I like to stay one update ahead of time. However recently, that's been very difficult to maintain due to issues with my health and world events. It's okay to not have a buffer, it just makes things easier on you to have one.
I'm entering the competition with someone and now I've got to up my standards for everything and be really organised in designing all the characters, creating different concepts etc. It's going to be a lot of work! I'm probably not going to have much time at all over the next couple of months to work on my comic, so I'm glad I have a buffer in place 
Good luck with your short comic for the competition btw!
I did have a buffer of Nachos Con Carne2 pages on Tapas until I hit chapter two, couldn't find the original SVG files, and ended up having to redraw several pages, and all this on top of updating my mainsite. As of this weekend I've got a small, two-page buffer which I'm hoping to build up further.
Used to keep a buffer of like 10+ pages but school and multiple disasters have reduced it to...no buffer X’D
None. None buffers. Also since I got laid off from my job my upload schedule has moved to a "whenever the hell I feel like it" sort of thing instead of every Saturday. Whichever day I can manage to finish a comic it goes up, and it's actually more frequent than before which I like. Normally I just don't have the time to build up a buffer at all, and if I wanted the story to continue to drag out at an agonizing pace I could have one now but I'd rather just move things along.
I am a great believer in buffers, because life will always hit, in the most inconvenient way possible. Used to have a 2-3 month buffer, but since the pandemic and other things in my life hit at the same time it's now down to a week and a half lol. I'll be making more pages this week.
But I also like making a buffer because I don't like working on the comic every single day or even every single week. I go through periods where I work on the comic and pull out like 5-6 pages and periods where I don't. But, no one can tell because of the buffer.
having buffers would imply that I have any idea where my comic is going, I just sit down two days before the release date and let it happen, whatever comes out is what you get
i have about 4 pages buffer currently, I had a bit more a few weeks ago, but my next few pages have very detailed backgrounds so ive been cranking it out slower.
I have about 3 to 4 months ahead of my schedule, Working on a page or two at a time. Im getting burn out but I do when I can. Mostly lack of energy lately lol
@rmdooley @Zak
Can I just say, you two frighten me. In a good way... but still, very intimidated.
As for me, I had several weeks of buffer at one point, but after that a lot of life happened and I have none. I like to try to keep at least a few weeks ahead if possible, though, just in case things happen. ^^;
Might try to be like those two and be extra safe with months of content next time, though. 
At my peak I think I had somewhere between 5 and 7 pages, at a 1 per week schedule. I let it slip only a few months in though to pursue some holiday related side projects and never took the time to build it back up which... sucked and I regret not doing lol. I'm gonna build up several months of buffer before starting to post the next one.
Right now...none. But in the summer I take a scheduled hiatus so hopefully I'll get some built up. Although my release schedule is two pages per month so the pressure isn't too bad to finish stuff.
None :'D... When I first started I had a buffer of five/six pages but I quickly ran out of them so I've been drawing on the go for almost two years. I don't recomend it. At all.
Which reminds me that I still need to finish this week's update
I realized I had over 6 months' worth of buffer at my extremely slow publishing rate of 2 pages/months, so I decided to start publishing one page a week. I now have buffer only until the end of July. I'll be finished my chapter sometimes in september I think, and I'll take a break to replenish my buffer (at this time I will have two series to work on - one being an additional chapter for the main series, but that's still twice the work!)
"laughs in anxious little ball language*
If I get to make a buffer, I just start posting almost daily
I have to admit, it is extremely tempting to post as soon as I've made the page. But in the long run, I think it's healthier for me to have a schedule and buffer because I'm not always stressing about when I have to have the next page done.
I try to keep at least a couple week's of buffer. I usually do pages in batches of ten or twenty at a time. I currently have enough pages done to update twice a week every week until June, and I'm working on another batch of about twenty more pages as we speak. Assuming no catastrophes happen, I'm set for a good long while. And having such a big buffer makes it easy to keep up with new pages without having to stress about making deadlines.
When you say chapters, do you mean episodes, like just a page or a few pages? Or do you mean actual chapter chapters? like 12 pages per chapter? If so, damn , I want your speed!
I have a 5 page buffer, this is after I switch my update schedule later this month. I used to draw 2 to 3 pages per week but the last couple of months has really slowed me down.
I used 13 pages as a buffer... didn't last long
pro tip: buffer by time not page count, have enough pages for a certain time frame where you can replenish the buffer
like for example I have planned a 200 paged comic which will release 3 pages per week, that would take about 67 weeks to publish in its entirety and I can draw about 9 pages per 2 week, how big should the initial buffer be so that I can finish the comic with 0 hiatsu?
answer: about 31 pages in the initial release which gives me a 10 week buffer and would take me 7 weeks to replenish so I have a three week vacation before starting to draw again =')
of course this is crazy so I just choose to not do buffer and draw until it's finished and publish it weekly anyways XD
I don't think I could ever do that large of a buffer. I would be too tempted to either use it up or change something in the story or plot.
@teasidesketches - It's not as impressive as it sounds. It means everything I drew is from over a year ago so I spend a few hours updating the art and trying not to cry over it before I post the page that's been sitting in the buffer for months
@Iridescent_Bismuth - Not necessarily. The comic I create is a long form story so I only release a chapter when it is completely done and edited. Which means if I fall behind even a little bit, the buffer don't matter none, no new pages get released until that next chapter is done and that cane be anywhere between 50-90+ pages 
I currently have no buffer.
I had one of about 5 pages in Winter, but then the pandemic hit and I'm too tired to do anything after I finish work and I wanted to keep all the folks who are not working currently something to read every week. So, now I'm running behind and I don't know if next week's page is going to be done on time.
Anywhere from 0 to 1 most weeks. At this time, I don't have any buffers. Creating just 1 page usually takes up a good chunk of my time, so unless I'm not doing anything else for that week, it's not common for me accumulate a huge buffer.
I've got about a month and a half of buffer right now, though that's at one page per week. I'm trying to keep at least a month's worth of pages ready to go.
I usually just post them as I finish them. In the past I tried to make a buffer and I'll probably build one up again, but right now I think I've struck a balance of making pages as I want/need them.
Right now I have 12 (which will last me about 6 weeks). In the past I used to post 3 times a week but now I am doing twice a week. I'm trying to work at a good pace and not overload myself, make it feel like I have freedom to other stuff outside my free webcomic series. I dealt with feeling overwhelmed in the past tied to my series and I want to lessen that.
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I used to have a buffer but then I got sick and used it up and I keep getting sick so I haven't had the opportunity to make a buffer again and pretty much release the pages as I've finished them.
