!preppers@lemmy.world
A place for people who like to be prepared for realistic disasters both human created and naturally occurring!
We expect there to be thematic overlaps with outdoor, survival, general preparedness, self-sufficient living and resilience... also gear talk is welcomed wholeheartedly.
!preppers
@lemmy.worldIf you spend any amount of time on just about any prepper forum, you'll see terms like "bugging in" or "bug-out bag". There is a TON of bad information out there, so I wanted to take a second and make a no-nonsense, plain-language primer for anyone just getting started on their preparedness journey.
Put simply, when people talk about "bugging out", they mean rapidly evacuating an area (usually their home) in an emergency. This can be due to things like natural disasters, chemical spills, civil unrest, war, or getting a call about a sick family member at 3 AM. Bugging out can be, but doesn't have to be, permanent.
You'll also see some people talk about "bugging in". This means that instead of evacuating, they stay at home in an emergency. There's merit to this approach as well: you already know your home and community, and all your supplies are (hopefully!) already there. This is especially appropriate in emergencies that are either very short in duration (like a two-day power outage) or very extreme in scope (like natural disaster making major roads out of your area impassible).
Whether it's better to bug out or bug in depends on your needs and circumstances; there is no "best" answer that applies equally to everyone in every situation. But there are a few things you can do in advance to help you decide:
When the time comes and you decide to bug out, review your plans in light of whatever the actual circumstances are at that time. Is your destination still unaffected? Can you get there safely? Is your family (including pets!) able to travel safely? Just because you planned to bug out (or bug in) doesn't necessarily mean you have to do so. Always stay flexible. Unyielding adherence to plans is a fast path to failure.
Finally, you'll see a lot of people talking about a bugout bag ("BOB"). This is basically a pre-packed backpack or duffle bag that you can grab on your way out the door. There are lots of good guides on building one, and I can make another post going into more details later (feel free to beat me to it). But a basic checklist includes:
Feel free to add your own items below. I'm sure I missed some but this will be enough to get you started with a functional, balanced bag. I see a lot of people in various prepper forums building up their BOB like they're going to ride out WW3. That's not what a BOB is for; a BOB is to get you from point A to point B. And don't feel like you have to buy some special "tactical prepper backpack"; that old Jansport tucked in the back of your closet is fine, and secondhand laptop backpacks can give you tons of organization for very little money.
Be polite and be excellent to each other.
Beyond that follow lemmy.worlds rules.
( We might adjust our rules, as we go along :-)
As suggested at a previous post it might be good to have some offline data stowed away.
May it be in form of a prepared mobile device, a pen drive or a hard disk. Some even suggest Raspberry Pi setups, which make it easy to serve/share data in a hotspot WiFi — aiming more at TEOTWAWKI situations.
One thing is for sure: having a (encrypted) pen drive with essential proof (IDs, licenses certificates, etc.) should be the bare minimum. As pointed out below you want to considered long-term storage like an M-DISC or swap the drive on a regular basis. You also need to update your outdated files, so you might want to do this in one step.
The topic and different approaches were often discussed at reddit and I'll try to give an overview and animate people to also post good digital reading materials and sources.
We already mentioned the offline wikipedia with KiWix and ZIM-archived, browsable data:
You might also want to store map data with
Coming from https://www.reddit.com/r/preppers/comments/oxbna2/prepper_hard_drive/ someone posted the http://survivorlibrary.com as good starting point, and an article shtfblog.com discusses a bug out library on SD/USB drives.
I will edit this post when I find the other sources in my archives and would be glad to incorporate your suggestions.
I have been skimming through several sub reddits like /r/preppers in search for a collection I once saw. However, you could also use Google and search for yourself.
Many of the sources are unchecked for quality. ⚠️ Some resources have an American touch and might address gun smithing, general warfare, military SOPs and field manuals as well as civilian sheltering and or resistance stuff.... because of, well.. it's an important thingy oversees. Sieving through these collections is an absolute must.
wget -m http://www.zetatalk11.com/docs/
to download all on linux/mac.Atlanta is currently suffering from a major water main break that has put half the city under a boil-water advisory. The city government is reportedly bringing in pallets of bottled water, so there hopefully will not be any real crisis here. But I expect this will be a wake-up call for a lot of people who have not given much thought to prepping.
There are also major droughts in Mexico City and Bogota, threatening to dry out their taps.
Do you all have any tips for folk with how to prep for loss of water service, especially for folk in cities where they may not have a ton of storage space or land for collecting water?
I'll start off by referring to the US FEMA guidelines: One gallon of water per person per day. In my experience the best format is those upright 1-gallon bottles with the opening in the top middle (not the milk-jug style with the handle).
https://edo.jrc.ec.europa.eu/edov2/php/index.php?id=1052
Just for the sake of communication and keeping this sub relevant: how are you situated (rural/city/flat/house) and what are your skills and preps to e.g. deal with harsh weather, a short-term cut off of energy and heating or cold and ugly weather on the trail with your BOB.
I've seen several good recommendations for what equipment I need, but I don't know who to trust for reliable products. For example, flashlights and multi-tools. I see a lot of flashlights on Amazon, but I don't know if one is "better" than another.
I'm wondering if there's a "you can't go wrong with these brands/models" that's available.
https://www.sawyer.com/counterfeit
The Sawyer Squeeze comes with a lifetime warranty from manufacturer defects for the life of the filter.
https://invidious.lunar.icu/watch?v=5w7bVLml7yA
At risk of being out of my lane, I'll be discussing one of the most prevailing SHTF plans: bugging out to the wilderness, and why I think it's a pretty poor risk prop. VENTURE SURPLUS Use BFOCT for 10% off (limited time) PONCHO LINER: https://www.venturesurplus.com/products/genuine-us-military-poncho-liner-army-acu/ Eclipse Armory (Buy Ammo While You Still Can) https://linktr.ee/brassfacts Business Email: brassfacts2@gmail.com SubscribeStar (Most videos aren't monetized, help pay for ammo!) https://www.subscribestar.com/brassfacts Instagram https://www.instagram.com/brassfacts2/ Cameraman https://www.instagram.com/camera_man_61/
In an emergency I simply will not be able to function without coffee. But I was surprised to learn that many people don't know how quickly coffee loses its flavor.
Ground coffee starts to flatten out almost immediately upon being exposed to oxygen. Typically you can expect it to hold its flavor for a few days, maybe two or three weeks at the most. After that it will still resemble "coffee" but the flavor will be significantly weakened. Storing it in mylar with an O2 absorber may help somewhat, but the flavor breakdown is already underway by the time you seal the bag.
Roasted coffee beans will last roughly a year stored at room temperature, away from direct sunlight. Storing them in mylar (with that O2 absorber) should stretch this out somewhat. I'm going to fill and seal two small bags out of my next purchase, and test them at the 3 and 5 year marks.
I see people recommending green (unroasted) beans for long-term storage, but there are two problems there. Roasting isn't an exact science; you'll want to make sure you're a seasoned roaster before you ruin your stash. And when you do roast, that wonderful smell will be travel far and wide. In a SHTF situation, that's a powerful motivator for someone to come pay you a visit.
I'm saying this as a coffee snob who hates instant coffee: instant coffee is the best way to go for long-term storage. There are special "prepper" brands of instant coffee out there but the truth is as long as the container is sealed, it's going to hold its flavor for many years. Go to your local supermarket and buy a few jars of whatever floats your boat, write the purchase date on them, and tuck them away in the back of your pantry. At the minimum they'll be good for many years, probably at least a decade.