# s1gma > s1gma is a preparedness and threat-intelligence resource. Calm, data-driven, source-cited guides on emergency power, water, food, medical, and disaster preparedness, plus free interactive tools. Every guide is fact-checked against primary sources (CDC, EPA, NOAA, NHTSA, FEMA) and cites them. ## Guides - [Do Expired Medications Still Work? What to Keep at Home, and What to Never Trust Past the Date](https://s1gma.net/articles/do-expired-medications-still-work): Most expired medications keep working for years. A short, deadly list does not. What your home medicine supply actually needs, and what to toss. - [Wildfire Smoke Reaches You Now: How to Actually Clean Your Indoor Air](https://s1gma.net/articles/wildfire-smoke-clean-indoor-air-what-works): In 2023 wildfire smoke turned New York's sky orange from fires 500 miles away. What actually keeps your indoor air breathable, including a $30 version. - [The Water Filter Buyer's Guide: What Actually Removes What](https://s1gma.net/articles/best-water-filter-what-actually-removes-what): Most people buy the wrong water filter, one that leaves in the exact thing that could hurt them. How to match the filter to your real threat. - [The Winter Car Kit: What Actually Keeps You Alive When You're Stranded](https://s1gma.net/articles/winter-car-emergency-kit-stranded): A senator spent 27 hours stranded on a frozen interstate with one orange to eat. What actually gets you through a night stuck in a car, by need. - [Backup Power for a Blackout: What Actually Keeps You Safe (Not Just Warm)](https://s1gma.net/articles/backup-power-blackout-what-actually-works): When the grid failed Texas for days, most people died trying to stay warm the wrong way. What actually powers you through a multi-day outage, and what to - [Home Fire Safety: You Have About 3 Minutes, Not 17](https://s1gma.net/articles/home-fire-safety-you-have-3-minutes): The house fire you picture is flames. The one you'll get is smoke, at 2am, with about 3 minutes to escape. What actually keeps your family alive, by the d - [What Actually Goes in a Bug-Out Bag (The Boring, Useful Version)](https://s1gma.net/articles/bug-out-bag-what-actually-goes-in-it): Most bug-out bags are built for a movie. A real evacuation is 72 hours at a relative's house. Lead with the things you cannot re-buy. - [How to Prepare Your House for a Hurricane: A Water-First Runbook](https://s1gma.net/articles/prepare-house-for-hurricane-water-first): Hurricane prep obsesses over wind. The data says water, more of it inland rain, is what kills and ruins houses. Prepare your home in the right order. - [Earthquake Preparedness: It's Not Just a California Problem](https://s1gma.net/articles/earthquake-preparedness-not-just-california): The USGS says nearly 75% of the US faces earthquake risk. What to actually do when one hits, the viral myth that could get you killed, and the prep that works. - [The Best Emergency Radio (and Which of the 3 Kinds You Need)](https://s1gma.net/articles/best-emergency-radio-noaa-gmrs-ham): When the cell network jams, a radio still works. The 3 kinds of emergency radio, which one you actually need, and the license facts most articles get wrong. - [The Best Survival Books Worth Actually Reading](https://s1gma.net/articles/best-survival-books): The survival-book genre is mostly landfill. Here's the small canon worth reading, the free ones nobody mentions, and the junk to skip. - [How Long Pantry Food Actually Lasts (and When to Toss It)](https://s1gma.net/articles/how-long-pantry-food-actually-lasts): Date labels are quality guesses, not safety deadlines. How long pantry staples really last, when stale is harmless, and the one time to toss it anyway. - [Home Backup Power: Generator vs Power Station vs Solar](https://s1gma.net/articles/home-backup-power-generator-vs-power-station-vs-solar): Generator, battery power station, or solar? An honest, sourced guide to home backup power: how to size it, what to skip, and the best units by tier. - [Heat Waves: How to Actually Prepare](https://s1gma.net/articles/heat-waves-how-to-actually-prepare): Extreme heat is the #1 weather killer in the US. The heat-stroke red flags, the fan that can make you hotter, and how to actually stay cool. - [Long-Term Food Storage: What Actually Lasts](https://s1gma.net/articles/long-term-food-storage-what-actually-lasts): What actually lasts 30 years, what quietly goes rancid, how to store it so the big numbers apply, and the canning mistake that can kill you. - [Home Remedies: What the Evidence Actually Says](https://s1gma.net/articles/home-remedies-what-the-evidence-actually-says): Which folk cures hold up under a Cochrane review, which are harmless theater, and which can hurt you. Home remedies, graded by the real evidence. - [Reading Medication Labels: A Preparedness Guide](https://s1gma.net/articles/reading-medication-labels-preparedness-guide): How to read any medicine label in an emergency: find the active ingredient, decode drug-name stems, spot a drug's foreign aliases, and know what to stock. - [Best Flashlight for EDC and Emergencies: What Lumens Actually Mean](https://s1gma.net/articles/best-flashlight-for-edc-and-emergencies-what-lumens-actually-mean): Ignore the lumen wars. What actually matters in a flashlight, the EDC light to carry, the headlamp nobody buys, and area light for outages, with the real picks at each tier. - [How to Store Water for an Emergency (and Make Sketchy Water Safe)](https://s1gma.net/articles/how-to-store-water-for-emergencies-and-make-questionable-water-safe): You die in three days without it, it is the first thing off the shelves, and water prep is nearly free. How much to store, how to store it, and how to make found water safe. - [How Much Emergency Food to Store, Per Person and By the Numbers](https://s1gma.net/articles/how-much-emergency-food-to-store-per-person-by-the-numbers): Three days is the evacuation number, not the home number. What FEMA actually recommends to store, in water, calories, and shelf life, with the math done for you. - [The Trauma Kit Most People Don't Have: Stop the Bleed, By the Data](https://s1gma.net/articles/the-trauma-kit-most-people-dont-have-stop-the-bleed-by-the-data): Severe bleeding can kill in under five minutes, faster than help arrives. The bleeding-control kit that actually matters, what each piece does, and why training beats gear. - [Power Outage Kit: What Actually Keeps the Lights On](https://s1gma.net/articles/power-outage-kit-what-actually-keeps-the-lights-and-fridge-on): The average US power outage keeps getting longer. Here is the kit that keeps your lights, phone, and fridge alive through a multi-day one, in four layers, and what to skip. - [Everyday Carry: What's Actually Worth Carrying](https://s1gma.net/articles/everyday-carry-whats-actually-worth-carrying): Everyday carry is the small kit that solves the small emergencies that actually happen. Here is what is worth carrying, in three layers, and what to skip. - [Wildfire Evacuation: The 13 Items In My Bag After Watching California Burn](https://s1gma.net/articles/wildfire-evacuation-the-13-items-in-my-bag-after-watching-california-burn): Same baseline of wildfires every year, wildly different damage. Eleven years of NIFC data, the geographic reality of who actually burns, and the thirteen items that live in my evacuation bag in Raleigh — because the bag works for fire, ice, hurricane, and grid-down all at once. - [What the Data Actually Says About Having a Real First-Aid Kit at Home](https://s1gma.net/articles/what-the-data-actually-says-about-having-a-real-first-aid-kit-at-home): What peer-reviewed studies actually show about bystander intervention, home injuries, and whether a stocked first-aid kit changes outcomes when ordinary bad things happen. - [The Third-Biggest Ebola Outbreak in History Is Also the Best-Prepared One](https://s1gma.net/articles/the-third-biggest-ebola-outbreak-is-also-the-best-prepared-one): The DRC outbreak is the third-largest in Ebola's history and the most operationally sophisticated response the world has ever mounted. Vaccines, antibody treatments, ring vaccination, and early international screening are all working in concert. Here is what the headlines are not telling you. ## Tools - [Supply Calculator](https://s1gma.net/supply-calculator): Calculate emergency water, food, and supply needs by household size and climate. - [Danger Index](https://s1gma.net/danger-index): Real-time threat assessment for your location. - [Signals map](https://s1gma.net/signals): Live map of threat and situational-awareness signals. - [Water / Morse / Garden / Quiz tools](https://s1gma.net): Morse encode-decode with audio, planting calendar by USDA zone, and a preparedness self-assessment quiz. ## About - [About s1gma](https://s1gma.net/about): Who we are and how we research.