Prepper family stops buying gear, starts learning food storage, fire-starting, and foraging

For one household in a Reddit prepping forum, the next phase of readiness is not buying more gear. Instead, it is learning how to preserve food without a freezer, practicing with a ferro rod, and identifying edible native plants together.

Here's what to know

In a Reddit thread in the r/prepping community, the original poster said their family was taking a skills-first approach now that everyone in the household was "on board." The plan included learning ways to preserve food without freezing it, improving their use of a ferro rod, and going out to identify edible plants native to their area.

The OP's main message was, "What good is the gear/food/gadgets, if you dont know how to use them." Replies echoed that idea through everyday tasks rather than stockpiling, with commenters mentioning canning, mending, gardening, and winter growing.

Money-saving habits came up early in the thread. One commenter said, "Staying home and not spending money." Another responded, "This is a huge and simple action." Other users mentioned canning apple butter for the first time, sewing socks with holes, and trying hydroponics to grow food over the winter.

More background

Some people framed preparedness as part of normal household budgeting, not separate from it. One user wrote, "I changed my life so that the skills I need to stay alive in hard times are just my life now." They said they grow, gather, and preserve as much food as they can while also trying to buy whole foods partly to save money.

Home projects and reuse were another theme. One commenter said they salvaged a solar panel "out of the trash" and wanted to test the best place in the yard to charge batteries and power a backyard light. That same person also mentioned canning, running a dehydrator, refinishing vintage steel jerry cans, and adding insulation panels to an attic crawl space.

The range of answers also showed how broadly people defined useful skills. The conversation also included gardening, earning credentials to make more money, DIY work to reduce spending, and decluttering.

One commenter said they were experimenting with microgreens, sprouts, and low-tech preservation methods like dehydration and vinegar-based storage.

Where can I learn more?

For a broader look at how people approach self-reliance, these articles range from prepper family dynamics to off-grid living choices. They focus on how households manage preparedness, water access, and home solar systems in everyday life.

• In one family, an adult child described her dad's apocalyptic preoccupation as a lasting strain.

• An off-grid Tennessee family built energy independence for decades with a high-tech solar setup.

• In the Rocky Mountains, a family of five showed how 1,000 watts of solar power daily life.

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