Active New Top (30 days) Compact Card News for the week of 2023-09-18 The Prepared Support - September 22, 2023 Make a top-level comment for a new story/topic. Discussions about the topic should be in the replies to the top-level comment. That way things stay organized and every main comment as you scroll down is a different piece of news. Read More 1 4 News Do you include a Communication Board/Cards in your prep? xyz - September 21, 2023 I’ve been thinking about adding communication board or cards in my Level 3 first aid kit. Does anyone have any experience with them, and if so, what are you using? Read More 3 4 GearSkills News for the week of 2023-09-11 The Prepared Support - September 19, 2023 Make a top-level comment for a new story/topic. Discussions about the topic should be in the replies to the top-level comment. That way things stay organized and every main comment as you scroll down is a different piece of news. Read More 1 12 News Prep to be fit and be fit to be prepped UbiqueContributor - September 19, 2023 The state of our physical fitness impacts our ability to survive and cope with a crisis. When I met my husband, he was 6′ 5″ and 400 lbs. Medication side effects, illness and inactivity had taken him to that point. He was so large that when requiring an MRI, he was referred to a veterinary clinic as veterinary equipment could accommodate a person of his size. For anyone horrified by that, don’t be. It is common practice to refer persons to veterinary clinics who are larger than hospital or clinic MRI’s can handle. Just like railway scales are used to weight people who are unable to get an accurate weight otherwise. What matters is getting the results be it for life threatening conditions via a MRI as was my husband’s case or finding a way to become more fit. He was so physically unfit that he was unable to make the short walk to the street from his home and frighteningly out of breath. In a crisis, how could he move fast enough or long enough to save his life? The situation took a horrible turn when he ended up in cardiac ICU and was diagnosed with Type II diabetes. He was placed on insulin and oral medication for the diabetes and had developed a cardiac arrhythmia which required another medication. I didn’t care what he looked like. I already decided that I really cared for him because of the person he is and I was terrified he could die early because of the morbid obesity. Here’s how he became fit. First, we worked as a team and together were educated by the diabetic nurses in a two session information and management course. We learned that diabetics with high sugar experience ravenous hunger. It is very real to them, but is a phantom hunger created by the high blood sugar. We formulated strategies to deal with high blood sugar hunger. He drank water. I distracted him when he said “I’m so hungry” and I knew it was his sugars. We put his diabetic healthy eating chart front and centre on the fridge door. It listed how he should build each meal with protein, carbohydrates, starches, and fats. It also showed him how many servings of each category were allowable for each meal. I met with dieticians and received recipe booklets for healthy eating for diabetics. Most of the booklets were based upon legumes and healthy grains. I learned to cook healthy meals using the new methods they gave me. He loved the food!The legumes and brown rice also are a big part of our pre staples today. Next, we had to tackle his physical conditioning which would be the other component of managing his blood sugar aside from achieving better fitness. When we began, it was hard for him to walk far. He had been crushed in a work related accident years before, and there was residual effects from that. His feet hurt, and he was easily fatigued and out of breath. I found a way to make movement fun for him. There was an empty lot not far away at the end of a road. I would drive us there sometimes and we would waltz under the moonlight, very slowly. But he was moving and having fun. Getting fit should be fun, not a chore! After we moved into our house, we adopted our first dog, a Samoyed, and she became his walking buddy. He could only make it to the end of the block, but the two of them kept going. Little by little, they went farther as they could manage and soon he was walking over an hour twice a day. When she passed, our rescued border collie took her place at his side on his walks. His cardiovascular improved. He wasn’t so winded at the slightest exertion. And the best part, the weight was coming down as was his insulin dose. It didn’t take long until he was off insulin and the oral medication! Our family doctor was amazed and told him that he was the first patient he had who had actually followed the medical advice for managing diabetes. My husband’s diabetes was in remission! About a year later, he was off the cardiac medication. He also got a new wardrobe as his weight decreased. There was no magic formula to how he achieved fitness. It was determination to survive that kept him motivated. His feet hurt at the beginning when he walked, but he pushed through that pain because he understood why it was happening and that once his weight was down, the foot pain would be eliminated. He went from a size 56″ waist to a size 38″ waist and he did it in a healthy, sensible way. He went from 400 lbs to 225 lbs. He became fit. He had to have another MRI, only this time, he had no problem getting it done at the hospital. I told you how my husband became fit, because it is a part of prepping. We talk about possibly having to walk in a disaster or carry packs. We may have to defend ourselves in hand to hand combat. We may have to forage for food or haul water. Many disasters invoke the need for labour intensive tasks. A physically fit prepper can do it. A physically unfit prepper can hurt themselves or worse, give themselves a heart attack. I shared my husband’s journey to become fit to help anyone here who is struggling with achieving fitness. It can be done sensibly. Get educated, get resources, make the changes you need to make. Last year, my husband hand dug and lowered a berm on the front of our property. People stopped and commented how fit he was and couldn’t believe his age. He became a healthier person. He became fit. And if you are struggling, you can do it, too. Read More 18 31 Evaluating information – a prepper skill July LewisContributor - September 18, 2023 Evaluating information is a really important prepper skill! I would love to see The Prepared do an in-depth article on it. Would anyone else like to see that? While I’m not the person to write it, here’s an outline of what could be covered just to get the idea out there! WHY IT MATTERS: There are many threats and crises where correctly evaluating conflicting sources of information can be vital. Is this a real threat or hype? Is this rumor or fact? What sources can I trust? How reliable is this recommendation? Do I believe this politician, or this government agency, or my cousin on Facebook? Do I act on this information or should I wait?This is the case in particular for situations that develop over time, like a pandemic, economic or political crisis, civil unrest or war. During these times misinformation and rumor are everywhere, and trust in institutions declines. But even in very fast moving situations (“Is the fire heading my way or not?”) it can be very relevant. BEING AWARE OF COGNITIVE BIAS. Understanding things like normalcy bias and confirmation bias and how they affect our own thinking are very important. Be aware of our own ways of tripping up and recognize when others around you are doing it. MEDIA LITERACY. Understanding the reliability of different sources, how to fact check, what the motivations of different sources are (are they invested in journalistic integrity, or are they sensationalist), being willing to look at sources from opposing views and different countries, and also seeing the limitations and biases of traditional journalism. Social media literacy is an important subset – understanding its strengths and weaknesses, the motivations of those who spread misinformation and how and why fake news spreads faster than the truth. SCIENCE LITERACY. Understanding how science builds knowledge (peer review, it’s not about one study, and it can be slow in response to a fast moving situation), that studies can be flawed, that science-y language doesn’t make it science, what cherry-picking is, that expertise is real and the serious limitations of “doing your own research”. TRUSTING INSTITUTIONS. We are in an era of increasing mistrust of institutions (the government, the police, the CDC, journalism). These are all reliable sources of information to varying degrees but none are at all perfect, and it is valuable to have a nuanced understanding of their strengths and weaknesses. Examples are the slowness with which they react because of bureaucracy, the challenges of messaging, the mission to communicate correct information but also shape public behavior (e.g. avoid panic), and the influences of politics and profit. WHEN AND HOW TO RELY ON FAST INFORMATION. Science and journalism take time and in a fast moving situation, sources like early scientific studies, Twitter, and first hand accounts may give you an essential edge if you can evaluate them correctly. UNDERSTANDING POLARIZATION. The more politically polarized we are, the more misinformed we tend to be. When we are politically or culturally at war, we distrust anything the “other side” says simply because they said it, we believe everything “our side” says without question, we believe everything bad about the other side and good about our side because it feels right and we are emotionally invested, and things that ought to be neutral somehow get drawn into it when they become vaguely associated with one side or another. All of this can lead to being poorly informed and vulnerable to blind spots, misinformation, and conspiracy theories. SHORT CUT RECOMMENDATIONS. It’s great to learn all the above stuff about evaluating information but it is a lot of work. An article like this could conclude with some shortcut recommendations on specific trustworthy sources and strategies. Those are my thoughts! Read More 29 35 Skills The Pandemic is Only Beginning: The Long COVID Disaster Hardened - September 18, 2023 I just ran across this article and offer it here as food for thought: The Pandemic is Only Beginning: The Long COVID Disaster The ideas are still percolating in me and I’m curious to hear other people’s reactions to it. Read More 2 17 New gun owners with questions? Caliber Carpenter - September 17, 2023 Seeing as how the demand for firearms is at an all time high, and the number of new gun owners is exponentially increasing, I figured it would be good to open a thread for anyone new or inexperienced with firearms to throw out any questions they might have. So fire away (see what I did there?) I’m here to answer any questions and I’m sure Thomas can drop in as well Read More 19 95 Best survival knife all purpose IYO? marrah - September 16, 2023 I’d like to know the current, best IYO (in your opinion) survival knife/tool. I’d like to keep this under $100, and less is good! To me, I’m thinking the Rambo knife is still the best option for everything. I’d like to see any options, pros and cons, best deals, and tell me what you’d depend on for outback living in the wild. Your best finds and prices for the “Rambo” knife are greatly appreciated. @Marrah Read More 13 43 Online survival/prepping courses? Jon StokesStaff - September 11, 2023 I’m doing some research for an article, and I’m wondering if anyone here has a favorite online course related to prepping or survival that they’ve taken? If so, I’d love to check out whatever you’ve found useful. Thanks! Read More 19 19 News for the Week 2023-09-04 The Prepared Support - September 11, 2023 News for the Week 2023-09-04 Read More 1 5 Experience using confit? Adriaan - September 10, 2023 Does anyone have experience making confit? I read it can last 6 months in the fridge. Any advice/resources would be appreciated 🙂 Read More 1 1 300 Blackout SBR (short barrel rifle) RedneckContributor - September 8, 2023 It is Christmas Eve, the sun is out & the temp is 70 degrees. I’m home alone, as my wife stays with her 100 year old mom several days a week. So what to do? How about head down to my home range & do some shootn’! Today I’m shooting my favorite rifle… my 300 Blackout. So to begin with, it is a SBR… short barrel rifle. The barrel is 11.5 inches long, as opposed to a standard 16″ carbine barrel. To have such a barrel, I had to apply to the government, the ATF, to get checked out & approved. The approval form is called a stamp & it costs $200 to apply for one. I like to shoot SBRs because I also shoot with a suppressor. The added length & weight of a suppressor to a carbine length barrel is just excessive for me. The gun just isn’t balanced. But put a suppressor on a SBR & it just feels & looks natural to me. Oh, by the way, you have to get a stamp for each suppressor too. 300 Blackout ammo is relatively new. What I like about it is that it shoots a much larger & heavier bullet than a standard 5.56 AR. This gives it really good knock down power. This ammo also burns all its powder completely when shot thru a short barrel. And best of all, when using subsonic ammo with a suppressor, the gun is rather quiet. Not silent by any stretch… but quiet enough you don’t need hearing protection. The down side is that this ammo is not well suited for long range shooting. At my age, I won’t shoot anything past 100 yards, so that is a non factor for me. I mostly shoot subsonic ammo as it is much quieter than high velocity ammo. With high velocity ammo, you get a very loud crack as the bullet passes thru the sound barrier. By using ammo that stays below the speed of sound, you don’t get that loud crack… plus the ammo itself is a bit quieter. This rifle, as with any AR styled rifle, is exceptionally easy to shoot. There is almost no kick, it is very quiet with the suppressor attached, and it is simple to aim. I use an Aimpoint Pro red dot sight with backup iron sights that fold down when not in use. The Aimpoint will run for around 3 years on a single battery, but if the optic were to fail in a crisis, the backup sights pop up & you can see them thru the nonfunctional Aimpoint. This is called a co witness. In the pics below, note the backup sights down and then up. For this rifle, I use a Saker 7.62 suppressor with quick detatch. Since 300 Blackout ammo & 5.56 ammo is so similar, I use solid black magazines for my 5.56 and use the translucent (see thru) magazines for 300 Blackout. And with the 300 Blackout, I use 20 round magazines for the subsonic ammo & use 30 round magazines for high velocity ammo. The upper is an AAC SBR 300 Blackout upper. I use a Stag lower. And below, is pictured my home range located in my bottom pasture. Read More 17 34 Navigating the healthcare system in the USA EzlyAmuzzed - September 6, 2023 Looking for any advice or learned lessons on navigating our healthcare system when you have something more than a minor illness. I know many of us have gone through this and would like to hear some of the things you have learned. Any trustworthy apps to keep track of your medical records so you have it on hand for each doctor? How to deal with the insurance company when the code given is ineligible or incurs extra cost? How to not eat through your savings? When to recognize a test is necessary or unnecessary? How and when to get second opinions? How do you research doctors you are referred to so that you get one of the best for your case? Anything I haven’t mentioned please feel free to offer ideas. Read More 11 19 Advice News for the Week 2023-08-28 The Prepared Support - September 5, 2023 Make a top-level comment for a new story/topic. Discussions about the topic should be in the replies to the top-level comment. That way things stay organized and every main comment as you scroll down is a different piece of news. Read More 2 21 News News of the week 2023-07-24 The Prepared Support - August 30, 2023 Make a top-level comment for a new story/topic. Discussions about the topic should be in the replies to the top-level comment. That way things stay organized and every main comment as you scroll down is a different piece of news. Read More 2 13 News Interview participants undergraduatediss - August 29, 2023 Hi! I’m currently doing my undergraduate dissertation on the role of women within the prepping community. My project aims to celebrate the contribution of women and highlight their significance. I am looking for participants to interview. The interview will be held over microsoft teams and last no longer than 30 minutes. Please email me at [email protected] if you are interested. Thanks so much. Read More -3 2 News for the Week 2023-08-21 The Prepared Support - August 27, 2023 Make a top-level comment for a new story/topic. Discussions about the topic should be in the replies to the top-level comment. That way things stay organized and every main comment as you scroll down is a different piece of news. Read More 1 8 News Preparing for home fires Bill N - August 27, 2023 Hi all! With the recent wildfires in Maui, I realized that I never made any plans to help preserve the originals of important documents at home from a fire. While they are backed up to the cloud, I think it’s still important to save the originals if possible. I purchased a small fireproof safe (the recommended choice from the NY Times Wirecutter site; the review link is below), but I’ve noticed this doesn’t seem to be a topic covered by many prepper sites. Anyone else have suggestions or recommendations for this issue? https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-fireproof-document-safe/ Read More 1 4 Advice News for the Week 2023-08-14 The Prepared Support - August 22, 2023 Make a top-level comment for a new story/topic. Discussions about the topic should be in the replies to the top-level comment. That way things stay organized and every main comment as you scroll down is a different piece of news. Read More 1 14 News Grain Mills: What’s your experience and recommendations? Pops - August 21, 2023 Pretty self-explanatory. My food pantry includes whole grains because they naturally last a long time and with a little extra care, a really long time. But you need to keep them whole as the outer layer is the best packaging. Wheat berries can last 30 years based on studies done by the LDS church, but once you grind them into flour they go downhill fast. I’ve owned a variety of mills, all but one of the antique variety. They were all small clamp-on type that eventually failed—or had failed before had even bought them LOL. I was scanning Craigslist etc every so often the last however many years looking for a better unit without any luck. Then came the pandemic and even the beer-brewer hobbyists machines and kitchen decoration items disappeared. I want a $1,000 of course and had placed a pre-paid order for the new Green Power Mill from Lehmans that looks pretty cool. But it turns out that Lehmans has been sold and whether that, the JIT supply catastrophe or whatever, I had my money returned 6 months later when the mill still wasn’t in production. That was recently and prompted me to bite the bullet so I finally broke down and bought a modern version of the clamp on style, the Wonder Mill Junior. It comes with both steel burrs and stone wheels and a second auger for nuts —and importantly— masa! But what is best are the drive options, it has available a power drill adapter, a large motor pulley, even a geared reduction pulley with drive gear. I opted for the bicycle sprocket attachment. I ordered one of those bicycle stands made to let you use your regular bike as an exercise cycle. I’ll get a chain locally. If I were ever needing to use this machine… and there was power of some type available, I’m confident I could rig up a motor. Most likely, in the event it is needed, the only power available will be me. You can see in the listing that it has a square plate base rather than an integral clamp. The clamp device is mounted using machine screws. I expect to mount the mill, sans clamp, along with the bike stand on a piece of ply, probably using a hunk of 6-8″ steel plate as reinforcement under the mill. Several of my “clamp on” mills have failed at the neck due to metal fatigue, there is quite a bit of torque involved. And of course there is no way to mount a clamp style mill on most modern counters, let alone use with the bike rig I’m contemplating. Grinding more than a cup’s worth to rough flour consistently turns into work. I’ve been dragging my feet on this purchase for a while, $400 all in for an item I’ll hopefully never use beyond simple experimenting is pretty high for my budget. The rational is, I probably have that much in stored grain and without a decent mill I’m limited to mush and sprouts. So anyway, talk about your mills. Read More 10 16 Gear (Official discussion) Best mobile apps John AdamaStaff - August 20, 2023 [See the full post at: Best survival apps for your phone] Read More 1 14 Smoke hoods etc Black Club - August 18, 2023 I’ve got a few of the smoke hood type escape devices (I have one in my travel bag) looking to change to these: Home have ordered one to see how bulky it is in comparison to Smoke Hood and Fire Mask Products Read More 2 9 Pemmican Winston Smith - August 11, 2023 I’ve made a lot of hardtack, but never Pemmican. I plan to experiment in the next few weeks. Has anyone tried making or eating it? Thanks. Read More 7 4 News for the Week 2023-08-07 The Prepared Support - August 9, 2023 Make a top-level comment for a new story/topic. Discussions about the topic should be in the replies to the top-level comment. That way things stay organized and every main comment as you scroll down is a different piece of news. Read More 1 2 News New Source For Bug-Out Bag Items – Career Fairs Bigwig - August 8, 2023 Recently I’ve been going to a lot of career fairs in my area. Little did I know that it was a BOB bag paradise! Some of the items I’ve come across for free: Collapsable water bottle with carabiner Drawstring backpack (good in case something happens to your regular backpack) Multi-connector charging cable Carabiner with two knives and scissors Collapsible frisbee Plastic utensils in storage tube Small hand sanitizer with carabiner Baseball cap Lanyard Lip baum Playing cards Packet of sunscreen Wipes Tide stick I get it. Do you want your life depending on some crappy promotional material you got for free? No, but much of this stuff is not life-altering and the carabiner feels pretty solid. Next time you want to stock you BOB, go to a job fair. You can get some swag, and you just might get a new job. Read More 3 1 < Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 … 57 58 59 Next > Recently Active Has anybody blood tested the Oroweat keto tortillas? - 22 hours agoNews for the Week 2024-04-22 - 22 hours agoNews for the Week 2024-04-15 - 3 days agoWhat is the best camp stove for an emergency power outage or camping? - 4 days agoChickens for preppers: Important considerations - 5 days ago RULES This forum is heavily moderated to keep things valuable to as many people as possible. Full community policies are here. The basics: 1. Be nice to each other. 2. Stay focused on prepping. 3. Avoid politics, religion, and other arguments. 4. No unfounded conspiracies, fake news, etc. 5. Debate ideas, not people. FILTER Show all Advice Gear Meta News Scenarios Skills

News for the week of 2023-09-18

The Prepared Support - September 22, 2023

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

Read More

1

4

News

Do you include a Communication Board/Cards in your prep?

xyz - September 21, 2023

I’ve been thinking about adding communication board or cards in my Level 3 first aid kit.  Does anyone have any experience with them, and if so, what are you using?

Read More

3

4

GearSkills

News for the week of 2023-09-11

The Prepared Support - September 19, 2023

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

Read More

1

12

News

Prep to be fit and be fit to be prepped

UbiqueContributor - September 19, 2023

The state of our physical fitness impacts our ability to survive and cope with a crisis. 

When I met my husband, he was 6′ 5″ and 400 lbs. Medication side effects, illness and inactivity had taken him to that point.

He was so large that when requiring an MRI, he was referred to a veterinary clinic as veterinary equipment could accommodate a person of his size.

For anyone horrified by that, don’t be. It is common practice to refer persons to veterinary clinics who are larger than hospital or clinic MRI’s can handle. Just like railway scales are used to weight people who are unable to get an accurate weight otherwise.

What matters is getting the results be it for life threatening conditions via a MRI as was my husband’s case or finding a way to become more fit.

He was so physically unfit that he was unable to make the short walk to the street from his home and frighteningly out of breath.

In a crisis, how could he move fast enough or long enough to save his life?

The situation took a horrible turn when he ended up in cardiac ICU and was diagnosed with Type II diabetes. He was placed on insulin and oral medication for the diabetes and had developed a cardiac arrhythmia which required another medication.

I didn’t care what he looked like. I already decided that I really cared for him because of the person he is and I was terrified he could die early because of the morbid obesity.

Here’s how he became fit. 

First, we worked as a team and together were educated by the diabetic nurses in a two session information and management course. We learned that diabetics with high sugar experience ravenous hunger. It is very real to them, but is a phantom hunger created by the high blood sugar.

We formulated strategies to deal with high blood sugar hunger. He drank water. I distracted him when he said “I’m so hungry” and I knew it was his sugars.

We put his diabetic healthy eating chart front and centre on the fridge door. It listed how he should build each meal with protein, carbohydrates, starches, and fats. It also showed him how many servings of each category were allowable for each meal.

I met with dieticians and received recipe booklets for healthy eating for diabetics. Most of the booklets were based upon legumes and healthy grains. I learned to cook healthy meals using the new methods they gave me. He loved the food!
The legumes and brown rice also are a big part of our pre staples today.

Next, we had to tackle his physical conditioning which would be the other component of managing his blood sugar aside from achieving better fitness.

When we began, it was hard for him to walk far. He had been crushed in a work related accident years before, and there was residual effects from that. His feet hurt, and he was easily fatigued and out of breath.

I found a way to make movement fun for him. There was an empty lot not far away at the end of a road. I would drive us there sometimes and we would waltz under the moonlight, very slowly. But he was moving and having fun. Getting fit should be fun, not a chore!

After we moved into our house, we adopted our first dog, a Samoyed, and she became his walking buddy. He could only make it to the end of the block, but the two of them kept going. 

Little by little, they went farther as they could manage and soon he was walking over an hour twice a day. When she passed, our rescued border collie took her place at his side on his walks.

His cardiovascular improved. He wasn’t so winded at the slightest exertion.

And the best part, the weight was coming down as was his insulin dose. It didn’t take long until he was off insulin and the oral medication!

Our family doctor was amazed and told him that he was the first patient he had who had actually followed the medical advice for managing diabetes. My husband’s diabetes was in remission! About a year later, he was off the cardiac medication.

He also got a new wardrobe as his weight decreased.

There was no magic formula to how he achieved fitness. It was determination to survive that kept him motivated. His feet hurt at the beginning when he walked, but he pushed through that pain because he understood why it was happening and that once his weight was down, the foot pain would be eliminated.

He went from a size 56″ waist to a size 38″ waist and he did it in a healthy, sensible way. He went from 400 lbs to 225 lbs. He became fit.

He had to have another MRI, only this time, he had no problem getting it done at the hospital.

I told you how my husband became fit, because it is a part of prepping. We talk about possibly having to walk in a disaster or carry packs. We may have to defend ourselves in hand to hand combat. We may have to forage for food or haul water. 

Many disasters invoke the need for labour intensive tasks. A physically fit prepper can do it. A physically unfit prepper can hurt themselves or worse, give themselves a heart attack.

I shared my husband’s journey to become fit to help anyone here who is struggling with achieving fitness. It can be done sensibly. Get educated, get resources, make the changes you need to make. 

Last year, my husband hand dug and lowered a berm on the front of our property. People stopped and commented how fit he was and couldn’t believe his age.

He became a healthier person. He became fit. And if you are struggling, you can do it, too.

Read More

18

31

Evaluating information – a prepper skill

July LewisContributor - September 18, 2023

Evaluating information is a really important prepper skill! I would love to see The Prepared do an in-depth article on it. Would anyone else like to see that? While I’m not the person to write it, here’s an outline of what could be covered just to get the idea out there! 

WHY IT MATTERS: There are many threats and crises where correctly evaluating conflicting sources of information can be vital. Is this a real threat or hype? Is this rumor or fact? What sources can I trust? How reliable is this recommendation? Do I believe this politician, or this government agency, or my cousin on Facebook? Do I act on this information or should I wait?This is the case in particular for situations that develop over time, like a pandemic, economic or political crisis, civil unrest or war. During these times misinformation and rumor are everywhere, and trust in institutions declines. But even in very fast moving situations (“Is the fire heading my way or not?”) it can be very relevant. 

BEING AWARE OF COGNITIVE BIAS. Understanding things like normalcy bias and confirmation bias and how they affect our own thinking are very important. Be aware of our own ways of tripping up and recognize when others around you are doing it.

MEDIA LITERACY. Understanding the reliability of different sources, how to fact check, what the motivations of different sources are (are they invested in journalistic integrity, or are they sensationalist), being willing to look at sources from opposing views and different countries, and also seeing the limitations and biases of traditional journalism. Social media literacy is an important subset – understanding its strengths and weaknesses, the motivations of those who spread misinformation and how and why fake news spreads faster than the truth.

SCIENCE LITERACY. Understanding how science builds knowledge (peer review, it’s not about one study, and it can be slow in response to a fast moving situation), that studies can be flawed, that science-y language doesn’t make it science, what cherry-picking is, that expertise is real and the serious limitations of “doing your own research”. 

TRUSTING INSTITUTIONS. We are in an era of increasing mistrust of institutions (the government, the police, the CDC, journalism). These are all reliable sources of information to varying degrees but none are at all perfect, and it is valuable to have a nuanced understanding of their strengths and weaknesses. Examples are the slowness with which they react because of bureaucracy, the challenges of messaging, the mission to communicate correct information but also shape public behavior (e.g. avoid panic), and the influences of politics and profit. 

WHEN AND HOW TO RELY ON FAST INFORMATION. Science and journalism take time and in a fast moving situation, sources like early scientific studies, Twitter, and first hand accounts may give you an essential edge if you can evaluate them correctly.  

UNDERSTANDING POLARIZATION. The more politically polarized we are, the more misinformed we tend to be. When we are politically or culturally at war, we distrust anything the “other side” says simply because they said it, we believe everything “our side” says without question, we believe everything bad about the other side and good about our side because it feels right and we are emotionally invested, and things that ought to be neutral somehow get drawn into it when they become vaguely associated with one side or another. All of this can lead to being poorly informed and vulnerable to blind spots, misinformation, and conspiracy theories.

SHORT CUT RECOMMENDATIONS. It’s great to learn all the above stuff about evaluating information but it is a lot of work. An article like this could conclude with some shortcut recommendations on specific trustworthy sources and strategies. 

Those are my thoughts!

Read More

29

35

Skills

The Pandemic is Only Beginning: The Long COVID Disaster

Hardened - September 18, 2023

I just ran across this article and offer it here as food for thought:

The Pandemic is Only Beginning: The Long COVID Disaster

The ideas are still percolating in me and I’m curious to hear other people’s reactions to it.

Read More

2

17

New gun owners with questions?

Caliber Carpenter - September 17, 2023

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

Read More

19

95

Best survival knife all purpose IYO?

marrah - September 16, 2023

I’d like to know the current, best IYO (in your opinion) survival knife/tool. I’d like to keep this under $100, and less is good! To me, I’m thinking the Rambo knife is still the best option for everything. I’d like to see any options, pros and cons, best deals, and tell me what you’d depend on for outback living in the wild. Your best finds and prices for the “Rambo” knife are greatly appreciated.

@Marrah

Read More

13

43

Online survival/prepping courses?

Jon StokesStaff - September 11, 2023

I’m doing some research for an article, and I’m wondering if anyone here has a favorite online course related to prepping or survival that they’ve taken? If so, I’d love to check out whatever you’ve found useful. Thanks!

Read More

19

19

News for the Week 2023-09-04

The Prepared Support - September 11, 2023

News for the Week 2023-09-04

Read More

1

5

Experience using confit?

Adriaan - September 10, 2023

Does anyone have experience making confit? I read it can last 6 months in the fridge. Any advice/resources would be appreciated 🙂

Read More

1

1

300 Blackout SBR (short barrel rifle)

RedneckContributor - September 8, 2023

It is Christmas Eve, the sun is out & the temp is 70 degrees. I’m home alone, as my wife stays with her 100 year old mom several days a week. So what to do? How about head down to my home range & do some shootn’! Today I’m shooting my favorite rifle… my 300 Blackout.

So to begin with, it is a SBR… short barrel rifle. The barrel is 11.5 inches long, as opposed to a standard 16″ carbine barrel. To have such a barrel, I had to apply to the government, the ATF, to get checked out & approved. The approval form is called a stamp & it costs $200 to apply for one. I like to shoot SBRs because I also shoot with a suppressor. The added length & weight of a suppressor to a carbine length barrel is just excessive for me. The gun just isn’t balanced. But put a suppressor on a SBR & it just feels & looks natural to me. Oh, by the way, you have to get a stamp for each suppressor too.

300 Blackout ammo is relatively new.  What I like about it is that it shoots a much larger & heavier bullet than a standard 5.56 AR.  This gives it really good knock down power.  This ammo also burns all its powder completely when shot thru a short barrel.  And best of all, when using subsonic ammo with a suppressor, the gun is rather quiet.  Not silent by any stretch… but quiet enough you don’t need hearing protection.  The down side is that this ammo is not well suited for long range shooting.  At my age, I won’t shoot anything past 100 yards, so that is a non factor for me.  I mostly shoot subsonic ammo as it is much quieter than high velocity ammo.  With high velocity ammo, you get a very loud crack as the bullet passes thru the sound barrier.  By using ammo that stays below the speed of sound, you don’t get that loud crack… plus the ammo itself is a bit quieter.

This rifle, as with any AR styled rifle, is exceptionally easy to shoot.  There is almost no kick, it is very quiet with the suppressor attached, and it is simple to aim.  I use an Aimpoint Pro red dot sight with backup iron sights that fold down when not in use.  The Aimpoint will run for around 3 years on a single battery, but if the optic were to fail in a crisis, the backup sights pop up & you can see them thru the nonfunctional Aimpoint.  This is called a co witness.  In the pics below, note the backup sights down and then up.

For this rifle, I use a Saker 7.62 suppressor with quick detatch.

Since 300 Blackout ammo & 5.56 ammo is so similar, I use solid black magazines for my 5.56 and use the translucent (see thru) magazines for 300 Blackout.  And with the 300 Blackout, I use 20 round magazines for the subsonic ammo & use 30 round magazines for high velocity ammo.

The upper is an AAC SBR 300 Blackout upper.  I use a Stag lower.  And below, is pictured my home range located in my bottom pasture.

Read More

17

34

Navigating the healthcare system in the USA

EzlyAmuzzed - September 6, 2023

Looking for any advice or learned lessons on navigating our healthcare system when you have something more than a minor illness. I know many of us have gone through this and would like to hear some of the things you have learned.

Any trustworthy apps to keep track of your medical records so you have it on hand for each doctor?

How to deal with the insurance company when the code given is ineligible or incurs extra cost?

How to not eat through your savings?

When to recognize a test is necessary or unnecessary?

How and when to get second opinions?

How do you research doctors you are referred to so that you get one of the best for your case?

Anything I haven’t mentioned please feel free to offer ideas.

Read More

11

19

Advice

News for the Week 2023-08-28

The Prepared Support - September 5, 2023

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

Read More

2

21

News

News of the week 2023-07-24

The Prepared Support - August 30, 2023

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

Read More

2

13

News

Interview participants

undergraduatediss - August 29, 2023

Hi! I’m currently doing my undergraduate dissertation on the role of women within the prepping community. My project aims to celebrate the contribution of women and highlight their significance. I am looking for participants to interview. The interview will be held over microsoft teams and last no longer than 30 minutes. Please email me at [email protected] if you are interested. Thanks so much. 

Read More

-3

2

News for the Week 2023-08-21

The Prepared Support - August 27, 2023

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

Read More

1

8

News

Preparing for home fires

Bill N - August 27, 2023

Hi all! With the recent wildfires in Maui, I realized that I never made any plans to help preserve the originals of important documents at home from a fire. While they are backed up to the cloud, I think it’s still important to save the originals if possible. I purchased a small fireproof safe (the recommended choice from the NY Times Wirecutter site; the review link is below), but I’ve noticed this doesn’t seem to be a topic covered by many prepper sites.

Anyone else have suggestions or recommendations for this issue?

https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-fireproof-document-safe/

Read More

1

4

Advice

News for the Week 2023-08-14

The Prepared Support - August 22, 2023

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

Read More

1

14

News

Grain Mills: What’s your experience and recommendations?

Pops - August 21, 2023

Pretty self-explanatory. My food pantry includes whole grains because they naturally last a long time and with a little extra care, a really long time. But you need to keep them whole as the outer layer is the best packaging. Wheat berries can last 30 years based on studies done by the LDS church, but once you grind them into flour they go downhill fast.

I’ve owned a variety of mills, all but one of the antique variety. They were all small clamp-on type that eventually failed—or had failed before had even bought them LOL. I was scanning Craigslist etc every so often the last however many years looking for a better unit without any luck. Then came the pandemic and even the beer-brewer hobbyists machines and kitchen decoration items disappeared.

I want a $1,000 of course and had placed a pre-paid order for the new Green Power Mill from Lehmans that looks pretty cool. But it turns out that Lehmans has been sold and whether that, the JIT supply catastrophe or whatever, I had my money returned 6 months later when the mill still wasn’t in production. That was recently and prompted me to bite the bullet so I finally broke down and bought a modern version of the clamp on style, the Wonder Mill Junior.

It comes with both steel burrs and stone wheels and a second auger for nuts —and importantly— masa! But what is best are the drive options, it has available a power drill adapter, a large motor pulley, even a geared reduction pulley with drive gear. I opted for the bicycle sprocket attachment. I ordered one of those bicycle stands made to let you use your regular bike as an exercise cycle. I’ll get a chain locally. If I were ever needing to use this machine… and there was power of some type available, I’m confident I could rig up a motor. Most likely, in the event it is needed, the only power available will be me.

You can see in the listing that it has a square plate base rather than an integral clamp. The clamp device is mounted using machine screws. I expect to mount the mill, sans clamp, along with the bike stand on a piece of ply, probably using a hunk of 6-8″ steel plate as reinforcement under the mill. Several of my “clamp on” mills have failed at the neck due to metal fatigue, there is quite a bit of torque involved. And of course there is no way to mount a clamp style mill on most modern counters, let alone use with the bike rig I’m contemplating. Grinding more than a cup’s worth to rough flour consistently turns into work.

I’ve been dragging my feet on this purchase for a while, $400 all in for an item I’ll hopefully never use beyond simple experimenting is pretty high for my budget. The rational is, I probably have that much in stored grain and without a decent mill I’m limited to mush and sprouts.

So anyway, talk about your mills.

Read More

10

16

Gear

(Official discussion) Best mobile apps

John AdamaStaff - August 20, 2023

[See the full post at: Best survival apps for your phone] 

Read More

1

14

Smoke hoods etc

Black Club - August 18, 2023

I’ve got a few of the smoke hood type escape devices (I have one in my travel bag)

looking to change to these:

Home

have ordered one to see how bulky it is in comparison to

Smoke Hood and Fire Mask Products

Read More

2

9

Pemmican

Winston Smith - August 11, 2023

I’ve made a lot of hardtack, but never Pemmican. I plan to experiment in the next few weeks.  Has anyone tried making or eating it?  Thanks.  

Read More

7

4

News for the Week 2023-08-07

The Prepared Support - August 9, 2023

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

Read More

1

2

News

New Source For Bug-Out Bag Items – Career Fairs

Bigwig - August 8, 2023

Recently I’ve been going to a lot of career fairs in my area.  Little did I know that it was a BOB bag paradise!  Some of the items I’ve come across for free:

Collapsable water bottle with carabiner Drawstring backpack (good in case something happens to your regular backpack) Multi-connector charging cable Carabiner with two knives and scissors Collapsible frisbee Plastic utensils in storage tube Small hand sanitizer with carabiner Baseball cap Lanyard Lip baum Playing cards Packet of sunscreen Wipes Tide stick

I get it.  Do you want your life depending on some crappy promotional material you got for free?  No, but much of this stuff is not life-altering and the carabiner feels pretty solid.

Next time you want to stock you BOB, go to a job fair.  You can get some swag, and you just might get a new job.

Read More

3

1