Active New Top (30 days) Compact Card FYI a photo montage of the huge increase in secure gated communities Bill Masen - August 27, 2021 Here is an insight into how many mainly middle class types are responding to increases in anxiety over their families security. Whilst the silly rich go the Bunker/ Iceberg home/ Private Island or Retreat route, this is how many middle classes go. I recently read that over 40% of all new build developments in the US are now Gated or Secure communities. https://www.theguardian.com/cities/gallery/2014/may/05/for-your-protection-gated-cities-around-the-world-in-pictures Read More 5 11 🏠 Home buying with preparedness in mind Lowell - August 25, 2021 Put yourself in my shoes. You’re currently renting, but eventually want to buy a home for the sake of financial and physical security? What traits do you look for in the home itself? My general thinking is we’re heading towards some sort of climate apocalypse (and maybe with some broad state repression too). Not soon, but perhaps decades down the road, which is very pertinent to me as a twenty something. Here’s some examples I can think of, but I’m very curious to hear what y’all have to recommend! Roof conducive to solar panels. Ideally South-facing and in a shape that’s easy to cover in panels. A basement, for passive insulation during heatwaves, among other reasons I’m sure. A location with multiple exit routes, so like not an island (like Mercer Island in Seattle) or the tip of a peninsula (like Alki in Seattle). I figure a standalone house is ideal, rather than a condo or townhouse. Perhaps some minimum distance between the home and property line on all sides. Elevation above sea level, and perhaps even relative elevation to avoid flooding. Read More 15 36 AdviceScenarios How to connect with farmers that are selling to people, not restaurants? Conrad B - August 24, 2021 Trying to kill two birds with one stone. I’m seeing the effects of meat shortages in my area so I’m going to try and get more stocked in my freezer. And I’ve read in other forums about people sourcing meat from ranchers who ordinarily sell to restaurants but are starting to sell to regular people to make ends meet. Has anyone done this? And what kinds of prices are the farmers charging / is it cheaper than stores? I admit I’ve never had to think much about where to get food before and don’t know how that all works. Read More 13 10 Advice What are the best apps dealing with maps? Wicked74 - August 24, 2021 Hello all, New to the site and am excited to be here. I need some help. Can you all chime in and let me know which apps are the best when it comes to maps. I need an app that will allow me to download maps. I figured many if not all, of you, know more than me and have been through the said apps and already know the good ones. I thank you all in advance!!!! Read More 13 9 Bartering items which hold value and could be liquidated Reaper19 - August 24, 2021 Hello, With people growing more nervous about the economy and potential hyper-inflation not to mention the potential for overall collapse, I’m identifying items which can be bought in large quantities for barter, but could also be re-sold/liquidated for close to the cash value should the economy stabilize or the the national/global outlook improve. The only items I can identify are guns and ammo. Most other large quantity prepper items are not going to be able to be easily resold for approx the same value under normal circumstance. Thoughts? Thank you. Read More 6 15 Your longest time without seeing a new face? Oldprepper - August 24, 2021 I would be interested to know your experience of not seeing or communicating with other people for a good while.? Did it go as expected?….. What pitfalls did you encounter?… Were your preparation adequate? Would you have done something different? Read More 12 12 Hiding stuff like Bobs, supplies, valuables Bill Masen - August 23, 2021 Seeing we appear to be chatting about places to cache or conceal gear and BOBS I thought I would share a few images I found some years ago online. Regretably I do not have the details of the authorship. Just some images FYI. Read More 1 1 A question about your caches and stores. Bill Masen - August 23, 2021 Across the board (and the pond) I read with great delight that more and more people are putting time, effort and money into prep supplies. Food, Fuel, Water, Medical, Maintenence, Logistics, Communications, Reference and Security subjects being addressed in sensible and prudent style. But ( and please correct me if i am wrong) but I am detecting a few cases that cause me concern. (1) Dates and Ages (1) People bulk buying their food, fuel, medical TIME SENSITIVE gear all at one time, which can often mean those supplies become life expired all at the same time. I have just heard from a friend who bulk bought ALL of his AA, AAA and CR123 Lithium batteries in 2012 and now they are all just about life expired which means a big bill to replace. I have read of people buying assorted bulk food stuffs from one supplier all at the same time thus meaning stuff like their bulk rice, grains, powdered eggs all need replacing at the same time. And should that batch of supplies be defective you lose the whole lot. I strongly reccomend getting your supplies in over a prolonged period from various sources and if it suits you, different brands. Then EAT the oldest foods first, use the oldest batteries first, the oldest meds the oldest fuel etc. and buying different batches with different dates from different stores also reduces the risk if you are unfortunate enough to buy a bad batch of something. BUY WHAT YOU EAT AND EAT WHAT YOU BUY, rotate your stocks so the freshest gear goes to the back of the shelf., and only buy foods and brands you actually like and prefer. (2) Where are you storing your supplies, again I am hearing some alarming stories. So it is highly preferential you dont put all your eggs in one basket, literally. IF you can do not store all your supplies in one location, if there is a fire, flood, riot, quake, etc you could very easily lose everything instantly. Try where possible to store your essential supplies in multiple locations, even within your home by spreading your supplies about, it is better than having them all in one cupboard or larder. Even better if you can divide your supplies at assorted locations such as work, the cabin, in an insulated trailer, or even at a neighbours place. (2A) Guys unless you attic / loft space is weather proof and totally insulated dont store FOODS, MEDS, or perishables in your roof space, temp variations in roof spaces can vary by 100 degrees in some places. (2B) Going to the other end the Outhouse, Cellar or Garage, unless it temp and humidity stable dont store perishables in those places also (2C) Never store FUEL or Chemicals in the same place as Food, Water and Med supplies (or cleaning materials) (2D) If storing bulk water never stand plastic containers directly onto the floor ESPECIALLY if its concrete, Insulate with wood, carper etc because chemicals in the concrete apparently can leach into the stored water ( I dont know the chemistry but I’m told its true). Also water does NOT go off but it does go stale and cab absorb chemical from the air and storage container. So its wise the empty, rinse and refill the water containers a couple of time each year. (2E) Dont store anything on the upper shelves that could ruin the supplies underneath if it leaks. (2F) dont store glass containers high off the ground in quake zones, Also consider stringing elastic shock cord across each shelf to hold containers in place if their is a quake. Read More 2 12 Spiders – the insidious attack insects Illini Warrior - August 22, 2021 https://survival-mastery.com/med/health/spider-bites-treatment.html Read More 1 2 Skills Twenty minute dry beans Barb LeeContributor - August 21, 2021 Dry beans are a really important staple in food storage, but preparing them is really fuel and water intensive. Over time, I’ve been experimenting with making “quick cook” dry beans, based on this blog post: https://seedtopantryschool.com/dehydrating-beans-make-quick-cook-beans/ I’ve noted she’s made some revisions to the instructions I read some years ago. Lots of pictures and explanations in the article. Anyway, I’m in the midst of a dehydrating frenzy, with the unit going nearly every day, and this week I’m preparing a stash of dry beans for quick cooking. So nice to use the cooking resources when they are plentiful! The basics: Soak dry beans 8-12 hours, or use the “quick soak” method. Rinse the beans, cover with fresh water, bring to a boil and boil ten minutes. Drain and rinse. Dehydrating is “tricky” unless you don’t mind bean crumbles. This method prepares the beans so they remain intact, and make nice additions to soups, etc. Dry the soaked and rinsed beans for about 5 hours at the lowest setting. The article says 95 deg F, my unit doesn’t go lower than 105 and that worked. At higher heat, apparently the quick-drying skin will “curl” the softened inner bean and cause it to split and crumble. The lower temp seems to “set” the inner bean and make it more crumble resistant. After about 5 hours, I went ahead and cranked the heat up to 125 and dried the pinto beans hard. They are almost 100% intact and virtually look like raw dry beans. This morning I rehydrated by pouring a normal cooking amount of boiling water over them and left them to soak a couple of hours. Then without draining, I brought the beans to a boil, then reduced to simmer. They were al dente within 10 minutes, and mash-able within 20. Tacos and refrieds tonight! I’m about to vacuum seal the rest, and I expect to have “20 minute pinto beans” in storage for years to come. Currently I’m drying great northern and navy beans. I have a great recipe for bean soup that uses mashed potatoes as a thickener. Read More 7 7 Do you fish? Josh CentersContributor - August 21, 2021 We just published a guide to fishing. Do you fish? Have any tips or experiences you’d like to share? Read More 7 8 MetaSkills Lessons from my 2021 garden Josh CentersContributor - August 21, 2021 I offer a lot of gardening advice on this site, so I think it’s important that I share how things have worked for me. Here are some of the lessons I learned from my summer garden: Raised Beds A while back, I wrote about how I switched to raised beds. Some are no-till, one was double dug, but all have done pretty well. I’ve grown cucumbers, peppers, sweet potatoes, basil, marigolds, amaranth, lettuce, tomatoes, green beans, and sweet potatoes. Yields weren’t just fantastic, but we had a baby this summer, so I greatly scaled back my ambitions. But the raised beds still produced a good amount of food and I didn’t break any machinery or myself in the process, so I think it’s been a big success. Trellising I posted a forum thread on how to make trellises with PVC pipe and string. I got the idea from Brett Markham’s The Mini Farming Bible. Unfortunately, they didn’t hold up well at all. My pole beans regularly broke the trellis, so I had to support it with a metal t-post. The tomatoes (which did amazing) completely overtook the trellis and everything around it. Future trellises will be made of t-posts and cattle panels. Squash and Melon Pits The squash crop was a disaster. A rabid possum ate everything in the melon pits, including the dirt, so I had to buy bagged soil and start over. Squash germinated well enough but produced very little. My neighbor also had trouble, which he blamed on blight. I think next year I’m going to just grow winter squash in raised beds and trellis them. Melon pits aren’t without value. David the Good had great success with them this year. Mulch Since I planted so intensively, I made a point of deep mulching. I have a bagger on my pushmower so I just threw down grass clippings. The beds stayed moist except during the worst dry spells. Tomatoes I don’t specify tomatoes as a survival crop, but my wife canned a ton of them last year and we’re still using them, so I put five tomato plants in the ground that I started from seed (German Pink from Baker Creek). They did almost too well. I put them at the north edge of the bed and they ended up taking over their bed and the one next to it. And of course they totally overwhelmed my trellis. The tomatoes had no disease and were barely bothered by pests. I attribute that to planting them in a bed that was double-dug two feet down, plant them about a foot deep in the ground, and I put a Tums at the bottom of the holes for calcium. I’ll repeat all that next year, but I’ll put them in the center of the bed, dedicate the entire bed to the tomatoes, and properly cage them. One mistake I made: picking tomatoes when they were too green. The right time to pick them is just when they start turning red. If I wait for them to get fully ripe, the bugs will eat them. Sweet Potatoes I haven’t harvested them yet, but the plants have done really well in a foot of compost. The leaves make great rabbit fodder. The leaves have perfectly shaded the bed so I almost never have to water it and there are very few weeds. Green Beans I went all-in on pole beans this year (Kentucky Wonder), but I kind of wish I hadn’t. They produced well, but it took them two months before I got anything. Next year I’m going to mix bush beans with pole beans. Bush beans produce faster, pole beans produce more. Cucumbers and Peppers I grew these because my son likes them. Poor yields from both. Too much cucumber disease and the peppers just didn’t produce. I think they were spaced too closely. But I have two big mason jars full of fermented pickles that are quite good. I saved a bunch of cucumber seed to see if the second generation is better adapted next year. Amaranth I grew two varieties: “Chinese spinach” and Golden Giant. The Chinese spinach ended up being bug fodder, which is okay because I didn’t stress the garden this year. I’ve been harvesting the Golden Giant for seed when the heads are dry and putting them in large paper bags so the seeds can fall out. I’m not sure how useful it’ll be, but I grew it as an experiment. Lettuce I made it a goal to grow a decent amount of lettuce this year, with some success. The problem is it gets so hot here so fast that lettuce gets bitter. There are a number of things I could do to mitigate that, but I’m not sure it’s worth the effort. What I may do next year is grow just a couple of heads at a time, planted a couple of weeks apart. Harvest one head, replant, and then harvest the other head a week or two later. Or maybe I’ll just buy it locally and focus on survival crops that take less work. Garlic I had two beds of garlic in the ground. Garlic is easy to grow, so it produced okay, but the heads were kind of small, I think due to hard soil. I’m going to fill a raised bed with garlic in a few weeks. Other Observations Spinosad and neem oil work okay against bugs, but I think diatomaceous earth works better. An irrigation system of some kind would be really nice, but I want something that isn’t dependent on city water. I’m planning to set up a water collection system next to my workshop and I’ll work from there. Next year, I’m going to focus more on survival crops, like potatoes. I’ll have more beds built then and I’ve sort of learned the hard way to not plant things just because the kids say they’ll eat them. Read More 9 8 Skills Nerds, Geeks and Wizzards. What is a typical Silicone valley preppers EDC loadout Bill Masen - August 20, 2021 Considering this most excellent TP website was created in part to help enlighten and assist the Tech types of Silicon valley, from Gates, Bezos, Zuckerberg down over. I was wondering to what level that part of the community has developed its own Silicon prepper EDC requirements? I’ve read all I can by the two authors of this site, and Brad Garratts tome Bunker in an effort to better understand the needs and requirement of the modern, highly educated, technologically advanced thinkers. But I find there is very little in the way of feedback from these new preppers. Is it possible for someone to reach out and get some feedback and what decision making processes the technonauts are reaching, and what equipment choices they are purchasing and why. Thanks in advance. Read More 9 21 Gear Getting home, bugging out, evacuating Bill Masen - August 20, 2021 This is quite brief, sooooo if you live in one place and commute to work / school etc and you have a plan to get home or bug out PDQ if something goes wrong…………. Does your area suffer from the risk of Flashfloods, Wildfires, Quakes, Tsunamis, Landslides or Avalanches etc then you need to consider a few points. 1 Normally when trouble turns up on a communities doorstep the first thing people have a habit of doing is jumping into the car and heading for the Freeway / Motorway. This very often leads to total gridlock and traffic chaos within minutes. You need Alternative routes if and where possible. And possibly alternative means of transport. Some years ago I read of people in the PNW who had boats , microlights, light aircraft, even helicopters which were positioned for a quick evac if neccessary (Though I dont know the validity of a boat in a Tsunami risk) . Though Bicycles, Motorcycles, Horses and 4×4 mules and quads were more affordable and popular alternatives. Either way the major highway routes are more than likely to be gridlocked very quickly, and possibly in ruins if the issue is Landslide or Quake. Your best route will nearly always involve NOT using Bridges, Tunnels, Mountainside roads or through Forests, But I accept its not always possible to avoid having to use such vulnerable routes. So if possible PERSONALLY Recce / Recon as many alternatives as you can find. And revisit them occasionally to ensure they are still open, and try to avoid vulnerable structures. 2 If you face inundation from flash floods or tsunamis or burst reservoirs your route out should ideally avoid any travel that involves going DOWNHILL, Common sense I know, but its not uncommon for folks to not do a realtime recce of their escape routes. I know of one fellow here in the UK whose original B O route involved crossing a river, but what he assumed was a bridge was in fact only a FORDING PLACE which for much of the year was under 4 feet of water. And flood water from failed dams or tsunamis can outruns cars easily so GO UP not DOWNHILL. 3 Disasters dont make appointments, and they can affect HUGE areas. If your BO/Get home plans rely upon motor vehicles please I beg you to consider TWO options. (A) never EVER let your fuel tank get under 50% full, EVER. (B) consider keeping one or two extra full fuel cans in your boot (UK) Trunk (US) . During a Hurricane in FLA some people bugged out with full tanks and extra fuels but still ran out in Nowheresville Georgia after heavy traffic caused a 14 hour crawl at 10 MPH which used up their fuel reserves. The Fuel (UK) Gas (US) stations they were not dry were closed by either the police or owners. 4 Forget Public Transport in all contingency plans, chances are if its not knocked out by the disaster it will be cancelled as a safety precaution or the staff will have bugged out themselves. 5 By all means assist friends and close neighbours if you SAFELY can, but under no circumstances get involved with strangers. During disasters whilst goodness and kindness is common but so is panic driven selfishness and criminality. Read More 5 9 NZ is back lockdown LBV - August 20, 2021 Yesterday (Tuesday) there was 1 positive community case of Covid. The government announced a Level 4 Lockdown from Midnight. 3 days for the entire country, and 7 days for Auckland and the Coromandel. Apparently there was a run on supermarkets and hardware stores – food and diy. The lockdown requires only essential stores stay open. Mandatory mask use on public transport and in stores. Read More 5 5 Storing emergency cash in a car safe Barb LeeContributor - August 18, 2021 We’ve been pondering the best place to stash a little emergency cash, and we’ve come to the conclusion that our new car may be the best place, if we can protect the money from smash and grab types. I’ve found a safe by Tuffy that is made specifically for our vehicle. It would be screwed in (to plastic, I confess) and covered by the console lid. It is legal for safe gun storage (not my issue). It doesn’t depend on a cable to secure it. We live where burglary is a very low likelihood, and we never go anywhere, except to the grocery store mostly, so the vehicle has little exposure to theft or vandalism. I would very much appreciate opinions on this idea! Read More 12 30 ♨️ How much cooking fuel for 2 weeks? Lowell - August 18, 2021 Having 2 weeks of food & water at home is a basic preparedness tenet. If the grid is out while I’m going through these reserves, I’d need enough fuel for my Jetboil to boil all the water for my emergency food supply. Based on my calculations, a single 450g canister ($10) would be enough to boil all the water I’d need for my partner and I to eat 14 days of Mountain House meals. Does that sound right to y’all? Have I made an error in my calculations? Read More 7 16 AdviceGearScenarios Wildfire preparedness and mindset – How to evacuate quickly, safely wildfireexpert - August 17, 2021 In July 2018, I wrote two articles for an online news magazine, “East County Magazine”: “PEACE OF MIND” 3-10 MINUTE EVACUATION PLAN FOR WILDFIRES PART 1, and “PEACE OF MIND” 3-10-MINUTE EVACUATION PLAN FOR WILDFIRES PART 2 Thirteen months later, much of the “Peace of Mind” I’d written about in Wildfires Part 2, was greatly reduced when I received a Non-Renewal Notice from my insurance company. I was, however, able to obtain government mandated insurance of last-resort for homes in areas prone to wildfires via the California Fair Plan insurance. (Twice as much money, and much less coverage.) Expensive or not, insurance is critical to your peace-of-mind if you live in a wildfire-prone area. On the news, you’ll see distraught people after every fire saying “We’ve lost everything!” In my opinion, there are two categories of importance: stuff and people. Stuff can be replaced, people cannot. The mindset of the importance of Stuff and People needs to be considered BEFORE a catastrophic loss. Nothing is worth the life of a family member or friend who stayed too long to protect Stuff from burning. In the 2003 Cedars wildfire in California, 15 people lost their lives. In the 2018 Camp Fire in Butte County in California, 88 people lost their lives. The information learned since I wrote those articles in July 2018 is the same. To distill the articles: DO NOT WAIT FOR ANYONE TO TELL YOU TO EVACUATE–LEAVE EARLY! People on theprepared.com have a different mindset about catastrophic events. The definition of preparedness is “a state of readiness, especially for ___________”(fill in the blanks). In this case, it’s wildfire. If there is a possibility of wildfire near you, fill your car with gas, park it next to your front door pointed out in the direction of travel, review your exit roads (use the Paper Map of the area you bought earlier). Take the hour or so to pre-pack the car. Then DO NOT WAIT FOR ANYONE TO TELL YOU TO EVACUATE–LEAVE EARLY. It may cost a family $200 to $300 for a hotel room and about 2 hours work to pack and unpack if no fire reaches your home. Money and time well spent. I could spend hours providing specific information about wildfire dynamics, insurance in urban-interface areas, and the many, many reasons why you need to leave early. However, if you follow the advice provided in Wildfires Part 1 and 2, AND if you pre-prepare your mindset and that of your family to leave everything behind and drive to safety–you’ll be ready. I have completely evacuated three times and been ready to leave about 5 times. My home only burned down once. Read More 16 69 Advice A fevered planet & the rise of fungal pathogens CamilleContributor - August 15, 2021 This information seemed relevant for other preppers to be aware of, and the scientific article linked is fairly new as it was published in April 2021: A professor of mine recently brought up how in the past, fungal pathogens have not been major health concerns for humans the way viral and bacterial pathogens have been. She spoke about how this was due to the fact that the majority of (although certainly not all) fungal pathogens don’t thrive at the temperature the typical human body is at, because it is much too warm for them. Essentially: “For the vast majority of fungal species, the capacity to grow at elevated temperatures limits their ability to infect and establish in mammals. However, fungi can be trained to evolve thermotolerance” (Nnadi et al). As the planet is essentially fevered and we see global warming (IPCC Report) the freedom we have previously enjoyed from the threat of fungal pathogens may be coming to an end as “gradual adaptation to increasing temperature caused by climate change could lead to an increase of organisms that can cause disease.” (Nnadi et al.) Warming the planet means that fungal pathogens are adapting to survive and thrive at higher temperatures, temperatures that are far closer to a human’s body temperature than we should be comfortable with. “In addition, climate change can increase the geographic range of pathogenic species or their vectors, leading to the emergence of diseases in areas where they have not previously been reported.” (Nnadi et al.) This is a major cause for concern because “fungi can arguably pose equal or even greater threats [than viruses and bacteria]: There are no vaccines available yet for fungal pathogens, the arsenal of antifungal agents is extremely limited, and fungi can live saprotrophically, producing large quantities of infectious spores and do not require host-to-host contact to establish infection. Indeed, fungi seem to be uniquely capable of causing complete host extinction.” (Nnadi et al.) Figure from Climate change and the emergence of fungal pathogens (Nnandi et al.) Official Citations of the Linked Sources: Nnadi NE, Carter DA (2021) Climate change and the emergence of fungal pathogens. PLOS Pathogens 17(4): e1009503. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1009503 IPCC, 2021: Summary for Policymakers. In: Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Masson-Delmotte, V., P. Zhai, A. Pirani, S. L. Connors, C. Péan, S. Berger, N. Caud, Y. Chen, L. Goldfarb, M. I. Gomis, M. Huang, K. Leitzell, E. Lonnoy, J.B.R. Matthews, T. K. Maycock, T. Waterfield, O. Yelekçi, R. Yu and B. Zhou (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press. In Press. Read More 11 21 NewsScenarios Figure from Climate change and the emergence of fungal pathogens (Nnandi et al.) Where do you keep your BOB ham radios and how do you store them? Jonnie PekelnyContributor - August 15, 2021 This is a quick question for (radio) hams. Not those of you who have radio gear up to your ears in every space you occupy, but those who just have radios for emergencies (are there any hams like that?) I have one main, handheld Yaesu FT-60R radio, which I intend to have handy for emergencies. I do also have one spare, cheap, Baofeng handheld radio, but I’ve decided that that’s not emergency-worthy, so it’s just sitting in my basement. However, for the Yaesu, my plan is to store it in my BOB and to take it out of my BOB when I want to use it at home. I know, we’re discouraged from double dipping, but it seems silly to spend money for another, identical Yaesu when the one I have is sitting just a few feet away in my BOB. My question is, how do you store these? I could just seal the radio in a plastic bag and throw it in the BOB, but that seems a little precarious? Second, followup bonus question. I was considering keeping the cheap Baofeng in my car, but I understand that the batteries don’t do well in heat and can possibly catch fire! Which makes me wonder where people keep their mobile radios? Read More 5 9 Tracking consumption rate Bigwig - August 15, 2021 I took this ‘time of opportunity’ to start tracking the consumption rate of some of the products we use. Specifically, the rate of use of paper products such as toilet paper, paper towel, and tissue paper. For toilet paper and paper towel, I just simply collected the cores over time. I know this isn’t an exact science, since we may use different size rolls, but it gave me a a good approximation of the weekly and monthly consumption rate. Knowing my inventory, I can now predict how long my inventory would last. Did anyone else use this time to track consumption rates? Read More 6 7 Gamifying preparedness for children Matt Black - August 13, 2021 I recently went on a binge and ordered a bunch of materials from FEMA via Ready.gov. I plan to distribute the printed materials to loved ones, family, and neighbors. I’m also making moves toward my own CERT certification and I’m simultaneously refreshing First Aid training, so, I view these materials as a refresher to my own preparedness. Among these materials, I ordered Ready 2 Help – a card game geared toward developing skills in younger ones when facing a crisis or disaster. Of course, since this is geared toward children, they’re not going to be presented with the sort of gruesome, SHTF stuff that you or I might consider, but this will get that essential part of the brain thinking. And thinking is an important skill! I’ll spare you anything seeming like a hard sell and will just push on with the images so you can decide for yourself. Links after the break. Ready 2 Help Playing Card Deck Players are presented with an EMERGENCY scenario. Each player responds by throwing appropriate skill cards at the scenario. There are 5 types of skills cards (4 shown here). Each is color coded to help players learn what skills are appropriate to the scenario. Game play also includes Wild Cards and Work Together Cards to enhance game play and build cooperation. Oh, and there are a lot of EMERGENCY (scenario) cards. FEMA also produces a companion book to the card game. ______________________________________ You can find Ready 2 Help on Ready.gov’s order page: https://orders.gpo.gov/icpd/ICPD.aspx or https://community.fema.gov/game_download?lang=en_US Read More 7 3 AdviceScenariosSkills N95/NIOSH mask sizing for women? Ryan - August 12, 2021 Hello all, having a bit of trouble finding small/women’s sizing for N95/NIOSH masks and was wondering if anyone could point me towards the right product? Currently sitting on a couple of boxes of 3M 8210 masks, which fit me (male), but which don’t fit my wife (e.g. she can still smell odor through it). Did some searching on the website and Google, but haven’t found anything concrete, mostly KN95s in pastel colors. Unfortunately, half-face/full-face respirators won’t fit the bill for this particular need, as she can’t wear them at her work (school). Thanks! Read More 9 6 AdviceGear < Prev 1 2 3 … 38 39 40 … 59 60 61 Next > Recently Active News for the week of 2025-05-05 - 5 days agoNews for the week of 2025-04-28 - 2 weeks agoNews for the Week 2025-4-21 - 3 weeks agoNews for the Week 2025-4-14 - 3 weeks agoNews for the Week 2025-4-7 - 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

FYI a photo montage of the huge increase in secure gated communities

Bill Masen - August 27, 2021

Here is an insight into how many mainly middle class types are responding to increases in anxiety over their families security.  Whilst the silly rich go the  Bunker/ Iceberg home/ Private Island or Retreat route, this is how many middle classes go.    I recently read that over 40% of all new build developments in the US are now Gated or Secure communities.

https://www.theguardian.com/cities/gallery/2014/may/05/for-your-protection-gated-cities-around-the-world-in-pictures

Read More

5

11

🏠 Home buying with preparedness in mind

Lowell - August 25, 2021

Put yourself in my shoes. You’re currently renting, but eventually want to buy a home for the sake of financial and physical security? What traits do you look for in the home itself?

My general thinking is we’re heading towards some sort of climate apocalypse (and maybe with some broad state repression too). Not soon, but perhaps decades down the road, which is very pertinent to me as a twenty something.

Here’s some examples I can think of, but I’m very curious to hear what y’all have to recommend!

Roof conducive to solar panels. Ideally South-facing and in a shape that’s easy to cover in panels. A basement, for passive insulation during heatwaves, among other reasons I’m sure. A location with multiple exit routes, so like not an island (like Mercer Island in Seattle) or the tip of a peninsula (like Alki in Seattle). I figure a standalone house is ideal, rather than a condo or townhouse. Perhaps some minimum distance between the home and property line on all sides.  Elevation above sea level, and perhaps even relative elevation to avoid flooding.  Read More

15

36

AdviceScenarios

How to connect with farmers that are selling to people, not restaurants?

Conrad B - August 24, 2021

Trying to kill two birds with one stone. I’m seeing the effects of meat shortages in my area so I’m going to try and get more stocked in my freezer. And I’ve read in other forums about people sourcing meat from ranchers who ordinarily sell to restaurants but are starting to sell to regular people to make ends meet.

Has anyone done this? And what kinds of prices are the farmers charging / is it cheaper than stores?

I admit I’ve never had to think much about where to get food before and don’t know how that all works.

Read More

13

10

Advice

What are the best apps dealing with maps?

Wicked74 - August 24, 2021

Hello all,

New to the site and am excited to be here. I need some help. Can you all chime in and let me know which apps are the best when it comes to maps. I need an app that will allow me to download maps. I figured many if not all, of you, know more than me and have been through the said apps and already know the good ones.  I thank you all in advance!!!!

Read More

13

9

Bartering items which hold value and could be liquidated

Reaper19 - August 24, 2021

Hello,

With people growing more nervous about the economy and potential hyper-inflation not to mention the potential for overall collapse, I’m identifying items which can be bought in large quantities for barter, but could also be re-sold/liquidated for close to the cash value should the economy stabilize or the the national/global outlook improve.   The only items I can identify are guns and ammo.   Most other large quantity prepper items are not going to be able to be easily resold for approx the same value under normal circumstance.   Thoughts?    Thank you.

Read More

6

15

Your longest time without seeing a new face?

Oldprepper - August 24, 2021

I would be interested to know your experience of not seeing or communicating with other people for a good while.?

Did it go as expected?….. What pitfalls did you encounter?… Were your preparation adequate? Would you have done something different?

Read More

12

12

Hiding stuff like Bobs, supplies, valuables

Bill Masen - August 23, 2021

Seeing we appear to be chatting about places to cache or conceal gear and BOBS I thought I would share a few images I found some years ago online. Regretably I do not have the details of the authorship.

Just some images FYI.

Read More

1

1

A question about your caches and stores.

Bill Masen - August 23, 2021

Across the board (and the pond)   I  read with great delight that more and more people are putting time, effort and money into prep supplies.

Food, Fuel, Water, Medical, Maintenence, Logistics, Communications, Reference and Security subjects being addressed in sensible and prudent style.

But ( and please correct me if i am wrong) but I am detecting a few cases that cause me concern.

(1) Dates and Ages

(1) People bulk buying their food, fuel, medical TIME SENSITIVE gear all at one time, which can often mean those supplies become life expired all at the same time. I have just heard from a friend who bulk bought ALL of his AA, AAA and CR123 Lithium batteries in 2012 and now they are all just about life expired which means a big bill to replace. 

I have read of people buying assorted bulk food stuffs from one supplier all at the same time thus meaning stuff like their bulk rice, grains, powdered eggs all need replacing at the same time.  And should that batch of supplies be defective you lose the whole lot.

I strongly reccomend getting your supplies in  over a prolonged period from various sources and if it suits you, different brands.  Then EAT the oldest foods first, use the oldest batteries first, the oldest meds the oldest fuel etc. and buying different batches with different dates from different stores also reduces the risk if you are unfortunate enough to buy a bad batch of something.

BUY WHAT YOU EAT AND EAT WHAT YOU BUY, rotate your stocks so the freshest gear goes to the back of the shelf., and only buy foods and brands you actually like and prefer.

(2) Where are you storing your supplies, again I am hearing some alarming stories. 

 So it is highly preferential you dont put all your eggs in one basket, literally. IF  you can do not store all your supplies in one location, if there is a fire, flood, riot, quake, etc you could very easily lose everything instantly.  Try where possible to store your essential supplies in multiple locations, even within your home by spreading your supplies about, it is better than having them all in one cupboard or larder.  Even better if you can divide your supplies at assorted locations such as work, the cabin, in an insulated trailer, or even at a neighbours place.

(2A) Guys unless you attic / loft space is weather proof and totally insulated dont store FOODS, MEDS, or perishables in your roof space, temp variations in roof spaces can vary by 100 degrees in some places.

(2B) Going to the other end the Outhouse, Cellar or Garage, unless it temp and humidity stable dont store perishables in those places also

(2C) Never store FUEL or Chemicals in the same place as Food, Water and Med supplies (or cleaning materials)

(2D)  If storing bulk water never stand plastic containers directly onto the floor ESPECIALLY if its concrete, Insulate with wood, carper etc because chemicals in the concrete apparently can leach into the stored water ( I dont know the chemistry but I’m told its true). Also water does NOT go off but it does go stale and cab absorb chemical from the air and storage container. So its wise the empty, rinse and refill the water containers a couple of time each year.

(2E) Dont store anything on the upper shelves that could ruin the supplies underneath if it leaks.

(2F) dont store glass containers high off the ground in quake zones, Also consider stringing elastic shock cord across each shelf to hold containers in place if their is a quake.

 

Read More

2

12

Spiders – the insidious attack insects

Illini Warrior - August 22, 2021

https://survival-mastery.com/med/health/spider-bites-treatment.html

Read More

1

2

Skills

Twenty minute dry beans

Barb LeeContributor - August 21, 2021

Dry beans are a really important staple in food storage, but preparing them is really fuel and water intensive.  Over time, I’ve been experimenting with making “quick cook” dry beans, based on this blog post: https://seedtopantryschool.com/dehydrating-beans-make-quick-cook-beans/ I’ve noted she’s made some revisions to the instructions I read some years ago.  Lots of pictures and explanations in the article.

Anyway, I’m in the midst of a dehydrating frenzy, with the unit going nearly every day, and this week I’m preparing a stash of dry beans for quick cooking. So nice to use the cooking resources when they are plentiful!

The basics:  Soak dry beans 8-12 hours, or use the “quick soak” method. Rinse the beans, cover with fresh water, bring to a boil and boil ten minutes.  Drain and rinse.

Dehydrating is “tricky” unless you don’t mind bean crumbles.  This method prepares the beans so they remain intact, and make nice additions to soups, etc.

Dry the soaked and rinsed beans for about 5 hours at the lowest setting.  The article says 95 deg F, my unit doesn’t go lower than 105 and that worked.  At higher heat, apparently the quick-drying skin will “curl” the softened inner bean and cause it to split and crumble. The lower temp seems to “set” the inner bean and make it more crumble resistant.

After about 5 hours, I went ahead and cranked the heat up to 125 and dried the pinto beans hard.  They are almost 100% intact and virtually look like raw dry beans. This morning I rehydrated by pouring a normal cooking amount of boiling water over them and left them to soak a couple of hours.  Then without draining, I brought the beans to a boil, then reduced to simmer.  They were al dente within 10 minutes, and mash-able within 20.  Tacos and refrieds tonight! I’m about to vacuum seal the rest, and I expect to have “20 minute pinto beans” in storage for years to come.

Currently I’m drying great northern and navy beans.  I have a great recipe for bean soup that uses mashed potatoes as a thickener. 

Read More

7

7

Do you fish?

Josh CentersContributor - August 21, 2021

We just published a guide to fishing.

Do you fish? Have any tips or experiences you’d like to share?

Read More

7

8

MetaSkills

Lessons from my 2021 garden

Josh CentersContributor - August 21, 2021

I offer a lot of gardening advice on this site, so I think it’s important that I share how things have worked for me. Here are some of the lessons I learned from my summer garden:

Raised Beds

A while back, I wrote about how I switched to raised beds. Some are no-till, one was double dug, but all have done pretty well. I’ve grown cucumbers, peppers, sweet potatoes, basil, marigolds, amaranth, lettuce, tomatoes, green beans, and sweet potatoes. Yields weren’t just fantastic, but we had a baby this summer, so I greatly scaled back my ambitions.

But the raised beds still produced a good amount of food and I didn’t break any machinery or myself in the process, so I think it’s been a big success.

Trellising

I posted a forum thread on how to make trellises with PVC pipe and string. I got the idea from Brett Markham’s The Mini Farming Bible. Unfortunately, they didn’t hold up well at all. My pole beans regularly broke the trellis, so I had to support it with a metal t-post. The tomatoes (which did amazing) completely overtook the trellis and everything around it.

Future trellises will be made of t-posts and cattle panels.

Squash and Melon Pits

The squash crop was a disaster. A rabid possum ate everything in the melon pits, including the dirt, so I had to buy bagged soil and start over. Squash germinated well enough but produced very little. My neighbor also had trouble, which he blamed on blight. I think next year I’m going to just grow winter squash in raised beds and trellis them.

Melon pits aren’t without value. David the Good had great success with them this year.

Mulch

Since I planted so intensively, I made a point of deep mulching. I have a bagger on my pushmower so I just threw down grass clippings. The beds stayed moist except during the worst dry spells.

Tomatoes

I don’t specify tomatoes as a survival crop, but my wife canned a ton of them last year and we’re still using them, so I put five tomato plants in the ground that I started from seed (German Pink from Baker Creek). They did almost too well. I put them at the north edge of the bed and they ended up taking over their bed and the one next to it. And of course they totally overwhelmed my trellis.

The tomatoes had no disease and were barely bothered by pests. I attribute that to planting them in a bed that was double-dug two feet down, plant them about a foot deep in the ground, and I put a Tums at the bottom of the holes for calcium. I’ll repeat all that next year, but I’ll put them in the center of the bed, dedicate the entire bed to the tomatoes, and properly cage them.

One mistake I made: picking tomatoes when they were too green. The right time to pick them is just when they start turning red. If I wait for them to get fully ripe, the bugs will eat them.

Sweet Potatoes

I haven’t harvested them yet, but the plants have done really well in a foot of compost. The leaves make great rabbit fodder. The leaves have perfectly shaded the bed so I almost never have to water it and there are very few weeds.

Green Beans

I went all-in on pole beans this year (Kentucky Wonder), but I kind of wish I hadn’t. They produced well, but it took them two months before I got anything. Next year I’m going to mix bush beans with pole beans. Bush beans produce faster, pole beans produce more.

Cucumbers and Peppers

I grew these because my son likes them. Poor yields from both. Too much cucumber disease and the peppers just didn’t produce. I think they were spaced too closely. But I have two big mason jars full of fermented pickles that are quite good. I saved a bunch of cucumber seed to see if the second generation is better adapted next year.

Amaranth

I grew two varieties: “Chinese spinach” and Golden Giant. The Chinese spinach ended up being bug fodder, which is okay because I didn’t stress the garden this year. I’ve been harvesting the Golden Giant for seed when the heads are dry and putting them in large paper bags so the seeds can fall out. I’m not sure how useful it’ll be, but I grew it as an experiment.

Lettuce

I made it a goal to grow a decent amount of lettuce this year, with some success. The problem is it gets so hot here so fast that lettuce gets bitter. There are a number of things I could do to mitigate that, but I’m not sure it’s worth the effort.

What I may do next year is grow just a couple of heads at a time, planted a couple of weeks apart. Harvest one head, replant, and then harvest the other head a week or two later. Or maybe I’ll just buy it locally and focus on survival crops that take less work.

Garlic

I had two beds of garlic in the ground. Garlic is easy to grow, so it produced okay, but the heads were kind of small, I think due to hard soil. I’m going to fill a raised bed with garlic in a few weeks.

Other Observations

Spinosad and neem oil work okay against bugs, but I think diatomaceous earth works better. An irrigation system of some kind would be really nice, but I want something that isn’t dependent on city water. I’m planning to set up a water collection system next to my workshop and I’ll work from there. Next year, I’m going to focus more on survival crops, like potatoes. I’ll have more beds built then and I’ve sort of learned the hard way to not plant things just because the kids say they’ll eat them. Read More

9

8

Skills

Nerds, Geeks and Wizzards. What is a typical Silicone valley preppers EDC loadout

Bill Masen - August 20, 2021

Considering this most excellent TP website was created in part to help enlighten and assist the Tech types of Silicon valley, from Gates, Bezos, Zuckerberg down over. I was wondering to what level that part of the community has developed its own Silicon prepper EDC requirements?

I’ve read all I can by the two authors of this site, and Brad Garratts tome Bunker in an effort to better understand the needs and requirement of the modern, highly educated, technologically advanced thinkers.  But I find there is very little in the way of feedback from these new preppers.

Is it possible for someone to reach out and get some feedback and what decision making processes the technonauts are reaching, and what equipment choices they are purchasing and why.

Thanks in advance.

Read More

9

21

Gear

Getting home, bugging out, evacuating

Bill Masen - August 20, 2021

This is quite brief, sooooo if you live in one place and commute to work / school etc and you have a plan to get home or bug out PDQ if something goes wrong………….

Does your area suffer from the risk of Flashfloods, Wildfires, Quakes, Tsunamis,  Landslides or Avalanches etc then you need to consider a few points.

1 Normally when trouble turns up on a communities doorstep the first thing people have a habit of doing is jumping into the car and heading for the Freeway / Motorway. This very often leads to total gridlock and traffic chaos within minutes. You need Alternative routes if and where possible. And possibly alternative means of transport. 

Some years ago I read of people in the PNW who had boats , microlights, light aircraft, even helicopters which were positioned for a quick evac if neccessary (Though I dont know the validity of a boat in a Tsunami risk) . Though Bicycles, Motorcycles, Horses and 4×4 mules and quads were more affordable and popular alternatives. Either way the major highway routes are more than likely to be gridlocked very quickly, and possibly in ruins if the issue is Landslide or Quake.

Your best route will nearly always involve NOT using Bridges, Tunnels, Mountainside roads or through Forests, But I accept its not always possible to avoid having to use such vulnerable routes.  So if possible PERSONALLY Recce / Recon as many alternatives as you can find. And revisit them occasionally to ensure they are still open, and try to avoid vulnerable structures.

2 If you face inundation from flash floods or tsunamis or burst reservoirs your route out should ideally avoid any travel that involves going DOWNHILL, Common sense I know, but its not uncommon for folks to not do a realtime recce of their escape routes.

I know of one fellow here in the UK whose original B O route involved crossing a river, but what he assumed was a bridge was in fact only a FORDING PLACE which for much of the year was under 4 feet of water. And flood water from failed dams or tsunamis can outruns cars easily so GO UP not DOWNHILL.

3 Disasters dont make appointments, and they can affect HUGE areas. If your BO/Get home plans rely upon motor vehicles  please I beg you to consider TWO options. (A) never EVER let your fuel tank get under 50% full, EVER. (B) consider keeping one or two extra full fuel cans in your boot (UK) Trunk (US) . During a Hurricane in FLA some people bugged out with full tanks and extra fuels but still ran out in Nowheresville Georgia after heavy traffic caused a 14 hour crawl at 10 MPH which used up their fuel reserves. The Fuel (UK) Gas (US) stations they were not dry were closed by either the police or owners.

4 Forget Public Transport in all contingency plans, chances are if its not knocked out by the disaster it will be cancelled as a safety precaution or the staff will have bugged out themselves.

5 By all means assist friends and close neighbours if you SAFELY can, but under no circumstances get involved with strangers. During disasters whilst goodness and kindness is common but so is panic driven selfishness and criminality.

Read More

5

9

NZ is back lockdown

LBV - August 20, 2021

Yesterday (Tuesday) there was 1 positive community case of Covid. The government announced a Level 4 Lockdown from Midnight. 3 days for the entire country, and 7 days for Auckland and the Coromandel. Apparently there was a run on supermarkets and hardware stores – food and diy. 

The lockdown requires only essential stores stay open. Mandatory mask use on public transport and in stores.

Read More

5

5

Storing emergency cash in a car safe

Barb LeeContributor - August 18, 2021

We’ve been pondering the best place to stash a little emergency cash, and we’ve come to the conclusion that our new car may be the best place, if we can protect the money from smash and grab types.

I’ve found a safe by Tuffy that is made specifically for our vehicle.  It would be screwed in (to plastic, I confess) and covered by the console lid.  It is legal for safe gun storage (not my issue). It doesn’t depend on a cable to secure it.

We live where burglary is a very low likelihood, and we never go anywhere, except to the grocery store mostly, so the vehicle has little exposure to theft or vandalism.

I would very much appreciate opinions on this idea!

Read More

12

30

♨️ How much cooking fuel for 2 weeks?

Lowell - August 18, 2021

Having 2 weeks of food & water at home is a basic preparedness tenet.

If the grid is out while I’m going through these reserves, I’d need enough fuel for my Jetboil to boil all the water for my emergency food supply.

Based on my calculations, a single 450g canister ($10) would be enough to boil all the water I’d need for my partner and I to eat 14 days of Mountain House meals. Does that sound right to y’all? Have I made an error in my calculations?

  

Read More

7

16

AdviceGearScenarios

 

Wildfire preparedness and mindset – How to evacuate quickly, safely

wildfireexpert - August 17, 2021

In July 2018, I wrote two articles for an online news magazine, “East County Magazine”:  “PEACE OF MIND” 3-10 MINUTE EVACUATION PLAN FOR WILDFIRES PART 1, and “PEACE OF MIND” 3-10-MINUTE EVACUATION PLAN FOR WILDFIRES PART 2

Thirteen months later, much of the “Peace of Mind” I’d written about in Wildfires Part 2, was greatly reduced when I received a Non-Renewal Notice from my insurance company.  I was, however, able to obtain government mandated insurance of last-resort for homes in areas prone to wildfires via the California Fair Plan insurance.  (Twice as much money, and much less coverage.)  

Expensive or not, insurance is critical to your peace-of-mind if you live in a wildfire-prone area.  On the news, you’ll see distraught people after every fire saying “We’ve lost everything!”  In my opinion, there are two categories of importance:   stuff and people.   Stuff can be replaced, people cannot.  

The mindset of the importance of Stuff and People needs to be considered BEFORE a catastrophic loss.   Nothing is worth the life of a family member or friend who stayed too long to protect Stuff from burning.   In the 2003 Cedars wildfire in California, 15 people lost their lives.  In the 2018 Camp Fire in Butte County in California, 88 people lost their lives.  

The information learned since I wrote those articles in July 2018 is the same.  To distill the articles:

DO NOT WAIT FOR ANYONE TO TELL YOU TO EVACUATE–LEAVE EARLY!

People on theprepared.com have a different mindset about catastrophic events.   The definition of preparedness is “a state of readiness, especially for ___________”(fill in the blanks).    In this case, it’s wildfire.  

If there is a possibility of wildfire near you, fill your car with gas, park it next to your front door pointed out in the direction of travel, review your exit roads (use the Paper Map of the area you bought earlier).  Take the hour or so to pre-pack the car.    Then DO NOT WAIT FOR ANYONE TO TELL YOU TO EVACUATE–LEAVE EARLY.  It may cost a family $200 to $300 for a hotel room and about 2 hours work to pack and unpack if no fire reaches your home.   Money and time well spent.

I could spend hours providing specific information about wildfire dynamics, insurance in urban-interface areas, and the many, many reasons why you need to leave early.    However, if you follow the advice provided in Wildfires Part 1 and 2, AND if you pre-prepare your mindset and that of your family to leave everything behind and drive to safety–you’ll be ready.

I have completely evacuated three times and been ready to leave about 5 times.  My home only burned down once.   

Read More

16

69

Advice

A fevered planet & the rise of fungal pathogens

CamilleContributor - August 15, 2021

This information seemed relevant for other preppers to be aware of, and the scientific article linked is fairly new as it was published in April 2021:

A professor of mine recently brought up how in the past, fungal pathogens have not been major health concerns for humans the way viral and bacterial pathogens have been. She spoke about how this was due to the fact that the majority of (although certainly not all) fungal pathogens don’t thrive at the temperature the typical human body is at, because it is much too warm for them. Essentially: “For the vast majority of fungal species, the capacity to grow at elevated temperatures limits their ability to infect and establish in mammals. However, fungi can be trained to evolve thermotolerance” (Nnadi et al).

 

As the planet is essentially fevered and we see global warming (IPCC Report) the freedom we have previously enjoyed from the threat of fungal pathogens may be coming to an end as “gradual adaptation to increasing temperature caused by climate change could lead to an increase of organisms that can cause disease.” (Nnadi et al.) Warming the planet means that fungal pathogens are adapting to survive and thrive at higher temperatures, temperatures that are far closer to a human’s body temperature than we should be comfortable with. “In addition, climate change can increase the geographic range of pathogenic species or their vectors, leading to the emergence of diseases in areas where they have not previously been reported.” (Nnadi et al.)

 

This is a major cause for concern because “fungi can arguably pose equal or even greater threats [than viruses and bacteria]: There are no vaccines available yet for fungal pathogens, the arsenal of antifungal agents is extremely limited, and fungi can live saprotrophically, producing large quantities of infectious spores and do not require host-to-host contact to establish infection. Indeed, fungi seem to be uniquely capable of causing complete host extinction.” (Nnadi et al.)

 

 Figure from Climate change and the emergence of fungal pathogens (Nnandi et al.)

Official Citations of the Linked Sources:

 Nnadi NE, Carter DA (2021) Climate change and the emergence of fungal pathogens. PLOS Pathogens 17(4): e1009503. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1009503

 IPCC, 2021: Summary for Policymakers. In: Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Masson-Delmotte, V., P. Zhai, A. Pirani, S. L. Connors, C. Péan, S. Berger, N. Caud, Y. Chen, L. Goldfarb, M. I. Gomis, M. Huang, K. Leitzell, E. Lonnoy, J.B.R. Matthews, T. K. Maycock, T. Waterfield, O. Yelekçi, R. Yu and B. Zhou (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press. In Press. 

Read More

11

21

NewsScenarios

Figure from Climate change and the emergence of fungal pathogens (Nnandi et al.)

Where do you keep your BOB ham radios and how do you store them?

Jonnie PekelnyContributor - August 15, 2021

This is a quick question for (radio) hams. Not those of you who have radio gear up to your ears in every space you occupy, but those who just have radios for emergencies (are there any hams like that?) I have one main, handheld Yaesu FT-60R radio, which I intend to have handy for emergencies. I do also have one spare, cheap, Baofeng handheld radio, but I’ve decided that that’s not emergency-worthy, so it’s just sitting in my basement.

However, for the Yaesu, my plan is to store it in my BOB and to take it out of my BOB when I want to use it at home. I know, we’re discouraged from double dipping, but it seems silly to spend money for another, identical Yaesu when the one I have is sitting just a few feet away in my BOB. My question is, how do you store these? I could just seal the radio in a plastic bag and throw it in the BOB, but that seems a little precarious?

Second, followup bonus question. I was considering keeping the cheap Baofeng in my car, but I understand that the batteries don’t do well in heat and can possibly catch fire! Which makes me wonder where people keep their mobile radios?

Read More

5

9

Tracking consumption rate

Bigwig - August 15, 2021

I took this ‘time of opportunity’ to start tracking the consumption rate of some of the products we use.  Specifically, the rate of use of paper products such as toilet paper, paper towel, and tissue paper.  For toilet paper and paper towel, I just simply collected the cores over time.  I know this isn’t an exact science, since we may use different size rolls, but it gave me a a good approximation of the weekly and monthly consumption rate.  Knowing my inventory, I can now predict how long my inventory would last.

Did anyone else use this time to track consumption rates?

Read More

6

7

Gamifying preparedness for children

Matt Black - August 13, 2021

I recently went on a binge and ordered a bunch of materials from FEMA via Ready.gov. I plan to distribute the printed materials to loved ones, family, and neighbors. I’m also making moves toward my own CERT certification and I’m simultaneously refreshing First Aid training, so, I view these materials as a refresher to my own preparedness.

Among these materials, I ordered Ready 2 Help – a card game geared toward developing skills in younger ones when facing a crisis or disaster.

Of course, since this is geared toward children, they’re not going to be presented with the sort of gruesome, SHTF stuff that you or I might consider, but this will get that essential part of the brain thinking. And thinking is an important skill! I’ll spare you anything seeming like a hard sell and will just push on with the images so you can decide for yourself. Links after the break.

Ready 2 Help Playing Card Deck

Players are presented with an EMERGENCY scenario.

Each player responds by throwing appropriate skill cards at the scenario. There are 5 types of skills cards (4 shown here). Each is color coded to help players learn what skills are appropriate to the scenario.

Game play also includes Wild Cards and Work Together Cards to enhance game play and build cooperation.

Oh, and there are a lot of EMERGENCY (scenario) cards.

FEMA also produces a companion book to the card game.

______________________________________

You can find Ready 2 Help on Ready.gov’s order page:

https://orders.gpo.gov/icpd/ICPD.aspx

or

https://community.fema.gov/game_download?lang=en_US

Read More

7

3

AdviceScenariosSkills

N95/NIOSH mask sizing for women?

Ryan - August 12, 2021

Hello all, having a bit of trouble finding small/women’s sizing for N95/NIOSH masks and was wondering if anyone could point me towards the right product? Currently sitting on a couple of boxes of 3M 8210 masks, which fit me (male), but which don’t fit my wife (e.g. she can still smell odor through it). Did some searching on the website and Google, but haven’t found anything concrete, mostly KN95s in pastel colors. Unfortunately, half-face/full-face respirators won’t fit the bill for this particular need, as she can’t wear them at her work (school). Thanks!

Read More

9

6

AdviceGear