Drones Will Be Used Against You After The Collapse, Here's How To Fight Back!.
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When society collapses, whether through war, economic destruction, civil unrest, or some other large-scale disaster, most people imagine chaos in the streets, empty grocery stores, and people fighting over basic resources. But there’s another threat you need to be prepared for. One that flies silently overhead and could strike you before you even know you’re being watched. I’m talking about drones.
As someone who’s been researching prepping, reading articles, studying books, and creating survival content, I see a lot of talk about the same cookie-cutter topics. Water filtration, food storage, home invasions, and civil unrest. But I rarely see anyone talking about drones, or even asking me about them, and that’s a mistake. Drones are already a massive part of our world. They are used by hobbyists, by militaries, by law enforcement, and even by cartels. After a collapse, I truly believe drones will become a major concern, and not many people are thinking about it now, but they should be.
To see for myself how accessible this tech is, I even ordered a couple drones off of AliExpress. They were cheap, around thirty dollars each. And they worked. I also saw higher-end models being sold with full HD cameras, 50 times zoom, and flight times of twenty-two to thirty minutes, all for under two hundred dollars. You can get much better ones from companies like DJI. This kind of technology is available to anyone. After the collapse, criminals will absolutely use it the wrong way. Let’s break it down.
How Criminals Will Use Drones After the Collapse
If the power grid fails, the economy crashes, or civil war breaks out, drones will quickly become a critical tool for attackers. They are cheap, quiet, and extremely effective. And they will be used to scout, surveil, and attack.
The first and most obvious use will be reconnaissance. Criminals or roaming gangs will launch drones to fly over neighborhoods, countryside roads, and forested areas to look for signs of human activity. They will be scanning for solar panels on rooftops, vegetable gardens in your backyard, rainwater catchment barrels, smoke coming from chimneys, or even livestock.
If you’ve bugged out to a remote camp, don’t think you’re automatically safe. Drones can cover miles of wilderness and pick up trails, tracks, or even heat signatures from above. That camo tarp you set up may look hidden from the ground, but from the air, it might stand out like a billboard.
Some drones will have thermal imaging, which means they do not need daylight to find you. They can detect your body heat, the warmth of a running generator, or even a campfire. If you're cooking outside, they’ll see the heat plume. If you're walking in the dark, they’ll see your body glowing in infrared. Unless you actively work to hide that heat, you’re vulnerable. And they won’t just use these drones to watch. Some will use them to strike.
Drones Will Be Weaponized
In war zones like Ukraine, we’re already seeing what’s possible. Commercial drones are being modified to drop improvised explosives on enemy positions. You can find footage of drones dropping grenades through sunroofs or into trenches. The same thing can happen to you.
Post-collapse, criminals will use drones to drop pipe bombs, Molotov cocktails, smoke bombs, or homemade incendiaries onto homes, vehicles, or camps. A single road flare dropped into dry brush could start a wildfire. A smoke bomb tossed into your backyard could confuse you long enough for them to rush your property. Some may drop rocks or debris through skylights to distract you before a ground attack. This is asymmetric warfare adapted for the collapse.
If you’ve made enemies, or if you’re guarding something valuable, drones will be part of their toolkit. They will scout, test your defenses, and possibly attack from above.
Do Not Advertise What You Have
One of the biggest mistakes people make in a collapse is showing what they have. If you own something that desperate people might want, keep it covered or bring it inside when it's not in use. That includes your generator, solar panels, rain barrels, even buckets and gardening tools. A drone flying overhead for two minutes can take a dozen high-resolution photos of your property. They’ll know what you have, what time you’re active, and whether you’re worth robbing.
You don’t need to live in fear, but you do need to live smart. If you’ve got gear, hide it. If you’re growing food, put it behind fencing or netting that breaks up the visual pattern from above. If your generator is running, place it in a shed or behind a sandbag wall. Muffle the noise and block the heat. Noise attracts people. Heat attracts drones. You cannot afford to make yourself a target.
How to Defend Yourself from Drones
You are not helpless. You can fight back. Start by limiting your visibility and heat signature. If you’re moving during the day in open areas, you’re easy to spot. Travel at night. Stay close to trees and shaded terrain. Forest canopies interfere with a drone’s line of sight and break up your outline.
To protect yourself from thermal drones, use mylar emergency blankets. These shiny blankets reflect heat and can distort your infrared signature. Wrap your shelter. Line the inside of your tarp. Cover stored gear. They won’t make you invisible, but they may throw off the drone’s thermal sensor just enough to protect you.
Now let’s talk about how to bring them down.
Shotguns. In Ukraine, soldiers and mercenaries have confirmed that 12-gauge shotguns with birdshot are highly effective against drones. One operator said he uses a Mossberg 500 and has downed multiple drones with ease. Birdshot gives you a wide spread, so you don’t need perfect aim. Just the right timing and angle.
Slingshots. If you want a quieter option, a high-powered slingshot is a great tool. Loaded with steel balls, marbles, or rocks, it can take down drones silently and without giving away your location. Slingshots are legal in most places and don’t require ammo you can’t find or make. They are light, reusable, and surprisingly powerful.
Anti-drone guns. These are more advanced tools that jam a drone’s signal using radio frequencies, causing it to crash or return home. They are expensive, starting around four thousand dollars, but if you are defending a large property, a group, or critical resources, they may be worth it.
Sandbags. Don’t underestimate them. Stack sandbags around your rooftop, generator, garden, or fuel stores. They block line of sight and absorb damage from explosives. Even a small sandbag wall around your gear could be the reason a drone fails to hit its mark.
Fire is a Weapon. Prepare for It
If drones are dropping flares or incendiaries, fire is going to be one of your biggest threats. You must be ready.
Every household should have at least two to four fire extinguishers rated for Class A, B, and C fires. That means fires caused by solids, flammable liquids, and electrical sources. Keep one near your back door, one in the kitchen, one in your garage, and one near your generator or tools. If you live on a homestead or larger property, have extras near fuel, outbuildings, and sheds.
Fires can spread fast, and in a collapse, there’s no fire department coming to save you. Your only option is to put it out yourself or watch everything you’ve built burn.
Expect Injuries. Build a Trauma Kit
Drones dropping explosives or sharp objects will cause injuries. And if you’re hit, you need more than a box of bandages.
You need a trauma kit. A real one.
Here’s what every prepper household should have:
Tourniquets like CAT or SOFTT-W
Pressure dressings such as Israeli bandages
Compressed gauze for wound packing
Hemostatic agents like QuikClot or Celox
Chest seals for puncture wounds
Nitrile gloves
Trauma shears
A nasopharyngeal airway with lube
Burn dressings or sterile burn sheets
Antiseptic wipes or iodine swabs
Eye shield and eyewash solution
SAM splint for fractures
Permanent marker to note tourniquet times
Emergency blanket
Basic trauma instructions in case someone else has to treat you
Train your group to use these tools. Don’t just own the kit. Know the kit. At the very least, if you don’t want to take an in person course, watch youtube videos from experts to see how you can use each item. Remember that when the collapse hits, you are your own medic.
My Final Warning
Drones are not just military tech. After the collapse, they will be used by gangs, looters, and anyone with bad intentions and access to basic tech. They do not need the power grid. They can be charged using solar panels, car batteries, or scavenged power stations. They’re quiet, fast, and deadly.
They will be used to scout your property, track your movements, cause chaos, start fires, and even kill. And they will be used by people in your own community, not just by organized forces or governments.
Hide your gear. Conceal your heat. Fortify your home. Train your eyes to the sky. Be ready to defend not just against what’s coming through the door, but what’s flying over it.
Keep prepping!

10 Items To Buy Before The Next Depression
First is powdered baby formula, this is going to sell out very quickly and will be very expensive, I think that if you have a baby you should be buying it on a regular basis, rotating it and you should have at least 6 months worth or however long they may be on it.
Next is laundry detergent, you will still have a need to wash your clothes so stock up and I would go for powdered laundry detergent for long term storage, the liquid one starts to eat away at the plastic and doesn't last as long.
Make sure you have extra pet food and water if you have a pet, people always forget about this.
Stock up on all the common over the counter meds and get a few first aid kits
You should also stock up on ammo, you will need it for hunting when you try to go out and get your own food, like they did back then in the great depression. You will also need it for Self-Defense, when people get desperate and start looting.
Seeds, During the great depression, people who grew their own food had a huge advantage over other people, while many others were starving, they were able to eat vegetables out of their garden. Now some people were already growing their food which they were very happy they did and others started when they saw that things were getting really bad, don't be the person who only starts it only when you desperately need it.
Next is meat, again it was very hard to get some during the great depression, it was really considered a luxury item. So vacuum seal meat, put it in the freezer, start canning or buying canned meat or buy freeze dried meat which will last you 25+ years. You have many options.
If you are in a situation where you end up homeless and living out of your vehicle, you would still want a way to power devices like flashlights, radios, phones, medical equipment, a small heater, for that, you should have either a small solar panel USB charger for small devices or a large solar generator, its expensive but in a long term crisis, its priceless.
Dry foods like, rice, beans, past and oats, they’re all shelf stable and provide you with the nutrition and calories you need. Along with that you also need water and water filters.
Financial preparedness is also essential, if you can, start saving some money and build up an emergency fund that can cover 3-6 months of expenses and stock up on precious metals. For most people your best bet might be to buy an ounce of silver whenever you have some spare money as well.

MEDICAL AND FIRST AID

Medical preparedness is one of the most overlooked parts of prepping. People focus on food and water, but forget that during a crisis hospitals can be overwhelmed, pharmacies can close, and emergency response times can jump from minutes to hours. When something goes wrong, you become the first responder for your family. That is why a real medical setup is essential.

The Difference Between First Aid And Trauma Care
First aid is for everyday injuries. Cuts, burns, fevers, stomach issues, headaches, infections. Trauma care is for serious life threatening injuries like deep bleeding, broken bones, or major wounds. You need supplies for both. Most families only have a small box of bandages. That is not enough in a real emergency.

What You Should Stock
Start with a solid first aid kit. Include bandages, gauze, medical tape, alcohol wipes, antiseptic cream, burn gel, tweezers, scissors, pain relievers, fever reducers, stomach medicine, allergy medicine, and disinfectants. Then build a trauma kit. You need a tourniquet, chest seals, compressed gauze, pressure bandages, emergency blankets, and nitrile gloves. These items can save a life before help arrives.

Why Infections Become Dangerous During Emergencies
In normal life, a small cut is nothing. During a crisis, a small cut can turn into a major infection if it is not cleaned and treated. Without running water, proper cleaning becomes harder. Without quick access to a doctor, infections can spread. This is why antiseptics, gloves, and clean bandages matter so much. They prevent a simple injury from turning into something life threatening.

Setting Up A Medical Shelf
Every home should have a dedicated medical shelf or cabinet. Keep everything organized and easy to reach. Store trauma supplies together. Keep children’s medicine in a separate area. Make sure everyone in the house knows where the medical supplies are and how to use the basics. In an emergency you will not have time to dig through random drawers.

Learning Basic Skills
You do not need to be a doctor, but you need to know the basics. Learn how to stop bleeding. Learn how to clean a wound. Learn how to treat burns. Learn how to recognize dehydration. Watch a few instructional videos. Read the guides. Practice using a tourniquet on a dummy object so you know how it feels. A little knowledge can save a life.

Where People Make Mistakes
Some people buy medical supplies but never learn how to use them. Others rely only on small first aid kits that are not designed for real emergencies. Some people forget to stock children’s medicine, which becomes a huge problem at night when pharmacies are closed. The biggest mistake is assuming that ambulances will always arrive quickly. During a crisis, they often do not.

Medical preparedness is about removing fear. When you know you can handle injuries, you feel more confident in every situation. A good medical setup, combined with food and water storage, forms a strong foundation for everything else you will learn in this course.

WATER PREPAREDNESS

Water is the most important part of preparedness. You can survive weeks without food, but only a few days without water. During a crisis, water systems can get contaminated, shut off, or overwhelmed. When that happens, people panic. Stores sell out instantly. That is why water storage is the foundation of every emergency plan.

How Much Water You Need
A good rule is one gallon of water per person per day for drinking and basic use. If you want a safer buffer, store two gallons a day. This covers drinking, cooking, cleaning, and basic hygiene. If you have pets, add them into your plan. Babies, seniors, and sick family members may need more.

How To Store Water
There are many ways to store water. The simplest is bottled water. You can stack a few cases and have an immediate supply. Larger options include water bricks, five to eight gallon jugs, and fifty five gallon drums. If you have space, a drum can hold almost two months of drinking water for one person. Make sure you store water in a cool and dark place and avoid keeping it next to chemicals or gasoline.

How To Make Questionable Water Safe
If you ever run out of stored water, you need to know how to make unsafe water drinkable. The first method is boiling. Bring the water to a rolling boil for at least one full minute. This kills most bacteria and viruses. The second method is water purification tablets. These are cheap, small, and easy to store. They work well for emergencies.

Filtering Water
A high quality water filter is one of the most important tools you can own. Handheld filters, gravity filters, and home countertop filters can remove most contaminants. Filters do not replace stored water but they give you backup options. Always have more than one way to purify water.

Off Grid Options
During long term emergencies, natural water sources like lakes, rivers, and rainwater can become important. If you collect rainwater, make sure you run it through a proper filter before drinking. If you use a stream or river, pick flowing water when possible. Always assume outdoor water is contaminated until you filter or boil it.

Why Water Matters More Than People Realize
Food shortages get attention. Water shortages are worse. When water stops flowing from the tap, every part of life becomes harder. Cooking becomes harder. Cleaning becomes harder. Staying healthy becomes harder. People underestimate how fast dehydration hits. They also underestimate how quickly the public panics when water supplies get disrupted.

Preparedness gives you peace of mind. When you have a real water plan, you do not rush to the store during every emergency announcement. You already have what you need. That confidence is what sets preppers apart from the rest of society.

FOOD STORAGE

Food is the core of every preparedness plan. When a crisis hits, stores empty out instantly. Supply trucks stop moving. People panic and buy everything they can. If you already have food at home, you are not part of the chaos. You are calm, fed, and in control. That is the power of a real food storage plan.

The Most Important Foods To Store
The best foods for long term storage are simple. White rice, beans, pasta, and oats. These foods last a long time, they are cheap, and they give you the calories you need to survive. Add in canned foods like tuna, chicken, soups, sauces, and vegetables. Canned food lasts for years and can be eaten right out of the can if you lose power.

How Many Calories You Need
An adult needs about two thousand calories a day. Children need less but they still need consistent meals. If you have a family, calculate how much food you need per person. This turns prepping from guessing into a real plan. When you know your numbers, you know exactly how long your pantry can keep you alive.

How To Build A Three Month And Six Month Plan
Start with one week of food. Then stretch it to two weeks. Once you hit one month, you are ahead of most people. From there, keep adding. Three months of food feels like a real safety net. Six months makes you almost untouchable in any crisis. You do not need to buy everything at once. Buy a little every week. Stay consistent and your supply will grow faster than you think.

Dehydrating Food
Dehydrating food is one of the easiest ways to preserve it. You can dehydrate fruits, vegetables, herbs, and even cooked meals. You can use an oven or a dehydrator. Most dehydrated foods last about three to five years when stored correctly. They save space and give you more options when fresh food disappears.

Freeze Drying
Freeze drying is the highest level of food preservation. Freeze dried foods can last twenty five to thirty years. All you need is hot water to bring them back to life. If you ever want to invest in a freeze dryer, Harvest Right is the option most people go with. Freeze dried meals give you decades of peace of mind.

Canning Your Own Foods
Canning lets you store your own meats, vegetables, soups, and sauces. There are two types of canning. Water bath canning works for high acid foods like fruits, jams, and tomatoes. Pressure canning is for low acid foods like meats, beans, and most vegetables. Pressure canning is more serious but once you learn it, you can preserve almost anything.

Water Glassing Eggs
If you have fresh, unwashed eggs, you can store them long term using water glassing. You submerge the eggs in a solution of pickling lime and water. When it is done right, eggs can last up to eighteen months. This gives you long term protein without needing a fridge.

Mylar Bags And Oxygen Absorbers
Mylar bags with oxygen absorbers are a powerful way to store dry foods. You can store rice, beans, oats, pasta, flour, and more. When sealed properly, these foods can last years or even decades. Mylar bags protect your food from air, moisture, and insects. This is how preppers build long term backups that stay hidden and safe.

Avoiding Common Mistakes
The biggest mistake people make is buying too much variety. Focus on the basics first. The second mistake is not rotating food. Eat what you store and store what you eat. The third mistake is poor storage. Keep food in a cool and dry place. Avoid storing food in hot garages or next to heaters.

Food storage is not about luxury. It is about survival and stability. When you have food in your home, every emergency becomes easier to face. This is the heart of preparedness. Everything else builds around it.

Byte is a unit of digital information that represents eight bits. It is commonly used in computing and digital technology to measure data storage capacity and transmission speed. One byte can represent a single character, such as a letter or number, in text format. Bytes are the building blocks of all digital information, including files, images, videos, and software programs.

In modern computer systems, bytes are often grouped together to form larger units of storage, such as kilobytes (KB), megabytes (MB), gigabytes (GB), terabytes (TB), and so on. Each successive unit represents an exponentially larger amount of data than the previous one. For example, one kilobyte is equal to 1,024 bytes, one megabyte is equal to 1,024 kilobytes, and so on.

Bytes are essential for storing and processing data in computers because they provide a standardized way to measure and manipulate information. Without bytes, it would be challenging to organize and manage the vast amounts of data that modern technology relies on. In summary, bytes are the fundamental building blocks of digital information and play a crucial role in the functioning of computers and other electronic devices.