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Cugel the Clever posted:Thanks for the thread, OP. I'm easing my election anxiety with some emergency-preparedness buys. It's all stuff that would be good to have in any emergency, so I won't regret the purchases even if the chuds don't try to start poo poo in the next six months. I'm in an apartment in an urban core, which is a context I haven't often seen specifically addressed. My building was built in this century, so is likely relatively earthquake-resilient and the shear population density of the area means it'll likely receive rapid federal relief efforts, barring a scenario where Trump refuses to accept defeat and chaos ensues. An induction cooktop: https://www.amazon.com/Duxtop-8100M...ps%2C143&sr=8-4 And generator will work. Also useful to keep your fridge running as well. Gas generators will probably be the only ones that can output the power you'd need to supply your fridge and cooktop in the space you have. If you have a balcony you can pop it out there so you don't kill yourself with carbon monoxide. If you live in the countryside you could go with solar, batteries, and an inverter to have an effectively infinite supply of power.
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Oct 18, 2020 23:12
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Nitrousoxide posted:An induction cooktop:  Unrelated, but what's the prepper equivalent of tacticlol? Spotted on r/preppers: 
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Oct 18, 2020 23:27
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No trip flares or claymores on the perimeter fence. 0/10 the NVA sappers will cut through the wire and kill him in his sleep.
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Oct 18, 2020 23:33
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Cugel the Clever posted:Cooking Cugel the Clever posted:Since I'm looking to shelter in place, maybe just getting the bags and using them with my actual toilet would be the best way to go? Cugel the Clever posted:entertainment Everybody needs a nintendo switch.
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Oct 19, 2020 01:13
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AreWeDrunkYet posted:How do you budget the maintenance costs of emergency supplies? Most of the things listed in the OP need to be replaced on some frequency if they aren't used, whether it's food, drugs, filters, or medical supplies, so it comes off as an ongoing process and expense to maintain preparedness. And then what's the best way to factor those costs into the threat matrix mentioned, that is, how do you put specific values on the likelihood of a disaster, the impact of being unprepared, the costs of being prepared, and the mitigation offered by being prepared? These are a bunch of good questions. Per the first- I keep a written record and also Google Calendar reminders set up for the expiration dates of my food. When something is getting close to that date, it gets moved to the front of the pantry for use and a replacement item gets added to the grocery list. Things like bandages don’t necessarily have an expiration date per say, but rather that the sterility of the wrapping can’t be guaranteed. In that case maybe I’d consider using an old bandage for a training aid while working on replacing it with a fresh one. Done smartly, preparedness should not be “dump a ton of money on stuff at random intervals” but a gradual, ongoing process that doesn’t have to be super costly. Your question about taking in the costs of being prepared or unprepared for an event is good, and admittedly one that I haven’t thought out to the level that you’re positing. Instead, I’d say that any measures or course of action that you might choose would need to be cost-effective and feasible, understanding that will mean different things depending on the individual and the scenario. I may write an effortpost about how to do a threat assessment and try to account for that.
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Oct 19, 2020 04:49
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Cugel the Clever posted:No balcony, so I'm probably SOL. Could theoretically get an electric burner and a battery backup, but the battery backups are ultra-pricey and probably wouldn't get me more than a few meals heated What kind of dweeb puts triple strand in their apartment
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Oct 20, 2020 05:00
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Guest2553 posted:e. for sleeping bag, I'd recommend something synthetic primarily because it doesn't lose much insulation value when wet. It'll be a bit heavier and bulkier than down, but synthetics are a lot warmer and have longer life spans than they used to. I'd personally aim for a zero to twenty degree rated bag since it's easier to vent heat than it is to make more warmth (especially if you have one that opens up into a quilt shape), but don't forget you'll need something like a pad or mattress below you to stay warm. Where/how you live will determine what temp rating you need though - a family of six huddled in a single room of a new build townhouse has different requirements to keep everyone alive compared to an individual hiding out in an open warehouse, say. The biggest thing you can do to stay warm is to get yourself off the ground. If you're sheltering in a house it's not as big a deal, but if you're outside or in a basement, the ground is going to eat all your warmth dangerously fast. A regular air filled air mattress is barely better than your body against the ground for keeping in warmth. The solution I use is cheap and good. Drop ten-twenty bucks on a roll of Reflectix insulation. It's basically bubble wrap with mylar on both sides, and does an amazing job of keeping your heat in you if you put it between your body and pad or the ground. A 24" x 10 foot roll will make you two, and the one I keep in my camping bed roll has held up to my fat rear end rolling around on it in hammocks and on tent floors for a half dozen weekend trips now. As an additional measure, my car kit for winter (which I had to throw in today, what the hell snow in mid-October) has one of these survival blankets as well:  Several manufacturers make them, they're heavy tarp weight ~7' x 5', water and wind proof, reflective on one side and safety orange on the other. Get a reflective pad under you, and one of those on top, and you'll be maximizing your body heat conservation. Throw on a wool watch cap and you'll be toasty.
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Oct 20, 2020 08:55
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These are good for the car: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07TDGV37F/ It's a reinforced mylar emergency blanket in a form factor you can wear with a high vis exterior and they're still about the size of a deck of cards in the package.
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Oct 20, 2020 16:32
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Flying_Crab posted:What kind of dweeb puts triple strand in their apartment Now it’s a TSCIF 
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Oct 20, 2020 16:55
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Internet Wizard posted:Now it’s a TSCIF Always thankful that I never had to string it or pound pickets. Thanks engineers!
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Oct 20, 2020 17:47
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We’ve got an election next week. Anyone do anything to prepare for it? I checked my shelf-stable food’s expiration dates, restocked my FAKs and went on a run to Trader Joe’s for comfort food. I’m feeling pretty confident that my wife, dog and I are about as squared away as we can get for our area; here’s to hoping that we won’t have to endure another shelter in place/curfew type of situation like we did earlier this year.
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Oct 31, 2020 00:22
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I'm going to costco tomorrow. Might buy a spare pack of toilet paper. I do need to grab another case of water regardless.
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Oct 31, 2020 00:35
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pantslesswithwolves posted:We’ve got an election next week. Anyone do anything to prepare for it? I checked my shelf-stable food’s expiration dates, restocked my FAKs and went on a run to Trader Joe’s for comfort food. I’m feeling pretty confident that my wife, dog and I are about as squared away as we can get for our area; here’s to hoping that we won’t have to endure another shelter in place/curfew type of situation like we did earlier this year. I bought alcohol. In all seriousness I probably have enough super heavy beer to subsist off of for at least a week and a half in terms of calories, heh.
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Oct 31, 2020 01:06
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stocking up in anticipation of *checks notes* a general election. the u.s. went from king of the hill to failed 3rd world nation pretty quick
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Oct 31, 2020 01:08
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pantslesswithwolves posted:We’ve got an election next week. Anyone do anything to prepare for it? I checked my shelf-stable food’s expiration dates, restocked my FAKs and went on a run to Trader Joe’s for comfort food. I’m feeling pretty confident that my wife, dog and I are about as squared away as we can get for our area; here’s to hoping that we won’t have to endure another shelter in place/curfew type of situation like we did earlier this year. welp I'm gonna be driving across country with all my poo poo, pray for me.
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Oct 31, 2020 01:39
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Grip it and rip it posted:welp I'm gonna be driving across country with all my poo poo, pray for me. I'll be doing the same later next month. Goon luck my dude.
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Oct 31, 2020 01:53
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Yeah I need to stock up on water. I’m still good on food, when I was with the Marines like two years ago they left a literal truckload of MREs lying around so when we were rucking only a short distance back from the field I stuffed my ruck with every chili Mac I could find. Also veggie MREs are actually good gently caress the haters.
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Oct 31, 2020 10:20
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I remember really liking the Spicy Penne Pasta MRE. Since it was vegetarian, it would often get missed in the first round of rat loving and was thus a reliable choice.
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Oct 31, 2020 15:10
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The pepper sauce is extremely hot and it comes with Twizzy nibs A+ MRE
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Oct 31, 2020 16:40
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The Rat posted:I remember really liking the Spicy Penne Pasta MRE. Since it was vegetarian, it would often get missed in the first round of rat loving and was thus a reliable choice. That’s the secret to MRE ratfucking. Let everyone else go for chili Mac and load up on the weird sounding good ones, then laugh at them day 4 when all they have left is “pizza” and that grossest chicken one.
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Oct 31, 2020 21:08
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I lived off of the Cheese Tortellini one during the invasion. Gun section was just large enough for one MRE box to be completely emptied so people claimed their flavor. The only veggie one that was bad has been banished and shall not be spoken of. Warfighter Approved my rear end, gently caress the omlette
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Oct 31, 2020 21:08
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Steezo posted:I lived off of the Cheese Tortellini one during the invasion. Gun section was just large enough for one MRE box to be completely emptied so people claimed their flavor. The only veggie one that was bad has been banished and shall not be spoken of. Warfighter Approved my rear end, gently caress the omlette Yeah I heard that one was hot garbage though it was way before my time. At first I avoided veg since I’ve read enough memoirs from the early 00’s and heard about it from friends, until someone was raving about the veg MREs being almost as good as chili Mac.
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Oct 31, 2020 21:12
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The worst one I had during my time in was the sausage and creamy gravy. It was bad enough that I dry heaved trying to eat it on the final day of the crucible when I was starving and would’ve eaten about anything.
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Oct 31, 2020 21:19
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You know what, I'm just gonna say it. I liked the Jambalaya. Hell, on my R&R from my first deployment I went to Vegas for a weekend and went to the House of Blues and had a $30 bowl of Jambalaya after eating it most of the deployment. Ham, chicken, shrimp, rice, tomatoes and peppers can't go wrong.
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Oct 31, 2020 21:24
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The vegetarian MREs (other than the omelet) were diamonds in the rough but I've still got a soft spot for Mexican style chicken stew. Heat the main, rice and the packet of jalapeno cheese in the FRH and mix them all together and it was almost palatable.
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Nov 1, 2020 15:41
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ASAPI posted:Anyone know anything about how to determine friend or foe when reaching out to groups of people in the event everything goes to poo poo? Other than lurk on the HAM radio and hope your neighbors are dicks seems to be all I can find. Their mottos are usually along the lines of "solidarity not charity". They tend to be very loosely organized groups that are a poo poo show to coordinate, but I can't think of a better resource for medium-long term support. There are also organizations like CERT that range from emergency response cosplayers to the best local immediate response to disaster. If you want to get involved with these groups, that is great too. Just try to remain aware that immediate response and long term support are very different things. It is fun to be part of the calvary that rides in to save the day, but if you are providing long term support in this fashion us vs. them animosity can start to build. Regarding portable water filters: - The katadine pocket is well built and long lasting, but it is expensive, heavy, hard to pump, and the ceramic filter is somewhat fragile. -For the money you can get enough sawyer squeeze filters (or similar) to stash anywhere you might need it. For stationary setups you can use it as a gravity filter with some tubing or even rig it up to a faucet. They don't filter virus, but neither does the katadine. I went through trying to figure out the most reliable way to start a fire before coming around to the realization that just keeping a few Bics everywhere is the best option. Now I think the same about water treatment. Don't rely on a single point of failure. e: For areas where there is a chance of human poo poo or piss in the water I recommend virus precautions. Thankfully they are a lot easier to kill chemically than many or the viruses and parasites that are easily filtered out: https://www.cdc.gov/safewater/effectiveness-on-pathogens.html CopperHound fucked around with this message at 17:27 on Nov 1, 2020 |
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Nov 1, 2020 16:55
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I’m glad I don’t live in an urban environment anymore, being prepared probably just involves being friends with the group with the most guns... Keeping warm would not be to difficult long as you had shelter. Long term food sources would definitely be precarious and dependent on local circumstances. However water would be the greatest weak point and the cause of a lot of short and long term problems. I wonder what percentage of people know the basics on how to properly purify water.
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Nov 1, 2020 19:50
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My goal is to go shopping tonight (when empty) and get everything needed to ensure that for the next week or two there is no need to go out for anything (even perishables to the extent they have Frozen or canned variants or tolitaries and household items). The goal with this is then being able to move totally to delivery, for just winter Covid reasons, beyond anything else. We've already started clearing room on basement shelves to store stuff (since it's normally for storing old toys or Christmas ornaments). So basically coming back from Wegmans like I was Arnold at Surplus City in Commando, but with food instead of a FLASH launcher.  That said it’s good I keep a case of water in the car for... quote:Water - do not store it in plastic bottles. When they get heated in the summer, they release microplastics into the water. Store in canteens, or double-walled bottles like this. Marshal Prolapse fucked around with this message at 20:18 on Nov 1, 2020 |
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Nov 1, 2020 20:01
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ganglysumbia posted:I’m glad I don’t live in an urban environment anymore, being prepared probably just involves being friends with the group with the most guns... If you're worried about needing to make friends with the biggest group with the most guns, prep for that. Build or join a community of people near you that you can trust to not only have your back, but to be trying to make things better for everyone. A mutual support network is a good idea even outside of the most extreme scenarios. Unless you're truly isolated, being outside the city won't mean you're not subject to the same concern about armed groups, either, and those groups with guns that do exist are much less likely to be friendly to outsiders or open to internal dissention.
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Nov 1, 2020 20:46
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True, living alone in the woods leaves one fairly vulnerable. Having grown up in the States and now living in Central Europe there is a huge gap in long term sustainability in many US urban and rural areas. Looking at natural disasters that knock out infrastructure or sustained problems that prevent people from maintaining and repairing that infrastructure, basically a lot of folks are going to be getting cholera... What I’m trying to get at I suppose is that no matter what it would be a poo poo sandwich, and everyone gets a big bite no matter how many Chili mac MREs you have stockpiled. What I would advise is have that 72 emergency kit for sudden and short term disasters, several months of stockpiled perishable foods and a month of long term food supplies that are not so difficult to rotate out. Beyond that strengthen your community networks and if able / affordable build your home and property up for long term sustainability.
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Nov 2, 2020 07:58
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The community networks thing fucks with me, I was talking about this with my partner. They were worried about random chuds getting at us in the woods and I was like nah.. if its actually as bad as you think it's those real neolib neighbors that you gotta watch your back for
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Nov 2, 2020 17:34
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Maybe I'm naive, but I like to think that getting too sick/injured to properly feed oneself is far more likely than friends outright betraying each other.
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Nov 2, 2020 19:21
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CopperHound posted:Maybe I'm naive, but I like to think that getting too sick/injured to properly feed oneself is far more likely than friends outright betraying each other. Both sound very likely, widespread and connected imo
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Nov 2, 2020 19:41
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what's the general take on caffeine preparedness? I don't think my shelf full of cans and my few jars of instant are really going to hold out against any kind of long term supply interruption. even at a fairly modest two cups a day that ends up being a lot of grounds over the course of a week. it's going to be a while before my yaupon is ready to harvest assuming I can even get the seeds to germinate, the caffeine content is pitiably low and drinking yerba matte is...unpleasant.
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Nov 2, 2020 20:38
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If you care enough to make it a priority, why not just buy a jar of anhydrous caffeine? Compact and shelf stable.
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Nov 2, 2020 20:50
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The Voice of Labor posted:what's the general take on caffeine preparedness? Pills are super cheap. It’s a couple dollars for 2-3 months worth at walmart and it has a shelf-life of years. Definitely easy enough to have a supply capable of tapering off on if that’s your worry.
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Nov 2, 2020 21:22
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The Voice of Labor posted:what's the general take on caffeine preparedness? Bricks of vacuum-sealed Cafe Bustello from Aldi and a few hundred caffeine pills go a long way. Also, having a good stock of vitamins B12 and D help.
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Nov 2, 2020 21:25
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warsow posted:Bricks of vacuum-sealed Cafe Bustello from Aldi and a few hundred caffeine pills go a long way. Caffeine pills are an absolute must. So is having some stored coffee, or tea.
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Nov 2, 2020 23:08
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pantslesswithwolves posted:We’ve got an election next week. Anyone do anything to prepare for it? I checked my shelf-stable food’s expiration dates, restocked my FAKs and went on a run to Trader Joe’s for comfort food. I’m feeling pretty confident that my wife, dog and I are about as squared away as we can get for our area; here’s to hoping that we won’t have to endure another shelter in place/curfew type of situation like we did earlier this year. Bought a pack of TP, topped up my canned goods, and bought four liters of rum. Going to be piss drunk the rest of the week.
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Nov 3, 2020 06:26
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Bored As gently caress posted:Caffeine pills are an absolute must. So is having some stored coffee, or tea. Why are pills a must? Expect to be running ops or having guard duty? Most people will get over their caffeine withdraws fairly quickly. And the reason why so much coffee is consumed is the taste, disregarding those that add anything to it but hot water... If you are really concerned you can buy unroasted beans, which last more than two years if stored properly. Which is definitely not a bad idea if poo poo goes down it would definitely become very expensive, something to barter with, and of course the thing that makes all things better.
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Nov 3, 2020 09:18
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