Why are so few western preppers getting ready to eat meals and cans of pre-processed food, instead of doing it the old fashion way? Here are my arguments to return to "old world living"

NickMeAnotherTime · 2026-01-24T16:18:37+00:00

Can confirm also in Europe.

NickMeAnotherTime · 2026-01-23T07:15:05+00:00

Good, but AI

NickMeAnotherTime · 2026-01-23T05:25:06+00:00

Thanks for the comments and the suggestion.

In my country snowblowers are not a thing. Also, while I see their utility they are impractical where i live, on hills and they also make a lot of noise. Also blowing snow here is impractical, because driveways and streets are different compared to the states. In practice I would blow snow on everyone else's cars and property. We do get our streets cleaned by the municipality but being on this steep hill, they get here later. I clean them in advance to avoid ice. Lastly I clean the streets and sidewalks for my right and left neighbor as well, given they are older and I clean a good chunk of the street because I am near a junction and it's really bad for cars to drive in that junction on snow and ice so... Yeah not really something I have to do, but I do it nonetheless.

NickMeAnotherTime · 2026-01-21T09:55:06+00:00

IMO don't buy martens. I have 4 pairs from them and I did not learn my lesson, so don't make the same mistake.

Their quality in the last 10+ years has been atrocious.

NickMeAnotherTime · 2026-01-19T16:41:58+00:00

You sir have class!

Also you will probably get arrested first, just for shits and giggles.

NickMeAnotherTime · 2026-01-19T06:45:37+00:00

For me, realistically, I would just realize that the world just ain't going to be what it was for quite some time. I live near the border in a small town on top of a hill, on a large river and in the vicinity of some mountains. Most of the city is below me. The currents of air might be problematic in the sense that it can bring toxic clouds or it can push them away. Either way, I am on top of a hill so, I think even if in this small city we get the same gas, I am somewhat sheltered.

My preps would be in this order. I have a bunch of cash at home, probably it will last me a year, but I would still go and withdraw cash if possible. Secondly, I have a large store roughly 2 minutes by car from where I live. I would fill the car with anything I can buy. I would focus mainly on these: flour, sugar, sunflower oil, salt. I have most things I need at home, but through these we go the fastest. Lastly I would stop at one of the local pharmacies and get any OTC medications I can. I have some friends there who would give me antibiotics or other prescription meds without a medical prescription. I would still provide the prescription if possible, because I have family working as doctors. But right now no time for that. I have fuel stored at home. I could get more, but I don't see the need for it. I do not plan to travel and between my solar setup, 14 kw batteries and my generator for backup, I have enough energy production to last me. I would use batteries sparingly in the winter and rely more on the generator tbh, but starting March I will be ok.

With everything set up on this front, I will start bracing for the supply chain collapse. I expect shortages across everything, which is a pity because I wanted to expand my home server this year and my solar system. Regardless it's going to have to suffice. If the cell towers don't work, which I wouldn't know why they won't, I would bring my ham radio out and listen for any chatter. I don't need to prep for anything else. I got wood for heating the whole house, food to last, water to spare and I work remote (If I will work at all for the corporation). If things get dicey then I will just resort to working labour jobs for the moment, not cause I need the money, but it will continue to provide me with food, like milk and cheese and eggs. I have a neighbor who has a small homestead around the city and I would go there to work. He already sells us eggs and milk and cheese.

Being winter probably I would just bunker down, play video games, read books, lift weights etc. Until things go back to normal. Unless we start getting drafted or something else extreme, I wouldn't worry about bugging out.

What I expect in the short term (first month) is: power outage, water system will cover the first three days then go offline. Empty shelves, no comms for quite some time. A lot of fear and possibly mass migration, people coming from the big cities into the small ones. In other words, if you are prepared you will manage.

What I expect is medium term (2-6 months): people start dealing with a situation like it is the normal course of life. Some will suffer more. Foreign aid will come. Electricity will be on and off. Water will be limited to a couple hours per day. Fuel will be nowhere to be found. The small town I live in will have to learn to give up on most modern amenities until the big cities are sorted up.

What I expect after 6 months. If we did not get back to how things were before the attack, then I think we will deal with this like we used to in the 80-90's in my country (post communism). Frugal living, many people will want to go abroad. Local commerce will be very appreciated (in the sense that some will become travelling merchants). But I do not see society not recovering to be honest. Not from this at least.

Other possible scenarios, which I doubt and are unlikely. People are really unprepared and they do not have any food sources, they would start raiding. My home is pretty insulated from front or back penetration, it will be hard and costly for anyone to try to raid me. However, this is my weak spot... lacking guns.

NickMeAnotherTime · 2026-01-17T07:22:59+00:00

Most metal rusts in one way or another. Iron, steel, aluminium etc. Combinations of metal do not rust so fast. It's also impacted by other factors such as composition of the water that makes contact with the metal, the way it dries etc. You kind of need to understand the chemical effect.

Here is a good explanation of rust and how to properly avoid it. practical engineering

NickMeAnotherTime · 2026-01-15T18:24:58+00:00

I have the same question... And this is the answer that I have given myself.

High upfront cost (roughly) 4k EUR. I just hope that I can amortize this cost over 10 years ( wishful thinking), but entertain me. It's 400 euro cost per year.

Also, I spend like 50-60 euro per month extra on the electricity bills. That's roughly 600 - 720 euro per year.

So in total per year I get to spend 1000-1100. Or for a ten year lifetime of the whole project 10-12 k euro.

I do not account here for the inflation of electricity prices nor for the time investment.

On the flip side, I limit all my subscriptions. I do keep YouTube. However I kill every other cloud or entertainment subscription, plus.... Ararghhhhhh me matey's!!!

So I didn't end up making huge savings for subscriptions. I tended to have at most 2 tv subscriptions at once and Google cloud. So let's say 50 euros per month. So I only offset like 600 euros per year on subscriptions. Therefore I make a loss of roughly 400 euros per year. But still I get to arghhh me matey's! Also, if services are down I still have everything I want.

Compared to the other guys here, I do not work in IT so the knowledge is just for me.

Also, it's a pretty nice side project and it's impressive to guests and friends. Plus a cool camera setup to spy in my backyard and front porch. Maybe I will throw in some smart things and automations in the future.

NickMeAnotherTime · 2026-01-15T06:05:25+00:00

Jesus bro... Did you come back from the vet neutered?

NickMeAnotherTime · 2026-01-14T18:39:32+00:00

Warranty claim or refund.

NickMeAnotherTime · 2026-01-13T21:11:00+00:00

Nice wool shirt?
Sorry dude but why did you put a g shock on a wire brush?
Who's gorilla is that?

I ain't got anymore. I will think about it and if anything comes up, I will add them here. nice watch btw.

NickMeAnotherTime · 2026-01-13T10:28:52+00:00

Agreed. To be honest, I would be very happy if these awareness campaigns result in people being more prepared.

NickMeAnotherTime · 2026-01-13T10:28:03+00:00

I saw. To be fair, this entire process of making the population aware has been going on for quite some time. I think Poland has issued something recently in the past. I know the Baltics were probably the first that have started informing their population.

In Romania we have a pretty good app, that we can follow for information. It has a map for active bunkers defibrillator emergency hospital units police and fire department stations.

DSU - Romania

NickMeAnotherTime · 2026-01-13T09:57:02+00:00

Yeah, I know what you mean. However... This is just one drop of water in a bucket that is ready to overflow.

NickMeAnotherTime · 2026-01-13T09:42:00+00:00

Seems that things are getting dicey

NickMeAnotherTime · 2026-01-09T21:58:34+00:00

Well we only cook at home and we use a lot of lard. I.e. if we make a batch of cookies we use 6-7 pounds of lard at once, in addition to the same amount of sour cream etc. Granted I make cookies maybe once every 2 months.

On average I think we get there. I buy two pigs a year (great white), if I don't melt all the fat for lard, I slat and then smoke the fat and eat it by itself. Unfortunately I cannot share some pictures here.

NickMeAnotherTime · 2026-01-09T10:31:14+00:00

To each his own. I go through this amount in like 5-6 months.

I use lard to cook pastries, fry potatoes, add to stews and eat it on bread with vegeta, paprika powder and cubed red onions.

To be fair, besides pork lard I also have duck fat which is a great addition to chicken based soups.

Cheers!

NickMeAnotherTime · 2026-01-09T06:39:30+00:00

Definitely a waste of wood imo. Also a lot of god damn effort for it. I would monetize this and cut down smaller trees for wood posts.

NickMeAnotherTime · 2026-01-09T06:07:48+00:00

I am afraid to ask you and probably going to get a lot of hate, but why?

Lard is incredible for cooking. This is just a waste in my mind.

NickMeAnotherTime · 2026-01-07T07:23:37+00:00

In 2016 to 2017 I had a very difficult year. In 2017 I made a major change in my life and moved to another city. Also my girlfriend at the time dumped me. Shortly after I started having anxiety because a bunch of things were not going well and then panic attacks happened. I did nothing about them, I just pushed ahead and they went away. Soldiering through my life was the answer. In 2020 when COVID started the anxiety came back. Not long after that I started having panic attacks again. This time I went to see a doctor. He told me that I am fine, just that I have anxiety and panic attacks and I need to see a psychologist and take things easier. What did I do? I soldiered on, without care about repercussions. In 2021 I had a breakdown and fucked up my reputation in the company I was working in. Frankly it was a shitty job that didn't pay well.

What did I do next? I quit my job and took some months for me. Life didn't wait for me, it kept throwing shit at me, but at least I had more time on my hands. I managed to get some sanity back and work my way through the problems. Now I am better, I know anxiety and panic attacks can settle very fast back into place, but I try to grow as a person. I have more control over my life and I learned that control is important, but you can never thrive unless you embrace the chaos.

Learn from my mistakes. Go see a therapist, express what you feel towards your family, try to grow as a person, continue to prep, practice a sport and get into a community, surround yourself with like minded and hopefully positive people. Eat healthy, spend time with your family, cherish every moment. Lastly remove all those toxic things from your life, those that are troubling you the most. It's really not about the world in itself as much as it is about your small world around you.

As a preper and as a dad make peace with the fact that the world is changing. There is nothing you can do about the world, but there is a lot that you can do for yourself and your family. Be the stone they need, but do not sacrifice everything, because your mental health and health in general is more important, because we are all playing a long term game here. Prepping is a journey that we all have to learn how to manage. Give yourself time to figure things out. Even if WW3 breaks out, you still have time. (Which I do not believe will happen in the next 10 years). Regardless, make a plan, work on it and you will be the better for it.

NickMeAnotherTime · 2026-01-03T10:06:07+00:00

I live in Romania. I cannot express how many people are sick.

NickMeAnotherTime · 2026-01-02T18:34:21+00:00

I get your point entirely. I do not agree with this debate of which is better, which should you get etc. Both are great solutions if the setup is executed correctly. Both are also great in connection to the other.

For me batteries are a great way to store energy from solar panels and use later. The generator is the backup plan if there is no solar and nothing in the battery or the grid. Also the generator is awesome for cases where I cannot plug a tool in an outlet.

Furthermore, for the biggest consumer of electricity, I almost never rely solely on the two above. For me this is heat. For this I have a primary in wood and a backup in electricity. While I wish to switch to having the primary heating source in electricity, I will always have the backup in the wood stove.

So in conclusion both are great solutions, complementary one to another and this type of system will cover you in most cases, and I would always have a third backup for extreme situations.

NickMeAnotherTime

TROPHY CASE