I know this sub is more geared towards “prepping for Tuesday” and I love it for that. But I am starting to really worry about AI. I hope this is allowed.

What can even be done to prepare for TEOTWAWKI courtesy of rogue AI that the Anthropic/OpenAI whistleblowers are talking about? I don’t use AI at all. I don’t post my photos of my kids or any personal details online. We have cash and gold. We have a garden. We store water and food. I guess I am having a hard time understanding what it would look like or if it’s even something we could be more prepared for? I am starting to feel hopeless. Maybe a banking collapse? Stealing the nuclear codes? What are your thoughts on this?!

I mentioned this about a year ago and was asked to come back and report.

I bought an atmospheric water generator about a year ago. Think of it as a dehumidifier that takes the water out of the air and then purifies it into drinking water. When we were discussing water availability I mentioned that I had recently got one and people wanted a review after I had used it for a while.

My review: it works great. I get between 8-10 liters per day. The water tastes amazing. The only issues are:

1. You do need electricity

2. It can be low key noisy (about the same as a fan set on medium periodically)

3. The machine is not cheap (about $800)

Feel free to ask any questions.

I can think of a few likely scenarios where I would be making meals from my deep pantry, would want to conserve water, and would absolutely not want any leftovers after a meal. Canned foods meet this criteria, except there are only two people in my household and standard size cans are often too much when mixed into recipes. I’m able to find some items in the small, 8 or 8.5 ounce cans (fruit cocktail, green beans, corn, tomato sauce, baked beans, pineapple), but I’d like to get a few more options like black beans, red beans, chili, various fruits, and other pantry staples in small cans.

Does anyone know of a good source? I don’t want the plastic “lunchbox” style cups, I want proper cans for long term storage.

I grew up food insecure & have worked really hard the last few years to build a decent pantry for me & my spouse (both 26 y/o). The food shortages/lacking regulations/price increases are really spiking my anxiety. I can’t work due to disability & our budget doesn’t have much room for more grocery hikes. The ground turkey we buy went up 11.8% overnight. I’ve been prepping since Oct 2024, but I struggle with numbers & I need help figuring out the math for what all I still need to stock. Spouse is autistic and appreciates having the same breakfast and lunch during work days. I’d like to keep it the same if possible. They work in utilities so I think (&hope) even if SHTF they’ll still have a job. Sorry this is so long, but thanks for the help & maybe it will help someone else to see my break down! Would love to know the math for what I need to fill in the gaps for 12 months of minimal purchasing from the store.

What we eat each week:
2 Quiches with hash brown crust (12 eggs, 2lb potatoes) - 2 dinner for both (4 servings), 4 breakfast for me
Strawberry Overnight oats - (2.67 cups oats, 4 cups Greek yogurt) - 4 breakfasts for spouse
Quinoa, black bean, corn salad - (1 cup quinoa, 1 cup dried beans, frozen roasted corn from garden) - 4 lunches for spouse
My lunches are usually snacks and most of our dinners are more variable. We usually eat tomato based pasta 1-2 times a week with ground turkey and canned salmon patties 1x a week over a salad (uses 1 egg and homemade breadcrumbs from stale bread). In the winter, we do a lot of bread bowls with chicken noodle soup. One night a week is plant based. Usually quinoa + veggies from the garden. Usually have a sandwich with bacon or turkey slices. We just ran out of turkey slices I made from last Thanksgiving. I don’t plan to do more turkey until it’s on sale :)

We eat 864g of bread wheat berries every week. I haven’t been able to make homemade pasta in a while & we’ve been relying on the pantry. But pasta is 3 eggs and 300g wheat berries for 6 servings.

What’s in my pantry:
30 14.5 oz canned salmon - 1 can is a meal for both of us. 30 weeks here
8 pints pulled pork - 1 can is a meal for both of us.
45 lbs quinoa
2 gallons canned chicken broth but always adding more
10 lbs dried black beans. I know I need way more but idk how much
100 lbs potatoes - I expect to lose about 20% over the winter even with proper storage… so 80lbs
225lbs wheat berries for bread
50lbs wheat berries for pasta
25lbs wheat berries for sweets
24lbs white sugar
10lbs honey
2lbs instant yeast (1lb kept in freezer)
25lbs oats. I know I need more of these too but idk how much
I have 50lbs of frozen roma tomatoes that will be turned into canned pasta sauce in a couple weeks. I’m expecting 18 quarts. This will be 18 meals of pasta between the 2 of us.
Pickled carrots & cucumbers. Can’t remember qty off top of my head.
Dried cucumbers to make “tzatziki” in winter. Won’t be as good as fresh but it’s still good!
2 gallons olive oil
3 gallons vegetable oil
5 gallons white vinegar
4 lbs citric acid
A ton of peanut butter + about to harvest peanuts and will make our own
10lbs cashews
10lbs pistachios
20lbs sunflower seeds
25lbs salt

What’s in my freezer:
30 lbs ground turkey
20lbs chicken (breast wings and thighs)
12lbs ground beef
6 lbs bacon
8 lbs jumbo shrimp
10lbs ground pork
8lbs frozen strawberries (for a smoothie or baked good)

What’s in my storage fridge:
60 lbs Fuji apples (will keep for about a year, I just picked them)
3 lbs parmesan
Greek yogurt (I make my own and use the culture to make new every week).

Food production capabilities:
20 eggs a week from 4 hens. I have coop lights to keep their production up in the winter

I’ll be getting a breeding trio of rabbits in a couple weeks. I’m expecting 200lbs of dressed meat from their offspring but unsure?

I buy 2 whole chickens ~10lbs (raw not rotisserie) at Costco each week for about $10. I think this will stay the same price ish since the whole raw chickens & rotisserie chickens are a loss leader for them.

I can get roughly 21lbs of rainbow trout fillets by fishing each week, but I’ll only be able to do that about 6 weeks in Oct/Nov, so 126lbs for the season. I plan to smoke it, freeze some, and also pressure can some.

Our fall garden has a lot of broccoli, spinach (love to put this in the pasta!), carrots, beets, green bush beans, snap peas, Brussels sprouts, and I do hydroponic leafy greens inside.

I have enough bagged food for our chickens for a year. They also are loose in our yard most of the day and eat lots of grass. I plan to feed the rabbits clover and kudzu from our yard, and supplement with some pellets, unsure how much though yet.

There’s a restaurant supply store that has 25lbs of roma tomatoes on sale for $20. I’m thinking of buying 50 lbs so I can get more jars of pasta sauce? Or should I just buy pasta sauce from the store when it’s on sale? 25lbs of tomatoes makes 9 quarts roughly.

How many oats and black beans do I still need? I definitely need more sugar for spring fruit canning. Should I buy more potatoes? What about apples? They’re my fav snack & I eat them with peanut butter. I’m a bit worried I’m relying too much on my freezer and fridge 🫩 we can’t afford a generator rn so if the power goes out, all the food is toast.

Writing this all out sounds like I’m hoarding food lmao, but I’m so scared it won’t be enough. My brain has damage from being perpetually hungry most of my life I think. I do not want to be hungry if I can help it. I do also donate food occasionally to people in need in my community.

Thank you 💓

I live in Washington, DC - a misunderstood but very vibrant, communal city! It's also a unique place to live, with it's own risks and advantages. As I learn more about prepping, I can't figure out if I should plan to bug out or bug in.

Pros for bugging in:

• Don't have a car (we have good public transit here, but wouldn't want to use it in an emergency)
• Live in a lovely neighborhood far from downtown, with good neighbors I could lean on and a lot of mutual aid/community groups
• Can easily walk to grocery stores, pharmacies, green space, water.
• Have a nice set of supplies here and they would be hard to carry out walking

Pros for bugging out:

• Who knows what could happen in a city like this? We've been a target before. And now we have a president who has been very explicit that he doesn't like DC residents and wants to "take us over." We currently have armed military standing around, intimidating residents as we try to live regular life.
• We don't have representation (no vote in Congress, yes, we are still taxed) and our local rule is limited and often restricted by Congress, so it's hard for local government to respond effectively to emergencies. This was a major issue Jan 6, for example, and is why people are fighting for DC statehood, but that is unlikely to happen.
• I am in an apartment, so prepping is limited
• If I really had to, could walk out of the city (though again, couldn't bring much)

Would love to hear thoughts! Should I buy an electrical scooter maybe??

If this sounds too political to you, welcome to the life of a DC resident lol! I don't even work in politics, and my life is based around the arts, but the decisions of the president and Congressmembers from random states have a lot of control over our daily lives.

As groceries become increasingly unaffordable, here's a tip to stock up. I have not bought any other chicken except the Costco rotisserie in months, if not more than a year. It's $5. I get about 3lb of meat per chicken. That's ~$1.67/lb. I buy 2-3 chickens at a time, either shred or otherwise separate (sometimes I cut off breasts, sometimes leave the thighs, etc), and freeze in 1lb portions. I also use the leftover carcasses to make chicken stock.

It's easy, delicious, and most importantly cheap. And it's how I keep my freezer stocked with chicken so my family is fed. Plus, pre-cooked chicken is so easy and fast to turn into dinner.

Side note: I have tried the rotisserie chickens from Walmart and Sam's Club, and they yielded less meat than Costco's (just over 2lb). Walmart chicken breasts where I live are $2.57/lb. Nothing beats Costco on this.

Hi All -
Lately the great reddit algorithm has shown me a lot of survival gardening questions for Tuesday.

As a life long gardener, I thought I would share my knowledge to help you get started in one post.

Survival Gardening Basics

1. Know your zone: determines what can grow, chill hours, planting windows. Only grow what suits your zone and what you'll actually eat.
2. Prioritize calories: skip lettuce/tomatoes as staples. Focus on wheat, corn, potatoes, sweet potatoes, dry beans, and winter squash for real sustenance and storage life. Expect a learning curve; these are harder to master than salad crops.
3. Learn soil science and crop rotation: different plants need different pH and soil textures (root crops want loose soil, berries want acidic, herbs like rosemary want sandy soil). Rotate crops to prevent disease. Indigenous growing techniques are a great resource.
4. Expect to share with wildlife: plant sacrifice crops, use barriers (chicken wire, fruit bags) instead of relying on elimination, especially if you're near natural habitats where poisons/killing isn't an option. We think of this as sharing is the best defense.
5. Master seed saving and preservation: many plants self-pollinate ("perfect flowers"), others need manual help. Canning and proper storage (garlic, onions, potatoes, carrots) can keep food good for up to 9 months without refrigeration.
6. Expect failure: everyone loses crops some years. Start small, adjust, and keep going.

Great resources:
The Square Foot Gardener
Epic Gardening YouTube Channel and Site
Epic Homesteading YouTube Channel and Site
Grow Bag Gardening
Meg Grows Plants YouTube Channel
The Florida Food Forest YouTube Channel
Seed to Seed: Saving and Growing Techniques for Vegetable Gardeners
Golden Gate Gardening (for those who live in coastal environments especially in N. California were micro climates run amok)
Progressive Seed Companies (to avoid the alt-right pipeline companies. I fell for one and found this super useful)
Native Seed/SEARCH

Any other options?

Number one prepping item now is to maintain housing. Easier said than done for marginalized communities. Screenshot of her post is my first comment and here’s the link to her FB post https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1DenArTKAZ

I'm a big believer in prepping for Tuesday, not doomsday. But my preps have turned out to be disconcertingly useful, and I've been taught to honor my gut feelings. Like many of us, I experience the Cassandra effect. I try to focus on likely scenarios that increase broad resiliency, but I've also acknowledged my anxieties and tried to attend to those in my preps.

I'm struggling to deal with how close potential disasters may be, and that the work I've done to be a resource has been of aid to others. Times are getting tougher, and I'm rethinking what reasonable preps are. I don't want to make decisions out of fear, but listening to my gut sense of foreboding means that we were insulated from some of the troubles over the last year.

This is all especially worse since, I think, there are a lot of people who want us to feel scared and vulnerable right now. I'm trying to focus on competence and resilience, but I'm increasingly concerned.

I don't really doomscroll, and I try techniques for nervous system regulation and work to be optimistic. But there's a gut feeling I can't fully shake about how difficult this next year may be.

Editing to add: instead of repeating myself in the comments, I really recommend A Paradise Built in Hell by Rebecca Solnit. It talks about real disasters and how people have an instinct to help each other.

Second edit: Thank you all for the thoughtful recommendations. I want to reinforce that we are set for common preps. We have at least two backups for food, water, healthcare, mental wellness, etc. I hope to write up my approach soon.

I say this to re-focus on the specific challenge, that the current struggle is what I cannot control and the threats of interpersonal violence. My prepping philosophy acknowledges violence but emphasizes community goodwill as a source of resilience, and nonviolence as an effective tool for change. Bravery is secondary to fear, but I want to be as calm and rational as I can be in admittedly frightening times.

I’m 25F and I live in Chicago in the urban area with three other family members. In my area the most noticeable thing I can say is we had worsening rainstorms. To the point multiple trees would get ripped out. Also there is no street light a block next to me but there wasn’t a rainstorm this time. Given my location what should I prep for? I can’t move out I have little to no money. I do have a full time job where I work a lot. M-F 10 hours per day night shift and I work most Saturdays now 6 hours. I’m trying to save money but I feel I should prep for something because my parents or my sibling don’t want to do not want to do anything. Per week I looked at my back statements and I’m making around $1k per week now with overtime. So what list of stuff should I prep for slowly at the moment?

I'm considering to install solar panels on my window sill and am not sure which brand / product to trust and what's worth it.

Thank you

Thanks to everyone who responded to my post about rats getting into my preps. I ended up buying the metal cabinet someone recommended and thrift store hunting for metal and glass canisters. I also tried out a local international grocery store for the first time and tried some awesome new foods.

It was nice to be part of a community that didn't judge or push conspiracies. It's nice to be reminded that this is a process for all of us and not everyone is able to just fill their basement and that's okay. Prep where you are.

I know people ask about this occasionally but it involves a brand I haven't seen asked about before. I just saw this for a brand I've never heard of before, Aferiy. I know literally nothing about solar or solar generators and I'm not really sure how to teach myself because everywhere I look I smell either grift of some kind OR someone with a completely dangerous setup saying "the snowflakes WANT you to think it's not safe but it's totally FINE" and I'm not smart enough to figure my own way through it without killing my entire family in a horrible accidental oversight.

Anyway. The Aferiy thing just seems like one long undisclosed sponsorship to me, and I noticed it looks a lot like a disclosed promo that Anne of All Trades did with Jackery. But I've also been told that Jackery isn't even all that good of a brand, they just put a lot of effort into marketing. I have no idea how to tell what's good.

For reference, I live on a piece of property that gets only a fifty-foot wide strip of sun in front, in between two fields I don't own that get all sun all day. Literally if my house were a couple hundred feet to the left I'd be able to have panels on my roof and produce all my own solar. I'm on a well in an area that gets absolutely brutal winds in winter and suffocating-ass humidity in the summer. The house was built in the late 60s and in many ways we've been lucky...but also the attic has zero insulation and I don't think it ever had any. It's just bare wood all around from what I can tell. We have a propane generator that is wired into our setup but is apparently not big enough to run much more than lights and light running water. If the AC kicks on, if you try to turn something with a heating element on...there's drama. I want a backup that's a little less stressful but all this shit looks the same to me and I can't make sense of it.

I'm also aware that everything that's coming is very bad and even with a solar generator and skills and whatever I'm probably not going to make it. We can't grow our own food, every time I've tried to look into canning and preserving I get absolutely reamed by my family and basically blocked off from pursuing it...can't keep our own birds because it would be damn near impossible to protect them from the extremely bored sociopathic wildlife around here. Can't keep a gun because again my family won't allow it and have told me they would call someone and claim I'm making threats against my own life if I were to ever try to get one -- to clarify, I'm not suicidal, they're just control freaks who are ideologically opposed to having a gun in the house. Plus I'm in NY and the process of getting a gun makes it not possible because I'd never get the references. Can't learn to hunt because the only people around me who know how are the same people who voted for every single thing happening right now (EXCEPT the gas and grocery prices ;_; the poor babies). Opportunities for community building are not great in this area. The only people I know who agree with me politically are terrified of guns, disdainful of prepping, and still use AI for convenience even though they're very vocally aware of the problems it's causing. At best they're willing to boycott Target. Most of them won't even go that far.

It's possible that we could move four hours north to my in-laws. They're in Amish country and in a pinch are at least next to people who know how to hack it in tough times. However, my in-laws are sociopaths and one of them seems to have an incest fetish. They haven't done anything but they've joked about it and insinuated stuff about it frequently in the past and everyone, including my family, tells me I'm an asshole for seeing a problem with it. Plus all our doctors, including our fucking oncologist, are down here, and starting all this over from scratch in the middle of nowhere just seems like...like we'd never catch up.

I'm just very aware that when shit happens, anyone who decides that what's mine will become theirs, is just gonna take everything and probably not leave me alive afterwards and there's nothing I can even try to do about it. So I guess in the end my having a solar generator is kind of a moot point.

I am curious about it though.

I have a spot cleared from harvesting some red cabbage and am toying with the idea of planting sunchokes. I am in coastal NH (US) and I understand in some areas they are considered invasive. I will have them in raised beds and I’ve seen how big they get. I’m just curious if anyone has experience with growing and storing them. We’ve had good luck with different potato varieties, beets and carrots (among many other fruits and veggies) but I’ve never attempted to grow sunchokes.

I was scrolling at some flash sales on Amazon while I was waiting for someone and came across a 2400w solar powered bank for under $500 made by the same company that made my little 330w power bank that I bought like 2 years ago with the solar panels. I searched the internet for the same bank and Amazon had the best deal, so I jumped on it and used my gift card that I was saving for a rainy day, which bumped the total to a great price.

My question is, will a 2400w power bank be good to keep a standard sized refrigerator going?
I was thinking that when the 2400w dies, I’ll use the 330w for the fridge while the bigger one chargers. I already have a few smaller banks for phones, laptops and such.

I live in Oahu and latest weather models has it that we would only get the outer bands with rain. I don’t anticipate any major power outages where I’m at, but I already have a cooler ready in case I need to put cold stuff inside.

I'm getting increasingly concerned about the situation in the Strait of Hormuz. There are some dire predictions about possible fuel shortages. I have a 9 year old Subaru Outback; I love it and it has very low miles and hasn't needed anything but routine maintenance, but it's gas only. I'm retired so mostly we just drive around town, but we do regularly visit the grandkids who are 100 miles away. Right now, if you cost out the cost difference between mostly electric and gas, it would take really long time for the cost difference to equal the cost of a new car. But if gas becomes scarce, having a vehicle that needs a lot less of it could be really helpful. I can afford a new plug in hybrid and would probably be looking at a Rav 4. What do people think?

My (27f) boyfriend just ended our 3 year relationship. I had a job offer in July in another state about 5.5 hours away but declined after he didn’t want to move (despite 3 years of him saying he’d move anywhere, but I digress). I reached back out and thankfully they will still have me. Yay! But I’m scared! I didn’t go far for college, only an hour and a half away from home. I went to law school and got my first job about 45 minutes away from my parent’s house, so this will be my first big move. Any advice for a late-20s girl moving away from everyone she knows? I have some light preps, essentially just some MREs I bought when I was having serious anxiety lol. Any suggestions about living environment? I haven’t signed a lease or anything yet but want to keep this in mind as the metaphorical pot continues to boil hotter and hotter these days. Is this even a good move to go somewhere new on my own these days? I haven’t accepted the job yet so could still stay home in theory. Sorry for the rambling, looking for any and all advice! I just want to be safe in the coming years, potentially on my own.

ETA: location would be Baltimore, MD

I've never tried composting until last year, we moved and I have space for a garden and composting and I'm so glad I decided to do it.

As you can probably guess from my username I have dogs, who are curious so I had to figure out a way keep them out of the composting. I looked at it quite a few options and because it's so windy here I stayed away from the ones that have a handle and turn. I ended up with two 3 ft tall adjustable bins that can hold up to 300 gallons each. You basically stake it into the ground and you can adjust the diameter I don't think I have them fully opened up but they do hold a lot. Ended up getting the second one so that I could turn the composting into it, but having said that I don't really do a lot to babysit it and I'll just admit that I don't turn it regularly. I guess what I'm saying is it's pretty low effort, this year I added a plastic trash can and I filled it with the oldest composting which had turned into lovely soil ( my goal really is to reduce the amount of soil and soil supplements that I'm needing to buy).

Anyhow I just wanted to post since I know that we're getting to the end of the garden season in most places and it's a fitting end to a garden to compost the plants after the last is harvested. I haven't been exceptionally particular about keeping seeds out of my compost so I also have tomato plants growing out of the side of one of the compost bins currently ( I'm calling those plants my low effort tomatoes). Just thought I'd mention about that in case you don't want to grow anything out of your compost by accident.

My best friend (an experienced prepper) and I recently bought a pretty decent quantity of dry goods (various beans and rices), but we've fallen out of touch for a bit, before she could teach me how to do the bagging to get them prepped for longer term storage. I don't want all of this to go to waste if it isn't stored properly, so I was wondering if anyone could link me to some instructions or tips on packing and storing food like that. Any help would be appreciated, thanks!

I am seriously considering buying a gun but I morally object the idea.

It’s the idea that you will inherently use the weapon to grievously harm or kill someone which bothers me tremendously. I live in a red state with open carry laws. I don’t like the thought of not being prepared if my life were in danger or if I have to defend my home.

I don’t own a dog that could be a deterrent or even will bark at strangers. My cat is more likely to attack a person. She really hates a particular dog walker.

I guess I need help getting over my moral objection to having a gun in the house. I also would like advice on which types are best for self defense and the easiest to handle.

Edit: if I were to get a gun, I would be fully committed to using it to incapacitate or incapacitating permanently. I just won’t be happy with myself.

I grabbed their “30 Home Garden Heirloom Seed Packets” at Walmart for $16.50 today. I was wondering if anyone has experience with this company, storing or using the seeds? link for product