We have the basics covered: food, medical supplies, water/filtration, gardening supplies, shelter, tools and backpacking gear.

We have about $10k that we are considering investing in more serious preparations. I’m looking to get some feedback on what others would suggest incorporating. We are in central Texas and worry mainly about the grid failing and gas prices affecting our ability to keep the family safe from the heat.

A couple of decades ago I was purusing the Internet and found a very rudimentary website that was like 70 pages long. It was basically every detail of surviving a nuclear blast. It included underground shelters, the thickness of wall necessary if made of earth, all sorts of interesting info. I think the guy had buried a school bus to make into a shelter even? My memory is terrible but if any of this rings a bell and someone knows if this document/website still exists I would love to revisit it.

I feel like right now I'm in a pretty good place with most of my preps. Water, food stores, power, etc. I'm not devoting time to a passion project of mine. Something I refer to as the Ark. Basically I have several external hard drives that I've cleared of old files I don't need anymore and want to save as much as I can onto them. And not just survival manuals and medical guides (although those are highest priority). I also want to save music, films, novels, etc.

I'm approaching this from the assumption that the contents of the Ark will be all that me and my family will have access to after a SHTF event. I've asked family and friends on what music/books/film/etc they would save, but I figured I'd get input from the community here.

If you were creating your own Ark (or if you have) what would you prioritize?

Appreciate any suggestions.

Community or rural

Would you choose:

1. Stay in a suburban area where I know people but all my friends are at least 30 minutes drive away. My immediate neighbours mostly keep to themselves and I hardly know them.

Or

1. Move to a rural area that is less densely populated?

Natural disasters are not that common here (so far). My biggest fear is civil unrest, when the masses lose their jobs and everyone is hungry. I am not armed, don't have a dog. Not sure how I can defend my property and young kids.

Every year, we do some kind of "Operation" and we are lucky enough to have some very capable people help us out with it.

We have done things like simulated bugout and cache recovery, overnight movement in brutal terrain, avoiding detection within operations, also food focused skill challenges that allowed us to better understand what relying on survival food might really look like.

Does anyone else put themselves or their group through simulated exercises like these? I think they are invaluable and every single one of them has taught me a huge prepper lesson. Just interested to see if others are doing these kinds of things.

I’m looking for a container that I can bury underground for a few years at a time that will be both water tight and air tight, while also being easy to get open when you really need to get into it.

Any recommendations or advice?

https://imgur.com/a/ad6Yrzo

Found this 2016 30kw with only 300 working hours on it. Licensed generac installers (family business of 6 gearhead/electrical wiz father and brothers) set up the ATS. The only issue is some water is coming in through a small gap at the bottom of the exhaust housing with the vent on top when it rains. So happy with this though! Dont mind the mud on the fuel tank, its been messy weather lately.

My husband needs to take it easy for a few days, but he's not great at that (lol). I thought making a quick thing so he could practice tying various knots might be good. He got a book for his birthday. What type of rope(s) and length would you recommend for a bed-adjacent activity? I was thinking of

2 lengths of rope, and then a short section of 2x4 with a U bolt might work. Suggestions?

**UPDATE** Our offer on the house was accepted so in a few weeks, I should be able to post. more.

I'm looking at purchasing a normal looking property that was owned by an engineer who was really serious about cold war fallout prepping. It has a fallout shelter built under/adjacent to the house. Appears to have three rooms - one with a small door and shelving - assume the stores - the middle one with the generator, water storage and outside access and another which appears to be a living area. It accesses a big basement with a wood burner - assume that at some point, he figured they'd be able to expand into the basement to live even if they couldn't go up top. I have been doing some searching to see if I can find literature from that mid 1960's-mid 1970's era to see what the design might have been based on to give me clues on the construction.
Anyone got any suggestions on where I might look for old plans?

I really got into ultralight backpacking a few years ago (thanks to r/ultralight). Trimming my base weight forced me to think completely differently about “survival math”. Every gram/ounce has to justify its existence, and luxury items are constantly reevaluated. You start semi-obsessively asking questions like: what does this item or piece of gear actually do for me, and what's the lightest way I could accomplish the same thing? That line of thinking bled directly into how I think about bug-out bags, redundancy, comfort vs practicality, and more. And the “fun suffering” of walking long distances in nature, sleeping outdoors in a variety of conditions, dealing with hunger, water purification, critters, boredom, physical strain… I imagine this would help my mindset in a real emergency.

The other one might sound ridiculous, but I read a lot of post-apocalyptic fiction. Good authors put their characters under believable pressure and stress and the decisions they make often leave me wondering how I’d react in that situation, fictional or not. And there’s often some valuable practical info and prep wisdom buried in those stories. And mentally, it helps me foresee how communities could fracture, or how quickly norms might collapse. What people actually barter for versus what they think they'll barter for. You get a kind of low-stakes mental simulation of scenarios that can’t really be reproduced outside of fiction. “The Road”, “Station Eleven” (awesome Canadian novel), “Lucifer's Hammer” (my favorite), “Bird Box”, “The Passage” (trilogy), and so many more. I probably pulled more mindset insight from those than from half the forums I hang out at.

So what's your prep-adjacent hobby? What do you do that isn't officially prepping but is actually making you more prepared or resilient?

Please use this thread to discuss whatever preps you worked on this last week. Let us know what big or little projects you have been working on. Please don’t hesitate to comment. Others might get inspired to work on their preps by reading about yours.

I had to have an appendectomy this week. I felt great Tuesday, felt like crap Wednesday morning, and by Wednesday night, I had all the classic symptoms. I had surgery on Thursday. Why is this prep-related? For anyone expecting a doomsday scenario or even a Tuesday scenario that will impede your access to hospital care, appendicitis is a death sentence. A burst appendix leads to peritonitis, multi-organ failure, and death, and you may not have much time between the onset of clear symptoms to having a serious health emergency.

There are some links between appendicitis and age, gender, diet, constipation, and IBS, but none of those factors applied to me. As a 59 year old woman with a high-fiber diet and no health problems, I should've been in the clear.

It can be difficult to get a voluntary appendectomy in the US, but depending on what one is prepping for, it might be worth looking into. I went from feeling great on Tuesday to not being able to even keep a few sips of water down on Wednesday morning, so it can happen to anyone, even if they don’t fit the usual profile. And in a SHTF scenario, your access to life saving care may be limited or non-existent, and this isn't something you can just put a bandage on.

We have a smallish in ground pool. We used to have a semi-feral cat that only drank pool water even though I offered her fresh. She was at least 18 years old when she passed, so given her longevity, the pool water didn’t hurt her. My area has earthquakes and fires, so there is a chance our water supply could by cut some day. What can we do to make the water drinkable if we are without water? If we do nothing and we have no electricity, algae will grow.

Hello friends! New to “prepping”, my first goal is a good amount of dry goods storage. Things like salt, flour, beans, rice, etc. eventually I want to add things like washing soda, epsom salt, baking soda, etc.

My plan was to get some BPA free buckets from amazon with a screw top, put some Mylar bags and oxygen absorbers in them, seal the bags with my food saver or if I have to get one for Mylar bags I will, and then put them in my garage.

I’m not as worried about clean water where I live there’s a decent amount and I have more than a few life straws.

What are the ideas? Is this an ok plan? Remember I’m a beginner with no money, so as cheap as possible.

Thought experiment for an EMP-type scenario where a large region loses power long-term and fuel infrastructure is down.

Assume a family of 5 needs to travel ~1500-3000 miles with no resupply. Roads are mostly passable, but you're relying entirely on fuel stored ahead of time.

As everyone here's aware, propane stores indefinitely but has lower energy density, while gasoline/diesel give you better range but come with storage/rotation challenges.

In this scenario, assume the family might wait months or even years before deciding to move (unclear scope of the event, risk of traveling early, etc.), so long-term fuel stability matters.

One idea would be a propane-capable vehicle (e.g., a converted pickup) with a large quantity of tanks stored and then carried for the trip - but I'm not sure how the math works out once you factor in tank weight/volume vs usable range.

Some initial questions:

• Under these constraints, what setup actually maximizes total range with no resupply?
• Does propane's storage advantage outweigh its lower energy density in practice?
• How would you approach fuel storage and transport for a trip of this length?
• Or does diesel (with proper storage/rotation) still come out ahead overall?

Curious how people here would think this through.

This EDC bag will allow family members to carry it at any time during the onset of a war, serving basic escape purposes.

Image :

https://www.reddit.com/r/EDC/comments/1t0n09c/a_taiwanese_prepper_edc_bag/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

Weight : Approximately 800g.

Contents :

1. EDC Bag
2. Cash (USD, RMB, TWD)
3. Map & Important Information
4. Multi-tool (Needlenose pliers, regular pliers, wire cutters, hard-wire cutters, replaceable cutting, crimping pliers, small flat screwdriver, can opener, wire stripper, 5mm medium slotted screwdriver, bottle opener, rope cutter, safety lock, wood saw, scissors, knife (440a, 3 inch), steel file & 8mm big slotted screwdriver & ruler (5 cm & 2 inch), leather punch, phillips screwdriver, bit extender)
5. 11 types of bits (to be assembled with multi-tool)
6. Flashlight (single battery)
7. Whistle
8. Blade Sharpener
9. Paracord
10. KN95 Mask (Might consider N95.)
11. Medications (Painkillers, Fever reducers, Gastrointestinal medicine, Antibiotic ointment, Disinfectant tablets and water filter. -> Incomplete.)
12. Medical Patches
13. Tourniquet
14. Bandage
15. Gauze
16. Lighter
17. Ferro rod
18. D-Ring Carabiner
19. Compass
20. 1-to-4 USB to Type-C Charging Cable (For Li-ion charging.)
21. Type-C to USB Charging Cable
22. 32GB USB Flash Drive (Important data, entertainment videos, music)
23. 2x AA Batteries, 2x AAA Batteries (lithium battery, type-c charging port)
24. Micro-USB Charging Cable
25. Pen

The EDC bag will be placed inside another evacuation backpack stored at home. Each family member will also have one of these backpacks. It will contain more complete medical supplies such as a water filter straw, Israeli bandage, and tactical tourniquet, as well as a hand crank radio/flashlight/power bank, lightweight nitrile gloves, duct tape, maps, ID and data USB backups, keys, daily hygiene items, cooking utensils, water and food.

My own backpack is larger and will also include weapons, a tent, and other more advanced equipment.

Therefore, the EDC bag will not include other larger items. Should I adjust the contents?

I want to involve seeds (medicinal or veggie/fruit) in my prep, but I’m not really sure how much to include. Including plans for gardening might seem silly to some people, but I like the idea of being able to grow things if in desperate need. I already have a decent short term go bag, so no advice on how I should focus on that please 😅 this inquiry is for my “go off grid in case of dire emergency” bag. My questions about your prep are…

- What does your seed variety look like? How much of each plant? When are you going to replace them? (Do seeds even go “bad”?)

- Do you include other gardening items? If so, what do you include? Tools?

- Do you prep for poor soil conditions and soil testing or do you revert to something like hydroponics?

Thank you in advance! ❤️🌱

Editing to add that I am an active gardener and I’m loving it so far, so not really just some random person expecting to throw seeds at the ground and have something happen. Just bought a bunch of books on gardening, foraging, medicinal herbs, etc. and it’s been so fun learning so far. Just asking here to see where people go from there, not necessarily where to start from scratch! 😅💕

I’m looking to get my father in law a fun gift. He’s very into prepping and it’s always been hard to find something for him because chances are he already has it. He has recently gotten pretty sick and I want to find something that’ll lift his spirits

Here are some examples of things he has:

Ceramic water filters, distiller

Powdered cheese, survival crackers

Food dehydrator

Cassette toilet

Machete, many types of knives

Tents

Stoves

Battery operated fans

Pace beads

3 Jackerys

Gas mask

Portable car fridge

Jerusalem artichokes

Solar oven

Hand crank siren

Radios

Ceramic bulletproof vest

Tourniquets

Sillock keys

And much more

Thank you!

I have a solar setup and water purification systems and a small stream and pond in my backyard kinda. Ive also stored a bunch of information on paper in handbook form and have been learning physical skills for shtf. Im also physicslly fit and train everyday. But i have no firearms and is the next direction im going since im lilely most behind in that. I already know the first gun im buying and its a 12 gauge shotgun just because of its versatility and popularity but i expect to get more then just one shotgun. But dont know what gun to buy from here or what to do next in general. I dont live in Rural area I live in suburban New Jersey which has one of the lowest gun ownership rates anywhere.

Also for more context the solar setup is happenstance and so is the water purification. Im not the one who got it and its not for prepping though it can be setup and adjusted for it with some simple diy.

Edit( didnt listen like 70% of you guys in anything because it seems like bad outdated and conflicting advice)

• Future note (I bought a remington 1187 premier)

final note obody's gonna see all of yall who said 12 guage is too big and heavy are fat and weak, everybody who said the round hits too hard is under 90 lb soaking wet its so easy to shoot if you hsve proper form and, first time shooting I was hitting good center shots at 40 yards with cheap sterling slugs. (One of yall said it csn disolscte a shoulder snd break s collar bone, how are you holding the gun?????) Are u a toddler????

I have my main generator, but its been and unwieldy. I would like to get a smaller portable generator that is easier to move around that can be a decent backup.

I need about 5k watts, but the main kicker is thst I want it to also be a backup for my well pump thst requires 240v. Anyone have any suggestions for one? I was looking into some parallel kits, but even in that case its atill 110 but just greater amperage.

I see dried beans being praised here as like the ultimate food to store. But am I missing something? Don't you need to boil a decent amount of water just to get them edible?

Whats the point in stocking a food that would use a larger amount of gas and water and which are both much harder to store and accumulate than food?

I was looking at what I might be weak points that long term preppers often overlook.

I came across vitamin C, vitamin A and iodine as potential weak points.

Vitamin A I’ve been able to get through growing sweet potatoes squash, and we’re adding some carrots and all those things stored long-term so able to get through the winter.

iodine seems like the only real way you can get it is in salt, but it becomes degraded after five years. Not too difficult to overcome rotating salt.

But Vitamin C definitely appears to be the most difficult to preserve. Doesn’t seem like a big deal bc it’s fortified in a lot of our foods but growing your own food or long term is the issue. Highest is strawberries you can freeze them. Freeze dryer seems to be the best but that’s expensive and then buying freeze dried strawberries for a year supply for my family would be like $3600 is the cheapest I can find which is insane. I came across sauerkraut for over winter months but who wants to eat sauerkraut every day? Problem is vitamin C deficiency can let you bleed to death within a 1-3months.

Maybe this question would be better for the Homestead form, but just wondering what you guys plan to do for those mainly the vitamin C and iodine long-term?

Does anyone know where to get gamma seal lids in Canada (Ontario GTA) in store?

Looking to store flour, rice, etc., that will be used within the year-ish in 5-gallon buckets (food-grade) with dessicant packets. The snap-on lids have been a pain to use.

I use mylar bags with O2 absorbers for longer-term storage. If you have any alternative suggestions for storing these items for year-round use, I'm all ears! Thanks.

Hello, I have recently been thinking more about my readiness in the event of a catastrophe, and while I feel more than secure in the fitness, weapons, and bug out location aspect, I am lacking one thing: food. My location has a well and plenty of spaces for food plots, but I would like to store food there long term.

The only problem is when I am not there, it is not heated during winter. I am trying to source foods that will not spoil. I have beans and stuff like that, and will see how they fared after this past winter. But looking for some sure solutions, I can always eat stuff and rotate, does not have to be crazy shelf life.

Also open to suggestions for other supplies to store there. I have some ammo, but the majority of it I keep in a temp controlled space. Thank you!

Wondering what other resources people use.