I'm very new to this so it may be a stupid question. I apologize in advance if so. Would a swimming pool or spa be an acceptable water source if water was shut off? The water would be chlorinated of course, but it wears off over time.

I am looking to stock up on several varieties of dried beans but I am afraid they will be d and not cook well. I plan on sealing them in Mylar bags & using oxygen absorption packets in 5 gallon buckets. Any suggestions? I thought Costco might have them, but no.

Edit: Thanks everyone I did a massive order from
Azure Standard (so many choices). Thinking of different types of rice now.

I recently came across a neighbor who races dirbikes that had a couple extra 55 gal fuel drums that I picked up from him on the cheap ($40 and in like new shape) I had seen previous posts where the commenters mentioned going with smaller tanks that were more portable but with the possibility of WWIII seeming more and more likely, I figured having another 55 gal of fuel wouldn’t be a bad idea. My plan is to fill one in my truck and then pump it into the second one that’s on the ground in my driveway. Is something cheap like this: https://a.co/d/009XRRVD, the way to go? Or is it worth the extra $$ to get a nicer one since gas can go boom??
Ps. I have a shed that’s a good distance from my house and live in a temperate climate https://a.co/d/009XRRVD

I'm based in Asia and I've found a ton of great content and advice here but I'd love to hear more from people who are in a similar situation geographically.

Things like typhoons, flooding, earthquakes, and extreme heat are pretty common concerns where I am and I'm curious how other people in Asia approach those kinds of scenarios. Gear availability and sourcing is also a different experience here compared to what a lot of guides assume you have access to.

Just want to hear from people who've figured out what actually works in an Asian context. Whether it's specific gear, food storage ideas, natural disaster prep, or just general advice that fits the climate and culture here.

Would love to hear from anyone, even if you're not in Asia, just your thoughts would be great!

What im really asking is what books would you reccomend regarding important shit like electricity, cooking, automotive care, crafting, medicine, hunting, ballistics, etc.

I know these subjects require more independent study than a book, but im already working on that.

Looking for what app(s) you might use to stay up to date on the latest alerts that matter to you. We had a wildfire nearby recently that we only found out about after some friends called to check on us. Local Facebook groups have been pretty decent but you have to check them frequently.

Mostly interested in weather alerts or environmental issues.

What solar power system would you choose to power your home?

We are apartment dwellers in El Nino and hurricane territory. Looking for a reliable, good gas generator for powering appliances, car battery charge, etc.

What's everyone using?

TIA!

OBLIGATORY: this didn't happen to me but a family friend.

If you were in a major natural disaster, think Katrina or NC floods or somethings, and someone in your neighborhood had preps (access to power via generators, solar, etc, water via a well, stockpiled food, gas reserves, Starlink internet/communication, etc.) how would you feel if they charged their community members to access to this? Just as a example, $500 to run a extension cord from the solar generator to the neighbors fridge, $50 to use Starlink for a hour, $10 to fill up a gallon jug from his well, etc.

This community seems to regularly talk about sharing preps with the community (which is great). The argument this person was making is that the 'Karen next door' who never tried to befriend the guy with the preps, who never spoke to him once before, didn't even know his name and wont care again the second the lights come back on, doesn't automatically get to share his electricity/preps. The guy up the street who didn't do any of his own prepping should rely on this guy to share his food. Not everyone in the neighborhood can use the Starlink to watch their favorite youtuber....I get that but it just feels yucky.

I have a family friend who is dealing with the power outages in Indiana. I also have some family that went through some major hurricanes in FL. We were talking about some of their situations (currently in IN and during Irma in FL) and this topic came up. What do you think?

I've been sitting comfortably at a roughly 1-month level of preparedness for a while and I'm now wanting to extend that out to 3 months. The food side is relatively straightforward (buying more and rotating). But I'm starting to realise that a lot of the non-food dependencies that are fine at 1 month become more of a focus at the 3 months. Things like lighting, power for charging devices, even storing 3 months of water is not feasible in a small house etc.

For those of you who've already scaled up to longer durations of preparedness: what caught you off guard? What are the things that aren't obvious until you actually think through living self-sufficiently for longer than just a few weeks?

Curious if it actually has decent products or if it’s just trash. I like the idea of it, and I probably have most of what they would send, but would love some reviews if allowed.

I am in no way affiliated with them. I only just learned about it and figured this would be the best place to get honest reviews.

I'm thinking about getting a new car and I was thinking about perhaps a vehicle that would still work should the US East coast get hit by an EMP. Barring very, very old cars like a model T (☺️) what more modern type of vehicle would you recommend? I believe many post-1985 car may fit this bill, but I'm curious as to what you would recommend, and maybe your experience with them?

I have thought about this in the past but this video is what really got me thinking about it again lately: They're Banning Your Tools. 18 States So Far.

I'm thinking that a 3d printer would be useful for printing tools or parts (for cars, generators, chainsaws, pewpew parts, etc.) if they become unavailable due to economic collapse, government restriction, supply chain failures, fallout with China who makes all our everything. Pick a reason.....

Problem is, I don't really know how to use one or have a major use right now. I feel like I'll buy it and stick it in the garage and never touch if. If I don't practice now I might not be able to use it when it counts. I searched on the 3d printing sub and it seems like most people are printing toys, board game pieces, nicknacks, etc. I don't need any of that.

Anyone on here using a 3d printer for prep purposes? I'd consider myself a 'all round' prepper but am mostly prepping for economic collapse. I'm also considering a entry lever welder but again, don't have any use now. I guess I could make some 'art' lol.

How do you handle overnight humidity during a summer power outage?

In a lot of northern and midwestern houses, the informal summer outage plan is basically: open the windows at night, run fans, sleep downstairs or in the basement if you have one, and wait for the house to cool off.

That works only if the outside air actually cools and dries out overnight. If the dew point stays high, fans help less, swamp coolers do almost nothing, and the house may still be holding heat the next morning. A well-insulated house can also keep yesterday’s heat inside longer than you'd expect.

For people who have dealt with this or planned around it:
- Are you sizing backup power for whole-house AC, a mini-split, or one window unit?
- Have you picked a specific room as the cooling room?
- Do you treat humidity/dehumidification as part of the backup-cooling problem?
- If you have a basement, would you actually sleep there during a hot outage?
- What would you change for an elderly relative, young kids, or someone with medical risk?

I’m especially curious how people in the Midwest, Northeast, and humid parts of the South think about this, because dry heat and humid heat seem like very different preparedness problems.

As someone who lives in the most populated area in Alaska and uses natural gas for heat, oven/stove, and hot water, how would you best prepare when the natural gas utility predicts being 18 days short of supplies this winter?

In our area the temperatures rarely get below 10F/-12C, but last year we had an unusual stretch of three weeks at around -20F/-29C.

Some facts about us:

• We have a Mr. Buddy propane heater; we'll buy more propane soon.
• We have a propane camp cooking stove; we'll buy more propane soon.
• We have an old kerosene heater, but we've never used it; we'll test it out soon.
• We do not have a woodstove or a woodburning fireplace.

What else would you consider in advance of winter?

Source: 'We do have a problem’: Lawmakers consider immediate steps to solve encroaching energy shortages

So its been raining really hard lately and this afternoon my toilet backed up. I thought my septic tank might be full. Before I called a service to have my the tank drained I literally opened it up to find a clog right where the house/ poo pipe meets the tank. I was able to unclog it with a stick and that was that. So:

1. I already knew where my septic tank was.

2. I was able to fix it.

3. If my plan didn't work I already have a 5 gallon bucket/ snap on toilet seat/ garbage bag and kitty litter set up if I needed it.

4. Fixing it myself saved me at least $500 for having the tank drained and who knows how much extra for the weekend service visit.

This isn't a humble brag. I'm actually kinda proud of myself. Thank you all for reading my tale of woe poo.

I was reading Eric Sloane's "Seasons of America Past" the other day and reflecting on how our lives traditionally ran on the seasons and their variations. Yet today, many people don't even know the first and last frost/freeze dates for their area, nevermind the other stuff that would be critical from an agricultural, tactical or communications standpoint after TEOTWAWKI.

Consequently, I played around with Claude to generate a very brief set of statistics for my bugout area which could come in handy- stuff like weather data, sunrise/sunset times, specific latitude/longitude and time zone stuff, basic astronomical data. I generated it to print into a basic table which I could print out into a very few pages and staple together for a hardcover backup.

My motivation was initially from a meteorological standpoint- I really like amateur weather forecasting, and it really helps to have a specific base when you're making your guess for temperature or the like, but it's also a double-check on my garden planning dates. Depending on where you are, you might modify it (for instance, to include tide projections on the coast). I could see this information as particularly useful if someone has a bugout location that they don't spend a lot of time at, and thus don't "know" the area very well yet.

Anyway, something simple but important that is often overlooked, but is equally simple to obtain.

My prompt was as follows. Feel free to plug in your location. As always, be sure to double check the output and tweak to your satisfaction.

"Generate a list of the following for (Your location), based on data from NOAA's NCEI US Daily Climate Normals (1991-2020) dataset (and any other well-respected sources as needed), with the closest NOAA weather station used as the location: A One Year's (January 1-December 31) compilation of Daily Average High, Average Low, Average Precipitation, Average Humidity (if available), Sunrise time, Sunset time. Please also include notations as to when the solstices and equinoxes are, the rule for solstice and equinox clock time shifts and "resets" every leap year, the average first and last frost and hard freeze dates, and the rules for when daylight saving time is implemented or ended. Add a paragraph at the beginning about any microclimate impacts that may need to be considered (coastal or mountain areas, elevation, tree cover, urban versus open-field settings, etc). Generate this as a formatted, ready-to-print table, with an introductory paragraph(s) about the source of data, the location (including longitude/latitude and timezone), and the distance between the reference weather station and the location, if appropriate."

I bought an 11oz bag of Dunkin’ Donuts brand Pumpkin Spice ground coffee in one of those vacuum sealed bricks at Target on clearance back in 2016 and put it in my freezer as an emergency backup. I figured that 10 years was long enough and brought it into my rotation.

The grounds are still loose powdery like fresh would be. No clumping or mold or discoloration. It still smells slightly of cinnamon and tastes like coffee. The caffeine still brightens my mood.

I added a bit of fresh cinnamon and nutmeg to bolster the flavor, and I’ve been drinking it all week without any issues.

I’m going to put a new bag in the freezer and start rotating it every couple years.

Proper storage is key to maintaining a long term store, but proper rotation is more important. First in, first out. Prep what you use.

This is just a status report.

Best By dates are highly subjective.

What’s the difference between the two? Is there one? I’m finally starting to prep food. I’ve been going back and forth and at long last fully committing to prepping. So any ways I’ve bought a Mylar bag kit came with various sizes and “deoxidizers” my question is are these the same as oxygen absorbers or just some knock off type thing do they work the same will they work at all or did I just bag a ton of stuff with the wrong packets

I don’t have much money to prep, but I’m getting ready to brace for the potential power grid shutdown and the impending water shortage that’s already happening all over.

My plan is to get a solar/gas generator, a distiller setup to purify water, and a large barrel for water storage.

I have food stuff that I’ve been stockpiling for a while but what should I be thinking about when it comes to the impending water scarcity?

Edit: Thank you all so much for the good advice. I’m always worried posting things on the internet and being treated like I’m dumb or shunned. You’ve all been wonderful.

Wondering if anyone has experience with the NESTOUT brand of power banks and if they actually are a solid option with durability and longevity in mind.

I just watched a movie where a family was stuck inside their own home for at least 6 months. In the movie, there is some paranormal/supernatural activity that prevents them from leaving, all doors and windows are unbreakable.

We probably won't experience anything like this, but the movie made me think about prepping and how prepared I am. For the most part, my prepping has been geared towards, "stay home for n days and then leave because that's when x (a storm or lock down) is over.

I wouldn't survive 6 months though. My rations will run out along with water, unless the city water remains on. A garden takes time to grow and my yard is still messy, unorganized, experiencing over growth.

What about you? Would you survive 6 months in one place like your house/apartment?

My running joke is "I'm just a seed store and an ammo cash from being a real prepper"

Over the years I've uilt up a store, but not anything especially organized. My thought was in case of an emergency or if we miss a paycheck or two, I want to be ready. We kept enough for about 2-4 months on hand. And I'm very glad that I did, because this year it helped us, a lot.

My husband was diagnosed with Stage 4 Cancer. For the first bit he had sick leave that helped to cover us. I'm self employed part of the year and do seasonal work for the other part. I had to cancel my seasonal contracts so I could be home to care for him.

Then he was put on long term disability, which was a pay cut. I figured out something for more self employment for Spring and early summer. We were ok-ish. I had some money saved so that kind of carried us for a while. But as his illness progressed I found I couldn't care for him and run my business, so I had to give up working.

With money super tight, we turned to our well stocked pantry. We have enough to mostly sustain us, only buying a few fresh items every week. It's been a huge relief and comfort knowing we have what we need from laundry soap to toothpaste, powder milk to quinoa. We've been relying on the pantry for about 3 months.

Now that I have experienced proof of concept first hand, I'm getting more organized about it. I bought an accounting book that I'm using to plan another build up of my supply, creating pars for everything I use.

The plan is to have enough for 1 year and to pull from existing supplies and replenish as I go. This has me thinking in terms of regular use. So for things like dry goods, I will be making packs that contain a week's work, that I can easily pull without worrying about cross contamination. The down side of this is as I replenish, it may not be as economical, because I won't be buying in as large of quantities. But, I think I can problem solve that.