinonez

John AdamaStaff - October 23, 2022

Edit: All copies are spoken for

To spread the news about the books release, current Alone season contestant JP is sending out 3 free copies to the TP community, with the expectation of a fair review shared here later! (Your help is how we keep the best books list updated too!)

The book is THRIVE: Long-Term Wilderness Survival Guide. (It’s 120,000 words, so you’re not expected to read the whole thing. Just a fair shake.) Seems like more of a reference guide “covering modern survival skills with bushcraft techniques, step-by-step instructions, and over 400 illustrations.”

First come first served. Reply here (we’ll email the address on your account) or contact us directly via email: hello@thissite 

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GearNews

Car battery jump starter advice

SailorRunner - October 23, 2022

There are alot of vehicle battery jump starters out there these days. They seem like a great replacement to the old cables.

I am fine tuning our 2 vehicles car kits in prep for winter in the Northeast of US and want to add 1 per vehicle in place of cables. That said I didn’t see any official TP gear review and wanted to see if anyone has any thoughts or advice?

We have been AAA members for over 25 years so they are only a phone call away if needed but as everyone says on here, have backups to the backups and plan for the worst case.

Thanks for any comments from those that have or used any of these jump starters.

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AdviceGear