• voracitude@lemmy.world
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      29 days ago

      You would not believe how many more bags you can fit in that one bag if you fold them, rather than crumple them!

        • ouRKaoS@lemmy.today
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          29 days ago

          My kitchen has a tiny “cabinet” near the sink that’s about 5 inches wide and was put there just so the dimensions of the countertops would work. It’s still the full depth of the under sink cabinet, just really skinny.

          It is absolutely stuffed with bags.

          I occasionally use them as trash bags for the bathroom when I remember, and can be bothered to go and get one.

    • rottingleaf@lemmy.world
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      26 days ago

      Eh, I have a Yoda-looking USB stick with Slackware 14.1 written to it in times immemorial, as in high school.

      I thought I lost it or someone stole it (looks nice), until I found it mutilated by mice (the rodent kind, not the input device kind) in one place I rarely visit.

      I don’t generally carry it with me, though. But when I did, it was the same.

  • GiddyGap@lemm.ee
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    28 days ago

    Unemployment. Like many others, I keep an emergency fund with high yield that can keep food on the table for the fam while looking for a new job. Replenish as soon as I get a new job.

  • Vanth@reddthat.com
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    29 days ago

    Sub-zero degree sleeping bag in the trunk of my car, plus a jug of water and some MRE-type food packs with water-activated food warmers. I grew up in a very rural area and got stuck on the side of the road in a blizzard for too long; I came out ok but it was terrifying. Now I live in a densely populated area that doesn’t get blizzards but I still prep.

    I used to let my toilet paper run nearly down to zero before I bought another pack. The pandemic lockdown months changed that. I used paper towels and liberated a couple rolls from work back in the day. Now I keep more on hand before triggering next buy. Never again.

    I’m a good example of “we prep for our fears”. I also do backcountry backpacking and everyone in that hobby does to some degree. I go out with a nurse sometimes and her first aid kit is nearly three pounds while mine is a couple bandaids and rubbing alcohol swaps.

    • endofline@lemmy.ca
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      29 days ago

      You described equipment for pretty much climber. You don’t have shops every corner in the mountains and sleeping overnight happens sometimes due to bad weather. Sub zero temperatures are the norm in the mountains

  • Admiral Patrick@dubvee.org
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    30 days ago

    A water outage lol.

    Last Christmas eve, my meter froze and the water company didn’t consider it an emergency since it wasn’t a geyser. I didn’t have water for 3 days until it thawed.

    Now, I keep several days of water jugs in the basement just in case. Also, my water company sucks.

    • PetteriPano@lemmy.world
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      29 days ago

      Can’t live without water. Our guidelines are to be prepared to be self-sufficient for up to three days in an an emergency.

      I used to have a 20l jug of water on standby, and I’ve had to resort to it twice in eight years because of one planned and one unplanned outage. For the unplanned one my municipality eventually showed up with a water truck on our street so we could refill.

      Now I keep 50 litres and I have a well with my neighbours which I use mostly for watering the garden, but it’s potable. In a prolonged power outage situation I might have to scurry over to the neighbour with a battery and an inverter to keep the pump going.

  • Jourei@lemm.ee
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    28 days ago

    I fiddle with batteries and very small scale solar. My inverter should be able to handle running my fridge for a few hours.

  • RBWells@lemmy.world
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    28 days ago

    I think I could survive a Prohibition for quite some time, and even homebrew and sell it or run a speakeasy.

  • felixwhynot@lemmy.world
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    29 days ago

    Like… where do you draw the line?

    I’ve got water, a purchased “bug out bag”, camping gear, extra clothes and water in the car, batteries, ham radio, and a crowbar.

    I’m not a prepper but I consider myself somewhat prepared

    • Sasha@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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      29 days ago

      I feel like the difference is what you’re preparing for, when I think of a prepper I’m thinking of people who are planning for an enormous society ending disaster.

      I’ve also got a bug out bag, but it’s just for general emergencies if I need to leave my place in a hurry very unexpectedly.

    • AA5B@lemmy.world
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      29 days ago

      This is a good idea, as is first aid, for every day life. I keep thinking I should do similar, as well as a stranded kit for my car, but it never quite comes together.

        • AA5B@lemmy.world
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          29 days ago

          I just discovered some leaking so I no longer have that. It really drives home the point that these need regular, if rare, attention. Also that plastic not only seeps into the water with time, but the jugs eventually degrade enough to leak

          • felixwhynot@lemmy.world
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            29 days ago

            What happened to your supply to cause leakage?

            Sure, plastic isn’t perfect, but it is cheap and easy to get. I have plastic gallons for my house and car. I’m willing to consume a bit of extra plastic in a disaster situation 🙃

            • AA5B@lemmy.world
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              27 days ago

              No idea. A couple gallon jugs of water just started leaking. As far as I know, nothing happened to them, nothing was touching them. They were still upright and sealed

              Maybe something related to sitting on a concrete floor or seasonal swings in temperature (and no, it hasn’t gotten to freezing here yet, nor has my basement ever frozen).

  • Tar_Alcaran@sh.itjust.works
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    29 days ago

    Well, I live 5 meters under sea level. The most realistic disaster to happen to me would involve a giant crushing wave of water, and there’s not much you can do to get out of that.

    But since I like backpack hiking, and buying in bulk is cheap, I have something like a month of food, some lifestraws, some water, extra cooking gear, etc.

  • weirdbeardgame@lemmy.worldOP
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    29 days ago

    For me it’s having a basic lay of the land / sense of direction to know where everything is incase of a total GPS blackout one of these days ( I live in the city, not a rural area )

  • Barking@lemmy.world
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    28 days ago

    I keep a few things (museli bars, water, blankets first aid kit) in the car in case of getting stuck somewhere or needing basics suddenly.

    At home I keep ‘minimum levels’ of things we use often, in case of a power outage or just so if anything were to happen we could get by for a couple of weeks. We are limited by space and try to keep organised.

  • AA5B@lemmy.world
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    29 days ago

    Nothing anymore, or perhaps just that I buy my TP by the case from Costco, LoL

    A couple weeks ago I found some unexpected puddles in my basement, and tracked it to my emergency water supply. A couple plastic jugs that expired in 2010 spontaneously started leaking.

    I understand that’s not a good long term solution to water, but also prepping apparently takes more going maintenance than I’m motivated for.

    • AnarchistArtificer@slrpnk.net
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      29 days ago

      I think being aware of the ongoing maintenance (and one’s ability to do it) still feels productive in a prepping sense. It’s sort of like meta-prepping? Like, I’d expect that in a disaster, your knowledge would be helpful in organising within your community. Certainly you’d fare better than me, as someone who has been fortunate enough to never have to consider emergency supplies.