I have decided, and posted here before, that my car would suck during SHTF. A finicky, hard if not impossible to repair, BMW isn't a good choice. An alternative I am working on is an e bike that will be recharged with solar power. Quiet, 100 mile range, and speed around 25 mph are my goals. I am pretty handy, so am scratch building this. I have a ton of used A123 lithium batteries, decent knowledge of controllers, circuits, etc. I am basing this bike on a stealth bomber clone, basically a full suspension small motorcycle. So I wanted to ask the community 1: What style of motor is the most bulletproof in harsh, wet muddy, cold, no maintenance conditions. What motor and brand would do best in Venezuela or Cuba now? Mid drive, hub drive, geared, direct drive, etc? 2: What features on the bike would be helpful? Thinking a rack like on a BMW motorcycle

I just learned about the near (kinda) miss we had in July 2012. Late to that party haha i'd be dust by now. But I didn't even know coronal mass ejections were a thing and so I looked into it. And as I'm a curios individual I was wondering if anyone here preps for oddly specific disasters that most wouldn't know about (or even worry about because of geography). I have to prep for a specific type of storm but it's fairly common. Anyone got unconventional problems they need to prep for?

Who's prepping for the unique stuff?

The purpose of this thread is to teach others a quick how-to on building your own #EMPproof truck like I did mine, so that our country has a better chance at rebuilding our society if/when we get hit with an #EMP weaponed designed to send us back into the stone age. 

SOURCE URL: https://emp4x4.com/how_to_build_an_EMP_proofed_survival_vehicle

I’m sharing what I learned when I built my 1983 Turbodiesel Suburban k10 with a 4″ lift on 35″ BF Goodrich Mud-Terrains for this purpose. Its awesome, unique and super functional. Also gets TONS of thumbs up and preferred parking anywhere you go. My truck’s name is CLEMENTINE and she’s a beauty. After reading One Second After, I realized how serious logistics and mobility is in a post-EMP world so that’s why I built her and want you to know how to as well so you can be of help to your community defense and logistics when all the other cars are useless when their computers are fried by the E-1 pulse.

Since we’re here in the /preppers community, I’ll assume you all know what I’m talking about. If you don’t,  start right now, and study up on the IMMEDIATE THREAT of EMP used in our skies and what happens to society in the aftermath.  I’ve been a gear-head all my life and an entrepreneur / inventor by way of vocation, so I studied what would survive an EMP blast and then did it. Here’s the not-so-secret formula of what to buy, why and then how to build it. I know this topic because I BUILT one during COVID. 

1. What to buy: 
American trucks are the best because there’s tons of parts for them and they’re really cheap to repair when compared with English or German counterparts. Diesel gets better fuel economy and is more stable than gas after one year. Remember the fuel stations don’t work anymore so your source will be siphoning from abandoned vehicles. Pre-1993 is what you’re looking for because there’s no smog in CA, and they used MECHANICAL FUEL INJECTION system which don’t have any computers on board for the EMP pulse to kill in the first place. These pumps are driven by the camshaft, so the engine can run as long as it gets fuel. Therefore  even if the rest of your wiring harness is fried, if you can find a way to bump start the engine, all it needs to run is the 12v fuel pumps and 12vdc to keep the fuel solenoid valve in the open position. Therefore you can quickly and easily revive the truck from the dead if you find a spare battery and wire and hot wire the truck back together with those components. The key here is those old trucks don’t have a computer controlled fuel injection system, so there’s nothing for the EMP to kill with the E-1 pulse in the first place.

2. Don’t be tempted by a cheap truck, spend up. 
Don’t think you’re going to save money buying a POS on Craigslist. The list of things to fix will be endless. It’s cheaper to buy a good one that think you’re gonna build one from scratch, not to mention the time it takes to get it reliable as a primary vehicle. The best is if you can find a stickshift in a 3/4 ton or 1 ton because they have the heavier duty axles, transmissions and transfer cases and you can push-start them. The GMs of that era (Pre-Duramax) has the Detroit diesel 6.2L naturally aspirated engine, or the later model 6.5L turbodiesel. The latter ones are WAY more fun to drive with about twice the power, but you’ll have to change the Stanadyne DB4 electronically controlled fuel injector pump for the earlier model DB2 which is a zombie with no brains. The DB4 is notorious for the brains crapping out due to heat, and that’s also a point of vulnerability for an EMP to destroy. Swapping them is a pretty slow job because you have to remove the intake manifold and all the injector lines to pull it off successfully. The pre-1993 Ford with the International Harvester 6.9L or 7.3L v8 uses that same mechanical injection DB2 as well. Same thing applies. The Dodge Cummins 12 valve 5.9L inline six cylinder with the P-Pump is the most desirable and reliable engine, with the worst quality truck wrapped around it. It’s insanely heavy though, with a 1,200lb engine block vs the GM’s and Fords which are half the weight.

3. Bulletproof your engine. 
I have a 6.2L GM Detroit Diesel (Same engine used in HMMWV’s) with a BanksSidewinder exhaust manifold, a HOLSET HX-35 turbo, a Stanadyne DB2 mechanical fuel injection pump with the fuel turned up a 1/4 turn to keep the right air/fuel ratio with a [PrecisionTurbo 50mm blow off valve](http://a PrecisionTurbo 50mm blow off valve set to 15psi) set to 15psi of boost and a custom intercooler system with a Mishimoto intercooler, and aluminum / silicone tubing and a 6.5L intake manifold. My racer friends tell me they think I’m making between 800 and 900 lbs/ft of torque with that setup, and I might actually believe them. Clementine can spin 35″x12.50″ mud terrains on dry tarmac. But I never abuse her because I know how much it takes to build and fix it!! These engines were known as being boring and insanely gutless because they were designed in the post-OPEC fuel crisis and people were screaming for fuel economy, which these deliver. (I get about 18-20mpg on the freeway in a lifted truck with the aerodynamics of a brick wall.) They’re boring indeed… until you turbo them! Then they’re super powerful and drive like a 1980’s big block gasser but with 3x the fuel economy. HOWEVER in the Detroit Diesels you have to correct a couple design flaws to make them reliable for the long haul. The crankshaft in these were known for breaking in the middle, but nobody talks about why! It turns out you can prevent that if you know WHY they were breaking. The reason they were breaking was because some bean-counter at GM opted to skimp on price and chose way too light of a harmonic balancer, which resulted in the engines would vibrate themselves to pieces giving them obviously a very bad reputation. So, to fix that and prep your engine, get a FLUIDAMPR liquid filled harmonic balancer from LeRoy Diesel for $528.00. They act like a rotational shock absorber for the crankshaft, thus reducing jitter and smoothing out your engine so it runs like a sewing machine. Also, get a head stud kit from ARP available at thoroughbreddiesel.com so you can increase the torque strength of your heads to the block, thus preventing cracking and warpage down the road. If you DO crack a head, get BARS LEAKS coolant additive to gum up the cracks until you can properly fix the heads. If you have access to a water jet or a laser cutter, get a thin sheet of copper and make your own indestructible head gaskets and then over torque the head studs slightly and use a ton of red Loctite. If you have a latter model GM/FORD IDI that has the DB4 injection pump, swap it like I said before for the earlier DB2 so that your electronic control module doesn’t fail due to excessive heat exposure. An oversized exhaust is your friend on a diesel, so prepare for a custom exhaust to be bent for you. My truck has a 3″ downpipe to a Dynomax muffler, exiting the passenger rear side and is as quiet as we could get that old clattery diesel to be.  One thing to note, if you turbo a normally aspirated engine and turn up the fuel YOU WILL SMOKE in the cold mornings before your pistons heat up. Your neighbors will not be fans, but you're not building this for the EPA, you're building this to get outta town.

4. Wiring harness. 
You should get a replacement wiring harness from Painless wiring and take your time. They don’t sell a diesel harness for these trucks so you have to modify it as follows: The wire marked for ignition coil is going to be the wire you connect to the fuel solenoid valveon the mechanical injection pump. When it sees 12vdc, it OPENS THE VALVE so that the fuel can enter the pump. When it doesn’t see 12vdc, the spring closes the valve. This is what allows the engine to run, or starves it for fuel. That’s how diesels work, as opposed to gas engines where the coil charges the spark plugs to ignite the air/fuel. Be sure to install a 200amp circuit breaker between your batteries and the wiring harness main wire, as this gives you the ability to disconnect your wiring harness when your truck is in storage. It makes a great kill switch too by the way. Another upgrade is the later model glow plug controller from the 1990's trucks is a great idea, because it limits the glow plugs to only 7 seconds so you don't melt them. I decided to splice the glow plug wire "turn me on when this sees 12vdc" wire to my starter hot lead to the starter solenoid so the glow plugs turn on every time you bump the starter. That way you don't have to know anything about glow plugs to have the engine start every time.

5. Fuel. 
Get the biggest fuel tank you can find for your truck and swap the stock tank for a bigger one, or even multiple for redundancy. I installed a 40 gallon to replace my 25 gallon tank. This required moving the floor support forward on the chassis by about 7″ to fit the bigger tank. The place to buy this and other restoration parts for your truck is LMCTruck.com Your fuel gauge will no longer be accurate, but you can easily double your drivable range which is what you’re gonna need in a post-EMP world. In addition, install an electric fuel booster pump back near the tank so that you have better fuel pressure feeding the injection pump to take load off the injection pump with a much cheaper electric fuel pump. I removed my mechanical fuel lift pump on the side of the engine and replaced it with a pair of electric fuel pumps, one on the rear of the chassis next to the tank, and the other on the firewall between my fuel filters and the injection pump.

6. Hide in plain sight. 
Although tempting to paint your truck and make it pretty, that draws attention by being flashy. If you can stand letting the paint atrophy on your 30 or 40 year old truck, the average driver will just see “old truck” and move on. A thief too will not have any clue what they’re looking at and leave you alone. A brush guard with old school KC Daylighters is a great touch. Not standing out is your best “gray man” move here.  If you want to make your truck stand out with a macho paint job, well now you look like “that prepper guy” (easy to remember and find you) instead of “that guy who lives on that ranch over there” (that is easy to forget about and not see the defense implications for an old lifted truck.)

7. Lastly there’s products out there that claim to EMP-Proof your car… but buyer beware. 
An E-1 pulse needs the electronic load to actually GO TO GROUND, so gimmick gadgets are suspect indeed. By storing the truck with the batteries disconnected is your best move. By storing it with the batteries disconnected, and a pair of jumper cables connected to the body or frame, then connected to a grounding spike is leveling up your paranoia level, which is the whole point of this group, to be paranoid so you can be prepared!

I'm looking for recommendations for a healthier alternative to mountain house. I understand that high sodium with be helpful as a preservative however I'm willing to sacrifice SOME longevity and gain something a bit healthier and less sodium to eat. I'm using mountain house for hikes and camping occasionally and kinda secondary keeping an amount for emergencies.

I know the best might be making your own, but for these purposes I'm not interested in that, wondering if there is any out there. There seems to be quite a few in the market now and was hoping for some help and recommendations with navigating through the different brands and I don't know about. Thanks for the help in advance!

Hi guys,

I’m toying with the idea of penning a sequel to ‘Alas Babylon’, which is now in the public domain where I live.

I was hoping to draw on your prepper expertise about how things might have progressed, bearing in mind the book came out in 1959!

I have two main questions:

1. As you know the protagonist’s house is situated by a river, which the Bragg family use for fishing. Randy complains about the lack of electricity. Would it have been feasible at the time to install a water wheel to give their home hydro power? They do have access to car batteries.

2. The Bragg’s neighbors the Henrys conceive a system of making corn whiskey using copper tubing scavenged from cars and having their mule grind it to make molasses. Could the same or similar equipment be used to make bioethanol to power vehicles? There is a mechanic in their community.

Thank you again and please forgive my ignorance.

There are huge riots in my country and the government is using tear gas and pepper spray against us we are planning to distribute goggles and respirators similar to these: respirator - https://blueeagle-safety.com/Shop/respirators-np304/, goggles - https://www.amazon.com/NoCry-Resistant-Panoramic-Resistance-Certified/dp/B08Y5JTKMQ and swimming goggles. I know they are not rated for it and i don't expect them to work perfectly but just using basic face mask when getting tear gassed i couldn't get away from it quickly because of huge crowds and i couldn't breathe for good 10 seconds(many fainted because of it). will they help in any way to give us little more time to get away or are they a complete waste of money

Seen this post and had me thinking on what I have and what I don't if a flood happens. Also shows how little other know and have for flooding on a small scale never ming major scale. Thoughts?

https://www.reddit.com/r/HomeMaintenance/s/3Bq9ZoeHvc

So I'm trying to track down some good quality freeze dried pineapple chunks for one of my dry drink mix blends I like to store in my mylars. It's a copycat Pineapple Passionfruit Lemonade from starbucks lmao. Best suggestions for a decent amount of product that genuinely tastes good? It doesn't need to taste like fresh pineapple or anything, just good, and I've seen a lot of products rated badly on Amazon because of the smell :(

Amazon or costco only recs please, as I do my stock up shopping on specific websites all at once :)

This pedal power generator in a backpack from 1953: https://youtu.be/02l8NJmlsb4?si=oD5t-ao7wpceoYb1

Hypothetically Speaking embraces the adage that Iron Sharpens Iron. This Discord chanel is a think tank for us peppers to brainstorm scenarios and act as devil's advocate to one another's hypothetical situation. Citing our sources where appropriate as well as adding anecdotal evidence in support of stance allows each of us the opportunity to delve deeper into a subject if desired.

I have created a discord server for those of us on Reddit's u/Pepper forum who wish to participate. I am totally new to the technology aspect of Reddit and Discord while being well versed in the theoretical game Hypothetically Speaking.

This link will be good for 7 days.

https://discord.com/invite/BEGZPd96

My hope is that through critically examining ideas we can provide this Reddit group (u/Prepper) well thought out answers.

I have a ludicrous amount of macaroni, too much some might say. Over 20,000 calories of macaroni. Is it unperishable, or will my garden have lots of fertilizer? Is it an ok food source for a week or so? It's all dry and in individual containers for each serving. Also, applesauce is something I'm worried about.

Managed to aquire two gens over the weekend and am in the process of getting solar panels installed. I want to ask besides the aforementioned and wind turbines are there other alternatives I can buy Incase of a grid down scenario?

What is a good product or procedure to turn pond water into drinking water. It has fish, turtles, & beavers. Trying to kill the beavers but it's tough, cows piss in there also from time to time. I know nothing about this topic, it's the last thing I'm getting into and educating myself one. Thanks

https://link.marktplaats.nl/m2096291569 Would this be suited as a drinking water filter if you pump it through the sand a few times as a backup water supply?

How do you spread out your assets and hedge risk? Crypto is one option but you don’t want to put all your assets in one basket.

f a powerfull bomb its near where im at and i have a bunker what are ALL the things i need for full on survival. i know i need water, food, medkits, gas mask yady yada yada but im thinking im gonna need more stuff! sorry if my english is bad lol and i dont use reddit much so this post might be bad idk.

With the sawyer one gal gravity system

I'm young, trans, small, and naive in terms of keeping myself safe. However, I don't want to die - and just like everything in my life up to this point, I want to always win.

So, apparently you can get a taser with proper credentials for defending yourself. Is this better than pepper spray/mace?

Also, in terms of knife and gun wounds, are there any good and 'lightweight' shirts and pants that are preferably skin tight? Obviously I can't protect my neck with conventional methods, but im sure I could somehow find bulletproof metal that conforms to my neck specifically, and maybe opens up via clasp, and can be hidden by a skin tone scarf or really anything that fits over it?

That leaves my head, but it is what it is. For some reason, people don't seem to go after someone's head/face as much, which would be great for me.

Are they a gimmick or are they legit? If they are legit , what are the good brands? I am about to buy some storage containers but not looking forward to changing out the water every 6 months. So a preserver would be great.

Add backing soda to your long-term food storage. Not only is it useful for cleaning and making certain foods, adding a pinch of baking soda to onions when caramelizing them speeds up the chemical reaction, reducing the amount of time, thus fuel usage, needed to obtain the results. Use no more than 1/4 teaspoon per pound of onions. - from an article by Jesse Szewczky, citing J. Kenji Lopez-alt, a culinary consultant with many other food-related accolades. This may seem inconsequential; however, when all you have to eat is onions, carmelizing them makes them sweeter and a lot more palatable for picky eaters like children, who typically refuse to eat anything with onions in it.

Where do you get your food stores? Grocery store or a special source?

I’m building my emergency food supplies, one of the things hesitant to purchase is Gatorade. Never been a fan of the taste neither of the rest of the family. But don’t want to spend any extra bucks on high end energy drink powders. Does anyone store Tang powdered mix?

I have come across a couple of items that, at first glance, seem useful, but require electricity. The first is a portable cooler-like fridge that can be charged 2 ways: via a standard outlet and via cigarette lighter port in the car. This device only keeps the contents 15*C cooler than the ambient air. Assuming a root seller, even one created in a pinch, could keep it at the necessary temp for insulin how much electricity would it pull? And how do I determine the proper solar panel requirements to keep it running. The user manual didn't list voltage.

The second device is a rechargeable pump that is placed in a container of water. The other end is attached to a hose with shower head. This product's user manual says it is 3.7 V, max electricity flow 2.5 Amps, and has a 2.5 charging period that allows it to run for 60 minutes. How do I determine the energy requirements and how to make sure I have the sufficient solar power panels? Note: Math is not my strong suit. Dumb it down to a 5th grade level, please.

This year I’ve been making it a point to get outside and do some sort of skills building or training each week. Just getting outside more has really improved my well being, given me some good practice and in a few cases, humbled me.

1. Land navigation: estimating distances is hard over varied terrain, in counting paces it took me a long time to get it kind of accurate. I now have a gps that I walk the estimated distance with just pace counting (not looking at the gps) and when I get there see how close I really am. It’s tough.

2. Small Ferro Rods Are A Pain: I’ve always preferred a 6” Ferro rod, but figured a tiny one would be good in a pinch. Well I tested that and it was a day that was very humid, I couldn’t pull it off even after fashioning a handle for it to get a better grip.

3. Unloaded & Safeties Are Slow: 2 years ago I bought my first gun and last year I got my conceal carry permit. Since then I’ve taken some workshops and it highlighted how it does slow me down. I wouldn’t change it because having a safety is what I needed to feel comfortable enough to carry. It also makes me more comfortable with carrying one in the chamber along side of a kydex holster than covers the full trigger and safety. It just means I need to train that much more.

4. Gardening Will Humble You: I’ve gardened for a decade at this point. I’ve certainly gotten a lot better, but Mother Nature likes to keep you on your toes. To think if there were no stores how much pressure there would be to get it right every time. Also to get enough calories, you can work hard and veggies only amount to a few hundred calories, good nutrients, but not a lot of calories. People who buy seeds and just think they can start gardening when SHTF have no chance.

5. You Need A Solid Set Of Tools: I’ve always been one to follow the mantra “buy once, cry once” but getting out there made me realize some stuff wasn’t suited to the task even when it was good quality. There also were certain pieces of kit you need that you’d only realize you need when actually doing it. A map protractor was one of these things for me recently, but there have been several others too.

I guess my message is to get out there and do stuff. It’s fun, it’s healthy and your skill set will quickly skyrocket just from doing it a few times.

What things have humbled you?

Last year, we got terrible wildfire and we will probably going to get more this year.

I started thinking plan A, B, C to what to do in case that we get an evacuation order.

The initial plan would be to to bug out to some secure location: load the bug out bag in the car and drive without stopping. I don't think staying bugging in and fighting the fire is an option.

I started wondering, what if the wildfires are very bad? It could take down the grid. I realized that I could be somewhere that going to descent into chaos due to the grid being down with only my bug out bag and without my prep because it is home (and potentially on fire).

Maybe the best option is to also load up an INCH bag?

Any thoughts?

Edit: I should not have mentioned the evacuation order. I am more thinking about deciding to leave the house for few days because of air quality, and then the situation degenerate. What would be a good litmus test for packing the INCH?

I briefly was in the prepping community back in 2011- 2012 time frame but fell out of it for over a decade. At the time everybody was advocating for storing flour and wheat berries and beans etc. In mylar with dessicants. I'm curious if anyone is aware of any sources that opened up some of those desiccant stored mylar bags with food preps after a decade or more? I'm hoping to see some proof of long-term storage with different items.

Thank you!

Are there preppers in Washington? I feel like I’m surrounded by people with blinders on. I’d like to create a WA community.

Thoughts on the Rhino Rescue kits on Amazon? Good? Bad?. They’re priced decently but how good are the essentials such as the tourniquet?

Considering the way aerial drones have developed on the field in Ukraine for observation and attack it might be appropriate to plan for it in a WROL situation. A shotgun would be of little use not already covered in the environment I live in. I have several 9 mm firearms that could accommodate snake shot without adding anything other than ammunition and maybe another magazine or two. I am not sure that snake shot would take down a consumer grade drone though.

Any insight/ opinions?

So I just found out my insurance spending card (I get $180 to spend on OTC meds, medical supplies, equipment and healthy foods/per month) will pay for Auguson Farms Foods.

Is there anything you suggest I try that you like?