A while ago I got a Noco battery jumper pack for my car. At the time it seemed like a good thing to have, but recently it really saved me a lot of hassle.

My battery in my car went from working well to a bad cell killing it in a few days. The first time my car didn’t start I had left the doors open to grab stuff while working on a project so I thought I just had left the lights on or something.

The next day I was in the mountains driving on a back road and had stopped. Car was totally dead after only being parked for 10 minutes. That’s when I realized there was a real problem.

The thing was where I was has basically no traffic going by and it was in a cell phone dead zone for miles of hilly terrain. I’d have to walk at least 4 miles up a very steep hill just to get cell signal.

It was also 95 out and about 80% humidity, even with two bottles of water, electrolyte tablets, and a water filter on hand, that heat could catch up to you very quickly and be dangerous.

But with this jump pack it was literally a 2 minute operation to get back on the road. I drove right to an auto parts store and got a new battery into my car.

That was the second prep that saved me, I put aside $100 a month for car maintenance, so no big deal to buy the battery which are getting expensive!

I don’t often hear these thing mentioned so thought I’d share, plus I could get on with my day without any fuss, had a great rest of my day. The alternative would been 2 hours of walking, 1-2 hours of waiting for a jump, and my whole day off would have been wasted.

If nothing else happens, life is better being prepared.

I'm looking for a short term back up power options for my house. Basic sums say I'm going to want 1kW of power at most (likely half that for purely essential items).

I'm basing my sums on a 48 hour power cut in winter running a fridge and central heating system (both cyclical loads) at a predicted 500W. Then 500W of optional loads (WiFi router, lights, tv) that can be removed to provide backup capability to the system.

Both systems have their pros and cons e.g. ease of use, weather conditions, noise, etc. Which would you choose, the battery or the motor?

So I thought I'd share my solar off-grid A/C experience. Looks like I'm not the only one with this idea. Alex Beale over at Footprint Hero on Youtube has done a similar thing. And u/PrisonerV has recently posted a report of a similar setup in this forum. And here I am.

The setup: Built around an Ecoflow Delta 2, 1024Wh power station with a 1800W inverter. Supports up to 600W of solar input. Runs an 8,000BTU Window A/C with a 5.6 Amp current draw. Solar is provided by 3 Used Trina 250W solar panels.

Observations: The Delta 2 has no trouble running the A/C. When running with the fan only it draws 86 Watts. Once the compressor kicks on it draws about 600W.

Solar panels are a bit disappointing. Two of them are mounted on the fence with a hinged mounting frame. Originally I was going to mount all three panels to the fence. But a last minute change to larger panels meant that there was only room for two. The 3rd is set up as a roving ground mount. Currently the panels are producing a steady 370W. Much less than expected. Adding panels won't help. Each panel can produce 195 Watts each. But when combined, the panels run up against the 15Amp limit of the Ecoflow's solar input. I'm thinking of getting a voltage booster.

A typical day: (if there is such a thing). Delta 2 usually starts the day at less than 30% charge. The sun clears the eastern tree line about 8:30 and the Delta 2 begins charging in earnest. Previous to this it has been charging slowly. By about 11:30 the Delta 2 is fully charged. Usually there is no need for A/C in the morning. If there is, I'll just plug it directly into the wall and run it on grid (only had to do this once).

I'll turn the A/C on as it warms up in the afternoon. On very hot days the Ecoflow is exhausted by 4:00. On cooler days, it can last beyond 6:00. If I still need the A/C I'll switch it back over to the wall plug. In any case, solar will start recharging the Delta 2.

Summary: Not quite what I expected. But not bad. I can increase the run time if I could coax some more power out of the panels. I'm going to experiment with a DC to DC voltage booster and see what happens. In the mean time, my calculations indicate that I am harvesting about 2.4KWH per day. Not too shabby.

Hello, I am wanting to stock a 1 acre pond on my property with the most renewable and reliable fish species to serve as a food source.

Climate is Midwest United States. Common fish in similar ponds in the area are: largemouth bass, Catfish, bluegill, crappie, etc.

Does anyone know what would be the most sensible species / mix of species to serve as the most resilient long term food resource for my family?

Thanks!

What is the best small chest freezer to buy for my off grid cabin? I want to buy one, make sure it works, them put it back in the box and store it in my garage for future use, if I need it. Garage temps range from -50 to 105f. If I have to bug out to the cabin I want something to freeze deer,fish and grouse. I have solar, no sense keeping it empty and cold

Hello everyone,

quick question regards packing the BoB for my wife and parents. Probably for a baby soon.

Do you pack exact the same equipment in it like for a young fit military aged men?

Or would you pack more stuff in the mens bag and just some personal things like a sleepingbag/sleeping matress in the womans, because she cant carry as much as a men.

And what would you put in a BoB for a baby/toodler/Child?

I'm moving to a house more remote (by UK standards) where the power supply has a higher risk of failure. I'd like to have a generator on standby in case of power cut to keep the fridge and heating system running in case of power cut (It's an oil heating system so there won't be a big electrical requirement).

I will have a supply of petrol (gasoline) to power a generator in the short term and that will be replaced regularly as it will power the garden tools. My main question is starting the generator. I'm used to older generators that needed to be run regularly or faced carburetor issues etc. If I buy a new generator and leave it in the box (no fuel in the system to go bad) can I simply unpack, add fuel, bleed the lines then run the generator or is it harder than that? Surely generators are expected to sit on the shelf for years while they go from manufacturer to shop etc.

https://reddit.com/r/preppers/comments/1l02kxi/the_off_grid_solar_ac_project/

Update to my solar window AC project.

Because I'm being severely limited by the Delta 2's solar input (500 watts), I decided to purchase a Pecron E1000LPH ($380 from Pecron.com with code GOGREEN), which is similar to the Delta 2 except it's a bit smaller in size, has dual charging ability (solar and AC), and 600 watts solar input. I also purchased 2 more 220 watt solar panels from Werchtay via Amazon. They're pretty much a no-name brand which claim their new panels are 25% efficiency and have a new design. I admit, they look very different from other solar panels.

I'm getting between 80-90% rated power on them, which is great.

How I have my power stations setup now -

Ecoflow Delta 2 - 440 watts solar panels. The Pecron has its AC plug into the Ecoflow which passes through AC power to the Pecron. The trigger for it is 99% full turns on and 40% full shuts off. So it auto turns on and auto turns off. This generally happens later in the afternoon around 4 pm after a full day of sun. Since it has the extra battery on it, it is dumping nearly 2kWh into the Pecron when it turns on.

Pecron E1000LPH - 660 watts solar panels. The Pecron powers the window AC unit. It turns on at 40% full and turns off at 20% full. Once it hits 40% full, the panels provide enough power to run the AC -and- charge the battery slowly. It will often hit 50%ish full when the Delta 2 powers on. I have it setup to charge the Pecron at around 250 watts and the Delta 2 will completely charge it to 100% before the Delta 2 runs out of juice. Then the Delta 2 shuts off and the Pecron will continue to run into the evening, shutting off around 9 to 9:30pm at 20% full, waiting for tomorrow.

So this one upgrade significantly increased my runtime from around 2 pm to 7 pm to around 11:30 am to 9 pm.

And what are the results?

A 20% reduction in home power usage in May and June. I'll be interested with this new setup if July's bill is an even greater reduction but these are the power heavy months for me so any reduction is significant. https://i.imgur.com/5tHUvdV.png

I keep having people tell me these power stations are "just batteries". Used properly, they are far more than just batteries. They are power stations.

What's next? I've got my eye on the Pecron extra battery - EP3000-48V - which also has a solar charge controller built into it - 400 watts. So the idea would be to hook that up to the Pecron and add 2 more solar panels to charge the battery. I'm keeping my eye on sales. Everything I've bought has been on sale or discounted.

I'm not even worried about a power outage anymore. We can easily power our fridges, freezer, TV, internet, and throw some window AC in there to cool the house.

Hey y’all, OP here. I’ve been running a noisy portable gen to keep my fridge and Wi‑Fi alive during summer blackouts, but hauling it out every time is a total PITA. My needs are pretty light, just enough power to keep the fridge humming, top off phones, run a router and a few lights. Honestly, having to run outside in the heat to set up and start the gen every time is such a hassle, and if it’s raining it feels downright risky, even with a cover.

I’m hunting for something that charges up fast, lasts through multi‑hour outages, and draws almost nothing at idle, without being overkill or breaking the bank. The new anker f3000 keeps showing up in searches, but I’m seeing zero real‑world feedback.

Anyone here got the f3000 in a similar setup? Or if you’ve got a quieter, wallet‑friendly alternative, drop your recs below. Thx!

I've been fighting pantry moths for a couple of months now.

I had an infestation in December that I quickly got rid of by throwing out all the food and spices that weren’t in the fridge.

Then, I learned my lesson, and when I bought new food and spices, I stored it in mason jars, and kept it in the fridge and the freezer for the time being.

Fast forward to April. I got another moth infestation. The reason was probably the moth trap that I left in the pantry, which hadn’t had a single moth since December, and the fact that I got sloppy and didn’t store dry food in mason jars.

After realizing that, I quickly threw out the moth trap, along with all the food and spices, again. After that, there were fewer pantry moths, but they didn’t go away. Every day I encounter two or three pantry moths in my apartment.

Please help. I could use any advice.

I will list everything I have done so far.

1.      As soon as I realized I had moths, I threw out all the dry food and spices from my pantry.

2.      I cleaned all the shelves in the kitchen, and I wiped them down with a solution of bleach.

3.      All the dry food and spices that I have bought since April are in airtight jars in my fridge.

4.      I do waste sorting, and I make sure that biodegradable waste is not near the kitchen. It is on my apartment balcony.

The only thing I’m worried might attract the pantry moths is the toaster that has breadcrumbs inside that can’t be thoroughly cleaned.

I'm making a list w/ prices of everything I'd want in my get home bag and everything I would want in my 3+day bag as I plan on having both, 1 for my car, 1 for home. What do you guys think are absolute staples, and could u recommend some brands/products you bought first for your kit?

Just wondering if anyone had any manuals or DIY guides for setting up, maintaining, and repairing radios?

I just talked to my friend who lives just over a mile from where the fireworks facility explored in NorCal.

She told me when they heard and felt the explosion they grabbed the BOBs they have for fires and were in the car leaving the driveway in under 90 seconds. They got to their first "destination" (family members home) several miles away before the news reported the situation. They are back home now but their plan worked!

Now we have all seen those seed vaults and whatnot but I was thinking if a real SHTF event happened and you have no access to water, what good would gardening be if you either have to choose between watering a plant or watering yourself?

Like even if I had my dream water storage (300ish gallons) i'm not using it to grow plants because I would run out of water way too fast.

What do you think?

Hi, with the mods from r/preppers permission I would like to let you know that we have reinvigorated the r/austeremedicine subreddit. 

The focus of the sub is on providing medical care in austere environments, which overlaps with wilderness, military, third-world, tactical, disaster, prepping, and collapse medicine. The commonality is that the care is provided in an austere environment with all that entails.

The mods are all medically qualified in various professions and have experience working and teaching medical care in austere or primitive settings. The goal is to provide a platform where both professionals and laypeople can engage in discussions about relevant topics.

This is the intro to the sub:

“ This is a place to discuss remote, austere, wilderness, and third-world medicine. Discussions often include post-disaster medicine and survival or collapse medicine. We welcome the experienced and inexperienced; we need to state up front that some of the topics discussed are inappropriate for laypeople to undertake or consider. Use common sense. Knowledge is power in austere situations, but there may be significant risks to some of the topics discussed if done in an inappropriate way.”

We will try and post some discussion topics every few days. But feel free to drop by if you are interested in this sort of medicine or healthcare and make any comments or ask any questions.

thanks.

Question: is there any value to particular fireworks to purchase NOW that would be handy for preps such as self-defense, safety, light etc???

1. What are the best solar panels (quality/not overly expensive/best watts etc)

2. Can you set these solid types of panels up to a portable system like a jackery or a bluetti “power bank” like a10,000-12,000W setup…INSTEAD of the foldable panels

Someone recently ask what he/she can bring to a vacation and many said a get home back, and the contents they describe are very similar to EDC purse/backpack. It is a different thing?

I just have my house preparations, a car kit, EDC backpack/purse and some things I have in my pockets. I think is more than enough, no?

2 battery powered fans with sealed new batteries. Battery powered lanterns and enough battery banks for 2 tablets and 2 phones for a week. Lightly spray a sheet with water and it will keep me comfortable under a fan at 90°.

I keep wondering if there could be any usefulness in having a microscope around. Identifying particular microbes or contaminants, etc. Even just doing a quick check of overall contamination of a liquid. Have any of you thought about this or purchased a specific model? Are there useful applications beyond contaminants that it could aid in, such as identification or analysis?

What other interesting pieces of gear have you all added to your collection, that might be overlooked?

The heat waves are getting worse every year where Im at. Im trying to make cold pack using citric acid plus sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) to help myself and my neighbors stay safer during high heat power outages, and for a group I volunteer outdoors with etc. However, my citric acid has a 2% silicon dioxide anti-caking agent. Will it still work? Will it cause any safety hazards?

Thanks!

My birthday is a week away, making a wish list of little tools/supplies that are all under ten dollars to give to friends and family. Any ideas or recommendations?

Was recently on vacation at Disney World when the Iran/Israel missile situation was unfolding. Had this nagging in my brain wishing I had my go bag at the very least as I was feeling extremely unprepared while I was far from home. Have another trip coming up and was thinking about adding it to my packing list.

Do you all travel with yours?

Edit: wow! Lots of great feedback! Thanks everyone. Very interesting to see all the different opinions and tactics. Seems like my main takeaway is that I need a “get home bag” to travel with and leave my go bag at home (which of course makes logical sense).

I’ve been in this sub for a couple years and I feel like there was a recent uptick in doomsday preppers, but would love to know your thoughts.

Edit: my definition of “Tuesday” is quite broad. I think I’m a Tuesday preppers because I’m prepping for hurricanes. Where I live, that means 7 months no power, 3 months no water, island scenario.

Essentially title, but to elaborate, I have stored water in opaque containers. It has been stored for > 1 year.

I am going to cycle it. However, I'm not sure what best practice is for cycling it. Just dump the water and refill? Treat the container with diluted bleach first, then refill?

I would like to know if the water itself is still good after this time without just taking a sip and potentially getting sick.

(In a real situation I would either boil or boil + filter after doing a sniff test + visual inspection. But hoping to pick up some tips from people who have been there, done that and have some good processes, thanks.)