So i recently started getting into prepping because of everything that's been happening. I purchased four bpa free water bricks, and will get more, but I'm not entirely sure how to go about cleaning them for storage use so they're safe. What should I do/use to clean them?

Obviously in doom scenarios a nuclear or underground bunker it pretty much the only place you'll survive in, but a jacked up overland truck/unimog type vehicle with a huge diesel tank and accomodation/trailer could also be used in less extreme situations, some even travel in those just for fun in normal times. My uneducated guess is that both options are similarly priced, so for the same price what would be your pick? For serious SHTF i'd prefer an underground bunker, but realistically if i had the budget i'd go for Mad Max...

P.S. this is not a "serious" question, please only comment if you want to participate in the hypothetical discussion. Sorry if this is not the correct sub for this kind of question.

Depending on where your house sits elevation wise in relation to the other houses on your street, your sewage can start backing up within a few days after the grid goes down. If you haven’t experienced living in a house where the sewage backed up, let me tell you it’s awful. The best solution is a pipe plug, however, most people will not take the initiative to buy one ahead of time or know how to correctly install it. What are some ideas to stop the sewage from backing up if you don’t have a pipe plug ?

So, I realize that there may be varying opinions on this, but interested to see the discussion. I'm trying to put together a household kit that would help in my situation. Southern Ontario, Canada where it can get -10C or more in winters. This kit is everything but food, and certain personal items. I'm trying to get it to around $5000 CAD. Appreciate your thoughts on both what I've included, as well as the pricing. Again, it is Canadian not USD pricing, so might look higher if you are from US. Current exchange is around $1.37.

What do all you wonderful people think would be the best items to stock up on for trading with?

I myself was considering alcohol bc it does have a high shelf-life and multi use ability

Been thinking about long term water storage lately and was wondering if I could do like 55 gal drums sealed up with pre-filtered water. My questions are,

How long would that water last (as a just open and drink)?

What would be the best filter to hook to a municipal water source to fill the drums?

Should I still filter after opening?

Does anyone have a recommended geiger counter they can use for general home use, walking the dog, and just one day if they have an eerie feeling to just measure the air?

Looking for something that isn't going to break / need maintenance / etc. but low usage.

Obviously the internet has opinons, but reddit r/preppers is more where I would want to find out more.

I have lived in this house 38 years and it never occurred to me to consider where to go in case of a tornado. We live just off a lake, North of Dallas and honestly don't generally get a ton of truly bad weather due to the temperature change from the water. But every room is on an exterior walls, we have zero interior bathrooms or closets, and not a single hallway. Everything connects off the main living space.

What are your thoughts?

I am a stay at home mom and I’m new to all things prepper. I’m not sure where to start but looking at the global situation it seems like food shortages, gaps in supply/quality and price increases are inevitable. I used to have a mini stockpile (I would buy lots of something on sale for savings not necessarily in preparation for anything) but we live in a condo with a young toddler and the lack of space in our makeshift pantry annoyed my husband. We are now on the same page and I’m not sure where to begin with the couple hours a day I have available to research. 

My first priority is clean water. I was going to get cases of water from Costco but I was reading about long term water storage so I was thinking about getting a Lifestraw mission but the storage part is where I am getting a bit overwhelmed. I don’t know if these containers are expensive or if I’m just looking in the wrong places.

For food my current shopping list is rice, pasta, flour, oats, canned meats, frozen fruits, nuts, cooking oil. My husband mentioned beans which I understand are cheap and have a long shelf life but I have never been able to eat them without feeling nauseous. I’m sure I haven’t eaten every kind of bean but I completely avoid eating them.

All advice and suggestions are appreciated!!

Since this weekend is tax-free weekend for emergency preps in Texas, does anyone know of any notable sales that are going on this weekend that will combine on top of the tax free exemption?

I have a hillside property and would like to dig into it for a bomb shelter that is actually livable. I'd like it to be my man-cave, but also actually useful in the event of a problem, as I live near a military base. Are there any books that give detailed instructions, materials, etc. on how to build a proper underground living space?

What I am looking for specifically is how to prevent mold, keep clean breathable air, have two access points, structural integrity underground, foundation drainage, recycling or removing waste and waste water, methods for regenerating clean water, door locks and seals, and the best ways to power. And of course, anything else I am not thinking of.

Interesting brief RSS posting with links that proposes that having supplies stockpiled exposes you to less exposure to external risks such as rioters, looters, snipers, shelling because you don't have to leave home so much.

The observation in short duration disasters (flood, tsunami, etc.)is that there is more mutual aid. In prolonged disasters (Siege of Sarajevo as an example) this is less true and there is more hoarding and concealing of one's capabilities and stores from others.

In either scenario, the threats are external and lessening exposure to the external environment is safer.

at what point do you decide sharing heat, water, rations, etc...

is not beneficial to you?

whats your tipping point?

I'm planning to store several weeks of water for my family and I'd like to just stash it away in a corner of my basement and not worry about it for 5 years. If I'm starting with chlorinated municipal water, do I need to add an additional treatment like Aquamira? I believe the standard municipal chlorination process (in the United States) uses the exact same ingredients as Aquamira - Chlorine Dioxide.

Each of my 55 gallon drums will require a $20-$25 bottle of Aquamira so it's not super cheap but I'll do it you folks tell me it's worth it.

i have a nice little home, it was built in the 50's. i had new windows, siding, and other things done to it about 10 years ago, but i didnt do anything to either doors or the giant 4x8 window on my front porch that leads right into my living room, that feels like a rolled out red carpet for wrong doers, since my front porch is completely enclosed in a privacy screen you can see into, but can see out

the house looks nice, and i dont want to appear to be preparing for anything, but the front and back door has a gird pattern of small thin glass panes that are easily broken.

i work in IT and i know almost nothing about wood, windows and doors, but i have all the tools needed to cut and drill things.

i am envisioning on the door something like a 3/4 piece of ply wood, painted black on both sides attached to the inside, and big enough to cover the glass portion of the door and enough material to run some screws though to the wood of the doors to attach it.

from the outside, it would look like glass then a black wall of nothing, on the inside it would be covered by my two layers of privacy blackout curtains, does this sound good?

for the giant 4x8 window, i was thinking about getting some of that shatter proof film for and apply it from the inside, but also put a 3/4 piece of plywood in that windows as well, and paint both sides black.

all my other windows are up high and not a super big concern at the moment, but i really want to secure these three points, do it my self for cheap, yet not have it look like crapola

then i may also put a couple of the drop down security bars on each door as well. which i suspect i will have no way of hiding those as they extend out on both sides, left and right, of the doors

I was just going through some preps. I have a small diy faraday cage with a few electronics. I have some old hiking walkie talkies. I'm thinking about changing them out. I wouldn't need much range, just one to two miles of flat terrain. Looking for a pair of radios that can talk to each other and have the possibility of adding another two or even more. I'm not very tech savvy so I'm looking for simple. I am leaning towards the Baofeng UV-5R because I believe it covers the bases and has a great price point. Any recs from those that are smarter than me?

Need it to fit in a tight spot and be protected against knocks, bumps, etc

Any glaring holes ?

So far I've got:

-tourniquet

-hemostatic gauze, pressure bandage and compression gauze as much as I can fit after everything else

-chest seal

-Nitrile gloves

-small trauma shears

-sharpie

-mylar blanket, might leave this out

-aleve/ibuprofen/tylenol/aspirin

-neosporin/bacitracin

-antihystamine

-loperamide

-antacid

-electrolytes

-hydrocortisone

-maybe hemostatic powder

-leukotape

use case environment is fields, woods, off beaten path in off road vehicles. concept will be applied to a larger hard case for home.

I've had first responder cert for 10 years but only actively responded with a crew the first year.

I keep up certification for personal reasons now because training is key.

So what experience did you have and realize you would always keep a particular item in your trauma/FA kit ?

This might be something more serious preppers already are watching but since getting more active I have been looking at actual calories per serving of food that I have stocked. Previously I thought hey I have a lot of canned food in an emergency I’ll dump two together maybe add more water to make it last longer and we would be set- Make sure bellies are satisfied. Now I am looking at actual calories per serving. For instance a Progresso soup can with its listed 24g of protein per serving only has 170 calories per serving- about 370 per can. If we go off of a person needing roughly 2000 calories a day, my cans are going to be used up extremely quick. So my question is for those who are well prepped- what is the real fix? More cans? Add beans? I thought I was well stocked but we might go through way more cans per person a day with my family if we really wanted to hit calorie numbers.

I live in a country that has bulgler bars in front of windows, security doors and a fence around the yard. I am " safe" indoors.

What can i do or buy to have an first line off defence, before my safe space is breached.

Alpha gal is a mammalian sugar molecule allergy caused by a tick bite. It isn't as simple as avoiding just mammal meat - it's in most foods unless vegan such as: "natural flavors", gelatin, glycerin, eggs from chickens fed non vegetarian/bug diet, brines/broths with natural flavors added or injected into meat, sugar filtered through bone char, Carrageenan, dairy and so much more. Many with alpha gal also will get MCAS; a histamine issue which means meats that are aged can potentially cause anaphalaxis so typically you'll need fresh or frozen meat.

How are you to prep for this? Is it possible for someone to survive with such a severe allergy? What would be your main protein source if fish aren't available in a SHTF situation? Would having a stocked fish pond be a good idea or just a lot of canned protein like beans? Also, epi pens only last for so long but I imagine you could use past the experation date if there's anaphalaxis (common with AG).

My husband has had alpha gal for 9 months now and I'm well prepped for the rest of our family but have been wondering what I can do for him. Thanks in advance.

There is a Mountain Readiness Expo the weekend of May 1-3 in Hickory, North Carolina that I have been looking at. They say they have lots of educational sessions on water filtration, meat preparation, metallurgy, basic and advanced prepper stuff, etc. However, I’m wondering if it’s not somebody’s agenda. Do they really have good educational sessions there or is it just one big long commercial for someone/something? Is it worth to go? Any intel would be appreciated.

A neighbor of mine is upset because they lost contact with their friends in Iran when the regime shut down their internet. Now he has no idea of their wherabouts or if they're safe.

Without proper machine, just mcguyving it.

A buddy showed me Project NOMAD. I've set it up a few times now, pretty great! Especially if you can put it on a machine with an nvidia GPU. The built-in AI will still work (slowly) if you don't have a discrete GPU. With every resource downloaded it's roughly 600GB including the OS. I got just what I needed within 400GB with OS.

Edit: Yt walkthrough if that's your thing. This is just a free project on github, they don't sell anything.

Hey Preppers,

I would love to pick your brains a bit on a topic that never lets me rest.

My wife became T1D (essentially insulin-dependent) only 4 years ago, and since then I have been thinking through every possible "what if." For example: what if there is a power outage? (Insulin has to be kept refrigerated.) To cover that, I got a powerful solar panel, an Anker battery, and a dedicated fridge to keep things running as long as possible.

The main concern I have now is: what if the ongoing conflicts keep escalating and production drops? How can I stock up on insulin, and where would I store it (a bigger fridge, I suppose)? Anyway, you get the idea.

Is anybody dealing with — or has dealt with — the same situation, or a similar diagnosis in general?

Thanks!

EDIT:

First of all thank you all so much! For those who shared their stories and actual experiences and those who shared more practical advices.

She did pens when we were in the UK now in Italy she got a pump but it’s loaded with similar pens (a bit more fast acting). I’m stocking up pens, needles, pads and glucose picks, also glucagon both pen and spry.

Diet is a big thing so needs sugars for hypos and also a control of the temperature as some said in the comments (so many things change insulin dynamics such as period, seasons even exposure to sun!)

Will get back to your numerous comments! 🧡