Pinterest is a minefield of people who have no idea what they're doing. Take the inspo but then do the actual work yourself, b/c a lot of that shit is speculative at best.
Jessica, you are uniquely qualified to write this post. Your thousands of hours of research, experimenting and building lets you see the silliness of the designs you cited.
I wonder if the poor thinking inherent in those examples is a reflection of our worsening education system, and the decrease of critical thinking skills that accompanies it.
I was surprised that twenty million Americans are preparing for disasters. It's hard to get that many people to do any one thing, even voting for a presidential candidate.
I decided to just ditch that one example entirely, because now I'm reading that sand at the top is considered normal for longterm filtration bedding. Sigh.
Yeah. Apparently, the idea behind this is creating a layer of bacteria and algae that destroys pathogens. So there's a logic to it backed by studies. I'll dig into it more but I'd be pretty reluctant to do this myself. Seems like a very easy thing to mess up and kill yourself with. In fact, I'm already seeing some notes that this "schmutzdecke" method can go horribly wrong if you're not extremely careful.
I have the physical book by the people who made that post. Just flipped back through it. I can find absolutely nothing about that filter setup. Went to their site and it's very chaotic. I don't know which version of which guide talks about it.
Quick follow-up: I'm finally figuring out what's going on. Apparently, there's the book itself, which I own. There's also a bunch of "affiliate" sellers who bundle this book with a bunch of other stuff. They're not directly connected to the original authors at all, and they're known for pushing tons of hype and half-baked survival solutions.
So, although you can do the inverted filter setup, it requires a lot of knowledge and skill, and it's not part of the original guide. It's probably not something you can trust, and I think the original authors just aren't clued in to what's going on.
Thank you. At the risk of getting this comment thread off-track, one way to clean up any type of water is to distill it. It's energy-intensive, requiring boiling the water and chilling the part of the apparatus that contains the steam vapors. So it would depend on which of two scarce resources is more scarce, water or energy.
Personally, I'm a big fan of distillation because you can tell if it's working without needing a lab to test the water after running it through your setup, and the high temperature assures you that all the bad bugs are dead. Any filter system is, unfortunately, relying on blind trust. I'm currently working on a solar distillation contraption for my personal use.
"Everyone is suddenly an armchair expert at prepping. " I love that statement because there really are a lot of those kind of people on YouTube and they do drive me a little crazy because I feel I am never going to be proficient at anything specific -it's a half ass attempt but I get by. I do things to help me when specific events happen, like an extended period of drought and then I have some roof water in that catchment container to at least try to keep my garden going. That happened two seasons out of the last 12. I grow and preserve food because it makes me more secure for the winter. I don't think any farther than just making it through the next season- maybe that's a function of age Jessica. I don't know.
Hi, Jessica. I'm curious: where did you get the 20m figure from? USA is 350m (4% of world), so 20m is ~6%? I heard years ago the figures we're way less. Genuinely interested, because mis-preppers will create a big mess and we need to look at that too, I'm afraid. 1) First, let's try and imagine the full iceberg: good preppers don't go on social media unless they are trying to help, so they are not part of the Statistics; the Amish probably don't count themselves as preppers and they are likely the best (maybe?); who else do we need to look at to have the full picture? And how do we guide more into good prepping, multiplying your own amazing efforts? 2) Second, let's look at what happens when the majority are ill-prepped. They don't just die quietly, or do they? That's exactly why, after a few years of being in the FluWiki scene, ~2005-2009, I wrote resiliencemaps.org / files / fluscim. (For that reason, and for the reason that govts weren't even thinking of a panflu that would cause huge disruption. At least openly.) So, what are we going to do with #2? It's a serious question. How can we assist rapid improvisation "amid the noise and haste"?
Turns out, both are right. These are two completely different setups. The common survival bucket puts the rocks on top and charcoal at the bottom. A longterm DIY biofilter does the opposite.
So, apparently, for longterm homesteading, gravel on the bottom is preferred with sand on top. But countless sources online I trusted do the opposite. Both are right in different situations. And I'm just now learning about this after countless hours. I guess it just illustrates, ironically, how difficult this gets.
We've been doing some homesteading, gardening at foraging for the last 3 or 4 years. So far it's mainly been a hobby, we haven't yet tried it on a scale that might actually make a difference if the SHTF. That being said, it's been truly eye opening how much work it takes just to grow a little bit of food or find a few berries and mushrooms in the woods. Still, I suppose it's a good thing that a lot if people are interested in prepping these days. Hopefully we can all learn a bit more as we attempt to do these things on our own. Just watching a few online videos won't cut it. Thanks for writing this substack.
That's 20 million that'll be found, caught and eaten and no-one will even notice. Because I bet they are all doing it on their own.
Wow! š® reminds me of the 60s and 70s off grid movement! Thx š
Oh my....
On the one hand, I'm glad 20 million people are even thinking about it. On the other hand.... I wish 20 million people would *think* about it.
Pinterest is a minefield of people who have no idea what they're doing. Take the inspo but then do the actual work yourself, b/c a lot of that shit is speculative at best.
Jessica, you are uniquely qualified to write this post. Your thousands of hours of research, experimenting and building lets you see the silliness of the designs you cited.
I wonder if the poor thinking inherent in those examples is a reflection of our worsening education system, and the decrease of critical thinking skills that accompanies it.
I was surprised that twenty million Americans are preparing for disasters. It's hard to get that many people to do any one thing, even voting for a presidential candidate.
I decided to just ditch that one example entirely, because now I'm reading that sand at the top is considered normal for longterm filtration bedding. Sigh.
I'm assuming those systems are for watering gardens. I'd think they would be high in bacteria and algae.
Yeah. Apparently, the idea behind this is creating a layer of bacteria and algae that destroys pathogens. So there's a logic to it backed by studies. I'll dig into it more but I'd be pretty reluctant to do this myself. Seems like a very easy thing to mess up and kill yourself with. In fact, I'm already seeing some notes that this "schmutzdecke" method can go horribly wrong if you're not extremely careful.
I have the physical book by the people who made that post. Just flipped back through it. I can find absolutely nothing about that filter setup. Went to their site and it's very chaotic. I don't know which version of which guide talks about it.
Quick follow-up: I'm finally figuring out what's going on. Apparently, there's the book itself, which I own. There's also a bunch of "affiliate" sellers who bundle this book with a bunch of other stuff. They're not directly connected to the original authors at all, and they're known for pushing tons of hype and half-baked survival solutions.
So, although you can do the inverted filter setup, it requires a lot of knowledge and skill, and it's not part of the original guide. It's probably not something you can trust, and I think the original authors just aren't clued in to what's going on.
Mystery solved.
Thank you. At the risk of getting this comment thread off-track, one way to clean up any type of water is to distill it. It's energy-intensive, requiring boiling the water and chilling the part of the apparatus that contains the steam vapors. So it would depend on which of two scarce resources is more scarce, water or energy.
Personally, I'm a big fan of distillation because you can tell if it's working without needing a lab to test the water after running it through your setup, and the high temperature assures you that all the bad bugs are dead. Any filter system is, unfortunately, relying on blind trust. I'm currently working on a solar distillation contraption for my personal use.
Probably none of this is sustainable. We're still trying to live under the confines of civilization and keep on buying into capitalism/consumerism.
And ffs stop broadcasting it on social media
Stop broadcasting what?
Your plans eh?
Does the lady with the freezer have off grid power? Cause thatās going to be one hell of a bbq if not.
La primera regla del preparacionista.
No contarlo, no enseƱarlo.
De todas formas, y aunque aquĆ, en Europa, tambiĆ©n hay preparacionistas a lo Rambo, en general, este tema se hace de otra forma.
Somos mƔs de huerto y comunidades.
š¤·š»āāļø
Going to be a lot of americans in real danger if a real disaster ever hits....
"Everyone is suddenly an armchair expert at prepping. " I love that statement because there really are a lot of those kind of people on YouTube and they do drive me a little crazy because I feel I am never going to be proficient at anything specific -it's a half ass attempt but I get by. I do things to help me when specific events happen, like an extended period of drought and then I have some roof water in that catchment container to at least try to keep my garden going. That happened two seasons out of the last 12. I grow and preserve food because it makes me more secure for the winter. I don't think any farther than just making it through the next season- maybe that's a function of age Jessica. I don't know.
Just learn to grow vegetables, plant fruit trees and raise chickens if the mood strikes you. Big steps towards self reliance.
Hi, Jessica. I'm curious: where did you get the 20m figure from? USA is 350m (4% of world), so 20m is ~6%? I heard years ago the figures we're way less. Genuinely interested, because mis-preppers will create a big mess and we need to look at that too, I'm afraid. 1) First, let's try and imagine the full iceberg: good preppers don't go on social media unless they are trying to help, so they are not part of the Statistics; the Amish probably don't count themselves as preppers and they are likely the best (maybe?); who else do we need to look at to have the full picture? And how do we guide more into good prepping, multiplying your own amazing efforts? 2) Second, let's look at what happens when the majority are ill-prepped. They don't just die quietly, or do they? That's exactly why, after a few years of being in the FluWiki scene, ~2005-2009, I wrote resiliencemaps.org / files / fluscim. (For that reason, and for the reason that govts weren't even thinking of a panflu that would cause huge disruption. At least openly.) So, what are we going to do with #2? It's a serious question. How can we assist rapid improvisation "amid the noise and haste"?
Actually, I think it goes from least fine material to most fine material, so rocks, then charcoal, then sand. Maybe.
Turns out, both are right. These are two completely different setups. The common survival bucket puts the rocks on top and charcoal at the bottom. A longterm DIY biofilter does the opposite.
So, this will have to be a new post.
The cutaway view of the 5 gallon bucket looked AI generated.
So, apparently, for longterm homesteading, gravel on the bottom is preferred with sand on top. But countless sources online I trusted do the opposite. Both are right in different situations. And I'm just now learning about this after countless hours. I guess it just illustrates, ironically, how difficult this gets.
I have a really well-stocked pantry but itās all stuff we routinely eat. I rotate the stock.
Donāt hoard black beans if youāre not eating them regularly.
Donāt hoard wheat or flour if you donāt bake regularly.
We've been doing some homesteading, gardening at foraging for the last 3 or 4 years. So far it's mainly been a hobby, we haven't yet tried it on a scale that might actually make a difference if the SHTF. That being said, it's been truly eye opening how much work it takes just to grow a little bit of food or find a few berries and mushrooms in the woods. Still, I suppose it's a good thing that a lot if people are interested in prepping these days. Hopefully we can all learn a bit more as we attempt to do these things on our own. Just watching a few online videos won't cut it. Thanks for writing this substack.
Wait, what, damn!!!