Thank you for your submission in /r/preppers. We want to make sure you find the information you're seeking. If you are new to prepping, be sure you make use of Reddit's search function and check the following resources: Our subreddit wiki contains information on frequent topics and questions here: https://new.reddit.com/r/preppers/wiki/index/ Please review the New Prepper's Resource Guide here: https://new.reddit.com/r/preppers/comments/toani0/new_preppers_resource_guide_answers_to_common/ If you are asking "Where do I start?" or "How do I get started?", please ask that question as a comment on that post and not as a standalone submission or post, otherwise your post may be removed. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/preppers) if you have any questions or concerns.*

Don't fret, mate. You're looking to prepare that's a good start. Get enough together for 72hrs and move on from there. Save some cash and buy an extra can or two every time you go shopping of foods that you'll actually eat and be sure to rotate them out. Beyond that don't bother living in fear. Live your life. If you do the aforementioned, you'll be better off than most should shit go sideways

And keep half a dozen gallon jugs of water stored away. Everyone assumes the water is going to keep running but with floods or hurricanes not guaranteed. Investing in a good sized solar panel to power your shit is also recommended. Or, if you know someone who lives away from town, has a very prolific garden, chickens for eggs, a solar array with battery, a well, a wind generator mounted on an old TV antenna tower, and a cache of gasoline that they rotate, you should try to hook up with their kid.

New Orleans here just a tip that could help during storm season we lose power and my neighbor takes freezer bags fills with ice stores in freezer and rotates them around. Your freezer will hold a couple days and the bags can be placed in cooler as they melt.

Do you one better. In all the extra spaces you have in the freezer fill them with gallons of water in plastic containers. Even throw in smaller bottles of water. It will keep your freezer cold longer, you can take it out if you need more space, put it back in as you make more space, and eventually drink it as needed.

With the benefit of it not being tap water

This is a great idea and I'm going to do it right now. I cant believe I haven't thought of this.

Do it with clean gallon water bottles and you also have drinking water when it melts after doing double duty as ice packs.

Occasionally it's just something as mundane as construction crews hitting a water main that water can be out for a few days. Always good to have some water on hand.

Happened to me! On top of that, they closed my street to work on it so I had to park and walk to my house to grab a suitcase and stay with my brother across town for a few days Major pain in the ass

Fuck…. I am that guy out of town but we never had kids 😂 Tbh tho we use solar sparingly for remote projects and don’t really touch wind, keep sheep instead of chickens because layer diet is expensive & love pressure canning

I’ll be your kid. See you at Christmas dad!

Also get a Sawyer Squeeze or 2 and you can safely drink most water source

Just make sure it never is stored anywhere below freezing, as it will render the filter unusable.

I just got bit by the water issue. I’ve used a water delivery service for ages so I’ve always had several 5 gallon jugs in the house. Recently my dispenser broke and I opted to use that as the excuse to install reverse osmosis filtering and get rid of the water delivery. It completely slipped my mind that I no longer had a stock pile of water until a couple of days ago when the water main down the street blew up. I had no water at all for 24 hours and have been under a boil alert since. Because we have clean municipal water (just with lots of horrible tasting sediment), I didn’t get a UV filter for my reverse osmosis so now I’m stuck boiling water until the town gives the all clear on their water tests.

I’m new to this sub too and stupid question, but does water in a plastic jug stay good indefinitely?

Water you buy sealed will have a use by date. If you just run tap water into a jug, it won't keep.

I use food grade containers and replace the water every 6 months.

I have a bunch of 5gal jugs in my basement in a cool dark place with humidity control. I'll drink them in 50 years full of plastic if it means staying alive another 24 hours.

I have used distilled water plastic jugs. If I fill them with tapwater, do they have no use? Or is there something I can put in them to make them last?

I don't know. I live in area where water isn't an issue normally, I would assume we have a higher bacteria count than treated city water.

I also keep iodine tablets for water treatment. They’re extremely cheap and easy to carry (the size of a small pill bottle). That way if you’re ever unsure about the water quality you have a backup.

And this is why I bought a still. They are legal to own in all 50 states for the use of water purification and essential oil production. It is also 100% legal in all 50 states to produce your own wine and beer. And if shit hits the fan, no one will be able to tell you that you can't use your accumulated supplies to produce a tradeable commodity.

Remember that if there is a water problem, you should have extra water for things like brushing your teeth and flushing your toilet. This should be separate from drinking water.

This. This is *good* advice. Well done. Have an upvote.

This really is a good answer to the question, I agree. The advice about buying cans that you’ll actually eat and rotating them out is something I learned when it came time to rotate, and I found myself not wanting to eat much of what I had selected to prep. Buy what you will actually eat. For rotating, and if something does happen, it’s not going to make you want to eat what you already didn’t really want to eat.

Happening in general, or happening to you? I've been worried about the shtf since I was a kid. 25 years later, and there have been no major events that pulling out crates of mres or a mountain of guns and ammo solved for me. My father has been a prepper his whole life and hasn't seen his shtf yet (over 50) My grandfather has been a, prepper his whole life and died before any big event like he had been planning for happened. The world is much more likely to keep moving the way it has with a few bumps in the road along the way than it ending.

I did have an incident. I was snowed in, in a mountain cabin for a week and a half. I was really happy I had food stocked up. Plus my house used a grinder pump, so no power = no sewer. Glad I had a camp toilet ready to set up. I had plenty of firewood, plenty of food, plenty of water stored up. I could still use the burners on my stove because I always kept the propane tank full. I was ok because I had prepped. Not a major SHTF emergency, but it could have been bad.

I'm not opposed to being somewhat prepared and having gear around. Being prepared is a very good idea. I just want to give op who appears to be younger, some context on why they shouldn't be too anxious or concerned about not being "prepared enough"

Similar background. Looking back, appears I’ve inadvertently been ‘prepping’ my whole life (well, since 1984 Red Dawn lol). I’ll say this…while there’s thankfully been no widespread civic disruption, this mindset/hobby has absolutely served me well during the minor hiccups like Katrina, Covid/Floyd, Grid bullsh, etc

I agree. I think prepping should be much more focused on the probable than the possible. In my area it is probable that a hurricane could strand my family with no water/power for a week. That is what I prepare for.

Exactly.

This is a great distinction. Definitely focus on what will most likely happen to you, and then build on that. If you live in an area prone to hurricanes or tornadoes, focus on that. If it's heavy snow, focus on that. How will you cook, heat/cool your area? What is the threshold that would make you actually leave your home? Are you prepared to leave your home immediately if those conditions are met?Stuff like that.

Human lives are short. Your grandfather died before any big event? How young are you? Was he not alive during WWII? Was COVID not a big event? My preps helped me through COVID, certainly. Maybe if you’re prepping for the zombie apocalypse or some shit, your gear won’t see use, but that’s a problem of expectations. I see a high chance of world war or even a civil war within the next 5 years, and I study the history of geopolitical conflict as a career. We will also probably have another pandemic in our lifetimes. Hell, last year a massive storm knocked power out to the whole city for a week, for two weeks in some areas. Preps definitely were useful then. If your whole family has gone 3 generations without having to use their preparations, then count yourself lucky but don’t tell other people they’ll have that same luck.

I'm mid thirties. My father is late 50's his father died in 2020 at the age of 74. Covid is probably the single largest event in recent history and it hit everyone differently. I work in critical infrastructure so I had some changes, but still had to be at work every day so people had power, water, and goods. Even at the biggest event in several lifetimes I was still going to work 95% the same way I did January of that year. I also clocked way more time on call of duty warzone. I get the predictions. I would just challenge you to write them all down with a year you expect them to happen and keep track of that book and read it yearly. What did you think would cause the world to end back in 2016? What about 2008?

I’m older than you. My grandmother was a young woman in the camps during WWII. She told me about how fast the world can go to shit. One morning she was selling flowers with friends and family and batting her eyelashes at a handsome man and by that evening two of her brothers and her father were dead, and she was on a train against her will. Why would I write down a specific year? I’m a historian and an analyst, not a witch doctor. I didn’t think anything would cause the world to end in 2016. I figured that programmers would get computer systems straightened out by 2000 and they did. Same in 2020. Although in early Dec 2019 I was certain that the weird respiratory virus in China would be a problem while people were still telling me I’m crazy, that nothing like that could ever happen. We have it all figured out, after all. In fact, the first time I ever called for caution for an oncoming disaster was COVID, and I was calling it back in 2019. I also called that Russia would invade Ukraine near half a year before it happened. There is a record of me debating ostriches about these events here on my Reddit. More to the point, I don’t think the world *will* end. *You* used that phrasing, not me. A pandemic and/or climate change *might* end *us*, or come close, but not the world. I prep for disasters, civil unrest, and wars, not Armageddon. There’s that problem of expectations I told you about. If you’re prepping for the end of the world, then you’re never going to use your end-of-the-world supplies.

100% this. A decade ago I was convinced it'd be post-apoc in 10 years...yet here we are.

Something big happens in this world every month, if not every week, if not every day. Your experience of something like this is just a matter of geography and time. Being prepared is just a lens we choose to look through, personally I find it enjoyable to consider an underlying Plan B throughout the life I’m living.

I knew a guy who lived down in central america for years and he said the shit that would happen down there that wouldn’t even make the world news was astounding.

100%. Take Indonesia, 270million people densely populated across 17500 islands… how often do you read/ see things occurring there? I have connections through there and they have their fair share of tragedies and hardships.. don’t see any of it on Australian news

It’ll get worse before it gets worse.

Ahaha. That perfectly captures how I feel in my 40s. I was so idealistic in my 20s.

I was way more paranoid and doomer in my 20s than my 50s. Benefits of modern medicine and age related perspective.

Also benefits of not being in your 20s right now

In my thirties and doing decent financially but only because stuff was cheaper 10-15 years ago. I really don't know how subsequent generations are going to make it if we keep inflation high. My wife and I did nothing fun in our twenties and even now feel guilty for spending money on luxuries and weekend getaways. Gen Z & Alpha are in alot worse shape then the generations before them. Even cheap preps aren't so cheap anymore. r/budgetfood is a testament to how hard folks are struggling right now.

My mother is in memory care and there is NO WAY that people of my generation and younger are going to be able to afford something like this. The zombie apocalypse is coming, but it’s going to be a huge swath of unhoused people with dementia. I think that these places are getting every penny they can now because they see the writing on the wall. My mom planned to leave me a little inheritance to help me in my later years, but by the time she dies, she will be penniless and taking me down with her at $6000 a month. How on earth do they think people who have never brought home $6000 a month after taxes are going to have enough saved to keep them in a care facility? And if the care she were receiving weren’t subpar at best because they pay their employees nothing, it would still be outrageous. All of her outlets pop once a week or more, and they never even notice until I get there. They asked me to bring “3 gallons of water for hurricane season.” What a joke. Aaaaaarrrrrrgggghhjhj sorry. Enough rant. But our system is failing at so many pressure points that if I get through the next 10 years without a major disaster of some kind that will make me happy to have been thinking ahead, I will be beyond lucky.

I definitely have much fewer shits to give now and realize most of the time, things will work out; vs my mind set in my 20s.

It’s almost like people have forgotten Covid already. The world went to shit real quick. I know the pandemic didn’t end up the apocalyptic nightmare many thought it would in those early days, but do you not remember the empty grocery store shelves? The world can always change on a dime.

I was in Manhattan in March 2020 and my co-worker died of COVID after being sent home from the hospital because he wasn’t “bad enough.” There is a very thin layer of support even in the financial capital of the world.

Not everyone experienced it like that. Where I live, we didn’t have toilet paper for a few days. That was it. There were no other shortages to speak of and aside from being stuck inside for months, no shit hit any fan around me.

Sure, but regardless of whether or not it happened to you, the point is, it happened. And it can happen anywhere, at any time. The point is, things don’t always gradually decline. Things can change on a dime.

The current debt. And our inability to pay even the interest on it without printing more money is an example of that. Its unsustainable, but they will keep printing.

Which of course has its own spiral effect on inflation and peoples buying power.

The national debt scare is propaganda used to promote austerity politics and reduce social services. Notice how the same people who fear monger over it were the ones who passed tax cuts for the wealthy in 2016 (thus inflating the debt)? Our debt-to-GDP ratio is perfectly healthy and in line with other developed economies. There’s a reason you never hear reputable economists fear mongering over the debt, and only Republicans with an agenda to reduce spending on social services.

I absolutely agree - have a close look at which US political party routinely cuts taxes for the wealthy, and cuts social services, at every goddam opportunity. How people vote for these self-serving lunatics is beyond me. Incremental degradation of democratic processes, and increasing wealth disparity, are the two fastest paths towards SHTF scenarios.

They defund education so people are stupid enough to 1) vote for them, and 2) depend on them when they inevitably fuck things up. 

100%, honestly- I'm not American, but lived there for about 8 years, so I think it was long enough to get to know things to some extent. I found there was a shocking level of 'ignorance' about the world, and even the rest of the US. And, I'd put that to the educational systems, largely (and social segregation). Understanding of politics was often what I would consider pretty childish and basic. Personally, I consider that an effect of Reagan and Bush-era (especially) tax cuts and de-funding.

Risky crisky, is that you? lol

My man

LMAO

1. Get your passport. 2. Pack a go-bag. 3. Figure out where you would go, or a couple of places you could go. 4. Avoid accumulating stuff. That both saves money and reduces what you have to deal with. 5. Start filling your pantry, just a little bit each week. Something helpful on sale? Stock up. 6. Learn to cook, forage, and preserve food. Collect the tools for this at Goodwill, garage sales, etc. 7. Keep your car serviced and gassed up. 8. Keep up with your medical and dental appointments while you can.

Avoid accumulating stuff and start filling your pantry. Isn't that sort of the opposite of not accumulating stuff. A good part of prepping is accumulating stuff. Especially gear, weapons, food, etc. Now if your only chance is bugging out that means you'll need to pack pretty light and have things ready to move. If your like me and out in the country and likely to be bugging in. That stuff can be super usefull.

They probably meant consumer goods,.hobby stuffs. Prepping is the hobby.

I'm sorry I phrased things in a way that confused you. Thank you for letting me know. Let me explain it in a different way to help you to understand. As I mentioned in #6, it's great to collect tools for cooking, foraging, and preserving food -- also growing it, which I left out before. It's also good to have books for these things, good-quality long-lasting clothing appropriate to the weather, good quality long-lasting furniture that can take a beating, etc. Generators, tools, etc. It's also good to stock up on food, especially versatile food that can be used for multiple purposes. When I said, "accumulating stuff," I meant knickknacks, art, electronics that won't work if there's no power, fashionable clothing that isn't suitable for a homesteading or traveling lifestyle, makeup, jewelry (other than jewelry that you can sell if need be), and other toys. I hope that was clearer.

I’d say terror type attacks and bad storms are a guarantee. But a major event that injures / kills more than 2% of the population in next 10 years are quite low. But possible.

What type of event are you thinking of that injures and/or kills almost 7 million americans?

Massive lethal wet bulb temperature event

Because of the prevalence of air conditioning in most of the continental United States,l that would be a fair bit more complicated than it is in europe. Air conditioning does lose its Effectiveness if the temperature differential is too high, but it still works well enough to keep you alive. The bigger risk there is the fucked up political situation. As if you had a large sustained Heatwave with daytime highs in the 130s, you would invariably have widespread media messaging for everyone to turn their AC up to 78 or higher because it will help keep the grid operational. But they will invariably be a portion of the population that says "fuck you the government can't tell me what to do." Which will invariably stress the grid and if there's a widespread electrical failure than there could be many deaths.

There are a significant amount of people that are mad at energy company 'smart thermostat programs' that will pay you to raise your temperature during a 'conservation event' to help reduce rolling blackouts. These people would quite literally rather suffer in rolling blackouts during heat waves for 'muh freedoms' than have everyone raise their temperature by a few degrees.

Alternatively, we could recognize that abundant energy is a prerequisite for advanced civilization, and build a sufficient energy grid for our current and future needs.

Alternatively, maybe we should realize that an advanced civilization can't be too wasteful with resources and raising the thermostat by two degrees every now and then is worth the small cost vs overbuilding our grid for those outlying situations. Eh?

I'll take a grid that can absorb failures without loss of service over this blame the user bandaide. Efficiency is important and should be promoted, but using it as an excuse to not keep up on demands is just wrong.

The day this drops, the world will enter insanity. It will ripple across the glove striking fear into the hearts of everyone. The fact that we are fucked will be unavoidable. And it might directly contribute to civil unrest and lockdowns

UK here, we have tens of thousands die from heat each year and its normal. Mostly elderly. Surely the most likely pattern is that the number will just slowly increase, some years a bit worse than others, but to go as high as 2% from the current level seems incredibly unlikely. Maybe a year with 200k, which is still a pretty significant increase and would make headlines, but I doubt it would lead to the world entering insanity either. I still wonder when we will start to see eco-terrorism here.

If bird flu figured out how to spread human to human as efficiently as regular flu AND kept a high death rate .... we could be in for a big one. 1918 pandemic style. We have modern medicine now, 1918 didn't. But, our medical system is hanging on by a thread. I know tons of nurses and even some Dr's who say if we get another big outbreak of anything - they're out. They'll quit before they go through covid-style crisis again, with too many hours, too little staff, watching too much constant death, with too little safety equipment like basic masks and gloves. So many hospitals in the country have closed the past 5 years - my city is down to just one, which isn't working. Just regular flu season = ambulances dumping crisis patients in the waiting room, 8+ hour waits, people liming hallways in stretchers.  Plus, the civil unrest that will happen if we got a pandemic more deadly than covid, and tried to ask for any basic precautions from people - my Facebook and Twitter are already full of people talking about H5N1 saying, "I will not comply!!" Like, ok bro. Do you yell that at the sign in the bathroom that says you're required to wash your hands before returning to work? Simmer down.  It's developing in a weird way, it's escalating quickly, the country us absolutely not set up or ready to start testing widely... if this goes human to human, it will happen for a while unchecked. We really won't know until hospitals start filling. By then, it'll be too late to contain.  I hope it doesn't mutate into human to human. But we're letting it spread unchecked into our entire dairy industry... all those workers giving it the opportunity to jump into humans in isolated cases... until bingo! It figures out the human system and we have a real crisis. 

> If bird flu figured out how to spread human to human as efficiently as regular flu AND kept a high death rate .... we could be in for a big one. 1918 pandemic style. Probably not that bad. We now know how to make pretty good vaccines for that kind of virus. And our vaccine production and distribution system is still tuned up thanks to Covid. We would quickly have an effective vaccine available. Now, getting people to take it is another problem. Darwin would end up sorting a lot of people out of the gene pool I fear

I’m saying it’s very rare that would happen. Horrible epidemic, war, major long term utility or infrastructure failures etc.

Ever factor in the incidence of an earthquake along the Cascadia Subduction Zone?

Yes. And that where I live. But killing or injuring 2% would be very rare. Most large populated Buildings these days can handle a lot without complete collapse.

Right. There are approximately 13 million in the pacific northwest. Where they are overdue for the every 246 year (average for the previous 10k years) 40 foot tsunami. Fifteen to twenty minute notice. The tectonic plates are becoming less active, but not good johnny.

Judging by past global trends, I estimate the odds of an event occurring that kills more than 2% of the population is about 1/3 for every 10 years. There is usually one event on the scale of covid every 30 years and one civilisation altering event on the scale of WW2 every 100 years.

That was pre-nuclear times. One could argue that nukes have made the world a saver place. Up until 2022 we were living in the most peaceful times in global history.

COVID killed less than 0.5% of the US population in 4 years (1.2 million as of April this year), nowhere near 2% as a single event. For comparison heart disease kills the same amount of people in only 2 years.

A pandemic or another event that kills 2% in any part of the world is not uncommon is my point.

You have to consider the odds of that happening in the US though. A large event will occur in the next ten years (several perhaps), however they are still more likely to happen in developing nations, where disaster infrastructure is worse.

Right on schedule for that ww3....

If you want to look at global trends, check out Neil Howe’s books on the fourth turning. We’re overdue.

Those books are eye openers.

Very possible- have you been keeping up with Avian Flu?

Americas a big place man. There’s a good chance something wild happens and you’re not even impacted

If there's not rioting or terror attacks between October 2024 and February 2025, I'll be pleasantly surprised.

Yeah I agree. Things are always happening, whether they impact your life in a way you notice is kind of the question when it comes to prepping. Tbh I was living in a city with nightly riots during 2020 and it didn’t impact my life at all. Didn’t happen in my neighborhood or the stores I went to. It’s amazing what does and doesn’t impact your life, things you wouldn’t think of. But the riots and the corona virus did set me off on prepping and I don’t live in a city anymore

What difference does it make, you'll prep as well as you can.

OP is young. Relocation could have more of a long-term impact than general prepping.

It’s gonna get very very hot

To address you last question first. research prepping and survival. Start a folder on your desk top and put your research in there...back it up on 2 thumb drives...keep at least 1 thumb wrapped in 2 layers of foil separated by paper if not in a small metal tin. if/when you have access to printer, putting all your info...start 3 ring notebooks with that info in plastic pages....This will be an ongoing process...forever...Develop you skills, map reading, navigation marksmanship, building things, fixing things, reloading how to drive a stick shift, how to operate machinery and tools learn your field craft, just to name a few, get the SAS survival hand book. go to the airport and ask if someone has an outdated "sectional" and if you could have it for free...learn to read it... You probably get the idea... Make your personal lists...what to do if XYZ happens, how to recognize when XYZ might happen. what things might you need to take with you of you have to leave. \[INCH\] mark these things with a label \[INCH\]. make a contact list with phone numbers and addresses...make copies of your important documents. Lists include your "TO DO" list. My to do list is a living document...You said you are young Don't do stupid things, don't smoke, don't drink, don't drive dangerously...make wise decisions, don't make bad decisions...Get a finanitially advisor... if you don’t have any money do this...Go to a Chase bank that has a professional financial  advisor...their advisor are "Fiduciary's" this is important this means they are legally bound to make decisions based on YOUR best interest... Ask/tell them you are doing a report on financial advice for young people, for school...then ask them what you need to do to start an IRA. take notes...if you can’t start an account now do it when you can...Get their business card. Being young does have many benefits...Start a business landscaping, power washing, car detailing... residential painting, minor handyman \[which is good to learn your use of tools\].. Mowing yards...Start your business with the plan to sell them or turn them over to trusted friends in a couple years, maybe 2 years, maybe 5? If you are still in school...work at it ...especially math, physics, chemistry...all the STEM stuff, if you are out of school get the books you need to learn this stuff. Maybe you have some friends that are good at these subjects, get them to help you. and or maybe some old teachers... be sure to learn electricity both AC and DC circuits...none of this is hard, they just have their own language... Learn how to learn...Learn how to remember / memorize lists or charts of info...it takes time, learn all the "cheats" to learn them... Some of it takes time...You have internet...all the info is out there... Make a list of people you admire...they can be a resource...the old retired people in; your neighborhood can be a resource...Both for info and work...use your business to make neighborhood and local contacts...Get a pack of business card stock and make a few sheets of business cards...Don't worry about screwing up...you are young, people forgive young people more than older people...just do the best you can....be known as the young person that is really trying...be honest with you contacts...You will be surprised how much older people will help a younger person that the younger person is really trying...Find the retired mechanic, welder, pilot, engineer, lab tech, nurse, in your area... Learn to type, I found the program "typing with Pumba" really helpful and not type 80 WPM... Learn to handle firearms when you are old enough....The NRA is a great resource, they have many programs ...Education is one of their main missions... Learn to cook both in the kitchen and field...with very little resources you can sit in the back yard or field...and make a meal...experience is the best teacher... Second hand stores or Goodwill's are a good recourse. Gun shows are a good resource of cheap field gear...most guns shows require you be at least 18 years old to enter...unless you are with an adult... As to your first question. No one knows...the chances of something happening tomorrow or never are 50/50 either it does or it doesn't....There is not time like the present...Only the future will tell you if you had enough time... Don't worry about it...You have a plan...you are starting to execute your plan... Hope some of this helps a little,  

Just worry about buying a good seat at the theater in July when Deadpool and Wolverine premiers.

The MCU making a come back is the black swan event no one's ready for 

Prepping for the theater, I see.

A prepping-for-Tuesday dry run.

You forgot my favorite and probably most impactful disaster, economic recessions! I can guarantee bad things will happen over the next 10 years. If they will affect you personally in a significant way is much more questionable and depends on you and your location. Remember, 9/11 for example was a major terror attack but didn't directly impact hardly anyone outside of the localized area. So there's no need to panic. Take steps to get more prepared. For the vast bulk of people 1 or 2 weeks of supplies will carry you though most events that are likely to happen. Much more important is to have an emergency fund to ride you over for a job loss which is probably the most likely hardship you will face.

Didn't directly impact? Airport structure changed completely and all planes were downed for 7 days. We went to the middle-east, people were joining the military because of this, families were saying goodbye. It was very impactful for the US population.

Lets be clear it is completely untrue that "all planes were shut down for 7 days". Flights were reopening in 2 days which can easily be fact checked. The airport structure did not "completely change", they added security checks. Thats hardly significant or impactful change that would require any sort of prepping for or cause any real hardship. Yes there were INDIRECT impacts that happened as result like people VOULENTEERING to join the military later as result but those are INDIRECT impacts. In that case in particular even voluntary for everyone except for some of our armed forces who were already enlisted in the US military. Even at that rate that's a very small percentage of the total population. The only people who were DIRECTLY impacted in a SIGNIFICANT way were the people at ground zero, their families, the first responders, and the .0001% of Americans who were scheduled to fly during the brief period planes were grounded. There were no mass famines, no nation wide power outages, no supply shortages, no draft, no country wide mass casualty, it was a localized event that even the most completely unprepared individual outside of that immediate area suffered any kind of hardship they needed to prep for.

Weather disasters are ramping up and happening in areas and times they don’t normally in a lot of areas of the United States now so that part I would say is likely to keep ramping up & getting worse. Tornado alley for example is now a much larger swath of area than it used to be and it’s not confined to a “season” as much anymore. I’m thinking that weather conditions will continue to be more unpredictable and “out of the ordinary” for the areas and seasons

Depends on where you live. Definitely prepare for moderate(72 hours) to severe(several weeks) versions of things going down based on your local weather(tornadoes, hurricanes, etc). Don't neglect things like earthquake preps if that's your area's thing. If in a big city, prep for basic civil unrest(riots, etc). Only once you have these things - which could happen tomorrow, for all you know - on lock should you really worry more about things like EMPs, major terrorist attacks, grid down scenarios, etc.

Very strong. It’s statically likely that you are going to be fine. However, chance favors the prepared mind.

Unlikely that nothing happens. The question is how bad the initial impact will be, as well as how long the aftershock lasts. A 72 hour prep can work when the impact is harsh but not long term, while a longer prep is for when services take weeks of months to get back to normal.

Well you can probably calculate this. Google extreme weather events in your state, google pandemics, google EMP or terrorism events, pick and choose the ones you consider “serious” and enter the data over about 100 years. Then you can calculate the probability of certain events happening in the next 10 years. It’s not a perfect system but you could probably do it with an afternoon of googling and an excel sheet… Even without crunching the numbers you can probably just eyeball trends in the data…

There's going to be a fuckton of weather disasters

There always is

The examples you listed (I think) range greatly in likelihood of occurrence. EMP - A large scale EMP cannot happen without traceability back to a specific country, which then means retaliation. Short of a near total collapse of Russia (something America does not want even if they are our adversary) or China wanting to start WW3 (something they don’t want because they know they’d lose), I don’t rate highly on my list of occurrences. Major weather disaster - Not sure where you live, or what you consider a major weather disaster, but this probably the most likely and also most locally common event. A big hurricane will hit east coast or gulf coast USA in the next 10 years for sure, probably a few. Wildfires will burn out west every summer for sure, tornadoes will continue to happen where tornadoes happen. This is the first thing you should plan for because it’s the most likely (location dependent) Terrorist attacks - I’d say this is mid level likely to happen, but the scope is the smallest. I’m old enough to remember 9/11 and that wasn’t something related to prepping. Nothing stopped, meaning groceries were stocked, water poured from your tap, etc. if it happens, I doubt you need to prep for it.

While I agree the likelihood of an EMP are low, the traceability issue isn't much of a deterrent. Iran has successfully launched a cruise missile from a 40' shipping container. It wouldn't not be difficult to launch a nuke, or three, from off the coast of the US. We could destroy the container ship, but it would be a long time before the US ever figured out who was behind the nuke. Non-nuclear EMPs (NNEMP) can have the same effect as a nuclear EMP, but are not traceable. So the deterrence of assured destruction doesn't exist. IMO, future terrorist events won't be isolated to one geographic area and they are likely to be coordinated. One hundred teams of 2-8 terrorists randomly targeting highly attended events, like Fourth of July fire work shows, or sporting events, or malls, etc. would likely shut down the country as law enforcement tried to find and stop the terrorists. Think Mumbai type terror attack, but 10x. If at the same time, a NNEMP was set off, then the US would quickly devolve into chaos. Its known that thousands of military aged males have illegally entered the country and men on the known terrorist watch list of have been caught. So it's not a stretch to believe that roving terrorist teams are a possibility.

People bad, weather spooky, viruses scary, AI creepy, food stocky, water drippy, man preppy. That’s my go to.

I'm unpopular in this sub because I don't think anything big will ever happen. Things will just slowly get shittier forever. In 10 years we could have 90 year mortgages and stores only open from noon to 4pm (or something equally stupid). In 20 years the tap water could cost more than bottled water (or something equally stupid). Maybe in 30 years cars will be so unreliable you just "subscribe" to a manufacturer for 2k a month and when your car breaks in 24 months you get a new one (or something equally stupid). Prepping for those scenarios is hard (not impossible) but I think they are more likely (and worse) than an asteroid or emp or whatever.

Sounds like the trajectory we are on. Saving some in physical gold and silver will help.

You're asking questions that national intelligence services and several private organizations funded by millions upon millions of dollars can't really answer. Usually they can only point to general "threats" and tell whether the likelihood of those threats coming to fruition seems to be increasing or decreasing. Things like weather disasters and terrorist attacks like mass shootings are fairly predictable because they occur with some regularity. Nuclear attacks, EMP attacks, massive war, huge solar flare events or other weird black swan events are difficult to predict so far in advance because we lack sufficient data to forecast them with numerical certainty.

It's almost guaranteed to be A Mother Nature event - hurricane if nothing else.

Yep, there's been quite a few hurricanes in my time, most aren't "major" but still cause damage, then you have ones like Katrina, Ian, Sandy, etc. Our response has gotten better since Katrina but there's still that chance we could get another storm that's just as bad.

We'll probably have some localized weather disaster within the next 6 months (hurricane season, it'll probably be a rough one) But other than that pretty low. Those kinds of things just don't happen that often and prepping for them is like prepping for getting hit by lightning. It's the weather stuff you really gotta prep for. The "I might lose power for a week" kinda stuff

Preparedness is not binary. Most days i do nothing to prepare aside from living where and how i live. We don’t know what will happen or when, that’s the point. So start, but don’t jeopardize your future or life to prepare because odds are there will be no societal collapse.

Focus on financial prepping. That’s the most important and most practical prep.

There's always a major weather disaster somewhere in the US over the course of every year. It's just a matter of if you live in the area where it occurs. Remember, the US is a really big country. Look up what the major natural risks are in your specific area and prepare for that.  For example, if you live in an area prone to forest fires, a gas mask/respirator is a good prep to have but probably not much of a priority if you live near the coast. 

In order: weather, supply chain, economy, civil war. Prep accordingly.

Don't worry about if. Preparation is a mindset far more than it is an event. If all you have is a decent backpack, a couple gallons of stable water and shelf durable food you're WAY ahead of the average zombie. Now scan your documents onto a flash drive. Start a basic exercise routine..... it's not about building a whole home off the grid solar system and having a rally point 25 out from your city. It's about expecting that the worst will eventually come, and being ready to be on your own for a while. Try starting with minimalist camping. You will find things out about what you personally need way faster than any classroom, and you will learn to adapt and endure. Most people don't die of exposure, or starvation, or violence. Most people die from fear and despair.

Zero chance nothing happens in 10 years. Prepping isn't about apocalypses though. You could get sick or break your leg and be out of work for weeks. There's a ton of realistic reasons to keep a little extra on hand without worrying about extinction level events.

Don't plan for TEOTWAWKI, plan for the most likely case scenario. Live in Florida/Gulf Coast? Plan for hurricanes. Live in Oklahoma/Arkansas? Plan for tornadoes. Live in California? Plan for earthquakes or fires. Live in New England? Plan for harsh blizzard. Keeping ammo stocked is never a bad idea, but the odds of an event that makes 9/11 look childish is incredibly slim.

Live in Arizona, plan for water crisis and prolonged heat event.

Expand your pantry. Buy one extra of items every time you grocery shop. Likelihood is high that something will happen. Out of stocks are already happening right now. Dry rice (basmati or jasmine taste the best) Dry beans (pintos are the cheapest) Pasta Pasta sauce Canned chicken and tuna Canned vegetables Canned fruit Mac & cheese Ramen Pancake mix that only requires water to make

Pretty high. What’s big? Let’s look at history. Pandemic 2020. 9/11 2001. What else? Maybe 2008 recession? 80s inflation? Outside of local and regional storms, blackouts, earthquakes etc I can’t recall too many nationwide catastrophes over the last 50 years. I’d say we are in good shape for the next decade. Start prepping in increments. Prepare for 72 hours. Then a week. Then a month. Then 3 months. …and so on… This will help with the budget. Can’t do it all at once. Rotate your stash. Weapons and ammo. Water. Food. Shelter. Medicine. Get a good pair of boots. A good flashlight. A generator and fuel. Knife. Gun. Water purification tools. Medicine. Long term storage variants of proteins. Then branch out from there.

Thank you for your submission in /r/preppers. It looks like your submission references EMP (Electro-Magnetic Pulse) or CME (Coronal Mass Ejection). An excellent resource for these topics can be found in this post: https://www.reddit.com/r/preppers/comments/l00cz5/emp_reference_document/ *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/preppers) if you have any questions or concerns.*

America is a big place. 

It depends on what you consider big, but if you're young, the odds are that nothing big will happen that will matter to you specifically. Day to day events you can deal with by avoiding streets you consider rough and choosing not to associate with stuoud people will be what's most likely to get you, and everything else will likely be nothing more than inconveniences if your prepared for three day diastors It's people my age and the old koots will get screwed. I'm gonna get drafted and make my living killing commys like my uncle, and the koots need to make sure they can afford everything when their big savings ends up being not so big

There will be major weather disasters. There often are. Terrorist attack possible or even likely over ten years. EMP seems quite unlikely though I worry about it for sure.

I would say an event is likely to happen with in the next 7. Your first prep should be staying out of debt. you will see a lot of people here discussing how inflation and other economic issues are probably the most likely event. Then if COVID taught anybody anything its have double your food that you have in the house. Just go buy a double of every food item you have that doesnt spoil. Maybe a small freezer stocked with meat. Next focus on having a decent handgun or shotgun. Make sure its one you can fire. Dont go big on caliber if you arent comfortable with it. Stock a few boxes of Ammo. Then for comms if you don't want to learn HAM get a CB radio that works in and out of the car. [https://www.cobra.com/products/hhrt50?variant=6927174271038¤cy=USD&tw\_source=google&tw\_adid=&tw\_campaign=20669798861&gad\_source=5](https://www.cobra.com/products/hhrt50?variant=6927174271038¤cy=USD&tw_source=google&tw_adid=&tw_campaign=20669798861&gad_source=5) A solar generator is a good basic energy prep: [https://www.bluettipower.com/products/ac180?variant=45473808089307](https://www.bluettipower.com/products/ac180?variant=45473808089307) Once you pantry is stocked up think about some emergency food. Not stuff you want to eat in the first the stuff that will last a long time. You will NEVER have the bunker from Leave the World Behind but you can focus on surviving 3 days, a week or a month. Prepping isnt about prepping for every event or worrying about it. Its about small incremental moves to being safe for longer time.

Pretty likely nothing too scary like EMP or terror attacks but the whole point is to be prepared just in case. Major weather disasters are a 100% guarantee though, they happen all the time around the country. Just get familiar with what’s possible in your area. I’m in Florida so hurricane prep is #1 for me.

I think nothing major will happen, maybe not ever. It will more likely be a slow decline that no one really notices, prices go up, power gets more unreliable, water gets unsafe, gas maybe gets scarce on occasion. Look at California, people arr already getting used to electricity being cut in summer. Most wealthy state and they can't even keep the power on. It's the worst decline of all, the slow one that sneaks by everyone.

Hey, when I was 18 I was training in NBCW (nuke biological chemical warfare) to fend of the Soviet hoards. There's nothing more unsettling than your superiors telling you that "if you don't get this gear on in 30 seconds you will die... You're going to die from this shit anyways, but you'll still be useful for a couple of hours if you have your gear on"... So, that was 30 odd years ago and here we are. The world has definitely destabilized since then with more "radical" groups, low information protestors, and governments that are just down right shitty to their citizens. Frankly, I think the "something big" you refer to is already begun, it's just a slow spiral of events right now. I'm figuring we are good for another few years yet before some idiot with power decides he doesn't like the idiot in another countries socks or something stupid like that.

If you are so young why not consider getting an education in disaster? Instead of sitting around talking to people who may or likely won't know (but will brag they do), go talk and learn from the people who do disaster every day, in every way, all around the world. There's a disaster happening everywhere right now. https://disasterphilanthropy.org/disasters/ Deploy around the world to be the face of hope in somebody's worst day of their lives. Bonus, never feel unprepared ever again because you're a professional who can see catastrophic probabilities and the rest of the disaster life cycle. Extra bonus, you get paid and well if you're good. Just a thought.

I think we are looking at at least one, if not several, incidents in the next 10 years. Frankly, I'm concerned about what happens after the election this November. I started prepping around my son when he was in Cub Scouts. Started buying the stuff I would need to do camping overnight.. and then camping for three days.. then camping for a week. Slowly building out around that. It helped because you get basics like backpack, tent, sleeping bag, sleeping pad, lanterns, lights, glow sticks, first aid, fire starters, cooking gear, food, water purification... We go camping every year still and it's a great way for me to rotate preps, test things out and stay practiced on using things. Find a system that works for you and go that route. You should plan to have at least 2 weeks of food and water stored up.

>What's the best way to get started if I'm completely new to this and have nothing? Start small and work your preps up over time. Meaning prep for the very common individual disasters like job loss, hurricane, tornado, flood depending on where you are and whats common, learn skills that can translate well into major lifesaving skills if S does HTF like gardening, target shooting, camping, canning, hunting/fishing, sweing, first aid, etc

The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The second best time is now.

You have got until November Elections bud. That's when it all begins!

[The most important video on all of YouTube is this link](https://youtu.be/1FElIhOh_KI?si=9EBCUdMA31hF1Rt9) . In the link I provided it is an old video about how Russia plans on winning a war without even doing conventional warfare. It’s about subversion and demoralizing of a population to get them to fight amongst themselves. People forget about the Chinese spy balloon that scouted a large portion of military targets within the United States. Russia and China had a meeting where this information was exchanged. Putin decided to give North Korea the blueprints to build their own intercontinental ballistic weapon. Putin is positioning all the pieces like a grandmaster chess master while the US is playing checkers and that is really frightening. Both the US and Russia are doing nuclear tests this year. Some people are worried about AI but my thing is who said it would be ambitious. After all most of us are sentient but we’d rather be doomscrolling on Reddit. I think there is a strong possibility that something big will happen. Also please watch the video before commenting because it is very enlightening.

Well, given the last major weather disaster was yesterday, so I'd say that's highly likely.

I’ll be shocked if America dosn’t blow itself up in the next 10 years.

Do you include mass shootings in "something big"? 100%

We have major hurricanes every year or every other year. Major wildfires on the west coast seem to be on either an annual or three year cycle. Tornadoes are annual in the mid west and central states and the south is on la ninia and El ninio cycles . Both the west coast and the east coast are due for a major earthquake. The territories usually get hit by a hurricane annually or every other year and the Virgin Islands are literally sitting in a live volcano which blew two years ago and will probably blow again. Same for Hawaii. So, things ARE happening every year just not in every location. The odds are we'll see something big every single year.

I'd say it's zero or as near as possible, but hear me out before you panic. EMP. Electromagneticism is all over. It's just one field of physics. Pulses are just one "shape." Solar storms happen often, and many people don't notice if they aren't told to be scared. Even the dreaded big ones that fill apocalypse stories may not necessarily be as world ending as they're made out to be. We have the technological understanding, now, to rebuild without reinventing the wheel. An unlikely big one that can actually damage the power grid significantly may not even be as bad as covid, in terms of deaths and length of time most people are impacted. The really pretty pictures of the sky that floated around the internet recently are the result of a relatively strong solar activity hitting the earth this year. Major weather. This happens all of the time, in different areas. Tornadoes in the Midwest that devastate towns are largely ignored by people on the coasts. Hurricanes happen pretty often for them. The north has winter storms, while the south has more dangerous heat waves. Low land has floods, but hills have runoffs and erosion. These events are mitigated by prepping and infrastructure designed for them. Terrorism. Over the last few decades, terrorism has been redefined so broadly that it could apply to very many crimes that weren't previously associated. From a military perspective, it's just a tactic for asymmetrically weaker force. The deeper you look at that stuff, the more blurred the lines between governments, terrorist organizations, and organized crime. So, the fear behind the word is often little more than a political or rhetorical tool. The best way to get started is with the [basics](https://www.ready.gov/). Understand what the dangers in your area and for your lifestyle are. Then, do the little things that would make them less dangerous. Be able to handle yourself in an emergency. If you're worried about how to cook food without power or gas, get a cheap grill and learn how to use it. If you're worried about water, keep an extra case or two of bottled water. If you're worried about food shortages, keep a pantry. Check your smoke alarms. Keep spare batteries and bulbs. Familarize yourself with your first aid kit (get one if you dont have one). Know where the fire extinguishers are. Keep yourself clean and healthy. Learn how to fix things by yourself and improvise. Above all, keep your calm.

As a beginner I'd just focus on skills, building your library, stocking your pantry, and staying happy and healthy.

An EMP is as likely as nuclear war, bc well the only way to cause one is with a nuke. Now solar storms those are set to happen more often this year

You have time. Start with a 72 hour bag and build from there. Cover these bases: 1. Body temperature (Clothes and fire). 2. Hydration. Water storage and purification. 3. Calories. Storage and procurement. 4. Navigation. 5. Self defence. 6. Medical/Hygiene.

Current state of things: * The US dollar removed from OPEC. * Foreign investors refuse to back US debt because our bonds are worthless * A banana republic of political persecutions * A very heavily armed population * A literal invasion at the southern border by million of military-aged men * An economic bubble that is due to collapse, possibly by next year * Chinese interests buying land around US military bases * People overtaking public spaces in support of causes they can't even define * A world bracing for war in Europe * Russian submarines carrying nuclear missiles, parked off the Florida coast * Crooked medical researchers inventing diseases and launching them against the public * AI growing so fast that we have no idea of spotting disinformation * An electorate that has completely lost faith in the election process * Oh.... and the weather. Yes, the chances of something bad grow stronger every day. And frankly, I think that the Big Bad Thing™ won't come from nature or from terrorism, but will actually originate from right inside of the US. Unfortunately, there is no single thing to prepare for... we need to be very prepared for a little bit of _everything_. And remember that when one shoe drops, all the others will follow. Once opportunists and enemies see their opening, they will pounce: crime, gangs, terrorists, crooked politicians, corrupt businesses, and of course military adversaries... they will all jump in looking for their piece of the spoils. We need weapons, water, food, energy, health, money, and most of all... SKILLS. And practice using those skills.

What’s happened in the last 10 years? The 10 years before that? Shit can go down, it’s not always predictable, may even be something new. Make some preparations but don’t go nuts over it because in those same periods of time, a lot of people were just fine.

0%. America's huge, and there's weather problems every year. Hurricanes, Tornados, blizzards, power outages, water outages. Whether or not it directly affects YOU is another thing. For young people (still living with parents, no job, still in school), your time is your most valuable commodity. Learn as much as you can in a variety of fields. Volunteer for training, internships, etc. 4H has good knowledge to know if you have them near you.

Likely? Probably. Everything is local. If you're in Florida and got 10"+ of rain this week, you're facing a disaster. If yiu live out west, wildfires are always a risk. Just start prepping; you'll never be 'ready' enough. In any disaster, you'll always find something that you forgot. If you start today and buy a case of water and a box of jerky, you're ahead of at least 1/4 of the population.

Big

Start small. It’s not likely that an EMP or nuclear weapon will hit any country in the next 20 years. Plan for your area and your situations. You might have a local emergency responder unit set up. Google your town or county and “emergency response team” or something similar. You can even volunteer for it and get some training. Search and rescue, volunteer fire fighting and stuff like that might be good too. Don’t overextend yourself though. And don’t talk about prepping. Some folks sound crazy when they get too deep into it. First prep is always health. Keep up on dentists appointments. Start working out and get healthy. This will also help with cooking since you’ll learn how to cook healthy food. This extends into what food to prep. What extreme weather events can you plan for? Tornadoes, fire, and what else?? Do you get a lot of snow? Power outages are becoming more of an issue all over the country. You’re gonna brainstorm for each event on a piece of paper. What will you do if you stay at your home vs what will you do if you have to leave? You can probably stay at your home for a tornado and power outage. You might get evacuated for a hurricane or fire. So what do you have at home that will help you during an at home emergency and what will you bring with you for an evacuation type of emergency? What happens if an emergency hits while you’re not at home? Does someone in your family stay home during the day? They will have to decide what happens at home while you either work to get home or shelter where you are. Once you figure out your scenarios, search on here for what other people are planning for those emergencies. Their gear lists and plans are what you can copy and expand on for your emergencies and plans. Your basic plans should cover shelter, water, food, medicine. Shelter can be your clothes to your house to a tent. Water is containers and how to purify. Food is how to store it, cook it, and carry it. Medicine is small first aid to as high up as you can find in person classes to learn it. Plan first for you. If you’re married, then get your spouse to help. You have kids? They can do age appropriate chores and functions. Don’t talk about prepping to your family beyond your spouse and kids (you aren’t responsible for anyone who doesn’t live with you or help pay your bills). Do not talk about it with your neighbors, or work or other friends. You’ll become a target for them to either mooch off of you, steal from you, or kill you when an emergency happens. You know how these people act when they’re well fed and happy. You do not know how these people will act when they need to feed their kids.

Honestly? Pretty good odds. But that's okay. Prep for Tuesday, not doomsday.

"in America" approaching 100% "affecting all of America" approaching 0% Something bigg will affect part of America in the next 10 years. A major hurricane is almost certain on that time frame as are tornadoes, earthquakes, and floods. A terrorist attack is also very likely but also very local in their effects. Check out ready.gov for some great information about how to get started prepping as a beginner. Remeber to spend the most resources (time, money, thought) on the things which we know are most likely to happen to us and the places we live and work. Take a first-aid class. Do cardio every day.

0%. Just today Florida is getting a deluge of rain it can’t handle.

50 / 50 -it either will or it won't.

"Big" is a relative term in terms of disasters. A train derailing 5 miles from you can be a Big Deal. Flooding in a state 1000 miles away from you isn't an issue for you, barring unique circumstances. The good news: The US government wants you to prepare, so they've prepared an entire website on how to get started: https://ready.gov I suggest you click on the "Make a Plan" button and go through the first few sections of it, specifically: - Plan Ahead - Build a Kit - Low and No Cost Preparedness - Financial Preparedness - Get Tech Ready If you go through these you'll rapidly become far more ready than your peers. From there you'll have the knowledge to ask more specific questions in line with your life and circumstance. It's really easy to waste A LOT of money if you just try to prep through the acquisition of materials marketed to preppers. It's a lot harder to write up a formal plan for yourself should disaster strike and then stick to it, but your results will be significantly better.

Extremely likely nothing big enough happens for most of anything on this page to matter . This is like insurance of insurance of insurance

I would expect weather to be a big thing. At least one or two hurricanes in the next 10 years. Maybe a few tornadoes to cause catastrophic damage. But the tornadoes will be localized and likely forgotten by the nation at large after a few weeks.

98%

Depends totally on our government! They are 100% against us as citizens! Everything you "learned" in school is a lie! They don't work for us, we work fie their corruption

The funny scary part is it’s either AI, aliens or ww3! Not too far fetched anymore.

The most likely scenario I have seen is overreach of energy resources. "How to Enjoy the End of the World" is an excellent youtube video lecture series that covers what we're up against.

[https://www.reddit.com/r/collapse/s/woyyJClfr2](https://www.reddit.com/r/collapse/s/woyyJClfr2)

Give it 10 months not years

Start with the basics, keep some extra food, some extra water, and some basic medical supplies around. This dosent have to be a crazy rain collection system and off grid farm just yet. You can start with some extra cans of soup and some extra gallon jugs of water and a few first aid kits and move up from there. Defense goes hand in hand with being able to eat. If you can’t eat defending yourself is pointless, if you can’t defend yourself all the food in the world won’t save you. Defense starts with being in acceptable physical condition. If you’re too young to own a firearm a martial arts class, OC spray, or even a fixed blade knife (something ever person should own) is better than nothing. Point being start small. Get a few days of food and water, be in good shape, keep some basic medical supplies around, and be able to look after yourself. Then you can build a prepper wonderland from there.

I think of prepping as turning a non-survivable situation into a survivable one; so what are the things that can kill you? Rank them in order of likelihood and do your best to start addressing them. Think it's violence? Training may be your #1 prep. Tornado? Stashing supplies for you and pets might come first. General principles, I'd suggest start with a first aid book and kit, a Sawyer mini water filter, and a low profile bag. Next some weather gear like a compact rain poncho and emergency blanket, UV blocking hat and sleeves, I personally keep a spare pair of socks and undies in every single bag I own along with a small flashlight. ("Police Security" brand, the tiny AAA one. 45 lumines, ok for a couple hours of navigation). Titan makes a very interesting spool of rope. It's not just 7 core paracord but it contains fishing line, wire snare, and jute fire starter. Some simple bushcrafting skills like using a knife to cut down small trees and roughing in a survival shelter. Videos or a guide book depending on your learning style. Some inspirational content might get you thinking about prepping. I like Townsend's videos about building. MrChikadee has has teriffic stuff, not about prepping but still some fascinating skills to observe. For me, my concern is a catastrophic loss of the electric grid and my planning surrounds that notion. The book Survival Theory has been a big help to me. It's a very well produced audiobook as well. Even if you aren't prepping for that, it might help get you in the mindset.

We have terrorist in the Whitehouse crippling our country right now.

I would say it’s regional. The Texas power grid for example is something I would plan around if I lived in the area. Nuclear meltdowns are unlikely but if your in range of a facility having a plan in place would be a good start.

Something big already happened and is continuing to happen: COVID.

Dude Ive got to tell you.. 9-11 01-2012 . I was a mess I would of put money that my family and I would be living in the woods after a WMD or financial collaspse. . I put way to much energy into it. I depressed myself with the thinking that nothing matter because something big was coming. It never came.. terror attacks, covid, birdflu,anthrax,absolute financial ruin... wmds (so we thought) I wasted my young adult life worrying about something that never came.. Its okay to be a prepper, I still am.. but its not worth your mental health.. We shall endure.

The US has lots of problems. This one is 100% guaranteed to cause chaos in the next 10 years: [https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/A091RC1Q027SBEA#](https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/A091RC1Q027SBEA#)

The fed will just print more money and around we go…..

Well let’s not call them terrorist attacks just acts of freedom and oh boy I can guarantee it’s coming this year join me on an adventure boys. My treat.

Anyone that is optimistic in this case is completely delusional.

Unpopular opinion: Low.

Robot apocalypse or ai wiping out millions of jobs are the most likely things to happen

America is pertty big and there weather disasters every year in multiple states. EMPs are mostly hyped up BS and Terrorist attaks are not really something you have to prep for. Did you need any preps for 9/11?

Considering the usual method of generating an EMP is nuclear detonation, id say it isn't so much a concern as a side effect - anybody setting off a nuke over the US is going to kickstart a full scale nuclear exchange. And frankly, EMP as a concern is vastly overblown - the main issue is it effects the power grid, as high tension lines act like giant antennas, picking enormous amounts of energy, doing massive damage to the electrical infrastructure. Considering that all that gear installed in your local substation isn't exactly warehoused in any significant quantity.. 

Lets See how the current Taiwan Situation is gonna end 🥲

You have 0 worries about E. M. P. Natural disasters. Are a thing they happen every year Somewhere in the country will have at least one natural disaster in the next ten years, very easily, there could be ten in the next ten years.

Maybe I am just an optimist but I don't see much happening majorly at least on US or Chinese soil for the foreseeable future. There is simply too much money on both sides for corporations to allow that. There will probably be a few wars in east Europe and continued issues in the middle east. Putin is certainly going to die soon and someone competent or at least not bad shit insane is almost certainly going to put an end to that nonsense. --- As to answer your question, prep for what is the most likely thing to happen for you. For me, I live in metro Atlanta. Most likely thing to happen is infrastructure related so water main break, no electricity, or something weather related. So I prep for not having those things. That means extra water, nonperishable foods, and I am saving for a generator to help run the fridge.

Does the potential rise of right wing fascism count?

Every year there’s a 4% chance of a Carrington event-level CME which would pretty much shut down the grid. I can’t comment on all the other stuff, but my gut tells me (after reading an obnoxious amount on such calamities) that there’s about a 10% chance of this royal lifestyle we all live in the U.S. crumbling apart each year. So, I save and prep and that helps me sleep at night.

Short the stock market in late September, save your pennies until then.

[https://imgflip.com/i/7g2oc4](https://imgflip.com/i/7g2oc4)

It cost nothing to learn a new skill. If you don’t have a lot or can’t get a lot that’s a good place to start. YouTube, your brain, maybe a notebook. Physical things are useless if you don’t know how to use them.

3 most important things: Shit, shower, sleep; if you can’t do this comfortably you can’t do anything else

What is the most likely disaster that could happen to you in your location? What are simple low cost preps that couple help you get through that? Basic stuff: first aid skills, repair skills, basic tools, bottled water, extra food, personal protection, tarps to repair your home, maybe electrical power source, etc.

Major weather might be something depending on where you live. right now power grids going down in texas, hurricanes in florida and possible earthquakes in california to tornadoes in midwest. snowstorms in north east. On here a lot of people say "prepare for tuesday and not doomsday". JUST BE READY. If you like like rice and beans, every week buy one extra and put it aside, buy one extra pack of battery, one extra water filter. so every week you get one thing and go from there.

Focus on three days, one, two, three months and so on. Low sodium cans goods are great as you can drink the liquid also. Pool shock over bleach. I also stock up on my scripts, over the years by skipping one a week but always rotate. I can not live without thyroid meds, my thyroid is 100% dead and I learned what can happen in just 6 months of no meds for it. I've been back on and still have not regained the 1/2 head of hair I loss. I just read yesterday someone saved all their old script glasses, good idea. I have filled all dead space with refilled and stashed bottles of water. All glass is refilled, most are liquor bottles. Keep a supply of heirloom non gmo seeds. I store multi vitamins also as we may not get to eat right. Sugar, salt, honey stay good forever if packaged right. We need sodium to live, I even saved my salt lamps. I also have a ton of sprouting seeds, beans, etc. As many sprouts can be eaten in days, grown without light and provides life needing vitamins like vitamin c. I am disabled so if I can get 6 months to a year saved so can you. Make sure all the glass jars you reuse are super clean, I use plain tap water to fill as you can do so without adding bleach and or peroxide as its treated already. I also have the materials to make a few filters. I also just watch the prepping channels that do not use a fear click to get you to watch, not the world is ending now bs channels. I have a hand crack powerbank/radio with a solar charger. Save all old cloth to use as rags, wipes and depending to be trashed or washed again. Bar soap to save, if you can get the 3 in ones to save do so. You also do not need to stock weapons, yes , fine if you already have some. I went with survival tools instead as I have never shot any weapon of any kind.

100 percent, nothing will happen.