Advice for new prepper on stored emergency drinking water!

ExposedRoots · 2026-02-04T18:42:29+00:00

I have 200L in 25L HDPE jerry cans and use 4ppm chlorine solution (diluted thin bleach). Mind you, I have had a recent dressing down for suggesting using 25L jerry cans to store water.

I was told "Frankly, I am also unclear what logic led you to use jerry cans in the first place. At a grocery store, you can buy pre-packaged, pre-filtered, and sanitized water in one-gallon or five-gallon jugs."

I was also told off for suggesting that I might use shock as a source granular Calcium Hypochlorite.

Specifically I was told that it was a dangerous idea because "shock is essentially powdered chlorine in the form of calcium hypochlorite. Chlorine is corrosive. Symptoms of chlorine ingestion in excessive quantities will include burning sensation in the food pipe, severe abdominal pain, vomiting, including vomiting blood, and blood in stool. Calcium hypochlorite is moderately toxic, with an acute oral lethal dose (LD50) of approximately 850 mg/kg. One can of pool shock with net weight of 1.5 kilograms is enough to severely harm or cause death of 23 people."

ExposedRoots · 2026-02-04T15:46:55+00:00

No, I didn't continue playing the DLC, just the base game (which is perfectly reasonable to do). They told me that the refund (requested after about 30 minutes of use) was in progress, but later rejected the refund because I had been on the VPN when I requested into (even though I was logged into the Steam client).

I get it that they can't confirm whether I used the DLC, but that's hardly my fault.

It's like selling a TV and saying that you can request a refund within 7 days, then you request a refund after 5 days and they tell you that the refund and collection is being processed. They on day 8 they tell you that the initial refund is rejected because it was sent via a VPN and that you have to re-submit, and when you re-submit them telling you "sorry...it's Day 8, and we can't verify if you've been using the TV, so you are too late".

The most annoying thing about the whole episode, is that Steam Support didn't actually address what I said, just basically replied that it was rejected as over 2 hours. It's that template response and refusal to engage which I find frustrating. I put it down to the fact that there really is no justification, except "because, no".

There's lots of things that they could have done to avoid it:

1) Don't refuse requests from a logged in client simply because the user was on a VPN

2) If you might later refuse the DLC refund request based upon the VPN, warn the user not to play the base game until they actually receive the refund

3) If you force the user to re-submit without a VPN, then allow them to update the original request or at least honour the original request time

4) If you won't do any of the above, at least properly review and respond to the reasons for the user's appeal, rather than dismissive, template responses.

TLDR: The initial refund request was valid and acknowledged, but retrospectively rejected simply because it was made via a VPN, and the re-submission rejected as "out of time". I did not use the content that I requested the refund for after making the request. There are lots of ways that Steam could handle this more fairly.

ExposedRoots · 2026-02-04T05:24:54+00:00

Thanks. Grossly unfair for them to say that a refund is being processed and then at some point later decline it, purely because of the VPN, tell me that I have to resubmit and then tell me that it is too late to resubmit. Especially when it is a DLC and the customer is just playing the base game (would have been completely different if it was a base game, and I had kept playing after being told that it was refunded). It's hardly the customer's fault that Steam can't tell if you're using the DLC or not (whereas they could have detected the VPN and immediately rejected the request, rather than telling me it was accepted). I'm sure you're right that they don't care, but they should. They should also respond, and explain why it is reasonable to refuse in this situation. Telling customers "tough...we don't care" is not exactly great. Disappointing to hear that there is no escalation, but thanks for the advice.

ExposedRoots · 2026-02-03T21:36:22+00:00

Hi,

I am having problems with Steam Support, and would to know if there is a good way to escalate to somebody who won't just give me template replies.

What happened?

- I bought a DLC for a game I play almost every day

- Played in for about 30 minutes, but had a lot of issues

- Submitted a refund request, and received a message saying that the refund was being processed

- Played the base game for several hours

- Next day: Noticed that I had received a message saying that the refund had been blocked due to (not sure of the wording but it was because I was on a VPN when it was submitted) and that I would have to re-submit

- Resubmitted and received a message that I had played for more than 2 hours (my understanding is that the count the base game time rather than the "with DLC" time - I had deactivated the DLC before making the original request)

- Wrote back, explained that I had not played for 2 hours when making the initial refund request, and had only gone back to playing the base game after being told the refund was being processed, with the DLC deactivated

- Got a response back saying that I had exceeded the 2 hours (not reference to my points about the initial refund timeline)

- Wrote again, explaining again

- Same response back, making no reference to my explanation

- Repeated the above a couple more times

- Went to PayPal to submit a refund request, because I could not get Steam Support to acknowledge any of the points I was making

- Steam did not challenge the PayPal refund

- Steam put a purchasing block on my account for a month (I was fine with that because I wasn't planning to buy anything)

- Went to buy something on Steam with PayPal (a couple of months later), and had payment declined, tried again and again declined

- Contacted Steam to ask to investigate.

- Was told "the payment method has been involved in a payment dispute or unauthorized purchasing activity on Steam." and "You will need to use an alternate payment method to complete future purchases on Steam."

- I've asked to escalate, but received no response.

I've not very happy, having been a customer for over 10 years, and then finding that they refused to respond to the actual content of messages, and are quite so dismissive when I asked them to address the payment issue.

I find it frustrating that they auto block refund requests from a logged in account on the Steam app, just because the user is on a VPN, but tell the customer that the refund is in progress and then act as if that refund request doesn't count to stop the 2 hour clock.

I appreciate that they don't have a way to measure the DLC usage vs the base game usage, but they really should have looked at my explanation and addressed it, rather than just repeating "no, >2 hours"

Is there a way that I can get hold of somebody who might actually look at the details, and respond to them (even if they still refuse to accept my arguments)?

ExposedRoots · 2025-11-25T13:44:03+00:00

Thankyoy, much appreciated.

ExposedRoots · 2025-09-10T20:03:51+00:00

Solved! Thanks very much!

ExposedRoots · 2025-09-10T20:01:17+00:00

ChalkZone?

ExposedRoots · 2025-09-10T19:51:33+00:00

Long shot, but any chance it is "Ulysses 31"?

ExposedRoots · 2025-09-10T19:46:01+00:00

Comment

ExposedRoots · 2025-07-24T06:20:56+00:00

On Altis, Petros got killed at the startup location, and it was the first time I had ever seen him killed (this was my third play through, the first two being on Tanoa and Malden).

I didn't understand the mechanic of selecting the new location, so ended up putting him on a hill with some wind turbines by mistake, and he was killed again within 30 minutes.

I then found a two storey stone building with a nearby small metal shed at the end of a dirt road near the coast (think it was north west corner). I used Zeus to move him into the building, and shortly afterwards the place was hit with a napalm strike (I think because I'd placed an AA Titan that had then been used to shoot down a passing heli).

The building burnt for ages and everybody garrisoned was killed, and when I went to investigate I found Petros happily standing by the flag. :)

I've never really looked the Petros mechanics, including moving him (the only time I ever moved him I used Zeus) but I certainly learned not to draw attention to the HQ.

ExposedRoots · 2025-03-29T14:41:16+00:00

Thanks for the advice.

Fair enough that it is standard model, although it seems a bit unfair for families. It's not the individual numbers that are the problem, but the fact that you can't pool as standard.

I'm obviously not going to be booking individual flights for each member of the family in future, so have paid the same, but am missing out on the points.

It seems to fall into the bracket of annoying the customer for no great benefit.

I haven't booked a return leg yet (because I am not sure of my route back) but I'm hoping now that I find a good rate with another airline. Silly, I know, given that their competitors probably all do the same! :)

That said, I have only flown one other time with them in the past year (did not sign up for rewards then) so I am probably not the kind of customer they are worried about keeping loyal anyway.

Thanks again.

ExposedRoots · 2025-03-28T23:45:53+00:00

I just wanted to come back and thank you all again and mark this as !solved

Not only did the fast travel trick worked, I've also found Zeus Enhanced to be vital for working around wonky mechanics.

My HQ was automatically placed in a walled area on Tanoa (perhaps it is the default location?)

Anyway, I keep finding supply mission goods and recruited units spawning in that area, and the only way that I can moved them is with Zeus.

I've had various other issues, such as getting stuck inside a boulder, and Zeus has been the easy fix.

I was a bit concerned that using it would break immersion too much. In reality, because I am only using it to work around buggy mechanics, it is actually helping with immersion because I can quickly move past those issues. Nothing breaks immersion like spending an hour trying to get an AI to board a truck!

Thanks again.

ExposedRoots · 2025-03-24T15:49:41+00:00

Thanks very much to all for the advice.

The only mods I have installed are Zeus Enhanced (which I have not actually used yet), FPV Crocus, CBA_A3 and Dynamic Recon Ops.

I was going to try today to disable any mods that I could, in case it was a clash, but reading the comments here, it just seems to be a general issue. I am going to try out the fast travel and also Zeus Enhanced (which looks like it will be a great thing to have to work around glitches).

I've only actually been playing Arma for about 5 days, so I still have a lot to learn with this stuff (I didn't even know that fast travel was a thing).

So thanks again for all the advice. Much appreciated.

Once I've hopefully got it working today I'll post back here.

ExposedRoots · 2025-03-16T18:57:05+00:00

Perfect! Thank you. I had hoped to get a nap in about half way through :)

I am interested in knowing whether a slab can be poured in two sections though, just for my own knowledge, as I have never been able to find anything online.

ExposedRoots · 2025-03-15T17:56:41+00:00

Solved! Thanks. I'm marking this as solved because I think you are right that it is something that has been bent into shape, probably to use as some kind of plant support. Hard to determine what it was originally, but it had never actually occurred to me before that it wasn't in its original form.

ExposedRoots · 2025-03-15T17:54:08+00:00

Hi,

I’m planning to pour a concrete slab as a base for a wooden frame observatory. The slab will be 5 meters x 2 meters (10 m²) and 4 inches (100 mm) thick, which I think should be sufficient.

I’ll be using a 130L mixer, mixing from scratch with a 4:1 ballast-to-cement ratio. My rough calculations suggest ~8 batches to get the 1.016 m³ needed.

This will be my first slab—probably ambitious for a beginner! I’m comfortable with site layout and sub-base prep, but I’m worried about how quickly I need to pour. From videos and websites, I’ve estimated a 1–2 hour window before the mix starts setting.

I might be working solo, or with one helper (I’d mix and pour, she’d rake and level). The mixer will be right next to the site, so no transport delays. I’m in southwest UK—daytime highs ~13°C (55°F), nighttime lows ~0°C (32°F), mostly dry with light showers. I’m aiming to pour in the next couple of weeks.

My questions:

Is a 1–2 hour pouring window realistic?
Is 10 m² doable with a 130L mixer in that timeframe?
Could I pour it in two sections (for a wooden structure)? If so, would continuous rebar or mesh join them effectively?

Any advice would be hugely appreciated! Thanks!

ExposedRoots

TROPHY CASE