What prep(s) are you LEAST proud of?

[Benny]

Another shortcoming I have is the lack of a rifle... This is something that's bugged me for some time. I have a great defense and hunting shotgun, and we have handguns for personal carry. We also have a .22 rifle for hunting, but we don't have a battle rifle.

That is something I am changing very very soon. I've decided on an Arsenal SGL21-71, and I finally have the money saved up to get one.

So, soon, I'll have one less gap in The Plan(tm).

[RoneKiln]

I don't have a pantry anymore. I've been semi-nomadic for 2 years now while settling out some major life changes. I used to have several months food on hand, a few days minimal water, and a year round fresh water stream across the street. Now when it comes to food or water, I've got near nothing. I had basic, but very robust first aid supplies until United lost them along with one of my duffels. Replaced the most important camping gear that was in it, but still have only minimal first aid supplies now. It's real hard to store things up when I don't have a space of my own to keep them. Financially I'm ok, two months from being completely debt free and there's money already set aside for restocking the pantry when I get one (it will be the biggest, most awesome grocery shopping trip ever). I just don't have anywhere to put it.

I'm pretty comfortable on defensive gear, though I really want to pick up a better quality bullet resistant vest (I have issues calling them bullet proof) than I currently own. The one I have is very thick and heavy. I want one of the lighter one that's easier to conceal. I often hear people talk at length about their guns, but not gear to protect from gunfire. There's no regulations against them of any sort in my area. Are there areas they are illegal in? A top quality one costs about the same as a good quality "battle" rifle. Many people own multiple rifles and handguns but no vest to protect themselves. Seems odd to me. If I pick up a better one, my buddy gave me the idea of sewing a few mag puches on my current one to use as a "bump in the night" vest. While it's thick and heavy, it is very fast and easy to put on (were it not buried in the closet of where I stay most of the time).

With no kids and minimal posessions, there's not much paperwork for me to be concerned with. I just need a pantry and a yard for garden space.

[ancient_serpent]

Really need to work on long term food and water preps. Not strong there at all. I also would like to boost my commo capabilities, besides cells/laptops I only ahve two small Motorola radios (at least both recharge or runn off of AAA batteries).

[ForgeCorvus]

Well here goes...
Recently after bragging about my newest purchase of a heavy duty prybar to be used to pry open the door to the emergency supply room in case of it being jammed shut in an earthquake, it was pointed out to me by my better half that perhaps I should not store the prybar INSIDE said supply room.

Sometimes you just need someone to stand outside of your thinking and point these things out, good catch on their part

[fourpaws]

My worst prep I have to say is my non-ability to convince my LHG (Long Haired General) to join in with me in starting to Prep.. She tolerates things that I do and doesn't make any negative comments but just looks at me in that odd way women do when they think that you're barking.. her kids are the same...

Comms wise, Im looking at CB's right now, same as power - I have my eye on a couple of gennies on eBay right now..
Water Im good for.. lots of 2ltr pop bottles sorted out and 2 20ltr jerry cans are prepped and stored already...
Food.. hmm.. 2 full pantries but they are ready use.. Im to go on a shopping trip when I get back to civilisation..

happy days....

[duodecima]

She tolerates things that I do and doesn't make any negative comments but just looks at me in that odd way women do when they think that you're barking...

Actually, that's kinda a win, there. Think of it as a prep in progress, you're not where you want to be but you'll get there some day as long as you don't do something overeager and counterproductive in the mean time. She'd look at you the same way if you were a mad collector of some esoteric item that she didn't care about.

[BigDaddyTX]

Fitness. We're both out of shape, and it's starting to effect things more than it used to when we were younger.

Water. I have some, but with all the beans and rice I have, I need more. I'm on a well though and I do have solar so technically I should be okay, but if it were cloudy for a few days we could be screwed.

We live paycheck to paycheck. It doesn't help that I'm practically disabled, but not disabled enough for disability. Go figure. We've just started reading Dave Ramsey(sp) together so I hope we can make a positive change there.. we don't owe a ton outside of student loans, but we just don't have any savings when shit goes wrong.

Organization. I have a ton of shit. I'm certain I have well over a month of food, but I couldn't tell you what it all is. I need to inventory everything and list where it is as we use the pantry and few different closets for it. I also need to keep my food rotated better as I found a few cans of "expired" soup the other day, even though we've been eating it fairly regularly.

[KnightoftheRoc]

Had an incident the day before yesterday that I think fits in here- my water heater ruptured unexpectedly. (Do they ever rupture EXPECTEDLY?) So, being it was, of course, 20 minutes before the supply houses closed, all I could do was make phone calls. Next day, I picked up the water heater, two valves, and 2 adapters to connect it with. Thankfully, when I stopped running my plumbing business, I never closed the business officially, nor my contractor accounts- it still cost me $350, even with my discounts. Prep fail, of a sort: I had the money, but it wiped me out for the week. I need to make an account for these things to fix that.

The "fun" part was, the water heater was installed originally with NO valves, so I had to shut down the entire house- no toilet flushing, no showers. Prep fail: lack of wash and flush water on hand. The 'fix', was to utilize the local water source I found shortly after moving in. A five gallon bucket took a while to fill, but we were able to flush with the bucket water, kept in the shower for convenience. I have a 30 gallon drum on hand, just never got around to filling it- guess what got filled up right away. I don't trust the container for potable water- it held something corrosive, but it will be fine for flushing use.

The good part was, I could still have coffee, thanks to the 2 liter bottles I had set aside.

[ForgeCorvus]

KotR, At least your skills prep worked out for you ..... I wouldn't have a clue where to start

[2005RedTJ]

Had an incident the day before yesterday that I think fits in here- my water heater ruptured unexpectedly. (Do they ever rupture EXPECTEDLY?) So, being it was, of course, 20 minutes before the supply houses closed, all I could do was make phone calls. Next day, I picked up the water heater, two valves, and 2 adapters to connect it with. Thankfully, when I stopped running my plumbing business, I never closed the business officially, nor my contractor accounts- it still cost me $350, even with my discounts. Prep fail, of a sort: I had the money, but it wiped me out for the week. I need to make an account for these things to fix that.

The "fun" part was, the water heater was installed originally with NO valves, so I had to shut down the entire house- no toilet flushing, no showers. Prep fail: lack of wash and flush water on hand. The 'fix', was to utilize the local water source I found shortly after moving in. A five gallon bucket took a while to fill, but we were able to flush with the bucket water, kept in the shower for convenience. I have a 30 gallon drum on hand, just never got around to filling it- guess what got filled up right away. I don't trust the container for potable water- it held something corrosive, but it will be fine for flushing use.

The good part was, I could still have coffee, thanks to the 2 liter bottles I had set aside.

I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that you installed shutoffs? I know that's what I do anytime I end up working on something like that that didn't have one already.

[KnightoftheRoc]

Had an incident the day before yesterday that I think fits in here- my water heater ruptured unexpectedly. (Do they ever rupture EXPECTEDLY?) So, being it was, of course, 20 minutes before the supply houses closed, all I could do was make phone calls. Next day, I picked up the water heater, two valves, and 2 adapters to connect it with. Thankfully, when I stopped running my plumbing business, I never closed the business officially, nor my contractor accounts- it still cost me $350, even with my discounts. Prep fail, of a sort: I had the money, but it wiped me out for the week. I need to make an account for these things to fix that.

The "fun" part was, the water heater was installed originally with NO valves, so I had to shut down the entire house- no toilet flushing, no showers. Prep fail: lack of wash and flush water on hand. The 'fix', was to utilize the local water source I found shortly after moving in. A five gallon bucket took a while to fill, but we were able to flush with the bucket water, kept in the shower for convenience. I have a 30 gallon drum on hand, just never got around to filling it- guess what got filled up right away. I don't trust the container for potable water- it held something corrosive, but it will be fine for flushing use.

The good part was, I could still have coffee, thanks to the 2 liter bottles I had set aside.

I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that you installed shutoffs? I know that's what I do anytime I end up working on something like that that didn't have one already.

Of course! I am a big believer in valves and unions for anything that even MIGHT need to be undone sometime in the future. It just makes it soooooo much easier for the next guy, and I am usually "the next guy". At one time, I worked for an outfit that had a contract installing water heaters for the utility company, which meant 99% of them were replacement jobs. I had it down to a half hour, in and out, at one point. This one wasn't even a challenge

[Anianna]

I still don't have a root cellar/tornado shelter.

[Starbar]

My food supply is not in great shape. Having a husband and 3 boys it seems they eat through everything. I was thinking about it and I'm just going to start hiding stuff in the attic/basement. Also our BOBs need a lot before they're one. While my husband is sorta on board, he isn't running out to buy supplies, make his BOB. Little by little though, I'll get him there.

[by-the-throat]

Besides my various crippling addictions, which are not preps so much as hobbies, I think my biggest hole is vehicle related.

I hate driving, am a terrible driver and tend to be bad about keeping my tanks full. We do keep a 5gallon jug of treated gas at home, but I often run around with considerably under half a tank and in the event of a vehicle bugout I'm in trouble. Granted, the main BOV's belong to others in the group, but that doesn't change the fact that I am a crappy driver

My BOB is also in terrible shape right now as I am transitioning to either a new system or beginning a radical restructuring of my old system. Like seriously, the goddamn thing is scattered halfway across the house.

My newfound emphasis on bugging in has made both of these less relevant but they are certainly where my weak points lie.