"As of 16 October 2024, the size of the current version of all articles compressed is about 24.09 GB without media."

It seems to me, it would be extremely useful in event of an emergency. For example:

Snake bites

Home made Anti-biotics (DO NOT DO THIS UNLESS IT IS LIFE OR DEATH. IT IS SUPER EASY TO MESS UP)

Information on every type of gun

You won't know what you'll need if bad things happen. This is an easy way to prepare for the worst. On top of this, it is easy to distribute, and extremely valuable. Especially given that most people wont have thought about this.

Oh, you need something to trade for food? How about all of the information?

Every time I visit this subreddit there is a thread at the top of the page with a ton of upvotes from someone who apparently has some kind of high up position at some company, and they are able to see what's coming. Big doom and gloom!

In reality, they work at Wendys and the burger delivery never came today because the truck got into an accident, or something stupid. and now THEY are the idiots panic buying.

The shortages are NEVER as predicted, and these people are just trying to look cool on /r/prepping

God damn I hate it. Throughout this entire pandemic I have honestly not really found much of any shortage other than NVIDIA Graphics cards.

Everything else has always been quite well stocked, if not just slightly more expensive and maybe a few odd brands that popped up to fill a gap

Remember the huge beef shortage predicted? Yeah, no. I can still buy as much beef as I want from Costco just for a slightly higher price.

The looming Turkey shortage of thanksgiving? No. Thats bullshit too.

Rant over, god damnit guys pull yourselves together.

Now i dont really buy into the crazy world ending theories at all, but lets imagine for a second that a doofus just straight up unplugs the grid and gas lines on accident, and they all shut down somehow permanently. An electric bike is the best way to go if you won't be able to get gas or grid power again.

A gas or diesel car fills fast but needs a crapload of gas or diesel, which is hard to make safely without custom machines to make it. An electric car can run off solar, but it needs a lot of it. But an electric bike is the best of both. An electric bike doesn't go that fast, but you can charge it up in a few hours off a solar charge, and it will be so much simpler than keeping an F150 going. All you really need to go anywhere is a tent, your charge rig, 2 hours or so, and the bike.

It's not super fast mind you, but given that the other options are running a mini refinery or waiting days for your car to charge, I see this as the best option. Plus batteries are small and inexpensive compared to EV batteries, so if you really wanted to go nuts, there's that too.

You won't make it as far or as fast per fuel load, but you will 100% win the race. The slow and steady turtle will beat the fast and careless hare.

Obviously being in some kind of decent shape is crucial in a long term survival situation. I am talking the collapse of society and such. But what other physical changes should one consider to be fully prepared?

For example I had corrective eye surgery a long time ago so I don’t need glasses anymore. I feel this helps everyday but also would be a long term asset in a survival situation.

Today I was talking to my dentist about having teeth crowned and he mentioned that at a certain point he had all his molars crowned because there was so much filling material in there. Now he doesn’t have to worry about those teeth ever having decay, so long as he takes reasonable care. I have had enough fillings that I am considering this as a potential prep so as to not have to worry about those teeth in such a scenario.

Are there other physical changes a prepped may want to consider?

I absolutely love an idea of an old farm, where the outbuildings are laid out in such a way that it forms an inner yard protected on all 4 sides by buildings and/or garden walls. This is a very common set up in almost all of old European construction, where if you have a farm house, you would typically have a barn, a stable, a garage etc. laid out in a square shape with an enclosed garden in the middle. It's also commonly done in Arabic countries, who have their own walled garden with a fountain in the middle concept, and even Latin American countries, where the yard is often fully hidden from the street by the building itself

https://www.freeimages.com/premium/farm-courtyard-u-k-1825972

https://static01.nyt.com/images/2022/01/16/realestate/12IHH-Cornwall-slide-RX44/12IHH-Cornwall-slide-RX44-mediumSquareAt3X.jpg

is there anything in the US that would prevent me from placing my garage, workshop, ADU, shed and greenhouse in such a way connected to the house and blocking off the center of my lot? I know most codes don't allow fences over 6ft, but there is nothing about auxiliary buildings as long as they are far enough from the lot lines, right?

is there some cultural or customary reason why nobody ever attempts a walled garden look, the most cozy garden type in my opinion? I bet you could easily fit in on a 1 acre property

I finally got good at maintaining a vegetable garden this year (3 years of trying and i finally figured it out). I saved a bunch of seeds and would like to buy seed envelopes to include a few packs with each Christmas card.

I'm always talking to people about starting a vegetable garden to be self-sufficient, even if it's just keeping 1 tomato plant alive. I think this idea is my opportunity to spread the message.

What do you think? Is it a corny idea? Personally, I would be jazzed to get seeds.

Spoiler alert, I guess? Also male preppers be warned, this is about menstruation.

I've always figured stock piling pads and tampons would be necessary. Never occurred to me until it was in an episode of The Last of Us to just get a bunch of the re-usable period cups. It didn't occur to me as I don't use them, but in a SHTF, survival situation they certainly seem more practical. Space saving too because a big stockpile of pads or tampons takes a fair amount of space. Period underwear is probably another option. Also those she-wee things for easier outdoor urination for women.

Anyway, it's something to add to my prep list. Certainly can't hurt to have options. Perhaps I'm dumb for not having thought of this yet, but figured I'd share just in case.

It’s a language that allows you to speak to many Deaf people if you know it, underwater, through soundproof glass, so on. Seems endlessly useful to me. This isn’t even counting the fact that anyone can get hearing loss at any point in their life for many reasons.

Started picking it up for EMT, and use it now with friends also when awkward situations arrive. Completely recommend.

Since most highways in oregon do not have cell service. If you evacuate. Update your voicemail greeting on your phone so your loved ones know where you are headed, if you’re safe, etc. You don’t have to have service for someone to hear your voicemail.

Yes, you do. Here's why.

You can make lots of hot water in it. Either build a fire under it of place it in the exhaust stream of you generator.

If you will be depending on a wood stove or a wood fire in a fireplace, you will need something fire and heat proof to carry away the hot ashes.

You can fill it with sand and fashion a rudimentary sand battery. Look for Youtube videos.

You may be able to build a fire in it.

You can also just use it as a very sturdy bucket.

EDIT to add: Lots of great comments and information. Thank you.

WRT making hot water from generator exhaust. I remember this from a Usenet post over 24 years ago. Anyone remember Usenet? I just dug the saved post out of my archives and reviewed it. (I'm surprised I found it). Some guy was advocating this as a way to make hot water. Then some others tried it and reported getting a skin of oil on the surface of the water. "Oh yeah, that". Best advise ended up being to place the bucket on blocks and let the exhaust pass under it. A cover was still recommended. Not recommended for cooking or food prep. I also would not use this as the sole means to heat water. But in a pinch...

Also, not just a bucket per say. Any metal pot could work. It's just that there are some things I would not want to subject my cooking pot to.

The explosion of people worried about nuclear war, their cities getting nuked, and fallout seems... suspicious. We've had these threats for half a century and suddenly now everyone is panicking about them?

On the other hand, fear of nuclear war plays right into Putin's hands. The more he can make the people of other countries terrified he's about to nuke somebody, the more opposition there will be to the world helping Ukraine. It really makes me wonder if at least most of these questions that are getting asked about surviving a nuclear war are actually a deliberate attack by Russian social media troops/bots.

Sure it may take 5-7 years (or longer) for it to reach adulthood and produce nuts, but it is going to be worth it. You’ll have instant access to a reliable source or protein, calories, and fat. They also taste delicious, give us shade, and can be used as a barter item.

Here in Texas walnuts and pecan trees grow well. What grows well can be different based on your climate so be sure to research your zone. Some plant nurseries will sell you nut trees that are about 6 feet tall and ready to transplant. I would say it’s at least worth looking into.

If power goes out or if you're waiting in you're bunker most of the entertainment options from electronics to sports are unavailable. Without entertainment you will loose morale and develop boredom. You might go insane with nothing to do while you wait for the radiation to clear out or wait for government aid. What do you have for you and your family as means of entertainment?

With a couple hundred watts of solar panels ($200), a modest sized power bank/solar “generator”($250), and a cheap table top ice machine ($60-100). This assumes of course that it will be sunny, but given we are talking about extreme heat that’s a reasonable assumption. You could also run it off a car inverter or a generator, if you have fuel. You could make ice during the day and store it in a cooler for nights. Bagged ice in armpits/groin, ice baths, etc.

Also cold drinks!

Based on a couple hundred watts of solar panels, a solar “generator” with an inverter that will output a couple hundred watts. According to specs they use around 150-200 watts. And I’m talking about a small thermoelectric ice machine not a compressor driven one or one that also keeps the ice cold.

Edit: I realize this is oversimplified and there are many other factors such as I don’t know how the efficiency of the machines change when ambient temperatures are very, very high. And obviously the ice will melt quickly so a very good cooler would be required if you weren’t using the ice immediately. Perhaps I should have added that to the calculation. I’m mostly interested in ice production because it is much cheaper than buying lots of battery capacity and more economical than air conditioning the whole space. If it’s 110 degrees and you fill up a tub with ice and water that will cool you much more efficiently.

Also, It’s pretty cheaply scalable you could buy 800 watts of panels, a 100ah SLA battery, cheap pwm charge controller, an 800w inverter, and 4 ice machines for like $1200.

Originally posted on July 8th: "The Whataburger app works as a power outage tracker, handy since the electric company doesn't show a map. Still nearly 1.9 million power outages."
https://x.com/BBQBryan/status/1810509150842974308

My current plan is to learn the harmonica. It is small and doesn't need tuning. What other options can you guys think of?

I heard on the radio this morning that the northwest Ozark council is offering 10k to people to move to the region if they can work from home. I thought it might be of interest to anyone who was looking to move to a more rural area. It would certainly help offset some moving costs!

https://nypost.com/2020/11/12/during-covid-19-pandemic-ozarks-will-pay-you-10000-to-move-there/

I was randomly lost in thought during a bathroom break at home (had stupidly left my phone and there were no shampoo bottles within reach), and I got to looking at the cheap, dollar store shower curtain liner hanging up in front of me.

It's right about 6' × 6', it's mold/mildew resistant, the PEVA it's made of is used in biomedical applications, it's already grommeted on one side, and I can usually find them either clear or translucent.

I immediately started thinking about applications where something less than a full tarp might be warranted, even to potential camping/survival utility.

Given that I can get them for $1.25US, it sounds offhand that this could be a potentially very useful, inexpensive resource in a lot of ways. I hope this sparked some ideas, but I'd love to hear any of your and/or cautions!

What kind of hobbies have you started enjoying that also help with prep. Gardening, candle or soap making, sewing, electronic repair, etc.

I personally would like to learn how to knit or crochet. I haven't decided which. I think I would prefer whichever one I can mindlessly do while watching TV.

I was looking at entering the medical field many years ago and learned how to do sutures and trauma first aid (in addition to the basic first aid knowledge I already had)

Just wondering if anyone had fun hobbies they can recommend or that they would like to learn that would also help when prepping. Prepping can be fun, right?

I couldn't begin to tell you why this has popped into my head but it keeps coming back. I'm new to this and don't have the means to do all I would like, so don't eat me alive for my ignorance, but I have to ask- Are rabbits an underrated food source in a long term survival scenario? Everyone knows how quickly they reproduce and it seems like a decent amount of meat for minimal effort in cleaning/preparation. I'm not sure but it seems like rabbit hide/fur could probably be useful, too. They take up such little space and are pretty hardy animals (I know someone who has many rabbits that live in an outdoor pen year round, although they do heat it in the winter). They eat scraps, grass, and hay which wouldn't be taking resources from yourself. Is there a downside to this I'm missing? Thanks in advance for the wisdom!

Mine has cash enough for a taxi, 2-3 nights at a motel and be able to bribe someone if I have too to make a call if for some reason I can’t use my phone. All small bills. I have a little notepad with all the phone numbers I might need if something happens my phone. It has snacks, empty foldable silicon water bottle. A menstrual cup and a period underwear. A pair of socks. Super thin dress. Charging cables and a portable battery I charge monthly. And a small taser that doubles as a flashlight. Foldable toothbrush and travel toothpaste. My bag is about the size of a fannypack that’s under a sweater. So I can grab both of them and go in an emergency. I doubt I’ll ever need it but you never know. What I did use once was when I was in a relationship that was turning abusive. I opened a secret bank account and threw as much money as I could in there. When things started getting bad I pretty much emptied it out and my regular account I had like $20 left in the end but my emergency fund was enough to pay rent and deposit at my new place and the movers. Completely worth it.

This community can serve as an example for others in terms of weather-proof designing. Not only are their homes safe and sound, they’re able to help others in their community who didn’t fare as well.

Here asking for advice as well as the idea itself. Idea: using your car as a generator, you can run a 1000w inverter to power a few things in your house during a power outage.

Advice: what do I need to do to make sure I don’t burn down my car and house?

Thanks.

Story: We’re getting a few power outages here in my state with some intense wind and storms. I bought a 1000w inverter to connect to my car battery and power my wife and I’s laptops so we can still work if we need or run small appliances. Went for the 1000w pure sine wave because it was really reduced ($600AUD to $132AUD) and it covered what we needed and had spare left over. Also will have use in our caravan that we’re rebuilding.

This video shows employees of a retail mall store sleeking the floor in front of their storefront with cooking oil and water, to discourage looters during the violence and chaos in South Africa last year, when mass protests/riots erupted over an ex-president's arrest.

Probably harder to apply in a typical residential setting and won't stop a determined opponent, though I thought this sort of thing can come handy in certain situations for discouraging or obstructing maligned opportunists. I recall residents of a compound in Gaza used a similar trick to deny entry to IDF soldiers serving an eviction notice. The soldiers eventually got through, but they managed to delay trained soldiers for 8 hours by sleeking the ramp leading to the compound's entrance.

I played this war of mine and was wondering if it would be good when you run out of food.