What’s the Most Overlooked Prep in Your Opinion?
It seems like we all focus a lot on the big-ticket preps: food, water, shelter, first aid. But I keep coming back to how rarely folks talk about sanitation—especially long-term waste management if the grid stays down for weeks or more. People stock up toilet paper and maybe a camp toilet, but how many of us have really thought through what we'd do if our septic systems fail or the city sewer backs up? Disease outbreaks from poor hygiene have brought down more populations than starvation in history.
Does anyone here have a solid plan for maintaining hygiene and waste disposal beyond the first few weeks, when supplies might run out or buckets start overflowing? I’ve been researching composting toilets and simple handwashing stations using foot pumps, but I'm curious what practical solutions others have come up with. What have you actually tested? Any advice on best practices for keeping things clean without running water?
Also—do you think there’s another prep that gets overlooked even more than this? Would love to hear stories or hard lessons learned from people who’ve actually had to go a while without modern plumbing.
Does anyone here have a solid plan for maintaining hygiene and waste disposal beyond the first few weeks, when supplies might run out or buckets start overflowing? I’ve been researching composting toilets and simple handwashing stations using foot pumps, but I'm curious what practical solutions others have come up with. What have you actually tested? Any advice on best practices for keeping things clean without running water?
Also—do you think there’s another prep that gets overlooked even more than this? Would love to hear stories or hard lessons learned from people who’ve actually had to go a while without modern plumbing.
