May 17, 2026 - What did you do this past week to prepare?
Posted by Anthropic--principle@reddit | preppers | View on Reddit | 49 comments
Please use this thread to discuss whatever preps you worked on this last week. Let us know what big or little projects you have been working on. Please don’t hesitate to comment. Others might get inspired to work on their preps by reading about yours.
Flimsy_Let_2850@reddit
I bought a spare water distiller, and bought oil and filters for all my cars. The cars don't need an oil change for a while but i'm stocking up now as both were on special in my area.
Doing a planned stocketake on everything this weekend to make sure i'm not missing anything.
Charming_Record_2250@reddit
I purchased some fiction books with larger print, on sale, by authors I enjoy.
I read the church suspicious incidents reports for the week on the christian warrior training website.
I am doing a food inventory and am using the older food now and restocking my pantry and freezer but with an emphasis on non perishable food items.
I purchased extra Tylenol and cough medicine as it is made in India and may be blocked in shipping.
I had a couple of medical monitoring appointments last week.
I kept up with laundry, garbage and recycling.
I monitor the news daily.
Imagirl48@reddit
New gardener here, but just picked my first banana pepper and everything else looks great so far. I’ve stored a great deal of rice though I’ve rarely cooked anything with rice except wild rice as a side dish. Practicing with a few simple recipes this week, including those with beans.
carpetbowl@reddit
Picked up a cheap rice cooker - I never learned to love cooking so the lifestyle I've adapted to has a little more flex if I do start. Also fried the first beans I pulled from my tiny garden to reassure myself it's possible and really not that hard.
ReelRural@reddit
I bought a small rice cooker a few months back and it has changed my kitchen life drastically for the better!
9volts@reddit
Bought a kerosene stove at a yard sale. Going to install a new wick and give it a nice coat of paint.
plantsandminis@reddit
Worked on cleaning up and organizing the garage to make the space more usable and tools more accessible. Need to make a trip to donate some things and get rid of some trash and then organize more this week
DeafHeretic@reddit
more firewood processing
infospongue@reddit
I did some experiments bringing water to boil. Big and small burners and consumed fuel. While it looks very weird, wrapping 2" rockwool around your pot while cooking makes a big difference.
I tested at room temp in my kitchen. With lower temps and draft the benefit will be even higher.
Rockwool is fireproof
mapped_apples@reddit
You may like the gear skeptic YouTube channel. It’s more geared to thru-hiking, but a lot of it is prepper-adjacent. Some of it is also watching water boil.
Thunderslide_Icon@reddit
What is rock wool?
infospongue@reddit
Rockwool is brandname.
Also known as stone wool, slag wool and mineral wool.
You can buy it in many hardware stores.
Stone wool / Rock wool: The most common generic term, derived from its base ingredients (basalt and diabase, which are volcanic rocks).
It's like glasfiber bats but much denser, stronger and heavier. Doesn't burn.
https://www.rockwool.com/north-america/
Arminas@reddit
Its a kind of in-wall insullation. It's very fire proof.
Various_Indication3@reddit
I’ve never heard of rockwool before but as of the last few days keep seeing ads promoting rockwool for data centers.
8Deer-JaguarClaw@reddit
Appreciate you sharing this. Never thought about insulating a pot to get water to boil faster.
suzaii@reddit
I bought RFID card sleeves for every credit card in our house!
MindFluffy5906@reddit
I use these for cards and ids. Plus my wallet is considered RFID.
hoardac@reddit
Trying to get a used Chevy bolt to go with the solar. I will not need gas to get around. Bought some extra grains, if the crops are shit this summer because of drought I will get by for a year.
meg_c@reddit
My big project this spring has been to build garden beds, fill them, and plant them. I'm finally done and in the "water every day and hope the seeds sprout" phase. New sprouts are popping up every day 😀
My next project is to build vertical can holders to go in my garage wall behind my sliding shelves 😀 I bought the wood for my first try yesterday, so hopefully I'll get it put together and up and we'll see if my plan works 🤞🏽
dingleberry_sorbet@reddit
Bought 30lbs of wheat berries. 2 years worth of shoe sizes for my toddler. Getting some raised beds going.
sjaxn314159@reddit
I built heavy duty exterior storm shutters for my basement windows. Pre-drilled, labeled, 3” deck screws in an attached baggy, SS handles for transport. I’ll paint them at some point but they are ready for use.
mamayzzy_37@reddit
Bought more canned food and potting soil, researched sowing machines will be buying one shortly, the week is been rainy so not much done in the garden.
throwawayt44c@reddit
Bought a cord of wood and stacked it.
Added another layer of fencing to the garden.
Added another garden bed. Brought more soil in.
Helped with planting some lettuce, peppers, blueberries and onions.
It's been a ridiculously productive weekend so far.
HarpyCelaeno@reddit
Being so underprepared for rapidly approaching events, I’ve switched tactics and memorized a couple helpful Bible verses.
John 14:12
He that believeth on me, the things that I do shall he do also, and greater things than these shall he do.
John 15:7
If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you.
It’s hard to be prepared for every single catastrophe. It’s also hard to walk in the Spirit. Choose your “hard”, I guess.
m1nk_p@reddit
I have some problems and I would appreciate help via private message, please.
joshak3@reddit
I planted another apple tree. It was hard to find nurseries selling disease-resistant varieties because instead they tend to stock the popular varieties that people know from the supermarket, even though those kinds aren't the hardiest or the best for hobbyists to grow.
LongjumpingHouse7273@reddit
I am planning to plant an apple tree in the fall. Can you share which variety you picked? Or which ones you recommend?
joshak3@reddit
Taking into account my climate zone and the pollination groups of what I already had, I went with a Liberty apple tree, which is supposedly not susceptible to apple scab and has low susceptibility to other diseases like powdery mildew and fire blight.
Leopold_Porkstacker@reddit
You want to find out how many chill hours you have in your area, then select varieties that match the chill hours.
Ok_Eggplant_6143@reddit
near end, everything else done. last things are razor wire, 6 sections, stainless zip ties, Amazon. and some 8 by 8 foot hog fence, tractor supply for entry way kill zones
KTeacherWhat@reddit
Cut up all the weird shaped wood bits that I had in my outside woodshed and moved them to the garage woodshed. Was going to fill the outside woodshed today with a friend's backyard cleanup but it got postponed.
I put wood in the outdoor one for a year to dry before moving it inside the garage for use. Sometimes when I'm trimming trees I get a bit lazy and leave wonky ones to dry before cutting them into less wonky shapes.
DayManFOTNightMan@reddit
Diet and exercise. I’ve got water, food, and power sorted for anything likely to happen. So at this point it’s just maintenance.
The link most likely to fail is me, so diet and exercise.
Many-Health-1673@reddit
Prepped everything for cattle vaccinations, wormer, and fly control and worked the herd Saturday. Turned the bulls in with the cows after we worked them. Still have a few heifers to work.
Every-Difference5561@reddit
I noticed that my Costco wasn’t carrying cases of canned goods like they used to. They have some but very little compared to what they used to carry. So i went to Costco business and stocked up. Prices are only going higher. I use them to make soups every week to rotate
Tellurine@reddit
I put a couple of pairs of nitrile gloves in my FEAR ( Forget Everything And Run) bag.
ZeroFox14@reddit
I’m in garden mode!
Added a few more blueberry bushes, figs and a nectarine tree. The orchard is set up on drip irrigation from a rain barrel now, so I can use stored water off the shed roof. I also set up my bird deterrent streamers so hopefully less competition at harvest time
Got all my veggies planted and harvesting another round of greens today. Will be stocking the freezer with escarole and kale.
Resident_Positive472@reddit
tossed a couple silcox keys in the go bag
Normal_Comedian_5423@reddit
Prepping our garden boxes and begging my seeds to grow.
TradeBeautiful42@reddit
Same!
The_Latverian@reddit
Purchased a flat of motor oil
buddymoobs@reddit
My uncle recently passed. I now have some of his windbreakers, rain jackets and one winter coat, as well as 6 sweaters good for layering. I added to my first aud supplies from his stash, and got a new toilet plunger from his stuff for washing clothes in a tub. I freezedried and vaccuum-bagged up 2.5# of rotisserie chicken, bananas, and grapes and have a load of green beans going. Onions planned for after that. Heading to the range right now to zero in a new red dot on my 9mm carbine.
Unlikely_Ad_9861@reddit
Practicing with a small garden: deer got through big gap between high and low wires in electric fence, added wire; soaker hoses clogged, poked holes with thumbtack; planted more. Experiment more with powering the house as much as possible from solar/batteries using 10-circuit generator transfer switch. Recouped about $350 worth of electricity so far from $2000 system. Need way more solar and battery to do anything meaningful in winter.
pathf1nder00@reddit
Bought oxygen absorbers and plasma lighters to compliment my flint.
StarlightLifter@reddit
Studying to pass the NREMT exam. I have it tomorrow.
Planted my seedlings. Not sure if theyll make it. Thankfully with the summer being seemingly long as fuck nowadays I should be able to stretch the growing season, I poured some new seeds into the garden to make up for what didn’t grow from what I started a month or two ago.
Next up after NREMT is to get started with my online hunters-ed course. Will be hopefully bagging a deer for the first time this fall.
8Deer-JaguarClaw@reddit
Got a countertop WATER distiller and did a lot of testing over the past week or so. I have VERY hard tap water that's high in iron and sodium as well, so it's unusable for making ice or even drinking. Great for pasta, not so great for many other common things. Definitely does the trick to get TDS down to 5ppm or less. Also gets rid of PFAS and most other contaminants. About the only thing you can't get rid of is VOCs, but that's unlikely to be in municipal water anyway.
Full report with pros and cons is here: https://www.reddit.com/r/NJPrepared/comments/1tevxwx/testing_a_countertop_water_distillation_system/
One-Entertainer-5499@reddit
Bought a couple gas siphon transfer pumps. You may need to transfer gas from vehicle to vehicle and one of the vehicles might not be yours lol
One-Entertainer-5499@reddit
Bought a couple of gas containers and fuel stabilizer
MOF1fan@reddit
Worked a stupid amount of OT, going to turn most of that into on hand cash reserves.
Bought 3 sets of tires and 4 sets of tubes for my bike.
Put together a list of spare parts to order for my mower.
Came across an idea on another post to make step by step instructions to run the generator. Laminate them and attach to generator. Working on getting pictures taken for that.
Thrifted some more used clothes from Ebay to stash in my truck to leave and forget(winter set/summer set).
FormerNeighborhood80@reddit
Still working on canned goods and freezer meat. Over the counter and prescription meds, black out shades for summer heat. Picked up some thermal blackout curtains for daughter to use in their south window. Now hanging out all my clothes to dry.