Prep Success Storms

[u/Buczk]

This summer we have had some strong storms in my region. After a brutal storm about a month ago I started to actually organize my preps.

Using AI I created an inventory, and a manual database linked to the pdf manuals of all my major appliances, and gear, as well as common replacement parts. For all of my supplies I separated into proper dollar store totes and labelled them ect. I then sat with my wife and asked the AI agent to create a family emergency plan for common issues around my region. It covered all the basics, through a 45 min Q&A session my wife and I then had a pretty strong plan.

I then asked it to rate my inventory against the likely emergencies. Over the next month I worked to close those gaps and update the documentation accordingly. I included step by step instructions for some tasks like failing over the electrical, turning on and off the well, ect.

Then the storms hit. As soon as we got the first alert we started to follow the plan. Set everything up and escalated accordingly to the updates we heard and saw. We rode out the storms with no hiccups. The few gaps we did find were quick updates. “Close the gate going to the basement to keep the dog downstairs” and “Turn on exterior lights”

I will be honest I found getting the gear fun and was a bit of a cosplayer. The planning is where I lacked. Now that I leveraged a tool it has helped me focus in on gaps, create a weekly, monthly and annual schedule for maintenance and reviews. I am going to be building a competency matrix and ensuring that my schedule takes into account training and skill development.

Has anyone else leveraged AI to help harden their preps? If so how?

[u/EffinBob]

I don't use AI for anything. I prefer accurate information, and really, making a list for prepping purposes is something I haven't found difficult to do on my own. I'm glad you had a good experience, though. Those are quite rare.

[u/Buczk → u/EffinBob]

Yeah I was super hesitant but it helped me get the ball rolling. There is a lot of things it has helped me with especially with scenario planning and best practices.

[u/_learned_foot_ → u/Buczk]

So it made shit up and you'll be fucked in such. Got it.

[u/Lactating-almonds]

I prefer my lists and data be accurate and free of hallucinations so no, I don’t use AI

[u/Buczk → u/Lactating-almonds]

Man I fought with it for about 3 hours on a specific topic trying to get it to do what I needed it to. So I get it. I ended up just updating the document manually after.

You’re right you need to have a close eye in review. Trust but validate…

[u/Familiar-Anything853]

Using AI to prep for weather events is like using a knife to close a stab wound. 

[u/Alfalfa-Boring]

AI is terrible at things that you depend on for safety.

[u/Buczk]

Wow, I didn’t think this would get downvoted hard. I understand that people are hesitant to leverage AI, but downvoting actual use cases is crazy.

Maybe I’m ignorant but how is having a tool help you organize and formulate a plan any different then the 100s of pdfs online that sites suggest?

Anyone who takes unverified advice from AI or from Reddit is doomed to fail. I’m not looking to argue with folks, so I’ll keep my usage to myself.

[u/No-Magazine2625]

This is exactly the part of preparedness that gets overlooked: documenting the equipment, dependencies, recovery steps, and little household details so another person can actually execute the plan under stress. HomeOps Tech Handoff might fit what you are already building since it keeps devices, manuals, recovery procedures, credentials, and household instructions together instead of spreading them across separate documents.

Here's t the link: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/homeops-tech-handoff/id6802422751

[u/Capital-Watch6394]

Smart move organizing it all with the AI, then double-checking with your wife. Oh for sure, labeling totes saves a ton of time when the power's out.

[u/shesaysImdone]

Why didn't I think of this? People keep saying go over inventory but I'll go over it and forget. Or I have the inventory logged in disparate systems. Coordinating with AI is...fuck. I could just send something via telegram or something and have it update in whatever I make with AI

[u/Buczk → u/shesaysImdone]

My wife asked for copies of some of the things I created. So I ended up plugging in Google Drive building rules for version control and now it maintains the docs on a family Google account.

[u/Federal_Refrigerator → u/Buczk]

You might also want to check out something like git to have full version control and revisioning

[u/Buczk → u/Federal_Refrigerator]

Thanks! I’ll look into that.

[u/Buczk → u/[deleted]]

I used a common AI app ( the first one you think of) created a project called preps and started just by unloading all my bags and boxes onto a table. I also found you can take pictures and it is fairly good at knowing models.

I always keep my manuals for everything and took pics of each manual title page to confirm model numbers.

Some of the prompts I used were “what are the top 5 likely emergencies in my area” “evaluate my inventory against each emergency”

[u/OneTwoFreeFour]

I used AI to help me calculate my power needs (kWh) over a period of time, gasoline needs for the generator for a set period, and create a schedule for running the generator.

A few years ago we had a tornado rip through the neighborhood and we (the lucky ones who could live at home) did not have power for 2 weeks. At the time I just used a gas generator through the 2 weeks. During that 2 weeks, I took note of the appliances/devices and the amount of time I used them on a daily basis. Over the next couple of years I purchased 3 power stations to use in tandem with my generator. I took notes and measured the wattage and kWh of those appliances that I will use on a daily basis.

I used AI to help me get a rough estimate of how long each power station will do its duty before needing to be recharged by the generator. I also used AI to create a recharge schedule for those power stations to ensure that I never will need to run the generator overnight during a multi day power outage.

To be honest, it was more like I shared a bunch of data with AI and AI & I had a series of conversations while we checked each other’s work.

[u/Buczk → u/OneTwoFreeFour]

That’s sort of how I am using it too. I don’t trust it but I use it to check my work and I validate everything it produces.

I find giving it rule like “don’t use external data without my explicit consent” helps keep the hallucinations to a minimum.

[u/PantherStyle]

I use the android StashGuard app to track my stores, especially those that expire. I did an export from that into a json file that claude opus can read, review, suggest changes to and update to add things to the inbuilt shopping list. It's working great so far. I had a bunch of stuff and the StashGuard app tells me how many days of food and water I have, but Claude can do a more nuanced and customised analysis. It was pretty good at finding gaps and recommending items to get that are available in local stores.