Ok, so I accept that firearms are a very pragmatic portion of prepping, and I've been putting them off, but recently moved to a more gun-ftiendly state. I got a ruger 10/22 and a glock 17, pretty happy with my basic setup.

I went to a gun event this weekend, amd there was a raffle. I joke that, if I need it I'll win it. Well now I'm the owner of a (as far as i can tell) decent 35mm thermal imaging rifle scope, and need a rifle to use it with.

Is there a general opinion on these scopes, when to use them? My options seem to be 5.56 AR, small cal hunting rifle, and maybe large cal hunting rifle,but thats technically a no-no. Oh and selling it and getting a regular scope/rifle

EDIT: two follow up question: 1) are there phrases and words i should use in the store when shopping for SHTF guns?

2) in the SHTF world, im very sensitive about not drawing attention to myself, and guns are loud how valid a concern is that? To what extent do people make suppressed/subsonic builds on what they have?

I currently live full time in a class b van. Promaster 3500. It’s off grid (solar and propane) been in it a year now. Just had alot of bad luck last year between family members passing, bankruptcy, my parents house burning down, and then multiple job losses. So I found this camper for 27k. Put some money down on it, and I have a little over a year left til it’s paid off.

My question is kind of strange.

I’m hitting a point where I’m burning out of vanlife. Mostly cus I’m a glorified homeless person. All my mail goes to my parents back home in another state 600 miles away, while I work away.

I make roughly 40k a year, maybe 50 with overtime.

Socially I’m tired of being in a big camper van that exposes me. And screams someone lives in that. It’s a cool van but I feel like an outsider at work. Coworkers joke with me about it a lot.. I hop from parking lot to parking lot and shower at gyms but also it forces me to work out. My life if basically work and home.. or well.. the van.

I’ve got maybe a months worth of dry food saved up in here. Maybe 2 weeksish of water. 3 if I used my sinks and showers water as a storage. I can’t stock much else though, and honestly I’m wanting to move to an apartment.

But I just can’t mentally bring myself to break away from the van. I’m terrified of a financial collapse and losing my job and needing to get home, or becoming homeless again and then being in a car. My parents are in their 60s and 70s. I’m 40 and care less about my well being and more that I can help them if I need.

But I don’t have much saved up. I’ve tried and could last maybe a month or so with savings that I have, but an apartment would suck up all that from a application and then a first and last months rent.

I know it’s a weird prepper question but I guess I’m asking, what would you do?

Should I suck it up and tolerate another year or so and save whatever I can like crazy. Just eating as cheap as a I can, storing what I can? Am I better off selling this van and getting out of the payments and into an apartment? Should I go crazy paying it off?

Or try and commit to a apartment where I work and just commute to my home state when I can?

How are y’all mentally handling the state of the economy and financial worries?

Over the last year or so, been noticing a creeping drop in how long the batteries will keep things running. Finally pulled out a multimeter to check each 12V battery in the strings, and woof... Some big discrepancies. I balanced them when initially installing by charging each individual 12V battery, but things being the way they are, drifts happen when using them.

Each string can take a couple days between balancing then fully charging each string, and depending on how many strings you have, could take your battery backup offline a week or longer. I just picked up a balancer myself, but haven't had time to test it (so I can't give a product recommendation yet).

Here's a vid giving more info: 48V Battery Equalizer Explained: What It Is & Why You Need One!

Not my vid, and the product link in the description is a dead link, but there seems to be a good assortment of similar ones available on Amazon.

I needed an excuse to rebuild the battery shelf anyways. Figure no better time since they'll be taken offline!

As an edit, some other info I'm just finding: Looks like the best practice would be to get an active balancer and keep it permanently installed on each string after everything is balanced and brought online. With each one ranging from $50-$75, might be expensive if you have a lot of strings. Also, it looks like many of the active balancers on Amazon don't include in-line fuses for each lead, so it would be a good idea to put an in-line fuse on each line, just in case.

Reading about the Super El NIno and the effects on the upcoming winter has me worried about losing power and needing to heat my home in the event of a power outage during freezing weather/winter storm. I was looking into a propane heater for indoor use, like a Mr. Heater Big Buddy Pro or a Vevor propane heater. Are these really safe for use indoors?

For context, would likely confine heating to one bedroom.

Also considered electric heating sources but it seems too energy intensive for the limited power I would have available in a Jackery unit.

I've recently been trying to expand into some alternative communication types in case of emergencies and for day-to- day use. These are all pretty cheap and easy options as I'm not quite ready to explore the HAM/VHF scene yet. I also just finished the book One Second After and it was a good reminder of how important communication and knowing what's happening is. Our brains go into some weird places when we don't know what's going on around us!

My friend gave me a pair of those tiny Baofeng mini walkie talkie BF-T1s that fit in a your back pocket. They aren't super powerful but are fine for short distances, and they also have regular FM radio we can tune into. We use them for communicating in the mountains when climbing too, so it's good that they're small and light.

I also recently got into MeshCore for some longer distance communications that don't rely on any centralised network operating. I've been using a SenseCAP T-1000 which is the size of a credit card so also good for in the mountains! I hope to contribute with a repeater at some point soon as well.

Finally, I have a Midland ER300 which I can tune into radio stations for emergency broadcast. It's a brick but only for emergencies. It uses Li-ion battery that I can charge with its built-in mini solar panel, a crank, or via USB. It also takes AA batteries, which I have stored as well.

One other thing that's important is to have a copy of your local emergency broadcast channels! I printed the frequencies for all the areas in the country (I live in a small country) and glued them to the back of the Midland, and I've also got them written down in the notes on my phone.

Is there anything else I could add to this?

Edit: I do understand that canning can’t eliminate metals/chemicals. I guess I was operating on the assumption that the water was clean.

I recently received a $75 Amazon gift card, and I’m trying to decide if I should use it to buy a pressure canner or RO system. Would pressure canning lake water make it safe for drinking? I do plan to spend more than $75 on either system.

I live in the Midwest and there are a lot of lakes so I’m not worried about salinity. I have been really trying to bulk up my water supplies lately. I have a pretty good supply of bottled/container water. Like about 8 months for our family. I also have enough water purifying tabs for at least 100 gallons and a hand pump RO system. The pump takes A LOT of manpower to get the water through the membrane though, so I’m considering it a backup to something more ideal. And I have a limited amount of replacement filters for the RO hand pump.

I know distillation takes a large amount of energy for a small amount of water. I’m hoping to use it as a supplement to my already available supplies.

This why I’m asking, is it possible to sanitize lake water with a pressure canner? Or even a regular water bath canner? I do have, and use often, a water bath canner. I’ve been hesitant to try pressure canning because of the health risks. Freeze dried seems safer. 😬