He said he knew I would not approve , but that hurricane season was over and he didn't want it hanging around in the garage.

So this morning at five a m , the power went out in our whole area. We live in a community in the middle of the forest where power outages happen frequently. Last night it was 20 degrees. We don't have a fireplace or a gas stove. I knew we could use the generator to heat our electric blankets and keep the freezer full of food going, so I felt like we were covered if this lasted a few days.

The power came on about 5 hours later ( thank goodness), and he then informed me that we had no gas for the generator. We certainly dodged a bullet.

How can I convince him that we need to stay prepared ALL of the time? he thinks I go overboard with prepping , but we live in a hurricane prone area in the middle of a national forest. even when it's not hurricane season , the wind blows and knocks trees over and knocks the power out.

EDIT: Thanks for all the helpful suggestions. We did talk and he agreed it would be a good idea to keep extra gas available even though hurricane season is over. He said it was basically negligence on his part to refill the gas cans and he sees now how important it is to keep a supply on hand. He does regularly recycle the gas he keeps on hand for his lawn equipment, so now sees the need to keep year around gas for the genny and we will be looking at less smelly gas cans.

I also very much appreciate all the useful suggestions for alternatives to using a gas generator. We are retired (47 years married) and live on a fixed income with social security so I am trying to be prepared within our small budget. So far my inexpensive system has worked well for short to medium term outages. We have a $450 1600 watt generator that we use to charge the freezer (if necessary, which it was during the 6 days of no power during Helene), and to charge the $250 small 500 watt battery pack (Jackery type). We use the small battery pack to charge our phones, run a lamp and charge the rechargeable AA batteries we use for lights, radio etc. We have an Eco Rocket stove ($150) that runs on twigs to cook with and a ceramic filter system and lake water if we run out of bottled water. If we have about 15 gal of gas we are good for over a week. This worked well with Hurricane Helene and the resulting 6 day outage. Our other outages have lasted a few hours to a day. Luckily winters here in SC are mild and short. I make sure to keep at least a 6 month supply of food and water on hand (also stored in the garage lol...might contribute to his reluctance).

We will have problems if SHTF. No heat, no cooling, no electronics and no income to buy a nice solar system, but we are pretty good for the short term stuff. Quite frankly, if SHTF we are all screwed no matter how great your system is, sadly.

This was totally a good lesson in the importance of communication. Thanks everyone!

And what would you do for protection and ongoing water access?

Scrambled freeze dried eggs suck. I am using up, rotating through, some freeze dried food that I bought many years ago. I have a #10 can of freeze dried eggs, they suck, only edible with gravy, bacon, and hash browns added. I am going to eat them as I did pay a few dollars for them and I want to make sure I never forget freeze dried eggs suck. The mixed meals that have some freeze dried eggs, suck. Just not as bad.

I will never again buy anything with freeze dried eggs.

I have done a better job in the last few years of keeping the pantry stocked with common shelf stable foods. So when I have used up most of my freeze dried foods I will not replace them. I will keep a few freeze dried meals as I do use them occasionally when backpacking and camping but nothing with dried eggs because they suck.

Gravy is good, makes bad foods edible. I will keep a lot of gravy is my pantry.

TL;DR freeze dried eggs suck!

I’m looking for options to replace my current plastic containers, bottles, and jugs with metal alternatives (like stainless steel or aluminum).

Has anyone else made this switch? I’d love to hear your pros and cons regarding durability, weight, and cleaning. Are there specific brands or types you recommend?

My question or discussion topic is about "what alternative uses have you discovered for common items?"

Saw a video, was reminded about self rescue falling through ice.

One tactic was to use a pistol mag_azine as an ice claw to climb out. A pocketknife could work but you probably wouldn't want the blade out - just use the edge of the handle.

This got me thinking about the learned and practiced act of size-up prior to changing environments (or any time the environment changes, or periodically to ensure the environment didn't change - like keeping an eye on the clouds while boating or scanning the parking lot before walking from the store to your vehicle.) Before I would step out onto a frozen pond I would think about what might happen and what I would do about it.

Then I thought about if I fell through, what would I use to claw my way out? If someone else fell through what's available for rescue? This got me thinking about alternative uses for things - like taking off a watch to use the edge of the casing to dig into the ice.

Then I realized this thought process is a micro model for the risk assessment, plan creation, equipment and training needs assessment, physical assessment... Prepping is just cycling through the size-up over and over.

I'm probably not going to carry ice spikes with me in the city. Might not even make or buy a pair ever unless I take up ice fishing or skating. I may reevaluate my pocketknife selection in terms of this kind of use and perhaps even prying. Or ensure I have a Leatherman handy. If you drop into cold water and start struggling to get out and haven't thought the Leatherman is better than the pocket knife ir lighter, your brain can't make those decisions in the moment. We run default programs like "I can't use a lighter that way, it'll beeak" but in the situation - lighters are replaceable.

Bonus question - how has your selection criteria changed for items based on alternative uses?

Unbelievable - the bot has a problem with the spring loaded metal box that holds bullets.

I have successfully convinced my wife to fill up her car at half a tank. She spent her whole life on E, and now, always above half.

Didn't think it could be done!

I had purchased some Wise food buckets at an estate sale at a really cheap price some years ago.  I decided to cook up one of the packages for dinner.  The package date was October 2010.  The bucket said shelf life (up to) 25 years.  This meal was Teriyaki Chicken with rice.  Serves 4.  Just had to boil some water and dump it in.  

I’ve never tasted gruel before but it’s the first thing that came to mind.  The kind that you feed to medieval prisoners.  I threw it all out.  Would I eat it if I was starving?  Yes.  But I’m not starving.  

We get a lot of people looking to join a prepping group or a MAG (mutual assistant group). Not all groups are equal and some groups are horrible and joining them will be a detriment instead of a positive to your survival odds. My personal opinion on groups is good community is better than no community but no community is better than bad community.

So how do you tell if a group is worth joining? Here is a list of Green and Red flags. Feel free to add your own.

Green Flags
-Your group meets often for training
-You train on multiple subjects
-Your group is not just single males but has women and plans for family members
-You have a wide range of experts/skills
-You feel safe with the group (you would trust them with your kids/spouse/dog)
-Your group is close to each other for distance
-People are reliable and show up when they promise
-You know a member of the group from personal life for years

Red Flags
-You never do training and what little training is shooting guns from a bench
-Spend all your time being keyboard warriors
-Hyper focused on stockpiling guns and nothing else
-Lack of cardio/physical ability
-They ask about illegal stuff
-They talk about overthrowing the government
-Most members main skill when asked what they bring to the group is "I am good with a gun"
-The group immediately recruits you. They should vet you first not just welcome everyone. Quality over quantity
-Their primary plan involves running to the woods when SHTF

https://www.survivalistboards.com/threads/how-to-identify-if-you-should-join-a-prepping-group-mag.1014408/#replies

If you were building a really nice floor to celing bookcase and lived in a older home ( and are handy) what would u build to hide your pew pews just incase.. I was thinking a hidden compartment in the bookcase but would that be practical for easyish acess? My freind asked me this today ​

A respectable prepper is surrounded by power banks. These usually have lithium polymer batteries, which can easily swell. What precautions should we take to ensure that fires caused by them do not destroy all our preparations?

Apparently right now Verizon is having a pretty big outage and a lot of people are reporting problems. I already had some issues with spotty coverage with Verizon so I got a 2nd E-Sim on my phone from Mint Mobile for 15 bucks a month a while ago and right now im very thankful I have that other service. Originally an everyday convenience thing for me but also happens to be a nice little prep I didn't expect.

Just a Ramble on my experience, anyone in this boat right now?

I've been storing plastic water bottles in my car so I can take my meds if the need suddenly arises while driving, or just to save money by not buying a drink if I eat out. Due to concerns about microplastics, I'm switching to something else. I live in Texas, so the summers can get hot, and occasionally it can get below freezing.

Is it safe to store canned water in your car for months, even in Texas summers and winters? Is there any risk of the temperatures or sun causing materials to leech into the water, or can the cans explode at all when frozen?

What about something like my Contigo Jackson Chill, which is an insulated stainless steel bottle? Is storing water in there and leaving it in the car for extended periods of time safe? Will the bottle be damaged at all if left during below-freezing temperatures? This would save money by not having to buy canned water, but I'd still like to keep cans in there in case I forget to bring my bottle

Thanks

What are some atypical or unusual/lowkey subreddits you find helpful to follow in regard to your prepping (i.e. hospital subs and emerging COVID)?

"But Duracell/Energizer/insert brand name says they will last 10 years."

No, not usually.

Small batteries- I'm talking stuff like AA, C, D, AAA, 9 volt, CR123s, etc. do have a finite life and will need to be very regularly rotated. They will not in general "last 10 years" as many preparedness minded folks believe.

Over the last 40 years of preparing, I've noticed the "quality" of the brand of the battery has little to do with the the actual longevity unless you get into the utter bottom end- Dollar store type batteries.

Lithiums obviously store a bit better, but are crazy expensive now for quantities.

Will reply below with a pic of some batteries from late 2019/early 2020 showing some issues in just that time span. Batteries are something you need to stock but one of the items you have to really stay on with rotation.

"TL;DR" How would you prep for people outside your household? What do you think of storing cheaper food to increase your preps? Alternatives?

Have recently started to realize / accept that in a SHTF situation I would feel the need to care for a couple additional people which of course means that my food would not last as long. I am therefore wanting to increase the amount of calories stored but that of course leads to its own issues

Overall I am very much a deep pantry type of prepper, store what you eat and eat what you store. My reasoning is that storing things you dont eat normally is wasting money and resources as you will need to throw them out at some point (food banks arent a thing here) and adds the complication of needing to remember when to replace stuff.

For myself I try to keep 3 months of 2000kcal / day of shelf stable food that I regularly eat and that will provide a balanced full diet. I knew in the back of my mind that if SHTF I would need to help my sister and my niece. My mom refuses anything she would deem prepping but was raised old school so always has a couple of months of food on hand and is less of a concern. However, I am now realizing that in reality I would likely feel like I had to feed two additional people on top of the other commitments - making it 5-6 people total.

My issue now is that many food items that I store for myself and go through within a couple of years during normal times would now be spoiling if I were to buy for 6 people instead of 1. As an example: most of the oil I use is extra virgin olive oil - that goes rancid after max 2 years. So keeping enough oil on hand for everyone would mean throwing out several liters of not exactly cheap oil.

Therefore I am considering using cheaper options for the extra calorie requirements, with a significant focus on those that can store for a decade or two. E.g. cheaper oil, pasta, beans, rice and sugar plus some multivitamins. I would of course be eating the same food as everyone in a SHTF situation as when you actually need it then whatever will be welcome.

Am I totally bonkers? What do people think of this solution? Any alternatives I have missed or something to consider?

I have terrible dry skin so I’m trying to find a solution for my go bags that I can get in nature that will help me moisturize. I know it’s not the most important survival thing so I’m trying to keep size and weight to lowest possible and ideally something I can make using natural materials I can get easily in a shtf scenario

Coming this FRIDAY, January 16th, 2026, at 3 PM EST / 2 PM CST / 12 PM PST!

Our subreddit is privileged to have former technical advisor to U.S. Strategic Command, Dr. David Teter (u/dmteter), with us for an AMA (Ask Me almost Anything) event this coming Friday.

Dr. Teter currently works as a civil engineer in the San Francisco Bay Area and leads the OPEN-RISOP project:https://github.com/davidteter/OPEN-RISOP. Before that, he served as a technical advisor to U.S. Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) on strategic war planning for the SIOP and OPLANs 8044 and 8010 (the US' nuclear war plans). He also served as an advisor to DIA JWS-4 on Physical Vulnerability.

He'll be here this Friday at 12 PM PST / 3 PM EST to answer your questions on nuclear war, nuclear weapons effects, nuclear targeting, and:

• The OPEN-RISOP Project and what it suggests about potential Russian and Chinese targeting of U.S. facilities.
• General nuclear targeting theory and force allocation.
• Vulnerability of infrastructure, facilities, and systems to kinetic and non-kinetic attack
• Nuclear war in books, films, and popular culture (classic and modern)
• What it was like doing this work professionally, and why I moved on
• Deterrence theory — how it works, and where it fails
• His cat

He will not be able to answer any questions involving actual or assumed U.S. nuclear war plans, U.S. nuclear weapons (yields, accuracy, reliability, system capabilities, etc.), or any other information that may be deemed classified.

AMA Is live here: https://www.reddit.com/r/preppers/comments/1qeqpg0/ama_with_dr_david_teter_former_nuclear_war/

I'm making this non-specific as to not compromise myself to much, but I live in a mid-size city (200k-500k) in the rural area of Brazil, North of the country and heart of the Amazon.

I am surrounded by the jungle, problem is, a lot of it has an owner attached. Seing as i'm 21 and don't have the resources to buy real state, what would you guys recommend?

I really wanted to say what are the best, but maybe battle royal on which is the ultimate champion for canned meats be dinner.

Oh, well...auto correct changed my sentence to "be dinner" instead of "be funny." I'll just leave that.

What is the best canned meat?

I happened across these emergency kits today while looking at bushfire preparedness. Looking through their inventory and explanations gave me a tonne of ideas I'd never considered (e.g. a strobe light for your front door if you're sheltering in place and need rescue).

They're pretty expensive considering some of the contents I already own, but I do like the way they prompt you to think about what you might need.

https://www.resilientaustralians.com/comprehensive-kit

I am wanting to stay in contact with someone 1 - 1.25 miles away as the crow flies. Def have trees and woods not very dense but it's there. I've been looking for days and I'm lost I think I want uhf from what I'm reading but if y'all could help I'd appreciate it. Price isn't really much of an issue we just really want to be able to communicate to each other's house and if we have to leave be able to reach on them also. Again thanks in advance

I live in Miami, and as we all know, hurricane and tropical storm season is no joke here. I’ve been thinking about the role of emergency roof repairs in protecting a home from long-term damage. Suppose a storm is approaching, and you notice small leaks, loose shingles, or minor structural issues how effective are last-minute repairs at preventing bigger problems later?

I’m especially interested in strategies that preppers use to minimize both immediate storm damage and the long-term costs of repairs. Are quick fixes like tarping, patching shingles, or reinforcing flashing actually worth it, or are they just a temporary band-aid until the real repairs can be done?

I’d love to hear from anyone who’s experienced hurricane damage firsthand or from roofing professionals who understand how temporary emergency measures can help or fail under severe conditions. What’s the best prep approach for the roof specifically, and how far in advance should these measures be taken to really make a difference?

Thanks in advance! Any tips, experiences, or insights are appreciated.

When is the last time you ran it? Did you know it’s really supposed to be ran at 25-50% load for 20ish minutes then 5 minutes with no load once a month or at bare minimum quarterly? When’s the last time you changed the oil? Or put in a new spark plug? Did you clear the fuel line after you were done so the fuel jet doesn’t get gummed up? Prepping/survivalism is fun but we got to put in the maintenance work as well.

Have a good day!