I am prepping for a bare minimum of 3 weeks.

How much propane should I have on hand just for cooking purposes? I have a dual burner coleman propane camp stove. Planning to cook for atleast 8 people (extra people incase neighbors need a meal).

Also will be boiling water if my water reserves run out and I need to collect water from some where.

hello everyone. i want to put together a bug out bag but i dont know what clothes to use. i want to stay as minimalistic as possible and i live in belgium. anyone ideas. Thank you

Any one re-use items differently then they are intended? I use old amber pill bottles to store different size screws.

When I used to home brew, we would go to the bakery section at your local grocery store and get their white food grade buckets to ferment your beer in. They’re free. A little soap, hot water, and Starsan (sanitizer), you’re good to go.

That being said, would those buckets work for long term storage of water or food? (They come with lids with a seal).

Hey everyone,

I’ve been pondering how AI might wipe out around 30% of banking jobs, making tellers and even loan officers more obsolete than a flip phone. Radiologists? They’ll be outmatched by AI that can detect way more shades of gray than we ever could. It’s got me thinking about job security now that I’m 43 and a new dad. While I might inherit some money down the line, I want to build a solid life for my son.

Living in Arizona, I’m increasingly concerned about the reliability of our power grid, especially with the looming threats of solar flares or potential infrastructure attacks. The thought of a major outage—or something like the Carrington Event, which disrupted telegraph systems in the 1800s—is unsettling. Just as that solar storm caused widespread communication failures back then, a similar event today could wreak havoc on our interconnected digital infrastructure, from power grids to internet systems. It’s a stark reminder that even the most advanced technology can be vulnerable.

Here’s what I’m considering:

1. Trade Skills: Plumbing and electrical work—because who doesn’t want to be the go-to fix-it person? Plus, these jobs require hands-on skills that AI can’t easily replicate.

2. Emergency Preparedness: First aid and survival skills. I might as well be the MacGyver of parenting, ready for anything!

3. Gardening/Sustainability: Growing my own food—because grocery stores might not always be reliable when the world goes sideways.

4. Mechanical Skills: Learning how to fix things. Someone has to keep the cars running, especially when self-driving cars hit a snag!

5. Cybersecurity: Knowing how to keep my digital life safe. Can't let hackers mess with my kid's future—privacy is a must!

6. Community Involvement: Joining local groups focused on disaster prep. A little community spirit goes a long way when the power goes out!

7. Lifelong Learning: Exploring renewable energy and other cool tech—gotta stay ahead of the game and make myself indispensable.

8. Mental Health: Prioritizing my sanity, because parenting is a wild ride and I need to be in top shape for my little one!

I’m also worried about jobs in retail, customer service, and even some aspects of healthcare that are ripe for AI takeover. Any suggestions for securing a bright future for my family while preparing for these potential disasters? Thanks for any wisdom you can share!

Hey all, we have had several small earth quakes near by and over the years there been lots of discussion about when the big one will be. I recently found out that we live on a fault line and that has made me more nervous. I would like to pick some items up tomorrow. What should I be grabbing? Water comes to mind first. How many days should I be thinking? Any info would be very helpful.

I live in an apartment but am looking to get a solar panel and solar generator. I'm planning on getting the ef ecoflow power station river 2 max 500 now I'm just looking for the panels. Since I live in an apartment I'm pretty limited on space. I recently found off grid trek and their 120w solar blanket. I just like how small it folds down too and how portable it is. What I dont like is the price tag though its almost $1k and my budgets $300.

I saw a home freeze dryer at Tractor Supply for $2700. Who is the target market for this? $2700 buys a whole lot of commercial freeze dried foods and a consumer grade machine wouldn’t be large or robust enough for someone preserving food for resale. Wouldn’t the average person be better served with a dehydrator plus buying stuff that truly benefits from freeze drying?

Midway is selling this for 100 bucks. I just started preping and I'm curious to know what do you guys think of it?

Also I'm not sure if this falls under rule 2

The most recent hurricane showed exactly why being prepared and having a stockpile of supplies is important. But the places where supplies are the lowest are also the places with the most flooding and damage. You could have years worth of food stored, but it could all be destroyed in a few hours from a bad storm. What advice do you have for your fellow preppers to protect the stash? Hypothetically, if someone had a basement full of supplies in Asheville and they were impacted by the flood, is there anything that could be done to keep everything dry and safe through all of this? Or is the best advice to live in a high and dry place?

Just a heads up. I grabbed 10 today

I’ve got a good 60-ish books that most people would agree are useful for our end-goals here; Where there’s no doctor/dentist, ranger handbook, etc. What are some books outside of the norm or expected areas of expertise you think add to the prepping conversation, that you’d recommend personally?

What combo of generator, battery bank, or other power solutions is everyone using to get through a 24-72 hour period without power?

Things I'm concerned about...

• Powering freezers full of game meat
• Powering fridge with fresh foods
• Heat in the winter (when most power outages seem to occur). I have a gas furnace but need electricity to run the fan. I have electric space heaters and a large kerosene heater. I have a fireplace I'm getting serviced, but I have yet to burn in.
• Light. In a 24-72 hour period, I have enough lamps or flashlights and batteries to get by. I'm still curious about what everyone uses.
• I'm not too concerned about cooking as I've got propane grills for cooking and boiling water, but the potential for powering the oven would be a plus.

A party store in my area is going out of business. Everything is 25% off. They have methanol and ethanol chafing fuel. Average cost is $1.50 depending on whether you buy in bulk or not. This is before the 25% discount. The large 12 pack is $1.25 each. I’m considering stocking these as stored cooking fuel at home. I’m curious about why the two different fuel types. Both run at an estimated 2.25 hrs. I seem to remember a video years ago on YouTube discussing removing the gel and adding fiberglass wick material that you can continue to fill with ethanol. I’m looking at getting into ethanol distillation as a fuel source for various things. The chafing fuel at Walmart was $2.50/can and that was on sale. Still rated at 2.25 hrs. Seems to be the industry standard. There was a different one that was rated at 6 hrs but it was slightly larger and seemed to not have gel inside but had straight liquid inside.

This is my third and final post as I am out of room in my prepping closet. My goal was to reach 3 months of food for 4 adults and 2 children. 3 of us will eat 1500 calories a day, my wife and the 2 kids will eat 1200 calories a day. Yes I know 1500 is an extreme deficit but us three have weight to lose and it would probably be healthy for us to be in that deficit for 3 days. My wife is very small and skinny and the kids are under 10 so 1200 calories each would be fine.

In the boxes are an assortment of canned veggies, keystone canned meats, canned chili and corned beef hash, tuna, chicken, ramen, and lots of hot sauce and seasonings. Not pictured is 3 food grade buckets with 30 lbs of dry black beans, 25 lbs of rice, and 10 lbs of pasta all in Mylar with O2 absorbers. I also now have 4 cases of HDRs (honestly not the worst thing I’ve eaten), and 4 ReadyWise buckets (I should have done some research before buying these cause they taste like poo but oh well).

I have 75 gallons of water tucked under the beds, I wish I could have more but I am out of space. I have 2 camping propane stoves, 16 1 pound propane tanks, an adapter hose and 1 large propane can for grills (I’ll pick up a few more before winter for the indoor propane heater too). It rains in my area at least once a week with a stream and a pond within walking distance so I have a few life straws and a berkey is my next prep purchase.

I wanna thank everyone who has contributed input to my preps over the past few months. I definitely sleep easier with 9 months of food for my wife and I and 3 months for my wife’s family. I was always the guy who just had guns and ammo and bought into the whole wannabe infantry prepping mentality. Feel free to leave anymore suggestions or things I missed.

I'm in Eastern NC. 8 hours from the flood. Our stores are out of toilet paper. My wife works in a poor town 40 miles form here and they had plenty.

So, we are trying figure out if people learned one thing from Covid and are stocking up due to the dock strike (which is dumb cuz most TP is domestic) Or if our local aid groups are snatching it up to take to ashville.

What's happening where you are?

I want to quickly learn enough about ham to pass the technician test. what free resource or playlist on YouTube should i go with?

I've been doing some math on my very intro water storage and was wondering how much I should be storing for stuff like cooking, cleaning dishes, cleaning clothes, etc. Was wondering what some folks on here have come up with.

You can use this as an excuse to get more stuff but anything helps and a lot of people need basic supplies right now! Just an idea

Good evening. I am looking for suggestions. I am putting together a family Go-Box. The base of it is one of them black and yellow commander XL cargo boxes you see at lowes and/or home depot.

Now to iterate, this is not a go into the woods and survive out of it for 3 days. That's impractical on so many levels. This is meant to provide comforts for a family of 4 (Husband [34], wife [26], daughter [5] and son [3]).

Basically it's a "oh fish sticks (my daughter says that), we need to leave. Stop what you are doing get the kids in the truck. Don't worry about packing. Get yourself and kids in truck, I will grab the box. We are going to your mother's house for a few days (or out of town)".

I am open to all suggestions 👍🏻 (especially the ladies, idk what it is that you need).

Hi guys

New to prepping. And just wanted to get your view. What would be the best way to preserve rice beans and pasta ? I've been hearing a lot about vacuum sealing being the best. Any ideas or counters? Thanks

Today I was home early from work and I decided to get a head start on some essential items given the ports are shutting down and all hell is breaking loose in the Middle East. Everyone in the south east has been hit hard with Helene. Here in Colorado the panic had not started yet, but I’m ahead of it a little. Here is what I got today. $300.

Canned meats, veg, beans, dried green peas, mashed potatoes, noodles, sauce, prepared rice, dried rice, flour, sugar, vinegar, apple sauce, dried coffee, ramen (😊), salt, Parmesan, alcohol, peroxide, water, and toilet paper!

All my non-mylar food is unbelievably loaded with salt. Literally everything. Tuna, vegetables, beans, wtf. Do they make canned food without all the salt? I have a decent variety in brands and types of food but they're all loaded in sodium. I know I can look at the label before I buy but whats the point if it's all the same.

In the scenario of a mass evacuation roads could get pretty traffic jammed. How to get around and improve quality of life in this scenario?

Is it better to stay home? Give me examples of some situations.

Advice for things to keep in car?

How patient should you be what to expect? Anyone have past experiences being in a hellish evacuation?

First of all, I'm sick with grief for anyone that is going thru such horrible situations in all the areas affected by Hurricane Helene.

Fortunately, I made it thru the storm along the Florida coast without any damage this time after taking out a refinance mortgage on my next home to do some substantial home improvement jobs.

First, I had all my windows and doors replaced with Miami-Dade Standard Cat5 windows and used the vendor's in-house financing at first.

Then I had my shingle roof replaced with a commercial grade standing seam roof, financed the same way.

Then I paid off both of those high interest in-house financing loans with a mortgage, which saved me a metric F ton in interest payments.

And, being in Florida, where the homeowner's insurance rates are outrageously expensive, I'm now paying less than half of what my neighbors are paying.

Because I did those things, I didn't have one bit of damage from Hurricane Helene after losing everything to Hurricane Irma.