Active New Top (30 days) Compact Card BOB Bifocals for old eyes BrewIt - February 4, 2022 I’ve always kept a pair of cheap “cheaters” in my BOB, vehicle and everywhere else I think I might need them. I’ve recently begun swapping them out for safety glass with bifocal lenses. They are apx $15 at most local home improvement stores and come in different strengths. Last thing I want is an eye injury when I need my eyes most. Read More 14 9 A nice figure about the stages of infection Noah Prepares - February 4, 2022 Found in this document: https://www.woundsme.com/resources/details/evolution-wound-infection-continuum1 Read More 10 2 Bloomberg and other media reporting China massively stockpiling food essential, War fears muted Bill Masen - February 3, 2022 ByAdam Minter5 January 2022, 01:00 GMT In recent months, food prices have hit 10-year highs, causing concern worldwide. Supply-chain bottlenecks, labor shortages, bad weather and a surge in consumer demand are among the factors responsible for the spike. So, too, is a lesser-known phenomenon: China is hoarding key commodities. By mid-2022, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, China will hold 69% of the world’s corn reserves, 60% of its rice and 51% of its wheat. By China’s own estimation, these reserves are at a “historically high level” and are contributing to higher global food prices. For China, such stockpiles are necessary to ensure it won’t be at the mercy of major food exporters such as the U.S. But other countries, especially in the developing world, might ask why less than 20% of the world’s population is hoarding so much of its food. China has operated granaries for thousands of years. In imperial times, they served as a source of tax revenue and a means of managing bad harvests, natural disasters, and war. Their importance grew as China’s population soared, yet the state’s ability to manage them faltered. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, natural and political disasters brought hunger and starvation to millions. Outsiders referred to China as “the land of famine.” Political instability and revolution soon followed. Mao Zedong and China’s Communist Party staked much of their credibility on “solving” hunger, but midcentury famines took the lives of tens of millions. President Xi Jinping, never one to criticize his own country, once remarked that many members of his generation still recall hunger. Those memories have informed Xi’s policies since the start of his regime. In 2013, just weeks after taking office, Xi endorsed a nationwide campaign to discourage people from wasting food. In 2020, the “clean-plate campaign” was resurrected as he called on Chinese to “maintain a sense of crisis about food security.” That crisis isn’t just about having enough to eat. It’s about having enough food produced domestically to minimize reliance on anyone else. Two weeks ago, Xi told a high-level Communist Party meeting that “the food of the Chinese people must be made by and remain in the hands of the Chinese people.” That won’t be easy. China’s inventory of arable land has been in decline for decades, nibbled away by urban development and soil contamination, and its farms are far less productive than counterparts in other countries. Efforts to boost productivity with policy incentives and technology investments are promising but unlikely to pan out for years. So China is stockpiling. At home, the government is offering farmers a minimum price for their crops (which are then often stockpiled). In March, it raised the minimum price for wheat for the first time since 2014. Meanwhile, traders have taken advantage of a strengthening yuan to snap up grains at a feverish pace. China’s wheat imports surged 50% between January and July, compared to the same period of 2020. The size and content of China’s commodity stockpiles is a jealously guarded state secret. But officials have been unusually open about the matter lately. In November, after a vaguely worded government missive about potential shortfalls this winter caused nationwide panic, agricultural officials announced that China had enough wheat stockpiled to last 18 months. Other countries have been building up food reserves too, of course, especially as Covid-related disruptions persist. In June, the UN’s food agency warned that some low-income countries were likely to see food import costs jump as much as 20% for the year. Though the report didn’t single out any country for responsibility, China — as the world’s largest agricultural importer — certainly plays a crucial role. Right or wrong, China has no intention of unwinding its stockpiles for the benefit of others. Nonetheless, there are steps it could take to help mitigate inflation. Most important, it should begin unwinding crop supports that raise domestic food prices beyond global ones. Meanwhile, a more open acknowledgement of China’s inevitable role in driving food inflation might encourage its leaders to work with others on food assistance to low-income regions. China’s evolution from famine to feast delivered hundreds of millions of people from hunger. As its economy and clout grows, it should seek to ensure that others can enjoy the bounty. Read More 9 15 News An experiment in growing mushrooms Josh CentersContributor - February 3, 2022 A couple of years ago, some large trees fell in my neighbors’ field. I had meant to chop the logs, but never got around to it and they started to rot. Then I got the idea from Ben Falk’s The Resilient Farm and Homestead to use them for growing mushrooms. If you haven’t grown mushrooms before, they’re different from growing plants. Instead of growing them in soil, you grow them in a substrate, usually some sort of wood like logs, sawdust, or wood chips. Instead of seeds, mushrooms are planted with spore-inoculated wood, either plugs or sawdust depending on the type of mushroom. While it’s doubtful you’ll live exclusively on mushrooms, there are some compelling reasons to grow them. Primarily, they’re pretty low maintenance once they’re established and will return season after season. Some will come back for longer than others and some take longer to start growing than others. For our experiment, I ordered 25 golden oyster plugs from Etsy for $10. The golden oyster mushrooms are reportedly easy to grow and easy to identify. You can find much bigger deals on larger packs of plugs, either of one type or a variety. I wanted to keep our initial experiment focused and cheap. I should say up front that we didn’t do things exactly by the book. Here’s how you’re supposed to plant mushroom plugs: Cut down a small-diameter tree. Soak the log or logs in water. Drill holes in the log(s). The pros inoculating a lot of logs recommend an angle grinder with a special attachment over a drill, as it’s faster. Drive the plugs into the holes with a hammer or mallet. Coat the holes and each end of the log with melted wax to hold in moisture and keep out competing organisms. I didn’t use a fresh log, but there wasn’t any visible fungi growing on it. And I wasn’t concerned about moisture because it’s in a shady spot next to a creek and practically dripping with moisture. So I opted out of using wax. I took my oldest son out with a drill, a hammer, and the plugs. He cheerily used the claw end to knock bark off the log while we took turns drilling holes and hammering in plugs. Read More 11 7 Skills Have you ever heard a quote that stops you and makes you think about how you live? Bill Masen - February 2, 2022 Over my 65 years I have often pondered about life, how I live, where I live and what my choices actually mean to me. I’ve debated off gridding, prepping, survivialism, homesteading, urban prepping etc with my piers and friends and other preppers. I’ve tended to focus on how I as the individual lives and rarely thought no further on the issue than my immediate family. I’ve seen and read images, texts and witnessed real life scenes that often give me food for thought, but rarely has anything made me stop what I was doing and give serious thought to a QUOTE or IMAGE , perhaps four maybe five times something has gotten my full focussed attention. Today whilst watching a simple sci fi movie one character looking out over the city made a comment and it stopped me in my tracks, I would like to share that comment with you. I have added it to an image to give it greater meaning. I wonder if it will make any of your pause for thought? Read More 9 9 Meta Heads up massive CME alert for 2 February 2022 Bill Masen - February 2, 2022 Solar storm warning: NASA predicts ‘direct hit’ on Earth in hours: ‘Fast and strong!’ | Science | News | Express.co.uk Solar storm warning: NASA predicts ‘direct hit’ on Earth in hours: ‘Fast and strong!’A SOLAR STORM is heading straight for Earth in a “direct hit”, according to NASA, prompting fears of blackouts from the “fast and strong” impact. Fast solar winds rocketed out of the Sun on January 29 along with a coronal mass ejection (CME). This means a solar storm has been tipped to reach the Earth by February 2. A CME is a large expulsion of plasma and magnetic field that explodes from the Sun’s corona (its outer layer). Dr Tamitha Skov, a space weather psychists, posted on Twitter: “Direct Hit! NASA, NOAA & MetOffice predictions agree the #solarstorm launched Jan 29 will hit Earth by early Febuary 2!” She later added: “The earlier post showed NOAA/SWPC prediction. This one shows the NASA prediction, which indicated the #solarstorm could hit as early as 18:00 GMT on February 1. “The final post is the Met Office prediction. This model shows the #solarstorm hitting by 05:00 GMT on February 2. Read More 2 4 Infographics re volcano eruption LBV - January 29, 2022 I was just alerted to these info graphics as I am in an area that could be affected – largely ash fall. I thought they were well done. https://cdemtaranaki.govt.nz/taranaki-hazards/natural-hazards/volcanic/volcanic-infographics/?fbclid=IwAR0en-AixZZMGt9U8sID8YYExHVgsL-B9noWQ-YOnKhAs2-OPsWzHOsVWdI Read More 9 3 I had to pepper spray a couple of dogs. Here’s how that went Josh CentersContributor - January 28, 2022 Today, I had to pepper spray a couple of dogs to protect my chickens (and to protect the dogs from the roosters). Long story short, it was effective and there’s a mostly happy ending. It was definitely a happier ending than if I had to shoot them or if a rooster had clawed them. Check out our guide to the best pepper spray. I was in my office working on an upcoming guide when my wife burst in and told me there were dogs outside messing with our beagle. I grabbed a gun and ran outside to find two nearly identical, very large dogs looking down at my beagle as she barked her head off at them. They looked like some kind of Collie mix. I walked up to them and started yelling at them to “git.” They just stood there staring at me. I had the gun trained on them in case they were aggressive, but I saw collars on them and soon realized that they were harmless. Regardless, I still didn’t want them around my dog, and I definitely didn’t want them getting near my chickens. I kept yelling at them until they finally got the message and took off down the road. But a few minutes they were back, in the woods across from our house. I was worried they would come around to the other side of my yard and go after the chickens, so I parked my oldest son at the window to stand watch. Having written our guide to pepper spray, I decided that if they came back for the chickens, my can of POM would be a better deterrent than shooting them, and they clearly didn’t respond to verbal commands, so I slipped a can in my pocket. Sure enough, after a few minutes he started yelling that they were near the chickens. I was sort of prepared, but not enough, slipping my bare feet into my Crocs and taking off running in the snow without a hat or jacket. I have two chicken tractors, which are just movable wire cages. One has my old ISA Brown hens while the other has my Australorps, including two roosters. The dogs were circling the Australorp tractor and the birds were panicking. They’d knocked their waterer and feeder off their hangers and the hens were bunched up behind the roosters. If the dogs had breached the tractor, I’m not sure which would have had the worst of it: the dogs or the chickens. Those roosters frequently peck and claw at me, and I’m the one who feeds them (and yes, Napoleon, the chickens DO have large talons). I already had the can of POM in my hand, so when one of the dogs approached me I sprayed it directly in the eyes. Or at least tried to: the wind was blowing a bit so not all of it connected. The dog didn’t seem to respond so I sprayed it again. It apparently took a second to register. After that, the dog’s nose started to twitch and it ran off to just over my neighbor’s property line. The other dog had hid behind the tractor with the ISA Browns and it was looking for a way into the tractor. I gave it a good spray as well, because I had to make it clear that the chickens are not to be messed with. It learned a bit faster than its sibling and ran off to join it. With both dogs rubbing their noses in the snow, I was satisfied that they would leave the chickens alone. To cut a long story short, we got in touch with the owner, who understood why I had to spray them, and they brought the dogs home. At least for a minute, before they got away again. I hope they don’t get around the chickens again, because I may have to take more drastic action. Here’s what I learned from the experience: 1. If you keep a gun for self defense, you should also carry pepper spray. If I didn’t have pepper spray, I would have had to shoot them or hit them with sticks or something, because they clearly weren’t listening to me. I might could have lured them away with treats or meat, but that risked making them return customers. 2. The pepper spray was surprisingly silent. The can made no noise and the dogs didn’t either. I expected yelping or barking or something. 3. I should definitely get a belt holster for the pepper spray so I can keep it at the ready. The can has a pocket clip, but I’m not crazy about carrying it that way. 4. I also should invest in some bear spray. The fog would be more effective against dogs, and we do have the occasional bear sighting now. (Bears are more of an East Tennessee thing, but some have migrated to Middle Tennessee.) Read More 18 11 Scenarios Dehydrating food at home matthew.Contributor - January 28, 2022 Hello fine people, I hope everyone’s new year is off to a good start. For the holidays, my wife and I bought ourselves a food dehydrator, a Nesco Gardenmaster to be exact, and while we’re definitely having fun with it, I know we are only scratching the surface. Is anyone here currently dehydrating their own food? I’d love to know not only what you are doing, but how you are working it into your preps. So far we’ve had a blast dehydrating fruit and making our own jerky, and our next adventure will be to make a soup mix. But where I’m struggling is trying to figure out how to best incorporate it into our preps. When it comes to long-term food storage, so far it seems safer, and often cheaper, to simply buy packaged dehydrated foods. But I’m hoping I’m wrong on that, so please share your success stories! Read More 13 11 Advice What preparedness items do you keep in your vehicle? CamilleContributor - January 27, 2022 I’m sure the answer to this question varies widely by geographic region, however I was reading the article: “What to do if you witness a car accident” that The Prepared team put together and afterwards I was curious what items other preppers kept in their vehicles. Here’s my list: Ztylus Stinger Car Emergency Escape Tool (a multi-tool window breaker and combined seatbelt cutter attached to a USB phone charger) Individual First Aid Kit (IFAK) Emergency Foil Blanket LuminAID Solar Lantern or Flashlight Jumper Cables Flares or Reflective Triangles Wet Wipes or Hand Sanitizer Water Non-Perishable Snacks Emergency Phone Numbers for Auto Insurance/Local Tow Companies etc. Properly Inflated Tire, Wheel Wrench and Tripod Jack (only useful if you actually know how to change a tire) Car Tool Kit (again only useful if you actually know how to use it) Regional Maps/Atlas (also requires some effort in order to familiarize yourself with not relying on a phone/GPS system) I’d consider keeping oil, extra fuel and a fire extinguisher as well but I’m moving to an area where temperatures are consistently above 90 degrees Fahrenheit and I don’t want to leave those items in a hot vehicle if I don’t have to. Also, for me personally, part of preparedness is always leaving my vehicle with a full tank of fuel, parked facing outwards (in case of severe weather events or emergency) and keeping up with proper maintenance. What do you keep in your vehicle? Read More 18 18 Gear Info from Brazil / UK on possible threat from Vegan foods Bill Masen - January 26, 2022 https://www.gbnews.uk/news/vegan-meat-substitutes-may-be-unhealthier-than-their-meat-counterparts/206846 Thought this worth sharing not becauseI’m anti Vegan but because I believe we should try and eat as healthy as possible in order to stay fit, an essential prepper requirement. ——————————————————————————————————— Ben Chapman senior digital producer Published monday 17 January 2022 – 11:41 Veganuary has caused a stir in the plant-based sphere, as thousands of people across the UK drop their regular diets to adopt a meat and dairy-free consumption plan. High street brands often latch onto the yearly January event, releasing new plant-based options. Subway, for example, have released a new T.L.C (Tastes.Like.Chicken) option, while KFC have launched plant-based nuggets. The meat alternatives prove popular as corporations look to tap into the market, but research has shown that they are unhealthy, and can be classed as ‘ultra-processed’ foods. This was first identified by Brazilian academics as part of the NOVA classification. Ultra processed foods are accepted by health experts to be unhealthy and probably addictive, and a reason behind increasing rates of obesity and poor health worldwide. NOVA has four different classifications for food, ‘Unprocessed food or minimally processed’ being reserved for raw ingredients such as fruit and vegetables. The third, processed foods, includes the likes of cheese and tofu. The fourth and final category, being ultra processed foods, is reserved for a great deal of the vegan alternatives on offer from fast food chains and supermarkets. NOVA describe this classification as: “in particular flavours, colours sweeteners, emulsifiers, and other additives used to imitate sensorial qualities of unprocessed or minimally processed foods and their culinary preparations or to disguise undesirable qualities of the final product”. The research from NOVA suggests the swathe of vegan options readily on offer this month fit into this category, meaning they are often much unhealthier than their meat counterparts. While a grilled chicken breast would count as minimally processed, or in some cases ‘processed’ if salt and oil is added, ‘plant-based chicken goujons’ can be classed as ultra processed, containing over 30 ingredients, including methylcellulose, maltodextrin and dried glucose syrup. Despite this, the food industry has continued to push the products, with even the term ‘plant-based’ being adopted to give more positive connotations. The word ‘plant’ can be associated with nature, health and fresh air, and the Sainsbury’s Plant Pioneers range reinforce this, as a green leaf peeks out from the logo. Despite this, it is argued by companies offering meat-free options that the food on offer is better for the planet, as well as health. A Quorn spokesperson told the Independent in 2021: “We don’t recognise the label of ‘ultra-processed – our protein is cultivated from a natural nutritious fungus, using the age-old method of fermentation, and then steam-cooked, chilled and frozen to create Quorn products”. Read More 7 4 Drones as a survival and evacuation tool BayouBengal - January 26, 2022 Hi Everyone. I’m new to prepping but have been researching and working hard to be prepared over the past few weeks. What has me most concerned and focused in regards to prepping is needing to evacuate my home in event my neighborhood becomes an area of extreme civil unrest. I don’t want to run over anyone, I don’t want to shoot anyone, I just want to get my family and I out. I’ve been considering getting an inexpensive drone so that I can quickly survey the area around my home to determine the easiest path out during a period of civil unrest. I don’t have any experience in flying drones and am not interested in taking it up as a hobby. I just want something that I can quickly and easily launch and get a picture. Any suggestions? On a related note, entering “drone” in the search block of this site yielded no results. While my plan is to evacuate by car and go stay with relatives in the country, it seems a drone would be a phenomenal survival tool for someone on foot in terms of navigating, finding resources (water, food, shelter), finding help (other people), or in my case avoiding danger (other people). I think a write up on suitable drones for prepper use would be an excellent resource reference. Read More 26 20 Gear It’s time for our annual environmental charity donation. Where should we donate? John AdamaStaff - January 26, 2022 Edit: Thanks everyone! Based on your feedback, I just made our donations to The Bee Conservancy, Alliance for the Great Lakes, and One Tree Planted. TP is part of 1% For The Planet, a program where 1% of every dollar that comes into TP is donated to fixing our biggest long-term threat: climate change and the destruction of the planet. It’s time to make our modest 2021 donations. I’ve gone through the searchable database of possible charities and picked out the ones below that I’d suggest we donate to. Wanted to open this up to the community for feedback. Which of the list below do you like most? Any others from the database you want to propose? Alliance for the Great Lakes. When you look at climate change projections, the great lakes region is one of the best (maybe the best) places to move as preppers within the US. That region, thanks in large part to the lakes, is expected to ‘weather the storm’ of the climate crisis. Those lakes hold ~20% of the world’s fresh water, so it makes sense to protect that precious asset as we move towards a water-scarce future. This picture is from the annual event where the Alliance organizes 15,000 volunteers to remove plastic waste from the lakes. Last year they removed 18 tons. The Bee Conservancy. You probably know that bees/pollinators are crucial for ecosystems, yet their colonies have been collapsing in recent years. This decade-old group has a few programs, one of which is running hives in urban gardens throughout New York City. One Tree Planted has actually planted over 40 million trees in over 40 countries. Trees are one of the best chances we have of reducing the harmful carbon building up in our atmosphere, since trees inhale the bad stuff and exhale clean oxygen. You can read more about this topic in our recent interview with the former Reddit CEO who’s trying to enable a trillion new trees. Water.org, founded by Matt Damon, gives microloans to impoverished people who need help getting access to clean water and sanitation. They’ve helped 40 million people so far. Conservation.org (Conservation International) has been around 30 years and has a wide range of initiatives, including ocean protection. Earth Guardians is a 30-year-old charity that runs climate programs for young people. Some of it is on the advocacy side, such as getting underrepresented youth more involved in voting and civic duty. Other programs work directly in the environment, such as planting trees or running a class in Africa to teach farmers how to reuse farm waste for new products. Read More 17 20 Meta Has anyone actually made their own soap and liked it? Conrad B - January 26, 2022 Has anyone tried making their own soap? Yes, I was watching Fight Club. I’ve seen it mentioned in a few places and was curious if it’s worthwhile now that we’re all washing our hands more. Read More 22 22 Advice Sending text messages over ham radio with JS8Call Josh CentersContributor - January 24, 2022 Winter Field Day is coming up in the ham radio world, which invites ham radio operators to take their gear outside and get some hands-on experience with emergency communications. We’ve talked about sending email with Winlink, but I’ll show you another trick that lets you send SMS text messages over JS8Call, which is a lot easier to use than Winlink. We last discussed JS8Call when I participated in an AmRRON exercise to track the grocery supply chain. I went into deep detail on the setup and how it works in that post and won’t repeat everything, but here’s a quick rundown: JS8Call is like a chat room that works over ham radio. Think IRC or Slack.It works over HF, which means you’ll probably want a General license to take advantage of it (but Technician-class operators have data privileges on 15 meters). It requires a real-time clock, either provided by an Internet time server or through GPS via a GPS USB dongle, which lets you operate off-grid. JS8Call is one of the best digital modes to learn, as it’s relatively user friendly, let’s you automatically exchange status messages with other operators, and lets you relay messages so you can reach operators you couldn’t otherwise. But JS8Call has another superpower: it can tap into the extensive APRS data network. APRS is short for Automatic Packet Reporting System, a radio data network that’s been around since the ‘80s. Well before cell phones were popular, hams could use APRS to send text messages, get weather reports, and track object locations. These days, APRS is tied into the SMS network. APRS works over short-ish range VHF/UHF, but thanks to the JS8Call integration, you can tap into it from anywhere in the world. To send an SMS text message over APRS, send a message in this format: @APRSIS CMD :SMSGTE :@NUMBER MESSAGE The format must be exact. Note that there are three spaces between :SMSGTE and :@NUMBER, and yes, you must put the “@” before the phone number. If you hear about this on YouTube or elsewhere, you may see a different, older format that has since changed. The one above is now the correct format as of January 2022. Screenshot of how it looks: It takes a few seconds for the message to send, and then around another 30 seconds until the recipient receives it. One thing to know: when you do this you’re sending a cell phone number over public airwaves. Also, it will be logged in the APRS system for all to see. Finally, the recipient has no way to respond to your message. However, if you have a power or telecommunications outage, JS8Call gives ham radio operators a simple way to contact loved ones even if they aren’t hams themselves. Read More 18 18 Skills Is anyone else seeing a meat shortage? - January 23, 2022 This is my first time posting on the forum where I’m still a newbie at prepping and feel like I should listen more than talk at this point. However, I haven’t seen anyone else mention about meat or grocery shortages, and I wanted to report what I saw at Kroger tonight in middle Georgia. There was literally no chicken left of any description – even the organic section was wiped out. The beef and pork sections had some cuts available, but there were definite gaps where certain items had been cleared. I didn’t think to check the rest of the store to see what else might be missing. Is anyone else witnessing these types of shortages? Or seeing any panic buying? Read More 18 25 News Item scarcity with the emergence of a war with Russia Conrad B - January 23, 2022 Hypothetically, if the USA were to go to war with Russia what would that mean for us as individuals and how can we prepare now? If the war were to drag on for some time, would ammo and gun manufacturers not make things for civilians and those resources would be used for the government and war effort? Would we see limits on clothing and food in order to support the troops with car manufacturers making planes like during WWII and driving up the prices for cars here even more? One more question. From my history classes I vaguely remember that war=increase spending and work for the economy. Correct me if I’m wrong here but if many new jobs were created for a war effort would that help the economy and change the direction we are heading with inflation and all that or would it only drive us more in debt? I never took an economics class… What do you predict we should do now to prepare? Read More 12 10 Scenarios Water storage issues–water bricks contaminated after 1 year AShields - January 23, 2022 This is my third year doing an annual swap of water stores but the first time I have had an issue with contaminated water. I have Water Bricks and my method is to 1. wash them out with Dawn 2. rinse and dry 3. refill with tap water 4. add unscented bleach. This is the first year I have opened them up to find white threads floating in the water and what I can only describe as orange blobs in one. One container had a visibly discolored and slimy lid, too. The most obvious thing to me is that maybe the bleach was too old, but I still feel like in a clean, air tight container, it shouldn’t have been an issue? I’m not sure. Any help or advice on how to prevent this is greatly appreciated. I am very glad I do an annual check on the water and I am going to be ordering a Berkey or similar to have a way to filter water faster than my Sawyer mini filters could if this ever happens again and I need to use my stores. I’m also glad I have purification tablets on hand, too. (crossposted to r/preppers) Read More 14 11 Advice How to defend against marauders after a disaster Bradical - January 19, 2022 After a significant disaster occurs, those who are unprepared or less prepared will start to get hungry, thirsty, or cold. If there isn’t relief provided in enough time they will go into that survival mindset and think that the only option is to take from others or die. We try and prevent ourselves from ever getting in that mindset ourselves by stockpiling food, water, and other supplies. Maybe we even stock more than we need so that we can give to others and prevent them from getting desperate. But take a minute to think about your situation and what you would do if you started to hear about marauders raiding houses in your neighborhood. What are some of the steps you would take to fortify your home, defend your possessions and family, and deter them from coming around? Try saying more than “got my guns n’ ammo, I’m good…”. Read More 18 37 ScenariosSkills Maintain a sustainable food source with the prepper’s garden UbiqueContributor - January 19, 2022 In dire straits, many preppers imagine trapping rabbits (beware tularemia and SAS doesn’t recommend relying on rabbit) or hunting (you would be surprised how quickly deer populations can be decimated leaving nothing to hunt). That also applies to fish. In The Great Depression, resource rich Canadian prairies were virtually hunted and fished out. In the best of times, not everyone hunts or they hunt and fish responsibly. In a crisis, people forget stewardship and why hunting and fishing limits exist. You would also be surprised at how many people wound deer, don’t track the animal (inhumane and wasteful), and then keeping shooting and wounding more animals. Guess how quickly those fools can decimate the deer population in an area? I’ve seen it. I grew up with venison, wild ducks and geese and prairie chicken on the dinner table. But, I also remember the “bad” years when Dad, who was a crack shot, couldn’t get a deer. When you hunt you deal with nature not Safeway. This is why I believe that that the ability to grow food needs to be part of prepping. The ability to grow food is a part of being sustainable. It is worth it to try to grow a garden and challenge yourself to learn a new skill. It’s easy to learn the skills or study the subjects we have an interest in, but crisis and disaster call upon preppers to wear many hats and use a variety of skill sets. That means learning skills that are not interesting to some, but very necessary to all. You may not become a master gardener, but with hands on experience, you will develop a feel for what it takes to produce food. Who knows you may even discover that you really like gardening. Start simple. Get a good reference book. Try a simple raised bed garden or a balcony garden or use grow lights if in an apartment without a balcony. There are also community gardens in some areas. We could discuss this year’s gardening efforts and share tips or brainstorm problems. Is anyone interested in doing this as a part of prepping? Read More 18 36 Skills Human disaster probability by zip code? C. Ross - January 19, 2022 What resources are there for determining the likelihood of human disasters such as riots, prison breaks, urban fires, or chemical spills by narrow geographical area (zip code or similar scope) in the US? I’ve found Fema’s National Risk Index which has great information but it only includes natural disasters. Read More 15 10 Antique store hunting, can I find better preps from the past? Robert LarsonContributor - January 19, 2022 This is going to be a picture dump of my most recent trip to an antique store. I love to go to these places and see the ingenuity of the past and how things have evolved over time. Some items have improved with time, and some have gotten worse and the antiques are actually better than what can be found today. Here are some items that stood out to me on my last trip: Believe that this is a manual powered drill. The end looks like a shoulder pad to give you someplace to put pressure down on the piece you are drilling. Dietz kerosene lantern for light and warmth If you grew your own cotton or raised sheep and learned how to use a spinning wheel, you could be very popular on your block after SHTF when you are the only one who can make clothes. I saw a few of these torches and was very curious on what kind of fuel they burned and how they worked. Does anyone have any insight on these? It looks like there is a little pump that you will pressurise. Manual hand mixer for baking Hand crank butter churn. Butter is the best! Kerosene powered space heater Hand crank manual powered clothes washer. Isn’t this so cool!? I would like to have tried this out. hand crank coffee grinder I had fun looking at all this neat old stuff and imagined myself having to use these in a non-electric world. Do you have any vintage machines or gear that you keep around for prepping? Read More 14 20 Gear Car supplies Ironclad Amoeba - January 16, 2022 I’m drafting a few lists of gear to acquire this year and I find myself stuck on car supplies beyond the basics (spare oil and coolant, spare wheel, tire iron, jumper cables, belt cutter/glass breaker…). Besides any GHB and your EDC, what do you keep/want to keep in your vehicles ? Read More 27 57 Gear < Prev 1 2 3 … 28 29 30 … 59 60 61 Next > Recently Active News for the week of 2025-05-19 - 9 hours agoNews for the week of 2025-05-12 - 3 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 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

BOB Bifocals for old eyes

BrewIt - February 4, 2022

I’ve always kept a pair of cheap “cheaters” in my BOB, vehicle and everywhere else I think I might need them.  I’ve recently begun swapping them out for safety glass with bifocal lenses.  They are apx $15 at most local home improvement stores and come in different strengths.  Last thing I want is an eye injury when I need my eyes most.

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A nice figure about the stages of infection

Noah Prepares - February 4, 2022

Found in this document: https://www.woundsme.com/resources/details/evolution-wound-infection-continuum1

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Bloomberg and other media reporting China massively stockpiling food essential, War fears muted

Bill Masen - February 3, 2022

ByAdam Minter5 January 2022, 01:00 GMT

In recent months, food prices have hit 10-year highs, causing concern worldwide. Supply-chain bottlenecks, labor shortages, bad weather and a surge in consumer demand are among the factors responsible for the spike. So, too, is a lesser-known phenomenon: China is hoarding key commodities.

By mid-2022, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, China will hold 69% of the world’s corn reserves, 60% of its rice and 51% of its wheat. By China’s own estimation, these reserves are at a “historically high level” and are contributing to higher global food prices. For China, such stockpiles are necessary to ensure it won’t be at the mercy of major food exporters such as the U.S. But other countries, especially in the developing world, might ask why less than 20% of the world’s population is hoarding so much of its food.

China has operated granaries for thousands of years. In imperial times, they served as a source of tax revenue and a means of managing bad harvests, natural disasters, and war. Their importance grew as China’s population soared, yet the state’s ability to manage them faltered. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, natural and political disasters brought hunger and starvation to millions. Outsiders referred to China as “the land of famine.” Political instability and revolution soon followed.

Mao Zedong and China’s Communist Party staked much of their credibility on “solving” hunger, but midcentury famines took the lives of tens of millions. President Xi Jinping, never one to criticize his own country, once remarked that many members of his generation still recall hunger. Those memories have informed Xi’s policies since the start of his regime. In 2013, just weeks after taking office, Xi endorsed a nationwide campaign to discourage people from wasting food. In 2020, the “clean-plate campaign” was resurrected as he called on Chinese to “maintain a sense of crisis about food security.”

That crisis isn’t just about having enough to eat. It’s about having enough food produced domestically to minimize reliance on anyone else. Two weeks ago, Xi told a high-level Communist Party meeting that “the food of the Chinese people must be made by and remain in the hands of the Chinese people.”

That won’t be easy. China’s inventory of arable land has been in decline for decades, nibbled away by urban development and soil contamination, and its farms are far less productive than counterparts in other countries. Efforts to boost productivity with policy incentives and technology investments are promising but unlikely to pan out for years.

So China is stockpiling. At home, the government is offering farmers a minimum price for their crops (which are then often stockpiled). In March, it raised the minimum price for wheat for the first time since 2014. Meanwhile, traders have taken advantage of a  strengthening yuan to snap up grains at a feverish pace. China’s wheat imports surged 50% between January and July, compared to the same period of 2020.

The size and content of China’s commodity stockpiles is a jealously guarded state secret. But officials have been unusually open about the matter lately. In November, after a vaguely worded government missive about potential shortfalls this winter caused nationwide panic, agricultural officials announced that China had enough wheat stockpiled to last 18 months.

Other countries have been building up food reserves too, of course, especially as Covid-related disruptions persist. In June, the UN’s food agency warned that some low-income countries were likely to see food import costs jump as much as 20% for the year. Though the report didn’t single out any country for responsibility, China — as the world’s largest agricultural importer — certainly plays a crucial role.

Right or wrong, China has no intention of unwinding its stockpiles for the benefit of others. Nonetheless, there are steps it could take to help mitigate inflation. Most important, it should begin unwinding crop supports that raise domestic food prices beyond global ones. Meanwhile, a more open acknowledgement of China’s inevitable role in driving food inflation might encourage its leaders to work with others on food assistance to low-income regions.

China’s evolution from famine to feast delivered hundreds of millions of people from hunger. As its economy and clout grows, it should seek to ensure that others can enjoy the bounty.

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News

An experiment in growing mushrooms

Josh CentersContributor - February 3, 2022

A couple of years ago, some large trees fell in my neighbors’ field. I had meant to chop the logs, but never got around to it and they started to rot. Then I got the idea from Ben Falk’s The Resilient Farm and Homestead to use them for growing mushrooms.

If you haven’t grown mushrooms before, they’re different from growing plants. Instead of growing them in soil, you grow them in a substrate, usually some sort of wood like logs, sawdust, or wood chips. Instead of seeds, mushrooms are planted with spore-inoculated wood, either plugs or sawdust depending on the type of mushroom.

While it’s doubtful you’ll live exclusively on mushrooms, there are some compelling reasons to grow them. Primarily, they’re pretty low maintenance once they’re established and will return season after season. Some will come back for longer than others and some take longer to start growing than others.

For our experiment, I ordered 25 golden oyster plugs from Etsy for $10. The golden oyster mushrooms are reportedly easy to grow and easy to identify. You can find much bigger deals on larger packs of plugs, either of one type or a variety. I wanted to keep our initial experiment focused and cheap.

I should say up front that we didn’t do things exactly by the book. Here’s how you’re supposed to plant mushroom plugs:

Cut down a small-diameter tree. Soak the log or logs in water. Drill holes in the log(s). The pros inoculating a lot of logs recommend an angle grinder with a special attachment over a drill, as it’s faster. Drive the plugs into the holes with a hammer or mallet. Coat the holes and each end of the log with melted wax to hold in moisture and keep out competing organisms.

I didn’t use a fresh log, but there wasn’t any visible fungi growing on it. And I wasn’t concerned about moisture because it’s in a shady spot next to a creek and practically dripping with moisture. So I opted out of using wax.

I took my oldest son out with a drill, a hammer, and the plugs. He cheerily used the claw end to knock bark off the log while we took turns drilling holes and hammering in plugs.

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Skills

Have you ever heard a quote that stops you and makes you think about how you live?

Bill Masen - February 2, 2022

Over my 65 years I have often pondered about life, how I live, where I live and what my choices actually mean to me.   I’ve debated off gridding, prepping, survivialism, homesteading, urban prepping etc with my piers and friends and other preppers.   I’ve tended to focus on how I as the individual lives and rarely thought no further on the issue than my immediate family.

I’ve seen and read images, texts and witnessed real life scenes that often give me food for thought, but rarely has anything made me stop what I was doing and give serious thought to a QUOTE or IMAGE , perhaps four maybe five times something has gotten my full focussed attention.

Today whilst watching a simple sci fi movie  one character looking out over the city made a comment and it stopped me in my tracks, I would like to share that comment with you. I have added it to an image to give it greater meaning.    I wonder if it will make any of your pause for thought?

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Meta

Heads up massive CME alert for 2 February 2022

Bill Masen - February 2, 2022

Solar storm warning: NASA predicts ‘direct hit’ on Earth in hours: ‘Fast and strong!’ | Science | News | Express.co.uk

Solar storm warning: NASA predicts ‘direct hit’ on Earth in hours: ‘Fast and strong!’A SOLAR STORM is heading straight for Earth in a “direct hit”, according to NASA, prompting fears of blackouts from the “fast and strong” impact.

Fast solar winds rocketed out of the Sun on January 29 along with a coronal mass ejection (CME). This means a solar storm has been tipped to reach the Earth by February 2. A CME is a large expulsion of plasma and magnetic field that explodes from the Sun’s corona (its outer layer).

Dr Tamitha Skov, a space weather psychists, posted on Twitter: “Direct Hit! NASA, NOAA & MetOffice predictions agree the #solarstorm launched Jan 29 will hit Earth by early Febuary 2!”

She later added: “The earlier post showed NOAA/SWPC prediction. This one shows the NASA prediction, which indicated the #solarstorm could hit as early as 18:00 GMT on February 1.

 “The final post is the Met Office prediction. This model shows the #solarstorm hitting by 05:00 GMT on February 2.

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Infographics re volcano eruption

LBV - January 29, 2022

I was just alerted to these info graphics as I am in an area that could be affected  – largely ash fall. I thought they were well done.

https://cdemtaranaki.govt.nz/taranaki-hazards/natural-hazards/volcanic/volcanic-infographics/?fbclid=IwAR0en-AixZZMGt9U8sID8YYExHVgsL-B9noWQ-YOnKhAs2-OPsWzHOsVWdI

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I had to pepper spray a couple of dogs. Here’s how that went

Josh CentersContributor - January 28, 2022

Today, I had to pepper spray a couple of dogs to protect my chickens (and to protect the dogs from the roosters). Long story short, it was effective and there’s a mostly happy ending. It was definitely a happier ending than if I had to shoot them or if a rooster had clawed them.

Check out our guide to the best pepper spray.

I was in my office working on an upcoming guide when my wife burst in and told me there were dogs outside messing with our beagle. I grabbed a gun and ran outside to find two nearly identical, very large dogs looking down at my beagle as she barked her head off at them. They looked like some kind of Collie mix.

I walked up to them and started yelling at them to “git.” They just stood there staring at me. I had the gun trained on them in case they were aggressive, but I saw collars on them and soon realized that they were harmless. Regardless, I still didn’t want them around my dog, and I definitely didn’t want them getting near my chickens.

I kept yelling at them until they finally got the message and took off down the road. But a few minutes they were back, in the woods across from our house.

I was worried they would come around to the other side of my yard and go after the chickens, so I parked my oldest son at the window to stand watch. Having written our guide to pepper spray, I decided that if they came back for the chickens, my can of POM would be a better deterrent than shooting them, and they clearly didn’t respond to verbal commands, so I slipped a can in my pocket.

Sure enough, after a few minutes he started yelling that they were near the chickens. I was sort of prepared, but not enough, slipping my bare feet into my Crocs and taking off running in the snow without a hat or jacket.

I have two chicken tractors, which are just movable wire cages. One has my old ISA Brown hens while the other has my Australorps, including two roosters. The dogs were circling the Australorp tractor and the birds were panicking. They’d knocked their waterer and feeder off their hangers and the hens were bunched up behind the roosters. If the dogs had breached the tractor, I’m not sure which would have had the worst of it: the dogs or the chickens. Those roosters frequently peck and claw at me, and I’m the one who feeds them (and yes, Napoleon, the chickens DO have large talons).

I already had the can of POM in my hand, so when one of the dogs approached me I sprayed it directly in the eyes. Or at least tried to: the wind was blowing a bit so not all of it connected. The dog didn’t seem to respond so I sprayed it again. It apparently took a second to register. After that, the dog’s nose started to twitch and it ran off to just over my neighbor’s property line.

The other dog had hid behind the tractor with the ISA Browns and it was looking for a way into the tractor. I gave it a good spray as well, because I had to make it clear that the chickens are not to be messed with. It learned a bit faster than its sibling and ran off to join it. With both dogs rubbing their noses in the snow, I was satisfied that they would leave the chickens alone.

To cut a long story short, we got in touch with the owner, who understood why I had to spray them, and they brought the dogs home. At least for a minute, before they got away again. I hope they don’t get around the chickens again, because I may have to take more drastic action.

Here’s what I learned from the experience:

1. If you keep a gun for self defense, you should also carry pepper spray. If I didn’t have pepper spray, I would have had to shoot them or hit them with sticks or something, because they clearly weren’t listening to me. I might could have lured them away with treats or meat, but that risked making them return customers.

2. The pepper spray was surprisingly silent. The can made no noise and the dogs didn’t either. I expected yelping or barking or something.

3. I should definitely get a belt holster for the pepper spray so I can keep it at the ready. The can has a pocket clip, but I’m not crazy about carrying it that way.

4. I also should invest in some bear spray. The fog would be more effective against dogs, and we do have the occasional bear sighting now. (Bears are more of an East Tennessee thing, but some have migrated to Middle Tennessee.)

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Scenarios

Dehydrating food at home

matthew.Contributor - January 28, 2022

Hello fine people, I hope everyone’s new year is off to a good start.

For the holidays, my wife and I bought ourselves a food dehydrator, a Nesco Gardenmaster to be exact, and while we’re definitely having fun with it, I know we are only scratching the surface.  Is anyone here currently dehydrating their own food?  I’d love to know not only what you are doing, but how you are working it into your preps.

So far we’ve had a blast dehydrating fruit and making our own jerky, and our next adventure will be to make a soup mix.  But where I’m struggling is trying to figure out how to best incorporate it into our preps.  When it comes to long-term food storage, so far it seems safer, and often cheaper, to simply buy packaged dehydrated foods.  But I’m hoping I’m wrong on that, so please share your success stories!

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Advice

What preparedness items do you keep in your vehicle?

CamilleContributor - January 27, 2022

I’m sure the answer to this question varies widely by geographic region, however I was reading the article: “What to do if you witness a car accident” that The Prepared team put together and afterwards I was curious what items other preppers kept in their vehicles. 

Here’s my list:

Ztylus Stinger Car Emergency Escape Tool (a multi-tool window breaker and combined seatbelt cutter attached to a USB phone charger) Individual First Aid Kit (IFAK) Emergency Foil Blanket LuminAID Solar Lantern or Flashlight Jumper Cables Flares or Reflective Triangles Wet Wipes or Hand Sanitizer Water Non-Perishable Snacks Emergency Phone Numbers for Auto Insurance/Local Tow Companies etc. Properly Inflated Tire, Wheel Wrench and Tripod Jack (only useful if you actually know how to change a tire) Car Tool Kit (again only useful if you actually know how to use it) Regional Maps/Atlas (also requires some effort in order to familiarize yourself with not relying on a phone/GPS system)

I’d consider keeping oil, extra fuel and a fire extinguisher as well but I’m moving to an area where temperatures are consistently above 90 degrees Fahrenheit and I don’t want to leave those items in a hot vehicle if I don’t have to. Also, for me personally, part of preparedness is always leaving my vehicle with a full tank of fuel, parked facing outwards (in case of severe weather events or emergency) and keeping up with proper maintenance. What do you keep in your vehicle?

 

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Gear

Info from Brazil / UK on possible threat from Vegan foods

Bill Masen - January 26, 2022

https://www.gbnews.uk/news/vegan-meat-substitutes-may-be-unhealthier-than-their-meat-counterparts/206846

Thought this worth sharing not becauseI’m anti Vegan but because I believe we should try and eat as healthy as possible in order to stay fit, an essential prepper requirement.

———————————————————————————————————

Ben Chapman senior digital producer
 Published monday 17 January 2022 – 11:41 
 
Veganuary has caused a stir in the plant-based sphere, as thousands of people across the UK drop their regular diets to adopt a meat and dairy-free consumption plan.

High street brands often latch onto the yearly January event, releasing new plant-based options. Subway, for example, have released a new T.L.C (Tastes.Like.Chicken) option, while KFC have launched plant-based nuggets.

The meat alternatives prove popular as corporations look to tap into the market, but research has shown that they are unhealthy, and can be classed as ‘ultra-processed’ foods.

This was first identified by Brazilian academics as part of the NOVA classification.

Ultra processed foods are accepted by health experts to be unhealthy and probably addictive, and a reason behind increasing rates of obesity and poor health worldwide.

NOVA has four different classifications for food, ‘Unprocessed food or minimally processed’ being reserved for raw ingredients such as fruit and vegetables.

The third, processed foods, includes the likes of cheese and tofu.

The fourth and final category, being ultra processed foods, is reserved for a great deal of the vegan alternatives on offer from fast food chains and supermarkets.

NOVA describe this classification as: “in particular flavours, colours sweeteners, emulsifiers, and other additives used to imitate sensorial qualities of unprocessed or minimally processed foods and their culinary preparations or to disguise undesirable qualities of the final product”.

The research from NOVA suggests the swathe of vegan options readily on offer this month fit into this category, meaning they are often much unhealthier than their meat counterparts.

While a grilled chicken breast would count as minimally processed, or in some cases ‘processed’ if salt and oil is added, ‘plant-based chicken goujons’ can be classed as ultra processed, containing over 30 ingredients, including methylcellulose, maltodextrin and dried glucose syrup.

Despite this, the food industry has continued to push the products, with even the term ‘plant-based’ being adopted to give more positive connotations.

The word ‘plant’ can be associated with nature, health and fresh air, and the Sainsbury’s Plant Pioneers range reinforce this, as a green leaf peeks out from the logo.

Despite this, it is argued by companies offering meat-free options that the food on offer is better for the planet, as well as health.

A Quorn spokesperson told the Independent in 2021: “We don’t recognise the label of ‘ultra-processed – our protein is cultivated from a natural nutritious fungus, using the age-old method of fermentation, and then steam-cooked, chilled and frozen to create Quorn products”.

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Drones as a survival and evacuation tool

BayouBengal - January 26, 2022

Hi Everyone. I’m new to prepping but have been researching and working hard to be prepared over the past few weeks. What has me most concerned and focused in regards to prepping is needing to evacuate my home in event my neighborhood becomes an area of extreme civil unrest.  I don’t want to run over anyone, I don’t want to shoot anyone, I just want to get my family and I out.

I’ve been considering getting an inexpensive drone so that I can quickly survey the area around my home to determine the easiest path out during a period of civil unrest.  I don’t have any experience in flying drones and am not interested in taking it up as a hobby.  I just want something that I can quickly and easily launch and get a picture.  Any suggestions?

On a related note, entering “drone” in the search block of this site yielded no results.  While my plan is to evacuate by car and go stay with relatives in the country, it seems a drone would be a phenomenal survival tool for someone on foot in terms of navigating, finding resources (water, food, shelter), finding help (other people), or in my case avoiding danger (other people).  I think a write up on suitable drones for prepper use would be an excellent resource reference.

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Gear

It’s time for our annual environmental charity donation. Where should we donate?

John AdamaStaff - January 26, 2022

Edit: Thanks everyone! Based on your feedback, I just made our donations to The Bee Conservancy, Alliance for the Great Lakes, and One Tree Planted.

TP is part of 1% For The Planet, a program where 1% of every dollar that comes into TP is donated to fixing our biggest long-term threat: climate change and the destruction of the planet.

It’s time to make our modest 2021 donations. I’ve gone through the searchable database of possible charities and picked out the ones below that I’d suggest we donate to.

Wanted to open this up to the community for feedback. Which of the list below do you like most? Any others from the database you want to propose?

Alliance for the Great Lakes. When you look at climate change projections, the great lakes region is one of the best (maybe the best) places to move as preppers within the US. That region, thanks in large part to the lakes, is expected to ‘weather the storm’ of the climate crisis. Those lakes hold ~20% of the world’s fresh water, so it makes sense to protect that precious asset as we move towards a water-scarce future.

This picture is from the annual event where the Alliance organizes 15,000 volunteers to remove plastic waste from the lakes. Last year they removed 18 tons.

The Bee Conservancy. You probably know that bees/pollinators are crucial for ecosystems, yet their colonies have been collapsing in recent years. This decade-old group has a few programs, one of which is running hives in urban gardens throughout New York City.

One Tree Planted has actually planted over 40 million trees in over 40 countries. Trees are one of the best chances we have of reducing the harmful carbon building up in our atmosphere, since trees inhale the bad stuff and exhale clean oxygen. You can read more about this topic in our recent interview with the former Reddit CEO who’s trying to enable a trillion new trees.

Water.org, founded by Matt Damon, gives microloans to impoverished people who need help getting access to clean water and sanitation. They’ve helped 40 million people so far.

Conservation.org (Conservation International) has been around 30 years and has a wide range of initiatives, including ocean protection.

Earth Guardians is a 30-year-old charity that runs climate programs for young people. Some of it is on the advocacy side, such as getting underrepresented youth more involved in voting and civic duty. Other programs work directly in the environment, such as planting trees or running a class in Africa to teach farmers how to reuse farm waste for new products.

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Meta

Has anyone actually made their own soap and liked it?

Conrad B - January 26, 2022

Has anyone tried making their own soap? Yes, I was watching Fight Club.

I’ve seen it mentioned in a few places and was curious if it’s worthwhile now that we’re all washing our hands more.

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Advice

Sending text messages over ham radio with JS8Call

Josh CentersContributor - January 24, 2022

Winter Field Day is coming up in the ham radio world, which invites ham radio operators to take their gear outside and get some hands-on experience with emergency communications. We’ve talked about sending email with Winlink, but I’ll show you another trick that lets you send SMS text messages over JS8Call, which is a lot easier to use than Winlink.

We last discussed JS8Call when I participated in an AmRRON exercise to track the grocery supply chain. I went into deep detail on the setup and how it works in that post and won’t repeat everything, but here’s a quick rundown:

JS8Call is like a chat room that works over ham radio. Think IRC or Slack.It works over HF, which means you’ll probably want a General license to take advantage of it (but Technician-class operators have data privileges on 15 meters). It requires a real-time clock, either provided by an Internet time server or through GPS via a GPS USB dongle, which lets you operate off-grid.

JS8Call is one of the best digital modes to learn, as it’s relatively user friendly, let’s you automatically exchange status messages with other operators, and lets you relay messages so you can reach operators you couldn’t otherwise.

But JS8Call has another superpower: it can tap into the extensive APRS data network. APRS is short for Automatic Packet Reporting System, a radio data network that’s been around since the ‘80s.

Well before cell phones were popular, hams could use APRS to send text messages, get weather reports, and track object locations. These days, APRS is tied into the SMS network.

APRS works over short-ish range VHF/UHF, but thanks to the JS8Call integration, you can tap into it from anywhere in the world.

To send an SMS text message over APRS, send a message in this format:

@APRSIS CMD :SMSGTE   :@NUMBER MESSAGE

The format must be exact. Note that there are three spaces between :SMSGTE and :@NUMBER, and yes, you must put the “@” before the phone number.

If you hear about this on YouTube or elsewhere, you may see a different, older format that has since changed. The one above is now the correct format as of January 2022.

Screenshot of how it looks:

It takes a few seconds for the message to send, and then around another 30 seconds until the recipient receives it.

One thing to know: when you do this you’re sending a cell phone number over public airwaves. Also, it will be logged in the APRS system for all to see. Finally, the recipient has no way to respond to your message.

However, if you have a power or telecommunications outage, JS8Call gives ham radio operators a simple way to contact loved ones even if they aren’t hams themselves.

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Skills

Is anyone else seeing a meat shortage?

- January 23, 2022

This is my first time posting on the forum where I’m still a newbie at prepping and feel like I should listen more than talk at this point.

However, I haven’t seen anyone else mention about meat or grocery shortages, and I wanted to report what I saw at Kroger tonight in middle Georgia. There was literally no chicken left of any description – even the organic section was wiped out.

The beef and pork sections had some cuts available, but there were definite gaps where certain items had been cleared.

I didn’t think to check the rest of the store to see what else might be missing. Is anyone else witnessing these types of shortages? Or seeing any panic buying?

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News

Item scarcity with the emergence of a war with Russia

Conrad B - January 23, 2022

Hypothetically, if the USA were to go to war with Russia what would that mean for us as individuals and how can we prepare now?

If the war were to drag on for some time, would ammo and gun manufacturers not make things for civilians and those resources would be used for the government and war effort? Would we see limits on clothing and food in order to support the troops with car manufacturers  making planes like during WWII and driving up the prices for cars here even more?

One more question. From my history classes I vaguely remember that war=increase spending and work for the economy. Correct me if I’m wrong here but if many new jobs were created for a war effort would that help the economy and change the direction we are heading with inflation and all that or would it only drive us more in debt? I never took an economics class…

What do you predict we should do now to prepare?

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Scenarios

Water storage issues–water bricks contaminated after 1 year

AShields - January 23, 2022

This is my third year doing an annual swap of water stores but the first time I have had an issue with contaminated water. I have Water Bricks and my method is to 1. wash them out with Dawn 2. rinse and dry 3. refill with tap water 4. add unscented bleach. This is the first year I have opened them up to find white threads floating in the water and what I can only describe as orange blobs in one. One container had a visibly discolored and slimy lid, too. The most obvious thing to me is that maybe the bleach was too old, but I still feel like in a clean, air tight container, it shouldn’t have been an issue? I’m not sure. Any help or advice on how to prevent this is greatly appreciated.

I am very glad I do an annual check on the water and I am going to be ordering a Berkey or similar to have a way to filter water faster than my Sawyer mini filters could if this ever happens again and I need to use my stores. I’m also glad I have purification tablets on hand, too. (crossposted to r/preppers)

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Advice

How to defend against marauders after a disaster

Bradical - January 19, 2022

After a significant disaster occurs, those who are unprepared or less prepared will start to get hungry, thirsty, or cold. If there isn’t relief provided in enough time they will go into that survival mindset and think that the only option is to take from others or die. 

We try and prevent ourselves from ever getting in that mindset ourselves by stockpiling food, water, and other supplies. Maybe we even stock more than we need so that we can give to others and prevent them from getting desperate. 

But take a minute to think about your situation and what you would do if you started to hear about marauders raiding houses in your neighborhood. What are some of the steps you would take to fortify your home, defend your possessions and family, and deter them from coming around? Try saying more than “got my guns n’ ammo, I’m good…”. 

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ScenariosSkills

Maintain a sustainable food source with the prepper’s garden

UbiqueContributor - January 19, 2022

In dire straits, many preppers imagine trapping rabbits (beware tularemia and SAS doesn’t recommend relying on rabbit) or hunting (you would be surprised how quickly deer populations can be decimated leaving nothing to hunt). That also applies to fish.

In The Great Depression, resource rich Canadian prairies were virtually hunted and fished out. In the best of times, not everyone hunts or they hunt and fish responsibly. In a crisis, people forget stewardship and why hunting and fishing limits exist.

You would also be surprised at how many people wound deer, don’t track the animal (inhumane and wasteful), and then keeping shooting and wounding more animals. Guess how quickly those fools can decimate the deer population in an area? I’ve seen it.

I grew up with venison, wild ducks and geese and prairie chicken on the dinner table. But, I also remember the “bad” years when Dad, who was a crack shot, couldn’t get a deer. When you hunt you deal with nature not Safeway.

This is why I believe that that the ability to grow food needs to be part of prepping.

The ability to grow food is a part of being sustainable. It is worth it to try to grow a garden and challenge yourself to learn a new skill.

It’s easy to learn the skills or study the subjects we have an interest in, but crisis and disaster call upon preppers to wear many hats and use a variety of skill sets. That means learning skills that are not interesting to some, but very necessary to all.

You may not become a master gardener, but with hands on experience, you will develop a feel for what it takes to produce food. Who knows you may even discover that you really like gardening.

Start simple. Get a good reference book. Try a simple raised bed garden or a balcony garden or use grow lights if in an apartment without a balcony. There are also community gardens in some areas.

We could discuss this year’s gardening efforts and share tips or brainstorm problems. Is anyone interested in doing this as a part of prepping?

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Skills

Human disaster probability by zip code?

C. Ross - January 19, 2022

What resources are there for determining the likelihood of human disasters such as riots, prison breaks, urban fires, or chemical spills by narrow geographical area (zip code or similar scope) in the US?  

I’ve found Fema’s National Risk Index which has great information but it only includes natural disasters.

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Antique store hunting, can I find better preps from the past?

Robert LarsonContributor - January 19, 2022

This is going to be a picture dump of my most recent trip to an antique store. I love to go to these places and see the ingenuity of the past and how things have evolved over time. Some items have improved with time, and some have gotten worse and the antiques are actually better than what can be found today. Here are some items that stood out to me on my last trip:

Believe that this is a manual powered drill. The end looks like a shoulder pad to give you someplace to put pressure down on the piece you are drilling.

Dietz kerosene lantern for light and warmth

If you grew your own cotton or raised sheep and learned how to use a spinning wheel, you could be very popular on your block after SHTF when you are the only one who can make clothes.

I saw a few of these torches and was very curious on what kind of fuel they burned and how they worked. Does anyone have any insight on these? It looks like there is a little pump that you will pressurise. 

Manual hand mixer for baking

Hand crank butter churn. Butter is the best!

Kerosene powered space heater

Hand crank manual powered clothes washer. Isn’t this so cool!? I would like to have tried this out.

hand crank coffee grinder

I had fun looking at all this neat old stuff and imagined myself having to use these in a non-electric world. 

Do you have any vintage machines or gear that you keep around for prepping?

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Gear

Car supplies

Ironclad Amoeba - January 16, 2022

I’m drafting a few lists of gear to acquire this year and I find myself stuck on car supplies beyond the basics (spare oil and coolant, spare wheel, tire iron, jumper cables, belt cutter/glass breaker…). Besides any GHB and your EDC, what do you keep/want to keep in your vehicles ?

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Gear