re: Getting into the prepping mindset

Actually these are simply two parts of the same strategy or plan. NO ONE can make it alone indefinitely. Everyone has to have a support group of some sort and the amount of support needed will depend on the scenario.

Moat preppers, whether they have a bunker with a 50 year food supply or a suburban family with a few weeks of groceries stashed away, don’t go around bragging about it or advertising it too openly. They will find family and friends who are of the same mindset and who live close enough to be a support group. Your support group doesn’t have to be large but at some point, everyone will need support from someone else and having people you can trust is huge.

So, you can maintain the “gray man” strategy while still having a support group. These are not mutually exclusive.

The amount of prepping someone can do is directly related to where they live or where they plan to bug out to. Many people I’ve spoken with have said they will bug out in a SHTF scenario but they have no idea where they are bugging out to. They will get as far as a tank of gas, the weather or the situation allows. After that, what is the plan? Will they simply stop in a farmer’s field and setup camp? That won’t work very well and if they are in a cold weather climate in February, it will get bad quickly, especially if they have young children, elderly or anyone woth special health needs.

If you remain at home in a SHTF scenario and live in a neighborhood then your ability to hunt or forage for food will be limited. If you rely on city water and utilities then you will be limited to what they can provide or not provide. Setting up solar panels or running a generator will be virtually impossible if you live in an apartment.

So, people can remain anonymous as far as being a prepper and also develop a support group for their specific situation. If you live in an apartment, maybe find someone with property who shares your beliefs and mentality and who would be willing to have you bug out to their location. If you live in suburbia, find like minded individuals nearby so that you can offer mutual support and protection.

Being prepared mentally is your greatest asset in any disaster scenario not just preparing for the zombie apocalypse. You will also enjoy watching everyone else clearing the shelves of flashlights, batteries, bottled water, toilet paper, and food while you stay out of the fray.

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How long does emergency food go beyond expiry?

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I have no idea about that as we do not use any of the commercially available long term food storage items. I would "assume" they can go beyond that date but others will have to address that for you.

Sorry I can't help you out.

Everybodys covered the other stufd. Don't forget the intangibles when it comes to surviving without modern amenities.

Your personal health and fitness is a big part of this. Its the cheap/free thing to address and one of the biggest factors. Sustaining yourself and others is exponentially harder when you are fat. Being fat makes uncomfortable turn into miserable/unmanageable and once your mind gets into that "im fricked" mode you truly are fricked. To be comfortable with being uncomfortable you need to be in shape.

Your family also is going to need to be used to being uncomftable. Bring them camping every now and then so they figure out that you can shite in the woods, sleep on the ground,, not have AC, etc and it isn't going to kill you. Everybody's mental toughness is IMO the most important thing to have in your inventory. Positive attitudes and a knowledge that being uncomfortable is not going to kill anyone is paramount.

Do those things, and have enough food and water processing capacity for a month. A natural disaster won't be a big deal for you and yours when you have the mental and physical toughness to handle it. I've lost my mental state on the side of a mountain once and trust me once you get it in your head that you aren't making it to the top, you are absolutely not making it to the top. You can overcome a whole lot but nobody on this earth can overcome a bad state of mind.

Thats my approach to this. I can find food and water. I cant find sanity if my wife is miserable.

What I learned from this was in addition to hurricane prep, I need to prepare for winter emergencies. I'm going to keep two extra full bottles of propane at all time. You can use it to cook and you can purchase a heater attachment for heat.

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You can use it to cook and you can purchase a heater attachment for heat.

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And your family needs to be educated on conserving things. Just because you have a heater doesn't mean you need it running full blast around the clock so you can stay warm and toasty. Just because you have food doesn't mean you need to be eating constantly. Camping goes a long ways towards learning those things.

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I like this. The bins are probably easily stacked and if I need to load and go, I'll know exactly what I'm grabbing. Excellent idea that I'm gonna implement.

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Thanks. Not really sure why it got 4 downvotes. I guess people frown upon having supplies readily available in a plastic tub?

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Whole house automatic generator

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Useless when the utilities allow ice to form in the pipelines.

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if it really gets desperate, you will probably get robbed or raided and could end up being hurt or even killed.

Your number one priority is to your family and loved ones.

Having a short-term, mid-term, and long-term plans is the best way to go.

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100%. My FD cross trains with the PD for tactical response and TCCC. And again, my GF is a former cop and now she teaches law enforcement. I don't think trying to rob us would go the way those poor people think it would.

I'm starting small. I don't think I'll be going out and getting whole home generators and large water storage tanks until I have the basics. I've got 7 days covered, now I'm working on a month's worth of prep. Then I'll work on 3 months, and so on. I'll revisit those larger scale items when I have a good rotation of 6 months supply. That's my thought process. Should I rethink that plan?

Another reason I'm hesitant to commit to those types of prepping are the higher likelihood of evacuation rather than shelter-in-place here. Am I better off investing in portable water storage and generators with less capacity than a large set system that's only good in one location? That seems to go against the gray man theory of staying low-key, as well. Forgive my questions, I'm just trying to find a good plan to move forward with and not waste time, energy, and resources.

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Great info there. I have seen numerous articles and videos that praise them, but haven't seen any negative reviews yet. I was actually thinking it would be a good thing to get that could easily be loaded up and taken. How long has the issue been going on? Has the company addressed it at all?

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Big Berkey was one of the top-notch water filtration systems until they went the 'made in China' route to cut cost.

The issue with them was their ceramic filters(candles) coming apart way too soon. IDK if they have resolved their quality issues yet.

The real thing to look at is the filters.

You can make a simple water filtration system with a couple of 5 gallon buckets, a spigot, a few o-rings and some good ceramic water filters.

The main thing to look for in a filter(candle) is its micron(micrometer = .00004 of an inch in diameter) filtration ratings.

You need a good quality filter to remove all the nasties like bacteria, giardia, cysts, viruses, and protozoa.

Millions die every year because of bad drinking water.

A lot of this stuff can hospitalize a person for weeks, or death, if not treated quickly.

In the US, the biggest threat to waterborne infections is CRYTOSPORIDIUM(a protozoa).

Crypto is a spore with a shell that protects it.
*Straight bleach or Iodine will not kill Crypto.
It has to be filtered out or killed via boiling the water.

You need a good filter that will filter at least .03 microns, and its better to go with a filter that has a .02 micron rating.

Also consider chemical contamination. Gazillions of tons of that stuff is used every day and is in our water systems everywhere.

To safely remove chemical contamination, a filter needs activated charcoal, the stuff you use in your fish tank filter.

The best brands are from either DoultonUSA, Justwater.me, Sawyer or a Katadyn.

Here are a few websites:

DoultonUSA

Justwater

Sawyer water filtration products are geared more toward hikers and campers but are very light weight, portable and easily carried anywhere.
Sawyer offers a good range of different water filtration products.

Sawyer-Water

Katadyn water filtration are some of the best in the world.

The Katadyn Pocket filter is a great product that is issued to many in the military.

The Katadyn Hiker Pro is great and offers a budget conscious person.

Katadyn

You have the right strategy, start small and work you way up.

Supplies will eventually run out in a TEOTWAWKI.

Knowledge, skills and a good network of good like-minded people is your best bet.

There are a ton of prepping websites out there with lots and lots of great info, tips...

I like this guys website. It doesn't have a lot of pop-ups, ads, spyware, etc with lots of great articles and tips and advice.

Grandpappy

Anywho, cheers.