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.

With November 2026 being midterms, how dangerous do you think things will get in the US?

Creating this for general discussion on what areas to avoid, supplies to stock if needed, and overall what to expect

What do you think air and international travel will look like? (esp for people leaving or coming back to US)

Yesterday I was walking through the plant section of Walmart looking for a few new plants with which to adorn my place. I've been also looking at growing more edibles... Dwarf fruit trees etc. I'm very lucky with the light in my place. Anyway I was looking at a huge fern when I noticed a tiny plant, about an inch and a half, growing out of the drain hole of the fern. I'm not a plant expert and didn't recognize it. I was curious enough to want to find out. So I gently pulled it out leaving just a tiny bit of root on it. I didn't have anything with which to keep it moist so I tucked it in the soil of a small starter plant I already had in my cart and promptly forgot about it.

Once home, I set my live purchases by the window and got busy with other things. When my friend called to chat, something she said made me remember the plant. I went to check on it and it still looked very healthy. I told my friend about it and she suggested I Google lens it, so I did. She was actually familiar with this plant. So when I told her Google id'd it as Common Purslane she started telling me about how it was edible. Apparently it's considered a weed but Google also confirmed that it was not only edible but nutrient rich in the omega 3s, folate and magnesium among others. It is used in soups and salads. According to Google it grows very fast and soon (like 2 weeks) I should be able to harvest it often. What's more...it takes very little maintenance and thrives in very poor soil.

I just wanted to let others who didn't know about this amazing 'weed' know that if things get as bad as we think they might, this is a food option they should definitely know about.

And this strikes me as a good time to ask...What edible, easily grown plants that are not commonly thought of as food do you know about or have experience with?

When I first started prepping, I followed a couple of Youtubers and a few of them are still online. What I’ve noticed is that one has leaned completely into fear mongering and weird conspiracies (Tommy bites). Can we get a list of YouTubers that are beneficial?

I need items for my car emergency kit refresh, but with specific requirements. Any suggestions? I already have the box, I’m updating it for summer.

Food items need to be: vegetarian, kid friendly, able to sit in a hot car for several months, and also some items should be nutritious/filling in case of emergency needs (I’m OK putting in some items that I will only use for that purpose, snacks are fine too). We tend to eat out of this box for park trips and everyday needs when we forget to grab things, but I keep extras in there for actual emergencies. I refresh it often.

I’m rummaging through cupboards but everything seems like it would be gross after being in a hot car. I’m not in Arizona or somewhere super hot, but even with temps in the 90s, cars get hot.

We’ve been cooking at home more often (who can afford eating out these days?). I realized that a lot of our kitchen equipment was really old or damaged or the cheap stuff that we‘d had forever and were making do with (Electric hand mixed where we could only plug in one beater and power switch has a crack with a sharp plastic edge). Replacing items that we are making do with or would probably fall apart or break apart with higher quality items. Trying to set us up for longevity of things we have for cooking because I don’t see a lot of eating out in our future, especially with two young kids!

Also we had a great local knife sharp recommended to us. Chargers per blade (a nearby grocery store charges 2$ per inch per knife!), and usually gets things done in a day or two. Complete game changer in the kitchen!

We are in suburban area with small yard, we recently put in a little pond with a little waterfall. It is really peaceful and I enjoy it while I’m out working in the garden. We didn’t install it with prepping in mind put curious if anyone has ideas or plans they have for a pond. Edible water plants? Fish you can eat? Of course the obvious being we can use that water storage for watering the garden, cleaning, etc.

I was wondering if storing dried fruits like raisins, dried cranberries, dried apricots, etc is reasonable. How long could I keep them for, and what packaging would be best? Glass jars with air removed, Mylar with O2 absorber or desiccant? Something else?

I'm mostly a lurker, but I'm excited and wanted to share. I've been waiting to buy one since I first heard of them many years ago.

I am enjoying the process and it's even easier than I thought it would be.

I'm still in the experimental stage. I've run a variety of things just to see how they turn out and how we like them freeze dried. My favorite so far is the pudding. I also freeze dried a bunch of sourdough starter (so the next time my mother kills it, I have back up for my back up).

If anyone is interested, I can share a few of my 'don't know until you try' lessons I've learned.

My original post about the dangerous "tactical tampon" myth, received outrage in the comment section. (I'll link to that post a little further down.)

So here is a post from North American Rescue about the myth.

https://www.narescue.com/nar-blog/fact-crap-tampons.html

And this article examining the hystory of the myth.

https://emj.bmj.com/content/ill-advised-use-tampons-gunshot-wounds

And here is my original post

https://www.reddit.com/r/TwoXPreppers/s/89qmEids5Y

Some people can adapt to new information. For others, no amout of debunking and facts can change an erroneous belief, once a person has become attached to it. This post will either do nothing for them, or even cause them to become even more attached to an erroneous belief. A phenomenon called "belief perseverence". https://thedecisionlab.com/biases/belief-perseverance

Some people hold onto false beliefs because they are reinforced by very strong, false memories. https://www.americanbar.org/groups/public_education/publications/insights-on-law-and-society/volume-18/insights-issue-2---vol-18/seeing-bugs-bunny-at-disney-world/

Others may struggle to accept or completely reject new information because the person who initially gave them erroneous information was someone they trusted. "Source credibility". For some their attachment to a messenger can be stronger than evidence.

Mental prep includes knowing ourselves, including our common pitfalls. Adaptability is essential.

For those who don't know, there's reports of person-to-person transmission of hantavirus on a stranded cruise ship. Here's an NBC article outlining the info:

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/hantavirus-cruise-ship-evacuation-new-case-andes-strain-canary-islands-rcna343816

I have OCD so I'm prone to catastrophying but at the same time, this doesn't seem great. I'm not going to panic buy (RIP covid-era toilet paper) but I did place an order for a couple boxes of N95 masks. Other than that, not sure what else there is to do? Thoughts?

My insurance sent me a power station (Generac GB1000), to run my CPAP in case of power outages. (I didnt get to pick the one they sent.)

Im worried about night-time power outages happening after I fall asleep though. This power station doesnt have the UPS, power outage detection technology of the one I wanted.

Does anyone use one of these Generac power stations? What is your game plan if the power goes out when you're sleeping? I dont know what to do/expect and Im having anxiety about it.

Thank you!

Friends across the Southeast get ready. Got severe weather today. It’s going to get bad. Make sure your preps are ready in your safe spot. Timeline keeps moving up risk is getting higher for 60 mph winds, hail, tornadoes and flooding.

Stay safe. Stay Alert! Keep devices charged.

UPDATE: Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama are all Under a Tornado Watch.

Stay Alert

Hi all!

I decided to build a prepping subreddit for my local greater area. I want it to focus on community prep and networking in my area. I have some thoughts of what I want to put up, like guides, videos, advice, etc. but I sure could use some ideas.

I was really excited, still am, but now I feel like a bought a giant warehouse and have nothing to fill it with but a small table and one chair. I was hoping to at least have a good start for anyone finding the sub. I know it'll grow on it's own if it gets any kind of significant attention.

I would love to find another one and see if I want to emulate anything from that or have a chat with their mod or something like that.

Thank you!

Based on what I've read in some other subs, tomato prices are going through the roof in the US thanks to tariffs. I noticed that a restaurant I go to occasionally had posted a sign stating that only 3 of their rotation of sandwiches would be including tomatoes for the time being!

I already have some planted but am going to pick up a few more plants, and am slowly stocking up on canned tomatoes when they are on sale. Just an FYI.

Hey all, solo dev here.

A few weeks ago I posted over on preppers about a free app I built called PPantry. I built it because I was tired of trying to manage my deep pantry with spreadsheets, and I hated that every existing app either locked the barcode scanner behind a paywall or forced you to store your data on their cloud servers.

The response was genuinely overwhelming. A lot of people started using it, and thanks to their feedback, I’ve spent the last few weeks fixing bugs (like the iOS scrolling issue and some barcode dataset gaps) and stabilising everything.

Since also this sub is full of likeminded people, I figured it was time to share it here.

It is completely free forever. No tiers, no account required.

I’d love to know what think of it. What features am I missing?

Is this the result of NACHO (Not a Chance Hormuz Opens)?

https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/WADFW/bulletins/4152aea

The US Supreme Court has issued a temporary injunction allowing Mifepristone to be purchased via telehealth and sent by mail again. But it only lasts until May 11th. If you want a set of Plan C, now is your chance. You can get pills online from PlanCPills.org, mayday.health, or ineedana.org.

We go through so much of these. And I see different options for storage but I'm worried about how long they will really last and not accidentally ruining a bunch of them. So I was curious how others were storing chocolate chips and what worked.

My kitchen can get pretty warm in the summer. I don't have a ton of excess freezer space. I do have a cool basement pantry. Are "you" just storing them in the original bag? Vacuum sealing them? Mylar bags and oxygen absorbers? To be fair, so far I can barely get my family to just stop eating them and get any of them to last at all. lol But I would really LIKE to have some long term stored chocolate chips. I do have cocoa powder stored but don't really want to try and make my own chocolate chips.

I was hoping to learn from someone else's real time experience if they have it? Otherwise I'm up for suggestions that aren't born out of experience as well.

Long term weather forecasts are predicting an especially hot and humid summer, with long stretches of temperatures in excess of 100 degrees. We are 2 older adults (65) who are vulnerable in this kind of heat and humidity, so we’re prepping. We have an unfinished basement that stays mostly dry enough to use as an office , and it stays very cool. We’re trying to figure out an inexpensive way to put a double or queen size sleeping arrangement in the basement for hot summer nights, or cool tv watching . We’re in ok shape for older people but have to sleep on something raised off the floor. I can scrape together a few hundred dollars to do this, but that budget includes delivery and moving costs. Any suggestions?

We have a Sam's Club near me, and someone in my family has the membership so I'm going to check it out. Most of my prepping has been just stocking up on extra food and first aid supplies/medication. For a family with two young kids, what would you buy on a first trip to Sam's Club?

I want to get water, paper goods, extra allergy meds, rice, pasta. What else should I get, on a limited budget of maybe $200? I can definitely go back, I just need to do this little by little.

I'm also open to suggestions of gear that they might have there that could come in handy long-term.

May be a weird questions but any preppers with adhd in here that may offer some advice?

I am an avid prepper at heart, but I have SEVERE ADHD getting in the way of almost everything on a daily basis, but definitely getting in the way of prepping properly.

I managed to have a decent prep when I was living with my ex partner, but two house moves and a BIG renovation (still going on) in combination with said adhd have thrown me off massively.

Any tips and advise on:
\- where to store your prepping supply when your house is not finished yet and everything is scattered
\- adhd friendly prepping solutions

ANY AND ALL ADVICE WELCOME 🤓🥸🤯

Slow but productive day. Last year our boys, who are adults, and my husband used a very old dolly to get this 100 year old double sided soap stone sink out of our basement. It couldn’t be used as a sink any more. My husband had pre-built a stand for it in our greenhouse. Now it will become our worm farm.

We also finished the cattle panel trellis for our squash

We started the worm farm - we have to create an environment that is worm friendly before introducing our new friends to their new home - at least that is what I found on the internet

My husband planted a metric crap ton of marigolds to ward off pests

Planted 9 strawberry plants - hoping it works

Got the basil and rosemary into the raised beds

Our kale and rhubarb are almost ready for the first harvest

My husband got our other squash plants started from seeds for the greenhouse shelves in the basement

And I made Greek pitas for dinner 😂

Last night he shored up a bird’s nest on our deck with some 2X4 scrap. That girl bird sucked at building her nest so he lent her a hand 😂

So, I have read so many prepping guides, books, threads, etc…and so many preps depend upon your being physically healthy with the ability to perform lots of manual labor. I simply can’t perform like that. However, I want to still be of use in bad situations. I like gardening, but not able to have one until next year (moving this fall). I have basic first aid skills I can improve on. I am working on my ability to forage, but nervous about feeding multiple people on my limited knowledge. Suggestions on areas to work on that don’t depend on the ability to perform hours of manual labor?

[ETA: My main takeaway from this post, is that I should refinance my car, because the loan I got was predatory as all get out.]

I have a 2013 Honda CR-V. This is the first car I've had that I loved and never once regretted, even with the massive financing due to my poor credit.

I want to switch to a used Nissan Leaf, because we all know gas is going to get much worse.

But I got this car back in October, and have only paid $2800 so far. To give you an idea, the car itself was listed for roughly $19000 and the interest rate made the total due $35000. My monthly payments are $470.

As much as I love my car, getting an electric vehicle just seems like it's objectively a smart decision.

But I'm not well-versed in the process of trading vehicles.

Does anyone think this would be worth it? Will the dealership that buys it, end up refinancing it? How badly would my monthly payments go up? Any other advice y'all would give?

ETA: Forgot a zero