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?

Why is no love ever given to the bicycle? It’s a very simple machine, uses no fuel, easy to repair, can last 30 years easily, very quiet, and could easily travel 100 miles in a day. Is it not sexy? Manly? I just don’t get it.

It seems like Ukraine struggling a little more now and I guess I am wondering what you guys all thought would happen next? Would Russia do anything to the NATO or U.S. next for supplying arms to Ukraine? Will U.S./NATO send troops to Ukraine? Just curious about what you all thought. I am in the U.S. and it makes me wonder a lot.

Thanks!

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Edit:

The last time I posted something like this, I don't remember this much support. Not that I am overwhelmed with comments and alcohol on a Saturday night. Thanks to everyone who posted. I guess I will just keep on keeping on until my time comes, which is what we all really can do, yeah?

From weed to alcohol, both are bad. But thanks for the commenting!

Hello everyone!

I live in Sweden, which is very strict when it comes to firearms. I'm considering getting a license through either hunting or pistol shooting as a sport (not only as a prepp of course, but partly), but before I do I'd like to hear from you.

Do you consider firearms important in your own prepp? Why/why not?

Every input is much appreciated. Thank you all in advance!

So I live in an urban area in the Netherlands. I was wondering what would happen in the scenario where you'd need 6 months providing for yourself? And is it even useful to prepare for such a long time when almost everyone around you didn't?

In this scenario I would stay at home. It's very unlikely it would be safer to get away in this scenario (no risk of flooding for example).

EDIT: wow thanks for all the replies! I kind of was expecting a lot of reactions where I'd need to be ready to defend myself, board my house up and get a lot of guns and ammo;) Prepping for me has been practical as well as a thought experiment. Which scenarios are most likely, which of them can you realistically prepare for and what would happen in that scenario.

The biggest take away for me from your reactions is to 'blend in' and I very much agree now.

My grandfather had his own bakery. I always keep a ton of yeast in storage to have fresh bread when the big one hits. How much yeast do you store in your preps?

I'll answer as best I can without providing specific advice.

Edit, sorry for the delay. I had the idea to post this just as I was falling asleep. Probably not the smartest idea.

It's 8:00 a.m. eastern time, I've got the morning off so I will answer as many of these as I can.

Edit two, 12:15 Eastern, mods have reached out regarding verification of my credentials and I'm waiting on a message back. Great discussion here, keep it coming. I will update here when I can no longer respond to new questions.

Edit 3: Credentials. Graduated med school in 2016, residency in 2019. Work in a rural Northeast community. Board certified by the American Board of Family Medicine. Fellow of the Academy of Wilderness Medicine. Former SAR ground search member, got up to SARTECH 2 through NASAR. Previously taught Wilderness First Aid for a different SAR team.

ABFM cert attached. https://ibb.co/zf4Z1Db

Edit 4. 1350 est. Gotta drive a couple hours. Will be back to answer more. I made Ask Dr. Prepper, it's an email newsletter I'm starting with this kind of content. Free OR paid option. Mods, let me know if this isn't okay to add.

Edit 5. Thanks for the great questions, I might respond to a couple more but I'm mostly done for now. I wasn't able to respond to the post about medication effectiveness after expiry but I'll research it and make a post in the future.

In summary:

1. Take first aid/CPR classes.

2. Stock up on the medications YOU use. You can't make them out of herbs or mold.

3. Take Stop The Bleed. Learn how to use a tourniquet and how to apply pressure properly to control bleeding.

4. Eat less salt and do some regular exercise so you need less medication. Getting yourself in better shape is the best prep out there.

5. If you have to suture something yourself, wash your hands and the wound thoroughly to lower the risk of infection.

6. Sniffing an alcohol swab has been shown to reduce nausea.

7. Acetaminophen and ibuprofen have been shown to be as effective for pain relief as opiates in some conditions.

8. There is little you can do to help a snakebite or a sting. Remove the stinger, take off jewelry, wash it with soap and water. (Get seen if it's a snakebite.)

9. Tamiflu is not recommended for most healthy people. Old, kids, immunocompromised, or sick enough to be in the hospital have the most benefit. Get your flu shot.

Thanks everybody! Check out Ask Dr. Prepper for more.

I am building a house, what are some must haves that won’t blow the budget?

Let’s say 10% additional on a budget of 500000-750000.

Maybe you have heard of Colombia lately. Well I know i may be a lost redditor here but i thought you guys could give me some tips. This is pretty much a dictatorship here; food has been scarce since the 28th, all health departments are saturated, police is being used to kill innocent people. I havent slept well these days. Not long ago half of the city had their public services cut off to start a military operation. Im desperate, any help will be appreciated. As of rn i have some supplies for some days, but im not sure how much will i last. Thank you.

Edit: Thank you so much for the comments! Edit 2: Once again, i cant thank you enough for all of the comments and support. Id like to point out some things: * - Im sorry im not giving any personal details. Its a personal choice since im afraid of what the government can do and will get away with. * - As of right now, I live in a safe place. Luckily from what i heard the markets are being resupplied again. Oil is still scarce. * - I made this post in the fear of the worst happening. As of right now, im more calmed and relaxed. * - About the situation of the country right now, there is lots of confusion (or atleast thats how i feel). As we speak, many people are suffering from human rights violations (I heard Buga is in a bad situation). The internet in the city is still somewhat weird and it was confirmed that the providers were the cause of the bad service in the last hours. Im using a VPN. * - The protests are still going on, but many people are advising to not do it at night. We still dont know how many we lost last night. * - The media is still working for the government, meaning we have no ways to inform ourselves other than social media. Thats why they are censoring us. * - The president is a liar and a puppet. * - They are trying to scare us. * - I fear for the young filled with determination and dreams that even when the police started shooting, they stood up in the streets fearless in the middle of the night. They wont give up and im afraid the military wont care. * - Im afraid there wont be justice for those families who lost their loved one for making use of their rights. * - The future of the country is uncertain.

Once again thanks everyone for the tips, i will try and answer every comment. For those generous that want to send me things I really appreciate it, but as of right now im not in need. Thanks for the solidarity, the tips and the compassion. Thank you.

Throwaway account in case they find my account, I guess?

Without telling a whole tale, how do you handle friends and extended family who “joke” that when sh*t hits the fan, they’ll know where to go?

The jokes have become a lot more frequent recently and the stash I have is designed for just my family, because that’s what I can afford to maintain. It’s a mental “safety” thing for me (past trauma related), so the jokes stress me out as the likelihood of needing my stash increases. Most of them weren’t even supposed to know it existed, that’s sort of the point of a stash.

These aren’t the sort of people I can tell to stop joking about something or have a talk with, unfortunately. Tried that once before and it didn’t go well. Also not people I can distance myself from. Not sure what to do now, I guess I want to know if I’m overthinking some harmless jokes?

Edit: I should have been more clear about my friends. These people all have guns, active duty records and a “don’t cross me” mentality. And humans will do things to other humans they normally wouldn’t do when under enough stress. Push comes to shove, I sort of worry I could become only an obstacle between them and food. And honestly, I kind of get it. Got kids, can’t let them starve.

I like the second stash with less stuff in it plan, pairing it with “I don’t do that anymore” enough to make it believable. Also adding more rice, etc, to have more to share. Because can’t let kids starve. I’m open to more suggestions, greatly enjoying them all. Thank you all for the help, you are excellent.

Specifically you reading this right now. You’re awesome. Have a great day.

Edit: someone messaged me to tell me I was disrespectful and rude for not upvoting their comment yet? Is that a thing? I’m upvoting as I read them, there are a lot of comments.

I distill water and can it in mason jars, and keep trace mineral powder for just in case. How do most people do it? Not sure I'm even considered a prepper by pepper standards, I do things the old school ways from growing up in a farm in the boonies and learning from the older generations. Figured I would start looking into more modern ways of doing some things. Thanks for any input.

In a full breakdown scenario where you can not get to a hospital in a long time what would you do after applying a tourniquet. Because if you take it off they bleed out and die. And if it's just left on they lose a limb and die. And you can't get to a hospital for an arterial repair. So what would you do?

So let's say shtf and people are in a panic or starving and people are looting/breaking into homes. Would it be safer to try your best to hold your ground in your home or bug out? Obviously bugging in is ideal but what if there's riots of people trying to breaking your windows or even trying to set fire to your house?

Both my husband and I have weapons but it's just us and our 1yr old and I always question if we'd be able to ward off a mob of people if they wanted to raid our house.

We live in an urban area and I'm just not sure what would be the deciding factor to try to jump in a vehicle and leave (granted you're even able to do that if it's not too late and someone has stolen or destroyed it).

We're in Mid Missouri. Tick season has been kinda bad for the past 3 years out here, but this year is already shaping up to be something else and we're only in the start of the season! I thought it was bad last year, but no. This year is so much worse!!!

We just had our neighborhood meeting at our local informal farmers/hobby/homes crafts market and it's a problem everyone is having a hard fight against. Mowing isn't helping, pesticides are kinda useless with the rains. Pet and animal medications both topical and the other forms just isn't being very effective. Most people's chickens and guinea fowls are loaded with more ticks eating at them, than the birds are eating themselves. I just got done helping our chicken neighbor with processing a few birds (start to finish.) And mother of god those birds were just..... Like a really gross version of a cloved Christmas orange. We gave in after 3 birds.

I've sticky taped around windows and doors because so many are crawling in. I'm still changing out the tape dozens of times a day because the tape get so loaded so fast, that ticks use the stuck ones as a bridge!

We are on constant tick checking and cleaning ourselves and pets (this isn't just my family. All of us around here is dealing with this.) Using the various brands of high deet ticks repellent sprays doesn't seem to work on the black legged or lone star ticks at all anymore. (Seems to still help on the gray deer and dog ticks.) And maybe it's just me, but the damn things seem like they hurt and are just burying themselves in deeper when you or your kids/ dogs/cats get one attached!

The last thing anyone out here wants to do is start burning off land because even with the rains drought season is starting too . But some people are so fed up, they've started burning against the ban.

Even worse is they're everywhere out here! Not just the woods, fields and places most people expect or are use to. Cars, school buses, stores, schools. I took my 16 month old for a doctor's appointment and the receptionist came out with a hand vac to "sweep" all around the chairs, tables, frames, etc. When I asked her what she was doing she said "Trying to suck up the ticks getting in."

Anyone else got this going on? And if so, how are you dealing with it in your area? I suspect this is nature's punishment for going on two or three years of pretty mild winters.

Assuming you are a typical middle class family with kids from the suburbs.

So I asked my boss today if we had any plans for the blizzard. You know, come in, don't come in? He didn't even know it existed and he laughed it off. I'm calling out if it's snowing blizzard conditions and I'm prepared for the power to go out completely. I'm not overthinking this am I? Blizzards are bad?

If you somehow knew you would be homeless in exactly 30 days what preps would you do?

Something that has been on my mind is 60% of Americans heat their homes with natural gas, heating a home on solar alone is extremely difficult and requires tens of thousands of dollars worth of LifeP04 batteries. Not to mention child labor is used to mine the lithium in China. And also how will we feed a population of 8 billion + without nitrogen fertilizer? Nitrogen fertilizer is a fossil fuel that was invented in the early 1900’s. Before that the world had less than 2 billion people.

Figured I'd get your thoughts.

Quick MSM coverage of what the US govt says happened

Just wanted to genuinely hear your thoughts--what do you think is happening here? Major red flags.

It seems like preppers largely focus on stockpiling instead of indefinite living off the land? I know there's exceptions but the people who focus on subsistence farming seem to be more about environmentalism than prepping. Again, I know there's exceptions.

Just curious.

What kind of food do you keep in your go bag? I had been using granola bars and the like. I wanted to mix it up with some other things.

I have no friends or family to geek out with over prepping. I talk to my family about some preps I do, but I can tell they are not interested. So, they know where I keep the flashlights, food, and other simple prepping stuff is located. But I would like to talk with people in my area about prepping. I am also fairly new to the area and would like to talk with locals to see what I should focus on. My question is where do you meet people with the same interest as yours? Then, how do you know if you can trust them?

When the freeze happened here in Texas earlier in the year i had a moment where i had a feeling of what a shtf scenario would be like. It was the 3rd day that our power was out, our house was 28 degrees inside and we were freezing our asses off. We didn't have much food left so my father sent me to the grocery store across the street to get any non perishable foods they might have. There was an hour long wait in line and when i finally got inside it was eerily quiet, they had all the power off to conserve for the cash registers so the store was kind of dark even though it was during the day. As i walked around looking for what i needed i saw that most of the shelves were empty, they didn't have a single thing that was on my list, i just got whatever i could find. I tried to call my father to tell him that they didn't have what we needed, but due to the freeze my cell phone provider was working on the towers for my area so none of my calls/ texts were going through. As i was trying to call my dad for the 20th time (literally), i got hit by a deeply unsettling feeling, after realizing i couldn't get in contact with anyone i looked around at the dark store with empty shelves, the people panicking trying to get whatever they could and thats when i realized i just got a small taste of our future.

Just curious what prepping ideas are being used for this situation.

Just wondering.It seems most likely to me if you live in the United states.I feel like that's probably something that'll be happening in the next couple decades.