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Neutrality for the sake of survival and how to manage the full spectrum of ideologies
Watchtower - October 16, 2024 First most, politics are not allowed.
It’s very clear that society for Americans is rapidly transforming due to several factors and people are largely polarized in what they believe, how they choose to exist and what they expect others to be like in terms of their own beliefs.
In terms of prepping and long term survival from a SHTF event that could play out for the medium to long term changing society as we know it… Read More
Prep for fume event?
Marshall Findlay - October 16, 2024 Hi all,
This is my first post to the TP forum, though I’ve been diving into all the great resources since I discovered the site earlier this year.
Stephanie Arnold brought up in her update for December 17 the notion of “fume events” in which faulty seals result in toxic fumes entering into the main cabin. The article to which she referenced described pilots passing out and passengers/crew complaining of long-lasting side effects. I had no idea 1) that air was drawn from engine exhaust into the cabin after being scrubbed for toxins or that 2) this air could turn toxic with equipment malfunction.… Read More
How to avoid losing your entire digital life in an instant
Supersonic - September 5, 2024 TL;DR: Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Download all your data and store offline regularly.
A New York Times article this week, really got me thinking about how I organize my digital life. Sorry it is long but please take the time to read this, the lessons learned from this person’s experience can apply to 99% of us and there are things we can do now to prepare and be resilient against losing our entire digital life in an instant.
Here’s a brief summary of the article. A dad noticed a rash occurring on his toddler son’s genitals and took pictures with his Android… Read More
Lahaina Fire: Deadliest US Fire in a Century
Eric - May 17, 2024 A wildfire destroyed the historical town of Lahaina, former royal capital of Hawaii, on August 9, 2023. Many people burned alive in their homes, unaware that a fire was approaching. Others burned in their cars, stuck in traffic while trying to evacuate, or drowned while trying to escape into the harbor. Bodies are still being counted (93 so far), but the death toll could be up to 1000.
As fires become more common and more intense, we need to learn fire emergencies like Lahaina so that we can prevent them, or at least reduce the loss of life in the next fire emergency. Please join me in collecting information about what went wrong and what could have been done differently. What challenges did the people of Lahaina face as they tried to escape the flames. What could individuals have done differently to improve their odds of survival?… Read More
You are stranded on a deserted island, you can choose four items…
Captain Peanut - May 17, 2024 First post here. Wanted to share something I saw on Facebook that I thought would be fun.
I took out that spot near the hunting rifle because it had weed in there. I don’t think that’s a very good survival item so lets place an ax there instead as an option.
Don’t just list four items that you would take though, tell why you would choose those over something else and how you would use those items to keep yourself… Read More
Some things to consider when building fallout shelters
Jesse Smith - March 11, 2024 I’ve long had an interest in the construction of nuclear blast and fallout shelters. Most preppers will be familiar with Cresson Kearny’s guidebook, “Nuclear War Survival Skills” (NWSS), which is available as a free pdf here (save a copy!). Anyone interested in the construction of a fallout or blast-resistant shelter should start by reading this guide, which is excellent.
I have some reservations about strict adoption of NWWS to mitigate contemporary nuclear threats. Kearny’s book was largely a response to underfunded civil defence. He operated on the premise that prior to a Russian first strike there would be a significant exodus of civilians from Russian cities. Having detected this migration via satellites, the US civilian population would have 3 days to migrate to rural areas and construct fallout shelters. There… Read More
Games that teach survival skills
Eric - January 4, 2024 What games have you found that teach survival skills in a fun way? I’ll include some of my favorites as comments and encourage others to do the same.
How to develop realistic scenarios to prep for?
Nice_badger - December 18, 2023 The approach of this site ist generally to focus on broad categories of emergencies, not highly specific scenarios. This is generally sound, I beleive. However: One broad scenario is bugging out. What a good bug out bag looks like is highly dependent on the reason *why* you bug out. As Eric Bunny pointed out in the thread on wildfires, a vehicle bug out can turn into a bug out on foot quickly. In this specific situation a fairly light bob is crucial, a level 1 bob will be better than a level 3!
This is just an example to show that there is value to think through the possible *whys* of bugging in and out and tweak ones preps accordingly: Develop a plan to work from, obtain specific gear and skills for that. How do you think through possible… Read More
Prepping for self-managed abortion post-Roe v. Wade
MariaC - November 13, 2023 In the event that Roe v. Wade is repealed in the U.S., access to abortion will fall to the state level to legislate. Many people with uteruses will very quickly have a much more difficult time accessing healthcare that allows them to end a pregnancy.
Therefore, pro-choice preppers who want to understand self-managed abortion care may be interested in learning how to gather materials, build local community networks of support, and access information about how to perform different kinds of as-safe-as-possible self-managed abortions for people with uteruses in your… Read More
What are my fellow urban Canadians doing different about prepping? Here’s some of what I have done and worked.
Frozen22 - October 11, 2023 I hope I’m not duplicating an existing thread, but I thought it would be useful to have some discussion specific to Canadian members, given differences in laws, available products, climate, infrastructure, etc. I’m a newish prepper and am interested in how others are setting themselves up. I live a in a city in Western Canada, in a condo, so I don’t have land, a garage, or tons of storage space. Given those limitations I’m still better set up than most people in my city.
First, my perspective. I really only focus on a two-week scenario. I’m assuming my plan would involved (1) bugging in, (2) assisting three elderly family members, (3) contending with overloaded public services, and (4) no “societal breakdown,” partly because that is such a vague concept. I have… Read More
Best home or neighborhood security system 2023
Eric - July 21, 2023 What are the best options to detect, deter, and prevent breakins in your home or neighborhood? My neighborhood had a nighttime burglary recently (involving a car, not the house) which has raised the issue of security in my neighborhood. I’m interested in recommendations for my own home’s security, especially detection/alerting, as well as neighborhood-wide options that I could present to the HOA.
Here are some relevant previous security articles and discussions, but I suspect some of the technology has advanced in the years since these were… Read More
Learning from the past – The 1815 volcano that covered the world
Jose Martinez - June 24, 2023 On April 5, 1815, the Indonesian island of Sumbawa (to the north of Australia) was alerted to the sounds of the Tambora mountiain coughing up ash and fire as the volcano awoke. People hundreds of miles away recalled that it sounded like cannon fire. These small eruptions continued for days until April 10th when the whole mountain exploded. Three plumes of fire and rock shot upwards, merging into one massive blast. Lava flowed out of the volcano and engulfed the village below. Midday felt like midnight for weeks as ash continued to fall, piling as high as two feet in some places.
Throughout the world, people stared in awe at vibrant sunsets over the coming months but little did they know that disaster would follow. In the coming year, the weather would turn unpredictable and be devastating to… Read More
Boil water alert – Washing your hands
Bigwig - May 15, 2023 Our city is currently under a boil water alert. I have plenty of water in 55 gallon drums, 1 gallon jugs, and bottled water. I pulled some gallon jugs and put them near each sink. However, it is very inconvenient to wash your hands. What solutions would you recommend to make it easier? I’ve thought about buying some pump dispensers but not sure how well they will work with water.
https://www.berlinpackaging.com/xp3811-38-400-white-pp-plastic-high-output-dispenser-pumps/
I am new, advice?
Corrina Leo - May 13, 2023 Hey everyone! I just turned 18 and I am learning about the prepper community. I have always been interested, but never really started “prepping” until recently. Does anyone have an advice for me?
I am looking to have a good stock pile, but I am not sure where to buy from (that will be effective and relatively inexpensive). I am not really sure how to use this site either, but I am trying to learn as much as possible. Any advice, recommendations, warnings, etc. would be infinitely appreciated.
Is using natural gas a realistic option in most grid-down scenarios?
Colorado Jones - May 12, 2023 Given the number of electrical grid-down scenarios over the past year or so, I’ve been thinking about how to heat my home should that happen in the dead of winter.
My question is this: Does natural gas ever get disrupted, specifically in locations like the Rocky Mountain West? Power outages exceeding more than a few hours in my area are rare, perhaps once a year at most. I don’t recall ever–in my lifetime–having a natural gas outage, period. Though, obviously, anything is possible given the right bad… Read More
Pooping in a pail and other prepper pastimes
M. E.Contributor - May 10, 2023 I am in the middle of a plumbing problem and thought I’d share what I’m learning AS I’m learning it, since I learn a lot from the “what went well/what didn’t” threads elsewhere in this Forum. To the extent possible I’ll try not to repeat what is in the “Toilets when there’s no water” thread.
It seems our outbound sewer line is blocked. We are lucky that we have an unfinished basement so the disgusting backup is mostly in our non-living areas. But though we have plenty of clean incoming water, if any of it goes down the drains it just makes the backup WORSE and more disgusting. My preps are coming in handy, but I’ve learned some things! Warning, this thread is – kinda… Read More
What do you keep in your BOB for menstruation?
Liz Klein - May 7, 2023 This came up in a different thread about prepping resources for single women, https://theprepared.com/forum/thread/single-female-prepper-resources/
Wanted to start a separate thread to dig deeper into period prepping! 🙂 Everyone was so generous with suggestions on the other thread, thought we could continue and consolidate here.
These were the main ideas that came up so… Read More
California megafloods! New research, articles, prepping challenges, etc.
pnwsarahContributor - February 5, 2023 I don’t think we’ve had a forum thread on this before… LMK if I’m wrong and I’ll delete this and move my links and comments to the appropriate place, but the WaPo ran an article on megaflood risk in CA today.
If you get paywalled, here is:
The research article that prompted the press coverage (which is allegedly open access) A long Mother Jones feature from a couple of years on the same… Read MoreGrid down – How to recognize it early?
Lindsey - February 3, 2023 https://practical.engineering/blog/2022/11/22/how-long-would-society-last-during-a-total-grid-collapse
This was posted in November to the internet but my husband and I just watched this video yesterday. One of the things I found most interesting and relevant was the mention of how the initial reaction to the scenario would probably be more of a vacation vibe until the gravity of the situation really began to sink in after 2-3 days of no electricity. How does a prepared person get ahead of the curve on something like this? Realizing that the power is not coming back up in 12 hours, rather than waiting 48 hours seems like it might give you additional time to stockpile last minute water or supplies before the herd starts to panic. But how do you recognize that it really is a grid down and not an extended power outage? Or do you not worry about getting it wrong after you… Read More
Livestock for prepping
Barb LeeContributor - February 2, 2023 There seems to be a common belief that keeping certain classes of livestock will insure a source of food (or transportation) when SHTF. I’m an old lady, I’ve kept pretty much every class of livestock in my goal to be “self sufficient”, and I have a different perspective. Let’s look at bugging out with livestock, supply chain disruptions for feed and supplies, predation, types of livestock, and sort out whether maintaining livestock REALLY makes us independent, or does it become an anchor around our neck when we need extreme mobility and lack of distraction.
1. Chickens: EVERYBODY loves chickens and thinks they’re an ace in the hole when SHTF. First of all, let’s look at the avian flu epidemic that is affecting private flocks. 30+ chickens and ducks were just destroyed in our county. There are undoubtedly more that haven’t been reported. They were… Read More
Sump Pump Kit: Keeping your basement dry (and your neighbour’s too)
brownfox-ffContributor - January 17, 2023
(image credit: Magnolia Field Flooding by Doc Searls. Licensed under Creative Commons CC-BY 2.0)
It’s 2 am. Your neighbour bangs on the door. Their house is flooding, and their sump pump just broke. The hardware store is closed. Can you… Read More
Twenty ways to prepare for civil unrest
Sanctum - December 12, 2022 Here are 20 ways you can prepare for potential civil unrest:
Stay informed about current events and potential threats in your area.Create an emergency plan for you and your family, including a designated meeting place and a way to communicate if you are separated.Build an emergency supply kit with enough food, water, and other essential supplies to last at least three days.Consider storing extra supplies, such as non-perishable food, water, and medical supplies, in case of a prolonged disruption.Consider securing your home by reinforcing doors and windows, and installing security cameras or alarms.Keep your car fueled up and make sure it is in good working order, in case you need to evacuate.Have cash on hand in case ATMs and credit card systems are not functioning.Consider storing important documents,… Read More
Illumination during a power outage
Barb LeeContributor - November 28, 2022 We were enjoying the wood stove and the warm glow of the Aladdin lamps last night, rather absorbed in talking about the lamps, when I suddenly realized I had no idea of the state of our preps for dispelling the darkness in an extended power outage. I’m a kindergarten prepper compared to others on this list. My goal is to prepare for three months of independence. So I’ve been trying to take stock all day of emergency light sources and things can be improved.
I learned that the Aladdin lamps are good for roughly 10 hours of lighting (probably on low) on a 1 quart fill of kerosene. (I love these fussy little prima donnas!) It seems that my approximately five gallons of kerosene (all designated lamp fuel) would net about 50 days of light, burning four hours a day. Seems we need another five gallons to slightly exceed three months. (My primary concern is… Read More
An idea for another safety tool at the drive-up ATM?
Bigwig - November 24, 2022 I was getting money from the drive-up ATM one Saturday morning. The bank was open but there wasn’t anyone else at either machine. It’s in a low-crime area but I always keep my head on a swivel and take as little time as possible. I overshot the machine, so I had to back up. After getting into a better position, I glanced at my rear camera. Just then it hit me that if I keep my vehicle in reverse (and foot on the brake), I have a really good rear view of what is going on behind me. Of course, if anyone is behind me it might freak them out, and if something were to go down I would likely back into the car behind me. No, I don’t have any aftermarket front or rear security cameras and realize that would work better.
Just wanted some thoughts from the… Read More
Public safety power shutoffs – Dress rehearsal for the real thing
hikermor - November 21, 2022 In SoCal, we now routinely experience PSPS when high winds prevail. While inconvenient, they are preferable to wildfires sparked by down power lines. They also offer a chance to test at least some of your preps and experiment with procedures. We just had a two hour PSPS, and last year we had one that lasted for three days.
With internet down, keeping phones charged was a top priority. Camping gear came into use, especially for cooking. Our headlamps and portable lanterns proved useful. Batteries recharged by portable solar panels were great. We learned to minimize opening and closing the… Read More
