meh, I'd rather die in the first round instead of surviving long enough to watch the food run out.

On Amazon, searches and sales for products such as gas masks, first aid kits, and solar-powered flashlights have ticked up notably in the past 30 days

I bought a gas mask 3 weeks ago. Already set for guns and ammo, also have a place to run to. Food and water purification are my weak spots.

I have a slight tendency towards paranoia and over-preparedness, it's something I know about myself and keep in check, I don't want to be the weirdo living in a bunker full of spam and guns. I keep it to a reasonable level of preparedness, a little extra food, a battery backup for my sump pump, some tools, blankets, water, etc. in the trunk of my car, etc. I'm seldom caught unprepared for anything that might come up, but I'm not actively stockpiling for the end of the world.

My wife tends to fly by the seat of her pants a bit more. I remember when I ran out to buy the backup battery for the sump pump before a big storm she asked if I really thought we'd need it. We ended up losing power for 16 hours, and while that battery didn't last the whole time, it at least bought us a few extra hours of not having to bail out the sump pump with buckets to keep our basement from flooding.

So I definitely took notice when a couple months ago she started wanting to buy some rice and beans and such in bulk to vacuum seal so we'd have a bit of a stockpile on-hand if things started getting rough. If she's starting to get worried like that, it usually means things are already pretty damn bad.

So I've been kicking my usual casual emergency preps up a notch, still holding myself back from becoming a full-on bunker weirdo, but fuck if that's not starting to look kind of attractive.

I've been buying a bunch of camping/backpacking gear recently, including a couple of water filters and a bunch of freeze-dried meals I found on clearance at Costco (assorted 10-pack box for $10, or $1/meal!). I tell myself it really mostly is for camping (especially since my kids are getting into cub scouting), but I'd be lying if I said the possibility of bugging out wasn't also at the back of my mind.

I also built myself a new computer recently, and went for small-form-factor instead of a normal tower case just in case I need to move on short notice/with limited ability to bring belongings. I've also been simultaneously waffling between trying to fix a bunch of stuff on my house so that it's in good saleable condition and hesitating to spend money on stuff that can't be easily moved. It's a weird feeling.

"I think for a lot of people — and people that I probably would not call preppers — it is a first and only step," Huddleston said. "They go and buy the Costco food bucket, and then a bag off Amazon, and they throw it in the closet, like, 'Cool, we're done.'"

I feel personally attacked by this article (although I do have more prepared than this).

Living in hurricane alley, I'm already prepared for hell on earth.

Is there a specific reason for this or just general vibes?

If this was preparing for a cave exploration, and in Minecraft, i'd always go with my recommendation to bring food and wood, because everything else can be acquired on the go.

Might shed some wisdom into the real world.

Should probably add guns and ammo to that prep list.

Oooo we doing preppers again?

Yeah they better start fighting themselves before the Nazis take over.

What's in that first blister pack on the right? It looks like bullets or tampons, but with a ridiculous amount of plastic packaging?

I've been stocked up on stuff like this for a while. It's was super helpful when Covid hit and I was prepared--never had to leave my house during that time. And we also had a blizzard that knocked everything out for a few days. So to me, it's common sense to have a lot of this stuff anyway.

I've been upping my solar power situation. And for most of this summer I have been using a solar oven, which has been awesome!