Active New Top (30 days) Compact Card News for the Week 2024-10-28 The Prepared Support - November 1, 2024 Make a top-level comment for a new story/topic. Discussions about the topic should be in the replies to the top-level comment. That way things stay organized and every main comment as you scroll down is a different piece of news. Read More 1 1 News News for the Week 2024-10-21 The Prepared Support - October 21, 2024 Make a top-level comment for a new story/topic. Discussions about the topic should be in the replies to the top-level comment. That way things stay organized and every main comment as you scroll down is a different piece of news. Read More 0 0 News News for the Week 2024-10-07 The Prepared Support - October 18, 2024 Make a top-level comment for a new story/topic. Discussions about the topic should be in the replies to the top-level comment. That way things stay organized and every main comment as you scroll down is a different piece of news. Read More 2 1 News Neutrality for the sake of survival and how to manage the full spectrum of ideologies Watchtower - October 16, 2024 First most, politics are not allowed. It’s very clear that society for Americans is rapidly transforming due to several factors and people are largely polarized in what they believe, how they choose to exist and what they expect others to be like in terms of their own beliefs. In terms of prepping and long term survival from a SHTF event that could play out for the medium to long term changing society as we know it today, What are people doing to prepare in terms of which side you may be on when things go bad? Do you find yourself welcoming to all type of beliefs and ideologies? Do you hold strong opinion and are more narrowly focused in an ideology? Do you find it dangerous to be around certain types of ideologies more than other types? Are you concerned about being subjected to aggressive type ideologies (cults, criminals, hordes) or even passive type ideologies (hippy, no-violence, share-the-wealth types) compromising your safety and survival during troubled times? Do you just plan to go it solo or work with a small group of folks knowing that strength in numbers can also backfire at a certain point? Please share your thoughts, you don’t have to answer any specific question from above. -Watchtower Read More 0 3 Scenarios Request for gear review – Gloves Bigwig - October 16, 2024 I’d like to see a gear review on gloves. There are so many types of gloves (work, winter, tactical, disposable, etc.) and so many brands that it is hard to know which ones area the best value. Read More 14 16 Gear Prep for fume event? Marshall Findlay - October 16, 2024 Hi all, This is my first post to the TP forum, though I’ve been diving into all the great resources since I discovered the site earlier this year. Stephanie Arnold brought up in her update for December 17 the notion of “fume events” in which faulty seals result in toxic fumes entering into the main cabin. The article to which she referenced described pilots passing out and passengers/crew complaining of long-lasting side effects. I had no idea 1) that air was drawn from engine exhaust into the cabin after being scrubbed for toxins or that 2) this air could turn toxic with equipment malfunction. According to the article she references, 2019 saw 362 “fume events” although there are likely more that go unreported. My question is as follows: would you all consider it a reasonable prep to invest in face masks with the potential to filter out carbon monoxide and other potential toxins? Would bringing such an item as a carry-on even be allowed? More practically, with 3 young children traveling in tow, has anyone looked into functioning masks (or hoods) for kids that would provide a sufficient seal to keep them from breathing all that nasty stuff in? Thanks all! Read More 9 3 Scenarios What three firearms would you have for prepping? Paulino Martin - October 16, 2024 If you could only have three firearms and cared about preparedness, what would you have? Don’t want to start a “the one true caliber” debate (let’s not open that can of worms just yet!), so this is more about platforms/types that work together well if things really get bad in the world. Read More 33 89 Gear News for the Week 2024-09-30 The Prepared Support - October 1, 2024 Make a top-level comment for a new story/topic. Discussions about the topic should be in the replies to the top-level comment. That way things stay organized and every main comment as you scroll down is a different piece of news. Read More 2 2 News News for the Week 2024-09-23 The Prepared Support - September 23, 2024 Make a top-level comment for a new story/topic. Discussions about the topic should be in the replies to the top-level comment. That way things stay organized and every main comment as you scroll down is a different piece of news. Read More 2 0 News Time to Replace Smoke Detectors-Looking for Recommendations Bigwig - September 21, 2024 Looking for recommendations on smoke detectors, CO2 detectors, and heat detectors. Like a lot of devices, smoke detectors have a limited life. My reminder was when my plug-in CO2 detector started beeping at 3AM with the message ‘end’, which means it is the end of life. Guess what happened at 3AM the next night? My second (of three) CO2 detectors did the same thing. I currently have Kidde. I’m done with them because of false alarms. We had so many in the middle of the night that everyone had ear protection next to their bed. I ended up contacting Kidde and of the seven that I have, five were replaced. They claimed that there were a lot of issues with the dual sensor units. This is my current plan: Smoke alarm: First Alert hard-wired/battery backup dual photoelectric and ionization sensors Heat sensors (for garage): First Alert hard-wired/battery backup CO2: BRK (First Alert) combination explosive gas and CO2 plug-in/battery backup Thought process: I didn’t go with dual smoke detector/CO2 units because I’d rather get a dual sensor smoke detector and a separate CO2 detector. By doing a separate CO2 detector, I can get combo explosive gas/CO2 unit for each floor. My home inspector recommended heat sensors in the garage due to the false alarms from vehicle exhaust. I like the newer tech where you can connect you smartphone, but they are too expensive. I don’t really see much benefit for Wi-Fi connected devices in my situation since I already have the electrical wiring infrastructure in my house. Thoughts? Read More 1 0 How to avoid losing your entire digital life in an instant Supersonic - September 5, 2024 TL;DR: Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Download all your data and store offline regularly. A New York Times article this week, really got me thinking about how I organize my digital life. Sorry it is long but please take the time to read this, the lessons learned from this person’s experience can apply to 99% of us and there are things we can do now to prepare and be resilient against losing our entire digital life in an instant. Here’s a brief summary of the article. A dad noticed a rash occurring on his toddler son’s genitals and took pictures with his Android smartphone to document the problem and track its progression. The parents contacted their doctor who requested the photos so they could review them in advance to their doctors appointment. The husband texted the photos to his wife’s iPhone and she then uploaded them to the doctor’s patient portal. The doctor prescribed antibiotics and the rash cleared up for the toddler. Two days later, the dad’s phone received a message stating that his Google account was suspended because of “harmful content”. He then thought about it and realized that Google probably thinks he was sharing child porn. No big deal though, he could just contact Google and clear it up, he did nothing wrong. He filled out a form requesting a review of Google’s decision and explained his son’s infection and that the doctor requested those pictures. A few days after that, he received a response stating that they will not reinstate his account. It gets worse… Google then contacted the authorities and the San Francisco Police Department opened up a case against this dad. He received a letter in the mail stating that they were investigating him, and served warrants to Google and his internet service provider. This would include all of his internet searches, location history, messages, documents, pictures, and videos. The dad contacted the investigator and tried to clear his name, the investigator responded that they have already closed the case because they could tell that no crime had occurred (and clearly had common sense). The dad appealed his case to Google again sharing the police report that he is innocent, but Google was not going to budge. The New York Times also reached out to Google and asked if this dad could have his account back and they said no as well. He then got a notice that all of his information with Google was going to be permanently deleted. The sorta happy ending to all this though is that because the police had served that warrant with Google, they had a copy of all his data. They are in the process of getting this dad his information. What a headache right!? Let’s look at all the real damage that was done. This Google account was decades old and contained all of his emails for all that time. His contacts were stored with Google. All of his appointments were in his Google Calendar. All of his phone’s photos and videos were stored in the Google Cloud. His phone’s service plan was with the Google Fi provider so he lost that as well. He received is 2 factor authentication codes through text messages tied to that Google Fi phone number This dad really put all his eggs in one basket and got sucked into the convenient ecosystem that Google has set up. Look up at that list and think about what you would do if you could no longer receive, send, or view old emails, could no longer receive calls or texts, couldn’t get into your accounts that needed a text message verification code, lost all your calendar appointments, and years of pictures and videos of your family. I personally would be devastated! It could be even worse if you took important notes in Google Keep, bought lots of apps, music, movies, and books through your Google account, subscribed to various YouTube channels, and more. The lesson here is that you could be totally innocent and did nothing wrong and get your entire account banned, and even if you plead your case and any normal person with common sense would be on your side, they can still have your account banned. Below are my tips on what I do and want to do better to avoid situations like this from totally disrupting my life. Please share your thoughts and advice as well, I want to hear if there is some better or different approach I can take to make things better. Email – This actually happened to me last month. I was switching email accounts and for a weekend didn’t have access to my emails. It made me feel vulnerable that I could no longer contact certain people, receive notices from my bank, or get important medical test results that I was waiting on. Email is vital. Easy step – Download a copy of your emails through Google Takeout. This will give you an offline copy of your existing data. Medium step #1 – Have all of your emails automatically forward to a secondary Google or other email account. That way if you got banned from one account, a copy would exist in another account. Medium step #2 – Switch to another email provider that isn’t able to see the content of your emails. ProtonMail is a great solution. Advanced step #1 – POP/IMAP your emails to your computer for offline viewing. Advanced step #2 – Set up a custom domain. If your main email gets banned, you can then move it to another service and continue as normal. Calendar – Easy step – Export weekly/monthly your Google Calendar or any other calendar service you have. This offline file can then be imported into another Google account or pretty much any other calendar service and be rebuilt without losing all your appointments. Medium step – Move to a totally offline calendar solution and don’t sync it to the cloud. Still keep your regular backups though in case your device gets broken. I like the app Simple Calendar for Android. Photo and video storage – This all might have been avoided if he hadn’t set his phone to automatically upload his pictures and videos to the cloud. Easy step – Turn off cloud sync with Google or iCloud. Yes, Apple also scans and flags potential bad pictures on their service too. Easy step – Plug your phone into a computer monthly and download all your pictures and videos to it. Medium step – Move to more secure cloud storage like ProtonDrive or Sync.com where they cannot access or see what you store with them. Phone service – Easy step – Having a different phone provider like Tmobile or Verizon will make it not as life disrupting if you lost you Google account. Medium step – Create another Google account and use it solely for Google Voice, which gives you a free additional phone number that you can use to make and receive calls and text messages. 2 Factor Authentication – Easy step – Prioritize software based 2FA over text or email based 2FA. It is commonly an option everywhere except for banks in my experience. That way if you lost access to your phone number, you can still get into accounts. An easy solution is to use Authy. Easy step – Many sites will offer backup recovery codes if you don’t have access to your authenticator app, store these to get in again. Medium step – Move to a totally offline 2FA application like Aegis for Android or OTP Auth for iOS. Back these up manually on a regular basis in case your device is ever lost or destroyed. Advanced step – When setting up 2FA with each service, download your seed codes into your password manager. Then if your authenticator app breaks or whatever, you can manually rebuild. Contacts – Easy step – Download and backup your contacts offline monthly. Medium step – Request alternative phone numbers and emails for each of your contacts and set up alternatives for yourself and give those to all your contacts. Make sure everyone can reach everyone at any time by any means possible. Medium step – Print off your contact information and store in your emergency binder. Good tip for all the above and everything else – Download all your data regularly and store offline. If that’s through Google Takeout, or manually for each service, this is the best thing you can do to prevent total loss. Then back that up again somewhere else, preferably at a friend’s house. Gone are the days you can take pictures of your kid running naked in the sprinklers without having to worry about getting your account suspended. There are many other situations where you can fall victim to such things like driving past a house where someone is getting murdered and your location data is on and police think you are the murderer, or someone uses your unlocked device and looks up bad things that then gets tied back to you. Don’t fall into the thinking that “This will never happen to me” because that dad probably was thinking that and look at what he has had to go through now. Read More 13 8 NewsScenarios News for the week of 2024-08-26 The Prepared Support - September 4, 2024 Make a top-level comment for a new story/topic. Discussions about the topic should be in the replies to the top-level comment. That way things stay organized and every main comment as you scroll down is a different piece of news. Read More 1 1 News New gun owners with questions? Caliber Carpenter - September 1, 2024 Seeing as how the demand for firearms is at an all time high, and the number of new gun owners is exponentially increasing, I figured it would be good to open a thread for anyone new or inexperienced with firearms to throw out any questions they might have. So fire away (see what I did there?) I’m here to answer any questions and I’m sure Thomas can drop in as well Read More 19 101 Testing expired hand sanitizer for effectiveness Bigwig - August 20, 2024 Are there any ways to test hand sanitizer? I have some that is beyond the ‘best by’ date and would prefer not to waste it if it is still viable. Read More 4 6 Best solar generator for HOT Arizona desert JBinAZ - August 19, 2024 Trying to figure out which small portable solar generator would be best for us. We are in the Phoenix area and get temps up to 120+ F in the summer. Rarely go below 35 F in the winter. I do have several of the small Novoos and Ruffwear solar fold up panels that were rec’d here on the prepared for charging smaller items. Would like to get something bigger with plugs so we can run larger fans, etc. Not looking to run major appliances. And yes, we already have some mid size fans that run off of Li-ion batteries. Cost is not really an issue. Willing to invest in the best product to suit our needs. Looking at Goal Zero Yeti 150 (lead-acid battery) and Goal Zero 200x (Lithium) and their appropriate solar panels.Q1: What type of battery is best for our hot desert environment? Q2: What about Jackery? Better/ Worse/ Same? EcoFlow RIVER? Q3: What would you recommend?Thanks for your help, should you decide to respond. Been having a health issue that has been making me foggy and tired, lately, so researching for me, right now, is draining. Read More 13 12 Gear Water storage tanks proco84 - August 19, 2024 Hi All Thinking about getting some potable drinking water storage tanks installed in my home – any suggestions on how I should go about this and where I should look (UK based). Read More 14 6 News for the Week 2024-08-19 The Prepared Support - August 19, 2024 Make a top-level comment for a new story/topic. Discussions about the topic should be in the replies to the top-level comment. That way things stay organized and every main comment as you scroll down is a different piece of news. Read More 1 0 Rapid Radio EMR Claire - August 15, 2024 Has anyone used the Rapid Radio EMR? Will it work in a gown scenario where there’s no cell tower coverage? Also, is it just a ham radio? Read More 1 0 News for the Week 2024-08-12 The Prepared Support - August 12, 2024 Make a top-level comment for a new story/topic. Discussions about the topic should be in the replies to the top-level comment. That way things stay organized and every main comment as you scroll down is a different piece of news. Read More 1 1 Skills >> Gucci Gear Caliber Carpenter - August 5, 2024 Wanted to make this post mostly pertaining to firearms as I’ve seen a lot of people on here asking questions about purchasing their first gun, but this advice can also be applied to just about anything prepping related. Keep in mind when going to purchase a firearm, or any piece of gear for that matter, that no matter how nice the gear may be, no matter how many cool features it may have, it is nearly useless in the hands of an unskilled operator. This mainly relates to firearms in the fact that far too many people get swept up in the game of trying to find “the best” weapon or optic or accessory out there and lose sight of what actually matters; Shooting the weapon. Sure that $2,000 LMT rifle looks super cool, runs like a racehorse, and has a ton of features, but if you can’t hit a 12″ silhouette at 50yds then it may as well be a pawn shop trade in special. What I’m saying is don’t assume that you can just buy skill with a weapon. Yes I love my Gucci ARs as much as the next gun nut, but if I blow my entire budget on a super expensive rifle setup and have no money for ammo to train with then it means nothing. Now I know right now circumstances are a little rough if you didn’t stockpile ammo before all this began, but the good news is there is still a way to hone your skills without ever firing a round. It’s called dry fire. Thomas and I touched on this in a previous thread, but dry fire is a wonderful way to build skills and muscle memory that are critical to fluid gun handling, particularly for handguns. The internet is full of videos of dry fire drills you can run at home without a single bullet fired that will greatly improve your speed, skill, and overall familiarity with the weapon. I’d be glad to post some of my personal routines if anyone is interested as well. Just running simple dry fire drills will help you begin to master the basics of sight acquisition, trigger press, grip/shouldering techniques, and weapon manipulation. It may feel silly at first, pretending to fire and reload your weapon with no ammo, but I can promise you the more dry fire reps you do the work for, the more it will pay off on the range and in real situations. Dry fire is no substitute for live ammo practice, as there are still fundamentals that can only be learned with live rounds, but it is a fantastic skill building supplement, especially for new shooters. No matter what caliber of shooter you are though, dry fire drills can and will help keep you at your top proficiency levels. So let’s wrap things up: 1. Don’t buy a weapon so expensive you can’t afford ammo to train with it. I’m not saying don’t buy gucci guns if you have the disposable income, just don’t put yourself in a position where you have a high class weapon but you’re a low class shooter because you couldn’t afford to train with it. 2. Dry fire. A lot. Especially in times like these where ammo is scarce and priced like precious metal 3. Don’t get caught up in the hype about a certain weapon or optic or upgrade etc thinking that it will magically make you a better shooter. Higher quality gear allows good shooters to push their performance, but the increase is skill-driven, not gear-driven. Save up, buy ammo, train, and then once you have acquired a level of skill and confidence in your shooting begin looking for ways to enhance your performance. I hope this was helpful to a lot of you good folk just getting in to the world of firearms, don’t be afraid to ask if you have any questions or would like any advice. I’m no master marksman but there are a lot of people on here with a lot of great knowledge who are glad to share it. The US has had a massive amount of new gun owners arise here in the past few months and it’s our job as experienced shooters to help educate and inspire them the best we can. If anyone would like links to videos of how to get started training or good dry fire drills to run just let me know, I would be happy to post them in the comments section. And as always, This is the way Read More 15 8 GearSkills News for the Week 2024-08-05 The Prepared Support - August 5, 2024 Make a top-level comment for a new story/topic. Discussions about the topic should be in the replies to the top-level comment. That way things stay organized and every main comment as you scroll down is a different piece of news. Read More 1 0 News for the Week 2024-07-29 The Prepared Support - August 4, 2024 Make a top-level comment for a new story/topic. Discussions about the topic should be in the replies to the top-level comment. That way things stay organized and every main comment as you scroll down is a different piece of news. Read More 1 1 News Essential medical reference books for the prepper library Scott P - July 26, 2024 I wanted to start compiling a list of great medical references at different levels that are useful for austere medicine and hopefully longer term survival. Also curious what books others have found useful to study or have on hand as reference. Quick reference Wilderness & Travel Medicine – fairly good first step and comes with larger AMK kits, which I like for the packaging. Written in an accessible and easily referenced way. NOLS WFA reference card – Good for rapid reference for those in your group who are less trained or practiced First aid Wilderness Medicine (Forgey) – Well written and it has a good focus on being more remove from definitive care Fix Your Feet – A good reference on foot care. It is targeted more at runners and hikers, but if you suddenly increase time on your feet it will be valuable to know how to care for them Hypothermia, frostbite and other cold injuries – a good deep dive into cold injuries for those of us who live in climates with extreme cold. First responder Outdoor Emergency Care – This is the textbook use for national ski patrols certification. I don’t love it, but it is a reasonable textbook at the FR/EMT level that also includes some more environmental emergencies and dealing with more austere situations such as backcountry rescue. Advanced Auerbachs Wilderness Medicine – THE textbook for wilderness medicine. It is a 2 volume medical textbook, which is very comprehensive. Depending on your science background this could be a hard read. What have others found? Read More 22 15 Advice News for the week of 2024-07-22 The Prepared Support - July 26, 2024 Make a top-level comment for a new story/topic. Discussions about the topic should be in the replies to the top-level comment. That way things stay organized and every main comment as you scroll down is a different piece of news. Read More 1 1 AR15 stock weight grntrkguy1964 - July 23, 2024 I am considering getting a stock weight for a target match AR 15 rifle. Has anyone used/tried one? Is there any preceived difference in performance? Thanks!! Read More 7 5 Advice < Prev 1 2 3 … 59 60 61 Next > Recently Active News for the week of 2025-05-12 - 2 days agoNews for the week of 2025-05-05 - 2 weeks agoNews for the week of 2025-04-28 - 3 weeks agoNews for the Week 2025-4-21 - 4 weeks agoNews for the Week 2025-4-14 - 1 month 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

News for the Week 2024-10-28

The Prepared Support - November 1, 2024

Make a top-level comment for a new story/topic. Discussions about the topic should be in the replies to the top-level comment. That way things stay organized and every main comment as you scroll down is a different piece of news.

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News for the Week 2024-10-21

The Prepared Support - October 21, 2024

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News for the Week 2024-10-07

The Prepared Support - October 18, 2024

Make a top-level comment for a new story/topic. Discussions about the topic should be in the replies to the top-level comment. That way things stay organized and every main comment as you scroll down is a different piece of news.

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Neutrality for the sake of survival and how to manage the full spectrum of ideologies

Watchtower - October 16, 2024

First most, politics are not allowed.

It’s very clear that society for Americans is rapidly transforming due to several factors and people are largely polarized in what they believe, how they choose to exist and what they expect others to be like in terms of their own beliefs.  

In terms of prepping and long term survival from a SHTF event that could play out for the medium to long term changing society as we know it today,

What are people doing to prepare in terms of which side you may be on when things go bad?

Do you find yourself welcoming to all type of beliefs and ideologies?

Do you hold strong opinion and are more narrowly focused in an ideology?

Do you find it dangerous to be around certain types of ideologies more than other types?

Are you concerned about being subjected to aggressive type ideologies (cults, criminals, hordes) or even passive type ideologies (hippy, no-violence, share-the-wealth types) compromising your safety and survival during troubled times?

Do you just plan to go it solo or work with a small group of folks knowing that strength in numbers can also backfire at a certain point?

Please share your thoughts, you don’t have to answer any specific question from above. 

-Watchtower

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Request for gear review – Gloves

Bigwig - October 16, 2024

I’d like to see a gear review on gloves.  There are so many types of gloves (work, winter, tactical, disposable, etc.) and so many brands that it is hard to know which ones area the best value.

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Gear

Prep for fume event?

Marshall Findlay - October 16, 2024

Hi all,

This is my first post to the TP forum, though I’ve been diving into all the great resources since I discovered the site earlier this year. 

Stephanie Arnold brought up in her update for December 17 the notion of “fume events” in which faulty seals result in toxic fumes entering into the main cabin. The article to which she referenced described pilots passing out and passengers/crew complaining of long-lasting side effects. I had no idea 1) that air was drawn from engine exhaust into the cabin after being scrubbed for toxins or that 2) this air could turn toxic with equipment malfunction. According to the article she references, 2019 saw 362 “fume events” although there are likely more that go unreported.

My question is as follows: would you all consider it a reasonable prep to invest in face masks with the potential to filter out carbon monoxide and other potential toxins? Would bringing such an item as a carry-on even be allowed? More practically, with 3 young children traveling in tow, has anyone looked into functioning masks (or hoods) for kids that would provide a sufficient seal to keep them from breathing all that nasty stuff in?

Thanks all!

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Scenarios

What three firearms would you have for prepping?

Paulino Martin - October 16, 2024

If you could only have three firearms and cared about preparedness, what would you have? Don’t want to start a “the one true caliber” debate (let’s not open that can of worms just yet!), so this is more about platforms/types that work together well if things really get bad in the world.

Read More

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Gear

News for the Week 2024-09-30

The Prepared Support - October 1, 2024

Make a top-level comment for a new story/topic. Discussions about the topic should be in the replies to the top-level comment. That way things stay organized and every main comment as you scroll down is a different piece of news.

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News for the Week 2024-09-23

The Prepared Support - September 23, 2024

Make a top-level comment for a new story/topic. Discussions about the topic should be in the replies to the top-level comment. That way things stay organized and every main comment as you scroll down is a different piece of news.

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Time to Replace Smoke Detectors-Looking for Recommendations

Bigwig - September 21, 2024

Looking for recommendations on smoke detectors, CO2 detectors, and heat detectors.

Like a lot of devices, smoke detectors have a limited life.  My reminder was when my plug-in CO2 detector started beeping at 3AM with the message ‘end’, which means it is the end of life.  Guess what happened at 3AM the next night?  My second (of three) CO2 detectors did the same thing.

I currently have Kidde.  I’m done with them because of false alarms.  We had so many in the middle of the night that everyone had ear protection next to their bed.  I ended up contacting Kidde and of the seven that I have, five were replaced.  They claimed that there were a lot of issues with the dual sensor units.

This is my current plan:

Smoke alarm: First Alert hard-wired/battery backup dual photoelectric and ionization sensors Heat sensors (for garage): First Alert hard-wired/battery backup CO2: BRK (First Alert) combination explosive gas and CO2 plug-in/battery backup 

Thought process:

I didn’t go with dual smoke detector/CO2 units because I’d rather get a dual sensor smoke detector and a separate CO2 detector.  By doing a separate CO2 detector, I can get combo explosive gas/CO2 unit for each floor. My home inspector recommended heat sensors in the garage due to the false alarms from vehicle exhaust. I like the newer tech where you can connect you smartphone, but they are too expensive.  I don’t really see much benefit for Wi-Fi connected devices in my situation since I already have the electrical wiring infrastructure in my house.

Thoughts?

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How to avoid losing your entire digital life in an instant

Supersonic - September 5, 2024

TL;DR: Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Download all your data and store offline regularly.

A New York Times article this week, really got me thinking about how I organize my digital life. Sorry it is long but please take the time to read this, the lessons learned from this person’s experience can apply to 99% of us and there are things we can do now to prepare and be resilient against losing our entire digital life in an instant.

Here’s a brief summary of the article. A dad noticed a rash occurring on his toddler son’s genitals and took pictures with his Android smartphone to document the problem and track its progression. The parents contacted their doctor who requested the photos so they could review them in advance to their doctors appointment. The husband texted the photos to his wife’s iPhone and she then uploaded them to the doctor’s patient portal. The doctor prescribed antibiotics and the rash cleared up for the toddler.

Two days later, the dad’s phone received a message stating that his Google account was suspended because of “harmful content”. He then thought about it and realized that Google probably thinks he was sharing child porn. No big deal though, he could just contact Google and clear it up, he did nothing wrong. He filled out a form requesting a review of Google’s decision and explained his son’s infection and that the doctor requested those pictures. A few days after that, he received a response stating that they will not reinstate his account.

It gets worse… Google then contacted the authorities and the San Francisco Police Department opened up a case against this dad. He received a letter in the mail stating that they were investigating him, and served warrants to Google and his internet service provider. This would include all of his internet searches, location history, messages, documents, pictures, and videos. The dad contacted the investigator and tried to clear his name, the investigator responded that they have already closed the case because they could tell that no crime had occurred (and clearly had common sense).

The dad appealed his case to Google again sharing the police report that he is innocent, but Google was not going to budge. The New York Times also reached out to Google and asked if this dad could have his account back and they said no as well. He then got a notice that all of his information with Google was going to be permanently deleted. The sorta happy ending to all this though is that because the police had served that warrant with Google, they had a copy of all his data. They are in the process of getting this dad his information.

What a headache right!? Let’s look at all the real damage that was done.

This Google account was decades old and contained all of his emails for all that time. His contacts were stored with Google. All of his appointments were in his Google Calendar. All of his phone’s photos and videos were stored in the Google Cloud. His phone’s service plan was with the Google Fi provider so he lost that as well. He received is 2 factor authentication codes through text messages tied to that Google Fi phone number

This dad really put all his eggs in one basket and got sucked into the convenient ecosystem that Google has set up. Look up at that list and think about what you would do if you could no longer receive, send, or view old emails, could no longer receive calls or texts, couldn’t get into your accounts that needed a text message verification code, lost all your calendar appointments, and years of pictures and videos of your family. I personally would be devastated! It could be even worse if you took important notes in Google Keep, bought lots of apps, music, movies, and books through your Google account, subscribed to various YouTube channels, and more.

The lesson here is that you could be totally innocent and did nothing wrong and get your entire account banned, and even if you plead your case and any normal person with common sense would be on your side, they can still have your account banned.

Below are my tips on what I do and want to do better to avoid situations like this from totally disrupting my life. Please share your thoughts and advice as well, I want to hear if there is some better or different approach I can take to make things better.

Email – This actually happened to me last month. I was switching email accounts and for a weekend didn’t have access to my emails. It made me feel vulnerable that I could no longer contact certain people, receive notices from my bank, or get important medical test results that I was waiting on. Email is vital.

Easy step – Download a copy of your emails through Google Takeout. This will give you an offline copy of your existing data.

Medium step #1 – Have all of your emails automatically forward to a secondary Google or other email account.  That way if you got banned from one account, a copy would exist in another account.

Medium step #2 – Switch to another email provider that isn’t able to see the content of your emails. ProtonMail is a great solution.

Advanced step #1 – POP/IMAP your emails to your computer for offline viewing.

Advanced step #2 – Set up a custom domain. If your main email gets banned, you can then move it to another service and continue as normal.

Calendar –

Easy step – Export weekly/monthly your Google Calendar or any other calendar service you have. This offline file can then be imported into another Google account or pretty much any other calendar service and be rebuilt without losing all your appointments.

Medium step – Move to a totally offline calendar solution and don’t sync it to the cloud. Still keep your regular backups though in case your device gets broken. I like the app Simple Calendar for Android.

Photo and video storage – This all might have been avoided if he hadn’t set his phone to automatically upload his pictures and videos to the cloud.

Easy step – Turn off cloud sync with Google or iCloud. Yes, Apple also scans and flags potential bad pictures on their service too.

Easy step – Plug your phone into a computer monthly and download all your pictures and videos to it.

Medium step – Move to more secure cloud storage like ProtonDrive or Sync.com where they cannot access or see what you store with them.

Phone service –

Easy step – Having a different phone provider like Tmobile or Verizon will make it not as life disrupting if you lost you Google account.

Medium step – Create another Google account and use it solely for Google Voice, which gives you a free additional phone number that you can use to make and receive calls and text messages.

2 Factor Authentication – 

Easy step – Prioritize software based 2FA over text or email based 2FA. It is commonly an option everywhere except for banks in my experience. That way if you lost access to your phone number, you can still get into accounts. An easy solution is to use Authy.

Easy step – Many sites will offer backup recovery codes if you don’t have access to your authenticator app, store these to get in again.

Medium step – Move to a totally offline 2FA application like Aegis for Android or OTP Auth for iOS. Back these up manually on a regular basis in case your device is ever lost or destroyed.

Advanced step – When setting up 2FA with each service, download your seed codes into your password manager. Then if your authenticator app breaks or whatever, you can manually rebuild.

Contacts – 

Easy step – Download and backup your contacts offline monthly.

Medium step – Request alternative phone numbers and emails for each of your contacts and set up alternatives for yourself and give those to all your contacts. Make sure everyone can reach everyone at any time by any means possible.

Medium step – Print off your contact information and store in your emergency binder.

Good tip for all the above and everything else – 

Download all your data regularly and store offline. If that’s through Google Takeout, or manually for each service, this is the best thing you can do to prevent total loss. Then back that up again somewhere else, preferably at a friend’s house.

Gone are the days you can take pictures of your kid running naked in the sprinklers without having to worry about getting your account suspended. There are many other situations where you can fall victim to such things like driving past a house where someone is getting murdered and your location data is on and police think you are the murderer, or someone uses your unlocked device and looks up bad things that then gets tied back to you. Don’t fall into the thinking that “This will never happen to me” because that dad probably was thinking that and look at what he has had to go through now.

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NewsScenarios

News for the week of 2024-08-26

The Prepared Support - September 4, 2024

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News

New gun owners with questions?

Caliber Carpenter - September 1, 2024

Seeing as how the demand for firearms is at an all time high, and the number of new gun owners is exponentially increasing, I figured it would be good to open a thread for anyone new or inexperienced with firearms to throw out any questions they might have. So fire away (see what I did there?) I’m here to answer any questions and I’m sure Thomas can drop in as well

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101

Testing expired hand sanitizer for effectiveness

Bigwig - August 20, 2024

Are there any ways to test hand sanitizer?  I have some that is beyond the ‘best by’ date and would prefer not to waste it if it is still viable.

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Best solar generator for HOT Arizona desert

JBinAZ - August 19, 2024

Trying to figure out which small portable solar generator would be best for us.  We are in the Phoenix area and get temps up to 120+ F in the summer. Rarely go below 35 F in the winter.

I do have several of the small Novoos and Ruffwear solar fold up panels that were rec’d here on the prepared for charging smaller items.

Would like to get something bigger with plugs so we can run larger fans, etc. Not looking to run major appliances.  And yes, we already have some mid size fans that run off of Li-ion batteries.  Cost is not really an issue. Willing to invest in the best product to suit our needs.

Looking at Goal Zero Yeti 150 (lead-acid battery) and Goal Zero 200x (Lithium) and their appropriate solar panels.Q1:  What type of battery is best for our hot desert environment?

Q2: What about Jackery? Better/ Worse/ Same?  EcoFlow RIVER?

Q3: What would you recommend?Thanks for your help, should you decide to respond. Been having a health issue that has been making me foggy and tired, lately, so researching for me, right now, is draining.

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Gear

Water storage tanks

proco84 - August 19, 2024

Hi All

Thinking about getting some potable drinking water storage tanks installed in my home – any suggestions on how I should go about this and where I should look (UK based).

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News for the Week 2024-08-19

The Prepared Support - August 19, 2024

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0

Rapid Radio EMR

Claire - August 15, 2024

Has anyone used the Rapid Radio EMR? Will it work in a gown scenario where there’s no cell tower coverage? Also, is it just a ham radio?

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0

News for the Week 2024-08-12

The Prepared Support - August 12, 2024

Make a top-level comment for a new story/topic. Discussions about the topic should be in the replies to the top-level comment. That way things stay organized and every main comment as you scroll down is a different piece of news.

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1

1

Skills >> Gucci Gear

Caliber Carpenter - August 5, 2024

Wanted to make this post mostly pertaining to firearms as I’ve seen a lot of people on here asking questions about purchasing their first gun, but this advice can also be applied to just about anything prepping related. Keep in mind when going to purchase a firearm, or any piece of gear for that matter, that no matter how nice the gear may be, no matter how many cool features it may have, it is nearly useless in the hands of an unskilled operator. This mainly relates to firearms in the fact that far too many people get swept up in the game of trying to find “the best” weapon or optic or accessory out there and lose sight of what actually matters; Shooting the weapon. Sure that $2,000 LMT rifle looks super cool, runs like a racehorse, and has a ton of features, but if you can’t hit a 12″ silhouette at 50yds then it may as well be a pawn shop trade in special. What I’m saying is don’t assume that you can just buy skill with a weapon. Yes I love my Gucci ARs as much as the next gun nut, but if I blow my entire budget on a super expensive rifle setup and have no money for ammo to train with then it means nothing. Now I know right now circumstances are a little rough if you didn’t stockpile ammo before all this began, but the good news is there is still a way to hone your skills without ever firing a round. It’s called dry fire. Thomas and I touched on this in a previous thread, but dry fire is a wonderful way to build skills and muscle memory that are critical to fluid gun handling, particularly for handguns. The internet is full of videos of dry fire drills you can run at home without a single bullet fired that will greatly improve your speed, skill, and overall familiarity with the weapon. I’d be glad to post some of my personal routines if anyone is interested as well. Just running simple dry fire drills will help you begin to master the basics of sight acquisition, trigger press, grip/shouldering techniques, and weapon manipulation. It may feel silly at first, pretending to fire and reload your weapon with no ammo, but I can promise you the more dry fire reps you do the work for, the more it will pay off on the range and in real situations. Dry fire is no substitute for live ammo practice, as there are still fundamentals that can only be learned with live rounds, but it is a fantastic skill building supplement, especially for new shooters. No matter what caliber of shooter you are though, dry fire drills can and will help keep you at your top proficiency levels.

So let’s wrap things up:

1. Don’t buy a weapon so expensive you can’t afford ammo to train with it. I’m not saying don’t buy gucci guns if you have the disposable income, just don’t put yourself in a position where you have a high class weapon but you’re a low class shooter because you couldn’t afford to train with it.

2. Dry fire. A lot. Especially in times like these where ammo is scarce and priced like precious metal

3. Don’t get caught up in the hype about a certain weapon or optic or upgrade etc thinking that it will magically make you a better shooter. Higher quality gear allows good shooters to push their performance, but the increase is skill-driven, not gear-driven. Save up, buy ammo, train, and then once you have acquired a level of skill and confidence in your shooting begin looking for ways to enhance your performance.

I hope this was helpful to a lot of you good folk just getting in to the world of firearms, don’t be afraid to ask if you have any questions or would like any advice. I’m no master marksman but there are a lot of people on here with a lot of great knowledge who are glad to share it. The US has had a massive amount of new gun owners arise here in the past few months and it’s our job as experienced shooters to help educate and inspire them the best we can. If anyone would like links to videos of how to get started training or good dry fire drills to run just let me know, I would be happy to post them in the comments section.

And as always,

This is the way

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GearSkills

News for the Week 2024-08-05

The Prepared Support - August 5, 2024

Make a top-level comment for a new story/topic. Discussions about the topic should be in the replies to the top-level comment. That way things stay organized and every main comment as you scroll down is a different piece of news.

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1

0

News for the Week 2024-07-29

The Prepared Support - August 4, 2024

Make a top-level comment for a new story/topic. Discussions about the topic should be in the replies to the top-level comment. That way things stay organized and every main comment as you scroll down is a different piece of news.

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News

Essential medical reference books for the prepper library

Scott P - July 26, 2024

I wanted to start compiling a list of great medical references at different levels that are useful for austere medicine and hopefully longer term survival.  Also curious what books others have found useful to study or have on hand as reference. 

Quick reference

Wilderness & Travel Medicine – fairly good first step and comes with larger AMK kits, which I like for the packaging.  Written in an accessible and easily referenced way. NOLS WFA reference card – Good for rapid reference for those in your group who are less trained or practiced

First aid

Wilderness Medicine (Forgey) – Well written and it has a good focus on being more remove from definitive care Fix Your Feet – A good reference on foot care.  It is targeted more at runners and hikers, but if you suddenly increase time on your feet it will be valuable to know how to care for them Hypothermia, frostbite and other cold injuries – a good deep dive into cold injuries for those of us who live in climates with extreme cold.

First responder

Outdoor Emergency Care – This is the textbook use for national ski patrols certification.  I don’t love it, but it is a reasonable textbook at the FR/EMT level that also includes some more environmental emergencies and dealing with more austere situations such as backcountry rescue.  

Advanced

Auerbachs Wilderness Medicine –  THE textbook for wilderness medicine.  It is a 2 volume medical textbook, which is very comprehensive.  Depending on your science background this could be a hard read.  

What have others found?  

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Advice

News for the week of 2024-07-22

The Prepared Support - July 26, 2024

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AR15 stock weight

grntrkguy1964 - July 23, 2024

I am considering getting a stock weight for a target match AR 15 rifle. Has anyone used/tried one?  Is there any preceived difference in performance? Thanks!!

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Advice