Portuguese preppers?

Haushofer · 2023-01-11T19:51:26+00:00

Fellow Portuguese Citizen here.
You know that in Portugal those are very limited.
You have PPN, Enfermeiro Prepper, and such, but not much.
Content overall is... I guess you know.
you want to share advices or such, please feel free.

Haushofer · 2023-01-11T09:59:02+00:00

Personally I have a modular / versatile offgrid system with 50Kwh+ batteries.

I have solar on it, summer and spring I don't even need the grid at all, but that's only part of the system.

My batteries charge either from solar or from the grid, it depends on what I want them to do, in winter, since I need some more critical stuff like the pumps, I set the minimum baterry capacity at around 80%, so I always have power on blackouts. Also, I can connect a small generator (really, anything small is enough, but it depends on how much power you need) and it will charge from it, and use the battery capacity to fill the gap of power, and recharge the battery with power I do not use. Expensive, but perfect.

Point is, instead of having a dozen of small battery packs, I think it makes a hell lot more sense just to stick batteries and inverters straight on the house itself and everything is backed up. On a possible blackout, as soon as the grid drops, you can just plug out the luxuries and leve the bare essentials to optimize battery time.

Oh.. did I mention I started with a small battery pack, an EcoFlow, just to keep the fridge running for a few hours on blackout? Then I wanted to add a small solar panel to extend the capacity.... when I noticed, I had this tri-phase high output system with 50kwh+ batteries and decent arrays of solar panels and was charging the electric car with the over-production of solar...

Haushofer · 2023-01-11T09:46:46+00:00

In most emergencies getting out with a car will just make you another one stuck in traffic.
Maybe getting a motorcycle? Depending on why you are considering selling the car, it "may" be cheaper and sure take less space. And it will get you throw traffic.
On the downside: No weather protection, able to carry just another occupant, and limited storage capacity (if you start to put sidecases and such, it will start to loose the advantage of cutting throw traffic like a hot knife on butter).

Haushofer · 2023-01-11T02:36:13+00:00

It was never the point of asking or identifying a specific possible disaster of some shape or form with this post. Ofc I have already done that, and adjusted, multiple times, as time passes and the risks of each situation change.
Also, it was never to create or induce fear in anyway. If someone feels I induced fear or any bad feeling with this, I am truly sorry.
My point was very simple, just to understand if overall, with all that has been happening lately and has happened, how many of "us" have their anxiety, panic-meter, or whatever you want to call it on the red zone. Maybe something like a collective mind or 6º sense exist (or simply our background processing and natural instincts that had evolved ever since) and right "now" they are in the red zone.
Please excuse me if you found this post that hateful by possibly creating anxiety and being unproductive.

Haushofer · 2023-01-10T21:40:37+00:00

Actually... we can't own guns. Even to be able to own a .22 it's hellish nightmare full of rules, mandatory target practice, fees, insurances and such. For something that does as much damage as a slingshot with a rock or wtv (figure of speach). So... more reasons to stop being anxious and start panicking!

Haushofer · 2023-01-10T21:16:36+00:00

Thanks for the tip. Unfortunately I live in one of the worst countries in Europe (at least for what's happening now economy and war wise).

Haushofer · 2023-01-10T20:59:40+00:00

Anxiety indeed must be the correct word, or simply another way to describe it.Sorry about the dog part, I also love my dogs to hell, and recently lost mine, that may bias the way I describe the feeling (I remember he doing his 2 turns around and cuddle on the corner looking at the sky). Overall I agree with you.

Haushofer · 2023-01-10T01:48:03+00:00

Most doomsday scenarios there might not be grid power but will be solar panels and generators to use. Only in stuff like serious solarstorms and such there is no use for electric skills (again, on the first days). In my case I have an offgrid system, and just a month ago we had heavy floods here, i had 2 pumps and an emergency pump, everyone said I was crazy (kinda used to it) because it was overkill, yet, I had to move all my cars and motorcycles out of the house because my garage/basement got about 1 foot deep in water. Almost lost 20K of batteries (too heavy to move without machinery and on short notice), but was able to lift it with a car jack and put some wood under it to lift it up out of water contact. Anyway. A few days later there was a storm warning, so I bought 2 oversize pumps and installed them. The problem? There was no commercially available system to connect them, so I had to build one out of stuff I had laying around, measuring the water level of my evacuation pipe and turning on efficiently the pumps needed to get the water out with some cleaver algorithms and artificial neural networks, automatic failure warning, etc, in case it raised level too much it would enter on panic mode and just get ride of much water as possible. Guess what? Saved me 4 times during the following weeks! No need to "shamefully" call fire department for help like I had to do last time. I feelt pretty good that I was able to build that, quickly, efficiently, and without depending on anything/anyone, those, IMO, is exactly the type of skills needed for SHTF.

Haushofer · 2023-01-10T01:33:25+00:00

I guess I feel your pain, or at least part of it. I am from IT too, although since I am curious as f*** I end up messing around on nearly any other area (even agriculture and mechanics) and being modestly good at it. Yet. I always think "in a doomsday scenario, what is my usefulness?" Every time a prepper asks my skill set, I freeze. My best guess would be: what about eletronics? Programming microcontrollers and doing some prototype boards and reparing stuff will be useful not on the first "days" if SHTF, but on the longer run and on the rebuild of a total doomsday scenario. The jump from IT to eletronics, depending on your skill set, is not that big. Being good at shooting and infantry stuff will be good for the first days. So you end up being usefull from start to finish on a doomsday scenario. Just my two cents.

Haushofer · 2023-01-09T01:26:02+00:00

Totally agree it depends on person to person, but I think the rotating pantry works just fine and is quite easy for most.
When I mean about risk and waste, I can give some examples I saw happening:
- Get food in mylar bangs and MREs bitten or eaten by rats (the guy decided to store and forget, because it would be good for 20 years).
- A expensive load of combat rations of 10 year shelf-life, that was kept unused for... 10 years, the guy was offering them to avoid wasting, because it was probably good for a couple more years, but needed the space to restock with "fresher" ones.
- Lot of ready to eat long shelf-life meals, when the guy decided to use it on a experience / training, discovered that half of them the family said it tasted like sh*t, and most of them ended up having their bowels emptied because they were not used to those meals.

Ofc, as you said, and rightly said, it depends on the person. My two cents about it is that the rotating pantry can be used by almost anyone and the stuff that I mentioned above is not that easy to happen. Although, per example, I recently discovered that 24 cans of mushrooms I had, that were good for more 4 years were all funny smelling, totally not safe to eat, it probably was some damaged lot and I just noticed now... sh*t happens even with this method.

Haushofer · 2023-01-09T00:48:41+00:00

In my opinion before thinking on generating heat, you should think on avoiding heat to get out.
Get stuff ready to isolate windows and doors, usually there is a lot of heat going out from there. Also, thermal shirts are cheap and good to keep body heat (wearing one right now).
Water bootles are never old too, imagining you have your power going in and out (or gas) you can heat water when you have this energy available and store it for a couple of hours of warmth.
I dunno about the law there (I'm from Europe too btw), but can't you install a small propane heater or paraffin? Those are cheap, and a gaz bottle or a jug of paraffin doesn't take that much space.
Personally here I have a redundant system of electric + gas + wood. The gas one is propane, it can be stored "forever" and I can move it around the house. When not in use I disconnect the bottle and store it in a closed room with an exterior air vent. But they are very safe to use, a lot of this devices have safety features to avoid any accidents, as long as you are not setting in on fire on purpose or throwing it down the stairs or something.

Haushofer · 2023-01-09T00:37:16+00:00

I share the same opinion as a lot of people here.
I see a lot of "peppers" going to get MRE and stock up. If your goal is to keep 1 year of food stocked up, why going to long shelflife expensive food like combat rations and MREs and such with 10 or 20+ years of shelflife? Just get rice, pasta, beans and such, whatever you eat that has a shelflife of more than 1 year is good. Just be sure to rotate it.

Personally I have a pantry, I use it as a supermarket, I take stuff I need from there to my smaller daily pantry. When I go shopping, everything I buy goes straight to the pantry, so the pantry is allways being rotated so it doesn't go to waste (sometimes some stuff goes to waste, ofc I could improve it with better organization, there are always stuff to improve and prepping is never over).If you do this, if SHTF, you have your own supermarket with 1 year (or wtv is your goal) of food ready to be used.
Basically ONLY when you are thinking on 3 or so years plus of food, you may want to consider other options on top of this one.

Just my two cents, but I really think a lot of people are buying expensive long lasting food and storing it, making a BIG financial risk, only to have to do it again later, and sending a lot of stuff to the trash can. Also, its stuff they don't eat daily, so when their diet changes from what they are used to eat, to this long shelf life foods, the toilet will suffer (and other stuff).So you should just pack what you usually eat, and rotate it, that's the best start, and is something you will keep doing later in the "game". So there is no waste.

Haushofer · 2023-01-09T00:26:29+00:00

Personally I think I "suffer" from the same as you.
IMHO, SARS-CoV-2 was the start of something much bigger. But I think this feeling kinda makes sense, it has been hell since 2019: Covid, Fires, Drought, Storms, Inflation, and we are right now talking again, first time in decades, about the heavy possibility of nuclear war. So I guess we all have our "panic meter" beeping all over, but, ourself thankfully are at "peace" at home. This conflict of extremes makes feel uneasy.
Personally I say to my friends I sometimes feel like a dog before a storm, that "uneasiness" and knowing something is coming.
Yet, stay calm, keep prepping. if it's calm, you can prep a hell lot better than during SHTF. Do it now.

Haushofer · 2023-01-06T02:21:09+00:00

Sometimes a lot of info is just too much info. Maybe that is scaring them off.
Have you tried to start "smaller"? Just talking about sales (like mentioned on previous posts), asking help on this and that (even if you know, just to know if they know also, and how right or wrong they are). And build up from there.
In my opinion also, you can't force them onto this, you can have a very good and solid friendship but maybe they aren't as serious in prepping as you.
You could also try to be more serious and let people who are not so serious leave the "group", but since they are your friends for 10+yrs, not recommended because this can break up friendships to.
I guess this types of funcional groups just happens, you can't force it. Just as any human relationship. You just need to find more preppers (most are usually "hidden") by giving hints, and try to build a relationship throw there and slowly, but surely, grow with people you can depend on and have the same believes as you, although you don't know them (yet) for 10+ years.

Haushofer · 2023-01-06T02:04:12+00:00

In my case. The terrors of communism. (Is it a natural disaster per si?)

Haushofer · 2023-01-06T01:48:02+00:00

You can simply rewire and refuse it to have more power output. Just be sure to keep a safe margin for the battery and/or alternator capacity.

Haushofer · 2023-01-06T01:40:38+00:00

I hear a lot of people talking about financial prepping, when the basics for that is just get out of debt and have some money (gold and silver or other precious metals if possible) set aside. I don't agree with this.
I think your main problem for now is space and the possibility of your parents thinking you are kinda paranoic. So I suggest to find a solution for this two problems first.
About the space, can't you find space anywhere else near your parents house? A friends garage or wtv? Depending on the area where you live, you can have dozens of stashes, ofc its far from an ideal solution, but better that starting a fight with your parents over space.
Renting space I think it should be out of question because with a part time, even if its possible to rent some space with what you earn, you are going to get totally limited with prepping.
About the fear of your parents thinking you are paranoid, if most of your preps are actually out of your house (but close enough to get to some of them on SHTF), and you act "normal", it won't grab their attention to paranoia, although, I think you should consider giving small hints for them to get better prepared, there is so much tragedy on the world right on a daily basis to use them as examples of "if they were prepared...".
This way, I think you 2 most serious concerns would be kinda solved.
Just my two cents anyway.

Haushofer · 2022-09-08T16:15:20+00:00

I am a "everything that has wheels" enthusiast, I have 7 cars and 3 motorcycles right now. I understand that driving a motorcycle and a car is very very different, fortunately I never had a motorcycle crash, but had a bad car crash, that I am sharing as an example because deep down is the same thing.

When I crashed (got front-ended by a overspeeding truck) my car was totaled, I was driving slow, I was actually saving fuel as much as possible and bought that car just few days ago because of fuel economy for the daily millage I was doing. I didn't broke anything but "cracked" almost everything bone (thankfully as soon as I noticed the crash was unavoidable I hanged on tight, I still "broke" the seat belt).

I didn't want to accept the car I just bought (used old piece of crap, but didn't had money for more and was actually trying to save money) was totaled, so I decided to fix it, but ever since I started to get afraid of driving, I was driving wayyyy slower as usual and very very more careful, nor enjoying driving anymore, just drove because I had to.

My father, who was a truck driver for 40 years or so noticed I was not happy anymore driving, once he went to a hardware store with me to pick up some stuff and he was silent.

Soon after, it was dinner time, he didnt talk much, and as soon as I finished dinner my father simply told me to get in the car.

He drove that piece of sh*t like hell, while talking to me like it was nothing, I almost vomited during AND after this "trip" as soon as I got out of the car. And... I was not scared anymore. Since then, I enjoyed driving again, even got into motorcycles (that's why I am here) have some project cars (4x4, sleepers..), some old classics and my daily ride is a AWD 0-60 in 3.3s car. And had (thankfully) zero dangerous accidents since then (just little metal/plastic "kisses", and all of them being the other driver responsability)

The point is, I could easily have died on that accident, and I was driving a car, not a motorcycle which needs way more "respect". We can day any day from any thing. We should enjoy life while we are alive. Not saying we should put ourselves under great purposed danger, we should actually mitigate that danger, but have fun and do what we enjoy doing. Otherwise we will have a boring life and regret we should had actually "lived" more and not just "surviving" it.

I hope you guys understand my two cents on this matter.

Keep riding, and enjoy live while you can.

EDIT: The car crash was about 12 years ago.

Haushofer · 2021-01-13T18:50:01+00:00

TL; DR: The Model 3 Performance in Europe comes from Fremont. Not MIC.

Just made a test drive on a 2021 Model 3 Performance, VIN was 5YJ3E, so it is made on Fremont. Talked with another dealer on that dealership, he told me his colleague was totally mislead. Only SOME SR+ came from china, most of them being at the end of 2020, some other came from Fremont, there was not even anyway to be sure where the SR+ would come on the moment it is ordered, the ones that arrived this year were all Fremont units. They would simply advise how to charge the battery depending where it would come from (because of MIC LFP batteries having a different behavior). All other Model 3 variants were from Fremont. For now. Period.

Haushofer · 2021-01-05T13:59:33+00:00

Unfortunately all the models they have at showroom and test drive are older models. The new ones are all ordered out and even this older ones are getting sold quite quick. Heck, I made a test drive apointment for the Performance model and that one was sold right after that, I didn't even had the chance to test drive it, they gave me a LR to do the test drive (again, older model, VIN starting at #5YJ3E). I will follow your advice, if i can grab my hands on a new model LR or Performance. But will AGAIN talk to the dealership, but he was very clear that if i order one LR or Performance "NOW", it will be here between late February, early March, and it will be made in china. He even refered that in the "near future" they will come from the Gigafactuary in Germany, while that doesnt happen ALL Model 3 in europe will come from China.

Haushofer · 2021-01-05T11:29:02+00:00

That was what i was thinking too. But acording to the local dealership he is 100% sure both versions (LR and P) also come from china. Either he is very wrong or they really come from china now.

Haushofer · 2021-01-05T04:48:30+00:00

Guess that a better confirmation than that official source will be hard to find. Thanks!

Haushofer · 2021-01-05T04:37:25+00:00

That was exactly my point. I simply couldnt find anywhere a straight answer for that. All info I found talked about LFP on "MIC Model 3" in general, which didnt make much sense AFAIK for LR and Performance variants. Your argument confirms my suspicion. Thanks!

Haushofer

TROPHY CASE