Something to think about... cold storage. Wouldn’t it be nice if you had a way to freeze food (ie a large animal you can’t eat in one sitting) with no grid power?
Growatt makes a SPF3000 inverter that runs with or without batteries. This means that with 6,8,10,12 solar panels you can make 3kw of 120v power to run a chest freezer. Their inverter with the “ES” suffix has an equalization cycle which is necessary for lead acid batteries but NOT for lithium. These inverters are interesting because they run even if you don’t have a battery. Another more expensive unit that also runs with or without batteries is the Sol-Ark 12kw. But it is 10x the price... but it will run your whole house. But the gist of what I’m writing today is that the batteries are the most expensive part and you don’t need them.

Without batteries your freezer won’t run at night but freezers are very well insulated and will certainly hold their temperature until the sun comes up again. Just don’ put warm meat in it near the end of the day.

Used solar panels can be had by asking around at your local solar installers. Often they order by the pallet for a price break and can’t use the one or two odd panels that they didn’t need for a job. Be aware that most installers today are using 400w panels which are HUGE... 3’3” (1m) x 6’8” (2m). 250watt panels are in the range of 3’3” x 5’6”.

Another source for solar panels is a place in facebook marketplace in Ft Meyers FL. A friend of mine ordered from them and the panels were exactly as described and promptly shipped. He got 36 250w panels from them.

Maybe your and your neighbors can split the cost of the inverter and panels? Maybe each of you can have your own freezer attached to the inverter? Food for thought.

Check your local paper mills for dryer fabrics. They have to be replaced about twice a year. The ones for my local mill are 30’ wide and 180’ long. Here I have lengths to go under the rabbit cages to catch poop and let urine pass thru. Also good for shade cloth and also good in horse stalls.

Ammo, how much to buy?

Lots of people ask themselves this question when getting in to prepping. The most common answer being "You can never have too much". While this is true, it doesn't help much and isn't always practical. Now with ammo shortages, the question is more relevant than ever.

A good starting point is chosing the right calibers. Scavenging wont be a good thing to depend on, but it is a viable backup plan. So chosing calibers that your local law enforcement and military use is a good idea. You will want at least one rifle (preferably one mag fed, useful as both a hunting and self defense weapon), one shotgun (with mag tube preferrably) and one handgun for personal defense. Obviously, you cant have too many guns or ammo, but for the purpose of this post we will stick with those three basic weapons.

Your rifle should take standard capacity mags (30rnd). A common practice is to have around 10 working and ready mags for your kit, minimum. I usually recommend you have some extra 20rnd mags as well, but for the purpose of this post, consider it optional. You will want 3-5 mags on your person 5-7 ready to go. You should also be able to reload these 10 mags 3 times after empty. That puts us at 4 sets of 10 - 30rnd mags, or 1200 rounds of ammo.

Your shotgun will hopefully have at least 4-6 shots in the mag tube +1 in the chamber. Lets say you have 7 total in the gun when fully loaded. The nature of a shotgun makes it about a 100 yard or less range weapon. You should be able to fully reload the shotgun at least 20 times for each type of load you expect to use. We can round up and say 200 rounds minimum for each load. If you use slugs, buck and bird shot, that is 600rnds combined. If a shotgun is your primary weapon, double this number.

Your handgun could have a wide range of capacities, we will assume a capacity of 15 for a semiauto. Handguns are easily concealed and in a SHTF scenario, its a safe bet you will have it on your person at all times. I recommend a minimum of 6 mags for a semi auto, 3 on your person, 3 more ready to go. Since handguns see less use than a rifle for a typical survival scenario, I recommend having enough ammo to load all your mags, 3 times total. We can round up and call it 300 rounds of handgun loads. For revolver shooters, I recommend the same 300 rounds, but double the amount of speedloaders, a minimum of 12.

These are all personal recommendations based on the research I've done over my years as a responsible prepper. Happy to hear your thoughts in the comments

And what admin would add to this, is for prepping persons, do not own guns in odd calibers (45-70, .338 450 bushmaster etc) for a survival, goto, boogaloo situation. Make sure your guns for prepping are in calibers like: .223, 5.56 7.62NATO/.308, 9mm, .45, etc.

Final point, it doesn't do you any good to have 10,000 rounds, 12 guns, but only 2 mags each. Make sure to have at least 10 extra AR15/sporting rifle mags, and at least 5 extra pistol mags per gun

Here's a little preview of some knowledge I have and a quick tip to cooling off quickly while working outside in extreme heat:

If you are working hard, breaking a sweat, and are getting absolutely cooked chances are there will be a cooler outside filled with ice which will have a level of water in it as temperatures rise.

When you get hot, stick your hands in the ice water until just before they go numb. After you take them out, raise your arms above your head and wiggle them slightly. The colder blood will travel down your arms to your body and provide some relief. Repeat every so often as necessary.

Baofeng drop in chargers use their special 10v wall transformer. You can install a LM7810 voltage regulator (ebay) inside that will then allow you to use more standard 12v power supplies. The wiring is the same for 7805 and 7810 units.

Swapped batteries in golf cart out for lifepo4. Same capacity as the lead acid but the cart is about 600lbs lighter. Charged them to about 90% because my battery management system didn’t come in the mail yet.

I’m here to tell you it rides a lot rougher. It bounces a lot more.

If you live in a house that is about 20 years old with PEX tubing, you my friend are sitting on a time bomb. We are replumbing my mother's house this week. It was a planned job as we found a couple rotted and weeping pex connectors a few months ago. Every single PEX connector I replaced today was in some state of corrosion. The hot water lines are in the worst shape.

What we are doing for mom is running a manifold system. One continuous pipe to each fixture. No joints until you get within 12" of a fixture. For all sinks and lavatories we ran 3/8 pex tubing. The decreased volume of water in the pipe changed the hot water time in the back bathroom from 1:48 to 32seconds. Also each fixture can be shut off individually. Think of it as a circuit breaker panel for your water.

Great video on basic electrical theory.

This guy explains things very well

There are many parts to this series

https://youtu.be/OGa_b26eK2c