Prepping Advice: What are you hoarding for "the bad times"?

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In our area, water, food, cash. Main risk is earthquake and if you live near the wood it is wildfire. If nuclear war started or zombie apocalypse happens there is not much we can do, traffic jam would kill us all before we could get out.

Another point: silver and gold will be worthless in a bad scenario. Owning them is no substitute for having food and other survival needs, because no one in his right mind is going to sell you goods he needs for his own survival at any price. You don't want to be the richest hungry man in the neighborhood.

Any scenario you can picture in which stores are open and accepting gold for a loaf of bread is outright 100% rubbish. The stores will have been looted long before that point, with no replacement goods likely to arrive soon if ever.
Grandparents went through WW2, and gold is the defacto cash when governments print nonstop, and currency is forced to change when a warzone is taken. People are still suing the Japanese government when they force the locals to forfeit USD and other currency for their "warzone currency", which became monopoly money after Japan surrendered. If you don't forfeit, you get executed.
 
when living in a small apartment without garage or basement one’s preps must be limited. in tokyo we were advised to be self sufficient for 72 hours after the big/expected earthquake, until help started flowing. 72+ hours of food & water, candles, batteries, transistor radio, hygiene disposal, longer term meds, toolset (including crowbar & hatchet to open jammed doors & clear debris), some few camping supplies (tarp, sleeping bag, backpack if must sleep outside of unsafe dwellings), cash in small & large denominations, were my standard kit in japan.

here in north america we can fortunately add firearms and ammo. perhaps some may say “sadly add” given the higher likelihood of disorder here, but i’m very happy with our 2a in any event. even a simple 22lr rifle or pistol and a couple of 500 round bricks of ammo is most welcome in a dicey time.

the most worrisome time in tokyo would be an earthquake while out and about, away from one’s stash of preps. thus a personal survival kit is important, in your pocket, in your shoulder bag, in your car trunk. on me always is a swiss army knife, whistle, flashlight, bic lighter in a small pouch. add a sillcock key to a bag or trunk and a leatherman multitool to a belt.

decent personal health is a needed prep with a regular exercise routine for both mental and physical readiness. motor vehicles kept in good shape with gas tank absolutely no less than 3/4 full when parked for the night. somethings for amusement (playing cards, paperback books, traveling chess or checkers set) and something for reassurance (bible, there are no atheists in foxholes).
 
Right now in Venezuela with a starving population, gold or silver will still buy you anything. Gasoline, food, even women.
It cant all be about the Zombie apocalypse. there are a lot of grey areas or slow slides into dystopia such as the one the US is undergoing right now.
There will always be smugglers and hoarders with connections.


Back in the Civil War after WW2 in China, the communists circled the former Manchuria capital of Changchun and 200K civilian died from starvation during the long siege. The wealthy folks inside the city was doing ok. Interviews of the survivors said even restaurants selling fried stuff was operating, the only currency they took at the time were gold and silver jewelry.

The defending army was doing ok, surviving off air drops and dog meat, they raised dogs with civilian corpses so they do not have to eat human corpses.
 
I keep a weeks worth of food, day or two of water. In the Northeast the big ones come once a decade, maybe less often than that: ice storms. The rest of the time, power stays on and all is well.

Over the last two years I have lost power for about an hour. How much time, money and effort would I have spent in generator maintenance?

If the Apocalypse hits, then I and everyone I know will run out, and have to adapt. Of course, I would no longer be commuting and working, so I’ll have time to switch gears and live off the land. Hopefully the Apocalypse will be considerate and occur in spring, that way I can expand the garden.
 
Some home canning groups on Facebook said some of you are extremists and should be turned into the .gov.

I know that delights some here, others - probably, well................

For the guys who think laying in a little back up supplies is nuts - One guy at the top said:

“The price of the sanctions is not just imposed upon Russia. It’s imposed upon an awful lot of countries as well, including European countries and our country as well.”

I prep for THE large earthquake. It's will come. Coming together is a thing, but can't depend on that for longer periods. Warehouses are not infinite. Storms and floods too. Think distribution recently.

Civil unrest is a possibility when in some areas police just let them run. Remote, very remote in rural areas though. Gov coming for you? Yeah, no. Not quite yet. Elections still matter. Some folks have very short memories.

I have enough for a month or so. I have some large cans of freeze dried staples. Along with the accompaniments.

People mention grains........even if no bugs, freeze dried, in vacuum cans - they will go rancid because the oils. 5-6-maybe 7 years MAX. Rotate.
 
I keep atleast six month supply of dated non perishables that I normally use anyway which I get at a good sales price. I also have a good supply of stored water which I change out every year. I have been doing this for many years and everything is organized according to dates. Nothing gets wasted and gets replaced when I do ocassionally use it. If I have to, I will hunt wild game if needed.
 
Be aware that 'bleach' has a shelf life.
Good for about one year.
Heat degrades it faster.
Yes, but you can also purchase bleach in a highly concentrated powder form, calcium hypochlorite (also known as pool shock), that has a very long shelf life. The stuff can be dangerous if not handled correctly so you have to be very careful with it.
 

Security experts have expressed the most worry about hacks on the energy and finance industries. However, each of the nation’s crucial sectors is at risk in some way.

“We should consider every sector vulnerable,” said Jen Easterly, director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, during a three-hour call this week with around 13,000 participants from multiple industries on the Russian hacking threat. “In some ways, we should assume that disruptive cyber activity will occur.”

Inevitably, some attack will break through if an adversary like Russia puts enough resources behind it.

“If a nation state brings its A-Team, the ability to be 100 percent effective on defense is not always there,” said Senate Intelligence Chair Mark Warner (D-Va.), pointing to concerns around the energy and financial sectors. “So how do we stay resilient, even if the bad guys get in?”

“We’re really focusing right now on what we call the lifeline sectors, specifically the communications sector, the transportation sector, the energy sector, the water sector, and then of course the financial services sector,” Easterly said during the call this week.

...Not all parts of the U.S. energy supply face equal oversight of their cybersecurity practices: The electricity sector has long faced mandatory cyber standards, for example, while the oil and gas pipeline industry is sparring with federal regulators over the government’s first-ever attempt to impose similar requirements for those companies...

...Amid a hacking surge, nearly 50 million people in the U.S. saw their sensitive health data breached in 2021........health care organizations often have meager cybersecurity budgets, according to the most recent Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society cybersecurity survey.

“Our organizations are continuously being probed and scanned from Russia, China, Iran and North Korea thousands of times a day, literally, whether it’s a small critical access hospital or the largest systems,” John Riggi, the national adviser for cybersecurity and risk at the American Hospital Association, said last month.
 
2 to 4 weeks food for two people. Four 20 pound propane tanks for the grill. Live next to a river.. have 4 chainsaws and a fireplace. Extra meds for a month or two. Tent , warm clothes , camping stuff for use at home. Welders , tools oil , 3 vehicles... extra spare tires. Firearm stuff enough to get whatever food we need.
Extra clothes , shoes , boots. Lots of paper towels and paper plates and toilet paper. Saw blades n cutting discs. Chainsaw chains. Extra 2 cycle oil . Inverters .. extra car batteries.
 
Security experts have expressed the most worry about hacks on the energy and finance industries. However, each of the nation’s crucial sectors is at risk in some way.
This is the biggest threat I've been reading about. We've all been hacked in one way or another, we might not even know it yet. Haveibeenpwned.com (correct spelling) is a good way to see which of your accounts have been compromised.

It's just a matter of time that a major cyber even affects millions of people. These cyber kill switches from other countries could already be sitting dormant on a server, ready for the signal. It doesn't have to be a doomsday scenario, just the electrical grid going down for a week or 2 would cause havoc.

Pet store fish antibiotics work on people. Well worth having
Wouldn't hurt to refill any open prescriptions that you currently don't need before the refill period expires.
 
Medical first aid. Sunscreen. Sunglasses.. pocket knives. Stainless hardware. Duct tape. Wire ties. Cordage. Paracord...alum foil. Cook oil. Rubbing alcohol... feminine products. If not for you or family. Someone will be happy. Bottles of alcohol. Great barter or mental health item. Coolant .. propane small bottles with self igniter to start a fire. Bottles of anti diarrheal and pain meds.. vitamins . Alergy meds .
 
This is the biggest threat I've been reading about. We've all been hacked in one way or another, we might not even know it yet. Haveibeenpwned.com (correct spelling) is a good way to see which of your accounts have been compromised.

It's just a matter of time that a major cyber even affects millions of people. These cyber kill switches from other countries could already be sitting dormant on a server, ready for the signal. It doesn't have to be a doomsday scenario, just the electrical grid going down for a week or 2 would cause havoc.


Wouldn't hurt to refill any open prescriptions that you currently don't need before the refill period expires.
I keep up on my needed maint meds and try to stay ahead. I dont have any spare antibiotics or rx for them. So having the ability to get something useful from the pet store is something to consider.
 
never let it get around the community that you are a prepper & have lots of supplies. very important to keep it as secretive as possible. keep only the most trustworthy people in the loop. the ones you prep with/have a plan of action with. when the Sh*t hits the fan, armies of people will come for you if they know you got it. if you are alone, it will be hard to fight of a large crowd, even if you are armed. for us, its myself, my wife & kids. very few close friends that also prep that we also share a second storage facility. we are very private regarding prepping.

it dont happen often but once food gets within 30-60 days of expiration its donated to local food banks & replaced.

cyber attacks worry me more than armies invading the usa. our power grid is extremely vulnerable. a bomb exploding a mile or so over a strategic point can knock out power for millions, for months. however unlikely it might be, it could happen.

the longer russia suffers from sanctions & the more the world is cutting off putin from the global economy, the more desperate he becomes. backed into a corner. he will likely become even more unstable and become more of a nuclear threat. hopefully it wont get to that point. however friday morning on the news i heard a commenter say we are on the brink of ww3.
 
Community is critical, so befriend your neighbors and get to know the local farmers, buy meat and poultry directly from them to form relationships NOW. This can be critical going forward.
Page 4 and you're the first to notice this.

Also physical fitness is important, as well as having a mountain bike in good shape and knowledge of local trails. If the roads get blocked or barricaded you can silently find your way around.

Being fit also helps keep many diseases down. If someone started a fitness regimen in 3/2020 they'd have had healthier lungs when Covid really got going. And you can outrun the typical "zombie."

These threads always turn into masturbatory fantasies that can be solved by shopping. "Oh, only three of my closest friends know." And what will keep their lips sealed? :cautious:

Whatever your hideout is, you'll have to make it appear not lived in. No footprints, no smell of rotting trash, no pets making noise, nothing going up the chimney. Pollen and sap buildup on your cars, rusty brake rotors. Hope you have plenty of good reading material to read by daylight, your brain will be your worst enemy. If you have to go out, you'll not want to appear "well fed", do you really have the discipline to starve yourself like the others when you're sitting on all that rice?

PS get a shortwave radio so you can pick up the BBC, in case the internet goes down and local broadcast has "issues" telling the whole story.
 
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