In a lot of your comments I have picked up a lot of useful information as to what people are doing to prepare for the difficult year to come.
There is no doubt that the next year or two will be pretty tough for a lot of people. Energy prices were already set to financially ruin families and that was before the Ukrainian war.
Some people do nothing and prefer to ride the wave, others prefer to plan for the worst and build nuclear shelters in their gardens.
So, what have you done to prepare for whatever comes our way this year? Have your stored extra food and water? Grown fruit and vegetables? Tried to becoming less reliant on the energy suppliers? Diversified your assets into crypto?
And for how long have you been prepping? Has the Ukrainian war pushed you to buy a few more cans of beans or have you been prepared for years now?
It would be great to hear what you are all doing so we can discuss what the best options are and maybe provide people with ideas that they had not thought of.
Been prepping (lightly) for many years, as the markets have indicated a collapse (not a recession, a collapse) for many years now. The programs of money printing (politely referred to as Q.E.) sealed our fate years ago. But since the start of Covid I have begun preparing more rapidly, on a very tight budget. Polytunnels, seeds, working on solar system now (when i can afford batteries!), basically just getting house in order.
Priority list for those new to prepping...
1. Clean Water - Collected rain is fine. Get a Berkey filter or similar. You can dig to water table, use streams, rivers, run off water, IF you have a GOOD filter and plenty of replacement filter units for it.
2. Security - Yes, before food. You can go weeks without food, especially if you're a bit chunky! Guns if you’re in a country which respects freedom. If you’re not (like me, UK), crossbows make a very nice legal loophole. Nowhere near as useful but certainly deadly. But I have to say (somewhat from experience), and bear with me here…. A 10 shot repeater CO2 BB gun (steel balls or pellets) is WAY more of a practical self defence tool than people give it credit for. I know those with ‘real’ guns will laugh at this, but try having the trigger of one of those pulled in your face a few times, blinding you and piercing your face, you will NOT be standing around for long, and it DAMN hurts. Only fire at bare skin, face and neck. Obviously, it won’t kill, but there are other things which are still legal (big knives, baseball bats) which make a good backup for a disarmed Brit! If you’re a bit naughty (which of course I most certainly am not ;) !) you can look up how to make a taser. APPARENTLY It’s remarkably easy with an 18650 battery and cheap bit of circuitry from Chinese sites (Alibaba etc). Look it up, fascinating, and could be a lifesaver. Obviously only do that if it’s legal in your country, which is nowhere, so don’t look it up at all!
3. Food - Tinned, dried, rice and pastas are best bang for buck. If you have money, look into pressure canners and learn about it. Can store food for decades easily, your own food, including what you can grow/produce. Chickens - Eggs are the easiest and most plentiful superfood. I knew a man, 6'4" built like a 'brick sh*thouse' who genuinely consumed goats milk and raw eggs every day, and nothing else, for MANY years. Strong as an ox and NEVER had flu or illnesses. He was a tad weird though. :D Get an incubator, get some hens, and a cockerel, and use this summer to learn. You only need one good book about chicken keeping, it’s remarkably easy and the return for effort/cost is unsurpassed, and the health freaks will know only too well the vitamins and goodness in eggs. They can be boiled and canned too, and eaten raw to save fuel if really necessary (and not as bad as you’d think, and full health benefit that way). Obviously meat is another benefit but I’d stick with the eggs as a priority and if poss, incubate some to run on for meat. Again crossbow, rifle, air rifle, even catapult - rabbits/pigeons/squirrels….. Get a trapping/snaring book. Fishing rod if you have rivers/sea nearby.
4. Shelter/Heat (Obviously in true survival this is number one even above water, as exposure will kill quicker even than dehydration). However since most reading have a home, shelter is taken care of. And a few layers of clothes will easily keep most warm enough without turning on the heating. But a wood burner or similar stove will work as both heating and cooking/boiling water. Worst case, if you have sufficient food, layers of clothing and some exercise, will do you good, raise morale, make you stronger, and keep you warm. Try doing 20 press ups every half hour, now that’s self-sufficient heating!
5. Basic First aid - all the usual suspects, plus make sure you have Hydrogen Peroxide, Magnesium Sulfate paste, aspirin, ibuprofen, bandages, iodine spray (best thing for wounds), antibiotics if you can (try the naughty web, there are sites in Turkey which will post stuff like that all over world). Anything else you know you’ll need, if you wear glasses, get a couple of spare pairs made. This is NOT an exhaustive list, just look up prepper first aid stuff and see what you think you’ll need.
6. Transport - My own personal tip this - If you don't have a half decent quality BICYCLE in the home, get one, NOW. If (when) combustion engines are inaffordable or fuel isn't available, imagine the time and effort it takes to walk a mile or two, versus a gentle bicycle ride. I think a bicycle could be one of the biggest regrets if we don't have one when that times comes. Speed is also a security protection (getting away, avoiding groups/gangs on foot etc)
I could go on, maybe I should make a decent post about this. The above is just a blast from top of my head. A few honorable mentions...
Candles.
Flashlights (solar/windup ideally or a good store of batteries)
Walkie talkies (again plenty of batteries or solar charger ideally)
Silent inverter generator with a good few hundred litres of fuel - not for cooking/heating but for charging laptop/flashlights or communication devices, use only when 100% essential.
Books on any subjects you think you haven’t got time to learn about now but will want to when you’re hunkered down. Medical, electronics, food/animals, any subject. Chuck in a bible perhaps, no good prepper forgets his bible, whether atheist or not! It might make more sense in such a situation too!
If you’re filthy rich:
Get decent night vision (Gen3 or above), and/or Thermal monocular (amazing for spotting both food/prey and threats), day or night, at long distances. Pulsar make the best value for money in my view. Being able to move in pitch black darkness while knowing where ‘they’ are but they don’t know where you are, is a great alternative for us who can’t have a gun to deal with such things.
Stab/Ballistic vest.
Above all, I’d advise to keep this in mind when considering all the above - IF things go THAT WRONG - You only NEED enough supplies to be able to hunker down and NOT go out begging/stealing/borrowing (like everyone else who didn’t prep will be doing). Stay home, eat and drink the minimum, but enough to keep morale up and stay healthy. And just stay OUT OF HARM’s WAY for a while. Let the Biden voters kill each other for a month or two, they surely will when suddenly nanny state isn’t helping feed their kids.
If you have supplies to be able to do that for THREE MONTHS - You can be fairly sure that by the end of that period, the outside world will have calmed a fair bit and it will be much safer to venture out. The inevitable gangs will have had their fill, killed whoever they were going to, or hopefully been killed by those who prepped more seriously than you did. Groups will form, humanity will (to some extent, I believe) come together, and you can then offer your support to small local groups, taking watches/sentry duties so people can sleep easy, start to support each other for food/skills, caring for kids while adults make plans etc.
Oh and one final tip, EXPLORE your local population for like-minded people. Not just online either! I tacitly mention the prepping subject to people I meet daily. I just drop a very subtle comment (literally to almost everyone I meet, shopkeepers, dog walkers, everyone!) where I’ll say something like “well if things keep going the way they are going we won’t be driving our cars for much longer”. If you get the more common response of either no reply, or a nervous chuckle or something which says they don’t know what you’re talking about, laugh and move on. But when you meet someone who nods and acts like they have just been thinking a little about this, discuss much more deeply. If they are local to you, swap contact details and get to know them. I did this a few months ago, chatted to a guy in a garage working on someone’s car. He wasn’t ‘on board’, but he said ‘you should talk to Steve who owns this car’. I waited around and sparked a conversation with him when he came for his car, and it turns out the guy is a HUGE prepper, and also a multi millionaire. Weird as hell… he lives just a few miles away from me, hidden in some woods, and he has tens of THOUSANDS of litres of diesel and petrol stored underground, massive solar system, off road vehicles, plantations of crops, wind power, the whole nine yards! I think he was insane to tell me all about it so openly (I sure wouldn’t!) but these people generally LIKE to talk about it with like-minded people. So I now have a place I know I can go and barter for some fuel, or maybe even hunker down with. I am sure he’d appreciate having someone he can trust helping secure the place. BUT.. here’s the catch, and why I suggest doing this NOW…. If I meet him AFTER it’s all gone wrong, how likely is he to trust me (or anyone) THEN?! Now is the time to build bridges, make contacts. Prepping for personal security is great, but having a plan for a group (if you can) is light years ahead of that. It would take one hell of a gang to tackle an encampment of well-armed, well-resourced, family men all there to protect their families!
Well, I had better go and find some money for batteries! Hope that is of some use to someone. And remember, sensible prepping is not about ego or length of reproductive organs. It’s about ensuring that, when you’re in the scariest time of your LIFE, you can be 50% calmer and more prepared than EVERYONE ELSE who didn’t have the foresight to do the same, and thus may not survive. And don’t be a hero. If you go, who looks after your family? Self preservation is your family’s best defence. Look after numer 1, then numbers 2,3,4, then others, in that order. Here’s to a world without Biden voters. :D
Mar 9, 2022Liked by NE - nakedemperor.substack.com
Happy to expand on this if anyone is interested but we are starting to grow our own vegetables, grapes (wine is important!), wheat, fruit. We have wild boar and deer on our land. We have access to lamb from collaborating farmers. We have our own chickens for eggs. We are considering goats for milk. We have a near inexhaustible supply of firewood, a large solar system for electricity and for hot water, a septic system producing biogas for cooking. We have our own water supply with filtration & purification for drinking. We also have extremely good security. We have a 1000 litre diesel storage system with fuel stabilisation.
Mar 9, 2022Liked by NE - nakedemperor.substack.com
My Patriot Food Supply 6 months. 25 year shelf life. Plus I'm waiting for the next BLM riots to go loot a jewelry store. Maybe pick up a new OLED and playstation to help pass the end times.
Mar 9, 2022Liked by NE - nakedemperor.substack.com
I bought a ton of rice and beans and other cheap and long life supplies last year when I suspected that jab mandates were coming. I was fired from my job in December for non-compliance with the mandates and the prepping has saved my family and I. This year I will be getting chickens and growing all our vegetables. It is shocking to realize that the government is not your friend. It has certainly woken me up to reality. My Substack keeps me going mentally; it keeps me focused and positive.
Mar 9, 2022Liked by NE - nakedemperor.substack.com
Freezers are full of meat and vegetables, stocking up on non-perishables. Bought a generator to run the freezers if the power goes out. Crazy we have to be thinking like this in the year 2022. #FJB
Mar 9, 2022Liked by NE - nakedemperor.substack.com
I think about it daily. Yesterday I read about pistols. We are in our 70's. My husband is a doctor. I cannot believe the state of our world. Yes, we are preparing. With children and grandchildren there is no option.
Mar 9, 2022Liked by NE - nakedemperor.substack.com
I started to stock up last year. I bought extra dry goods - flour, yeast, rice, pasta, porridge oats. Also tins - tomatoes, beans, baked beans (wholemeal bread + beans = full protein). Candles and matches. Camping stove and gaz cannisters. Bought half a pig and froze it. I need to increase stocks but funds are LOW! Thinking of getting quinoa as it is a full protein and can sprinkle it into the rice etc. Going to be planting veg in garden - digging up front lawn to use. I managed to grow fair few runner beans last year and froze them. Going to preserve the ones this year with salt. Look into canning. Would like chickens but garden too small and concerned about how to feed them if there is a shortage etc. Watch Ice Age Farmer for tips etc.
Mar 9, 2022Liked by NE - nakedemperor.substack.com
I began lightly prepping two years ago as Covid hit. Nothing special back then, just lots of canned foods, baby formula, diapers, jugs of water, and some first aid supplies. I had a newborn at the time and knew that I had to be prepared to feed my children in the event of societal & economic breakdown. Since that time, we moved to a new country so I had to start all over––although we're in a larger home now with more storage and room to grow food. My husband and friends teased me for my preparations back then––now, they're joining in. I should add, I CANNOT frickin' believe that 2 years later, not only are things not back to normal, but we're in an even more precarious situation.
Now my prepping is more extensive. For baked goods, I have stored a few months' worth of various grains, flour mixes, corn starch, yeast, baking soda, sugar, oils, etc. You need to be able to make your own breads and porridge from scratch in the event of major supply chain breakdowns.
Add to this dried beans & vegetables, nuts, dried pastas, milk powders (for the kids), and canned fish.
All of these things you can buy from bulk food stores online.
Have extensive first aid supplies on hand. I am working on adding additional vitamins and simple medicines (potassium iodide, magnesium, creatine, NAC, antibiotics, hydration powders for GI illness) to our stock.
I'm beginning to grow vegetables this spring and we're working on getting chickens for eggs and meat rabbits, which we'll butcher at home.
Get yourself a guard dog or at least a watch dog.
I also second what Mark Jones said above about having equipment like bicycles & firearms at home. BB guns are useful too––you can go dove hunting with BB guns for their meat. There are lots of doves in our area. Start buying propane and fuel now. We're gradually buying propane so we can grill in the event of power outages.
For the parents, don't forget to prep your homeschool materials. Get Christian or classical curricula ready, lots of books, art supplies & workbooks. Our kids are in nice little private schools right now, but the second shit hits the fan, we are ready to immediately switch to homeschooling.
My ancestors survived plagues, world wars, and the Great Depression. I ain't takin' this shit lying down. You shouldn't either.
Mar 9, 2022·edited Mar 9, 2022Liked by NE - nakedemperor.substack.com
Another thing to consider is your mental state. How do you deal with isolation? Real isolation without internet, phones and so on?
Also, what do you do with your waste? If you live in an apartment of any kind as opposed to a house or lodge or something, well, number one you can do in the shower drain if you have to, but number two? A bucket will fill up, and stink up. Emptying it out the window tells others someone is living there (or if it's not a major societal prolapse will tell authorities to bring the hug-yourself-jacket...). Hauling human waste around carries its own risks. So, that's something you need to consider too.
Furthermore, it is a very different set of reactions and patterns you need to cultivate regarding risks, especially health. Starvation or lack for water will not be the biggest dangers, infection will. And if you need special medications, or even something simple like insulin, well good luck. Women especially needs to consider how to handle menstruation - are you prepared to use cotton/linen pads and handwash them using lye and boiling water? In your $300 000 Manhattan apartment? (Obviously I don't know Sack Jhit about Manhattan prices - I just grabbed a big number.)
There are a thousand and one little things to consider, depending on scope. And the thing is, don't fall into the trap of thinking "either - or", because that's a luxury one can't afford at the sharp end. It's both, always. Not flint and steel, or a magnesium lighter, or match sticks or a Zippo - its all of them, plus a lens and at least a sketch how to make a firebow. Keep that principle in mind when stocking up on stuff, and also try to think up small scenarios regarding "learning to do without". Example:
Do you use lenses? How would you cope without? Do you have spare glasses? How many pairs? Because the small irritations and minor infections you can get from being sloppy or unlucky with lenses can result in severe infection, even sepsis, necrosis or gangrene at worst (any nurse or doctor reading please interject if I'm shooting wide off the mark here!). And in a breakdown, triage will be enforced with firearms.
Maybe try a weekend completely without any tech post-1980, see if you get withdrawal syndromes. Being prepared mentally means the falls into place when you start putting it together in your mind. (Edited for spelling.)
Mar 9, 2022·edited Mar 9, 2022Liked by NE - nakedemperor.substack.com
I'm a herbalist and 90% of my medicine comes from wild foraging, in about a 20 mile radius and 50% comes from trees. I hate to feel like it's a boast, but so many ailments and disease can be navigated with by using herbs. at least thats what i have experienced and my clients as well and well millions of Chinese, Indian cultures etc who happily have herbs as there mainstay for successful health. . If I use allopathic medicine its for mechanical issues - i was very grateful that the surgeon fixed my ACL and also for diagnostic issues, although even that can get tricky, knowing to much sometimes is not the optimum path.
During the first 10 months of covid herbalists everywhere were working really hard and successfully to navigate covid and for the most part we felt confident in managing covid - the rhetoric changed when the vax came out.
personally I have land that has acorns and deer and medicine growing all around. It basically is the only thing that feels like sanity at this moment.
Mar 9, 2022Liked by NE - nakedemperor.substack.com
With a vaccine injured kod, kidney failure, nephrotic syndrome, now in remission. Loaded up on kilos of sodium ascorbate and hundreds of grams of melatonin powder. SA is for fevers and a mild antihistamine, a wound poultice, headache remedy. Melatonin does what prednisone does but better and keeps angry kidneys asleep and calm. Talking 5 to 20 grams vit c a day and 50 to 500mg melatonin a day, as needed. More.or less depending on day. Melatonin treats near anaphylaxis in my other kid, knocks out fever, more .
Lugols iodine
Bought a bunch of Redmond Salt.
Been buying more canned foods
Buying blankets
Buying the next size or 2 clothes for kids
Paying attention to where local streams flow
buying tweezers. Chin hairs suck period
bought extra cloth diaper pads for periods and menstruation
lodaded up on Charlie's soap for laundry
reading glasses
buying new tennis shoes for now and an extra pair
bought extra layers of coats for kids, something we don't need normally. just in case
white vinegar, cleans hair too if no shampoo. washes floors and dishes
Mar 9, 2022·edited Mar 9, 2022Liked by NE - nakedemperor.substack.com
we've been preppers for years in Silicon Valley of all places. We have water, storage food like rice and beans that will last for several years, fuel we recycle through so that we have some on hand for our generators. When we go to the grocery, I purchase double things we enjoy, like coffee in bulk. TOLIET PAPER. Towels will work, but you'll have to wash them!. We have medical supplies. In addition to international sites (which the government has been destroying medical supplies from btw) check out online vet shops. you can usually get medical drugs like antibiotics or (whelp) the "horsepaste" IVM for yourselves. Online there are documents that outline the safe amounts for humans of these drugs. Because, especially after Covid, do you really believe the medical industry will be helpful during the SHTF moments? We also have a bug-out bag for each family member, in case we have to evacuate, and a place we're heading if it gets REALLY bad.
BUT MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL. Have a plan, and make sure your family does too. I just can't stress how often we meet someone who, when we ask what they will do when it gets hard, states they will just go to their family member's house to mooch off their supplies. I'm not kidding. That will happen. And honestly, will you have the heart to turn them away? So, we've got extra supplies, just in case. We've tried to get them to purchase things like MREs, but it's with resistance. It sucks, but that's the truth of it.
Mar 9, 2022Liked by NE - nakedemperor.substack.com
I served on a Cybersecurity roundtable in DC for five years. The meeting content itself is not supposed to be shared, but a few of us went for dinner and drinks afterwards. During this dinner, the guy from DoE, who was in charge of getting the eastern seaboard back online after a cyber attack, discussed the hand pump he just purchased for the large property with a pond that he also recently purchased. I decided to get a hand pump for our well, in addition to filters, solar panels, and whatnot. It is difficult to dig a well, so if one has thoughts of this, it isn't bad to do it in advance. It is easier to call a company with the equipment now.
Mar 9, 2022Liked by NE - nakedemperor.substack.com
First thing is decide what's the scenario? Do you want to be prepared for a week long power outage at most, or are you going for TEOTWAWKI, or soemthing in between? Do you plan on staying put, or bugging out? Do you plan to roam or settle? So, start with a time frame and some notion of the scope of it.
Also, use your intelligence. Be creative. Think about your life experience - what skills and knowledge can you repurpose?
Cooperation is key. Be ready to get rid of people who have obvious problems relating to reality, i.e. the woke, the PC elite and such. A crisis does not mean they will comes to their senses - it means they will become even worse than they are now. Do not allow them to leech off of you and others.
The following are two good exercises:
Without preparation, try making it a week without buying anything, and using no power other than for cooking (simulating a battery or solar powered stove, f.e.). Try surviving on what's in your cupboards, fridge and freezer no matter what weird combinations you have to think up. This will let you get a feel for what you are missing re: stuff.
Second go, make your prep-list. The aim now is to go a whole month without buying anything. See how it goes. For advanced students, try it without power, phone off, no computer etc. (Work, family and so on permitting of course.)
After those two trials, you'll have the experience to correctly gauge what stuff you need, and how to get the most out of very few resources.
And remember: use your intelligence. We put "sapiens" in our definition for a reason.
Mar 10, 2022Liked by NE - nakedemperor.substack.com
I have always had a number of things ready just in case. Such as a supply of food, generator, fuel, etc. It came very handy during lockdown. The two weeks to flatten the curve was, as a result, the most relaxing family time we ever had, with bread machine baking etc.
Mar 9, 2022Liked by NE - nakedemperor.substack.com
Caffeine. After much research, we realized that the Camellia Sinensis was the most viable source of caffeine in our zone 6/7. Ours are growing well, despite being eaten severely by the deer.
Mar 9, 2022Liked by NE - nakedemperor.substack.com
I'd like know what others are doing in regard to money. I have all my money in a local credit union, which is liquid and I have access to it all now. But with the government's now freezing bank accts, I fear this money is just waiting to be frozen at a whim. What then? What about bitcoin, which is also being frozen? Gold, silver? Bartering as the only option in the future?
Right now I am taking out cash and just maintaining that for the near-term future.
Mar 10, 2022Liked by NE - nakedemperor.substack.com
If you are fully prepared for any disruptive exogenous event and live in a populated area, the biggest issue you face when the “big event”(whatever that is) occurs is other people, including your neighbors. Assume over 90% of them will be completely unprepared. This will overwhelmingly drive your response to the event(say a total grid collapse caused by a Cyber and/or EMP attack).You are prepared but everyone around you is not and they soon panic and become desperate. How are you prepared for that and how will you handle it when the time comes? This involves more than just self defense.
The following information is from the book ‘Blackout Warfare’ by Dr. Peter Vincent Pry:
In the US the electric grid is almost completely unprotected and is totally vulnerable to cyber attacks or to non-nuclear or nuclear(high altitude) EMP attack by state or non-state actors. A well coordinated attack focusing solely on the grid control system (combination cyber and EMP attack) in strategic locations could knock out the entire US electrical grid based on cascading failures across the grid. If such an attack was accompanied by kinetic attacks to destroy specific high energy transformers in strategic locations, the grid collapse would last many months or longer. The US EMP Commission estimated in 2004 that a total continental grid collapse in the US that lasted for one year would result in US deaths equating to 90% of the population. The reason is that a total electric grid failure would cause total failure of the water and natural gas grids across the nation. The combination would result in casualties of epic proportions.
A major regional or nationwide nuclear HEMP attack resulting from detonation of a nuclear weapon at an altitude between 30 and 400 kilometers above the earths surface would result in no loss of human life from thermal or kinetic effects but would, within seconds of the attack, result in the failure of all surface power and electronics and electronic control systems due to high power electromagnetic/gamma radiation. This would occur over areas as small as 700 miles in diameter to as large as 2500 miles in diameter depending on the altitude of the detonation. In these areas all vehicles with electronic ignitions and electronic control systems would immediately cease operating, as would vital control mechanisms such as ABS braking systems, as well as all electronics such as cell phones, computers...
This would be accompanied by total electric grid collapse.
The 2004 EMP Commission concluded that the risks associated with the above scenario in the US are unacceptable. Nothing has been done to secure and protect the US grid.
Mar 9, 2022Liked by NE - nakedemperor.substack.com
If you purchase a Berkey water filter I understand that there is an additional filter you need for it to be able to filter out chemicals.
Also, check out the Alexapure water filter. It is available at My Patriot and sometimes they run a special which includes an additional filter free. If you intend to filter your tap water take time to go to the EWG (Environmental Working Group) tap water guide. It shows current list of chemicals in tap water from water works all over the country. Take time to review the lab test that was done on the Alexapure. You can even send an email to the lab that tested the Alexapure and ask them about your tap water contents. They will respond to you.
Also, think seriously about rainwater catchment to run through your filter.
Mar 9, 2022·edited Mar 9, 2022Liked by NE - nakedemperor.substack.com
last year I started teaching (by demonstration) my 14 year old how much better home grown garden food tastes. it was a weak beginning for gardening, but made quite an impression on him. this year we're amping up the raised beds to cover as much as possible of the yard that isn't going to be fruit/nut trees.
yes, I realize the trees will take years to produce. don't care, should've put them in long ago, but it's difficult to afford them except right after the tax "return" arrives. better late than never, assuming we survive and aren't run off our property.
the gardening experience will be good for him, and this way we can eat things that aren't soaked with glyophosphate. that's hard to find at the grocery stores these days even if you pay for organic produce (USDA organic standards are a joke.)
I also buy quantity when I find goods at the store on clearance or sale if I can keep them for any length of time. even with prices approximately doubled at the grocery store since last year, i can still get out of there at ~$10/bag when I'm careful about what I get, just like I have considered acceptable pricing for about the last decade.
Mar 9, 2022Liked by NE - nakedemperor.substack.com
I'm into my third year of deep adaptation. Many people are speaking of building parallel structures. Trying to erect them has been tough but seeded with beauty.
I started writing about it. Meaning-making and goat philosophy in the age of the UNESCO World Order.
Mar 9, 2022Liked by NE - nakedemperor.substack.com
I haven’t started serious prepping yet, but two food items are top of my list: ghee and canned fish (not tuna - sardines, pilchard, wild salmon). No. 3 would probably be rice, but we can all manage without carbohydrates. No. 4: essential amino acid pills/powder, probably Perfect Aminos, as they seem to be well-formulated. I already have a large supply of vitamin, salt and iodine.
Mar 9, 2022Liked by NE - nakedemperor.substack.com
We have 20ish chickens mostly hens one male duck, 3 domestic cats and two dogs. Also three Jackfruit, one coconut, six banana and two papaya trees. All of which are bursting with fruit and there's not a lot to show for it. An electric outage meanwhile got us staying in a beachfront hotel
Mar 9, 2022·edited Mar 9, 2022Liked by NE - nakedemperor.substack.com
We have ammunition, gun, rice, pasta,beans,generator, some gasoline, kerosene, batteries, radio, can food, coffee, medicine, alcohol,jewelry for trades, some frozen stuff, flour, sugar,candles, flashlights, water filters, water, bag pack ready, dog food.
Mar 9, 2022Liked by NE - nakedemperor.substack.com
I have gardened and canned for many years but got out of the habit. Over the years we have planted many fruit trees. We are increasing our garden capacity and built a 10 ft fence around it (lots of deer eat stuff around here) So anything you need to garden and keep it safe is useful, fertilizer, pesticides, fungicides, extra tools, extra fencing, etc.
Mar 9, 2022Liked by NE - nakedemperor.substack.com
Got an amount of food, seeds, garden. Want to eventually get chickens. Loved the comment about bikes- need to get mine fixed. Going to stock up a bit more on propane. Stocking up on how-to books. And an Atlas. Thinking about all the things I’ll want when/if the Internet goes down.
Mar 9, 2022Liked by NE - nakedemperor.substack.com
The plan for us is to shelter in place for most eventualities short of a nuclear strike. We live in a Canadian inner city neighbourhood which has a mix of modest (well kept) single family homes and more expensive infills. So professional, middle class and blue collar.
1) The first requirement is not for food, water or defense but social. The neighbourhood is compact and high trust, we already know our immediate neighbours so easier to create a support network.
2) This is one of the first places services would be restored.
3) Everything is in walking distance; we can get by without a car if gasoline is unaffordable.
4) The second requirement is shelter. We already have it where we are. I saw what happened in Houston when they received an imminent hurricane warning; the roads were jammed for a hundred miles in every direction. Joining the flight from the city almost guarantees being stranded on foot far from home, without friends, shelter or provisions.
5) Since any mass movement would be outward we are less likely to be targets for desperate hordes. Most people we see would be those who stayed in place with at least basic provisions like us.
6) Our food stores are mostly cheap carbs: pasta, rice, beans. A few hundred dollars can buy six months provisions.
7) Back to social: If you don't have enough food to share with neighbours you don't have enough. Food keeps the support network together and if the network has enough it can add other families to its number for greater strength.
Mar 9, 2022Liked by NE - nakedemperor.substack.com
Purchasing a home last year and locking in an ultra low interest rate (2.697%) on a 30yr mortgage right before inflation went into overdrive was one of the best recent decisions I've made.
Mar 9, 2022Liked by NE - nakedemperor.substack.com
Bad boy, everyone knows that preppers are rightwing extremists, or in other words, anyone who wants to be not helplessly reliant upon the kings or whatever they call themselves these days...
(In old times, we had kingdoms, ruled by kings... Today, we have cuntries, ...)
Well. When everybody had no toilet paper, I had. Because I did not run after it and tried to buy a year supply on one day. I smelt something like that might happen and just bought a pack more every time I would buy something anyway. It stacked up nicely.
Same goes for cans of beans, water bottles and stuff. (downside here is that I don't normally eat much canned stuff, so using that as a lossless FIFO buffer inserted by "best before" date is not working so great)
But I only have some weeks worth, due to lack of room. I'd have a few months worth otherwise.
No house (I was looking for a couple years, and as we all know, the market didn't exactly relax starting 2 years ago, argh), so the level of independence attainable is quite limited.
I am highly skeptical of crypto currency - it can just be "turned off" (perhaps a simplified expression, but in essence...). IDK whether you could go around with USB sticks with "1/10 coin on it" or so... But it needs electricity, you know, the stuff at least in Germany, politicians think of that everyone can have some at any time is kind of an outdated model.
And calling that crypto rollercoaster "investment" is a bit of a stretch, no?
Mar 9, 2022Liked by NE - nakedemperor.substack.com
Looks like Mark has us all beat. Hard to add to that list!
I “prepped” in 2008 but got out of the mindset in 2015 when I moved abroad. Back into it last year.
lots of dry food (oats, beans, rice)
canned cat food for cats
Berkey water filter
solar generator for charging phone/laptop (120 watt panels)
inverter for charging same from automobile
I have had chickens in the past (great fun) and used to fish constantly as a kid/teen, so thinking about getting back into the latter.
I have a bike. The advice about medical supplies is great.
Dehydrating fruits like melon, and veg from a summer garden harvest is a great way to go, IMO. I loved dehydrated melon and tomato. So much easier to deal with and store dehydrated tomatoes in comparison to canning!
Potatoes are a great idea for anyone without much gardening space and unlike rice and beans (which must be paired) have complete protein. Prior to Phytophthora getting their potatoes in the Irish potato famine, the Irish could feed an entire family on potatoes grown in a pretty small area. You probably only need about 100 linear feet or so of potatoes to feed an entire person per year (assume all goes well with the crop).
Mar 9, 2022·edited Mar 9, 2022Liked by NE - nakedemperor.substack.com
About 6 months of food and water, two solar generators, candles, basic first aid, alcohol, comfort foods that I like, seeds for growing food, rainwater collection system, salt, canning jars, cards and a few games. Need to get more wood stored for heat, looking into purchasing a gun.
Mar 10, 2022Liked by NE - nakedemperor.substack.com
Supposedly a great wheat crisis is pending because many countries will no longer export; wheat flour doesn’t last that long but if you can get wheat berries, that can last a long time & be ground into flour as needed. Amazon had it recently
Mar 10, 2022·edited Mar 10, 2022Liked by NE - nakedemperor.substack.com
We've began prepping when the covid shutdowns happened in March 2020. We have a living pantry where we have stocked up on items we use a lot. We keep a good supply and put new purchases in the back and rotate older items towards the front. For longer term storage we have mylar bags with the packets that deplete oxygen. with rice and legumes I put them in the freezer for five days before bagging just to kill off any critters. We have a berkey filter, also we have stored water and several plastic containers that can be filled with extra water. We have a generator, firewood and extra propane for our grill that also has a burner. we are collecting seeds and have begun growing a garden, we also have a sprouter and an indoor hydroponic garden. We are in the mountains so have to grow food inside when it snows. We also purchased a long term food supply (6 months) and have six months worth of dog and cat food. There is still more to work out, we plan on moving soon and once we are settled we will have a very big garden, do a lot of canning and have chickens. The more self sufficient we can be, the better. Also have stocked up on basic medications, rubbing alcohol, betadine, bandages and supplements and we have a big supply of toilet paper.
Mar 9, 2022Liked by NE - nakedemperor.substack.com
Began stockpiling food/medication a year ago. IVM, antibiotics, steroids, vitamins/medicinal supplements. Bought water filter for 25k gallons. And spent about $2-$3k on canned/packaged food, protein powders, etc.
Mar 9, 2022Liked by NE - nakedemperor.substack.com
"prepping" since we were married 56 years ago. Then grad students didn't get paid enough to live on and wife was still going to school. So we used the University's common garden. We always had a garden, but when we moved to Vermont we helped a neighbor farmer. That grew into a large local farm market. We paid a local farmer for sides of beef and pork. Local eggs. We moved into the mountains of another state, on the side of a mountain, and created terraces to grow our own veggies. We get eggs from a local farmer. Meat is from a local store; some veggies from a local store. There's no point building up a big larder. We are remote, so we go to Costco or a Walmart kind of store for modern "essentials." Only need to go once a month, but stock up with a month's supply of what we need. But if toilet paper becomes unavailable, there's the woods. Plenty of turkey, squirrel, deer, bear, etc. Just need the ammo. My wife has a supply. She's the hunter. Within 30 miles are miles upon miles of truck farms, both outside and under glass. Water? That's a question of electricity. Water infrastructure is from a local coop. The water is under our mountain. On one side of our mountain is a large lake. No humans allowed near it. We have a generator for our own electricity- required because we live in the mountains and the electricity feed is vulnerable to falling trees. Generator runs off propane, so that is our weak spot. The weather is such we can do without electricity year round. Finally, church is within walking distance. So the prepping is to live where you don't need to prep and to be experienced living off the land. Mobility: bikes work fine. Security: One road in. Currently 24x7 guard; if they can't come just lock it up. Everyone has guns and dogs. Medical: EMT with personnel supplied by neighbors. Several doctors in neighborhood. Maintain a year of necessary medical supplies for us.
Mar 9, 2022Liked by NE - nakedemperor.substack.com
I'm a bit worried that those without the space or opportunity to lay down stores of food, fuel, medicines and so on, but with very large muscles and driven by significant hunger, are likely to make short shrift of even the best laid plans. Unless of course the stores of food, fuel, etc include very large guns as well. In which case this is unlikely to be a world in which I would want to be a survivor.
Edit: March 22nd - Since making this comment I've published a much more detailed guide here: https://freespeech.substack.com/p/prepping-for-economic-collapse-a
(Below is redundant now, but will leave in situ)
Been prepping (lightly) for many years, as the markets have indicated a collapse (not a recession, a collapse) for many years now. The programs of money printing (politely referred to as Q.E.) sealed our fate years ago. But since the start of Covid I have begun preparing more rapidly, on a very tight budget. Polytunnels, seeds, working on solar system now (when i can afford batteries!), basically just getting house in order.
Priority list for those new to prepping...
1. Clean Water - Collected rain is fine. Get a Berkey filter or similar. You can dig to water table, use streams, rivers, run off water, IF you have a GOOD filter and plenty of replacement filter units for it.
2. Security - Yes, before food. You can go weeks without food, especially if you're a bit chunky! Guns if you’re in a country which respects freedom. If you’re not (like me, UK), crossbows make a very nice legal loophole. Nowhere near as useful but certainly deadly. But I have to say (somewhat from experience), and bear with me here…. A 10 shot repeater CO2 BB gun (steel balls or pellets) is WAY more of a practical self defence tool than people give it credit for. I know those with ‘real’ guns will laugh at this, but try having the trigger of one of those pulled in your face a few times, blinding you and piercing your face, you will NOT be standing around for long, and it DAMN hurts. Only fire at bare skin, face and neck. Obviously, it won’t kill, but there are other things which are still legal (big knives, baseball bats) which make a good backup for a disarmed Brit! If you’re a bit naughty (which of course I most certainly am not ;) !) you can look up how to make a taser. APPARENTLY It’s remarkably easy with an 18650 battery and cheap bit of circuitry from Chinese sites (Alibaba etc). Look it up, fascinating, and could be a lifesaver. Obviously only do that if it’s legal in your country, which is nowhere, so don’t look it up at all!
3. Food - Tinned, dried, rice and pastas are best bang for buck. If you have money, look into pressure canners and learn about it. Can store food for decades easily, your own food, including what you can grow/produce. Chickens - Eggs are the easiest and most plentiful superfood. I knew a man, 6'4" built like a 'brick sh*thouse' who genuinely consumed goats milk and raw eggs every day, and nothing else, for MANY years. Strong as an ox and NEVER had flu or illnesses. He was a tad weird though. :D Get an incubator, get some hens, and a cockerel, and use this summer to learn. You only need one good book about chicken keeping, it’s remarkably easy and the return for effort/cost is unsurpassed, and the health freaks will know only too well the vitamins and goodness in eggs. They can be boiled and canned too, and eaten raw to save fuel if really necessary (and not as bad as you’d think, and full health benefit that way). Obviously meat is another benefit but I’d stick with the eggs as a priority and if poss, incubate some to run on for meat. Again crossbow, rifle, air rifle, even catapult - rabbits/pigeons/squirrels….. Get a trapping/snaring book. Fishing rod if you have rivers/sea nearby.
4. Shelter/Heat (Obviously in true survival this is number one even above water, as exposure will kill quicker even than dehydration). However since most reading have a home, shelter is taken care of. And a few layers of clothes will easily keep most warm enough without turning on the heating. But a wood burner or similar stove will work as both heating and cooking/boiling water. Worst case, if you have sufficient food, layers of clothing and some exercise, will do you good, raise morale, make you stronger, and keep you warm. Try doing 20 press ups every half hour, now that’s self-sufficient heating!
5. Basic First aid - all the usual suspects, plus make sure you have Hydrogen Peroxide, Magnesium Sulfate paste, aspirin, ibuprofen, bandages, iodine spray (best thing for wounds), antibiotics if you can (try the naughty web, there are sites in Turkey which will post stuff like that all over world). Anything else you know you’ll need, if you wear glasses, get a couple of spare pairs made. This is NOT an exhaustive list, just look up prepper first aid stuff and see what you think you’ll need.
6. Transport - My own personal tip this - If you don't have a half decent quality BICYCLE in the home, get one, NOW. If (when) combustion engines are inaffordable or fuel isn't available, imagine the time and effort it takes to walk a mile or two, versus a gentle bicycle ride. I think a bicycle could be one of the biggest regrets if we don't have one when that times comes. Speed is also a security protection (getting away, avoiding groups/gangs on foot etc)
I could go on, maybe I should make a decent post about this. The above is just a blast from top of my head. A few honorable mentions...
Candles.
Flashlights (solar/windup ideally or a good store of batteries)
Walkie talkies (again plenty of batteries or solar charger ideally)
Silent inverter generator with a good few hundred litres of fuel - not for cooking/heating but for charging laptop/flashlights or communication devices, use only when 100% essential.
Books on any subjects you think you haven’t got time to learn about now but will want to when you’re hunkered down. Medical, electronics, food/animals, any subject. Chuck in a bible perhaps, no good prepper forgets his bible, whether atheist or not! It might make more sense in such a situation too!
If you’re filthy rich:
Get decent night vision (Gen3 or above), and/or Thermal monocular (amazing for spotting both food/prey and threats), day or night, at long distances. Pulsar make the best value for money in my view. Being able to move in pitch black darkness while knowing where ‘they’ are but they don’t know where you are, is a great alternative for us who can’t have a gun to deal with such things.
Stab/Ballistic vest.
Above all, I’d advise to keep this in mind when considering all the above - IF things go THAT WRONG - You only NEED enough supplies to be able to hunker down and NOT go out begging/stealing/borrowing (like everyone else who didn’t prep will be doing). Stay home, eat and drink the minimum, but enough to keep morale up and stay healthy. And just stay OUT OF HARM’s WAY for a while. Let the Biden voters kill each other for a month or two, they surely will when suddenly nanny state isn’t helping feed their kids.
If you have supplies to be able to do that for THREE MONTHS - You can be fairly sure that by the end of that period, the outside world will have calmed a fair bit and it will be much safer to venture out. The inevitable gangs will have had their fill, killed whoever they were going to, or hopefully been killed by those who prepped more seriously than you did. Groups will form, humanity will (to some extent, I believe) come together, and you can then offer your support to small local groups, taking watches/sentry duties so people can sleep easy, start to support each other for food/skills, caring for kids while adults make plans etc.
Oh and one final tip, EXPLORE your local population for like-minded people. Not just online either! I tacitly mention the prepping subject to people I meet daily. I just drop a very subtle comment (literally to almost everyone I meet, shopkeepers, dog walkers, everyone!) where I’ll say something like “well if things keep going the way they are going we won’t be driving our cars for much longer”. If you get the more common response of either no reply, or a nervous chuckle or something which says they don’t know what you’re talking about, laugh and move on. But when you meet someone who nods and acts like they have just been thinking a little about this, discuss much more deeply. If they are local to you, swap contact details and get to know them. I did this a few months ago, chatted to a guy in a garage working on someone’s car. He wasn’t ‘on board’, but he said ‘you should talk to Steve who owns this car’. I waited around and sparked a conversation with him when he came for his car, and it turns out the guy is a HUGE prepper, and also a multi millionaire. Weird as hell… he lives just a few miles away from me, hidden in some woods, and he has tens of THOUSANDS of litres of diesel and petrol stored underground, massive solar system, off road vehicles, plantations of crops, wind power, the whole nine yards! I think he was insane to tell me all about it so openly (I sure wouldn’t!) but these people generally LIKE to talk about it with like-minded people. So I now have a place I know I can go and barter for some fuel, or maybe even hunker down with. I am sure he’d appreciate having someone he can trust helping secure the place. BUT.. here’s the catch, and why I suggest doing this NOW…. If I meet him AFTER it’s all gone wrong, how likely is he to trust me (or anyone) THEN?! Now is the time to build bridges, make contacts. Prepping for personal security is great, but having a plan for a group (if you can) is light years ahead of that. It would take one hell of a gang to tackle an encampment of well-armed, well-resourced, family men all there to protect their families!
Well, I had better go and find some money for batteries! Hope that is of some use to someone. And remember, sensible prepping is not about ego or length of reproductive organs. It’s about ensuring that, when you’re in the scariest time of your LIFE, you can be 50% calmer and more prepared than EVERYONE ELSE who didn’t have the foresight to do the same, and thus may not survive. And don’t be a hero. If you go, who looks after your family? Self preservation is your family’s best defence. Look after numer 1, then numbers 2,3,4, then others, in that order. Here’s to a world without Biden voters. :D
Ciao.
Happy to expand on this if anyone is interested but we are starting to grow our own vegetables, grapes (wine is important!), wheat, fruit. We have wild boar and deer on our land. We have access to lamb from collaborating farmers. We have our own chickens for eggs. We are considering goats for milk. We have a near inexhaustible supply of firewood, a large solar system for electricity and for hot water, a septic system producing biogas for cooking. We have our own water supply with filtration & purification for drinking. We also have extremely good security. We have a 1000 litre diesel storage system with fuel stabilisation.
My Patriot Food Supply 6 months. 25 year shelf life. Plus I'm waiting for the next BLM riots to go loot a jewelry store. Maybe pick up a new OLED and playstation to help pass the end times.
I bought a ton of rice and beans and other cheap and long life supplies last year when I suspected that jab mandates were coming. I was fired from my job in December for non-compliance with the mandates and the prepping has saved my family and I. This year I will be getting chickens and growing all our vegetables. It is shocking to realize that the government is not your friend. It has certainly woken me up to reality. My Substack keeps me going mentally; it keeps me focused and positive.
Stocked up on cat food. Our kitties shan't starve, and if we get desperate, we can open a can or two 😹
Freezers are full of meat and vegetables, stocking up on non-perishables. Bought a generator to run the freezers if the power goes out. Crazy we have to be thinking like this in the year 2022. #FJB
I think about it daily. Yesterday I read about pistols. We are in our 70's. My husband is a doctor. I cannot believe the state of our world. Yes, we are preparing. With children and grandchildren there is no option.
My plan - capture and spit roast the predatory elite. If unavailable, I intend to do likewise to any of their minions that come my way.
I started to stock up last year. I bought extra dry goods - flour, yeast, rice, pasta, porridge oats. Also tins - tomatoes, beans, baked beans (wholemeal bread + beans = full protein). Candles and matches. Camping stove and gaz cannisters. Bought half a pig and froze it. I need to increase stocks but funds are LOW! Thinking of getting quinoa as it is a full protein and can sprinkle it into the rice etc. Going to be planting veg in garden - digging up front lawn to use. I managed to grow fair few runner beans last year and froze them. Going to preserve the ones this year with salt. Look into canning. Would like chickens but garden too small and concerned about how to feed them if there is a shortage etc. Watch Ice Age Farmer for tips etc.
I began lightly prepping two years ago as Covid hit. Nothing special back then, just lots of canned foods, baby formula, diapers, jugs of water, and some first aid supplies. I had a newborn at the time and knew that I had to be prepared to feed my children in the event of societal & economic breakdown. Since that time, we moved to a new country so I had to start all over––although we're in a larger home now with more storage and room to grow food. My husband and friends teased me for my preparations back then––now, they're joining in. I should add, I CANNOT frickin' believe that 2 years later, not only are things not back to normal, but we're in an even more precarious situation.
Now my prepping is more extensive. For baked goods, I have stored a few months' worth of various grains, flour mixes, corn starch, yeast, baking soda, sugar, oils, etc. You need to be able to make your own breads and porridge from scratch in the event of major supply chain breakdowns.
Add to this dried beans & vegetables, nuts, dried pastas, milk powders (for the kids), and canned fish.
All of these things you can buy from bulk food stores online.
Have extensive first aid supplies on hand. I am working on adding additional vitamins and simple medicines (potassium iodide, magnesium, creatine, NAC, antibiotics, hydration powders for GI illness) to our stock.
I'm beginning to grow vegetables this spring and we're working on getting chickens for eggs and meat rabbits, which we'll butcher at home.
Get yourself a guard dog or at least a watch dog.
I also second what Mark Jones said above about having equipment like bicycles & firearms at home. BB guns are useful too––you can go dove hunting with BB guns for their meat. There are lots of doves in our area. Start buying propane and fuel now. We're gradually buying propane so we can grill in the event of power outages.
For the parents, don't forget to prep your homeschool materials. Get Christian or classical curricula ready, lots of books, art supplies & workbooks. Our kids are in nice little private schools right now, but the second shit hits the fan, we are ready to immediately switch to homeschooling.
My ancestors survived plagues, world wars, and the Great Depression. I ain't takin' this shit lying down. You shouldn't either.
Another thing to consider is your mental state. How do you deal with isolation? Real isolation without internet, phones and so on?
Also, what do you do with your waste? If you live in an apartment of any kind as opposed to a house or lodge or something, well, number one you can do in the shower drain if you have to, but number two? A bucket will fill up, and stink up. Emptying it out the window tells others someone is living there (or if it's not a major societal prolapse will tell authorities to bring the hug-yourself-jacket...). Hauling human waste around carries its own risks. So, that's something you need to consider too.
Furthermore, it is a very different set of reactions and patterns you need to cultivate regarding risks, especially health. Starvation or lack for water will not be the biggest dangers, infection will. And if you need special medications, or even something simple like insulin, well good luck. Women especially needs to consider how to handle menstruation - are you prepared to use cotton/linen pads and handwash them using lye and boiling water? In your $300 000 Manhattan apartment? (Obviously I don't know Sack Jhit about Manhattan prices - I just grabbed a big number.)
There are a thousand and one little things to consider, depending on scope. And the thing is, don't fall into the trap of thinking "either - or", because that's a luxury one can't afford at the sharp end. It's both, always. Not flint and steel, or a magnesium lighter, or match sticks or a Zippo - its all of them, plus a lens and at least a sketch how to make a firebow. Keep that principle in mind when stocking up on stuff, and also try to think up small scenarios regarding "learning to do without". Example:
Do you use lenses? How would you cope without? Do you have spare glasses? How many pairs? Because the small irritations and minor infections you can get from being sloppy or unlucky with lenses can result in severe infection, even sepsis, necrosis or gangrene at worst (any nurse or doctor reading please interject if I'm shooting wide off the mark here!). And in a breakdown, triage will be enforced with firearms.
Maybe try a weekend completely without any tech post-1980, see if you get withdrawal syndromes. Being prepared mentally means the falls into place when you start putting it together in your mind. (Edited for spelling.)
Here is one I bet no one has advised; getting used to one meal a day.
I'm a herbalist and 90% of my medicine comes from wild foraging, in about a 20 mile radius and 50% comes from trees. I hate to feel like it's a boast, but so many ailments and disease can be navigated with by using herbs. at least thats what i have experienced and my clients as well and well millions of Chinese, Indian cultures etc who happily have herbs as there mainstay for successful health. . If I use allopathic medicine its for mechanical issues - i was very grateful that the surgeon fixed my ACL and also for diagnostic issues, although even that can get tricky, knowing to much sometimes is not the optimum path.
During the first 10 months of covid herbalists everywhere were working really hard and successfully to navigate covid and for the most part we felt confident in managing covid - the rhetoric changed when the vax came out.
personally I have land that has acorns and deer and medicine growing all around. It basically is the only thing that feels like sanity at this moment.
With a vaccine injured kod, kidney failure, nephrotic syndrome, now in remission. Loaded up on kilos of sodium ascorbate and hundreds of grams of melatonin powder. SA is for fevers and a mild antihistamine, a wound poultice, headache remedy. Melatonin does what prednisone does but better and keeps angry kidneys asleep and calm. Talking 5 to 20 grams vit c a day and 50 to 500mg melatonin a day, as needed. More.or less depending on day. Melatonin treats near anaphylaxis in my other kid, knocks out fever, more .
Lugols iodine
Bought a bunch of Redmond Salt.
Been buying more canned foods
Buying blankets
Buying the next size or 2 clothes for kids
Paying attention to where local streams flow
buying tweezers. Chin hairs suck period
bought extra cloth diaper pads for periods and menstruation
lodaded up on Charlie's soap for laundry
reading glasses
buying new tennis shoes for now and an extra pair
bought extra layers of coats for kids, something we don't need normally. just in case
white vinegar, cleans hair too if no shampoo. washes floors and dishes
we've been preppers for years in Silicon Valley of all places. We have water, storage food like rice and beans that will last for several years, fuel we recycle through so that we have some on hand for our generators. When we go to the grocery, I purchase double things we enjoy, like coffee in bulk. TOLIET PAPER. Towels will work, but you'll have to wash them!. We have medical supplies. In addition to international sites (which the government has been destroying medical supplies from btw) check out online vet shops. you can usually get medical drugs like antibiotics or (whelp) the "horsepaste" IVM for yourselves. Online there are documents that outline the safe amounts for humans of these drugs. Because, especially after Covid, do you really believe the medical industry will be helpful during the SHTF moments? We also have a bug-out bag for each family member, in case we have to evacuate, and a place we're heading if it gets REALLY bad.
BUT MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL. Have a plan, and make sure your family does too. I just can't stress how often we meet someone who, when we ask what they will do when it gets hard, states they will just go to their family member's house to mooch off their supplies. I'm not kidding. That will happen. And honestly, will you have the heart to turn them away? So, we've got extra supplies, just in case. We've tried to get them to purchase things like MREs, but it's with resistance. It sucks, but that's the truth of it.
I served on a Cybersecurity roundtable in DC for five years. The meeting content itself is not supposed to be shared, but a few of us went for dinner and drinks afterwards. During this dinner, the guy from DoE, who was in charge of getting the eastern seaboard back online after a cyber attack, discussed the hand pump he just purchased for the large property with a pond that he also recently purchased. I decided to get a hand pump for our well, in addition to filters, solar panels, and whatnot. It is difficult to dig a well, so if one has thoughts of this, it isn't bad to do it in advance. It is easier to call a company with the equipment now.
First thing is decide what's the scenario? Do you want to be prepared for a week long power outage at most, or are you going for TEOTWAWKI, or soemthing in between? Do you plan on staying put, or bugging out? Do you plan to roam or settle? So, start with a time frame and some notion of the scope of it.
Also, use your intelligence. Be creative. Think about your life experience - what skills and knowledge can you repurpose?
Cooperation is key. Be ready to get rid of people who have obvious problems relating to reality, i.e. the woke, the PC elite and such. A crisis does not mean they will comes to their senses - it means they will become even worse than they are now. Do not allow them to leech off of you and others.
The following are two good exercises:
Without preparation, try making it a week without buying anything, and using no power other than for cooking (simulating a battery or solar powered stove, f.e.). Try surviving on what's in your cupboards, fridge and freezer no matter what weird combinations you have to think up. This will let you get a feel for what you are missing re: stuff.
Second go, make your prep-list. The aim now is to go a whole month without buying anything. See how it goes. For advanced students, try it without power, phone off, no computer etc. (Work, family and so on permitting of course.)
After those two trials, you'll have the experience to correctly gauge what stuff you need, and how to get the most out of very few resources.
And remember: use your intelligence. We put "sapiens" in our definition for a reason.
I have always had a number of things ready just in case. Such as a supply of food, generator, fuel, etc. It came very handy during lockdown. The two weeks to flatten the curve was, as a result, the most relaxing family time we ever had, with bread machine baking etc.
If nothing else, the peace of mind is priceless.
Caffeine. After much research, we realized that the Camellia Sinensis was the most viable source of caffeine in our zone 6/7. Ours are growing well, despite being eaten severely by the deer.
We got them here, https://www.etsy.com/listing/1039372085/camellia-sinensis-live-tea-plant
(I did not hit the guy up for a free plant for sharing this link)
Illy coffee beans come in nitrogen sealed cans. Tasty all around, emergency or no.
Not going to say. Prepared.
I'd like know what others are doing in regard to money. I have all my money in a local credit union, which is liquid and I have access to it all now. But with the government's now freezing bank accts, I fear this money is just waiting to be frozen at a whim. What then? What about bitcoin, which is also being frozen? Gold, silver? Bartering as the only option in the future?
Right now I am taking out cash and just maintaining that for the near-term future.
If you are fully prepared for any disruptive exogenous event and live in a populated area, the biggest issue you face when the “big event”(whatever that is) occurs is other people, including your neighbors. Assume over 90% of them will be completely unprepared. This will overwhelmingly drive your response to the event(say a total grid collapse caused by a Cyber and/or EMP attack).You are prepared but everyone around you is not and they soon panic and become desperate. How are you prepared for that and how will you handle it when the time comes? This involves more than just self defense.
The following information is from the book ‘Blackout Warfare’ by Dr. Peter Vincent Pry:
In the US the electric grid is almost completely unprotected and is totally vulnerable to cyber attacks or to non-nuclear or nuclear(high altitude) EMP attack by state or non-state actors. A well coordinated attack focusing solely on the grid control system (combination cyber and EMP attack) in strategic locations could knock out the entire US electrical grid based on cascading failures across the grid. If such an attack was accompanied by kinetic attacks to destroy specific high energy transformers in strategic locations, the grid collapse would last many months or longer. The US EMP Commission estimated in 2004 that a total continental grid collapse in the US that lasted for one year would result in US deaths equating to 90% of the population. The reason is that a total electric grid failure would cause total failure of the water and natural gas grids across the nation. The combination would result in casualties of epic proportions.
A major regional or nationwide nuclear HEMP attack resulting from detonation of a nuclear weapon at an altitude between 30 and 400 kilometers above the earths surface would result in no loss of human life from thermal or kinetic effects but would, within seconds of the attack, result in the failure of all surface power and electronics and electronic control systems due to high power electromagnetic/gamma radiation. This would occur over areas as small as 700 miles in diameter to as large as 2500 miles in diameter depending on the altitude of the detonation. In these areas all vehicles with electronic ignitions and electronic control systems would immediately cease operating, as would vital control mechanisms such as ABS braking systems, as well as all electronics such as cell phones, computers...
This would be accompanied by total electric grid collapse.
The 2004 EMP Commission concluded that the risks associated with the above scenario in the US are unacceptable. Nothing has been done to secure and protect the US grid.
If you purchase a Berkey water filter I understand that there is an additional filter you need for it to be able to filter out chemicals.
Also, check out the Alexapure water filter. It is available at My Patriot and sometimes they run a special which includes an additional filter free. If you intend to filter your tap water take time to go to the EWG (Environmental Working Group) tap water guide. It shows current list of chemicals in tap water from water works all over the country. Take time to review the lab test that was done on the Alexapure. You can even send an email to the lab that tested the Alexapure and ask them about your tap water contents. They will respond to you.
Also, think seriously about rainwater catchment to run through your filter.
last year I started teaching (by demonstration) my 14 year old how much better home grown garden food tastes. it was a weak beginning for gardening, but made quite an impression on him. this year we're amping up the raised beds to cover as much as possible of the yard that isn't going to be fruit/nut trees.
yes, I realize the trees will take years to produce. don't care, should've put them in long ago, but it's difficult to afford them except right after the tax "return" arrives. better late than never, assuming we survive and aren't run off our property.
the gardening experience will be good for him, and this way we can eat things that aren't soaked with glyophosphate. that's hard to find at the grocery stores these days even if you pay for organic produce (USDA organic standards are a joke.)
I also buy quantity when I find goods at the store on clearance or sale if I can keep them for any length of time. even with prices approximately doubled at the grocery store since last year, i can still get out of there at ~$10/bag when I'm careful about what I get, just like I have considered acceptable pricing for about the last decade.
I'm into my third year of deep adaptation. Many people are speaking of building parallel structures. Trying to erect them has been tough but seeded with beauty.
I started writing about it. Meaning-making and goat philosophy in the age of the UNESCO World Order.
https://walkingwithgoats.substack.com/
I haven’t started serious prepping yet, but two food items are top of my list: ghee and canned fish (not tuna - sardines, pilchard, wild salmon). No. 3 would probably be rice, but we can all manage without carbohydrates. No. 4: essential amino acid pills/powder, probably Perfect Aminos, as they seem to be well-formulated. I already have a large supply of vitamin, salt and iodine.
We have 20ish chickens mostly hens one male duck, 3 domestic cats and two dogs. Also three Jackfruit, one coconut, six banana and two papaya trees. All of which are bursting with fruit and there's not a lot to show for it. An electric outage meanwhile got us staying in a beachfront hotel
Slightly concerned about eating vaccinated meat 🤔
We have ammunition, gun, rice, pasta,beans,generator, some gasoline, kerosene, batteries, radio, can food, coffee, medicine, alcohol,jewelry for trades, some frozen stuff, flour, sugar,candles, flashlights, water filters, water, bag pack ready, dog food.
I have gardened and canned for many years but got out of the habit. Over the years we have planted many fruit trees. We are increasing our garden capacity and built a 10 ft fence around it (lots of deer eat stuff around here) So anything you need to garden and keep it safe is useful, fertilizer, pesticides, fungicides, extra tools, extra fencing, etc.
I am grateful I have a backyard garden where I grew vegetables. I will be freezing them to prepare to stock up.
Got an amount of food, seeds, garden. Want to eventually get chickens. Loved the comment about bikes- need to get mine fixed. Going to stock up a bit more on propane. Stocking up on how-to books. And an Atlas. Thinking about all the things I’ll want when/if the Internet goes down.
Stocked up on good media. The stuff big brother Hollywood is making is toxic to the brain. Don't trust the cloud services. Get it from torrents lol
It's a psychological stockpiling along with some food lol
Westworld
Mr robot
The leftovers
1984
Etc
Organic garden, stocked canned goods, water purifier, bicycles, a survival kit, trauma kit with surgical equipment and a Mossberg 500.
The plan for us is to shelter in place for most eventualities short of a nuclear strike. We live in a Canadian inner city neighbourhood which has a mix of modest (well kept) single family homes and more expensive infills. So professional, middle class and blue collar.
1) The first requirement is not for food, water or defense but social. The neighbourhood is compact and high trust, we already know our immediate neighbours so easier to create a support network.
2) This is one of the first places services would be restored.
3) Everything is in walking distance; we can get by without a car if gasoline is unaffordable.
4) The second requirement is shelter. We already have it where we are. I saw what happened in Houston when they received an imminent hurricane warning; the roads were jammed for a hundred miles in every direction. Joining the flight from the city almost guarantees being stranded on foot far from home, without friends, shelter or provisions.
5) Since any mass movement would be outward we are less likely to be targets for desperate hordes. Most people we see would be those who stayed in place with at least basic provisions like us.
6) Our food stores are mostly cheap carbs: pasta, rice, beans. A few hundred dollars can buy six months provisions.
7) Back to social: If you don't have enough food to share with neighbours you don't have enough. Food keeps the support network together and if the network has enough it can add other families to its number for greater strength.
That's as far as I've thought.
Purchasing a home last year and locking in an ultra low interest rate (2.697%) on a 30yr mortgage right before inflation went into overdrive was one of the best recent decisions I've made.
Bad boy, everyone knows that preppers are rightwing extremists, or in other words, anyone who wants to be not helplessly reliant upon the kings or whatever they call themselves these days...
(In old times, we had kingdoms, ruled by kings... Today, we have cuntries, ...)
Well. When everybody had no toilet paper, I had. Because I did not run after it and tried to buy a year supply on one day. I smelt something like that might happen and just bought a pack more every time I would buy something anyway. It stacked up nicely.
Same goes for cans of beans, water bottles and stuff. (downside here is that I don't normally eat much canned stuff, so using that as a lossless FIFO buffer inserted by "best before" date is not working so great)
But I only have some weeks worth, due to lack of room. I'd have a few months worth otherwise.
No house (I was looking for a couple years, and as we all know, the market didn't exactly relax starting 2 years ago, argh), so the level of independence attainable is quite limited.
I am highly skeptical of crypto currency - it can just be "turned off" (perhaps a simplified expression, but in essence...). IDK whether you could go around with USB sticks with "1/10 coin on it" or so... But it needs electricity, you know, the stuff at least in Germany, politicians think of that everyone can have some at any time is kind of an outdated model.
And calling that crypto rollercoaster "investment" is a bit of a stretch, no?
Looks like Mark has us all beat. Hard to add to that list!
I “prepped” in 2008 but got out of the mindset in 2015 when I moved abroad. Back into it last year.
lots of dry food (oats, beans, rice)
canned cat food for cats
Berkey water filter
solar generator for charging phone/laptop (120 watt panels)
inverter for charging same from automobile
I have had chickens in the past (great fun) and used to fish constantly as a kid/teen, so thinking about getting back into the latter.
I have a bike. The advice about medical supplies is great.
Dehydrating fruits like melon, and veg from a summer garden harvest is a great way to go, IMO. I loved dehydrated melon and tomato. So much easier to deal with and store dehydrated tomatoes in comparison to canning!
Potatoes are a great idea for anyone without much gardening space and unlike rice and beans (which must be paired) have complete protein. Prior to Phytophthora getting their potatoes in the Irish potato famine, the Irish could feed an entire family on potatoes grown in a pretty small area. You probably only need about 100 linear feet or so of potatoes to feed an entire person per year (assume all goes well with the crop).
About 6 months of food and water, two solar generators, candles, basic first aid, alcohol, comfort foods that I like, seeds for growing food, rainwater collection system, salt, canning jars, cards and a few games. Need to get more wood stored for heat, looking into purchasing a gun.
I have a long series on prepping in ways that are a little more usable day to day in addition to emergencies https://ordinary-times.com/2020/03/17/non-doomsday-prepping-part-3-staples-and-beyond/
Maybe it’s time to start canning meat and fermenting rutabagas.
Supposedly a great wheat crisis is pending because many countries will no longer export; wheat flour doesn’t last that long but if you can get wheat berries, that can last a long time & be ground into flour as needed. Amazon had it recently
We're carnivores who only eat animal produce, all local. So empty supermarket shelves are never a problem for us.
We've began prepping when the covid shutdowns happened in March 2020. We have a living pantry where we have stocked up on items we use a lot. We keep a good supply and put new purchases in the back and rotate older items towards the front. For longer term storage we have mylar bags with the packets that deplete oxygen. with rice and legumes I put them in the freezer for five days before bagging just to kill off any critters. We have a berkey filter, also we have stored water and several plastic containers that can be filled with extra water. We have a generator, firewood and extra propane for our grill that also has a burner. we are collecting seeds and have begun growing a garden, we also have a sprouter and an indoor hydroponic garden. We are in the mountains so have to grow food inside when it snows. We also purchased a long term food supply (6 months) and have six months worth of dog and cat food. There is still more to work out, we plan on moving soon and once we are settled we will have a very big garden, do a lot of canning and have chickens. The more self sufficient we can be, the better. Also have stocked up on basic medications, rubbing alcohol, betadine, bandages and supplements and we have a big supply of toilet paper.
https://rumble.com/vwxwbf-prioritizing-your-prepping-resources-for-maximum-survival.html
Don't forget Cardio.
Began stockpiling food/medication a year ago. IVM, antibiotics, steroids, vitamins/medicinal supplements. Bought water filter for 25k gallons. And spent about $2-$3k on canned/packaged food, protein powders, etc.
"prepping" since we were married 56 years ago. Then grad students didn't get paid enough to live on and wife was still going to school. So we used the University's common garden. We always had a garden, but when we moved to Vermont we helped a neighbor farmer. That grew into a large local farm market. We paid a local farmer for sides of beef and pork. Local eggs. We moved into the mountains of another state, on the side of a mountain, and created terraces to grow our own veggies. We get eggs from a local farmer. Meat is from a local store; some veggies from a local store. There's no point building up a big larder. We are remote, so we go to Costco or a Walmart kind of store for modern "essentials." Only need to go once a month, but stock up with a month's supply of what we need. But if toilet paper becomes unavailable, there's the woods. Plenty of turkey, squirrel, deer, bear, etc. Just need the ammo. My wife has a supply. She's the hunter. Within 30 miles are miles upon miles of truck farms, both outside and under glass. Water? That's a question of electricity. Water infrastructure is from a local coop. The water is under our mountain. On one side of our mountain is a large lake. No humans allowed near it. We have a generator for our own electricity- required because we live in the mountains and the electricity feed is vulnerable to falling trees. Generator runs off propane, so that is our weak spot. The weather is such we can do without electricity year round. Finally, church is within walking distance. So the prepping is to live where you don't need to prep and to be experienced living off the land. Mobility: bikes work fine. Security: One road in. Currently 24x7 guard; if they can't come just lock it up. Everyone has guns and dogs. Medical: EMT with personnel supplied by neighbors. Several doctors in neighborhood. Maintain a year of necessary medical supplies for us.
I'm a bit worried that those without the space or opportunity to lay down stores of food, fuel, medicines and so on, but with very large muscles and driven by significant hunger, are likely to make short shrift of even the best laid plans. Unless of course the stores of food, fuel, etc include very large guns as well. In which case this is unlikely to be a world in which I would want to be a survivor.
Guns and ammo. An extra freezer, stocked and rotate foods. Dry goods, water. More guns and ammo. Getting kit to load ammo.
I will get a filter as Mark Jones below mentioned; thanks Mark!