Saw this little battery pack advertised as a solar generator for grid down emergencies. Paid $60 for it, got it in the mail, and it died after powering my phone from 20% to 100% one time and then a second charge only got to 60%. Complete waste. Anyone else get burned by those tiny battery packs with fake specs?
I saved up bacon grease for two months figuring it would be a great free fuel source for power outages. Lit one in my kitchen and the whole house smelled like a diner for three solid days. Has anyone else had their "practical" DIY prep idea turn into a hilarious disaster?
Back in the spring I had a shelf full of those gallon jugs from the store for blackouts. Then a neighbor told me after a storm last June she just reuses 2-liter soda bottles with tap water. I cleaned out three old bottles with hot soapy water, filled them up, and put them in my basement last week. They take up way less space than those square jugs and I saved about 12 bucks. Has anyone else tried this and had the water go bad over time?
I was watching this channel last night where the guy says buy guns and ammo before water or food. I live in a townhouse in Philly, what am I gonna do, shoot a drought? I got 3 cases of canned beans and a rain barrel in my backyard for under $60 total. That's way more useful than 500 rounds of 9mm sitting in a closet. Ammo doesn't fill your belly when the grocery store runs out for a week. Who else thinks people overhype the gun stuff for regular folks like us?
I was cleaning out my pantry last weekend and found a can of green beans from 2021. Instead of tossing it, I opened it up and it looked and smelled totally fine. Ate it for dinner and felt fine too. I get that stores have to be careful for liability, but I think a lot of us are throwing away perfectly good food based on those stamped dates. Has anyone else tested their older cans and found them still good?
Last winter during that big ice storm in Portland, my power went out for 4 days. I was freezing until my neighbor Dale came over, took a soda can and a Hershey bar, and polished the bottom of the can with the chocolate until it shined like a mirror. He aimed it at some dry leaves and got a flame going in maybe 30 seconds. Has anyone else tried this trick with different types of chocolate bars?
I was driving through Phoenix last Saturday and stopped at a random garage sale near 35th Avenue. An older guy had a box of those mylar emergency blankets still sealed in plastic for $2 each, so I grabbed four of them. Got home and tested one out by wrapping it around my camping sleeping bag in the backyard overnight. It actually reflected heat pretty well, but the crinkling noise was ridiculous. Has anyone found a cheap way to quiet those things down for indoor use during a power outage?
I used a cheap Nalgene for 5 years without issues, but my $30 stainless bottle started tasting like metal after only 3 months of daily hikes near Phoenix. The Nalgene might be plastic, but it never gave me off flavors and it's lighter to carry. Anyone else ditch the fancy bottles and go back to basic plastic?
I bought one of those Sawyer squeeze filters after the last big outage left us boiling ditch water for coffee. Power went out again on Tuesday from a fallen tree, and instead of fighting with the camp stove I just filled a bucket from the rain barrel and filtered it direct into my jug. Filtered 5 gallons easy before the pressure dropped. Anyone else got a cheap filter setup that surprised you?
Last spring I noticed his old shed roof had a slight dip but figured it was fine. Then a big thunderstorm rolled through last month and I saw that dip turn into a full on valley with standing water on top. He had been putting off replacing the rotted plywood for over a year. Now I'm checking my own roof once a month for any soft spots. Anyone else got a story about something that looked fine until it wasn't?
Last Saturday night I had 10 people over for a cookout. Grill was going. Music playing. Good vibe. Then the wind shifted and smoke rolled right into my open kitchen window. Ruined the whole indoor setup. Food got cold while I was trying to air the place out. Next day I grabbed a cheap wind sock from the hardware store. $8. Now I check the wind before I even light the charcoal. Has anyone else had a cookout or campfire get wrecked by a sudden change in the breeze?
When the heatwave hit last August and my garage hit 110 degrees, I found 4 swollen cans of beans that could have exploded and made a huge mess, plus had to eat cold soup for days because I never thought to grab a camp stove from the thrift store down the street - anyone else learn the hard way that storing food in a hot space is just asking for trouble?
I was at Ace Hardware in Portland about six years ago, loading up on bottled water and canned beans like the world was ending next Tuesday. This older guy, must have been 80, just watched me for a minute and said 'youd be dead in a week with that plan.' He showed me how to store tap water in old milk jugs and suggested rice and lentils over beans because they store longer for less money. I still think about that conversation every time I rotate my pantry.
We had a pipe burst in the basement last April, and I lost a bunch of dry goods. After that mess, I started lining every shelf in my pantry with heavy duty contractor bags cut flat. Now if something spills or a can leaks, I just lift the bag and toss it. No scrubbing, no wasted food. I even put one under my emergency water jugs to catch drips. Anyone else do something simple like this to protect their supplies?
I've been telling everyone for years that those cheap $40 lead-acid batteries from auto parts stores are fine for emergency power. Well last week we had a 4 day blackout after a storm rolled through here in Missouri. Day 3 my battery bank was dead flat even though I only used it for LED lights and charging phones. Turns out those batteries can't handle repeated deep discharges like a proper deep cycle battery can. I wasted $80 on two of them over the past year. Now I'm looking at getting a single $120 AGM battery that's actually rated for this stuff. Has anyone else had those cheap car batteries fail on them during a real outage or was it just me being dumb?
I used to keep like 12 cases of water stacked in my garage, took up SO much room. After that derecho knocked power out for 3 days here in Ohio, I grabbed a $30 Sawyer mini filter and now I just fill up from the rain barrel or even the creek behind my house. It filters down to 0.1 microns so no worries about parasites or sediment. Anyone else switch to filters and ditch the plastic bottles?
I had a stretch of about 5 days in July where the sun just hammered my little 200 watt panel setup on the balcony. I was running my 7 cubic foot chest freezer off it and the battery bank stayed above 90 percent the whole time. Normally I'm watching the voltage meter like a hawk and shuffling things to the neighbor's place if we get a cloudy day. But that week I actually had to unplug stuff because the batteries were full by noon. It felt like cheating honestly, like I finally caught a break after two years of fiddling with wires and charge controllers. Has anyone else had a weirdly perfect run where everything just clicked?
Been lighting these cheap tall candles I stocked up on from the dollar store during storms for years. Always had this thick black smoke and flickering mess. Last week a buddy who does camping stuff saw me and said 'dude your wicks are way too long.' Turns out I was supposed to trim them to like 1/4 inch before lighting. I never even knew that was a thing. Made a huge difference - steady flame, no smoke, and they lasted way longer. Anyone else miss this basic prep tip or just me?
Lost power for 4 days after that ice storm in Kentucky last February. Went to grab my "emergency stash" and found half the cans were from 2019. Had to toss 12 cans of beans and 8 cans of soup. Now I slap a sticky note on the shelf with the month I bought everything. Makes it way easier to actually rotate instead of just hoarding. Anyone else find their pantry turns into a black hole too?
The startup surge is killer. I lost $200 and now I'm stuck with a paperweight. Check the compressor label on your fridge before you buy anything. Has anyone found a cheap way to test generator load without frying your gear?
So I've been trying to set up a decent water storage setup for emergencies for like 2 years now. First I used those blue 5 gallon jugs from the grocery store and they leaked all over my garage floor within a week. Then I tried those collapsible water bags you see on Amazon for like $15 and they grew mold inside after a month. Last Tuesday I got frustrated and just bought four 7 gallon Reliance Aqua-Tainers from the sporting goods store near my house in Columbus. I treated them with a little bleach and let them sit for 24 hours, drained them, filled em up fresh and stored them on a pallet I had leftover from a flooring job so they're off the concrete. No leaks, no mold, and I can stack two on a shelf in the corner of my basement. It feels good to finally check that box. Anyone else have trouble finding containers that actually hold up?
I got tired of remembering to soak pinto beans a day ahead for emergency meals. Tried pressure canning them dry in jars straight from the bag. Just added boiling water and salt, processed at 10 psi for 75 minutes. They came out soft and ready to heat up. No more planning ahead for chili or soup. Has anyone else tried canning stuff you normally wouldn't?
Old Mr. Henderson told me back in 2019 that mason jars were fine for storing emergency gas. Come winter 2021, I had gasoline fumes seeping through my entire garage and two jars cracked at the seams. Now I only use those red plastic Jerry cans from Tractor Supply, they cost me $18 each and hold 5 gallons each. Has anyone else gotten dangerous advice from an older generation?
I'm trying to decide between 5 gallon buckets and mylar bags for a 50 pound bag of rice I got on sale for $18. Which one holds up better over 2+ years in a humid basement?
Water got into my basement after that big storm 3 weeks ago and I had mold growing on my old duffle bags and canned food bins. Hit half of it with straight bleach, other half with white vinegar in a spray bottle. The bleach looked great for a day but 5 days later that mold was already coming back through. The vinegar spots are still clean and the smell faded in 2 days. Anyone else ditch bleach for mold on camping gear or emergency supplies?