Anyone here a "prepper"? Small time or big time, do you have a stock of food and other necessities in case of emergency?

Wise preppers do not admit to being a prepper...

I keep about a two week supply of canned food food and pasta at almost all times. Might even last three if I was rationing it hard.

Usually have around 3 gallons of water - I live withing walking distance of a major river so if things got really bad there's that. I'm quite sure boiling alone would suffice for that water, and even that would probably just be a precaution.

I have a bag with maybe 30 "almost dead" cigarette lighters, mainly just for backup for smokes, but if it came down to having to boil river water with fire they'd probably be handy. Also have a huge fresnel lens (not acquired for this purpose) that can literally burst a 2x4 into flames nearly instantly on a sunny day, I figure that thing could ignite tinder even with minimal sunlight.

I don't consider myself a "prepper" at all, but I do try to make sure I'm set for at least 2 weeks in terms of food, and more for water.

I'm definitely not set up for anything like total physical demolition of the neighborhood/city/etc.

That's what I always thought about those preppers on TV. But there is a certain amount of anonymity here on this forum

Another thread to watch...

I'm not preparing for Armageddon or a total meltdown of society or anything (yet ), just for a few days of power outage and possible flooding from bad weather. I have a large plastic container (~90 quart?) full of necessities like flashlights, extra toilet paper, canned food, some gallon sized bottled waters, a couple of plastic log lighters, stuff like that.

One thing I'm grateful for is not being a picky eater. Maybe due to my upbringing, as a kid if I wanted a snack, I'd grab some carrots from the garden or pick figs from our fig tree (parents have already planted a couple of fig trees in my backyard). So I could definitely live off the land if needed, or whatever I catch from water.

As far as guns and ammo, I won't touch that subject. I've put too much personal info out there (meaning, in here), including exactly where I live. I think I'm good though, like if a Sharknado hits, dumping alligators or snakes on us instead of sharks (minus any laser beams attached to their heads).

EDIT: Oh, and I also have a pretty sweet porta-potty just in case.

We are very short of zombies, but have an abundance of tornadoes and storms that can produce tornadoes - and in the winter ice storms. Power can go out for days here.

Having five days worth of food and water along with candles, first aid kits, etc. isn't exactly making a political statement.

I do have a small medical kit with forceps, suture kit, scalpels, etc., for when just a bandaid won't cut it. And yeah, I can throw a neat stitch into a cut.

Port-a potty not a bad idea. Batteries,lots of bottled water, flashlights, candles. lighters, matches, extra toilet paper, crackers (Ritz or Saltines), Peanut Butter, survival blankets, radio (one survival), good tent, couple of sleeping bags, some freeze dried stuff (love the beef stroganoff), simple first aid kit, a little booze, some firewood, compass (in case I get lost in my backyard), etc. Still got to get a portable USB charger.

Our power went out for an hour around 9 PM last night. My damn neighbor's generator was loud as hell. I wanted to jump the fence and adjust the choke on it because it sounded like crap and it was driving me crazy.

I always have about 20 one gallon jugs of water, three kerosene oil lamps, a kerosene heater, candles and flashlights handy. My house is all electric, including my well pump for water, so when the power goes out I'm prepped.

As far as anything else, with just my wife and I in the house, we have enough food (fresh and canned) for at least a month or more if we really needed it to last. We go to the store for food every other week to stay stocked up. I usually have 20 gallons of gasoline in 5 gallon jugs for the lawn tractors, but can be used for the Jeep if needed. All of my vehicles are 4WD (2 Jeeps and a Dodge truck) so I can go almost anywhere if I need to. Two CB radios (one in my Jeep, one portable). A few guns and plenty of ammo. An assortment of tactical knives and hatchets. All of the normal "primitive" (no comforts or camper/RV) camping gear...tent, cots, sleeping bags, stove, lanterns, coolers, fishing gear, etc. We'd probably be okay for awhile.

I keep a few weeks worth of rice and black beans, plus whatever canned goods happen to be on hand.

For water I have an AquaRain gravity filter, I keep a couple liters of water in jugs around but its not super important when you can fill the filter from just about any water source.

Ever since Katrina, I like to keep some gas around. It shot up from well under $2/gal to $6 and was rationed...cash only. Waited inline for 4 hours for 10 gallons. I have some water storage containers, but not filled. I have a weather radio and handheld cb, but I wonder how much good a cb is these days. A couple hundred in cash.
We keep a gas grill with extra propane. No generator yet or chest freezer, but I see that coming one day, along with at least some solar panels and batteries just for some basic light, recharging etc.
I keep a collapsable fishing rod and box with a variety of basic reliable lures, extra line, knife, pliers, propane lighter, fire stick, flashlight, extra batteries, emergency blanket (shiny thing), paracord in a small shoulder bag.Need to add a tarp for shelter and wool blanket in a larger bag. This comes from kayak fishing, best to take something like that just in case.

Also keep plenty of outdoor extension cords. During Katrina, we were one of very few neighborhoods that got our power on immediately. We were able to run cords to our backyard neighbor whose neighborhood had no power. Ran their fridge and some fans/lights for them for a couple of days.

I have a full prep kit and a bug out bag.

Full prep kit was designed to handle NBC and Environmental disasters, since Japan is a realistic target for NBC attack by North Korea, and serious natural disasters seem to happen here every 4-6 years or so.
The full kit is kept outside in a small "root cellar" type of hole I dug for the purpose. I also keep foodstuff in it.

Full kit:
2 weeks worth of water
1 month of canned food
1-2 months of vegetables (I grow my own vegetables and never run out. I rotate the veges out of the cellar and eat them so nothing gets too old)
2-4 weeks of fruits depending on season (Winter is fruit season for me, apples, mandarin oranges, yuzu etc)
Seeds for all the above plants, plus seeds for fast growing plants, slow growing plants and seeds for plants known to absorb radioactive metals (Theory is to plant a quick crop of these, pull up the roots after a while, grow a fresh cover crop of clover, then the soil should be OK enough to live)
Various chemicals and neutralizing agents like bleach etc. Water purification tabs. With the chemicals I'm able to produce most basic chemicals from scratch that might be necessary if SHTF.
Filters of all sorts
Solar panels and batteries
2 portable ham radios in a waterproof case - VERY useful - have used this twice since 2011's earthquake. Cell network is one of the first things to go down in a big disaster. Has happened every time there was a disaster in Tokyo.
LED flashlights by Fenix
Plastic bags of all sorts
Hand powered Reverse Osmosis filter / pump - absolutely pure water, even makes ocean water drinkable.
Spare geiger counter
Shoes (More important than you'd think)
Sanitation goods like soaps, alcohol, sewage treatment stuff.
And some other stuff which I won't detail here but everyone should have if the threat of NBC attack is real. Think protection from everything - radiation, chemicals, bio agents and people.

Bug out bag contains a lot of the above but smaller and less of it, as well as tools and a small medical kit.

I also have a cache buried in the mountains with no food in it (Bears and dogs).

I don't consider myself paranoid, I just observed how this city's infrastructure crumbled during the earthquake and then crumbled again during a huge snowstorm. In both cases the food supply completely dried up and only the logistic chains of fast food restaurants were still working properly.

Try this neat trick: Turn your hot water tank into an emergency reservoir of fresh water. Check the internet for how to do this. Not an option in Japan but I did build a water cistern and filtration system which is even better.

I like to be prepared in case there is a longer than normal power outage and we have to just stay put at home for a while. People go crazy even if we are getting a little bit of snow. I hate having to go anywhere near a store then. Now if it was a situation where we have to hit the road and get out of town, I am not so ready for that.

Some great info in this thread.

I figured rather than planning how to hide it from the neighbors it's easier to just plan on eating the neighbors.

I've got a briefcase with some emergency supplies I take on long road trips and etc. Its not a full emergency kit but its better than nothing. I dont plan for a huge society collapsing event. I have a gun for that. My neighbor's supplies become my supplies!

My country is completely FUBAR in that regard as we dont use much canned food......good luck suriving the armageddon on peas and sardine.......i rather die !
First aid kits were obligatory in cards a decade ago,for no good reason,nothing inside would help in a car accident save for a small bruise, and first responders advise people to not touch the wounded so why even bother to make it a legal requirement ? took them too long to get rid of that stupid law.

LOL. When I find them at a good price, I also stock up on canned octopus and oysters (not for the zombie apocalypse, but just to have them around). They never last long enough to stockpile, I eat them up too quickly.

Now, grocery store items like pickled pig's feet and cow tongue are more my father's taste, not bad but not my favorite. Neither are chocolate covered crickets and grasshoppers.

Point is, if the going gets tough (like the beef jerky I'm currently snacking on), I can always find something to eat.

CB is better than 2 cans connected by string... But some will say it's not much better. I think it has some potential value, especially if your radios have Single Side Band.

The FRS walkie talkies you typically see in the sporting goods section of stores generally are very limited in effectiveness. I'd rate decent CB (5 Watt) walkie talkies as more useful the FRS handhelds.

Getting your Amateur Radio (HAM) license is the best way to go, but will take some investment in time to study for it. It's something I've been meaning to do, but the parties I'd likely be wanting to communicate with seem unlikely to get their licenses... so it's probably of limited value to me during times of law and order. The old requirement for learning morse code went away quite some time ago, and a Technician Class license should not be too hard to obtain for someone who is motivated. Baofeng UV-5R and similar handheld radios are pretty cheap these days on Amazon, etc., and can be programmed to handle some frequencies that do not require a license [MURS], or frequencies where getting a license is simply a matter of applying/paying for it with no need for a test [GMRS]. Make sure you keep your transmission power within allowable limits, though.

MURS is something you don't hear about much, but can be useful.
http://www.itstactical.com/digicom/comms/the-best-kept-secret-in-radio-communication/

A couple more useful links from that site:

http://www.itstactical.com/digicom/...-radio-communication-and-why-you-should/

http://www.itstactical.com/digicom/...t-to-look-for-in-a-handheld-transceiver/

Note the dates on those articles though. Bryan Black has recently obtained his Technician Class HAM license, so he will probably post up some newer/additional information in the not-too-distant future.

There are a number of trade-offs to evaluate on choosing what radio bands to work with. Licensing, allowed power levels, availability of repeaters, and whether detachable antennas are allowed should all be considered.

Back in the late-80's/early-90's, my brother and I (with our wives) would make trips home together in our separate cars, from Atlanta to Baton Rouge and back. We bought a couple of cheaper walkie talkies to communicate on the road, like if someone needed gas or wanted dinner. I believe I still have them in my attic but have no idea if they still work.

Easy to forget there was once a time when the average person didn't own a cell or car phone. The walkie talkies worked well enough for this purpose, you'd beep the other person and then try to understand each other through the static.

I forget to mention I have a hand pump operated portable shower and a "Scrubba" portable clothes washing bag, both of which work very well and are worth their weight in gold if needed.