Has there ever been a situation where being a prepper helped a lot?

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preppers-ModTeam@reddit

Advertisements and commercial promotion are not permitted on r/preppers, and making multiple comments on old posts to promote the same commercial product is an example of this prohibited behavior.

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Seven years ago we ended up having a mortgage to deal with whilst living on a military pension and only $100 in the bank, as older Australians. Bankruptcy was imminent. That is when I sat down and started writing everything up into a lifestyle book about our altered lifestyle which centred on being a prepper. I found that by sitting down and writing a lifetime of knowledge on how to grow food, garden, cook everything at home and preserve the harvest, how to budget, shop and organise my life really helped us get over the financial hump that we were stuck in. Today in 2025, my life is organised by the seasons in terms of growing, harvesting and preserving food from our double house block down here in Wonthaggi. We have never looked back in this regard. I have been asked for years now if I am a "Doomsday prepper" - what a dated and at times, insulting concept! I own this term of reference but the reality is that a Doomsday prepper is merely a person who does the best they can with what they have to suit their circumstances to ensure they iron out life's ups and downs. Don't forget that the concept of "Doomsday" can cover all sorts of life stresses; the biggest ones being unemployment and illness. The preppers I know and have interviewed are all intelligent and caring people who have knuckled down to ensure their families do not go without by creating vegetable gardens and harvesting and preserving their crops. I'd say in our own life, these three fundamental horticulturally based factors have really helped us economically speaking. When there is less money around, I consult the freezer manifest and dig out the basics of a meal or even a ready to eat meal. Hefty-Squirrel-6800 really hits the nail on the head in the comment below as the food stock is essential to smooth out times when there is less money on hand. I also think that my mental attitude to being a prepper has helped me a lot because I feel as though I have had more control over our economic situation in these uncertain times. I plan ahead and work towards these horticultural and preservation goals and this has given me a great peace of mind. My best wishes to you all.

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Hefty-Squirrel-6800@reddit

When I was short of money, I decreased my grocery bill by using some of my food stock. Food is a hedge against inflation.

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rotatingruhnama@reddit

I'm a SAHM married to a civil servant, so our apocalypse food hoard could also be a job loss food hoard if needed.

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Other-Cake-6598@reddit

Versatile preps are the best preps!

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rotatingruhnama@reddit

Our drinking water was also useful when we had mains bursting all over the county and no water for several days. Especially because I'd just had a baby and we needed to mix formula.

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MasterIntegrator@reddit

Literally have done the same. Except my neighbors had a baby and no safe water cash or transport. We have a chicken accord agreement now. They take care of the chickens.

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BigJSunshine@reddit

ALWAYS PREP FOR TUESDAY!

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Harper_Macallan@reddit

Absolutely. My partner was recently laid off unexpectedly, and it’s been a relief knowing I don’t have to worry about how to feed our family of 5, thanks to prepping, even if money was/is stressing me out in other ways.

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rotatingruhnama@reddit

I'm sorry to hear that and I hope things turn around!

My husband is a federal employee, and I'm a disabled SAHM, so things are a bit stressful around here right now lol.

But between some good financial planning, and my prepper habits, we're in much better shape than we would be otherwise.

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Harper_Macallan@reddit

Thank you - and I hope your husband’s job stays secure! There’s a lot of uncertainty nowadays, for lots of different reasons, but I agree that prepping has definitely set us up to be in a better position than we would have otherwise been in!

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rotatingruhnama@reddit

Thanks!

Another prepper habit of mine that's a big help is pre-buying clothing and shoes for our kid. When basics (like tees, leggings, sneakers, etc) in larger sizes are on deep clearance or in good condition at Goodwill, I stock up.

This means as she grows out of things, I can pull stuff from my stash for her to wear. I don't have to run to the store all at once and pay full price.

I started doing this because of supply chain disruptions, but it's become a frugality trick as well.

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Hot-Profession4091@reddit

Been there. Done that. It was a god send. Slowly rebuilding the stocks.

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KerouacMyBukowski_@reddit

While I know it's good to have a good backlog of non perishables (which I do) I don't really see how this is a hedge against inflation when you'll eventually have to buy more of that food to stock up again at the higher prices? It would make sense if prices went back down, but they don't.

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Hefty-Squirrel-6800@reddit

It blunts the effect of the inflation because you can draw from your stockpile if prices are temporarily high. If they remain high, you can defer some of the cost if you need to do so financially. It buys you breathing room. It is a form of dollar cost averaging.

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grilledcheesery@reddit

I have had a bug-out-bag for 25 years. I was out of town and coincidentally, an hour away from where my buddy was alone with his 4-month-old daughter. His wife was 4 hours away recovering from a heart procedure and I was the closest person he knew. He had what turned out to be kidney stones, doubled over in severe pain with an infant. He called medics who took them to a hospital. I was able literally slam my car into drive and take off to find them the minute he called, and stay for several days without wasting a second packing.

I have dozens of stories about how being prepped helped but that’s still my favorite.

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Dazzling-Treacle1092@reddit

I have over the years had many occasions to thank myself for planning ahead. When Covid hit inside prepper intel had me prepared long before everyone began stockpiling toilet paper. I had all the medical supplies and equipment I needed. Many times when the electricity would go out I had a way to prepare hot food and drinks. I had a way to keep my phone charged.

I learned how to make my own gravity water filter housing and made sure I had enough filters from which I still use every day. I'm too poor to have a whole house system plus I'm an apartment dweller. I had a portable bidet for which I was incredibly grateful for when I had my hip replacement.

On many occasions I have helped friends and neighbors who were in trouble and without things they needed. I have taught family members how to do stuff that I learned. Yes there are some things I have that I have never used. But my life isn't over yet. I still have a reusable emergency blanket that I almost had to use during a time I was homeless. Fortunately I was able to stay with someone until the bad streak ended.

I am restocking now after someone else's carelessness and callousness rendered me homeless. I sold many useful things before I left. Today I purchased a new freezer which I will begin to fill when it arrives. Thankfully the universe has vindicated and rewarded me for holding on. My financial situation is better than ever.

I'm not prepping for doomsday. I don't believe many of us have the capability to really do that. None of us will survive really bad times without the help of others and if there are no others do you really want to survive? But do not doubt that you will thank yourself for your foresight many times with preps that really take very little effort and money. And when others look to you it will put you in a position of being listened to and heard.

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Mtn_Soul@reddit

I get snowed in every year by a massive spring mountain snowstorm...typically for a week or slightly more.

Preppers in my hood are happier than non every spring.

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RunWh1leYouCan@reddit

I have a tin can in my backpack for years that I carry everywhere with random stuff (tylenol, Imodium etc) as well as a bic lighter and other small stuff like betadin and some band aids. I’ve used it a ton of times, at least the tylenol and the bic lighter get used a lot (smoker friend forgetting their lighter)

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Unlikely_Ad_9861@reddit

Forgot my wallet on an errand but had cash as part of the car kit

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Ejenvoldi@reddit

Just in case if you end up not having enough cash stashed when you forgot you wallet:

If you shop from Walmart, and have online account to their website, save credit card info there and you can just use your app to pay at the registers at the store. As well as Apple pay, I guess but I haven’t used it yet.

Also works for coffee shop apps. You can just reload gift cards from your bank if the bank info is there already. Or from your paypal.

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SinnisterSally@reddit

Why have I never thought of this 🤣 I’m a money stasher already lol

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itlow@reddit

I stash bills so many places I end up forgetting about them. It's always a nice surprise when I'm putting on an old jacket or cleaning drawers. Lol.

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SinnisterSally@reddit

I’ve gotten better over the years at designated places 🤣 my husband still thought it was strange that I have cash shoved into a random drawer. But nice when we need cash lol

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jrrhea@reddit

Twice I’ve stopped for gas and had to use my emergency cash car stash because their system was down. It comes in handy.

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BYoungNY@reddit

Worse is me going out for something and realizing I forgot my wallet, then coming home, only to remember some time later that week about the stashed $20 in my car....

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685jake@reddit

Covid was a good example. I’ve always worked to have some stuff put back, buying in bulk, water toilet paper paper towels alcohol hand sanitizer etc…

My wife always fussed when I would bring home a 50+ pack of TP and others. COVID hit and our supply helped us and many other around us.

That single event really got my beautiful bride on board with prepping

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lilredsmiles@reddit

Yes, several times. My husband had a few hard medical years where he was misdiagnosed and couldn’t work because they didn’t understand what was going on. They were calling it MS and fibromyalgia when he needed lumbar spine surgery. I was the only income. We shopped our pantry and freezer. Also, during the pandemic when shelves were bare. My son lost his job and it took a month to get a new one. They were just starting out in their new apartment. We were able to share some canned and freezer food with them. I have a medic bag with Vital signs equipment. Took vital signs on my teen when they were not yet diagnosed with T1D. Tachycardia and tachypnea prompted me to bring them in to the ER. They were in DKA. UTI over a holiday weekend. Popped open my fish antibiotics. Problem solved.

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Jonesstealth@reddit

When i wasn't getting enough hours at work and our rent increased, the battery died in my car, and my dog needed to see the vet.

I used almost all of my "stock" and was so grateful I had food.

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Bullcat83@reddit

Neighbor asked me for flour and sugar to bake cookies at Christmas for her family. All stores were closed.

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La_bossier@reddit

I lost my paycheck to paycheck job as a young mother. My daughter never dealt with food insecurity during the six months it took me to get new employment. I’ve talked to her as an adult, and she had no idea money was tight when she was 8.

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iamfaedreamer@reddit

First aid stuff. it was the height of covid, I sliced my finger open at 2am, and for the first time in my life I had everything I needed to take care of it myself because I'd begun prepping at the beginning of covid and had an actual first aid kit and antibiotics to deal with a cut that bad without subjecting myself to the dangers of summer 2020 emergency rooms.

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Sweet-Leadership-290@reddit

Many times. I live very remotely. 50 miles to nearest parts store, 14 to nearest blacktop. There is NO delivery (USPS, UPS, FedEx, DHS, etc).

Currently my vehicle won't run. I have tentatively diagnosed it as a bad idle air control unit. New one should be here in two days. We will see. I am prepped for much longer

Before that had pain in back and couldn't walk/drive for 6 days. I had everything handy to deal with that scenario. Before that my vehicle broke down and driveline took two weeks to arrive. No problem.

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Jinnmaster@reddit

How do you get those parts with no delivery?

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Sweet-Leadership-290@reddit

I have a PO box in a town 50 miles away. I catch someone going to town and have them bring me my mail once the part gets in.

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MoeySiz@reddit

COVID. I had food storage for at least 6 months. Wasn’t worried about food or water.

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Marilyn80s@reddit

You couldn’t go shopping during Covid?

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MoeySiz@reddit

I could, but TP, water, sanitizers and other goods were limited because ai live in a very conservative area.

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Orcus424@reddit

Not myself but a friend of a friend had a huge amount of TP and paper towels before Covid. That was mainly because of generational trauma due to the Great Depression.

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dinkydinkyding@reddit

In 25 years as a relatively independent adult I have never run out of toilet paper. My friends know who to ask when they need a pantry item. The generational trauma is real

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SuperimposdEnigmatic@reddit

My mom saves tissue paper

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SmoothLester@reddit

Unlocked memory of when I helped a widow pack up to move. I commented on the TP, paper towels and aluminum foil I found in closets everywhere and she said her husband had grown up in the Great Depression.

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MoeySiz@reddit

My father, the same.

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nanfanpancam@reddit

When soups on sale you buy a case. When winter comes I always buy lots of toilet paper, paper towels and Kleenex. Because of my grandma, my mom and my Father in Law.

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The_Latverian@reddit

Yeah, I remember right at the beginning our Minister of Health was on the radio announcing the lockdown and saying that he wanted residents to have 7-10 days of food collected before the lockdown day...

My gf and I had to pull over because we were laughing 🤣

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Stinkytheferret@reddit

Yeah. I remember when there was apparently no flour in any store. My friend called and we were making cookies. She’s like, “you have flour?!!!” We gave her some. We still work off some flour reserves. I taught on Reddit during that time how to preserve batches. Swear, I still have some and it’s just fine.

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JamieJeanJ@reddit

Would you please share how you preserved your flour? I put mine in mylar bags with oxygen absorbers.

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Stinkytheferret@reddit

I packed it into zip lock bags, add about five Bay leaves inside as we fill, and pulled out a lot of air with a brake bleeder kit to vaccum it some, put in the freezer for three days, pull for a day, then back to the freezer again for 3 days. Kills any potential eggs by give them a cold blast, then on the counter to simulate warming temps then freeze again to kill. Then I pack about five of those into buckets with a gamma lid, store in a dark cool place.

Same process for rice, oatmeal and pasta goods. Took a while. But during lockdown I used the house freezer drawer and had things to cycle in while others sat to the counter.

One one gal bag fills my jar on my counter. Maybe a few liters? I save the Bay leaves and add a few new fresh ones if repack something new.

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itlow@reddit

The bay leaves don't affect the taste?

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Stinkytheferret@reddit

Nope. Not one bit. But the bugs can smell it I guess.

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Prestigious_Pea1849@reddit

You can kill all the bugs with co2 like a soda stream canister or like what people use to make their own bubbly soda water. There a YouTube video from a sailor who shows you how to preserve food for living out at sea on a boat. Cheap way and super easy . Maybe I can post the link. Your way is awesome - very good advice!

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Stinkytheferret@reddit

That’s so interesting! Never heard of that. I’ll totally look it up.

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MoeySiz@reddit

I had family that didn’t even keep 2 weeks of food. I couldn’t believe it.

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XRlagniappe@reddit

I had a habit of buying a lot of extra paper towel and toilet paper when it went on sale. During COVID, my wife looked and me and said "I'll never say anything about your extra toilet paper and paper towels again."

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MoeySiz@reddit

I grew up LDS and all of my friends would give me crap about my food storage and say “what are you going to do with all that food?” Simple. Eat it.

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Marilyn80s@reddit

People aren’t saying that now. Most are onboard

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triviaqueen@reddit

When a new supermarket opened in my town one of their loss leaders to bring in customers was toilet paper. It was quality two ply toilet paper for sale cheaper than I had ever seen toilet paper on sale before. I asked if there was a limit on how much I could buy and they said no so I ended up calling over one of the stock boys and asked him to get his pallet jack out to get me a full pallet full. It was as much toilet paper as I could possibly fit into my soccer mom van. I stashed it all in the Attic above my garage.

After sleeping on it, I went back the next day and got a second pallet load. That stash of toilet paper lasted about 10 years and pulled us through covid and beyond.

When my husband went to visit his sister out of state, he made a trip to the grocery store and she said to him to be sure to buy some toilet paper. He remarked to me later that he could not even remember the last time he had purchased toilet paper.

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ommnian@reddit

Yup. I'd *JUST* bought... I think 12, maybe more of Charmin's 'Forever Rolls' as I'd gotten a good deal on them (I think I paid like... $4 or maybe $5 each!!). We didn't need to buy TP for almost a whole year. It was glorious. Now they're expensive and I can't justify it... but they were fun :D

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tube_radio@reddit

So.... it was YOU who started the panic!

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DancinWithWolves@reddit

Curious though, and go challenge it; did many people not have access to food (I’m not talking about poverty or other reasons) because of covid? I know there were shortages, but did anyone not have access to food purely because of COVID?

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capt-bob@reddit

There were a lot of empty shelves

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MoeySiz@reddit

For me it was more the comfort of not having to go out and fight people for supplies, potentially exposing my family.

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DancinWithWolves@reddit

Yeah true, that’s a big plus.

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DisrespectedAthority@reddit

Oh I had no shortage of TP, that's one thing you want to stock.

We sent masks to my GF's brother and SIL who were in NY and couldn't go anywhere without them.

I did have to pick up a Guy Fawkes mask to wear to the grocery store...

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Odd_Cost_8495@reddit

This, we had Food and toilet paper. Made not going out so much easier

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sodoneshopping@reddit

Me too. And then that experience made my husband get on board.

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papagena02@reddit

Yeah my family sees the utility of it now. We don’t have months of supplies, but we (I) was ahead of the curve on Covid, and we even donated some N95s to the local hospital.

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dinkydinkyding@reddit

I remember my husband (who’s prep-skeptical but tolerant of my mild prepping) asked me in Jan 2020 if there was anything we should do to get ready. I told him to get extra toilet paper and a big bag of rice next time he went to Costco. We didn’t have to leave the house for three months. That was just with my regular pre-pandemic prep. I have stepped it up since then. Having a plan for your preps if shit doesn’t hit the fan is a great way to keep them as a sustainable part of every day life

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dinkydinkyding@reddit

I had already stockpiled rubbing alcohol and I had gloves and masks in my regular prep. Pandemics are a real threat

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Amberfoxe@reddit

The lockdown started a few weeks after we had my son. I knew ahead of time I was having a c-section and would be down for the count so had stocked up on EVERYTHING so I wouldn’t have to go grocery shopping for the foreseeable future. We had plenty of toilet paper and flour for the first few months

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BigJSunshine@reddit

Good job!

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Professional-Bet4540@reddit

Similar situation! Had my first kiddo right before lockdown and I’d bought a ton of household supplies and made something like 60 frozen meals since I didn’t know how things would go post-baby, so we sat pretty the whole time 😂 My husband hasn’t questioned my prepping tendencies since

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Open-Attention-8286@reddit

Yes! Having canned food, TP, and yeast got my family through the worst of the shortages.

My family uses a lot of eggs. Because of my chickens, we were able to maintain our normal eating habits. When things got stressful, watching them scratch around was a source of great comfort.

And I had been buying little boxes of canning lids every time they went on sale for years. During covid, both my garden and my parents' garden both thrived, and we had enough lids to put the bounty away.

Having a stash of vegetable seeds also helped. My dad prefers to buy new packets every spring, and that spring they were selling out faster than anybody thought possible. I'm a compulsive seed-saver, so there was more than enough to share.

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Lets-B-Lets-B-Jolly@reddit

Same. And having meds stockpiled.

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bentleywg@reddit

My supermarket has these sales where if you buy 1 it's cheaper, but if you buy 5 it's way cheaper. In December, they'd had a sale on my brand of toilet paper, so I was set for a long time.

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ghoulthebraineater@reddit

I had a case of n95s and other supplies specifically for a pandemic.

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krustyy@reddit

I had people aggressively approaching me, asking where I got my N95 mask from. I never ran out of lysol or hand sanitizer. Sprayed lysol on ever piece of mail and package I received for months.

Never needed to dig into my emergency food.

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RhubarbGoldberg@reddit

This. My bf used to side eye me about prepping, but after we thrived during the lock downs, he's on team prep now!!

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Plus_Emu5068@reddit

A water main in our county recently broke and we had no water. Fortunately I have large jugs of water in the basement and rain barrels that we used for flushing the toilets. The cool thing is that our next door neighbor had followed our lead in collecting rain water so we were both good. It was only out for a day but because we had taken showers the night before it was almost zero inconvenience and I worked from home with no interruption to my routine.

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Henzilla70@reddit

In 2021 I left my job due to the unlawful mandates and 2 weeks later my husband unexpectedly died. I was a 50 YO unemployed widow, if not for the preps I don’t think I would have made it.

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Better-Obligation-19@reddit

OMG, that is a terrible plight. I hope you are doing well. So sorry for your loss!

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EndTheFedBanksters@reddit

5 years ago Texas had that awful snow/freeze where some people died. No electricty or water. I had a bluetti solar battery generator. We used that to power wifi modem, cook on our induction stovetop, use our kettle etc. that home just happened to have a wood fireplace so we were able to warm ourselves.

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BooksandStarsNerd@reddit

I lost my job and had food to eat.

I had bad power outages in dead of winter and had lights, candles, flashlights, ect. Plus I had food I didn't need to cook right away since my over / stove didn't work and going to cook on a grill would be nuts in the snow.

I've been sick and had meds and food to help.

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DisastrousExchange90@reddit

5 feet of snow at our cabin. Have to park on the road and “hike” in. Lots of preps in the cabin = very little to pack in. Powdered eggs both places, come in handy for cooking. I don’t really care for them but are fine for cooking. Cost of eggs is insane but preps offset that.

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glockshorty@reddit

Plenty. I keep a first aid kit in my truck. Countless times I’ve had painkillers, antihistamines, or even anti diarrhea pills helped myself or others on the road.

When I was really broke one time, I cracked into my freeze dryer foods and it kept me afloat for a few days.

I think the biggest point in prepping, is prepping for Tuesday. Especially with common place items. I keep some basic baking and cooking essentials stocked for the chance I ever needed it. Medical supplies are great also.

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HairyBiker60@reddit

My leatherman has come in handy sooo many times. My girlfriend actually teases me because I tend to use it rather than hunting for a regular tool.

My pocket knife has also come in handy a lot. The funniest question I’ve gotten several times is “OMG Why do you carry a knife?”Right after using it to open something for someone it cutting a piece of rope, etc. in my mind I just demonstrated exactly why I carry one.

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Groovyflowerpower@reddit

This winter where it has snowed almost everyday since New Years . Also several ice storms.

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Recovering-Lawyer@reddit

I’ll give you an opposite answer of when lack of prepping hurt. We had a boil water advisory and a formula-fed newborn. The grocery store immediately sold out of water. Unsure of whether the newborn could handle the boiled water, all three adults in the house gave the little bottled water we had to the newborn for her formula for a day. Could have been worse if the issue lasted longer. A minor annoyance, but it helped get me into prepping.

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Informal-Trifle7576@reddit

For other who may need to know, they do make pre mixed(liquid) formula but of course it’s more expensive/more space to store etc, but can be good to have a little on hand for situations like this.

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BigJSunshine@reddit

Damn that’s scary

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CielDsun@reddit

Last year after Milton hit Tampa Bay area we arrived back home after evacuating, we did not have power for like 24 hours, so we used out propane and portable stove to cook, also used the water stock (that lasted for a while) and we have a small Jackery to charge phones, I installed some LED Strips around my room and pulled them out to illuminate common areas.

The basics:

-Clean Water-

-A Way to cook-

-Illumination-

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localtom@reddit

Camping 😆

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Coastalchic9@reddit

I'm not exactly a prepper. I live in a rental so there's little room to store things. I'm more of a camper/hiker and decked out with everything to survive any natural disaster for up to a week. I've been through a few. The last was Hurricane Helen. I'm in WNC. After that, I upped my stash to at least 3 months of resources and am slowly building a more substantial/varied food supply. I'm also growing hydroponics in my kitchen, I have everything else covered. So yes, even with my limited resources as a renter, compared to some I fared better. I was stuck on the mountain for 3 days with no power, running water, phone, or internet post helene. Then once the road was cleared it was another 4-6 weeks before water and electricity came back on. Even then the water wasn't potable, so even a half-ass supply can be a lifesaver.

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DenverTI@reddit

Right now. JTTF is a corrupt task force that disrupts you for things you say so first rules free watch what you say around bad FBI and informants or going on watchlist and getting targeted.

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Undeaded1@reddit

Over filled pantry and stacked cash, came in really handy when my ole lady got restructured out of her job a week before Christmas last year, she has since gotten a better job but a couple of months we were covered and are now rebuilding those preps.

Additionally we were throughly prepared when helene knocked out power for a couple of weeks, down here in Georgia.

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SituationSad4304@reddit

COVID-19 lockdown. We had plenty of food and toilet paper already

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QuirkyBreath1755@reddit

Just this week. A pipe burst on our street & we didn’t have water for 10 hours. Other than just basic stress of the unexpected we didn’t have to worry about anything.

Prepping actually helps to reduce the stress of everyday emergencies & is why we keep with it. Storm systems coming in? I’m not rushing to the stores. Household appliances break? I can manage other ways. Unexpected guests/plans? I can feed & house everyone. Stomach flu/flu takes down the whole house? I’ve got meds & other care items on hand.

Also camping!

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Milli_Rabbit@reddit

Headlamp. If you've ever been in an attic or other situation where you need both hands free, you will understand how huge it is for safety and visibility. I also wear one if someone were to break in. Haven't had to use it for an actual break in but once I got startled by someone in the house and the light completely stunned them. I imagine it's amazing for home invasions as well. I just keep it next to me at night. Easy to pull over my head. I've also used it at night when the power went out twice. Great for finding my way around and resolving issues.

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BaldyCarrotTop@reddit

Since I'm a camper. And I consider my camping gear to be prepper gear. My portable power station, 12volt cooler (no ice runs!) and lanterns make my summer camping trips a bit more bucolic.

Cooler comes in handy on road trips to keep drinks and food cold.

Cooler also kept the ice cream frozen for a birthday in the park.

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Prepper_wif_hat@reddit

Chickens!

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DoctorJekkyl@reddit

I live in an area that gets plenty of power outages. Usually, only for 2-3-4 hours at most. We also live in a wet area and most folks homes, including mine, have sump-pumps. When the power goes out, the pumps stop working but the water keeps coming in. It's important to pump it out else I will have a very, very wet house.

Last year, our area was without power for nearly 3 days. Having battery back-up (portable) or generators are very helpful.

During that 3 day period, I used my battery backup (Bluetti) and supplemented with a generator from my neighbor to recharge it. For this year, I double downed. Normally, I would charge via solar but it was cloudy/rainy so it was really hard to recharge.

Added more/better portable solar panels to recharge the battery pack.
Purchased another battery pack
Purchased an EV with a V2L feature, enabling my car to be a generator for my entire house.

I am planning on purchasing a generator as well, simply waiting for a deal. I purchased the extra battery pack first, simply because it was on sale, first.

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woolen_goose@reddit

Power went out across Detroit for up to 10 days in some areas. We got power back in 2 days at my place but any part of our house I hadn’t rigged up with my prepper heating solution was like 20 degrees and would have been dangerous if I had no solutions prepared. We also were able to cook, charge our phones, and have light at night. Very helpful.

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Successful_Taro8587@reddit

What is your prepper heating solution?

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woolen_goose@reddit

I have a small kerosene heater! But I didn’t need to even whip it out, if the power was out one more day I would have needed it. Ventilation is important when using them.

What I did at the time was I sealed off two rooms in the house and sealed off all the windows in that area with heat protect wrap. I moved every rug in the house to the floors in that area to insulate the floors. I used beeswax candles, which put off a lot of heat. Our body heat kept the space warm too. I used my butane camper for cooking, which put heat into the room when I cooked.

For light, I had some camper lights but I also had one of the rooms lined with those tiny aesthetic LED lights that can be usb plugged, so I popped it onto one of my battery packs.

I didn’t use them but I also have the candle + terra cotta pot heater materials.

I basically made a safe zone.

I put freezer items outside in a plastic bin on my second story deck (safe from animals). The kitchen was cold enough to manage the fridge items on its own.

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Recovering-Lawyer@reddit

F DTE.

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Weird-Conflict-3066@reddit

When covid hit I already had a 6mo supply of toilet paper, n95 masks, gloves and canned food. It was nice

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theanxiousknitter@reddit

When I don’t feel like going grocery shopping, I don’t have to. It’s my favorite perk.

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Slow_motion_riot@reddit

Recently our washer pump stopped working and i was able to VERY QUICKLY get all of the extra liquid out of it for easy removal with a siphon drill bit attachment. Pumped it out in under a minute, the tubing i had was long enough to reach the drain in the basement (other side of the room from washer/dryer) so i didn't even need to haul it upstairs

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tsoldrin@reddit

my buddy had one of those interloc devices on his vehicle and it broke while we were out. lt was the middle of the day and we weren't drinking, it broke. he didn't want to pay for a tow and i had to get home so i used a length of wire i had and a pocket knife to hot wire and start his truck and we drove home.

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koookiekrisp@reddit

Cat food. Sounds dumb but during COVID shortages they were out of this specific canned cat food that is the only one my cat likes to eat. Well I’ve gotten in the habit of a rotating pantry “one in one out, always one to spare” mentality so for a month or two they didn’t have the food anywhere for some reason. I didn’t worry at all because I had a minimum of 3 months at all times. After about 2 months they were back on the shelves. Wasn’t exactly a life or death scenario but it was one less thing to worry during a very stressful time.

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itlow@reddit

I always keep extra dog food on hand and I have a BOB specifically for them. Dog food in vacuum bags, water bowls, water bottles ready to go in the fridge, small med kit, poo bags etc.

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HugeTheWall@reddit

I'm doing this now and my cat only eats this specific chicken pate. With the avian flu (and looming tariffs) I'm worried prices will go up or worse.

Your cat is well cared for!

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NohPhD@reddit

Yes, in my first marriage my wife earned double what I earned but we could barely keep the lights on because of her compulsive spending. Then she was in a catastrophic automobile accident and we are now living off only my income.

Because of our food stash we were able to survive for 24 months without losing the house or car. We could still barely keep the lights on and I remember the kids crying because they didn’t want to eat beans again but we made it.

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dittybopper_05H@reddit

How does your second wife feel about you and your first wife living off just your income?

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NohPhD@reddit

Bitter, lol

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dittybopper_05H@reddit

Heh. I bet!

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BenjaminAnthony@reddit

Yep the biggest example was when we had a chemical leak from a train in the small town I live in. I work nights so I was asleep on the couch and my wife rushed home in the middle of the day and woke me up. Thankfully I already had a go bag ready to go and we left for a hotel within about 2 minutes!

Tons of small stuff too. Thanks to preps we typically don't run out of food items, instead we just go down to the pantry and bring it upstairs. Also, carrying a nice pocket knife and multi tool has helped me innumerable amounts of times, especially at work.

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Terrible_Onions@reddit (OP)

Which multitool do you use?

I’m personally looking at a Victorinox to EDC

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NextInternal2892@reddit

Victorinox Swisstool Spirit. It's far more expensive now than when I 1st purchased it, but it has come in handy countless times from car work to just cutting off wristbands, etc.

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itlow@reddit

$350 Canadian 😱

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BenjaminAnthony@reddit

I use a Leatherman Rev! I've actually never had a swiss army knife but I'm sure they're great too

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pussyfart_187@reddit

Wisconsin?

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Stinkytheferret@reddit

I don’t have a basement but I swear, about every cabinet was converted to a food pantry storage.

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Grendle1972@reddit

I was unemployed for a year, had $6k in the bank with $14k in the mortgage fund. Paid all of the other bills on time (electric, cell phone, car insurance, gasoline) and lived off of my preps. The only thing I didn't have store was Pepsi, and I cut down to one a day. I had a pretty mean Pepsi addiction prior to this. Went to sweet tea to help get over it and eventually got to wear I seldom drink sodas or tea anymore.

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itlow@reddit

I find the less sugar I consume the less I crave it.

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507toffee@reddit

Several times a week I have people who are in need of a knife and I always have one. It happens often.

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hunta666@reddit

Every day. From simply having the right tools on my keys 24/7 when I need them to having a few extra flapjacks in my work bag when I forget my card or get hungry in the office to never having to use the crap plasters and first aid supplies in the office because I've got the good stuff with me.

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Web_Trauma@reddit

Anyone with a Go Bag in the LA fires.

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Mysterious_Touch_454@reddit

Everyone else been saying the same allready, but since i buy long lasting food in bulk, it saves my every day food bill a lot. I have medianed my one person food bill to 100euros/2 weeks. So .250euros a month max. I eat healthy and well and it kinda accumulates over time

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Lonely-Still6109@reddit

I've had Cancer twice. Many times, my stashes have helped me when money was tight. Then, I restocked when I could.

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C_A_M_Overland@reddit

Any time the power goes out.

I was prepping pre covid so I had months of food stored up, including things that were hard to come by.

I stocked up on the OG Sriracha sauce, so I got to enjoy that longer.

I’ve nearly cut my toe off and was able to self recover with a combination of peptides and medical supplies

I’ve fixed household equipment failures with stocked equipment that would have otherwise taken 3-5 days to get parts.

Ultimately I’ve never been in a real life or death situation, but I’ve been in snowballing inconvenient situations that have been immensely alleviated by preparedness.

One of the best preparedness training tools in my life has been my overland hobby. We teeter on the edge of “intense” for most of our long excursions, so you learn really quick what you need to survive when you’re 1500 miles from home in a blizzard and plans to sleep in your tent.

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woollywanderer@reddit

Years ago when my mom kicked me out with zero warning, my BOB was there with a few days of clothes, hygiene supplies, and dog food. It meant I was able to get myself and my dogs out of a bad situation in less than 10 minutes.

More recently, my car supply helped when I had to take my dog to the emergency vet. Had his basic medical history printed out, extra phone charger, snacks, a towel to keep him from bleeding everywhere, and a clean change of clothes for me. He's doing ok, healing better than the vets expected.

Because of my Swiss army knife that stays with me all the time, people know to come to me for everything from opening popsicles to removing splinters.

For me, preparing isn't just about saving the day in big emergencies, but smoothing out every day bumps and hiccups with the least stress possible.

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sweetlu138@reddit

My get home bag, that I call “adventure bag” to avoid eye rolls, has saved the day on several occasions.

Mini pharmacy with common meds, got it. Wife’s Aunt Flo shows up, got you boo. Painful hangnail, you know I got clippers. People wanna mark red cups at party? Sharpie right hmyah

Shoot, I got something in my eye… compass have a mirror? Yuh.

Splinter? Mini tweezers.

The list goes on and on.

It’s actually been quite validating cause of family needs something out of adventure bag, they will sing “adventure bag” and it makes me smile.

I’ve even pulled out my wee acupuncture needles to do battlefield acupuncture on a friend when they rolled their ankle.

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Upper_Junket_9481@reddit

Yes! This was a small thing but made me feel really proud. My gas cover on my car got stuck shut (like REALLY stuck, couldn’t open it at all) when I was trying to fill up. Used the multi tool from my car go bag and was able to pry it open.

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SoDone317@reddit

I’m on disability and the food hoarding has saved my butt a few times. I keep a rotating log of inventory so I just go in there and see what’s getting on or expiring soon and use that. It really has saved me more than once! The dog food hoard too. Been plenty times I couldn’t get dog food until my next check but because I have things and her food in there for my dog, we got through. She’s very thankful. lol.

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deleted_by_reddit@reddit

[removed]

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preppers-ModTeam@reddit

Your comment has been removed for being "Not focused on prepping/Off-Topic - Political." Try to keep posts and comments on the topic of prepping and not on politics.

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baggagehandlr@reddit

My mom said eggs are $9 a dozen. I gave her a jar of approximately 16 freeze dried raw eggs packaged in 2022.

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TheCircularSolitude@reddit

2008 when our household income dropped of a cliff. We were able to spend $5 a week on groceries by relying on the pantry I'd built up.

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MrSparklesan@reddit

really bad cut on my hand. remembered in my prep FAK I had quickclot. made the drive to the hospital much more calm. still needed 6 stitches. but that stuff is pretty wild at stopping blood.

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Xennylikescoffee@reddit

COVID was safer(but not safe) with less trips and especially if you could avoid trips during the worst spikes. All that got my spouse into it. He went from neutral to wanting to plan preps better.

Post pregnancy is a lot easier if you have various easy foods set up. Several cans of veggies to go with rice is high sodium but it kept old people off of my baby. Can't cough at what you can't access. (My first caught a bad virus when she was very small and gosh if that didn't shift how I viewed viral infections)

Um, shortages have happened here or there and we've had little to no issues. No bread? Well we have the ingredients and an oven. No fresh produce? Well we have canned fruit.

Our vehicle was broken for a week. The meals were repetitive, but we didn't need to order any deliveries. It would've been better if it hadn't broken down on grocery day.

I usually have a small sewing kit with me and that comes in handy a lot.

Okay honestly, thinking about it. I'd say it pays off several times a year. It's usually casual, well it's midnight and I can replace those batteries right now. I'll buy new ones to replace the stock on my next trip. More opportunities to bundle trips if you prep.

Plus I've gotten better at long term storage of non-food items from what I've learned from food storage.

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hyunbinlookalike@reddit

The COVID lockdown. My dad’s been a prepper since forever, and when the March 2020 lockdowns happened, we didn’t have to go out panic buying like everyone else was. We didn’t even have to go out for another grocery or supply run until June 2020.

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Glum_Permission_6436@reddit

none

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JennyLorenzo@reddit

Jan 7th was day 1 of the LA fires. I was staying at an airbnb in Idyllwild and the winds were so rough there that my husband and I lost power from 10pm till next day. It was 30 degrees outside and I brought firewood, matches, flashlights/lanterns and a crank radio. It all came in handy!

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LowkeyAcolyte@reddit

Today I gave my friend my videos on How to Learn German which I had downloaded from Youtube in case of an internet blackout/apocalypse. She was really happy with that!

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Successful_Taro8587@reddit

A wireless fan & portable chargers.

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Whyam1sti11Here@reddit

Ex came home from a skiing trip with a badly broken rib. I had everything to fix him up and nurse him back to health. He was down for a week.

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Jolly_Contest_2738@reddit

Eh, my fiance cut her finger and I had a med kit that happened to have banaids in it. Thankfully, I didn't need a tourniquet or Israeli bandage lol. This has happened three times, and by the end of the year at this rate she'll have used my whole stock of band-aids.

Oh, and the time she spilled hot oil all over her forearms. Burn cream and clean bandages helped a lot there.

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fredrickdgl@reddit

Tylenol to help someone bowl

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retrorays@reddit

Dang now you all are making me think I should prep. I have some things but certainly not months long supply

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Fire_Stool@reddit

Landslide knocked out the water to several neighborhoods. Luckily for everyone you just needed to drive about a mile in any direction and the water was still flowing. We didn’t need to since we had some stored.

When the water came back on after a week there was a requirement to boil it for another 4-5 days.

Not catastrophic, but it could have been if the landslide had been somewhere else. Felt good to be ready.

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Alarmed-Zucchini5960@reddit

I always keep a bandaid or two in my wallet. Often people laugh but more than once that bandaid has been needed. Walking around an amusement park my kids needed a bandaid to cover a worn blister. A coworker needed one for a cut knuckle. Just a little convenience but always nice to have and takes up no extra room.

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Apart_Reflection905@reddit

Towed a car once where a guy broke his leg going down a cliff and was stuck in his car for 4 days with a broken leg. Go bag fell to the front of the car and he survived off the contents.

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Never_Really_Right@reddit

We hit a deer on a very dark night on a back country road, temps in the 30s. With flashlights, food, water, spavpce blankets, and extra warm clothes on hand we were comfortable until County rescue could find us 10 hours later. This was before good cell service.

But living in Dixie Alley a tornado is "ordinary life." We were trapped in our neighborhoo with no electricity for 4 days. Not a problem. Even able to make our lattes daily to feel more normal.

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JudgeJuryEx78@reddit

COVID. Also times when money was really tight and I didn't starve.

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RailLife365@reddit

Knowledge and having materials on hand have made every aspect of life easier for me every day.

One time the power went out, and I needed to charge my work phone. Grabbed a lawn mower battery, and wired up a car phone charger to it.

Truck died going down the road. I diagnosed it and discovered a mouse had chewed through a wire. Leatherman SuperTool made it easy to "fix" there on the side of the road and keep going.

Locomotive engine coolant distribution manifold ruptured once. A replacement was two weeks out for a locomotive that needed to be in service immediately, so the ability to"MacGyver" a fix out of two hose clamps, a piece of rubber, and a washer saved having to lease a unit for thousands of dollars.

We all (preppers, people in this sub and others like it) talk about generators, heat sources, water purification, etc., but rarely do we talk about the emergency repairs of all that stuff. If things really go upside down, 'Murphy's Law' will inevitably rear it's ugly head, and something will fail. The breaker on your generator will decide to trip and not reset. A pipe will crack or a thread will strip on whatever water purification system you have. A strap or zipper will tear on your bugout bag, I mean the possibilities of what can go wrong are endless! But knowing how and having the materials to improvise, adapt, and overcome is invaluable. Buying a few spare parts around for the equipment you have, like spark plugs, wire connectors, duct tape, whatever can make the difference between your survival plan staying together or falling apart.

I'm sorry, I started rambling there a bit. I'm old and boring, so these are things I think about. Lol

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sodoneshopping@reddit

Besides covid, I’m the one with the bandaids and pain meds. Helps with young kids.

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Dadfish55@reddit

Trauma kit. All the time.

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LegallyInsane1983@reddit

COVID food and toilet paper, dog got hit by a car and I was able to use my trauma kit to stop bleeding, kids injured by swarm of wasps and I used my medica kit, power went out in the cold weather. Used solar batteries for heated blankets.

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Lythaera@reddit

Where I live there are frequent power outages that can last days or weeks in winter from some fairly mild winter storms, mostly due to wet snow causing big trees to fall on power lines and roadways. Having a generator, a wood burning stove, chainsaws to cut downed trees, and a big truck+tank full of gas to pull those trees out of the way and that can haul a lot of supplies, makes a huge difference when there's no power for 8 days. Especially when the water lines freeze.

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VXMerlinXV@reddit

Had a family emergency where I had to drop everything and walk out my door for three days. Perfect use test for my BoB.

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11systems11@reddit

Ever? Yeah.

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marybane@reddit

I carry a little tin can in my backpack with a lighter. Tylenol, Imodium, a little glue stick, safety needles, mini wrench with bits and some other things. Not really prepper stuff but I use it a lot.

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iamriversmom@reddit

Slightly odd one here. My prepping life started by always having my basic work tools and a couple changes of clothes in my trunk. One weekend, I'm the MOH, mother of the bride's dress still has the security tag on it (they missed removing it when bought). Of course it's in a place that is super obvious and causes it to hang funny. Wedding is starting in 30 minutes and the bridal shop is 60 minutes away. Bridal shop on the phone says to grab a hammer and remove it. The entire wedding party is at the hotel, no one's garage/toolshed is nearby....but I got my basics in the car. I think I gave a pretty funny and kick ass speech, but smashing the security tag was definitely my hero moment that weekend.

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Open-Attention-8286@reddit

Right now I'm in a valley full of steep, twisty roads covered in snow. It's an area that's low on the priority list for plowing and salt trucks, so it'll be a while before it's safe to drive again.

And I have no need to go anywhere! Even perishables like milk are well-stocked, and if I ran out of that there's a dairy literally one farm over. My chickens have plenty of food, my freezer is full, my batteries are charged, my wool socks are clean, and I have a brand-new loom to test out.

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swivel4@reddit

First on the scene/stop the bleed medical training.

Hubby slipped with a knife, slicing open a finger. I had the medical supplies and training to calmly bandage him up, stop the bleed, the drive him to urgent care. 7 stitches later and we're all good.

It wasn't a life threatening cut - but it was pretty bad, and the situation would have been much worse without having appropriate medical supplies and a few hours of training.

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BigJSunshine@reddit

ABSO FUCKING LOOTLEY.

I have been a prepper since I stored my first roll of toilet paper and bag of dog food under the basement stairs as an 8 year old child during tornado season.

I have made the lives of me, my pets, my rescue cats EASIER AND SAFER by prepping.

recently, on December 26, 2019, I was at The Irvine SpectrumCA Target at 6 am, hunting for clearance Christmas goods. Several shoppers wore face masks.

Over the course of that day, I picked up 6 cases of fancy feast pate (some at Target, some at Petsmart) a box of 3M N95 with valves and 24 bottles of wine. Tucked it all away. By March 2020, my expenditure was vindicated as cat food supplies started to fail, and masks were a necessity. I was able to use my stocks of food to keep my cats fed.

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matchstick64@reddit

I bought my group of friends a rechargeable car battery jump kit and a tire inflator. Every single one of them have told me how grateful they were for those gifts because they've all had to use them either on their own cars or to help someone else who was stranded.

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HornFanBBB@reddit

Same! I bought them for my immediate family and in three months all four of them used it for themselves or others. I used mine last week!!

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matchstick64@reddit

As a woman, I never want to be reliant on someone to assist me if my car breaks down, so I try to plan ahead.

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SinnisterSally@reddit

So I have horses and my emergency kit has had many things borrowed in a pinch from others. At least a couple times a year. Yes others should be prepared but I’d want help if it was the other way around.

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Vegetaman916@reddit

I'm still eating rice, beans, pasta, and a dozen other things purchased at pre-pandemic prices, because I bought wholesale and by the pallet.

Grocery prices have gone up more than gold or the stock market has, but I haven't paid those prices... because I prep excessively. My toilet paper supply will probably last longer than my remaining lifespan.

I will be able to hand those precious squares of soft charmin down to my grandchildren out in the wasteland of whatever remains after nuclear war, so that, as they crap themselves to death from radiation poisoning, they can have gentle wipes for their bungholes.

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SinnisterSally@reddit

I like your style

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Other-Cake-6598@reddit

You write well. That was funny!

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Vegetaman916@reddit

Let us hope it stays funny, and never becomes serious, lol.

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flortny@reddit

Constantly in natural disasters, if your needs are met you can help others.

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lostweekendlaura@reddit

I can produce facial tissue, safety pins, a sharp knife, dental floss, a lighter, a small vial of light oil for dry skin and hair, a small tape measure (the kind that comes in a sewing kit), mosquito repellant and a tube of super glue at any given time because they're things I carry in my hand bag on a daily basis---and, yes, crazy glue is incredibly handy to keep with you and doesn't take up much space. Highly recommend. Cheers to the ladies with the well thought out purses!!

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Alternative-Way-9123@reddit

Not a natural disaster, but our apartment complex had a fire in the middle of the night and we had to evacuate. Luckily our apartment was completely fine with no damage or even smoke, but it really helped for evacuation. We had everything we needed to stay elsewhere for the night and were out in less than 5 minutes- only because we had to get a leash on our dogs. The bag stays in our living room and we keep all of our important documents in a binder so we didn’t have to think we just grabbed and left.

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grasslander21487@reddit

My wife runs out of baking supplies ALL THE TIME but I keep a good stock of sugar, condensed milk, flour, peanut butter etc. in our food stash. I just have her double whatever she is ordering to replace the used items and put em back in the stash after the next grocery day.

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Designer-Translator7@reddit

My father got very sick very fast this past fall…. Stage 4 lung cancer. Because me and my wife have been saving/investing very focused for 17 years I was able to take many months off to help him with everything he needed for him to enjoy his end of life and us have some amazing moments. After he passed, I went ahead and retired/sold my shares in the company at 40 to now enjoy my time in life. My father was ex military and a prepper that helped me have that mindset not just in food, water, gear, and skills, but financial and health focused lifestyle that I can say should be everyone’s #1 prep. Having that freedom to have that time with him in his moment of need is something I am proud of and wish everyone would ponder about to work towards.

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kingofzdom@reddit

I was in the right place at the right time and the hitch that I had installed on my van for prepping related reasons allowed me to pull someone's house-on-wheels out of a trailer park fire, preventing it from spreading until firefighters could arrive and saving multiple homes.

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LonelyAndSad49@reddit

I had boxes of N95 masks because I have a family member with scent induced migraines, so we always had them on hand. I didn’t have to buy any throughout the entire pandemic.

I also had tons of paper towels and toilet paper (Costco). Plus I always have a huge stash of food/water.

I never had to worry about going to stores during lockdown or afterwards. And I was able to discreetly supply my elderly neighbor with masks and other supplies so she wouldn’t have to get out.

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Foodie_love17@reddit

We got the chance to do a really awesome camping trip super last minute and I had everything we needed

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Austechprep@reddit

I have a deep freezer, it's now got the additional purpose of storing like 6 loaves of bread. I used to be able to have 1 loaf per week, but now my kids are old enough and we destroy bread and I'd be out of bread by day two...

So my deep freezer prep has helped alot that I am not constantly worried that my kids/family has eaten through my bread supply and I miss out on my breakfast.

And turns out really good torches are also great and spotting water on white tiles, kids spill water all the time and I'll miss a spot, but if I shine my powerful torch over the area I can find missed droplets easy and save myself a bit of a slip.

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GroundWitty7567@reddit

The four days of no power after a Hurricane Helene. I don't even live near the coast, but that it did to my area of Ga was awful. Was prepared for the power loss with solar chargers and water supply.

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Organic_Gazelle_6329@reddit

Flour during COVID - couldn't be got for love nor money. Used my mill attachment for my stand mixer and some of the 25 kg of wheat I'd bought just in case... we put on indecent amounts of weight during lockdown because of all the fresh bread 😂🤣😂🤣

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Just_Nobody9551@reddit

Every time the POWER goes out. 🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️

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Weird-Grocery6931@reddit

Power went out this morning, due to a snow and ice storm.

No panic; just made coffee on my camp stove, moved flush water near the toilets, pulled out my hot spot (better service than using my phone), fired up the fireplace and read a book.

If the power didn’t come back on after four hours, I would have fired up the generator to move water from the well, have hot water and keep my fridge going.

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totmacher12000@reddit

Uh COVID lock down.

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Into-Imagination@reddit

COVID. Had bottled water, and toilet paper; enough that I was supplying neighbors for a bit.

Switched to bidets since but, that one sticks in my memory.

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Other-Cake-6598@reddit

Bidets are AWESOME!

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Mustang_Tex@reddit

Being "lightly prepped" for short-term power outages has been extremely helpful on multiple occasions. The trigger that caused this was a major winter storm that destroyed local power distibution systems such that we were without power for most of a week, in record-cold freezing weather. We had 'bugged-out' before it hit, but couldn't return for several days as it was. This was a real eye-openner.
That year, having basic emergency backup preperations, including power, food, and water, and warmth. Acquisition of a portable generator and stablishing ways to power on critical systems became an urgent priority. This all paid off again with numerous short-term (under a day) power outages since then, and one lengthy 6.5 days of no power last winter. The shorter outages provided good short-term testing scnearios, which really paid off when we had a longer week of no power during winter, but were able to remain comfortable, safe, and nourished.
This was driven by common sense and wanting to be able to stay at home when power outages and storms occur. The week-long outage was very relaxing as everything worked like it was supposed to, and easily got us through it all.
Each "test" like this though, you learn things, on what can be improved, what changes are needed.
Keep improving and prepping!

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XRlagniappe@reddit

There was a water main break that affected more than 133,000 residents in 23 communities in two counties including our city. This went on for five days. There were huge lines at grocery and warehouse stores. There was no bottled water for miles. Guess who wasn't standing in line?

Actually, it wasn't that bad. We still had water but it was under a boil advisory. Our city really came to the rescue. I was part of CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) at the time and we handed out water to residents who could come pick up a case of water each day. They also brought in a water truck and you could bring your own containers and fill them up (never saw anyone do that). It was a pain to boil water for that long.

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Royal-Emotion-2837@reddit

Snowstorms, I didn’t have to go to town for anything and stayed safe and warm at home. And years ago, my husband got hurt and needed major surgery where he was off work for nearly a year. He had disability insurance (thank God, a good financial prep🙂) but it was less than half what he was use to bringing home plus we had a lot of extra medical expenses so things were extremely tight. Our food and supply stocks were like a savings account we pulled from when times were tough. I had many worries then but how I was going to feed my toddler and kindergartener was not one.

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Vrey@reddit

Texas 2021 Freeze a few years back.

Power was out for a few days and water went out for like 1 or 2 days.

Water- I had cases of bottled water for me and my dog, but I also had 2 5L jugs and a plastic hand pump. So I could gather ice/snow haul it up to my apartment and then let it melt. I kept one jug full to use in the bathroom - gravity flush toilet, and the other I made sure to boil and add some purification tablets to when we had sporadic power.

Power- I didn’t have my mini generator yet, but I had a solid supply of solar powered lanterns/radios/charged power banks for basic electronics.

Warmth - I used tarps to cover the poorly insulated windows.

A few months prior I had purchased everything needed for camping with some friends so I tossed the tent on my bed and put all my bedding inside. Far warmer than sleeping just on the bed.

Food - I filled my insulated grocery bags with ice from outside and stuffed my frozen foods in them - then back in the freezer. They survived thankfully. The refrigerated goods were stored similarly though I didn’t have any dairy products.

Post Event Prep Additions- mini generator with solar panels that can run my mini freezer for 8+ hours, extra hand pump, extra tarps, a giant bucket.

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XRlagniappe@reddit

My MIL burned her hands apply some kind of cream to my FIL's back. She came over to our house while she figured out which emergency room to go to. It was very late night/early morning. They kept bouncing her to different hospitals. I had two boxes of the instant cold packs and she went through one of them. She was very grateful. Yes, we probably could have gone to a 24 hour store but I don't know where there is one in the area and the main point is I didn't have to look for one.

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optimallydubious@reddit

Oh man, at least 3x a week. I keep an everyday carry bag with me at all times -- it's just a backpack with the daily conveniences plus a few extra items. But I always have toiletries, chargers/cables, a small recharger and solar panel, pen, small multitool, spare pair of socks and underwear, hair tie, small 1st aid kit with basic pills, a water bottle, and my 'fire and ice' kit which is just a small lil waterproof orange bag with a flint and steel, a few matches, two chemical handwarmers, a water filter, an emergency blanket, and a bit of pool shock in a sealed container. When we leave the house, I drop some snacks in too, and some veg-replacement juice mixes. And, of course, my ID and small stash of ready bills.

The car always has it's own EDC kit, too.

Several times a week my husband digs in my pack for some essential or other. Last week it was dental floss, tums, the snacks, deodorant, a spare cable, the water bottle, sunscreen, and my ready cash because we found a great deal at an estate sale that saved us several hundred.

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WWGHIAFTC@reddit

Annual winter multi-day power outages. With a well for water.

Always enough fuel, water, food, and fun for at least a week on hand. Generator comes out after a day or two if needed.

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WalnutTree80@reddit

COVID, in addition to disasters (our area was hit hard by Helene).

I always keep over-the-counter meds stocked up, plus things like toilet paper and paper towels.

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dittybopper_05H@reddit

Not so much an item, but knowledge.

Probably the biggest one has been the knowledge I've gained as an amateur radio operator. Skills like diagnosing electronics issues.

One winter our furnace stopped working. With nothing to lose, I decided to see if it was something that I could possibly fix. So I started poking around at the controller board with a wooden dowel while it was powered up, and when I hit a certain spot, there was a spark, and it kicked on.

"Aha! Bad solder joint!" says I.

So I got my soldering iron out and I re-did that joint on the controller board. That was probably 7 or 8 years ago, furnace has been working fine ever since.

That save me at a minimum several hundred dollars in a service call, and likely a few thousand in getting a new furnace.

All because I like Morse code.

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HugeTheWall@reddit

Multiple times where the water had to be off for a few hours for repairs and it was only a minor inconvenience since I had jugs.

Covid I already had masses of tp for my ibs and I bought a bidet wand early on before the demand and prices went up. Same with masks i got some early. Wished I had more but this time around I do. Always had sanitizer and isopropyl alcohol.

Constantly with extras for household items and food. I don't even consider it prepping, it's just being stupid if we don't have these or if I run out.

Just dumb stuff like having sunscreen while my white friend is burning to a crisp, or having towels, extra clothes in the trunk, or blankets and bags. Multitool comes in handy all the time. Same with otc pain meds.

I started being known for having this stuff at work and some lazy people started to rely on me all the time for advil and bandaids and hand cream and snacks and crap so I had to pretend I ran out or that I was just as unprepared, and save it for myself or people I'm really close to.

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davidm2232@reddit

All the time. I keep a get home type bad with me pretty much anytime I'll be away from services. I have water, snacks, extra warm clothes, tools, replacement parts, handwarmers, first aid supplies, power bricks for charhing phones, and more. Especially when we are on multi day snowmobile trips, people need all sorts if things and I usually can help them.

Also, I live fairly rural. I have a gas pump onsite, and it is so convenient for myself as well as friends to have a local spot to fill up.

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Dadd_io@reddit

My Get Home bag in my car has tick spray, snacks, water, and a first aid kit, all of which I have used.

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MrMurgatroyd@reddit

The better question is "has there been a situation where it didn't help?" - the answer to which is "when moving house".

A "two is one and one is none" approach, and ensuring backups of everything essential as much as possible is constantly handy in all sorts of ways - never have a kitchen situation where we've run out of something, always have tools etc. on hand to fix things, always have contingency plans...

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Realistic-Lunch-2914@reddit

Power went out here in WV for two days and my Honda tri-fuel generator with its 500 gallon propane tank saved the day(s).

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DaleFairdale@reddit

Portable generator, despite power going out often and being useful there. Grabbing it and taking it to a tailgate, or camping, or doing yardwork and throwing it on the quad. Its a very multi purpose tool.

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Stinkytheferret@reddit

I have two of these. In my state they like to turn off our power often. I have those and some solar panels.

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wishadoo@reddit

Which portable generator do you use? Thx!

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UniqueIndividual3579@reddit

Not OP, but I have a propane generator. Gas ones clog if not used for years. With a propane grill also, you have power and cooking. I have three propane bottles.

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DaleFairdale@reddit

Had a Honda eu2200i for years, very quite and portable. But went to a large battery bank (Dji Power 1000) because it way more convenient, no noise, no gas, and its expandable, I love it.

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KingMeKevo@reddit

I watched a video on someone in Asheville having one of these when the hurricane hit - I have a Westinghouse absolute unit of a generator that works really well - but I am thinking about getting of those small hondas as a back up.

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ommnian@reddit

I think that's what we have. It's come in handy a few times over the last 15+ years. I think we'd JUST bought it when we lost power for what turned out to be 2+ weeks originally. Couldn't find one in the state. Since then we've lost power for 2-4 days multiple times, and 10+ days too. We too have since put in solar w/ batteries, so *hopefully* won't need it again... but it's there if we do!!

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DaleFairdale@reddit

Good size solar is the way too go, would love to get some panels and have a whole system. Did you go massive solar array or just a few panels, do you think it'll make enough power to last a few days at least?

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ommnian@reddit

We have a 33 panel system with 26kwh (hopefully soon to be 39kwh) of batteries. We're all-electric, and in the spring/summer/fall use \~20-40+kwh of electric per day. In the winter, it bumps up to 50-70+kwh. This is primarily as we have various livestock and use electric heaters, buckets, etc to keep their water thawed. In theory we could just haul water and break ice daily but... that really doesn't sound like fun.

Anyhow. Most of the year (roughly March-Oct/Nov) we could mostly function 'off grid' - we'd have days where it was overcast, rainy, etc and we were out, but mostly we'd be OK - certainly enough to keep freezers, the septic and well going. Nov/Dec through Feb/March it would get very sketchy - especially when there's snow/ice covering panels and we make nothing.

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NocheEtNuit@reddit

If I may, how's the Dji working out for you? How much are you able to power with it / for how long? Did you find it has lived up to its product specifications?

Any help is appreciated 🙏🏻

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DaleFairdale@reddit

Mind you that I got it for less than $400 so that kinda gives it extra points for me. But its been good, I ran my gaming pc on it and it said it'd have a few hours at a pretty high power draw. I did a silly experiment and only charged my phone with it for like a month and it still had some power to go. Its not a massive battery so limit expectations but you can expand it with their expansion battery's too.

The selling point for me was that it had a UPS mode which would let it pass through power for like a computer and not use the battery cells draining their overall life, and if power goes out it'll automatically kick in. Also it uses a very standard c13 power cable to charge which almost any has around the house.

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NocheEtNuit@reddit

Awesome info! Thank you so much. I'm glad you can run the pc on it as a fellow gamer 😂

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wishadoo@reddit

Awesome. Much appreciated.

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dinamet7@reddit

This one for me (though ours is solar with panels, so really it's battery storage and not generating technically?) but when a scheduled outage for repairs lasted 8 hours instead of 3 hours, I was SO happy to not have all my food in my fridge and deep freeze go bad and deal with running out to get ice for the coolers. Just plugged in my fridge and forgot about it.

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Odd_Cost_8495@reddit

This, we had a 4day outage. Only house in the neighborhood with power. Kids felt like it was camping.

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cookmybook@reddit

My kids are learning to garden and love it. I find that to be the biggest payoff ever. They understand where their food comes from and are proud to grow their own.

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Stinkytheferret@reddit

Yep, car accident and was off work for about six months. Had so much food prepped.

Then Covid was coming, we saw the writing on the wall. Swear we’re still able to pick off of a lot what we stored, dehydrated, bought extra. Food and regular house products like toothpaste to building materials.

Covid came and we were able to share off stuff to people. We had plenty to do. Plenty to eat. We had a mission that all kids learned our traditional family meals to cook. The big stuff’s not the little things.

As we used stuff’s, most of the time we’ve replaced it and I’m so glad because I know I bought things when they were say $7 and now $15-18. Inflation is gonna get people where as we are filling holes and maintain a good stock.

We also started keeping chickens and such. Learned a lot. Now provide chickens. Pullets for sale, which is good with the avian flu. That and we have plenty of eggs while I see the markets be completely out of stock or insane prices like $13 a doz. Like what? So I have chicken coops and runs but also a chicken hospital, teenage pullet house, and a new chick brooder, most made from found items. Learned to make good, unprocessed feed that results in higher quality eggs.

In other ways, we have built up a nice library for entertainment and educations over the last six years or so.

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Hefty-Squirrel-6800@reddit

IMPORTANT PIECE OF ADVICE: This is something I learned from experience. DO NOT TELL PEOPLE ABOUT YOUR PREPS. KEEP YOUR PREPS OUT OF SITE. Prior to our first hurricane evacuation, I had coworkers (who knew I prepped) literally tell me that they would be coming to my house if the storm came in. I cannot even make this up. I quickly make up an excuse and told them that all my stuff was already in North Texas and that I had nothing.

After that disaster passed (and yes I did need and used my preps), I made a point to work the following into my conversation. "I used to prep but decided that I was being paranoid. Besides all the food spoiled and I didn't replace it. I've sold all my guns because I needed the cash. I am just going to trust the government to take care of me."

I highly recommend that you do not discuss preps with anyone until you have thoroughly vetted them and even then be discreet on what you tell them. There are predatory survivalists out there whose plan is to take your stuff for themselves. I met a couple over the years.

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Estudiier@reddit

I think it’s to help us be more self sufficient? IMO

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Lifestyle-Creeper@reddit

Covid obviously, but we had a period of almost a year where we had zero pay while we were starting our small business. Thankfully I’ve always kept a full pantry and freezer, so we never went hungry and never had to break into our retirement accounts. Lots of “creative” meals, but most of them were hits.

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MrFeels77@reddit

When I need something for a camping trip

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nifflerqueen@reddit

I had an impromptu emergency room visit. I was able to drive myself and use the preps in my trunk go bag to make my multi hour stay better:

Warm hooded jacket Power banks/phone charger Snack bars Water bottle N95 mask

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andyring@reddit

I'm just generally well-prepared for life I guess you could say.

I'm the type that has a full size spare for the car, a working jack, an appropriate lug nut socket on a breaker bar in the car, a jump start pack, a shovel when it's snowy, etc. I carry band-aids in my wallet. I carry two Leatherman tools, a belt one and a pocket one. I keep spare appliance parts on hand that are known failures or consumables, keep 20 gallons of gas on hand for the generator that I rotate out periodically, and on and on.

I'm not the type to have months of food stored up. Nothing wrong with someone who does of course, and I wouldn't mind getting to that point.

Band-aids in the wallet are a great example. I've used them for myself, for my kids, for complete strangers. It's something I learned from my dad. I've dug people out of the snow because I had a shovel in the car.

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Terrible_Emotion_710@reddit

The other day my kid got sick, I didn't have to rush out to get cold meds bc I'm well stocked (2 boxes of cold meds per person)

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BuzzyBrie@reddit

Every hurricane I have ever been in(I live in Florida.

COVID: 2 days before shut down I got the gut feeling so I went and loaded up with butter, eggs, milk and meat and that plus what I had on hand meant we didn’t have to get groceries for 3 months.

My husband was never a prepper but I grew up Mormon so it’s in my DNA. He trusts my gut now and when I wanted to start working towards our year of food storage he was supportive. Now more than ever the preps I have on hand are very comforting. My husband is a fed and things are less than okay lately.

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Nearby-Squirrel634@reddit

Yes, it helps me everyday. Canning food, planting gardens, hunting wild game…etc. it saves a ton of money every year, and has a much healthier nutritional value and lowers the stress of daily life.

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Nearby-Squirrel634@reddit

Not to mention, the low level anaerobic exercise is good for you too.

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Flyboy367@reddit

3 hurricanes and covid. Plenty of food, water, electricity. Fuel. I don't go out of my way prepping just nab some stuff on sale. Actually garden because I find it relaxing and wound up canning a bunch of stuff because I grew way to much.

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jrrhea@reddit

I splurged on a Jackery 3000 power station for emergency power and I use that thing all the time. Got me through a few sweltering nights without power after several summer wind storms by powering a portable fan. But I’ve used it for convenience reasons far more often. Great to bring along for any kind of outdoor event or when camping to charge phones or power small appliances. Used it to keep a hot dish warm in a crockpot at an outdoor party instead of trying to run a long extension cord. Used it numerous times to plug in a hairdryer to dry off our large dog after an outdoor bath as there’s no outlet on our front porch. I just never realized how much I needed a Jackery until I had one.

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latebloomermom@reddit

Bandages (I have 5 kids, 4 still at home), ceramic water filters when our local water supply went off for a few days and I was filtering rainwater to wash dishes, chickens that we got before the avian flu started spreading, the solar oven when it was hot and I didn't want to cook indoors.... it goes on.

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H2OMGosh@reddit

Covid. I knew it was coming since December 2019, so I bought tons of sanitizer, rubbing alcohol, gloves, masks, water, food, toilet paper, and lots of other lil things. I was hoping that I’d be wrong, but glad I prepped. Sanitizer was very hard to find for a while by me and went for $50+ on Nextdoor.

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mtn_ready@reddit

Getting my EMT cert has been a valuable prep for all the minor illnesses/injuries that my little ones seem to get on a weekly basis.

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debaucherous_@reddit

was this worth it? i'd really like to get that kind of training or at least have the knowledge available to me but it seems like a steep cost if you're not using it to make money as well. have you found any reliable but free sources of information that have the same degree of usefulness as EMT certification?

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rotatingruhnama@reddit

In the US, you could look into a Stop the Bleed training. That's an hour-long course where you learn to manage a serious wound until help arrives.

I was able to do it for free at my local library, and was sent home with a free kit.

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debaucherous_@reddit

that's sick!! i'll absolutely look into this, sounds like exactly what i wanna learn

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rotatingruhnama@reddit

My class was taught by two ER nurses, who explained that ambulance response times in our area average nine minutes, but a human can bleed out in under five. So they need regular people to help buy those extra minutes.

Then they explain some simple techniques, and have you practice packing wounds on these hilarious dummies that feel like big, slippery Slim Jims.

They also mentioned that Stop the Bleed instructors will go anywhere a group can get pulled together. I might see if my pastor would be interested in having them come do a class at our church.

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ommnian@reddit

My husband is a firefighter/medic. He's great for patching up injuries, but pretty useless otherwise. As he explains without his ambulance and all the fun toys contained therein... there's really not much he can do that he couldn't before.

Wilderness First Responder (which we both took in college, long before he became a medic) teaches at least as much, and likely more, really useful information for the average person without an ambulance and hospital backing them up.

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debaucherous_@reddit

that's good to know, i'll look into Wilderneas First Responder. where did you take that?

i do carry more than the average person probably does. i concealed carry and feel it is morally one's duty to carry items useful in gunshot wounds, accidental or intentional. at the very least i'd like to be capable of stabilizing someone until first responders do get there, that's basically the level of information and know-how i'm looking for. it's good to know so much of it is tied to equipment though!!

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ommnian@reddit

We took ours as part of our college degrees. Our classes were through Wilderness Medical Associates (https://www.wildmed.com/). It was a fantastic experience and I would absolutely recommend it to anyone and everyone. As I sit here and think, I wouldn't mind doing it again, tbh.

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debaucherous_@reddit

the basic intro courses are easily in my price range, i'd just have to travel. thank you so much for the resource, hopefully i can plan a summer trip out to one of these!

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mtn_ready@reddit

For me it was definitely worth it. The drills/simulations were valuable and the short time spent in the trauma bay at a local ER was some of the best hands on learning. Been a few years- but I want to say tuition, books, license fees maybe all came out to $500? I know that’s not a trivial sum- but I felt like it was worth it for me. I also have my WFR (I see others mentioning that) and would highly recommend. I spend a lot of time in the mountains so this is definitely helpful. With the WFR and EMT I was able to help out a little for a Mountain SAR effort.

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debaucherous_@reddit

thank you so much! maybe i need to do better research, when i was glancing at doing it the prices i saw where i live were four figures at least. i could swing $500. i'll do a bit more research today and hopefully find out i was just wrong before. appreciate the response!

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mtn_ready@reddit

Happy to help! I did mine through a community college program- so maybe that’s a good/less expensive route? Good luck!

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Jericho-G29@reddit

Boy scout handbook pre 2005 not sure on the recent but has useful daily first aid and triage treatments

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Due_Satisfaction2167@reddit

I don't mean in a natural disaster or anything people here normally prep for.

I… what?

“Has prepping ever been helpful in a situation? Please don’t include the situations being prepped for.”

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ObscureSaint@reddit

When there was a shortage of N95 masks early in covid, I already had a bunch because I prepped for a volcanic eruption. Because we were quarantining at home, I was able to donate my masks to our local fire department.

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prepper5@reddit

I’ve told this story before on here, but… I keep a fire extinguisher in my jeep, best prep. My oven caught fire, BOTH the fire extinguishers I had in the house were bad (my fault, they were really old) ran out to my jeep, was able to put out the stove and the cabinets above it. About a month later, driving home from work, I saw a car with smoke and flames coming out from under it pull off the highway. I pulled off behind her and used my (newly replaced extinguisher) to put out her engine fire. She had borrowed that car to bring her baby home (to another state) from the hospital. Baby was in the back seat. I will always have a fire extinguisher within easy reach.

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NefariousnessLast281@reddit

More than once a neighbor or friend has had Covid and asked if I could bring them some supplies. I have a stockpile of medicine, n95 masks, Covid tests, soups, electrolytes, etc. Was able to just pack them a care package from my stockpile and walk next door to drop it on their porch.

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turtlepower22@reddit

Yes, I carry Narcan just in case and was able to revive someone with it about a year and a half ago.

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boredatthekeys@reddit

Bought a generator and had transfer switch installed. Power died Christmas Day, family barely noticed.

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rotatingruhnama@reddit

We'd just come home from the hospital with a fresh baby and me healing from a c section when water mains broke all over the county. No water for three days.

But we had plenty of bottled water for drinking (and for making formula), plus water for flushing, cooking, etc. Paper plates. Dry shampoo. Etc.

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bougie_plant_lady@reddit

Many times:

covid- had toilet paper stocked already, no need to freak out when store shelves were empty.

power outages- we've got tons of lanterns & batteries stocked + generators. We've been able to have light & power in our home when needed, and especially during winter storms- we've been able to cook 10can soups.

My ER bag in my car- We've used things from it many times when on the road- bandaids, batteries, screwdriver, power inverter, flint & steel to start a bonfire on the beach, etc.

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ffsmimi@reddit

Unemployed for 4 months. Food supply and gift cards let me continue to live comfortably.

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Grim_Task@reddit

When I was out on child support for over $700/month. I was able to use my preps as a way to ensure I did not starve and continue to work to pay my CS. Got my truck repossessed, but did not become homeless or go to jail.

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Jabbott23@reddit

People have often been surprised that I have an unlikely medication in my purse.

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CelebrationSquare@reddit

Which medication?

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Preebos@reddit

i'm guessing they keep a little case with a variety of otc medicines, so when someone needs something they probably have it on hand

mine has my prescriptions, as well as ibuprofen, midol, dramamine, melatonin, and benadryl

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Terrible_Onions@reddit (OP)

Thanks! I’ve been looking to add loads of OTC medicine to my EDC. Become a moving pharmacy

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rotatingruhnama@reddit

Another useful med to carry is chewable pink bismuth caplets (Pepto). Or little ginger candies. Both are great for stomach issues.

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rotatingruhnama@reddit

I keep a little variety kit of meds in my bag, plus a mini first aid kit and tissues.

I'm VERY popular with the other parents at school dropoff lol. The minute a kid has snot, or Mom needs Tylenol, they come find me.

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Orcus424@reddit

For business trips that I drive to I do a similar thing. It is not useful every time but when it is it really helps.

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IndividualScene7817@reddit

Things I've found helpful: batteries, food reserves (rice/beans/etc), greenhouse/grow tents, and we've eliminated the need for hella toilet paper reserves by installing bidets on our toilets.

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Responsible-Sun55@reddit

COVID. Had plenty of toilet paper, food, cleaning supplies, medicine.

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endlesssearch482@reddit

2013- wife broke three ribs when sledding and hit a fence post. Two days later I had a gallstone attack and needed surgery two days later. Neither of us could work for three weeks. We got hit with 24” of snow and neither of us could shovel or run the snowblower.

But we had a freezer full of food, a deep pantry and good neighbors with established friendships with them. One neighbor used his bobcat to open the driveway, another came over and shoveled our steps. We had savings to cover the mortgage and other bills.

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outdoorsjo@reddit

Yes, many times throughout history.

Every famine civil war, natural disaster, etc.

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handsometilapia@reddit

Twice for me. First a derecho hit my area and I was fine even though power was out for a week and stores were closed. Second was during COVID, I was already stocked up and only went out for fresh veg.

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ARGirlLOL@reddit

Every mountain house meal I bought 6 years ago is worth 3x now.

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RonJohnJr@reddit

Meaningless, unless you plan on selling them.

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ARGirlLOL@reddit

Or plan on buying them. Or plan on consuming calories and protein.

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RonJohnJr@reddit

While it's great that you've had food for 6 years, it's completely irrelevant to OP's question.

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ARGirlLOL@reddit

I guess you hadn’t heard inflation was 3% for the month. Again.

If you had a bar of gold that went up in value 3x in 6 years, you wouldn’t be minimizing the gain and you can’t eat gold.

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RonJohnJr@reddit

You're still missing the point of the question: what specific situation did buying those MH cans help you in? Because "mitigating inflation" isn't a situation.

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ARGirlLOL@reddit

SMH. I didn’t know you needed it spelled out for you that nearly. Here: Inflation.

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RonJohnJr@reddit

Inflation is not a "specific situation".

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ARGirlLOL@reddit

Is it not specific enough for you or not enough of a situation or do you have a vested interest in pretending inflation isn’t something happening? Idk, this is getting weird and it feels like I’m not having a back and forth with a grounded person.

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RonJohnJr@reddit

Explain how "I bought MH before inflation, but haven't actually opened the cans" is a specific situation. Then I'll understand you.

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ARGirlLOL@reddit

Ahh. That’s because when you buy preps that last a long time before a SPECIFIC SITUATION LIKE YEARS OF HEIGHTENED INFLATION occur, your prepping helps you proportional to the resultant SPECIFIC INFLATION in prices.

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magobblie@reddit

When the power goes out, I get excited to try all of my various lights lol It definitely takes the fear out of a power outage.

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TemuBritneySpears@reddit

Tape.

I searched this sub recently, found an old post recommending different types of tape for prep.

Had to run power from a neighbor via extension cord through a window. The gaffer tape I purchased a month ago is perfect to seal the remaining gap in the window and keep out the bitter cold. Easy to put on, easy to pull off. When done, reuse the tape or wrap around a pen/pencil.

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Fr33speechisdeAd@reddit

Every day. People are always saying things like, man I got a killer headache. I say, "Hey, I got some Bc powder or Tylenol in my first aid kit. Or I need a lighter, paperclip, duct tape, jumper cables, whatever. I usually have it lol. I'm a pack rat and a prepper.

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literal_moth@reddit

My dad was a prepper. He passed away too young, very suddenly and unexpectedly. I don’t know how much the “stuff” he amassed was helpful, a lot of it was overwhelming for us, but part of his prepping involved both “just in case” preparing for the end of his life and also preparing for good times and a long life- so rather than ending up struggling after he was gone, my mother ended up a millionaire thanks to his life insurance and 401k. Of course she’d trade it all to have him back in a heartbeat, but it was no small reassurance that she is provided for.

Make sure you don’t prep for TEOTWAWKI so hard you neglect to prep for things that are unfortunately, more likely, like heart attacks, and fortunately, more likely, like retirement. (And take care of your health, because if he had he’d still be here.)

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MrRemoto@reddit

Probably all the time now that we are in a perpetual cycle of natural disasters.

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Additional-Stay-4355@reddit

Almost all my preps are things I need every day, just stockpiled to last longer. So yeah, if I don't feel like hitting the grocery store, I'll dip into my "personal grocery store" which is a dedicated room in the house, pick something out of the garden, or grab an egg from the chicken coop. Or when the power goes out, a constant occurrence in third world Houston, the standby generator turns on.

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Sawfish1212@reddit

Lost power for a week in December due to an ice storm. I had a generator but didn't have a way to connect it to the house. Ended up creating a connection and powering the house and heat (in maine). We keep a metal cabinet full on non-perishable food in the basement and this was great during the beginning of covid.

Currently we heat with a wood stove, it's awesome to have your winter heat and potential hot water/cooking, stacked in the backyard before it gets cold at night. We first had to use this in a freak ice storm that left us without power for a few days. I was out of work and we spent those days going around with saws clearing the streets and driveways, dragging all the good wood home in my trailer. I ended up getting almost 3 years worth of wood and didn't go more than a couple miles from home

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Synesth3tic@reddit

We live in tornado alley and my go-bags get a lot of use each year, sometimes several times a year. It also means I keep the stock rotated regularly. My husband used to make fun of me for packing a bag with his underwear in it. And I would jokingly say “for when a tornado scares the shit out of you!” You best believe he appreciated having clean underwear during an unexpected winter power outage that occurred just before laundry day…

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Warm_Ad3776@reddit

We had a ton of food storage. Then we got transferred overseas where we could not take it. We sold both our cars relatively fast and would have had to rent a car for about 6 weeks. Instead we traded our food storage to our neighbor who had lost his job and we used his car for those 6 weeks

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Warm_Ad3776@reddit

My friends know to text me when hey are missing a random ingredient to make dinner

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h2ogal@reddit

My attitude about prepping is that every prep should also have a non-emergency benefit.

So for example, I have a greenhouse. A very, very useful prep in case of any food shortages, but it’s also very useful as gardening is my hobby.

A lot of my food preps are freeze dried meals which are super useful for camping and bike packing.

We use our portable generators a lot for construction and landscaping projects too.

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EggCollectorNum1@reddit

During the pandemic in Canada; I had essentials all stocked up and could sit pretty for 10 months.

Wasn’t necessary at all given that we implemented pretty responsible lockdown and distancing measures, but it was a nice hedge and security for if I was sick or unable to access stores.

Another is during blackouts during blizzards; it isn’t uncommon for -40’c in Jan/feb here so if we have a blizzard or highwinds knock out our power you need to insure you have heat. I have a few heated blankets, plastic window film, and electric heaters which I can run off solar generators or my car to keep the heat. Used the film to make a vapour barrier in a central room, would run the heaters on low during the day.

Blizzards; having to use my snowshoes and winter “get-home-kit” in my trunk to go grocery shopping for friends who weren’t prepared. I also used this to check on neighbours and deliver food during lock down during blizzards

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aniyabel@reddit

I never ran out of Charmin during Covid.

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scritchesfordoges@reddit

I was the go-to person at my worksite for minor injuries and headache stuff because I kept a mini go-bag and first aid kit in my toolbox. It does a lot for building good will with colleagues when they know they can come to you for an emergency advil or alcohol pad and bandaid. Helped me rotate through stock that would have otherwise expired.

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joshak3@reddit

At work I became known as the person who always had basic first aid items like band-aids and ibuprofen, as well as basic tools like screwdrivers and a tape measure.

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MacaroonUpstairs7232@reddit

Being prepared always comes in handy. When you are prepared for the little things like power outages, whatever natural disasters are likely in your area, fire... stuff like that, then being prepared for the big things is just a matter of a little more. We have back up systems, all need to be used in order to make sure they will work when they are needed. We have food supplies, everything needs to be rotated through and used before they go bad, or it's wasteful and good preppers do not waste anything. The skills we feel we need, hunting, fishing, gardening and foraging for both food and medicine are skills we use all the time, don't want to try to figure that out in an emergency.

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45pewpewpew556@reddit

Powerstations with solar can save you big $$$ overtime and usually within the warranty period if you use them vs sitting in a closet

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Sildaor@reddit

I keep an axe and a battery powered chainsaw in my jeep. The chain saw isn’t super strong, but a tree was down during an ice storm as I went to work on a two lane road. I was #3 in line in my lane, and there were about 20 lines up the opposite direction. I got my jeep close, cut the tree up best I could, and pulled it out of the way with the winch on my jeep. Got the road clear way faster than waiting on the road crews. I called the highway department and told them they could disregard

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reincarnateme@reddit

Sudden Job loss. It Lasted several months. We had enough supplies to get through it comfortably

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lacisghost@reddit

Covid. One memorable thing was I had hand sanitizer that I gave to my pediatrician friend because they had run out in his office.

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Primordialpoops@reddit

I worked as a landscaper throughout university. We were given n95 masks to use while using the backpack blower. I'd often be away from the truck for multiple hours at a time as our sites were quite large so I'd often take 2 so I'd have one as a spare when one got too dirty. If I didn't end up using the spare I'd bring it home and stick it in a zip lock bag. I did this for years for no real reason besides despising waste and single use items. When Covid hit and n95 masks were nearly impossible to come across I had a huge stockpile!

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pbmadman@reddit

I use my preps all the time. A neighbor kid crashed his bike out front and I did some basic first aid. I got sick and missed a grocery store trip, just ate from the pantry and nobody noticed. If we consider spare parts as preps then my AC capacitor failed and I popped in a new one.

But also I’m not really sure where the is line between a prep and just having a reasonable amount of common things is on hand.

I think most people think of prepping as a high cost emergency use only stuff. I tend to be much more focused on having common everyday stuff, just an amount that gives me comfort I could ride out most problems.

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IndependentTeacher24@reddit

Work, right before covid took over i ordered a bunch of chlorox wipes, a ton of hand sanitizer, lysol spray, disposable gloves in different sizes, face masks, hand soap, i even was able to get n95 masks. When the powers that be suddenly realized and began to freak out and every store shelf was empty they came to me and i told them i got that and showed them they were floored. Having a prepping mindset can allow you to see things coming down the pipeline before most do, not 100% but it does help. You just got to observe.

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kshizzlenizzle@reddit

There was a lady who ran a blog (can’t remember the name now) but her and her husband were realtors in Las Vegas after the 2008 crash, and primarily lived off their food storage for a year and a half while they financially recovered. It was pretty interesting!

Personally, outside of various natural disasters, I didn’t buy TP for almost a year during covid, and even gave some away, lol. Various times the household has gotten sick, it wasn’t a mad dash in the middle of the night for medicine, thermometers, etc. and I always had easy pantry meals on hand to keep everyone fed when we didn’t have the energy to cook or run out and pick something up. I also kept a completely separate pantry (my ‘doom closet’) that I arranged like a grocery store, and it saved me sooooooo many times when I was out of an ingredient during the holidays, stores were closed or crazy busy and I was hosting a big party.

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Voxalt1@reddit

We had a good amount of rain that knocked out power and flooded many basements anywhere from 1 ft to 3 ft of standing water. I had a solar generator/battery ready and it served well enough. For covid I have a bidet and spare toilet paper so that worked out well. I have spare gas and propane too that rarely needs used.

Having spares and backup plans is very nice. I don't go for two years worth of stuff but a few weeks of just I'm case is very nice.

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PrairieSunRise605@reddit

I grew up 9 miles from the closest town, all dirt road. So, being prepared was just a natural part of life. When 2000 was rolling up on us and people were prepping, I wondered how they normally lived because they were just doing what we did as normal life.

2000 came and went without incident. In April, we had a wicked snow storm, icy rain followed by 18 inches of wet snow and wind over 24 hours. Miles of power lines down due to snapped power poles. People stuck at home with no way to get food or heating supplies. It was bad.

My kids and I were home with plenty of food and water, candles, lanterns, a wood stove, and lots of firewood... It was a little adventure. It took eleven days for our power to be restored. Some folks waited three weeks.

The only downside was my asshole boss, who was throwing a fit because I missed a couple of days of work until we could get the driveway and our country road cleared.

Prepping is just returning to the lifestyle everyone lived before 24 hour megastores were everywhere.

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gosubuilder@reddit

Let me tell an old tale of this disastrous event called covid. Everyone was panicking about toilet paper. I even saw toilet paper go missing at work.

Toilet papers were out of supply at the stores.

I was prepared. :)

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ihaveadogalso2@reddit

Just used my cpr training the other day. Came across a guy on a vacant road just laying on his back right in the middle. Lips blue etc. He was still warm but had no pulse. Performed cpr on him and even gave some rescue breaths until fire and police arrived really quickly. They got him to the hospital but unfortunately he didn’t make it. Felt good that I tried and kept my cool throughout the ordeal.

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rameyrat@reddit

Yes, when both myself and my husband got laid off from the same company at the same time. After unemployment ran out and I had only found a part time job and my husband was still jobless, we had to break into our preps to save $$ on groceries. Luckily, we had tons of MREs and freeze dried meals to get by, as well as lots of toiletries. The problem now is trying to build up that stock over again now that we make way less than the six figure incomes we used to make. 😕

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SpooookySeason@reddit

Our water main broke during Hurricane Milton. We were without power and water for nearly a week. First time in my life we've ever had that combo, losing water is super rare in my city.

We had more than enough drinking water and shelf stable food for humans and animals, and when tub water ran out, we had the rain barrel for flushing the toilet. My husband used my solar charger every day. If it had been longer we have a gravity filter and purification tablets plus a solar shower for a warm rinse.

Everyone was panicking and scrambling for gas and some for water, and we could just stay at home waiting for the resources to be restored. (Our neighbors also offered us running water if needed. Community is an important prep)

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flavius_lacivious@reddit

I had a really tough time in 2012 (long story) but I lived off my preps for four months. By the time I landed back on my feet, it took me three years but I remained housed and fed without crippling debt.

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Femveratu@reddit

Def Covid many times over (was fully prepared, but for “Swine Flu” or Bird Flu or H1N1)

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tactical_otb@reddit

Had my building’s water go out last week. Really glad I had some aquatainers full so I could still cook and clean for the ~48 hours I was without water

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violetstrainj@reddit

I actually used my bugout bag to help me move last year. The movers got there late, and didn’t get our stuff into the new place until almost 10 at night. So the next day trying to dig through boxes and totes just to get to some coffee or an ibuprofen would have been a huge pain in the ass if we hadn’t remembered to throw those in the car before the movers got started.

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KaleidoscopeMean6924@reddit

prepped for a pandemic back in 2015. Had masks, cleaning supplies and everything else ready to go. Covid hit, some people were mad that I had so much supplies and they were assuming that I had done a run on the stores.

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VeteranEntrepreneurs@reddit

Yes, Hurricane Helene, not having any power, water, sewage, cell phone or internet for two weeks, was definitely good to be prepared. I had solar backup, rain water collection, plenty of food, and resources were never an issue for my family. Meanwhile, most grocery stores had lines out the door, empty shelves, cash only, gas lines, and even looting and shootings

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OnTheEdgeOfFreedom@reddit

Chest freezer. I got it to preserve food against shortages, but it enabled a lot of cost savings.

Solar cooker. I got it to minimize how much propane I'd need in an emergency, but now it's how I cook most of my breakfasts, make coffee, hot water for dishes, etc.

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No-Clerk-5600@reddit

I was sailing and got hit in the face with the hook. Fortunately, my glasses took all the force, but they broke and fell into the river. Extra fortunately, I had a spare pair in the go bag in the trunk of the car.

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debaucherous_@reddit

yes, my first aid kit is the one paying out dividends on a weekly basis. i keep a basic collection of OTC meds. those regularly are replenished and i tend to buy in groups of two, so that way I can refill my edc supply and have extras at home in case. i keep a couple period options for my partner than have been used a handful of times. pads primarily. the knife i carry also sees regular use. not of big importance, honestly, but it's definitely been a time saver to get a package and immediately have something sharp on my belt. sealed food. couple instances where i've chipped winter ice away. just the most basic stuff like that.

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Terrible_Onions@reddit (OP)

What’s in your first aid kit? I’m still in the process of gathering medicine for mine

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debaucherous_@reddit

in terms of meds, painkillers (two options in case), antihistamine, aspirin (in case of heart attack not for pain), anti tummy ache, anti cough/cold/congestion combo. i think it's smart to be able to hit all the major symptoms of common illness. cold, flu, allergies, migraine, muscle pain. a few handwarmers. small smattering of different bandaids and blister wraps. antibacterial cream for small cuts. if you can deal with those in the moment i think it can greatly help with whatever the larger situation is.

i also have less everyday use/trauma related stuff. i concealed carry and i think it should be mandatory to carry first aid items for gunshot wounds if you're gunna carry a powerful tool like that. i keep a couple CAT torniquets, wound packing gauze, quikclot, chest seal, muslin bandages (more compact & useful than israeli bandages imo, plus fuck israel) clothing scissors.

that is basically where i'm at.

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Terrible_Onions@reddit (OP)

Thanks!

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debaucherous_@reddit

pepto bismal. it's probably the least useful. tummy aches have so many possible causes your milage will vary in getting good results. sometimes it's helpful asf sometimes i'm better off just forcing my body to puke and get it over with

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barascr@reddit

My EDC has helped and saved me and others from minor inconveniences to life threatening situations.

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Glorious_Goober@reddit

My blood sugar got low at work last week and didn’t have a vending machine or store nearby, but I did have a Powerade in my car kit.

I feel like EDC would fall into this pretty well. I don’t carry a multi tool but pocket knives come in handy somewhat regularly.

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Eurogal2023@reddit

Covid also with me. Since we are living at our BOL (of course maybe not useful for any situation) we had a big area to take a walk in when everybody had to stay inside.

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LowFloor5208@reddit

Hiking. I always carry first aid in my backpack. Frequently need it for minor things. Fortunately nothing major yet.

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Glittering_Lynx_6429@reddit

Would be interesting what injuries you came across and what you used from your kit. I also carry a first aid kit when hiking, but fortunately I've never needed to use it, so I don't know if what I carry even makes sense.

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Fossilhog@reddit

I own 19 chickens and I feel like Jpow with a money printer.

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Cute-Consequence-184@reddit

I ended up quazi homeless. My hubby died and my health started to go downhill to the point I couldn't work. It got to the point I was crawling to the bathroom.

Doctor's kept saying nothing was wrong, I was just wanting pain pills... regardless of the fact I kept refusing pain pills.

After 2 years on work disability they abruptly dropped me saying if the government didn't think I was disabled then they didn't either. This was despite my work supposedly guaranteeing 5 years disability.

And the doctors only said I had a bulging disk, no reason I couldn't work.

So I ran out of money. I had sold everything I could but my vehicle and I was living in a run down mobile home that had 7 holes in the roof you had to put bucket out when it rained and it had a missing window in the living room that was boarded over.

I basically lived in the living room, sleeping in a 3 season sleeping bag with a wool blanket and a Reflectix pad underneath.

My lights were solar lights I put out each day to recharge. I had one that you could crank to get a few minutes of light and a battery powered one.

My neighbors let me use their Wi-Fi and I recharged my phone and battery packs using their outdoor plug each day.

My entertainment was books, an emergency radio and crafts like knitting and crochet.

I cooked on a kerosene stove when I could afford kerosene for heat or on a dual fuel camping stove.

After 2 years living like this I got surgery where they discovered the L5:S1 disk was crushed. The surgeon said I would never work again and STILL it took 9 more months to receive disability.

I am left with lots of neighbor damage from the small piece 6 of bone scratching and cutting into the nerves for years.

But I spent a winter with no way to afford fuel for heat. Without my sleeping bag, Reflectix pad and wool blankets and my camping experience, I would have given to death.

I also had a very full pantry of food and I knew how to cook from scratch. So when I could afford fuel for my kerosene stove I could cook huge pots of beans or a pot of soup. Otherwise, I ate from my can storage.

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Wild_Locksmith_326@reddit

There have been several blackouts in my AO, and I've had the neighbors over to defrost, coach surf and soup up. They have wondered at the Aladdin lamps but have not yet bought any. Having them and kerosene heaters have made happy neighbors, but I'm hoping they don't think I am planning on adopting them if it becomes a big issue, long term. Goodwill makes a very thin broth, especially when all they bring is an appetite.

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Moogie21@reddit

Food storage has been coming in handy. My dad has been staying with me while he’s in town. He flew in two and a half weeks ago right when my sister passed away. I haven’t had the energy to go to the store and have plenty of food to hold us over for a while.

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Key_Communication763@reddit

I’m so sorry for your loss. Hugs

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Moogie21@reddit

Thank you 💕

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jcholder@reddit

Yeah Covid! I was ready and even had even alcohol and supplies saved up to help our local small hospital when they ran short :)

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Redshoe9@reddit

Covid. My purchase history shows I started buying Covid supplies on January 21, 2020. Purchased masks, eye goggles, all the over-the-counter items I could think of and bidets for all the toilets.

Spouse had to go on a business trip the second week in February and I handed him the airport supplies and he looked at me like I was crazy and didn’t wanna wear them because he said he would look stupid.

I tried to convince him that he would look like those cool K-pop bands who always wear a masks.

The minute it gets on the plane he was freaking out that the dude sitting next to him was coughing like crazy. Then, during the week of his business trip, four of his fellow coworkers got sick and had to go home early by some “strange flu”

Sure enough, he returned home and the day he lands he started complaining about not feeling great. Thank goodness I had all the supplies at home, kept him isolated and the rest of us did not get Covid.

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Glittering_Lynx_6429@reddit

Yes, on multiple occasions!

I live in an area where power outages are very rare, but we had a planned maintenance upcoming with no power for a few hours, because they replaced the main line under the street. Since I have a portable generator, a manual transfer switch for the most important power circuits, and a UPS for my home network and server, I was only mildly inconvenienced. My brother could even keep working (he works exclusively from home) and all I had to do was run an extra extension cord to his room.

One time, I replaced some valve in the bathroom on a weekend and was surprised by a stripped thread in the wall. The store would only open again on Monday. Since I couldn't turn on the water for the entire house, the first thing I did was to grab a 20 l canister of drinking water from my storage, before I temporarily sealed the water line.

I also carry a tool bag and a small first aid kit in my backpack (not sure if you would consider that prepping), so naturally, I've repaired a lot of stuff for others on the go and handed out medications or first aid supplies.

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radirpok99@reddit

It's a tiny little thing, but there was a housefire in my building two months ago and I had my car keys and a small bag ready by the door, not much stuff in it, just a bottle of water, tissues, small snack, almost drained powerbank. My phone was on 1% when we got out, that powerbank was still a HUGE help. I was one of the 2-3 people (out of 100+) who thought of grabbing car keys before leaving. It was like -5C° outside, others had to wait for the emergency heated bus to arrive.

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Nurannoniel@reddit

Sewing kit in my purse at all times. When my seam split in the butt off my dress slacks at work, I wasn't panicked one bit. I was decent again before the end of my coffee break, and still had time to grab actual coffee, too!

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ResponsibleBank1387@reddit

I wonder what preppers are thinking—- they buy stuff to have in storage waiting for doomsday? “Hey, you can’t use those candles, they are for apocalypse “.

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ashkesLasso@reddit

Generally you rotate things out. Plus keep in mind this is what you use every day. If you don't, why are you buying it? So if you are keeping a say 6 months supply to lead time you just start using the oldest supply and replace it with the stuff you are going to use in 6 months. It's literally the equivalent of having a savings except for physical goods.

Also, the things you would be using for an actual emergency wouldn't be needed unless it's an emergency. I'm not going thru my first aid kit for daily driver kind of stuff although sometimes I'll use the meds in it just to turn them over to new stock.

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Rip1072@reddit

Agreed, we rotate out our food by hosting and preparing food for community get together, amazing that the Arguson(sic) Chinese food packs were a huge hit.

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RonJohnJr@reddit

There's no one Prepper mindset. Maybe there was, 15 years ago.

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NikkeiReigns@reddit

Here's one that's a little different. I started home canning about 3 or 4 years ago. I'd been around it and helping prep the food and all for over 50 years, but I didn't actually have my own canners and do the entire process myself til then.

The first year, I bought 3 bushels of green beans for $27 a bushel. That was a lot of beans for us. The next year, I still had beans left, but they'd gone up to $38 a bushel. I thought that was a big jump, so maybe I better go ahead and buy 2, cauz you never know. THIS year, depending on the farmer and how bad their farms were washed out and then cooked by 100° weather for weeks, they were between $60 and $70 a bushel.

I did not have to buy beans this year.

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ZealousidealLunch936@reddit

I love having my solar gens on hand for doing stuff out in the backyard or while at outdoor events (concerts, picnics, just going out for a nice day). Also good for car trips and the like.

Plus cause I try my best to keep at least some stock of everything, there's lots of times my roommates will be out of something and I can go "there's back up on the shelf."

Unfortunately my roommates are less ah, prone to keeping up with it, so we've run out of some things when I haven't been doing the shopping. I'll build us back up eventually.

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1one14@reddit

Well, I am offgrid solar in town, and that's been great with power outages. I also have food that has helped during storms. During covid, I had enough TP for all of my family. And PPE. Being prepared just means not having to scramble during emergencies.

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msomnipotent@reddit

There have been a lot of times, but most recently was last month when I fell outside the home and caused a pretty gruesome injury to my knee. I had a disinfectant wipe and bandaids in my purse, so I was able to push most of the skin back into place and cover it until I got home. I would have been able to do a lot more but my husband keeps taking my first aid kit out of my car.

I have a pretty bad dust allergy, so I already had N95 masks for Covid.

I've saved hundreds of dollars by keeping jump starters in all of our cars. My husband has left the car lights on 5 times over the years and it was usually at the worst possible time. Thankfully, his new car has automatic lights now.

I keep a small, soft-sided tackle box in my car (when my husband doesn't move it) that has a first aid kit, some hygiene items, fire starter, etc. A lot of our vacations are drives to rural cabins with family members that aren't preppers. I can't even count the times someone forgot their toothbrush, needed a button sewn back on, needed allergy meds, twisted their ankle, etc.

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Rip1072@reddit

When covid hit i already had 2000 n95's in my med preps, same for med kit in truck, used it a number of times to help out at accidents and even a kids softball.

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Traditional-Leader54@reddit

After my 6 yo son busted his head open at a Halloween party with no first aid kit around I started carrying one in the car. A couple years later we were at the play ground and another kid busted his head open and I was able to get the first aid kit and offer his mother gauze, band aids etc.

Having a portable car jumper helped myself and a couple other people out.

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FiguringItOut346@reddit

Last night my wife cut her finger pretty bad and we were able to get her cleaned up and bandaged up super fast bc we knew exactly where all first aid supplies. The knowledge helped us both stay super calm and solution oriented and by cleaning it fast we reduced room for infection. In regular, daily life a finger cut is not a big deal, but if this had happened in times of emergency then it’s 1 of those small Things that could scale badly over time.

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CCWaterBug@reddit

Probably the most useful gadget for myself or as a loaner has been the lithium battery backs with a solid collection of different charge cables.. and my small inverter that takes my ryobi batteries.

Portable power is crazy useful.

Most recent example, family member showed up to go out to eat with us, phone was at 2%, fuse blew in their car so no 12v outlet and we were heading out.

I grabbed a battery pack and a lightning charger (I own no apple products) and had him up to 20% before we got to the restaurant, and 70% before dinner was over.

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1917Thotsky@reddit

There was a car crash near my home and I was outside with a first aid kit while everyone else was standing around staring. I was able to screen for TBI, and handed out water and cliff bars to help calm folks down.

Luckily that was all they needed, but if someone WAS injured they could have bled out while all my neighbors stared.

I also made a point to chat up neighbors while we waited for emergency services. Establishing community cohesion and being respected among your community is more important in an emergency than a lot of other more obvious preps.

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FollowingVast1503@reddit

Battery operated fan used to dry out flooded water heater closet. Also brought it with me to a picnic.

Open cans of stored meat when I’m too lazy or sick to cook- just heat and serve.

Used coffee drip cup (Mellita) when my coffee maker broke.

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NocheEtNuit@reddit

Love this question, and I've enjoyed reading the replies as well. Gives me even more prep ideas 😂

Anyway, honestly, there's too many examples to count, but I'll rapid fire a few I remember:

Tire inflator in my car. I got a flat, but it was a slow leak, so I was able to pump it up enough to drive a couple miles to the shop to get new tires instead of having to wait hours for a tow / didn't miss class that day (was in university at the time)
Had enough toilet paper / hand sanitizer for many months during Covid, so no need to panic buy
On a ferry, a kid fell / scraped their knee. Kid was hysterical, poor thing. I was able to give the mom some gloves, antiseptic wipes, and band-aid to patch them up.
Brother and sister-in-law went camping, and needed items (to cook over the fire, so let them borrow one of my cast iron pans, camping chairs, picnic blanket, etc)
Truly cannot recall the amount of times a stranger needed a tampon / pad / hairtie / advil, and I've helped them out with it.
And the piece-de-la-resistance, years ago, I unfortunately witnessed a horrific 2 car accident. I had reflective gear for my bike / road flare triangles, so threw that on, called 911, so they could have an easier time finding us, and had my AFAK and was able to help put pressure on a gnarly bleed one of drivers had. Thankfully that was the most serious injury despite the cars being fucking totaled. So I did not see anyone die that day 😭

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Rough_Community_1439@reddit

Had a sheep get attacked by a coyote and got to practice doing stitches. It always pays to get first aid certified and have a decent first aid kit.

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Unlikely-Ad3659@reddit

COVID, enough said.

I life in a tourist area in a touristy country, shopping or even driving is beyond bearable for 2 months, so I live off stores, I do the same in winter as it is too cold for about 6 weeks and nothing is open anyway in Jan, no one has any money to spend.

Plus my cash flow is erratic, having 6 months of everything I need is often handy, I never need 6 months, but it takes the worry out of life.

I also no longer drive, I am bored to death of driving, so cannot pop to the shops easily. today my Henry Hoover stopped working, so I dismantled it in the workshop, found the switch had failed, gave it a full service and clean and replaced the switch with one from stock, it was used on something else before, but rather than throw things away I strip them for useful items. Switch was in a drawer clearly labelled and it took 5 seconds to find, I have 2 more still.

Prepping isn't always guns, knives and bug out bags.

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Background_Change359@reddit

Definitely COVID. We were hunkered and watched. Costco went to geezer hours, early opening for +60 y.o. with entry quotas, so things were less crowded than normal. I had no clue t-paper was a shortage until it wasn't.

I have a woodworking shop and always use masks, so had N95s in 100 ea bags. At the start I got a couple more at Woodcraft. Kid[2] is an ER doc, so we made sure he had a fall back supply. Use Nytril gloves for finishing, so had those.

HMO office is at bottom of hill, half mile walk, so medical care was easy if we'd needed it. Streets in neighborhood became dog park. Work from home moms sent kids out with dogs. Lax discipline practices by all concerned.

Wasn't driving much and squirrels asaulted the 4Runner and ate the sparkplug wires. That was most trauma, cost +$500 because they did a thorough jobs, ate everything.

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AmaranthusSky@reddit

Cloth and sewing supplies. I can make and mend all kinds of basics, and keep old sheets and clothes. Need a Halloween costume? I can DIY that. When covid hit, I made us fabric masks with elastics from old bras straps, wires from grocery produce, and filters from garage paper towels. We've also used old fabric for garden shades, moving blankets, art projects, etc.

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PorcelainFD@reddit

Water main broke and I didn't have running water for 4 days.

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TraditionalBasis4518@reddit

A friend’s wife had a sex toy party and the participants raided his prepper battery pantry to power up their new purchases.

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Secret-Tackle8040@reddit

Many times I have been the one who had the first aid kit or the fire extinguisher or the jumper cables, but the biggest most consistent thing is calm under pressure. I have considered the worst case scenario and so when an emergency arises I am able to keep my head and take appropriate action. Multiple people have commented that I am good in a crisis and I think ultimately that's the best we can hope for.

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whaticism@reddit

I’ve helped strangers after fights and accidents because I was the only person around with medical supplies.

I’ve pulled stuff out of the road and cut up downed trees because I was the first person to arrive in my “overkill” truck with a winch and saw

I generally don’t stress when severe weather or whatever is in the news because we have what we need and the ability to make or fix most of it too.

Countless times I’ve been able to give somebody a blanket, fix a flat, charge someone’s phone, give a cyclist some water on a hot day, give an energy bar to a hungry person, or give people directions because I keep some basics in a backpack. It’s a great feeling.

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BonnieErinaYA@reddit

I’ve been able to feed hungry and or sick people during their times of need without needing to worry if I had enough groceries or whether I’d need to go to the store.

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RonJohnJr@reddit

I don't mean in a natural disaster

But that's one big reason why I prep.

or anything people here normally prep for.

The people here are preppers. What's normal for preppers?

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Cats_books_soups@reddit

Husband and I getting sick at the same time: lots of meds, soup, and warm blankets so no need to leave the house.

Inflation: I had a few months of dry goods, cans, etc so I could easily wait for sales and had time to adjust.

Job loss/ change: my husband quit his job this summer and was able to spend a few months doing projects around the house and searching for a better one because we have a large emergency fund and I was still working. Now he has a better job and the house projects are done so we are much better off.

Minor home issues: from broken windows, to our heating oil company forgetting to deliver, to a broken water valve requiring us to shut off the main water. We have what we need to be comfortable until we can sort it out.

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n3wb33Farm3r@reddit

We had a working AM/FM radio when power went out during sandy for a few hours. Flashlight too. In 30 years only prepping supplies I've had to use. NYC.

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TheRealBunkerJohn@reddit

A few instances: I was the second person on the scene of a rollover accident- 1st person was already on the phone to 911. I maintain a current Wilderness First Responder certification, and that helped me treat the individuals (and at least calm them down- they looked worse than they were.) One of my family members also fell and went unconscious- so 2 instances where having training was crucial.

Both were things that just "happened." Didn't expect it, but glad I knew what to do.

For bigger stuff? COVID. I ran a newsletter for 2 years keeping people informed, and I tried to raise the red flag when that bug was first spotted in Wuhan. Helped me (and others) stay ahead of the brown fecal storm that followed.

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Foragologist@reddit

Who do you use for your wilderness first responder cert?

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TheRealBunkerJohn@reddit

I personally go through NOLS.

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bdouble76@reddit

These are small things, but the wife ran out of a certain hygene product once. I had recently started getting some of those and putting them with the other toiletries on my storage room. She was very happy. We were having a party once, and she wanted to make a certain drink that called for pineapple slices. Guess who had cans of those dwnstrs? Plenty of soups for when one or more of us get sick, or just wants an easy and quick meal for dinner. Little things like that that saved me a very unwanted trip to the store.

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Competitive_Page7586@reddit

I’m always running out of spices in the kitchen stash in the middle of a recipe- but I have doubles in my pantry downstairs so no problem.

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crapfartsallday@reddit

I think the most valuable part of prepping is the acknowledgement and awareness that there is a structure to society that we take for granted. I would wager a vast percentage of those in the first world have never considered the idea that there might not be food at the grocery store, or electricity, or clean water available. Not just available but on demand. You can tell by looking at the stats of the number of households that don't maintain more than 3 days worth of food at any given time.

We live in a world where the organization of the global economy is one that requires not just persistent but growing consumption. And the threads to this system are wearing thin. It's unsustainable. People don't feel well-being, they aren't creating families or having kids. In the short term, it feels like it's leading us to war, famine, and disease. In the long term, overconsumption, scarcity, and global environmental catastrophe.

I think this awareness is valuable on its own, just from a psychological aspect. I know this isn't the definition of "helped" OP is looking for, but if anyone ever feels like being a "prepper" is fruitless, well I think this aspect of it is important too.

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WompWompIt@reddit

Covid. We just hunkered down. Neither one of us has a job that requires us to be in a building with other people. Knock on wood but we've never had it.

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thumos_et_logos@reddit

My wife wanted to make buffalo chicken dip for the Super Bowl and didn’t have any canned chicken which she wanted to use. I did, in the basement stack

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AdditionalAd9794@reddit

Not really,, lots of situations where it helped a little. Figure through wildfires, Hurricanes, wars, disasters, covid, etc 99.937% of non preppers survive

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G00dSh0tJans0n@reddit

When the power would go out and I'd be the only one in the neighborhood with lights on, TV and internet on, cooking dinner.

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Ryan_e3p@reddit

I've witnessed quite a few car accidents on my motorcycle, and had to be the first responder. Thankfully I keep one of my saddlebags as the "emergency kit", housing a couple first aid kits (definitely helpful for multi-vehicle accidents, since you can toss a kit to another person helping), reflective vest, and a bunch of other things.

Weird though. I never seem to come across accidents in my car. Only on the bike.

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EmilyHainesbutMale@reddit

during the blackouts in NYC we had tons of battery's so we could cook with our mini electric stove and power all of lamps and flashlights, when NYC had a bunch of smoke coming in from Canada our gas masks worked well to keep all the cancerous smog out. also pepper spray which is apart of my edc prep helped me get away from an attacker.

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PatienceCurrent8479@reddit

Tools, hardware, maps, gear, etc. Bunch of us in my office (way rural duty station) share stuff when someone needs it. I grew up in construction and do woodworking, so I'm the tool guy. One dude has a boat we will use for fishing from time to time, another has a meat cooler.