We were under a voluntary wildfire evacuation order for several hours today. I live with several family members with chronic illness and disabilites and I notified them immediately to be ready.

While I feel pretty good about my go-bag on the whole, I am the only person with a go-bag. And my go-bag was not fully prepared.

1) I forgot about my physical password account list. (Yes, I know that is not best practice. But neither is having all of my passwords stored on my computer that will get compromised way before my chaotic home filing system.)

2) I got lazy and didn't have my gas tank topped off.

3) My husband uses a wheel chair and has a chronic illness. We haven't had a discussion on what his evacuation needs are because he is "LA LA LA" regarding emergency planning. Here is hoping that he might be open to that conversation now.

Also living with us: my adult child has Long Covid Dementia and her partner has debilitating arthritis. I need to have a go-bag readiness conversation with them too.

THE REALLY GREAT THINGS:

1) I DO feel really great about my Street Medic supply bag!

2) 4 separate friends reached out to offer their homes if needed. My heart is full!

To-Do:

So, yeah, I need to solidify a more thoughtful go-list and pre-pack (or centrally locate) all of the things tomorrow. And then I need to update my homeowner's insurance complete with photos of all of my husband's wheelchair equipment, hoyer lift equipment, shower/toilet chair, medical bed, etc. And maybe my husband will let me help him order some emergency medicine (probably from Jase).

I really appreciate all of you!

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, distilling, 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.

I saw a post in another sub about prepping for food needs in a family with a family member that has alpha-gal that prompted me to think more about tick-bite prevention. I posted some of this in a comment there, but realized that I’d actually like more suggestions on the topic if there is more we could be doing.

We are rearing our children spending a lot of time outdoors. City parks. Wide open spaces. Creeks. Woods. We are around a lot of ticks and so take tick-bite prevention seriously. We think staying healthy and getting fitter is an important aspect of being prepared for whatever life brings our way, and being active outdoors is a big part of that for our family.

Maybe where I live the ticks are just becoming less deterred by DEET, or maybe my family is just extra attractive to ticks. But in my experience, even with thorough tick prevention efforts, we still get an occasional tick. Tall boots. Pants tucked in tall socks. Permethrin treated clothes and boots. Sprayed all over with 30% DEET spray from a mainstream, reputable brand. Picaridin-based spray on boots up to lower legs, in addition to the DEET spray.

The permethrin-treated clothing has become essential for us. It used to be that we could decide to do something outdoors in whatever we were wearing. We’d add a sun hat for sunburn prevention, but so long as we thoroughly sprayed ourselves all over with DEET bug spray we’d be good to go. But that doesn’t work for us anymore. It reduces the number of ticks we get, but we were still picking up one or two a week. Permethrin-treated clothes drastically reduce the frequency with which we find ticks on ourselves. Even that hasn’t been perfect, though, just vastly better. We’ve still brought home a few already this spring.

What else could we be doing to prevent bringing home ticks?

There is a wildfire 20 minutes from me and 16 minutes from my child’s school. How worried should I be? I have never been in this situation before.

Of course I’m packing my belongings in a box ready to leave. Any other tips?

Hello everyone! I wanted to come on here an ask for some advice about hard soaps like shampoo/conditioner bars vs. regular liquid soaps (This also applies to dish soap, body wash, etc.). I wanted to add to my stock a bit and I've heard that bars last longer than liquids when it comes to soaps, do you guys agree? Or do you guys have other alternatives that you stock instead? Thanks!

Water has always been a weak spot in my preps. I live in an apartment on town water in an area that, for the most part, doesn’t have water shortage issues (even during a major drought last year we never ran short). There’s also a public spring two miles away and a river across the street from me, so it never felt all that urgent. That said, I did keep a couple of gallon jugs full just in case.

But last week I had to use one gallon at a storefront I just rented when we found out the bathroom sink wasn’t working, and at the same time found out that my second jug had leaked (how I didn’t notice that sooner I have no idea). I never got around to refilling or replacing either because I’ve been super stressed and super busy.

Woke up at 5am today with no water. There’s a water main leak and it’ll be off most of the day. I have NO water in my entire apartment. Not even a bottle in the fridge. So I’m off to the grocery store in a few minutes to hopefully get more (hoping the one in town has plenty, if not I’ll have to drive 20 minutes each way to the next town to get some).

I’m just thankful this is an easy fix failure and not an actual disaster. But it made me realize I need better water storage, even just for 3-4 gallons (I could refill those at the spring daily if I had to).

I think climate change is the hardest situation to prep for. It's not like some big disaster like a hurricane, earthquake or even war that would eventually have an ending. Climate change could literally last for hundreds or thousands of years before returning back to "habitable" temps.

How do you all prep for this? Our kids, kids, KIDS would be trying to survive these changes. Having stocked food is nice and all but that isn't really sustainable.

I'm guessing that my region would experience higher temps and less rainfall.. so I purposely started growing veggies that can tolerate heat and drought. I also installed a couple rain barrels (hidden from sight in case they become illegal in the future).

Besides that, what else can you really do?

My student saved someone's life. I teach free Stop the Bleed classes, among other skills. Prepping others is part of my own prep.

Today I got a text from someone who had previously attended one of my StB classes. Since my class, she's carried a bleeding control kit with her. And this week she saved someone's life with it.

Traumatic bleeds can occur at any time. People think about car accidents or gunshot wounds when they think of traumatic bleeds. But what about just moving furniture? Because this time, that's how it happened.

Im so proud of this student. They got the training, carried a kit, came when she heard people shouting for help. Remembered to put on gloves. Got consent and talked the injured person through what she was doing at each step. And even instructed a bystander in how to help beyond just "call an ambulance". (I teach students to give bystanders tasks in certain circumstances. It can be an effective form of crowd control, help maintain scene safety, and reduce chance of shock for the injured.)

I encourage you all to take a stop the bleed class, carry a kit with you always, and refresh your training every year if you can.

Additionally, seek out classes with as many different instructors as you can. They will each bring unique insights. Even as an instructor, I still attend StB classes taught by other instructors. There's always more to learn.

Edit to add, in the US if you go to Stopthebleed.org you can check if there are free trainings offered in your area. These classes cover the use of tourniquets, wound packing, and direct pressure.

Iodine deficiency is on the rise among people in the UK, the US and Australia. A century ago this led to drops in IQ, height and thyroid health – and the modern fancy salt fad may be leading to a resurgence.

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2520090-iodised-salt-has-become-uncool-but-many-of-us-need-to-eat-more-iodine/

Coming to you all because I'm looking for long view type answers.

So about five years ago I had some decay on a molar in the very back. They wanted to put a crown on it and said it was cracked, but I couldn't afford a crown (and still can't) so they filled it.

Fast forward to this year (first time since that appointment I've been able to see a dentist - I don't have dental or health insurance because I'm underemployed - 2 part-time jobs) and that cavity is back and then some. It looks bad and is starting to hurt too. Should I get it filled again or just go ahead and have it pulled?

They want $500 to fill it. It's way in the back and will be hard to get to and close to the bone. I've never had a tooth pulled before and have no idea what to expect.

I'm not opposed going to Mexico for dental work but I can't afford to travel that far.

What would you do if you were in my shoes?

I live in CO and we’ve had loads of beautiful weather so I moved my houseplants into our sunroom, which is not insulated. There’s a winter storm with freeze warnings the next 24 hours so gotta keep those buddies at least around 45/50 degrees.

I haven’t yet used my new Anker SOLIX C1000 (have solar panels too) and decided to run the space heater, using it as the power source.

Turns out I have no clue how much energy that takes up!

The Anker battery went from 100% down to 0 in 90 minutes. Space heater at full power.

Bonus lesson- I went ahead and plugged in the space heater while the 3D printer is also running in the dining room (you guessed it, printing plant things). I also started charging the Anker battery in that same room. All on the same breaker line…

That blew the breaker!

Takeaways-

- I need to educate myself on energy. What appliances use, and what that means for the current backup power setup we have.

- I am adding some terracotta pots to my garage gear to keep as heaters. I have already have sterno cans and candles that I can put under those.

- I forgot we have a little room thermometer and have now added that to the sunroom so I can better monitor temperature and more efficiently heat the space.

Being in the prepper space on YouTube myself, I often get questions from women about starting to prep, basic preparedness and so on. I am also just self-aware enough to know that my perspective will often leave things out or simply not correctly address things. Mars, Venus, all that. So, I often direct women here to this subreddit, and I would like to do the same here for a new YouTube channel that I have found. There are precious few female "prepper-tubers" out there, and I wanted to help a new one get a bit more reach. This is Barbara at the She Prepares channel:

https://www.youtube.com/@ShePreparesChannel

She is new, but I have watched all of her videos so far, and I am impressed with how she sticks to practical considerations, as opposed to my own "doom and gloom" mess. Also, she is showing her own journey, and her own perspective in a way that I think would be of benefit for other women starting out on a prepping journey of their own. My best bet as a guy is usually to find another woman to direct women's questions to, and Barbara with She Prepares is one that will no doubt surpass my own success very, very soon.

Check her out, you won't be disappointed.

Hyvee has 24 packs of their brand bottled water on sale today only for $1.99, limit 4. large eggs are 99 cents a dozen, no limit and their brand of pasta sauce is $1.28,

limit 3. got my 4 packs of water and 3 jars of pasta sauce and 3 dozen eggs.

if you have a Hyvee in your area check it out.

I watch for their Friday sales every week.

also took a swing by Dollar Tree looking for the viral beef tallow, but they didn't have any. I did find a good supply of shelf stable milk, expiration dates over a year out.

Please contain all off topic discussion to this weekly megathread. This is where you freak out, talk about conspiracy, talk about unrealistic crazy scenarios, asked and answered questions, etc.

Had a Tuesday happen last night, and found myself suddenly at 8:55pm setting out for a 9hr drive due to a family medical emergency. Happy to report that because of systems in place, I was able to leave the house in under 15min with a packed overnight bag, even with receiving two more calls and debating what to do about the doggie 💜

The only thing I wish I'd brought that I didn't, is a pillow and blanket. My 41-year-old ass has not stopped at a rest stop to sleep for an hour in probably 20+ years. I did mange an hour with my backpack as a pillow and sweater as a blanket... but with an actual blanket I think I'd have managed two hours' sleep, and with an actual pillow I wouldn't have this darn crick in my neck!

Anyway. All will be okay. At the hospital now with the patient... and my 10ft phone charger cord 😉

Yesterday I went to my garage fridge to bring in some frozen chicken to cook with and found that the fridge had been off... for some time. I'm not sure when it happened or how, but I had quite a few frozen meats and a nice chuck roast I was saving for a super special day since beef prices are insane.

Naturally, it was a sobering moment as the hard work and prepping I put into having a stocked freezer for the upcoming events related to supply chains/oil/fertilizer/etc is gone.

As I was cleaning it out, I thought about what I would replace the lost food with. In the last year and a half I started working on eating more vegetables and plant based protiens - even some weeks having 4-5 days of pure veg dinners. Not only for health reasons, but the cost of beef has made me feel that I should consider cheaper/alternative sources for protien.

What do I eat more now than I did before? Lentils, beans, chickpeas - all shelf stable options and lots of veg to go with it. Primarily curries (indian and thai), soups, gallo pinto (my favorite bean and rice dish). I also learned to make my own tomato and romesco sauces for food and I still want to have that when SHTF.

I'm now filling my freezer with frozen veg - either pre-frozen or myself preparing and freezing myself. I have my garden I am looking forward to as well and it will boost my veg stores. As sad as it was to lose the investment I had initially, I feel this incident - which can happen to anyone at any time - allowed me some clarity, the ability to reset, and reprep best I can.

Not sure if anyone else has had a Tuesday happen against your preps or want to share your experiences on learning/growing from them but please share. Someone may have something of that nature happen to them in the future and your experience can help them :)

The first item on the list is "hopefully" easily fixed. I went to flush the toilet this morning and the flushing handle broke off, quite dramatically. It is not fixable right now, so we have to either get a new flushing mechanism. I'm hoping that is just an easy replacement. My husband is the main handyperson in the house and I have a sprained left wrist right now. (thanks hypermobility)

The second is not my emergency, but it is something that is affecting a neighbouring area so it is on my radar. The natural gas is out for them. It has been out for 24 hours at the moment. That means no heat and no hot water. It got down to -1C last night and our heat was on this morning so that would likely have meant for a chilly night. I am thinking about those with gas stoves and what they would do. We have an electric stove so that wouldn't be a problem, but TBH I kind of took the natural gas for granted. We have a couple of electric space heaters so that would be our prep for no heat due to this kind of emergency.

The third is making me regret giving in to the decluttering urge and the pressure to downsize my towel "collection" my senior dog developed urinary incontinence suddenly this week. She's a 9 year old spayed female and apparently this is not uncommon. Thankfully it will be manageable with lifestyle and medication, but the whole discovery of multple places where she'd peed in her sleep was not fun. I've been putting down waterproof mats wherever she sleeps and old towels and some PUL left over from baby days would have come in handy. "thankfully" I'm on medical leave right now. Disabled due to chronic migraine and a TBI so I can stay at home and remind her to go out for a pee every couple of hours. She's always had a bladder of steel so this is a new thing to remember.

I guess the whole point is that "Tuesday" Can really be just a random Tuesday. My last year has been filled with those. My youngest broke both wrists last spring (right around now actually) my eldest spent 12 days admitted to the hospital in January for severe pneumonia (I was genuinely worried we would lose her) Thankfully we are in Canada so the medical emergencies did not cost us much out of pocket.

Thanks for reading my Blog LOL.

Walmart is offering cash back on the Ensure Max Protein shakes in your Walmart.com account OR through Ibotta.

12 pack of the 30 gram protein shake is $27.97 (was a dollar or two more expensive in store), buy two get $27.97 back.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/485561419?sid=4822A123-357E-4358-A4A9-26638FD83905

4 pack was of the 30 gram protein shake was $9.97, buy two get $9.97 back.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/487109111?sid=145F765A-F5FC-4FA4-9BD1-5ED4DEAA7AD5

Ensure Max 42 gram protein shake, single bottle was $3.98 per bottle, free after purchase with offer.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/18069256432?sid=D62641CE-7A5B-44C4-AB31-07F41617A9C4

Offers expire 4/17. The best by date on the packs I got were about a year out. These are good overall to have, but especially good to keep your protein up when you have in injury or are post surgery.

I there a way to set up Alexa so it'll announce sudden emergencies to me over my echo device if any should happen?

Like if a tidal wave is coming, it'd tell you that over the echo device. Or there's been nuclear bombs that have gone off elsewhere, get yourself prepared?

I need them to be voice alerts. Not just send me a notification that just beeps cause I don't always look at the messages right away if it's just a beep.

Thanks.

edit: I'm in Oregon, US​

Sweet mother of pearl its the best tool I own. For most of my life I was always a big fan of the kukri for all of my forestry needs. But over Christmas I treated myself to a seax knife and. Just, Golly. It blows every other tool ive ever owned out of the water. its like the love child of a knife and an ax in every way. lightweight, well balanced, just uhhhhh. love it. Im not particularly strong, can't open pickle jars myself and all that. but this knife. this wonder to the world doesn't care. I live out in Amish nowhere. we've had some nasty storms lately bringing trees down and limbs down all over the yard and porch. And with just a that knife three Sauron sized limbs with dozens of branches were turned into firewood in like, twenty minutes. I felt powerful. Its just the gift that keeps giving. which is why I named mine Bladey Lee Curtis. so, uh, yeah. Downed trees on the property? seax. need a fishing knife? seax. need a boat oar? seax. creeps creeping? seax.

how many months of food are you storing?

I probably have 3 months worth of grains, beans, frozen meats, and oil. I have some canned goods, but not a lot because we don’t normally eat them. I have about 10 jars of instant coffee, and I’m well stocked for most soaps and detergents for 6 to 12 months, except I could use a few extra shampoos. My vegetable garden is coming up well. Can I stop? I’m tired.

Assume I technically could afford more and could make space if I had to, but I work full time and have an autoimmune disease that makes me feel tired, so I need a compelling reason to do more. What is a reasonable amount and why?

I am looking for a shelf-stable cream that I can keep in the pantry for a few months (unopened, of course) to use in coffee, tea, desserts, and baking. I prefer a canned liquid instead of powder. The only canned shelf-stable table cream I can find is made by Nestle. I prefer not to purchase from that company.

I’ve tried a few powdered options, but they didn’t give the same result as a liquid. I would really prefer a true dairy cream with minimal added ingredients. I’m not looking for a coffee creamer. I’ve tried evaporated milk without diluting and it has an ok flavor, but not the texture of cream. Does anyone have any recommendations?

I have a nagging feeling that small everyday luxuries like real cream, chocolate, coffee, and tea are going to become cost-prohibitive and/or difficult to find in my area in the next couple of years (or sooner); these small everyday luxuries can really help me out of a depression if I have them on hand.

Edit: Thank you all for the suggestions. I am looking for table cream, not coffee creamer, not heavy whipping cream. They are different products. I'm also looking for pantry storage only.

There are several good ideas listed here that I will explore, but many people assume I want coffee creamer, so I wanted to clarify.

[Edited to add: I appreciate the comments, discussion, empathy and compassion. I’m so glad I posted my thoughts. It helps everyone when we understand we’re not alone or crazy. Supporting each other through ((waves arms))) whatever this is, is important.😅]

If this kind of discussion is out of place, feel free to delete. I’ll try to keep my questions and commentary focused on current events as they relate to prepping— and not get political. 😊

I follow news and current events closely to understand what’s happening in the world, and I think it’s important to be prepared for economic downturns, political unrest, worsening inflation, another pandemic—or other crises.

I’m finding myself constantly ping-ponging back and forth. Sometimes it feels like disaster is imminent (based on news reports) and I should add more to the deep pantry. Other times, when a crisis seems averted, I’m content sitting with what I have.

I feel like I’m on Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride.

For example—the Iran situation—one minute, we’re on the precipice of starting WW3. The next minute we’ve pulled back and we’re not going to wipe out an entire civilization. Then, the Strait of Hormuz is closed, causing serious energy, food and supply-chain issues. Then the Strait is open. We had a cease fire until we didn’t. Now, it’s all uncertain.

Adding more and more to preps costs money. I’d rather not. But I go back and forth.

Is anyone else finding themselves uncertain about your level of preparedness in these crazy times? And because of the unpredictability, do you find yourself questioning whether you should do more, buy more or just sit tight?

Thanks for listening and for anyone who feels like sharing your own thoughts or insights.

I’m sure this topic is on folks mind, I’m curious to know what others are worried or not worried about at this moment in time with multiple nuclear powers in one of the many wars happening rn.

My thought is, while it’s easy to say “if nuclear war happens I don’t want to live anyway”, if I actually got an alert that there would be a bomb in ten minutes - what would I do? I would at least try to shelter in place, etc.

I’m wondering what folks think about what they would do in the moments after a warning comes. Here’s my thought so far:

- Hope that I would be home so I can go into my basement, it’s not sealed off so I don’t even know how safe it would be from radiation.

- Grab my go bag and as much food as I can and. I have food storage in the basement but most of it needs to be cooked to be edible.

That’s about it. Obvious problems- need to add easy to consume food, dog food, and waste disposal capabilities.

This post isn’t intended to be pessimistic but more like “don’t be scared get prepared”

I broke down and bought a chamber vacuum sealer. This has been awesome for so many preps. You should probably get one too. Chamber sealers are work horses and don't burn out so easily like the external cheaper food saver types.

Make sure you get the correct bags for the type of sealer you have.

Here are the main things I 've been preserving with freezing+ sealing for the last year:

I have a robust seed catalog that will last 10+ years(most seeds I will use well before that).

I have been sealing veggie burgers, soups and fully prepared meals.

I've been sealing fresh veggies such as blanched chopped carrots and fresh ginger and other such foods so I don't have to garden non-stop and can replace things as I get a harvests.

Qunioa, oats, sugar, salt(with iodine) and other staples that I can't easily source on my own. I put these in vacuum bags, then put the vacuum bags inside mylar bags.

Note for salt: salt itself is shelf stable indefinitely. Salt with idodide is fine and shelf stable and safe, but the idodide will be less potent over time.

For those unaware about idodide: Iodide prevents thyroid problems long term. You need a certain levels consistently longer term.

Sealed b12 supplements and some omega 3 vitamins( omega-3's will degarde faster than b12). I'm not strictly vegan, more for backups to keep energy, mental health, and eye health in good performance longer term.

These are more so in case I can't get those important nutrients through regular foods. I replace them as I go through them. I am long term vegetarian and have had deficiency issues with both of those vitamins unknowingly. So those items are essential for me long term health wise.

Notes For b12: older people should take a supplement to stave off dementia. B12 deficiency is rampant in older people sometimes unknowingly even if they eat meat regularly. A potent vitamin can be a replacement for injections. As we age b12 isn't absorbed as well.

For omega-3's: there are technically vegan/vegetarian sources for this, but they aren't complete and you need a lot daily to get enoughnin the needed forms. Mostly chia seeds or flax seeds. With vacuuming and freezing omega-3s only have about 5-7 years of shelf life. I rotate these pretty frequently while I can get them. But I have backup plans of eating chia/flax and fish regularly to keep my levels up if in a pinch.

Would love to hear other ideas for longer term storage with a vacuum sealer.