u/SurvSt

Dry soils, heavy fuel loads and warmer-than-average conditions are creating concern as we head into spring. Bushfire preparation isn't just about what happens when the fire arrives. Embers, radiant heat, power outages and being unable to leave at short notice can all become problems.

AFAC Report - Well worth a read and as always the best time to prepare isn't when there's smoke on the horizon — it's now. Time to clean up around the house and get those hoses, sprinklers, fire extinguishers and blankets checked.

Quick one: the wiki used to say portable filters remove "some" viruses. Not accurate. Filters strip bacteria and protozoa; they don't reliably catch viruses at the pore sizes most portable units use. After a flood, if you're on surface water, you want a purifier — chemical, UV, or a filter rated to the smaller virus threshold — not just a filter. Full writeup with sources: Water Filters vs Purifiers: What Actually Removes Viruses.

Worth saying: Survival Storehouse funds the wiki, the tools website and supports this sub. Small Central Coast business, running since 2009 — if you're buying survival kit in Australia, that's who's behind the free stuff you've probably already used so check them out ans help support local. www.survivalstorehouse.com

There are whetstones, others use diamond plates, guided systems or pull-through sharpeners. Anyone call out the biggest mistakes and some basics? Like what pressure to use - what stones/tools sharpen a knife and what obvious thing are overlooked or actually cause more damage? This is a hatchet I had made by an Australian blacksmith - its so sharp anyone I show it to invariable cuts them selves :-) and I'm not keen to use it any time soon - any advice on if I should be doing anything to preserve it better?

I suck at fire lighting so added this small piece to my BOB. Its a small hemp oil rope with a short metal tube - takes a spark really well and awesome for lighting fires in windy weather. Its the little things :-)

Rod or reel, finding bait, hand fishing by reaching under rocks, using a sharp stick for hand spearing. There are lots of ways documented to catch a fish for dinner. If you were out of food and near a waterway do you think you could catch a fish? I've always been crap at it. This is one thing I think needs to be taken to the field and tested? and can easily be - but have you done it?

Went down a rabbit hole on plastic bottle uses and split them into "actually proven" vs "know it exists, don't bet your life on it."

This is my favourite one: a clear bottle filled with water and a few mL of bleach, jammed through a hole in a corrugated roof, refracts enough sunlight to match a 40-60 watt bulb — during daylight hours, zero electricity. This isn't a survival blog trick, it's been deployed in hundreds of thousands of homes globally (Liter of Light), including as disaster response after Typhoon Haiyan. Genuinely useful for a shed or windowless room, not just a doomsday scenario.

Solar disinfection (SODIS) is the other one that's actually legit — clear bottle, water, 6+ hours of direct sun, kills a real range of pathogens. WHO-backed, not just prepper folklore. But it's got real limits nobody mentions: doesn't reliably treat what's caught in the threads/cap, and a couple of 2L bottles doesn't go far against the ~10L/person/day you actually need.

Then there's the one I'm skeptical will actually work for most people: using a water-filled bottle as a lens to start a fire. It's been demonstrated under lab-ish conditions, but a rectangular bottle is a genuinely bad lens shape compared to something round, so I'd bet most people trying this in the field with a Coke bottle are going to be disappointed.

Any other ideas I've missed?

Telstra's mobile network went down nationwide from around 4:15am AEST today (8 July 2026), affecting calls, texts and data across every mainland capital. Reports peaked around 6:30am — 53% mobile signal loss, 40% mobile internet, 4% voice calls. Some phones are showing "SOS" or satellite-only. It's also taken down the wholesale providers riding Telstra's network — Belong, Aldi Mobile, Superloop. Real-world effects already reported: the entire regional Victorian train network (V/Line) disrupted, EFTPOS terminals failing in some areas, and Federal Emergency Management Minister Kristy McBain confirming a "large number" of calls and connections affected, including some Triple Zero access concerns. Telstra says it's investigating; no cause or customer count confirmed yet. (SBS)

This is the fourth major carrier-wide outage with real emergency-access consequences in under three years:

November 2023 — Optus.** Nationwide outage, 10.2 million people and 400,000 businesses disconnected for over 16 hours. Separately, 2,145 people were denied Triple Zero access during the event and 369 follow-up welfare checks were never conducted. Optus was fined $12 million; CEO Kelly Bayer Rosmarin resigned.

March 2024 — Telstra.** A network disruption caused 127 Triple Zero calls to fail. ACMA fined Telstra $3 million. SBS has reported the incident was linked to the death of a Victorian man, after his family's emergency call was delayed during his cardiac arrest.`

 September 2025 — Optus (twice).** A botched firewall update on 18 September caused around 600 Triple Zero calls to fail across SA, WA and the NT — police confirmed two deaths directly tied to it. Less than two weeks later, a separate tower fault in Dapto, NSW caused a further 9 failed Triple Zero calls over 9 hours; all affected customers were confirmed safe.

November 2025 — TPG Telecom.** A separate death was linked to a failed Triple Zero call on TPG's network.`

  July 8th 2026 — Telstra, today.

Four different incidents, two different major carriers, at least three deaths directly linked across the pattern.`

One thing worth knowing that goes beyond phone calls: a lot of Australian properties — rural and acreage blocks without fixed broadband at the gate, and some apartment intercom systems — run their gate and garage automation over a SIM card on the mobile network directly, often Telstra specifically for its regional coverage. When the mobile network goes down, those units have no way to receive an open command at all, regardless of whether your home wifi or power is fine. Some smart garage openers relying on a phone's mobile data to send a cloud command have the same failure mode. Worth checking whether your own setup has a manual override that doesn't depend on a signal.`

Anyone actually locked out of something today because of this — house, garage, EFTPOS, work systems?

 

Fair call from a few people — the old version told you what Mylar bags and oxygen absorbers do, but skipped the two parts that actually matter in practice: how to pick the right bag, and how to seal it properly so it actually holds for 20 years instead of 2.

 What's different now:

 Bag thickness isn't just "thicker is better" — 3.5-4 mil is genuinely fine for smaller pouches or shorter-term storage, but bulk grain going into a 5-gallon bucket liner deserves 5-7 mil, because sharp edges and repeated handling over years will find the weak spot in a thinner bag eventually. Also worth knowing: not everything sold as "Mylar" actually has the real metalized barrier layer — some cheaper look-alikes are a thinner laminate that won't perform the same over a decade even though they look identical off the shelf.

Sealing was the biggest gap. The trick that actually matters: seal most of the width first, leave a small gap, push the remaining air out through it, then finish the seal — sealing the whole width in one pass traps way more air than people expect. Wipe the inside of the seam clean before sealing too, since a bit of flour or spice dust caught in the seam is a sneaky, invisible cause of slow leaks. Once it's sealed and the absorber's had a few hours to work, the bag should visibly pull down tight — if it's still loose or puffy after that, something's wrong and it's worth checking rather than trusting.

Also flagged that standard FoodSaver-style vacuum sealers generally don't work on real Mylar — the smooth foil surface doesn't let them pull a vacuum properly, and thicker bags exceed what they're built for. An iron on a dry setting or an impulse sealer is still the way to go.`

 Full updated page here: https://wiki.survivalstorehouse.com/wiki/Mylar_Bags_and_Oxygen_Absorbers

 Anyone had a bag fail on them despite thinking it was sealed properly? Curious if you found what went wrong when you opened it?

On 20 June 2026, CSIRO confirmed Australia's first-ever detection of H5N1 (clade 2.3.4.4b) — the serious global strain, not the milder H7 strain behind past Australian outbreaks. Until then, Australia was among the last places on Earth free of it. (DAFF)

Current scale (4 July 2026): 5 confirmed cases — 4 in WA, 1 in SA, all in wild seabirds. No detections in poultry, mammals, or humans yet. (DAFF)

Wild animals: Overseas, this strain has wiped out over half of some seabird colonies (Sandwich Terns, Peruvian Pelicans) in single outbreaks. Separately, it's already caused serious seal and penguin deaths at Australia's Heard Island/McDonald Islands territory. (Australian Antarctic Program)

Poultry: Not yet detected on any farm, but a vet working on H5N1 since 2004 estimates outbreaks in Australian poultry are plausible within 4–5 weeks. Mortality near 100% is likely on affected commercial farms; mass culling is the standard response, no vaccination currently. Australia's 2024 H7 outbreak (a milder strain) still cost 1.8 million birds. (The Conversation)`

Pets: Cats are far more vulnerable than dogs — US data shows fatalities from eating contaminated milk or dead birds. Worth watching what your cat scavenges outdoors. (The Conversation)

People: Risk is currently low. One 2024 Australian case was acquired overseas (different subtype) and fully recovered — no local spread. Person-to-person transmission remains rare globally. (ACDC)

Economics/food chain: Globally, over 2,000 outbreaks across 64 countries have cost 140+ million poultry since 2025. NSW DPI states plainly that a widespread Australian poultry outbreak would mean shortages, higher egg/poultry prices, and disrupted export markets. (NSW DPI)

It's a notifiable disease — report sick/dead birds to the Emergency Animal Disease Hotline, 1800 675 888, don't touch them.

Anyone seeing biosecurity activity on the ground?`

Happy Friday everyone! - I'd like to give a shout out to a small family run survival kit company based on the Central Coast in NSW. When I came to them for advice in trying to setup an Australian focused sub Reddit they were more than happy to help. Setting me up with some community contacts to talk to, reviewing my pages and giving me new topic ideas.

When I wanted to use their domain to develop some tools they were more than happy to help. When I wanted to develop an app they stumped up some much needed funds to get it off the ground. After a year we now have almost 1500 members and growing each day.

They are pretty specialised and sell long shelf life food and water as well as what they call "survival aid kits."

Anyway, check them out and even if you are not in the market but like what they are about a shout out in a forum or Facebook group, a like on their Facebook page would go a long way.

You can see them at : https://survivalstorehouse.com/

Thanks everyone and looking forward to a great weekend!

I Went through and rewrote our wiki page on pulling usable power out of things most people already have lying around. Covers hand-crank torches modified with a step-up converter, small motors run backwards as makeshift generators, thermoelectric plates that turn a campfire into a USB charger, and salvaging cells out of dead laptops, vapes, and old power tool batteries (with the actual fire-risk rules for doing that safely).

Also covered coin and lemon batteries, mostly to be upfront that they're a fun demo and not something you'd actually rely on — the voltage is real but the current's basically nothing.

Honestly convinced that's not the full picture. This feels like exactly the kind of thing someone with an electronics or ham radio background has a better answer for than we do. Bike-powered setups, salvaged inverter tricks, anything using stuff from a servo or an old UPS we didn't think of — genuinely want to know what we're missing.

Here's what we've got so far: https://wiki.survivalstorehouse.com/wiki/Power_from_Everyday_Items

What would you add, or what's wrong with what's there?

BoM's already issued Flood Watch No. 2 for Victoria as of yesterday (29 June): minor to moderate flooding likely from today, Tuesday 30 June, with isolated major flooding possible. Catchments covered: Upper Murray, Mitta Mitta, Kiewa River, Broken River, Seven and Castle Creeks, and parts of the Goulburn. A second front moves through Wednesday 1 – Thursday 2 July, bringing strong winds and a cold change behind it — first snow of the season for the Victorian and NSW alps.

Forecasts have southern NSW, central/north-east Victoria and northern Tasmania looking at up to 100mm this week, isolated spots possibly 200mm. Wider falls of 30-60mm are expected across QLD and SA too.

The number that matters more than the rainfall total: the ground's already wet from previous falls. That's what actually drives flash flooding, not just how many mm land in a week. Most people never check whether their property is actually flood-prone until water's in the driveway.

Worth knowing: Every state has a free flood mapping tool — VicPlan for Victoria, NSW SES Flood Data Portal, QLD FloodCheck, and equivalents in SA, WA, Tas. Search your address and look for flood overlays.

"1-in-100-year flood" doesn't mean once a century. It's a 1% chance every single year — over a 30-year mortgage that's roughly a 1-in-4 chance of copping one.

Outside the mapped flood zone doesn't mean safe. It means it hasn't been modelled for that scenario, and those models are based on historical rainfall that's becoming less reliable as extreme rain events get more frequent.

If you rent, nobody's obligated to tell you any of this unless the property's actually flooded before. You have to check it yourself.

Wrote up exactly how to check, state by state, in the wiki here:

https://wiki.survivalstorehouse.com/wiki/How_to_Check_your_Flood_Risk_in_Australia

Anyone across NSW, Vic, Tas, QLD or SA watching this one closely?

"You're one pregnant mouse away from hating life" came up in a thread here recently. True, but mice aren't the only thing coming for your pantry. Three things I think do the most damage, and each needs a different defence.

Mice — they squeeze through gaps as small as 8mm, narrower than a pencil. Cardboard and thin plastic aren't a barrier, they're a snack. Fix: sealed containers (Mylar in a food-grade bucket with a tight gasket lid, or glass/steel for the rotation pantry), kept off the floor and away from walls — that's exactly where they run.

Grain weevils — the one nobody expects. The female lays one egg inside a single grain of rice and seals the hole. It's already there when you buy the bag. You won't notice until the grain turns to dust. Fix: freeze rice 3–7 days (or a low oven treatment) before sealing it away. Kill the eggs before you pack, not after.

Pantry moths — fine webbing across flour or grain, small clumps that weren't there before. By the time you see an adult moth flying around, the population's already established. Fix: same as weevils — pre-treat before storage, oxygen absorbers finish off anything that survives.

WA and SA are mid-plague right now, CSIRO recording up to 8,000 mice/hectare in places — worse than 2020-21, which had mice stripping supermarket shelves and emptying out a correctional centre. Good time to actually check your setup instead of assuming a lid is enough.

Any other risks people see from pests or what else did you do to prevent impact from them?

The things I spend money on are things I know I'll use anyway, provided life continues as normal. Two years of toilet paper, soap, shampoo, rice, and the basics aren't wasted if nothing happens — I'll use them eventually. And if something does happen, they're one less thing to worry about. When COVID hit, having a decent pantry and supply of household basics (yes - toilet paper) felt less like prepping and more like just having been organised.

I also try to reduce things to fundamentals — clean water being the obvious one. You know you're going to need it.

The debate I find interesting is where people draw the line on collapse scenarios. I have a mate who is convinced that a complete societal breakdown is not just possible but likely, and he prepares accordingly. My thinking is that even in a genuinely bad situation, some food will be available — more expensive, harder to get, but available. Because there will always be someone with five acres growing something to sell. Farmers don't stop farming.

That framing shapes how I prioritise. I try to have a reason for every dollar I spend on preparedness. Practical, useable, rotating — not stockpiling for a scenario I genuinely don't think is coming.

Curious where others land on this. What's your underlying theory of prepping — and has it changed over time?

Ordinary air temperature — the number on your weather app — measures how hot the air is. It doesn't measure how effectively your body can actually shed that heat.

Your body cools itself primarily through sweat evaporating off your skin. In dry air that works well. In humid air it slows down because the air is already saturated with moisture. At high enough humidity, evaporation almost stops entirely — which means your body has almost no way to regulate its core temperature, regardless of how much water you drink or how much shade you're in.

There's a specific number where this becomes genuinely dangerous. Weird to think that a humid 32°C day in Cairns can be more physiologically dangerous than a dry 40°C day in outback NSW — but that's what the science says.

Had to look that one up before I believed it. What's the preparedness or survival fact you had to look up because it seemed too strange to be true?

(pic taken near Arrabury - Southwest Queensland)

Here's what went onto the wiki in June in case you missed anything, and why it's worth opening the app and hitting sync before July gets going.

What went live this month:

El Niño declared — full breakdown of what it actually means for Australian conditions, a month-by-month impact calendar, and what the preparation window looks like before spring. BOM confirmed it on 16 June. The modelling is not subtle.

Heatwave preparedness — the hazard that kills more Australians than bushfires, floods, and cyclones combined, and the one most households have no plan for. Covers who's actually at risk, the overnight temperature problem, cooling fallback options, and when to call 000.

Australian emergency radio frequencies — a full cheat sheet covering UHF CB, 27 MHz CB, HF networks, BOM weather broadcasts, ABC Local AM by state, and SES HF monitoring frequencies by state. Worth printing and laminating. Got some excellent community corrections from people who clearly know their radios — thank you to everyone who weighed in.

Reading weather without instruments — cloud texture, smoke behaviour, sky colour, animal signals, and how to read a barometer properly. Draws on observation systems documented over centuries including the original guide compiled by the Royal Navy admiral who founded what became the British Met Office.

Distress signals field reference — the full signalling sequence from Triple Zero through to ground-to-air symbols and mirror signalling, with the AMSA rescue chain explained.

Personal water filtration — what portable filters actually remove, what they don't, and why the Australian protozoa situation is more complicated than overseas content suggests.

Why sync the app now:

Everything above is now in the offline cache. If the power goes out, if you lose mobile coverage, if Triple Zero is down — the information is on your phone without needing a connection.

El Niño peaks November through January. That's our bushfire season, our heatwave window, and for northern Queensland the start of cyclone season. Having the heatwave page, the distress signals page, and the radio frequencies cheat sheet available offline before that window arrives costs nothing and takes about thirty seconds.

App is detailed on the wiki — search Survival Storehouse in the App Store or Google Play. Sync button is on the home screen.

New here? The wiki is at wiki.survivalstorehouse.com — 200+ articles written specifically for Australian conditions, cached in the app for offline access.