6 ms·

I've already been preparing as a hobby for the last 3 years, not specifically for coronavirus, but here's how I'm prepared for it: - I work remotely, so I can

I've already been preparing as a hobby for the last 3 years, not specifically for coronavirus, but here's how I'm prepared for it: - I work remotely, so I can hunker down at home and have my income totally unaffected. - I've close to 6 months worth of food, and I've been buying more in the last month as the news continues. I can give some tips on what I think is good inexpensive food to get in case anyone is interested. - I'm fasting regularly, which will realistically extend my food supply. Most people calculate their food supply by 3 meals a day plus snacks, but you can go days without eating. Right now I'm closing in on 72 hours without food. I'm perfectly fine. You get used to it. The key is getting your electrolytes and getting out of your sugar addiction. - I have lots of water stored up, although that's not going to be much of a problem with COVID-19. Several filters meant to remove viruses, though I have a distiller so I would probably just use that if I was really that paranoid about my water, which I probably won't be. - My medicine cabinet has everything you can think of and more. I have 2 first aid kits and a trauma kit. I have what it takes to turn the entrance to my home into a decon chamber, if need be. I have tons of bleach and disinfectants. - I have full gas masks with filters, including adapters for 3M filters, which should be perfectly sufficient to remove droplets in the air. I also have full tyvek suits in case there's a worst case scenario but I have to leave my home. I have lots of N95 masks, but obviously you can't count on those for very much. I certainly don't have the belief that even the gas masks will prevent anything. It's just hedging my bets. --- All that said, I am not paranoid. I don't even have anxiety over it. Those things I mentioned would only come into play if things went extremely bad. My life wouldn't be very different if I had to stay indoors for months on end, so long as utilities continue to operate. Even if the supply chain broke down, I would probably be better off staying indoors than trying to bug out to somewhere else. One other thing I'm doing is trying to sell off a high value items I've been holding on to, but I'm selling them off now because the money could save me from strife if there's widespread infection and my job totally falls apart.

abraae 7y ago
> I'm fasting regularly, which will realistically extend my food supply. Isn't fasting the opposite of storing food for an emergency? Surely storing food on your body as fat is one of the safest and easiest ways to store it.
- ravenstine 7y ago
  Yes, you're technically burning through your body's food supply when you fast. While that has survival implications, that's not really the point. The average American overeats like crazy and is addicted to junk food. Fasting helps to break that addiction so that you're more likely to use your crisis food wisely and not feel hunger pangs. When I tell people that I comfortably fast for 4 or more days, they think it's crazy and they can't imagine it, but it's really not that hard. That tells me that people are liable to digging into their food too early on in a survival situation. The truth is that while I am gradually burning body fat intentionally, I've still got weeks worth of fat on my and probably will when I decide to reduce my fasting back to eating one meal a day. I'd rather burn that fat and eat minimally for the first week or two of a crisis before digging into my reserves. Let's say I learn that the supply chain will be broken for longer than expected; I want to have food around so I can calmly address the issue without having to panic about where I'm going to get my next meal. To put it simply, I don't think most people have the discipline to not pig out on their earthquake kit or their pantry if they're stuck at home during a pandemic. There's a bit of a caloric tradeoff in gaining that discipline, but I think it's worth it.
  - ryan-allen 7y ago
    What fasting method do you practice? It sounds interesting!
    - ravenstine 7y ago
      I don't have much of a specific method, but usually I try to go at least 48 hours and limit myself to a 1 hour eating window. The key is getting your electrolytes. It's amazing how big a difference they make. Otherwise, I just take fasting day by day. I try to be conscientious and recognize whether I'm genuinely hungry or just desiring food because I'm bored. If it's the former, I'll break my fast. I eat pretty healthy when I break my fast, but I don't make a fuss about too much carbs or whatever because I'll get satiated too quickly to even get close to overeating.
      - 7y ago
jerf 7y ago
"All that said, I am not paranoid. I don't even have anxiety over it. Those things I mentioned would only come into play if things went extremely bad." Likewise. To some extent, I recommend doing some prep precisely so that you don't have to panic. If you have some basic prep, you can worry a lot less about "what if earthquake" or "what if power goes out for a week" or "what if pandemic", because you know that while you may not be prepared for everything and it may be hard, at least you're going to be caught completely flat-footed. Also, I would just feel like an idiot sitting there in my house in week 3, wishing I had X, when X was like $12 or whatever trivial sum just a month ago. For values of X like "soap" or "shampoo" or something, I'm not even "saving money". I was just too lazy to make sure I had a stock on hand, despite literally months of warning this quarantine was likely coming. I'm trying to help future-me to not feel like an idiot.
vl 7y ago
What about guns/ammo?
- ravenstine 7y ago
  I wasn't going to talk about that because I think it'd be frowned upon on HN, but now that you mention it... I own a .22 long rifle and have tons of ammo. I've been thinking of getting a glock but haven't gotten around to it. It's not the best for self defense, but it's a heck of a lot better than no gun at all. It's ridiculously easy to shoot accurately. The ammo is cheap and ubiquitous, which is another advantage. There's other defense items that I would use first if possible. I own some cans of police grade pepper gel, tasers, a slingshot, and a combat knife, among other things.
  - tosser 7y ago
    > I wasn't going to talk about that because I think it'd be frowned upon on HN... You weren’t going to exercise your first amendment rights because the community frowns upon your second amendment rights... It’s absolutely absurd that people feel afraid to talk about guns because a bunch of leftists hate everything our country stands for. Good on you for talking about guns anyway.
    - krapp 7y ago
      Please. People talk about guns and slander leftists on HN all the time. Stop concern trolling.
- madengr 7y ago
  Regardless of the virus, now is the cheapest I have seen ammo in 15 years. Ammoman has 1k rounds of brass 5.56 for $289 shipped. I’d stock up before the election run. https://www.ammoman.com/ https://www.ammoman.com/
- copperx 7y ago
  What for? To shoot the virus?
rococode 7y ago
> I can give some tips on what I think is good inexpensive food to get in case anyone is interested. I'm interested! I've mostly heard of canned foods and the military-style rations / dried meals that last many years (although those are actually a bit pricey, I think).
- ravenstine 7y ago
  The dried food and MREs aren't bad. But they can be overkill, or too heavily relied upon. I guess it's a nice idea that there will always be a stockpile of food ready to go, but I figured out that I'd rather keep around some regular food that keeps well that I can slowly rotate through. Don't get me wrong, I think that ration food is great if you're going to be mobile. I keep dried ration meals inside a backpack for that purpose. I don't want to discourage anyone from buying prepared meals if that's what would make them feel better. A hefty fee for some tubs of ready-to-go meals that last 20+ years can provide peace of mind. That said, here's a list of food that I stockpile that I think are the best value: (Most of this will seem obvious, but I've also owned lots of survival meals, and a lot of what's described here is what's in those anyway) - Peanut butter: One jar is more than enough fat/sugar/protein for a day's worth of calories, multi-purpose, can be eaten straight, no cooking required, portable, doesn’t require can opener. Powdered peanut butter exists but is more expensive and I don’t really care for it, but it might make sense to you. A jar at Wallmart is $1.58.) - Canned meat: I normally don't eat canned meat, but in a crisis, having it can be a morale booster. Spam has all the advantages of peanut butter, but in meat form; A can of "Luncheon Meat" at either Wallmart is also around $1.50. Corned beef hash is very tasty and cheap. Canned tuna and pink salmon are good, too. - Dried fruit: I prefer banana chips because they keep the best. Takes no preparation. Can be added to all sorts of things as well. - Oatmeal: It's cheap and versatile. It requires water, but it doesn't necessarily need to be cooked. You can just use cold water and let it soak for a while. Tasty, filling, and can be made plain, sweet, or even savory. Add a boillon cube to a pot of oatmeal and you've got an easy evening meal. It's not great, but it'll fill you up. - Pasta: Ramen noodles, mac n' cheese, etc. Stuff that's quick to make and requires the least preparation. - Rice: A 20 lb sack of rice can be as cheap as $8, perhaps less depending on where you live. - Honey: Very versatile, can be used in place of sugar in a lot of cases, needs no refrigeration, lasts ages. - Ghee or shortening: Both are shelf stable at room temperature and can be used in place of butter. - Hot sauce, salt, spices, etc. All are dirt cheap but can liven up dull food. As I mentioned before, bouillon cubes are handy. - Coffee crystals, hot cocoa powder - Vinegar: For cleaning and can also add flavor. - Alcohol: We can all use a little liquid morale on occasion. Good for sanitation and can be used as fuel in desperation. --- A lot of people recommend beans. I don't because they take longer to cook than rice and they're too fibrous; have fun eating too many beans and sharting your pants while the world is dying around you! It's not like it's bad to have beans, but I've gotten rid of most of mine for that reason at this point. If you could only buy one item, I'd definitely go with peanut butter.
brador 7y ago
How do you get electrolytes when fasting?
- Tepix 7y ago
  Via something you drink
- thorwasdfasdf 7y ago
  Check this one out: https://kale.world/the-lowest-calorie-electrolytes-for-fasting/ https://kale.world/the-lowest-calorie-electrolytes-for-fasti... Basically: - cream of tartar (no cream, it's just potassium bicarbonate) - spinach / watercress / swiss chard (for magnesium) - table salt ( for sodium and chloride) - coffee (although not super high in electrolytes, it's got a great balance of them, and if you drink 5 cups or more it really adds up) Don't go with sports drinks (they're only good for sodium and contain very little other electrolytes).

abraae 7y ago

> I'm fasting regularly, which will realistically extend my food supply. Isn't fasting the opposite of storing food for an emergency? Surely storing food on your body as fat is one of the safest and easiest ways to store it.

ravenstine 7y ago
Yes, you're technically burning through your body's food supply when you fast. While that has survival implications, that's not really the point. The average American overeats like crazy and is addicted to junk food. Fasting helps to break that addiction so that you're more likely to use your crisis food wisely and not feel hunger pangs. When I tell people that I comfortably fast for 4 or more days, they think it's crazy and they can't imagine it, but it's really not that hard. That tells me that people are liable to digging into their food too early on in a survival situation. The truth is that while I am gradually burning body fat intentionally, I've still got weeks worth of fat on my and probably will when I decide to reduce my fasting back to eating one meal a day. I'd rather burn that fat and eat minimally for the first week or two of a crisis before digging into my reserves. Let's say I learn that the supply chain will be broken for longer than expected; I want to have food around so I can calmly address the issue without having to panic about where I'm going to get my next meal. To put it simply, I don't think most people have the discipline to not pig out on their earthquake kit or their pantry if they're stuck at home during a pandemic. There's a bit of a caloric tradeoff in gaining that discipline, but I think it's worth it.
- ryan-allen 7y ago
  What fasting method do you practice? It sounds interesting!
  - ravenstine 7y ago
    I don't have much of a specific method, but usually I try to go at least 48 hours and limit myself to a 1 hour eating window. The key is getting your electrolytes. It's amazing how big a difference they make. Otherwise, I just take fasting day by day. I try to be conscientious and recognize whether I'm genuinely hungry or just desiring food because I'm bored. If it's the former, I'll break my fast. I eat pretty healthy when I break my fast, but I don't make a fuss about too much carbs or whatever because I'll get satiated too quickly to even get close to overeating.
    - 7y ago

jerf 7y ago

"All that said, I am not paranoid. I don't even have anxiety over it. Those things I mentioned would only come into play if things went extremely bad." Likewise. To some extent, I recommend doing some prep precisely so that you don't have to panic. If you have some basic prep, you can worry a lot less about "what if earthquake" or "what if power goes out for a week" or "what if pandemic", because you know that while you may not be prepared for everything and it may be hard, at least you're going to be caught completely flat-footed. Also, I would just feel like an idiot sitting there in my house in week 3, wishing I had X, when X was like $12 or whatever trivial sum just a month ago. For values of X like "soap" or "shampoo" or something, I'm not even "saving money". I was just too lazy to make sure I had a stock on hand, despite literally months of warning this quarantine was likely coming. I'm trying to help future-me to not feel like an idiot.

vl 7y ago

What about guns/ammo?

ravenstine 7y ago
I wasn't going to talk about that because I think it'd be frowned upon on HN, but now that you mention it... I own a .22 long rifle and have tons of ammo. I've been thinking of getting a glock but haven't gotten around to it. It's not the best for self defense, but it's a heck of a lot better than no gun at all. It's ridiculously easy to shoot accurately. The ammo is cheap and ubiquitous, which is another advantage. There's other defense items that I would use first if possible. I own some cans of police grade pepper gel, tasers, a slingshot, and a combat knife, among other things.
- tosser 7y ago
  > I wasn't going to talk about that because I think it'd be frowned upon on HN... You weren’t going to exercise your first amendment rights because the community frowns upon your second amendment rights... It’s absolutely absurd that people feel afraid to talk about guns because a bunch of leftists hate everything our country stands for. Good on you for talking about guns anyway.
  - krapp 7y ago
    Please. People talk about guns and slander leftists on HN all the time. Stop concern trolling.
madengr 7y ago
Regardless of the virus, now is the cheapest I have seen ammo in 15 years. Ammoman has 1k rounds of brass 5.56 for $289 shipped. I’d stock up before the election run. https://www.ammoman.com/ https://www.ammoman.com/
copperx 7y ago
What for? To shoot the virus?

rococode 7y ago

> I can give some tips on what I think is good inexpensive food to get in case anyone is interested. I'm interested! I've mostly heard of canned foods and the military-style rations / dried meals that last many years (although those are actually a bit pricey, I think).

ravenstine 7y ago
The dried food and MREs aren't bad. But they can be overkill, or too heavily relied upon. I guess it's a nice idea that there will always be a stockpile of food ready to go, but I figured out that I'd rather keep around some regular food that keeps well that I can slowly rotate through. Don't get me wrong, I think that ration food is great if you're going to be mobile. I keep dried ration meals inside a backpack for that purpose. I don't want to discourage anyone from buying prepared meals if that's what would make them feel better. A hefty fee for some tubs of ready-to-go meals that last 20+ years can provide peace of mind. That said, here's a list of food that I stockpile that I think are the best value: (Most of this will seem obvious, but I've also owned lots of survival meals, and a lot of what's described here is what's in those anyway) - Peanut butter: One jar is more than enough fat/sugar/protein for a day's worth of calories, multi-purpose, can be eaten straight, no cooking required, portable, doesn’t require can opener. Powdered peanut butter exists but is more expensive and I don’t really care for it, but it might make sense to you. A jar at Wallmart is $1.58.) - Canned meat: I normally don't eat canned meat, but in a crisis, having it can be a morale booster. Spam has all the advantages of peanut butter, but in meat form; A can of "Luncheon Meat" at either Wallmart is also around $1.50. Corned beef hash is very tasty and cheap. Canned tuna and pink salmon are good, too. - Dried fruit: I prefer banana chips because they keep the best. Takes no preparation. Can be added to all sorts of things as well. - Oatmeal: It's cheap and versatile. It requires water, but it doesn't necessarily need to be cooked. You can just use cold water and let it soak for a while. Tasty, filling, and can be made plain, sweet, or even savory. Add a boillon cube to a pot of oatmeal and you've got an easy evening meal. It's not great, but it'll fill you up. - Pasta: Ramen noodles, mac n' cheese, etc. Stuff that's quick to make and requires the least preparation. - Rice: A 20 lb sack of rice can be as cheap as $8, perhaps less depending on where you live. - Honey: Very versatile, can be used in place of sugar in a lot of cases, needs no refrigeration, lasts ages. - Ghee or shortening: Both are shelf stable at room temperature and can be used in place of butter. - Hot sauce, salt, spices, etc. All are dirt cheap but can liven up dull food. As I mentioned before, bouillon cubes are handy. - Coffee crystals, hot cocoa powder - Vinegar: For cleaning and can also add flavor. - Alcohol: We can all use a little liquid morale on occasion. Good for sanitation and can be used as fuel in desperation. --- A lot of people recommend beans. I don't because they take longer to cook than rice and they're too fibrous; have fun eating too many beans and sharting your pants while the world is dying around you! It's not like it's bad to have beans, but I've gotten rid of most of mine for that reason at this point. If you could only buy one item, I'd definitely go with peanut butter.

brador 7y ago

How do you get electrolytes when fasting?

Tepix 7y ago
Via something you drink
thorwasdfasdf 7y ago
Check this one out: https://kale.world/the-lowest-calorie-electrolytes-for-fasting/ https://kale.world/the-lowest-calorie-electrolytes-for-fasti... Basically: - cream of tartar (no cream, it's just potassium bicarbonate) - spinach / watercress / swiss chard (for magnesium) - table salt ( for sodium and chloride) - coffee (although not super high in electrolytes, it's got a great balance of them, and if you drink 5 cups or more it really adds up) Don't go with sports drinks (they're only good for sodium and contain very little other electrolytes).