Gear Advice

[Navigator]

Here is one that is significantly less expensive, though not as sturdy. For the budget minded.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B074S ... 3240e894a8

One of the things that you may have to anticipate is the scarcity of fuel, not just gas, but anything that burns. This would allow you to boil water and cook under most conditions, so it is a great idea.

In post WW1 Vienna, the city stopped getting coal shipments. The locals chopped down and burned the famous Vienna Woods (the WienerWald) to heat their homes and cook. Soon there wasn't a tree left in the city.

Sold out. Any other sites you would recommend?

I would look for an available solar oven on Amazon. I have to admit I have Amazon Prime and I buy just about everything through them.

[Navigator]

Invest in night vision.

Get a solar panel, deep cycle battery, and rechargeable batteries to keep the unit running long after the batteries are gone.

Night vision is a force multiplier. When the grid goes down you will be at the mercy of someone with night vision if you don't have it yourself.

This is good advice. You can find all this stuff on Amazon. I high-end brand is "Jackery". You could also get a marine battery to charge, as they hold a lot of charge.

An alternative to passive night vision is infra-red. You can get infra red lights and vision devices for much cheaper than passive. The down side is that if others have infra red vision devices, they can see your lighting. I view the odds of this as pretty remote though.

[FullMoon]

Good advice, thanks all!
As for the sold out solar oven, I got it last year. I haven't used it yet, but it appears somewhat flimsy and I'm considering getting a better version. We might need it for quite some time and it should save a lot of time and energy when it's most needed.

[Guest]

Good advice, thanks all!
As for the sold out solar oven, I got it last year. I haven't used it yet, but it appears somewhat flimsy and I'm considering getting a better version. We might need it for quite some time and it should save a lot of time and energy when it's most needed.

The sold out stove is available on Ebay.

[FullMoon]

Invest in night vision.

Get a solar panel, deep cycle battery, and rechargeable batteries to keep the unit running long after the batteries are gone.

Night vision is a force multiplier. When the grid goes down you will be at the mercy of someone with night vision if you don't have it yourself.

Thanks Tim. I was going to get one but haven't yet. So you have any specific recommendations of kinds?
Any other gear advice would be much appreciated by anyone. After shipping lanes are blocked, all this good stuff won't be readily available. Thanks in advance

What you want is a PVS14. I would get one made by TNVC. It won't be cheap.

One great way to get ideas for gear would be to read the novel One Second After by William R. Forstchen.

https://www.amazon.com/Second-After-Joh ... 0765327252

John Matherson is a professor of history at the local Montreat Christian College. A retired U.S. Army colonel and Gulf War veteran, he had moved to Black Mountain with his family when his late wife Mary, a native of the town, was dying from cancer. He now is the widowed father of two daughters, Elizabeth and Jennifer.

At 4:50 p.m. (16:50) Eastern Daylight Time on the second Tuesday of May, the first day described in the book's narration, the phone lines in the town suddenly go dead, along with all the electrical appliances. Within hours it becomes clear that this is no ordinary blackout. Every modern electrical device is disabled, destroyed by what Matherson is beginning to suspect is an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack on the United States.

The United States has effectively been returned to the 19th century, with few 21st-century people able to deal with such conditions. Matherson later remarks that survivors have had to rely on the technology of the early 16th century. His immediate concern is his twelve-year-old daughter, who has Type 1 diabetes. Without a constant supply of insulin, which requires refrigeration, she will die.

The book explores how the whole community responds, as many others face similar crises. Matherson's experience and character help him with the town's residents. Hundreds of motorists are stranded when their vehicles stop. They get into town, making the residents feel threatened by the numbers of people needing help. An immediate concern is food. No refrigerators or freezers are running, nor are grocery stores receiving supplies.

Thanks again! That night vision recommendation looks great. I might just get a few cheaper kinds for multiple people for simple applications, so not too many eggs in one basket.
I'll get that book, excellent recommendation again. Thanks

[FullMoon]

CME/EMP protection device:

https://www.empshield.com/product/vehicle/

Does anyone know anything about this type of gear and if this or another kind is worth the cost?

[FullMoon]

Hopefully people are gardening already. My gear advice is to find a quality bulk seed distributor of seeds appropriate for your situation and then load up. I've found a way to garden year round and simplified the process so that I can actually do it. I'll just have to scale up a bit when necessary.

Bags of potatoes are cheap. Should be ¢15-20/lb. I buy 50lb bags for backup preparedness and we eat some before they go bad. Going bad usually means they start growing. That's when you plant them. Potatoes are easy to grow. They're an excellent investment if you have a shovel and some dirt.

Cardboard is free and gets put out by businesses everywhere. It's excellent for fire starting but also for clearing the land and improving the soil. YouTube has videos.

5 Gallon food grade buckets are put out for recycling constantly by restaurants. I get used pickle buckets weekly from Jimmy John's. I now have a double wall of them with food we will eat. I just bought it a few years ahead. I hope we eat it while watching something online rather than the potential alternative for which it's bought for.

I'm still catching up with the electrical and all the other gear stuff needed when we can't order online or go to the store.

[Navigator]

CME/EMP protection device:

https://www.empshield.com/product/vehicle/

Does anyone know anything about this type of gear and if this or another kind is worth the cost?

This is a complete and total scam product. Do NOT buy one.

EMP works by creating a strong magnetic field. As this field passes over ANY wire (anywhere, including the microscopic ones inside a computer chip), and is strong enough, it generates an electric current. This current is too strong for parts of the circuit the wire is part of or connected to, and burns those things out. Inside a computer chip, where the wires are incredibly small, the wires just melt, causing a break in their circuits.

The only way to protect electronic components is to "harden" every chip (which is what the military does), or to enclose them inside what is called a Faraday cage.

This scam device won't work, as the individual chips in your car would get fried by an EMP, as they are not inside such a cage.

Best protections, as described in the book, are to put backup devices (such as a CB radio, a backup battery system, your last computer) inside a homemade faraday cage, or inside anti-emp bags (which act like a cage), or some similar setup.

[FullMoon]

Navigator, Thanks for the excellent and helpful reply.
I've read that after everyone's car gets fried, most likely the roads will be jammed/blocked with cars. And should you drive and try, might come into trouble as an easy target. Would it be best to 'bug in' rather than make a break for a bug out location?

[spottybrowncow]

Now I admit this is "over the top," but this is so cool I had to share it. I asked someone who would know about the PVS-14, he said they are good, but this is the current best:

https://tnvc.com/shop/l3harris-bnvd-an-pvs-31a-2376fom/

Only catch is $14K and several month wait.
Amazingly, these (and PVS14) work on a single AA battery, rechargeables cheap and plentiful.