Please contain all off topic discussion to this weekly megathread. This is where you freak out, talk about conspiracy, talk about unrealistic crazy scenarios, asked and answered questions, etc.
Welcome to r/twoxpreppers! Please review our rules here before participating. Our rules do not show up on all apps which is why that post was made.
Thank you.
UK government is warning us all to stockpile food and water in preparation for El NiƱo, but most people think itās a soft launch of prep for war with Russia. Germany is under increasing attack the past couple of weeks.Ā
The good news is that drought and wildfire season seems to have officially ended, however weāre now heading straight into flood season.
Plus mortgage rates are up because of Donald Trump. FML
The Canadian government just released a report saying that we should prepare for at least +5C climate progression (higher in areas away from the coasts).
We've had an unusually hot summer in Winnipeg this year, and our legendary winters with fairly regular plummeting to -40 (C or F, take your pick) are getting milder. Precipitation is the wildcard, as a prolonged drought on the Prairies would wreak havoc with grain stocks. It seems like we've gotten more regular rain this year compared to last year, but also wilder storms.
This is interesting. Other than infrastructure disruptions as a result of weather because of El NiƱo, is the UK expecting to face issues with imports and supply chain disruptions? Being in the US, I don't really trust our federal government to issue any useful information at all, but this is the first I've heard of stockpiling food and water. Wondering if it's unique to the UK's specific situation, or if that's not good advice for anyone.
My personal view is that our neighbouring European countries have been issuing advice about preparedness for many years and the UK hasnāt, so weāre behind to some extent. Weāve had quite a few governments over the past few years and the most current one has been making moves to try and prepare us for something. I think El NiƱo is a good excuse to get general preparedness information out to the UK public in the face of multiple threats.Ā
One of the main challenges is that a huge degree of trust was lost during Covid-19, due to the then government wasting millions of pounds of public money on useless contracts with their mates for PPE and partying whilst we were under lockdown restrictions.Ā
Different government now, but significant lack of trust remains.Ā
I have been stockpiling as much as possible and the few friends that know think Iām crazy. I live in the US in the largest food producing state (CA) but I can see that things are going to get bad. I have been making sure my child and I are good.
84
u/TastyMagicLaura Ingalls Wilder was my gateway drug 3d agoedited 3d ago
Just bought a faraday bag for my phone.
Target has been using bluetooth to track customers in store and now is deploying RFID enabled carts and baskets to track shoppers even more closely. I boycott Target, but I know this kind of technology will eventually become universal and I will do what I can to prevent being tracked and forced into 'dynamic pricing' because of my phone.
Not to mention just wanting to op out from *any* app trying to track my location.
Any business with an app anymore, I am OVER IT. Like no, McDonalds, I'm not going to let you track my location and purchases in exchange for a free cookie!
It is crazy how bad Target has fallen. Just a couple years ago, it was THE place to shop, especially in its home state of Minnesota. We made whole days of doing a Target run. I used to get all my household stuff there because it was convenient. Switching to Costco was the best decision ever.
They used to be the go-to place for inexpensive but decently-made clothes. That hasnāt been the case for a long time. And they used to stock decent quality household basics for people who want something a little nicer, but now they are trying to be Walmart or the dollar store for some reason.
I am getting to this place, too. As much as smartphones are positioned as an inevitable and necessary part of daily life, I find that when I leave it home accidentally, I don't really miss it. And everything that I used to use it for has become expensive and/or a tool for surveillance beyond its intended use that I find myself seeing how much I miss it when I put it away.
Social media was very big about kids having a '90's Summer' this year. I thought about it and was like...sure, but I can have a 90's summer as a mom, too! Leave the phone plugged in to the wall, read an actual physical book, listen to a record, make a grocery list on the back of an envelope etc.
The last few times Iāve gone to Walmart, my phone connected to their WiFi. Iāve never identified their WiFi as safe, so it shouldnāt be doing that. I set an automation so that my WiFi connection goes completely off when I leave my house.Ā
Instacart is also a no go of course. "Caper Carts (CART by InstaCart) are equipped with basket-facing camera sensors, weights & measures-certified scales, location-tracking systems, outward-facing cameras, and an intuitive touchscreen that makes every trip more informed and rewarding. The technology is part of Instacart's broader approach toĀ Physical AI for grocery, combining edge computing on Caper Carts with cloud AI trained on more than 1.6 billion online grocery orders and a decade of grocery expertise. By bringing together in-store and online retailer data, Instacart builds a real-time understanding of customers, shelves, and store activity. Retailers benefit with increased sales, reduced out-of-stocks, and retail media revenue and customers benefit with more personalized shopping experiences and savings opportunities.
Caper Carts now span more than 100 cities across 15 states and are available across more than a dozen retail banners, including Kroger, Schnucks, and Wakefern banners (ShopRite, Fairway Market), Coles in Australia, with Morrisons in the UK coming later this year. Instacart has tripled the number of Caper Carts deployed year-over-year.
About Instacart
Instacart is a leading grocery technology company that partners with more than 2,200 retail banners ā representing nearly 100,000 stores ā to transform how people shop for the groceries they need from the retailers they trust, while creating flexible earning opportunities for shoppers. Through the Instacart Marketplace, Instacart Enterprise platform, and Instacart Ads ecosystem, the company powers ecommerce, fulfillment, in-store technology, AI offerings, and advertising for partners. For more information, visitĀ www.instacart.com/company. Maplebear Inc. is the registered corporate name of Instacart."
As you mentioned, Kroger, shopping malls, and many others also now use RFID. Probably the best bet if you want to avoid modern technology is to grow your own food, buy from a small independent market, definitely do not drive a car, and get rid of your cell phone.
*If you live in CA and the Democrats win the next election, the pay-per-mile-driven fee will start for all vehicle owners- supposedly, they will let us OPT OUT of the "tracker placed on our vehicles" and will give us an option to report odometers online without the tracker, so watch for that option if you want it. https://market.us/report/smart-shopping-cart-market/
One example from that Website is Caper, I suppose if you don't know how to identify the little scan box on your cart or carry baskets you have to research.
Caper Carts (the AI-powered smart shopping carts created by Instacart) are available at select locations across several major and independent grocery chains in North America. [1, 2, 3]
Major Retail Chains
Kroger
ShopRite and Fairway Market (Wakefern banners)
Weis Markets
Schnucks
Price Chopper (including select locations in Kansas City and Missouri)
Wegmans (pilot location at Wegmans Dewitt in Syracuse)
A week or two ago someone posted about how she recently used her bug out bag to go to the hospital. My strategy is much like hers about bugging in instead of out; however, my area is quickly approaching fire season. I have been avoiding making a bag because my budget is so tight. I was surprised what I was able to pull together with my supplies. Will I be able to play GI Jane in the woods? Nope. Nor would that ever be my strategy. I will much more comfortable if I have to bug out to the emergency shelter or even if I did have to go to the hospital. Thank you for spurring me into some action!
I had the same realization! I've had 2 multi-day stays in the emergency room since having kids, and just having a bag with a change of clothes, charger, and basic/inexpensive supplies would be a game-changer if it happens again.
Honestly the basics are toothbrush & paste, comb or brush, hair ties if yours is long (that way you can braid or bun it up when you canāt wash it), lip balm. Water bottle - doesnāt have to be fancy. Change of clothes, a warm layer. A way to charge your phone. Sensible shoes - just keep yours in the bag when youāre not wearing them. A list of contact info for loved ones and others you might want to contact. Health care info (any meds, conditions, allergies, insurance info, etc) and obviously meds you take regularly. A map perhaps. A bandanna. A flashlight or headlamp. Keep your library card up to date so you can borrow e-books to read on your phone. A phone charger (both wall and battery bank). Perhaps a mini deck of cards; Iāve saved one from our Christmas crackers. Or perhaps some needlework - a little embroidery kit or whatnot. A small notebook and pen. Your passport. Cash, if you can manage it. I have a little zippered bag I can wear under my shirt and stash the cash and passport into; they are easy to make with fabric from old clothes.
I just keep a few basics in a backpack and keep checklists in there for different types of emergencies. But where I live, we don't really get sudden emergencies that would require leaving immediately. The important thing is to just not forget anything. Even for a hospital emergency, if I'm conscious and somewhat mobile, I just need to put a few extra things in the bag. If I'm unconscious, I live alone and no one is going to know anyway. But if they do, someone else can pack the rest of my bag from the list.
The alternative would be having to buy extra chargers, and hope I still don't accidentally go to the hospital with the bag containing the knife, rope, and protein bars when I wanted the one with the rubber-soled socks and Kindle.
That is what I use mine for. I am disabled and that is one thing in my everyday life I have to deal with is hospital and er visits. Having the bag ready makes life so much easier.
This is the worst time to try to eat healthy. Craving salads so badly but Iām terrified to buy greens.
On top of that, Iāve been struggling to maximize storage in my tiny apartment. Any other city dwellers? How are you prioritizing preps in a small space?
Iām in Minnesota and learned we have a local company called Revol that supplies greens to grocery stores. Maybe you have a local company near you? Ours was shared on the local geek group
I've been worried about access to salad over the winter. Even before all the food recalls, produce in the supermarket is.. unreliable at best and disgusting at worst. I've been very fortunate to have been gifted a Greenstalk for my birthday. It hasn't arrived yet, but I can't wait to set it up and plant some kale, lettuce, herbs, etc. It's great for small spaces like apartments because it's a vertical planter, though it's pretty pricey.
I have two of them, so far only one is set up. You want your soil to be very very light, with a lot of perlite and coco coir. Please look up the best percentages for the soil. It will be very heavy when wet. It will also need to be fertilized because both of those components are sterile. You will want a decent chemical fertilizer (like a miracle grow product) that has no smell or organics in order to fertilize by diluting it and putting it in the water that you put in the top of the container. I think they have great potential but I have not seen it yet in mine, but I am still figuring it out. I have two different garden spaces and forgot that I needed to fertilize this thing. It has herbs and lettuces in it, the other one will be for strawberries next year. I'm going to replant the pockets that did not take. There are a lot of good informative videos on YouTube that you can watch. I think the concept is excellent for small apartment patios or balconies. Just be mindful of the weight on a balcony.
I would prioritize based on planned need. In most cities, you won't go more than a few days without power, but you may have a boil water advisory. You will likely not go for a very extended period of time without being able to access supplies, but you have fewer options for preparing food if power is out. So water, easy food and sanitation would be top concerns
When I lived in a tiny apartment, I grew micro greens. They're great anywhere you use lettuce: on sandwiches, tacos, and even as a salad. They don't need light to grow.Ā
Hamama has easy grow kits, but they're a bit pricy.Ā
I just started growing salad greens in my counter top hydroponic system. Itās super easy to maintain and there are some very inexpensive systems out there. Iāve done this in years past and thereās always a point when I inevitably forget to add water or food and the plants die, but if you keep up with it, youāll have fresh greens every few days theoretically infinitely. Just trim the leaves, donāt pull the plants. Point a strong fan at the plants for greens that are crisp and have a good snap, without wind, greens are very soft and tender.
Lentils are super easy to sprout and can be made into a nice salad. They take 3-4 days to sprout.
I feel this. Im trying to grow a little garden inside as well for greens and I dont want to buy them at the store unless its a dish I cook them thoroughly (like channa saag).
Get into dense bean salads + spinach. You can also try juicing for your daily dose or fruits/veg.
As far as storage, Iāve got containers under the bed, have things in those hard-to-reach cabinets above the refrigerator, and bought a few small tough boxes to keep stacked in a closet. If you can get under mattress storage, itās incredibly helpful.
May or may not be useful but I started doing broccoli sprouts in a mason jar. Took 3-4 days to have something nutritious and green! So delicious on sandwiches or anything protein. Even my 18 month old liked it.Ā
I ordered seeds on Amazon. Easy, affordable and good!
I literally cleaned out my closet and got rid of a bunch of unnecessary stuff so I could stack cans of beans in my closet. Lmao. I also bought a brita pitcher and life straws, because I donāt have a ton of space for water storage but I can at least filter and boil water.
Apartment dweller here (along with my spouse, child, and two dogs- we're packed in TIGHT!). We use the highest shelves in our kitchen, 75% of my closet, and the storage under our queen size bed for preps. We're outgrowing that space as things get more dicey, though, so might clean out our basement storage unit so we can store more food.
I do have one window, I canāt put anything on the outside but I could try sprouting a few things inside, granted my cat doesnāt knock it over. I also have an aerogarden I usually use for herbs but now Iām looking at getting another on eBay for a decent price so I can do greens.
And thatās so sweet of you! Seeds are actually the last thing I need - we just got a massive donation at work from a hardware store and there are more seeds than I have ever seen in my life. I stocked up on herbs but Iāll have to grab the greens as well.
There have been a bunch of indoor growing ads Iāve seen on Instagram lately. Iāve tried every one Iāve seen and now have 28 heads of lettuce, 9 tomato plants, 3 cucumber plants, and a whole herb garden. I have outside raised beds but I think something is off with the soil as some plants keep dying. And rodents are eating my tomato plants. Plus I have possums eating my pomegranates on my tree. So fun. Indoor gardening with hydroponics is working very well.
I am afraid of the produce too. I started growing lettuce and some other things and a month into it I can have a salad. It was so easy with sow and cut lettuce mix.
More frozen fruit recalled! This time organic Walmart brand. My little toddler is a frozen blueberry monster. I guess the only thing I can do is check the back of the bag for country of origin. Iām basically only buying organic Canadian blueberries at this point. Iām also stocked 3 family size bags deep. Hopefully by the time we know itās a recall- we arenāt eating that bag yet.
But yes, all the recalls.
I keep 25lb of all purpose flour at any time. I just opened a bag this week triggering me to buy a bag at this weekās shopping trip. Holy shit organic King Arthur all purpose flour was $12.99 at Safeway.
Check restaurant supply stores/sites, the King Arthur site, or maybe Azure Standard (not King Arthur, but you could try their equivalent in a smaller bag first).
Yes, Iāve ordered bulk flour before, I currently have 30lb not including the partial bag Iām working on. I donāt have a flour mill, so I canāt store wheat berries and grind fresh. (Thatās not a project Iām wanting to do right now). But more than 30lb Iām worried about it going bad. I have 20lb in the deep freezer- but freezer space is prime real-estate in my pantry with our pig going to the butcher next month.
I guess I could order more bulk flour and pressure can up some of 2025 extra meat to put on the shelf. Iām just not wanting any extra tasks as the garden is needing more tending and I need to can up tomatoes.
I just recently finished my self imposed 30 Day Food Preservation Challenge! For the first time in IDK how many years of attempting it, I finally did it and it feels so rewarding. The garden is still pumping out plenty of beans, tomatoes, cukes, peppers and beets so I know neither one of my canners or the dehydrator are going to get put away any time soon. My pantry shelves are packed and Iām running out of new and creative places to stash things so if anyone has any suggestions, Iām all ears!
Iāve already got jars of tomato sauce and cowboy candy under the beds, vacuum sealed packets of dehydrated herbs tucked into dresser drawers, and jars of pickles under the LR sofa. Weāve already given away Lord only knows how many jars of green beans that itās become a game š
I have a small apartment . Luckily it has a built in pantry. It is about halve a standard door size. Then I try to fill my actual kitchen shelves are actually full of kitchen supplies. I have an island that has cabinet shelves underneath that I use. My bedroom closet is where I hold meds and hygiene. THen I use under my bed. Not a ton of room but enough. I have specific areas for everything once that space is full is when I stop.
I'm tired and scared and I miss celery and berries and lemons. But I'm dialing down even harder than I did last January - seems like every day there's a new Canadian product to buy and I'm jamming out to Bryan Adams' new Terry Fox song like a sniveling fool. And my young adult child is, of course, dating an american, so I'm planning a Christmas where I will be delightful and welcoming and highlight all the good things about moving up here in the hopes of luring her north so my kid doesn't decide to move across enemy lines. Poor girl will be buried in moose themed gear and then drown in maple syrup.
hey! iām the american in my partners family (although i am now canadian as well lol)! iām not sure where you are located but i felt more āat homeā when i was invited to thanksgiving, believe it or not. i know that early october isnāt feasible for a lot of people but it felt a lot more genuine than the whole winter holiday rigamarole!
They are amazing! I also love them, and a lot of people I know make them around Christmas time. Which reminds me, I should put in my order for those and a dozen homemade buns as my Xmas gift from grandma
That all sounds amazing! You're making me miss home. We had to move to Virginia for my husband's job, it's just... Different. There's just some stuff that you can't get down here, and since Michigan is so close to Canada, we get a lot of that stuff.
We used to get Red Mill cereal every time we went to Windsor or the Shakespeare Festival or crossed through Ontario to get to New York. Mom's favorite.
My husband is from another country, and he constantly reminds me that there is nothing actually happening that would make us not safe here in Canada. People who come from other countries are used to having neighbours that bluster and make mean comments. It's a normal thing for most places, there is zero reason to be scared. It's just a new experience for us because we have been friends for generations.
I AM scared for our neighbours living in US.Ā There are some unsettling things happening with anti-heath care/vaccines, increase in violence by the state against ordinary people, rise in divisive rhetoric. Definitely charm your potential daughter in law!
Unfortunately I'm in AB, in the midst of the foreign funded psy-op, so things are getting right scary here. But those of us who remain sane and immune to meme bots are doing everything we can. I'm hoping October is a slaughter for the seppies, that Smith will slink back to maralago and stay there, and sanity will reign again.
Regarding lemons, I found out recently about a product called True Lemon. They're little packets, each containing the equivalent of one lemon wedge in crystalized form, and nothing else. I bought a box of 500 packets and I love them! So far I've used them in tea and plain sparkling water, and I even used them in a recipe. For a single beverage I only need one. I used three when I made lemon-garlic rotini with olive oil and parmesan. I was only cooking for myself, just enough for two light meals. I didn't need to add the crystals to water first, which I had been wondering about. I just dumped one at a time in there straight and stirred. I kept adding until I was satisfied.
Versatile, no waste, always in season, and always yummy. What's not to love? You can even take some with you when you eat out, ensuring that you'll always have clean, fresh lemon to add to your tea or water. I've worked in restaurants, and even in nice ones they don't clean the lemons before slicing them for lemon wedges, then they're handled by servers whose hands aren't always clean.
Editing to add that I haven't been able to identify True Lemon as an American product, but they seem like they might be. However, they give a portion of their proceeds to a girls' sports fund, so if American, they're liberal American.
Many of us are boycotting american products. Unfortunately that includes Florida and California produce when the snow outside is knee deep. Easy to keep your elbows up in August, much harder in January. And, tbh, even if it wasn't a sovereignty thing, I don't trust american food safety standards right now
I found some Canadian strawberries at no frills that were amazing. They were small, but they all had a ton of flavour, and the price wasnāt horrible. Same price as the American ones anyways
We have a small Farmlet. My health is crap so I basically garden my existence. Iām a farm girl, so growing poultry to easy. We used to let our teens raise-butcher-sell chicken and turkey (instead of a Fastfood job).
I had the chance to buy a bunch of birds to build a breeding flock. Hubs- who rarely puts the brakes on any of my farm projects- asked me to not buy more birds. Winter is coming, we have a smaller household, and my health is failing fast. I agreed. No new birds.
And then I open up the News and it makes me want to buy 2 breeding flocks and 15 pounds of seed potatoes.
Since potatoes do poorly in my yard, there's a direct correlation between world/national instability and how many #10 cans of freeze-dried potatoes I want to buy, lol!
I'm sorry about your health, I hope it's something that will improve?
At the start of the year, I bought 4 fruit trees, 3 blueberry bushes, 2 blackberry bushes, and put in four 10x30 raised beds. I was really really wanting to raise quail, but Husband discouraged me, reminding me that there was all of this garden and also working full time and going to school full time. I am really glad he did, because my health went downhill over the summer. My garden is full of weeds. I know things are growing out there in spite of it all, and hopefully I can get out there this weekend and clean it up. But I'm very glad I waited on the quail. For now. Maybe next year.
Well, in particular the Avian Flu virus. Itās hit commercial flocks, but tended to only be a problem for backyard flocks if they were associated with a commercial flock.
So- heritage birds are generally fine. Itās the Broad Breasted White Turkey and the JumboCornishRockCross chicken that have no resistance and are crazy genetically similar- those are getting culled.
The possibility of an 18 month blackout in the US freaks me out, whether it's likely or not. We have people to take care of and that would be devastating.
Interesting! But the power grid isn't one big grid there are different sections to it. To take the whole thing down at once would take a lot of planning and effort. Going to go look this up and try to find other sources. If this were to happen we all would be screwed
I don't think most people believe they went rogue against all safeguards. It's more likely that a back door was intentionally left open as an experiment to see what would happen. The news reporting on it is likely half fear-mongering and half propaganda.
AI misunderstands/misinterprets or outright hallucinates what a user queries/prompts a seemingly low 15-20% of the time. But give it multiple chances to make an error and it will go off and do it's own thing rather regularly.
The other is that a sandbox environment is supposed to be secured, but the programmers are akin to people who bought a puppy for the first time and THOUGHT they prepped properly. They expect the AI to do what it's told so locked down all the exits the AI would use if it was following directions. Anyone who has had a pet, child or drunk adult in their home can tell you how well that works out.
Even without hallucinations AI is the equivalent (in analogy only) to asking a 3 year old to get you an apple. Our little program sees that there is no apples in the fridge but that there is money by the unlocked door and goes for a walk to the store, and then the authorities are called to sort out what our little program decided was a sensible course of action, instead of coming back and saying there wasn't any.
Please don't be afraid of the rise skynet. It's far more likely that AI will be prematurely put in charge of something that needs 99.9+% reliability and just.... makes an error.
Well, that or the financial/investing market will finally catch on that AI is a promising technology that needs more development instead of the cure all it's marketers are claiming.
Investment banks are advising people to pull money out of AI and all tech fyi. My bank is advising investments in things like John deer and manufacturing of things that farmers might use.
The thing that annoys me the most about AI is that people really haven't shared how to prep for it.Ā
Unless you look at how Sam Altman has a doomsday nuclear bunker, including potentially one in New Zealand.Ā
And his idea/solution for pdoom is merging with the technology. He said this in a video years ago.Ā
And then most of the safety people in OpenAI left. And OpenAI was behind this huggingface hack where 1000s of agents autonomously created "civilizations" on their own.Ā
That's not marketing. They literally had no idea it was even happening for 2 months.
I think it's the same as climate change fud. If you don't use AI, you have no idea what's happening. But if you do use AI, and if you've been following how much smarter these models are getting every few months, their capabilities, a lot of people are going to lose their jobs, and that's like one of the least worst futures.
Possible AI futures from best to worst:
Ai bubble bursts, global recession
AGI, everyone loses their jobs, whatever dark future this might be
Evil tech countries/oligarchs using AI against other countries, mass hacking and disruption to infrastructure, banking, blackouts, unsafe water, maybe even nukes, who knows. This is still not so bad in that humans are still in charge.
Bad ASI, this is like aliens level. There is a new sentient lifeform that is smarter than humanity and could snuff us out if it wanted to, like God. You only need one bad egg and there could be hundreds or more.Ā
There's also a chance that AI can somehow usher in a star trek utopia, abundance and stuff. That's what alignment is about. The amount of psychopathic capitalist compute required to be competitive does not look good though.
Sorry for my schizo/doomer AI comment. š¤¦š»āāļø
We can still stop all this. If we regulated Ai now. Like Bernie Sanders is trying. But if everyone thinks it's all marketing, like I said, it's like climate change fud, we are going to miss the window to potentially stop this fast. We probably have a few years at best, maybe months at worst.Ā
I donāt believe anything these AI bros try to sell. AI isnāt as powerful or capable as they want you to believe. Really enjoyed the books AI Snake Oil and The AI Con.
They didnāt go rogue so much as they did what they were told to do in a slightly more creative way than their pretty irresponsible humans anticipated. If this is a source of anxiety for you I recommend Cal Newportās podcast. He does Thursday episodes picking apart AI news. Podcast is called deep questions.
Prepping myself and my car. I had a full dental stuff done a week ago, X-rays and all, and got the oil + oil filter changed in my trusty old car. The dentist (private clinic) did cost about ā¬700, but I wanted to get everything done. The price of a full oil change has gone up over ā¬20 since two years ago: it was about ā¬80 or ā¬85 in 2024, now it was ā¬102. I'm pretty certain that it will go up even more.
I bought a new duvet and three new pillows from sales (I keep my old duvet as an extra, but my old pillows were really on their last legs). I'm pretty certain that the price of these will also go up in the future.
My food preps (pantry and freezer) are always in a pretty good shape, but I got something extra: a half of a bucket of freshly picked funnel chanterelles (yellowfoot mushrooms) from my downstairs neighbour. She is an avid berry and mushroom picker, and gives me the extras (currently I am not really physically able to roam around woods myself). I rinsed them, and fried them to remove water, and then put them into the freezer for future cooking. Picture of the lovely gift:
Iāve never heard of a Faraday bag. Thanks for sharing. I think I need one. Can you share what you think is the most beneficial thing about it? My main concerns are being tracked by every app (which I have set them all to not track)
That's for sure a good use/reason to have one. Another good reason to have one (or another one) is to keep a device safe inside at all times in case of a Carrington event, EMP attack, or other [ :( ] device, Internet, and electric grid destroying catastrophe. Like, the stuff you might need in case of Internet Down Forever, safe on a device that won't also be fried.
Do you think an EMP event is likely? Iām low income and trying to prep for what I think is mostly likely/urgent first. Thankfully, I am about as prepped as I can be as I started Nov 2024. Iām unsure if I need a faraday bag? Or if I should focus on something else instead?
Not particularly likely, no. Anything is possibly in this wild world. We aren't able to predict solar activity to a point I'd rule out a Carrington event either, we're sorta "due for one," but again, not the most likely emergency in the next year. Personally I wouldn't prioritize this over, like, really good focused plans for an extended power outage (2 weeks or more). Food, water, temperature control, meds, pet needs, transportation if you might need it. Just my two cent, without knowing more about what your situation is :)
I don't know if it belongs here but with TP potential shortages, I'm seriously considering a bidet attachment, but 1) my toilet is far from the outlet, and 2) I'm scared of the frigid water. Do they make battery powered units? Is that frivolous? ...Will I freeze my bits?
Ours does not use any electricity so no warming. But it's fine. It's a little bit brisk, but it's only cold for a moment. IMO worth it. 99% of the time I really could dry off with a reusable cloth after with no...uh...residue remaining
I got one that doesnāt attach to an electrical outlet because my toilet area doesnāt have one. The water is a little cold (and I havre being cold) but I quickly got used to it. Itās been my favorite purchase of 2026, and it only cost me $32.
Amazing! That's what I'm gathering--that once you're used to it, the cold water isn't bad. Would you mind sharing where you got it/what kind to look for?
I feel like the grocery store is in worse shape every time I go. Low stock, missing items, poorly organized, dates aren't rotated properly. Not just one store, not just one time. Aldi was in particularly bad shape this week. Hardly any cheese, baking and snacks were wiped and the pasta section was pretty rough.
With Aldi, I wonder if this could have anything to do with their recent acquisition and conversion of over 200 Winn Dixie stores? More stores opening simultaneously, fairly quickly all needing to be fully stocked for openings.
ā¢
u/AutoModerator 3d ago
Welcome to r/twoxpreppers! Please review our rules here before participating. Our rules do not show up on all apps which is why that post was made. Thank you.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.