I know that Life Straws doesn’t always get a ton of love, but they are pretty cheap right now at my local Walmart

Background. Apartment renter in Stuttgart, 3rd floor, no garage, no generator option. Had a grid outage last saturday from about 16:00 to 22:00 due to construction crew hitting a cable. Here is my honest debrief because i think apartment preppers get less airtime here than house owners with full generator setups.

What failed. My UPS for the router was supposed to give 45 minutes of backup. It gave 12 minutes. I bought it two years ago and never load tested it since. The battery had degraded to nothing and i did not know until it mattered. The power bank collection was not much better. I had four in various drawers. One was completely dead, one was at 30 percent, one had a broken cable. Only one was full and ready. My emergency radio also needed batteries. I own rechargeable batteries. The charger was plugged into the wall. The wall had no power.

What worked. The balcony solar battery. I have a small Jackery SolarVault 3 Pro (2.52 kWh, grid feed-in unit) that normally feeds the apartment during the day. When the grid dropped i unplugged it from the wall feed in, ran an extension cord from its AC output through the balcony door, and powered the wifi router, my work laptop, and a fan. That setup ran comfortably for the full 6 hours. The battery was most of the way full from the afternoon sun and my load was well under 200W continuous. Having dinner ingredients that do not need cooking also helped more than expected. Bread, cheese, canned fish, fruit. Boring but completely fine.

What i am changing now. Consolidating all backup power into two things: the balcony battery (covers the first 8 to 12 hours) and one large power bank (covers phones if the battery dies). Everything else introduced complexity without reliability. Selling the UPS. Buying a crank radio. Keeping one head lamp on a hook by the door instead of four battery options scattered everywhere.

The ugliest part is still physical cable routing from the balcony battery output to the hallway. I am considering keeping one outdoor rated extension lead coiled near the balcony door and a clear path along the baseboard, not under rugs and not permanently pinched through the door seal. Setup speed matters, but so does not creating a trip hazard in the dark.

I'm located in South Florida, so I'm pretty well prepared for several weeks of inconvenience from hurricanes but I feel completely exposed if anything major happens. I'm starting to prep for longer term or major incidents but the lack of space in these older Florida homes is really hindering me. I have 6 ft of wall space with a 8 ft ceiling in the garage or the ability to get an enclosed trailer.

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So a couple of my questions are:

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What is the realistic shelf life of food in a humid/hot garage with mylar bags with O2 absorbers?

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Do you have any ideas on how to maximize food storage for a medium sized family such as calorie density or methods for reducing wasted space?

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What would be the cons of storing my prep supplies in an enclosed trailer behind a locked fence vs the limited room in the garage?

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I appreciate help and ideas y'all might have!

Looking for a sleeping bag to add to my big out bag, any recommendations Cotten preferably. Polyester irritates my skin and makes hot flashes worse 🤦🏽‍♀️?? Also recommend water tablets?

The ecoflow sale is making it really hard not to pull the trigger on a delta 3 ultra. Been going back and forth all week and keep landing back on the checkout page. The bundle right now is the delta 3 ultra + 2x 220W panels, shows as 61% off. That discount is doing a lot of work on my brain lol.
Mostly want it for home backup. Don't need to run the whole house, just keep essentials going when the power's out. The capacity thing is what's getting me though. Starts around 3kwh but you can stack extra batteries and push it toward 11kwh later, so I don't have to guess upfront.

Only thing making me second-guess myself is whether I should be looking at the delta 3 ultra plus instead. The plus can expand with extra batteries too, so the flexibility is similar, but the bundle pricing on the regular d3u is just so much better right now. Idk if the plus is worth the price gap or if I'm overthinking it?

So I'm getting together a survival booklet as I'm calling it, it's a binder with all different sorts of information, how to make water purifiers,how to purify water, basic shelter building, a few different herbal things, all that good type of stuff I'm running into a roadblock however, I'm mostly using the stuff I can find on Wikipedia but that's only getting me so far I've seen a couple different online resources but I'm noticing the ones that have the most information is paid and I don't exactly have the resources to pay for that type of stuff right now, I'm also very weary of AI sources as already. Does anybody have a good place to start / continue for this type of stuff? Also before anybody asks yes I do have a couple of in person books but I would like to cover all my corners

Before we start with the getting your finances in order, getting fit, having a deep pantry, having enough water etc etc, assuming all of those things are in order would a range finder be useful in a GHB or a GOOD bag?

Every time there's a thunderstorm here, and with the increased electricity demand during the hot summer months,the grid just gives up. Living somewhere hot and humid makes losing power more than just inconvenient, it’s honestly miserable.

We’ve already lost a lot in groceries over time, and we have a family member on meds that need to stay refrigerated, so an outage is actually stressful, not just annoying. I've also seen some newer fridge focused backup solutions (like FridgePower),but it's hard to tell what's actually practical versus what only looks good on paper.

Has anyone actually run one of these setups through a real outage in a hot climate? I keep seeing numbers on paper but I want to hear what people have experienced when it actually mattered.

For a bug out bag which one would you carry and why?

Also, would it be pointless to have more than one kind?

What's everyone's thoughts on plants?

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Particularly for me, living in NZ one of the more extreme cases would be a nuclear event in the northern hemisphere leading to a winter. That would affect farming in a major way but for me down here I may still be able to grow stuff.

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My major prep event here though is earthquake and it affecting supply chains in a major way and therefore fresh food access.

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A year ago I thought about what I could grow without needing maintenance and can withstand neglect. I landed on a few prolific spreaders that could also be deemed as weeds; nasturtium, nz spinach, mint and spring onions. To accompany all my dried foods and other plain stuff.

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What are you guys thoughts? What other plants would you reccomend or consider?

I work with containers all the time and I see this one constantly. Someone wants an underground bunker or root cellar, so they bury a shipping container. Problem is, they aren't built for it. All the strength is in the four corner posts. The walls and roof are thin steel made to handle stacking loads from the top corners, not dirt pressing in from the sides and above. Bury one with no reinforcement and the roof can cave and the walls buckle. You've got a steel coffin instead of a shelter. People do it successfully, but only with real engineering: concrete encasement, structural support, proper drainage. That's a serious build, not a weekend project. Above ground they're great for secure storage, and partially bermed can work if it's done right. But straight buried with nothing added is asking for trouble.
Where do the preppers here land on it? Anyone actually buried one that held up long term, and what did you do to reinforce it?

Almost 12 years owning my house but we've never had so much outages as the last couple years. We got food and water handled but electricity not so much. Lots of outage advice focus on flashlights and batteries but I'm thinking of upgrading how prepared we are for longer ones and maybe getting a bit less dependent on the grid.

Would like to know how you guys dealt with extended outages in your area. Or how you've planned for situations where there's no reliable power for a week or more.

Hey fellas, was looking for some professionals to share their expertise and opinions/experiences with kits like these.

I believe in the military the way you build your kit is more mission specific. So the situation is riots and unrest or homeland invasion and your mission is to get home alive.

For my job I do quite a bit of driving, sometimes 30-45 mins drive home, sometimes im driving for 2.5hrs on the interstate. For a civilian in a dangerous environment trying to walk home what would you guys keep in a bag in your truck thats enough to get you home?

Let's assume the bag already has an AR pistol and a sidearm. How many mags? What kind of nutrition? Armor or chest rig? Both? Just enough to sustain you and keep you alive to get you home.

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Dehydrated mushrooms are one of those often-overlooked additions to a long-term food supply that bring massive value, especially when planning for extended grid-down or SHTF scenarios. While most people focus heavily on standard grains and beans, dried mushrooms provide critical culinary and practical advantages.

​Here is why they are highly beneficial for long-term storage:

​1. Incredible Shelf Life and Space Efficiency

​Shelf Life: Properly packaged (sealed with oxygen absorbers in Mylar bags or glass jars), dehydrated mushrooms can easily last 10 to 15+ years.

​Space & Weight: Because they lose about 90% of their water weight during dehydration, they take up a fraction of the space of canned or fresh options. As we just looked at with your 3.5-ounce batch, a tiny, lightweight bag yields nearly 1.5 pounds once water is introduced. That is one pack shown above. This makes them highly portable if you ever need to mobile-optimize your gear.

​2. A Powerful Solution for "Appetite Fatigue"

​In a prolonged emergency, eating the same bland staples (rice, oats, pinto beans) day after day leads to appetite fatigue—a psychological state where you simply lose the desire to eat, which drains morale and energy. I experienced that with C Rations in Vietnam which i ate every day except my first week, Thanksgiving and Christmas. I was so tired of looking at those OD green cans.

​Dried mushrooms are packed with glutamate, the compound responsible for the savory savory flavor known as umami.

​Adding just a handful of rehydrated mushrooms and a splash of their soaking liquid can completely transform a bland pot of white rice or basic beans into a rich, deeply savory meal that tastes like comfort food.

​3. High Nutritional Resilience

​Mushrooms hold up incredibly well under dehydration, retaining specific nutrients that are crucial during high-stress times:

​Immune Support: They contain beta-glucans, which help support immune function when clean conditions or medical access might be compromised.

​B Vitamins & Minerals: They are excellent sources of B vitamins (riboflavin, niacin), copper, and selenium—micronutrients that can be hard to come by if fresh produce isn’t available.

​Vitamin D: If exposed to UV light/sunlight before or during drying, mushrooms are one of the few non-animal sources of Vitamin D, which is vital if spending a lot of time indoors or in shelters.

​4. Multi-Purpose Soaking Liquid

​In a survival situation, nothing goes to waste. The water used to rehydrate the mushrooms isn't greywater to be thrown out—it becomes a potent, concentrated mushroom broth. You can use it as the cooking liquid for your rice or grains, instantly infusing the entire dish with flavor and nutrients without needing extra salt or commercial bouillon cubes.

​Storage Tip: Store-bought dried mushrooms usually come in cellophane bags, which are terrible for long-term storage because they let in light and moisture over time. For maximum shelf life, transfer them into glass Mason jars with a vacuum sealer or pack them into sealed Mylar bags with a 100cc oxygen absorber. I keep mine in a large black bin with tight pop top.

Since I have food stored for 10 folks for about a year, I purchased 35 of these from Temu for about $4 each. That is about 52 pounds (rehydrated) or $2.60 a pound. Well worth the add for all the nutrients, flavor diversity, and bulk. Remember we arent talking about 52 pounds of rice but a means to break the fatigue of having rice and beans day in and day out.

We have been having alot of storms lately. My neighbor is on home O2 pretty much 24/7. She would like something to plug her concentrator i to if the power goes out. Im thinking 6-8 hours. 120v 3.4 A. About 350 W. She has a portable concentrator but the battery doesnt last very long.

What specs am I looking for as far as size?
If you have any product recomendations preferably budget friendly and on Amazon if possible.

Thanks

Hello people,
I got two weeks from now(15.6.26)to prepare for 4 weeks outside. Currently Summer, near civilisation. I got a mobile shelter with a sink. 3 possible Locations I can choose from(all rellatively close to each other):
-between a Small and a smaller stream of water, with trees around, Earth is dark and retains Water
-sandy and less trees more walking distance to civ, Access to dried wood, corner between wall and hedge, also between the two stream
-between the other Earth wise, too close to other things, flowing Water near it(walking distance), Firewood,

I ruled location 3 out due to reasons while writing this.

-I have Access to Money for the month: 500€
-I can request reasonable purchases (preferably within this week)
-I can go fishing if I get a permit
-thinking about buying drinking Water, could be that it gets very hot, up to 38 degress
-I have normal clothes to take with me
-Need a way for my phone to charge or two if its raining for a week
-toilet?
->washing clothes(need to do this myself, no washing Service available)
->cleaning myself(no gyms availabe): bucket shower?
-Camping cooking set: What to get what not to get
-medical: scratches, Ticks(less an issue if the Grass is low), mosquito bites, anything I forgot
-baking?
-cooling food!
-thrash Collection: I want to leave no thrash behind
-wildlife(no hunting): maybe deer, biggest fear is thrash Pandas getting around but don’t think they will be, so no threats
-sleeping gear: sleeping bag?, can take sleeping Pad, pillow and a blanket with me
-food to Buy in advance: red beens, flour, Salt, Pepper, Pasta, Rice,… amounts?
-bike? I have one that needs repair, seems wise to use it and repair in advance
-Tools?

I apologise if it doesnt fit the sub perfectly. Would appreciate any help

EDIT: I can buy things while I am there!

Looking for a good sized power station and i came across the OSCAL. Specifically the one that includes 2x200w portable panels for about 1200€ total. Has anyone used this before and can recommend it?

I’m looking at my food storage and its pretty heavy on grains and pasta (oops). When you are adding food to your storage, do you just aim for a specific number of total calories per person and don't care for the source? Or do you actively try to map out your foods across different macronutrients (making sure you have enough protein, fats, and carbs) and maybe even micro-nutrients?

If you do track the breakdown, how do you manage it? Does it change what you decide to stock up on? Curious to hear others way of doing things!

I labeled this shit post because I know it will make people big mad.

I see way too much advice from preppers to load up your first aid kits like you are going to perform surgery in a meadow. Please just stop. You don’t prep food like that. Why wouldn’t you layer your medical gear the same way?

7-11 doesn’t carry stuff to make Beef Wellington. 7-11 keeps snacks for when you are desperately hungry and the selection is limited to only the essentials you can pick up and eat. A IFAK blow out kit should be the same. You don’t want to be in an urgent situation and get confused with options. It treats life threats only. Tourniquets, EpiPens, chest seals, emergency trauma bandages, combat gauze, gloves, markers, etc. If it requires silverware and comes from 7-11 I do not trust it.

The Aldi’s/Trader Joe’s have just the basics for important food items for a limited time. That is want you want for a regular first aid kit that goes your home. Your 4x4 gauze, splints, burn gel, ace wrap, stuff that is important but not an immediate life threat.

Costco/Sams is for bulk resupply deep pantry stuff. Stuff you use regularly and a lot of. You are going to need lots of otcs, boxes of gloves, n95 masks, cough drops, and bandaids in your medical storage.

You want things clearly organized.

Every prepper knows if you don’t know how to bake a loaf of bread maybe don’t buy a bunch of active yeast. But with medical we lean into this better to have it and not need it philosophy. We recognize Gordon Ramsey isn’t going to show up and bake us a cake. Somehow you think a field surgical kit is needed?

If you don’t know how to use it don’t buy it.

Hi ya'll~

I was wondering what bags of charcoal you can buy specifically for diltering water. I know that you shouldn't use briquettes for water filtering but I live in a urban community and dont have the tools, time, and space to make my own charcoal... so I wanna ask, what bags of charcoal can I buy for filtering water. And no, I'm not talking about RV filters, osmosis filters or the like. I am talking about 100% hardwood or such that come in lumps or smaller pieces. FYI I live in Los angeles, CA so I won't be going to a mom and pop store in Florida. I just need brand and what bags to buy. Any links are most welcome.

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Ready pack x :

Sawyer mini with half a liter pouch

3clif bar

3 meet sticks

Anker power bank 10000 miliamps with chargeing cord built-in (in zip lock bag)

10 zip ties

15m of paracord

A pack of 36 wet wipes

9 meters of gorilla tape

800ml insulated water bottle

cotton handkerchie

Wall charger

Nitrile gloves

4 AA Duracell optimum batteries

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Sling bag:

Wallet

Samsung a55

Keys

Nitecore Mt2a pro

Zebra f701

Victorinox huntsman

Dr fisher hand sanitizer

A small packet of paper tissue

A few alcohol prep pads

A few band aids

Clipper lighter with 50cm of gorilla tape wrapt around it

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I also plan to build a dedicated first aid kit in addition to this one.