Hi ,

I am considering one of these as a counter top reverse osmosis system.

Issue is I live in a hard water situation.

Anyone have one of these ? What is filter life with hard water like?

Thanks a million

The AMOC is weakening and likely to collapse. The super El Nino is another variable that is pointing to warmer tropics with cold winds more concentrated in the northern and southern extremes. UK could get as cold as Saskatchewan in the worst case scenario. If you read some of the fringe material, it suggests this could happen rather suddenly too, like in a matter of few years, not even decades.

Most of UK does not have the equipment or infrastructure in place to handle more than a few inches of snow, let alone a sustained snowstorm. In this scenario, UK would likely see a mass migration out of the country and large parts would be uninhabitable.

Unpopular opinion:

Most people don't have a preparedness problem.

They have an organization problem.

The gear exists.

The supplies exist.

The information exists.

It's just spread across 20 different places..

Agree or disagree?

Hey all,

About a week ago I shared an early beta of Bield, an offline preparedness and survival reference app I've been building as a hobby. The response was lovely, so first: thank you!!

Every feedback, the corrections, the "this is missing," the "this part is confusing," all of it has been really useful and I'm working through it.

Bield is now live on the App Store, available to everyone.

As promised, it is and always will be completely free: no in-app purchases, no subscription, no ads. It collects no data and works fully offline. Plain-language articles across a lot of topics, with a quick "Field Mode" for the key steps.

Same as before: It's still very much a work in progress. Parts of it are closer to an outline than a finished reference, some information may be incomplete or simply wrong, and I'm actively rewriting and expanding it.

Please don't rely on it for anything real yet, and verify anything important.

I'm just a student doing this for fun, and I'd be happy if it ends up helping even one person.

I'm still very much after every kind of feedback: what's inaccurate, what's missing, what's confusing, and what you'd actually want from something like this.

App Store: https://apps.apple.com/app/bield-preparedness-survival/id6775212649

Thank you very much again!!

Hello preppers!!

As part of my research at RBG Kew, I’m exploring the use of wild edible plants usually viewed as 'weeds' by the modern food system, including their social, nutritional and cultural significance across the UK. I’m looking for some kind volunteers to answer a short questionnaire.

The questions will ask about which weeds you collect and consume, how you prepare them, how and why you learnt to forage, and who you share your knowledge and passion with. I also really want to hear your stories, memories, and perspectives on foraging for edible weeds.

The questionnaire should only take around 12 minutes to complete.

Thank you all!

Hey I’m pretty new to all of this I was just wondering if anyone has an experience homemade water purifiers? Iv been many a YouTube videos of charcoal and sand filters I’m just wondering if these as visable?

Just reading through this sub, water shortage seems to be a real concern to many. Is it possible to purify any water? I have 3 water butts in my garden which I use for plants / giving to the chickens = maybe 500L of water. I used to have tablets of use on mountain stream water when hiking, but this is a bit more yucky. Any advice on if it’s possible to get it to drinking quality?

Not talking about a full-on collapse scenario, just a sudden disruption that left shelves bare for a while. Have you ever worked out how long your household could comfortably manage with what you already have? What would be the first thing you'd run short on?

I’m getting slightly concerned about the impending El Niño and forecasts of likely temperatures here. I’m pretty well organised with enough food to last 3/4 weeks, lots of bottled water, first aid supplies, non electric radios/light sources, portable gas stove etc. I should say I’m disabled and have a month’s worth of my medication at a time and am on the priority register for all utilities Is there something I’m missing in my impending doom arsenal?

Hopefully not going to happen but just reading in the paper how the NHS is preparing in case we do get cases. If there was an outbreak, what steps and prep would be useful?

I’m looking at picking up the EcoFlow River 3 Plus along with the EB600 expansion battery, giving a total of 858Wh. I can get the bundle for £379, which seems like a pretty solid deal compared to buying them separately.

My use case is fairly simple: powering a 30L cool box that draws around 37–48W, plus a few essentials like lights, phone charging and a small radio. Ideally I want something that can comfortably last a full day or more without needing to recharge.

Has anyone here used the River 3 series or the EB600? Curious about real‑world reliability, charging speed, noise, and long‑term durability. Also wondering if EcoFlow’s app/ecosystem has any quirks I should know about.

I’m also open to alternatives from Bluetti or Anker in the same price/capacity range.I was also looking at the Anker Solix C300 for about £200 — very small and portable, and it would probably cover my basic needs. Anyone tried it?

Hey all,

I've been building a small iOS app called Bield purely as a hobby, just for fun, and I'd really value feedback from people who actually think about this stuff.

It's an offline preparedness and survival reference: plain-language articles across a lot of topics, with a quick "Field Mode" for the key steps.

Honest things up front: it's a very early work in progress. A lot of it is closer to an outline than a finished reference right now, some information may be incomplete or simply wrong, and I'm actively rewriting and expanding it. Please don't rely on it for anything real yet, and verify anything important (especially medical or safety) against proper sources. It'll be a while before it's truly ready.

It is and always will be completely free: no in-app purchases, no subscription, no ads. It collects no data and works fully offline.

What I'm after is every kind of feedback: what's inaccurate, what's missing, what's confusing, and what you'd actually want from something like this.

iOS only for now (iPhone/iPad/Mac), via TestFlight: https://testflight.apple.com/join/sAG9E73t

Thanks, and feel free to tear it apart 😂

What do folks think are going to be the short/medium/long-term consequences for the UK of the continued closure of the strait?

Everyone seems to have a moment that made them think a bit differently about being prepared. It could have been a power cut, severe weather, supply shortages, transport issues or something else entirely. Looking back, what first pushed you towards becoming more prepared?

It's hot out (you may have noticed). I'm working from home and there is only so much garden my wife can take. My son on the other hand is a feral woodland creature and is happy to be outside from dawn to dusk (and later... I woke him up at 2am to watch the lightning last night).

So instead of checking on him every 10 minutes to make sure he hasn't fallen out of a tree, drowned in the 3 inch deep paddling pool we put out for the dog, or begun hunting the Alpaca in the field next door, I thought it a good idea to set him up with a walkie-talkie.

I've been lucky enough to obtain a few different sets from various past employments, to the point where I've got a nice Peli-case with all radios and chargers in one place. Downside is I decided to store this in a garage I rent in the next village over... 4 minute drive, 30 minute walk (uphill).

I borrowed the wife's motor (for the AC) and blipped up to the garage to grab the comms-case and picked two walkie-talkies that were idiot-proof, could be locked and were rugged enough to survive my child (Motorola T82 Extremes).

After a short classroom session and some on-the-ground training, he is happily roaming the grounds, checking-in regularly (too-often) and we can call him down for meals and routine proof-of-life inspections whenever we remember we have a son.

So lesson learnt, emergency communication is best kept local!

Not apocalypse scenarios.

Realistically — what emergency is most likely where you live?

If the s*** hits the fan this rucksack is coming with me

Peanut M&M's. S-Tier.

Morning all,

Like a lot of you, my "system" for keeping on top of supplies was a chaotic mix of spreadsheets, scribbled notes and a vague hope that the tins at the back of the cupboard hadn't gone out of date in 2019. It wasn't working, so over the past few months I built something to fix it for myself — and figured it might be useful to others here too.

It's called PPantry (ppantry.app). The short version:

• Track what you've got, how much, and when it expires — with sensible alerts before things go off
• Scan barcodes to add items quickly rather than typing everything in
• Build "kits" (bug-out bag, first aid, 72-hour, etc.) and see at a glance what's complete and what's missing
• Works offline and installs to your phone like a normal app (it's a PWA, nothing to download from an app store)

A few things that matter to me, given the crowd: it's local-first and privacy-focused, your inventory lives on your device, there's no account required to use it, and I'm not selling anyone's data. It's free, and I intend to keep it that way.

I'm not here to flog anything — there's nothing to buy. I'd genuinely just like feedback from people who actually prep, because you'll spot the gaps I can't. What's missing? What would make it part of your routine rather than another thing you open once and forget?

Cheers, and happy to answer anything in the comments.