When people think of sheltering in place, naturally they think of the two most important things. That is food and water.
They are the most important because without food for 3 weeks and without water for 3 days, a person and his family are doomed.
But sometimes, though people are focused on stocking those things that they forget about the other things that should be collected. Here are a few of those things.
Medical Supplies & Medication
Medical supplies are at the top of the list because if there is ever a medical emergency, rather minor or major, you need to be able to take care of it effectively.
If medical issues are not handled properly other more serious issues can arise and eventually death.
Hand Sanitizers & Disinfectants
These items are essential for keeping infection and contamination to a minimum. Stock up on several dozen bottles of liquid and foam hand sanitizers and disinfectants such as Lysol, Bleach, and Ammonia.
Rain Barrels
Rain barrels can be used as it to collect rainwater for use in a garden, to flush toilets, to wash dishes, and to wash clothes.
When you modify your rain barrels you can collect water and irrigate your survival garden at the same time. Food storage containers have the same type of use.
Food Storage Containers
When you buy food containers, make sure you’re purchasing food grade containers because these haven’t been treated with any kind of harsh chemicals that can contaminate your food supply.
Purchase different sizes to fit your needs. Food storage container can come in sizes ranging from 2 gallon to 55 gallon.
5-Gallon Buckets
These are multi-use buckets. You can use these for anything. It’s always good to keep a few of these around for sanitary purposes.
Have a couple stacked in the immediate area, just in case you have a medical emergency and you need to contain body fluids.
Flashlights and Light Sticks
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Having flashlights and emergency light sticks are essential aside from storing candles. A proper stockpile has several different types of a source available.
For instance, for a light source, a good stockpile would have emergency candles, tea lights, tapers, flashlights, and industrial-grade light sticks (also called glow sticks and light wands).
Batteries
Batteries are an absolute necessity. You’ll need batteries of all sizes to power your different emergency items, such as flashlights, two way radios, fire and CO2 alarms.
Matches
Matches both regular and waterproof should be included. Matches are cheap, especially regular household matches, costing sometimes less than a $1. You can never stock too many matches.
Plastic Trash Bags
Trash bags are multiuse items. Aside from using for the obvious, trash bags can be used for several different survival related methods.
Bleach
As mentioned above, bleach is a must-have. It’s a powerful disinfectant and kills a majority of pathogens and germs on contact. Just keep in mind its shelf life is short, around 6 months.
Gear for Your Pets
If you’re a pet owner, don’t forget about your furry animals. They’ll need someone to think about their survival needs for them.
If caring for your family pet’s needs is on your agenda, then make sure you stock items for them such as: food, medications, flea and tick powders and sprays, grooming kit, leashes, and more.
Alcohol
Not just for when you want to relax, hard alcohol and wine are excellent sedatives for survival medical use. Tequila, vodka, and house wines are good stores.
Generators
Backup generators are mandatory when prepping for long-term disasters. What if the power goes out? How will your home be powered? Having a backup generator will ease your worries.
Also plan far in advance, not just settling for one generator, but plan for backing up that one and buy two, three, or even four if you can. If money is an issue, search for second hand generators, or learn small engine repair and buy broken ones to fix.
Water Filters and Purifiers
These are important to have on hand because you’ll always need a clean source of drinking water. If your water supply becomes contaminated and you don’t have a way to purify it, your chances of survival are slim.
Recommended: the Sawyer Mini.
Seasoned Firewood
It takes a few months for firewood to season to perfection so you should start this stock early in advance. The best estimate is starting at least one year prior to stacking it where you need it.
Find the firewood you need, cut it into the pieces that is best for you, stack and cover it. As you find more, add it to the stack and cover. Over time, the firewood will dry out (or season) and will be perfect for burning.
Guns and Ammo
Regardless of your view on the issue of guns, you will need at least a gun for survival. We’re not saying you’ll have to shoot someone, but you’ll definitely have to shoot some THING at one time or another.
It’s good to have several different types of guns. For instance, a shotgun, a rifle, a low caliber pistol, and a bb gun.
You can’t take down a deer with a bb gun, so plan accordingly. And whichever guns you stock up, make sure you have the matching ammo to go with it. A gun is useless without ammo.
Charcoal, Camp Stove Fuel, and Lighter Fuel
If your electric stove goes out, or your generator is on the fritz, having additional supplies of charcoal, camp fuel and lighter fuel will help you carry on without a hiccup.
Feminine Hygiene Items
These are a must for any female in your family. It is not only necessary its sanitary as well. A survival situation will be far worse for a female if she’s caught in it without feminine products.
Feminine products are sanitary napkins and tampons. If you don’t have any females, you still need to stock up. These also can be used to soak up blood from a bleeding wound, thus are lifesaving.
Thermal Underwear
Thermals are a necessity if you live in an area where extremely cold weather is common. Even if not, having a pair on hand is a good idea because thermals when worn underneath your clothing will help prevent hypothermia in colder temperatures.
Non-Hybrid Garden Seeds
You don’t need to be a gardener to stock garden seeds. You need to plan for the time when you may run out of food. Then what? If you already have your garden full of vegetables, then you won’t need to worry about that.
The type of seeds makes a different. Non hybrid and non GMO seeds are better producers. Bypass the seeds found at your local department stores and go straight to a survival seeds dealer for a good selection.
Paper, Pens, Pencils and Games
Having these items will help you pass some time and to stay emotionally and mentally healthy in a survival situation.
Extra Clothing
Clothes wear out. It’s better for your mental state to if you allow yourself a change of clothes every so often. How many extra you choose to stock is completely up to you.
Cast Iron Cookware
This is by far the best type of cookware around. These are heavy but effective.
Bug Repellent
Bugs and mosquitoes are nuisances, not to mention they can carry harmful diseases that can threaten the livelihood of your family.
Stock up plenty of bug and mosquito repellents to keep them away. These can be in the form of sprays, candles and ultraviolet bug lights.
Coffee and Tea
Coffee and teas have always been staples in any survival pantry. People in general enjoy some kind of warm beverage and therefore they stock what they like.
Coffee and tea are top of that list, followed closely by hot cocoa and apple cider. People also stock coffee to trade in a post societal collapse market.
Paper and Plastic Cutlery
If you want to conserve water by not washing dishes then make sure you have plenty of paper plates, cups, bowls and plastic eating ware on hand. Even though you’ll save water, you’ll be creating more garbage as well.
Wrap-Up
This is just a short list of what else to stockpile in addition to food and water. Of course you can expand and build upon this list to customize your own experience.
It’ll be stressful enough if you have to shelter in place, make sure that stockpiling the basics isn’t one of the reasons you are stressed out. All of the items listed in this article can also be used as a bartering item.
Mira has been prepping for 10 years. Living in the outskirts of metropolitan Atlanta with her 3 children, she’s preparing not just for SHTF events but also for everyday emergencies.
Doesn’t bleach lose it’s effective use after a while?
Fair point, the article’s been updated. Thanks.
Bleach starts to degrade after 6 months, keeping containers topped off sealed to the air and in a cool place can put that off to a year, but after that the potency reduces 20% per year, so its not quite as bad as it sounds. Mixtures , such as with water, begins the degradation immediately. Make your own with Calcium Hypocholorite and that has a 10 year shelf life as a solid. REMEMBER Ble4ach cannot be mixed with other cleaners, just water, as reactions occur with are harmful or even fatal.
Luckily avid outdoorsmen was prepping before I knew I was,lol! Good advice!Don’t worry about paper plates,have all the camp ware I need,have a well so the kids can earn their keep.Do they really have to name them ALWAYS how bout sometimes,occasionally? Lol! Oh yeah I’m
Married
Maniac –out
!
Bar soaps, liquid dish detergent (Dawn I found is the best), steel wool are items that are cheap to buy and stock and store for years.
Your caution about short shelf life of chlorine bleach is something well worth pointing out. Thank you. A better alternative is to stock sodium hypochlorite powder which is hard to fine these days. Easier to find and buy is the next best thing, potassium hypochlorite. I’ve also seen posts that suggest you can use pool shock powder also. I don’t know about that. You would have to know what other chemicals are in the shock treatment powder besides the sodium hypochlorite.
Hi Dan, nice list. You left out one or two items that will keep people alive for hours, days, weeks & years. That being shelter. It is in the negative temp range where I live now. Without proper shelter and insulation- i.e. TENT, sleeping bags, blankets, external heat source (wood stove), folks won’t last more than a few hours. It’s possible to build a lean to and heat it, but for longer than a couple of days, you will be spending most of your strength cutting wood and tending the fire. Conservation of resources needs to be applied for heat generation and retention. Especially in extreme cold climates. The Grand Solar Minimum we are currently in is going to demand preparedness for this key prep in all of North America as we see bizarre weather patterns occurring everywhere.
Besides flashlights, candles, and chemical light sticks, a good kerosene lantern with plenty of fuel, wicks, and lighters, puts out good light, is reliable, easy to use and safe
Good idea. But let us take this a little further. There is a BIG difference between lanterns and lamps. Lanterns have a heavy wire bail to carry it with outdoors where lamps do not as they are designed to be used only indoors. it would be a good idea to have both. A good pair of scissors are also in order to trim the wick. Remember, do not turn the wick out too far as it will smoke the glass and render it useless until it is cleaned. Not fun if it is dark! Do not forget to purchase the correct size wicks as spares. A must if you remain without power for any length of time. Good luck & God bless, Bob
I live in Florida so come hurricane season I store 10 5-gallon cans of gas for the season
but only the non-ethanol kind. Also keep on hand with a second generator one that runs on propane I keep at least 6 cans of those around so I can grill outside and use if gas is scarce, to run my home