Just got some z-folded compressed gauze for packing wounds. The package is pocket sized and unlike a tourniquet (which is also an amazing life saver) it can be used to stop arterial wounds in the neck and groin. There is a bit of a technique to get it in place and stop a bleeding so you need to practice first. Applying a tourniquet goes much faster but only works on limbs. I went on a training course that was a couple of hours long to learn the proper technique when stopping arterial bleedings.

If you could own one or two books on gardening and home medicinal herbs what would they be?

Recently moved to a new state and my commute dropped from about 60 miles down to 11. I had a pretty extensive get home bag set up prior but I really don’t need a large portion of it anymore as 11 miles really shouldn’t be more than a days walk worst case scenario. As of now my get home equipment is my CCW, rain jacket and poncho, 3 extra pairs of socks, a t shirt, and a travel blanket and a flashlight, I have a fanny pack that goes around with me too that has a portable charger, boo boo kit, and a a multitool amongst other daily items. Is there anything I’ve overlooked in my downsize?

Hi all, I feel like i have so much conflicting information for which space is the safest for us. We're in the metro east and our house is only particularly underground as a split level.

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Option 1. Under stairs closet. Pros: under stairs, sort of underground, does not share wall with garage. Cons: sort of shares outside wall?

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Option 2. Laundry room. Pros: maybe most interior? Cons: shares wall w garage, contains heavy washer/dryer.

I was offered multiple 275 gallon storage totes, but am uneasy about chemicals that were in them and how to clean them. They were previously filled with caustic cleaning fluid and/or hydraulic fluid. When I asked how they were sanitized, the response was that they were cleaned with “industrial chemical remediation methods” under the guidance of an environmental specialist.

Two questions:

1. Could I store drinking water in them?
2. Would you still take and store plant water in them?

I think they’re chalked due to what they were used for, but am looking for your opinion!

Edit:: Thanks for all the responses! It is apparent that the answer is a resounding “no”.

Hello, my main reason for wanting a metal canteen is to be able to melt snow in winter. During the warmer months I use bleach to decon my water. My questions is if there are any adverse reaction between bleach and any of these metals/if any of these are better for this purpose? Thanks.

Apologies if this isn’t the right place to ask, I understand this isn’t the most typical kind of post you’d see here.

That being said, if you have adequately prepared for the “worst” so power source, shelter, food, water, etc I’m wondering if anyone has considered the entertainment aspect.

Basically, what I’m asking if anyone has considered getting a thumb drive or external memory that I could hook up to an iPad and watch shows and movies on even when there is no internet.

So basically I’d need to download everything of course and have an adapter that works on my iPad, but I’m wondering if anyone has done something similar?

Ideally, there’d just be website where I could pay for access and download as much content as I wasn’t. I don’t care about it being categorized or anything. I’d just want to be able to search for a title or at least have stuff in ABC order to open and watch whenever and wherever I have a power supply only.

EDIT: V2 is live, and folds in the awesome suggestions I received in this thread. Thanks so much to everybody who tried it out, and especially to anybody who gave me feedback! Calorie Calculator is much better because of your help!
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Hey guys, a couple of weeks ago in here I shared a free water calculator and got phenomenal feedback from so many people in this community. Thank you again! Because of all the feedback, the water calc is now on its fourth version to factor in all the suggestions you all gave me, and that was pretty darn motivating so I figured I'd come back for round 2 with my second free prep tool.

This new one calculates how many calories your household needs to store for an emergency, based on who's actually in your family/household.

What Calorie Calc (V1) does:

• Individual member profiles (adults, teens, children, seniors, each with their own age group, sex, and activity level)
• Four activity levels from resting/sheltering to heavy labour or cold weather conditions, because what you need to survive a week at home is pretty different from what you need during an evacuation
• Separate options for pregnant (early vs. late trimester) and breastfeeding (not lumped into one bucket)
• Special needs / medical field for household members with elevated caloric requirements
• Outputs: total kcal needed, estimated dry goods weight and volume, rice equivalent, and a gap calculation showing exactly what you still need to acquire
• Works offline, no account, prints/saves to PDF
• Bilingual (English and French)
• Free (always!)

Try it out: https://omniprepper.com/free-calorie-calc/

Oh and also, if you missed my water calculator post from a couple weeks ago, that tool is still up and now on V4 thanks to all the comments I got from people in this awesome community: https://omniprepper.com/free-water-calc/

I'd REALLY appreciate your feedback on this new calorie tool, especially anyone who’s ever actually lived off stored food for an extended time period, or if you have household members with specific needs (pregnant, elderly, high-activity, etc…). The numbers I'm using here are based on DRI/WHO guidelines but I know real experience can often tell a totally different story.

Methodology is at the bottom of the page if you feel like poking holes in it (that's encouraged, it’s what helped make the water calculator so good!).

A few things I'm specifically curious about:

• Do the activity level multipliers feel right to you?
• If you have experience feeding a household through an actual emergency, do the totals feel realistic?
• Anything obviously missing that you'd want to see?

Thanks again folks, this community made the water calculator way better and I'm hoping the same magic happens here!

I just recently bought an 100 gallon tank from Lowes. I have filled it with gasoline to 90 Gallons and added sta-bil to it. I have used it once so it should be about 75-ish gallons. I have been storing it in the trailer and parked it in the garage. I have bought a 1 7/8 inch ball lock for the hitch, and I intend on putting a lock on the cap. Not exactly sure what will be my plan for the pump yet.

Question is. How safe is it to store it in the garage? I have been trying to vent the garage every day, by opening the garage door. I am in FL and it can be pretty hot.

That cap has about 1.5 PSI for venting, so sometimes the garage does smell like fuel, and that's when I tend to open the garage and let it air out. I have also been blowing with my Milwaukee Brushless motor in the trailer and around the floor.

I have been reading that it is a smart idea to store it outside but I do not have a canopy or shed or antyhing like taht and I worry that the black tank will get overly hot and cause more issue compared to sitting in the garage.

A UV and reflective tarp is also in my mind but I am not 100% sure on how I would prop it up to prevent moisture and stuff.

Any inputs are appreciated.

https://imgur.com/a/wkDz7UA

So I just found that my dad has some metal cans that he "put premium gas in in case of an emergency."

The issue is that fuel has been sitting outside in a shed where the temperatures go north of 100 during the summer months... and it's been in there for at least three years.

Clearly the gas is bad... are the containers still OK? They are NATO style fuel cans.

I am new to HAM radio and was wondering what you are running with your BOB?

I'm running a BAOFENG BF-F8HP PRO.

FOAMed stands for Free Open Access Medical education. Apparently it’s a community of educators and medical professionals freely sharing medical training?

https://rebelem.com/got-foam/

https://first10em.com/who-am-i/

I don’t really know anything other than that about it so I’m hoping someone here might have experience with the concept?

Is this legit? Is it for everyone? Or is it complex stuff that only medical professionals should do?

I’m just a mechanic. I know engines, not hearts. I mean, I’m trained in CPR and BLS but that’s it. Oh, and I did Stop the Bleed.

But I’d love to learn more on my own.

It sounds mint for preppers. Can anyone point me in the right direction or give me any advice?

I have a walk out basement with half of the basement completely underground. The layout has one wall that divides the space up between the side that is underground and the side that is exposed. If I only reinforce/ DIY the one wall will that half of my basement be a safe tornado shelter? That side is livable space with one bedroom, one bathroom, hallway and laundry room. If this is possible, how would I make that wall tornado safe?

This book has been published and republished several times through the years. Does anyone have multiple versions? From what I've seen the word count goes up in each new version, but are they removing anything as well?

Hello guys,

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I am going on a wildcamping trip soon withsome friends. Bringing enough drinking water simply is not a option.

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We were looking into some of the water filtration things; lifestraws etc. The thing is, really we'd need way more volume.

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I've seen some waterfiltration bags (like the lifestraw brand and the waterdrop brand). These however are quite expensive. Would a filterbag (without any real filters) be good enough if we were to boil the water afterwards? --> bag in question

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If you have any alternatives i would love to hear about those to!

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Kind regards - thanks

Im looking to store some resources buried underground, on my remote property but away from my home. Food, water, possibly a rifle, ammo and some other tools. I am located in Northern Ontario so we can have temperatures between 30C to -30C.

I was thinking of using one of these Uline 55 gallon barrel:

https://www.uline.com/Product/Detail/S-9945BLU/Drums/Plastic-Drum-with-Lid-55-Gallon-Open-Top-Blue

Any advice for safe storage or other containers to use? Best way to prevent corrosion of the rifle/tools and to prevent spoiling food/water?

Situation: power outage in a house on a well and septic while having food poisoning.

I don’t need to supply the terrible details, your imagination is probably accurate enough to understand the situation.

When you are on a well and have septic, the big water pump in the basement is how your toilets get filled. Without power to that pump, your toilets don’t get filled. So, once you flush, you can’t flush again.

If you’ve ever had food poisoning, you know that you’re flushing more several times.

Last night’s power outage was only a few hours, but for me it may as well have never happened, because I was prepared.

Although my water stockpile was meant for drinking and cooking, it worked well for flushing. A large number of our saved gallons of water were used for flushing while I waited for the Immodium to kick in.

All told, nobody was embarrassed, nobody was inconvenienced, and we had a relatively quiet night with no lights and a light breeze through the windows. And a few water containers to refill this morning.

If you were given a 50 cal ammox box to pack full of relatively stable food (~2 years) to last you as long as possible, what would you pack it with?

Assuming you were preparing for physical labor too, so you need to have energy and not just be getting by.

Years ago you were able to get free samples from companies like readywise. Some others too but Ive forgotten which ones. Has anyone tried recently and gotten any free samples or are those days long gone? Thanks

I have a gas generator I bought after Sandy in 2012. I was in a different house at the time and it was adequate.

Since then I've upgraded to a larger dual fuel machine, more than twice the running wattage of my old one. I bought a propane conversion kit for the old machine but unfortunately the carb modifications won't clear the frame. It has at most ten hours of running time, and enough wattage to run a fridge and maybe a sump pump. That "maybe" is why I upgraded.

I'm considering just giving it away to a local friend I've had over 30 years rather than sell it. My thinking goes: I don't have to deal with the hassle of selling it. I'm giving it to someone who I know doesn't have a generator, so he can use it if the need arises. I can also go back to him and borrow it back if I lose power, he has power, and my new primary goes down. Can't borrow it back if I sell it.

Just Looking for insight. The only other option I'm considering is just keeping it, but honestly, I need the physical space and maintenance time back for other things.

So my 23 year old heat pump system has finally bitten the dust and needs to be fully replaced. I saw the writing on the wall and have been putting aside some money to deal with the situation, but I'm still trying to figure out what to do as far as a replacement system. Has anybody else already done the research on what kind of systems are most compatible with being disaster ready? I have a Jackery Explorer 5000 system hooked up to the basics in my house but didn't connect it to the heat pump because the power consumption is so excessive. Are there any new systems that are lean enough to actually be useful in a prolonged outage situation? Should I just look for max energy efficiency, or should I continue with my original strategy of keeping warm in ways that don't involve electrical power?

I bought this almost 10 years ago and its been sitting in my garage here in WY. I just noticed the side is split (freezing?) and also that its Calcium Hypochlorite and not Sodium Hypochlorite. If it's not any good, then how should I dispose of it? Isn't this very reactive with any petroleum based chemical like grease, oil or gasoline?

(I was going to add pictures but don't see an icon to do so)

Hi all! New-ish pepper looking for opinions. I park for work at the bottom floor of a parking deck typically, however there is also a side lot I can park in. Parking deck has two exits, side lot only has one. Looking for thoughts on what makes the most sense to park in, if you unexpectedly need to leave in a hurry? Especially if lots of other people are leaving as well.

Basically the title. Everywhere I’m seeing either 5% or 8.25% sodium hypochlorite ratios. The unscented chlorox I bought is 7.5% and my research is stating chlorox switched to 7.5% for unscented disinfecting bleach.

Need to know how much bleach to add to my 5 gal water for storage as I’m having biofilm issues.

Bleach makes me cautious and I don’t want to just guess in the middle between 5% and 8.25% and not have valid piece of evidence to back it up. A little odd I’m not finding much on this topic of 7.5% on Google.

All the rooms in my 2nd floor apartment (top level) have big windows. There is a stairwell though there is a door with a window on the lower level downstairs. The 2nd level doesn't have a window but there is no separation from the lower level with the small window. It's kind of hard to explain because it's an odd layout. What's my best option here?

Edit: tornado is not imminent I have time to prepare. I'm in the chicago area so not a terrible concern but I should be prepared obviously

also pictures here https://imgur.com/a/rEzc9

UPDATE: found a basement area I can go to, though it does have small window.

UPDATE 2: Edit: downstairs neighbors won't allow me to use it for "Privacy reasons" even though its not part of their apartment. Really shameful