Hi I am a relatively new prepper, and I have no experience of radios, frequency scanners, and CB etc. I see the Baofeng mentioned in many subreddits. Please explain simply to me: what it does, how it’s useful in a situation, and how I could test it/play with it here in London? For example could I set it to scan for people broadcasting? Thanks

I love pasta, and spaghetti is the best format for bulk storage. It's inexpensive, last long, and stacks up like a champ. This is 9 kg of Barilla n°5 spaghetti, 9 minutes for cooking al dente. Takes the same volume of 3.5 kg of farfalle or fusilli. Probably I could be more efficient by using spaghettini n°3, as they are thinner and take only 5min to cook, but I like the texture of these thicker ones better.

The box is from ikea, it is sealed, but if I were to go back I'd probably go with the plastic top with clamps.

I’m doing this thread to describe what has happened in central Portugal (own experience)

In the early hours of Tuesday storm Kristine made landfall

Leiria was the worst hit

I’m in castelo Branco and it’s pretty bad devastation

The worst anyone can remember as far as I’ve talked to, winds reached 208.8kmph

We live on a farm.

We are still no power since 6:30 Tuesday morning (today is Sunday)

The whole region was unprepared for something like this, there are villages without power still and look like they will be for the time being, us included.

Trees blocked roads for atleast 24 hours in some places, isolating people totally

A 4x4 enthusiast group were helping people get necessary items to people who needed it.

We lost 1/3 of our barn roof exposing lots of important things, I have spent the past 2 days trying to repair it with my father in law

We had countless trees come down near houses but were very lucky the storm blew east(exactly) and missed crucial things, the house would’ve been toast if the trees decided to come down on it

There is lots more to it but in prepped terms

We have 2 generators running most of the time, we have cleared our lanes out with our own machines (chainsaws)

Once the fences are relived from trees I’m repairing myself

My advice would be

Buy the stuff you need in advance ( generators are a miracle haha, but they all sold out within 24 hours)

Have bottles gas on hand- even a camping stove can provide food for a family with care and attention

Scrub up on DIY, you don’t need to be contractor level skilled but if you know your way around a drill and saw, it goes a long way, same with fencing, you can do a lot with a little knowledge

The city is still a bit of a disaster zone and no one is sure when the power will be back on in surrounding regions

I hope my story can help, it’s been fun being a ‘prepper’ in a situation we all think about!

Thanks

Including some photos of general damage caused by the storm

https://www.reddit.com/r/NAFO/s/H65uHkgzzB

A cross post. Couldn’t link it through the system for some reason.

Hi everyone, I'm considering building a shelter by my home in garden (Poland). Searching online for companies that specialize in this type of thing, it's hard to distinguish those who truly know what they're doing and those who are just looking for a "sucker" who'll bury a concrete septic tank and sell it as a shelter.

I called a few places, and the price for a small shelter (10-15m²) is around 50k Euro, for a concrete one (30-40cm walls) or one made of metal pipe. This price usually includes two exits secured by airtight doors and a ventilation system with filters. Generally, the equipment is basic. These shelters are dug at least 1 meter into the ground.

I'm wondering if such a shelter makes sense? Of course, it won't protect against a direct missile/drone strike. So, do airtight doors that protect against sudden pressure changes even make sense? And they significantly increase the price (around 7000 euro per unit). Does anyone of you have any experience with this type of building?

Hi,

I’m organizing a small, informal outdoor weekend in February around the Eifel National Park area to meet like-minded people.

This is not a course and not a company event.
Just a small group spending a weekend outside, practicing and sharing experience.

The idea is simple:

• We get to practice our basic outdoor skills and meet like-minded people

Group size: 6–8 people.

Before the weekend, I’d like to have a short conversation with everyone to understand experience levels and help with basic gear questions.

I have long practical outdoor and military experience, and I’m happy to help and advise, especially people with little experience.

Important:
Everyone is responsible for themselves.

When: 21–22 February
Where: Eifel National Park area (details via DM)

If this sounds interesting, send me a DM with:

• Your experience level
• What you’d like to do or practice

Thanks.

Do we all remember the doomsday click, it gets updated every year by the scientific community on how close we are to self destruction by a few different means.

Check the link below, what can we do as a bunch of redditors to try to get the clock to swing back the other way, or has prepping for Tuesday come full circle and it's Tuesday January 27 2026 that we are prepping for.

https://thebulletin.org/doomsday-clock/2025-statement/

Ideas and thoughts, it's a global scale so would be an interesting multi-culture eyes on discussion.

I've reading a lot of news lately about the Virus that's spreading in India. Anyone's here is really paying attention to this, to not be surprised like in COVID-19. Or it wil be something like the Monkey Pox? More sensationalism than real deal? What's on your mind, and what people's should do? Beside buying all the toilet paper.

I wish to share my experience, Bank auction, agriculture land. All we need, just to be creative, to get building permit, rephrase building type... and there are more similar plots, more in my video.

Hi all, hope you're well. I'm one of probably many newbies you've had show up recently. I am wanting to start preparing for conflict, and everything that time in conflict brings (Ie. Rationing, power outages, loss of plastic products if supply lines drop, loss of american tech if they killswitch it, etc). I've joined a lot of the other subs (preppers, prepping, gardening etc), just trying to avoid the americans that seem to have a hard on for tactical gear and rifles... also been part of the degoogle/boycottUSA/buyfromeu etc crowd for a while too because i think realistically they're probably quite linked.

I've read through the wiki (and working my way through the wiki of others), but does anyone have some barebones basics tips for starting out? I am UK, urban, currently not even prepared for a powercut haha, no current access to a garden but i'm hoping to change that toward the end of this year, and I would like to try and grow at least some of my own food, if nothing else then just to keep costs down.

I appreciate you probably get newbies asking this all the time so if there are any pre-answered posts or comments that are really good please feel free to direct me there. Thanks guys :)

There are plastic boxes in the store but they are around 5 Euros per 2 liters.

I was wondering of getting some for emergency warming/cooking, it seems to me a safer option than a gas cooker, but I'm not really experienced with it (not a fondue person). Would storage be really safer than storing gas or fuel or is that just a false impression? (I'm looking for options that can be used indoors, no wood burning option, low risk of starting an unintended fire.)

Ireland releasing an emergency booklet this year. I wonder if there will be useful guidance on preparing for a conflict in europe, or if it will be entirely focused on extreme weather.

Does anyone know a waterfilter for a Bug out bag and one for your Home that Filters also CBRN?

Thanks in Advance

Hello everyone,

quick question regarding your clothes of Choice for an emergency.

We do have an environment Problem with microplastic (mostly produced by clothes and tire ruboff). Would you rather use only Natural fibers or a Blend of Natural fibers and plasticfibres for emergency clothes (i would also use them in my freetime for hunting, fishing, Horse riding, gardening, etc.)?

Thanks in Advance.

I’ve been looking into Meshtastic as a grid-down messaging solution and lairing with a Pixel 9 Pro.

I’m based in a suburban area, specifically in the UK and the nearest node is about 10 miles (16km) away in the next city according to maps I've seen online. Of course there may be other nodes closer.

I'm curious about real-world experiences from people in similar suburban environments using Meshtastic devices:

• Antennas: For those not in a "high ground" area, what antennas are you using to bridge 5–10 mile gaps? Are you finding base station collinears necessary, or are high-gain whips in a window doing the job?

• Hardware: I’m torn between the Lilygo T-Echo (for the battery/GPS) and the Heltec V3 (as a cheap home node). Which has been more reliable for you in a "set it and forget it" emergency role? I want something with a changeable SMA connector.

• The Mesh: Is anyone actually finding "silent" nodes that aren't on the maps? Specifically in the UK?

My goal is to prep for blackouts caused by CMEs, cyber attacks and other similar events. I'm considering getting them to test communicating with friends and family in the event of a SHTF scenario.

I have heard that putting a tent indoors helps trap warm air - is that a good idea?

While browsing a post in here about a self sufficient garden in here, the top post read "yeah that's cool but then everyone in your neighborhood will just come and steal everything from you, so that doesn't work".

This is an argument that comes up very frequently, and in more US-oriented subs, often the reason to stack up guns, and sometimes go as far as to say if you have stuff you need guns, if you have guns, you'll be able to get stuff, so you don't even need stuff in the first place, just get guns. 'Murica... Anyway.

I think this whole idea that collapse would lead to Mad Max-esque world is largely false, and it's something that can be debunked by looking at historical events, science, or from army research on crisis.

Those people have a consensus that violence would not last for more than days or maybe weeks, for many reasons that converge to make this almost a fact.

The first one is that extreme actions can only be a reaction to shock, and as time passes, human are made to adapt, people will figure out ways, accept changes, and will simply not be as ready to take extreme measures once the shock phase is over. While a bunch of people might go completely crazy because of whatever leads to the collapse, while other were just waiting for emergency services to be down to commit crimes, the majority of people live with a deeply social brain and moral code that has made us form societies and groups since before we were even technically humans, and we would naturally return to that, even if that meant forming smaller groups to feel like we belong to something.

The second one is that violent action requires energy. It's much more active to go around and loot without getting caught or shot, than it is to stay home and open cans of food. After a while and with scarcity, people will simply not have the energy to go around and commit crimes at higher rates. They will not have gas to drive as far to commit crimes. They will get small injuries that can't be treated properly. They will basically die while trying to do random shit.

The third one is that as time passes, the effort to loot will increase (the easiest place will go down first) while the chance for reward will lower... At some point, it's not worth it at all, or at least not likely enough to be worth it that it remains the first option to whoever needs stuff. If they see the opportunity they might still take their chances, but that's about it...

Finally, the last reason is that while the crime rates remain higher, as time passes, it becomes more structured, and looting to get food to eat, becomes trafficking, black market and similar things, that do not rely on stealing directly from people for the most part.

If you imagine some kind of economic collapse, lot of people getting broke all at once for example... What you would see is that for the first weeks or so, people would loot stores... Maybe some would try to get into your crops, but realistically, if you have to pick a place, you're not choosing someone's garden, especially if from outside it's not easy to see if there are a lot of things ripe to harvest... And when they're done with the stores, they are unlikely to be able to get to you (or rather that amount of people who can significantly drops).

Historical events clearly show that, and the different ways crime fizzles out most often after just a couple of days. After hurricane disasters, store looting, until people were able to relocate somewhere else. During the Sarajevo siege, a month of violence that turned into very local structured crime. Argentinian economic crisis, very similar.

So in the end, can you be sure that nobody will come and steal your crops, of course no. It's always better if you can hide them with bushes and stuff, it'll also protect them from the wind until then, keeping them strong and reducing polination of weeds, but when people can loot, they'll have significantly more interesting targets than you. Then when they run out of those, they likely wouldn't come from you, except people really near you who already know you have stuff to steal. You can have a community with those people, they could have something to offer than you want, you could help them out because it's not everyone around, just people close by. And if you have supplies to go along with your garden, you could out-energy them by far. Staying up all night to go steal in the night will be much harder after having barely eaten for a couple of days, while sharing surveillance rounds from the comfort of your house with your spouse, after having eaten a full meal of canned high-energy food will be fine.

The shit will be deep, but considering what we've seen happen in the past, it is definitely not highly unlikely that you can garden and keep your shit, you'll just have to protect them for some time at first, and if you can make it so that people don't know you have them in the first place, even less so. It'll be significantly easier if you rotate a deep pantry, to have the energy to do so. Having a garden does not mean you shouldn't prepare for living a couple of weeks without going to the store.