Food and Water
Always keep enough stored food and water for at least 30-90 days. For the long haul, just up your game. I bought a few emergency food supplies, but I found that my local dollar store and Wal-Mart sales are almost, if not more efficient.
Get some chickens. I know, we are only allowed one chicken in my city limits, but this rule can be broken. I read how people get chickens in New York City by asking for permission from their neighbors. If the neighbor agrees that you can have chickens, some of your eggs will be shared, and they won’t report you. For the past several years, this has worked for me.
Here are a couple of our chickens that deliver 1-2 dozen eggs a week.
Here in the desert, water is harder, but as I was pondering how to store thousands of gallons of water in the desert, I looked at my son play in their swimming pool. The pool box says 1074 Gallons. I bought another pool and a cover for double the water.
In addition, for 34 gallon trashcans at $15 a piece with a lid, I went to my local hardware store. I buy 5 single gallons of water, 2 forty counts of bottled water, and fill my 5-gallon jugs every time I go to the grocery store. We have about 2500 gallons of ready-to-go water.
Related: 5 Water Storage Myths
Light, Heat and Cooking
It is best to consider the lighting you use first. You must consider not lighting candles for the first week if there is an earthquake or an explosion nearby. A gas leak may occur.
There are alternatives, like battery-powered and solar lights, to actual candles or oil lanterns. If they are LED lights, to be safe, they should be held in a faraday cage, either way, regardless of the cause of an outage, they come in handy.
Dollar stores also sell small solar lamps. Your light can be magnified by mirrors. Here’s how one of my mirror candleholders appears in front of the mirror in the bathroom.
Curio cabinets with candle/light mirrors can also light up a living room. Of course, oil lamps and candles are particularly useful when they are safe. Keep your batteries in your smoke detectors.
Oil lamps are collected by one of my children. He gets those from thrift stores and yard sales and candles.
I can get candles from the dollar store cheap, along with emergency candles and votive candles.
Heating- Depending on your place, make sure you have a cable+ firewood.
You need to invest in things like a Kerosene Heater and a Gas/Smoke Detector (battery-powered) if you don’t have a fireplace. For a 10th of the cost, buy your own container and Kerosene.
If the hardware store helps you to afford transparent plastic. At the dollar store, buy transparent shower curtains. This will allow you to isolate from a room, while still seeing a predator’s movements.
If you’re ready, cooking should be quick. Coleman stoves, good outdoor BBQ pits. We’ve got 2 grills. BUT you need plenty of propane, gas, or cooking burning materials. There is a thermometer on my new grill. I have been able to make the best homemade bread of all time.
Have several extra bottles of propane.
If you cook outside, which you really have to do with some gas, note that your food might smell. I recommend that if you cook rice, beans, noodles in boiling water, add sauce or meat to prevent ‘smells’ after being removed from the burner.
Related: How to Make A Cool Rocket Stove For Free
Medicine and Back up Sources
Always have a first aid kit fully stocked.
You can need to save extra medication prescribed by a physician if you take daily medicine, or your child has asthma or something life-threatening.
Have a convenient pill book if you need to locate medication if a situation happens.
Bartering will get you some medication you may need as well. Stock up whatever you can with the drugs. Find health foods/supplements that can fix the health concern as well.
I hear that fish medicine may be useful for antibiotics, but I’m not a doctor. This is something you’re going to have to investigate yourself.
You need to think ahead about power supplies if you have a Cpap, Pulse Ox, Blood Pressure Cuff, Sugar kits, or a Nebulizer; preferably solar. I’ve got a couple of power sources for my phone, laptop, and other costs. Furthermore, I have a small generator for gas. Gas will run out however.
Mild medical equipment can be handled by small lithium battery sources and tiny gas generators. When not in use, keep these power sources and their solar panels in Faraday cages. Here’s my one of three:
Defense and Protection
You’ve got all your food, all your medicine, all your wood, all your gas, all your medicine, and all your sources of power. You must protect it NOW.
To secure power sources, computers, phones, and medical equipment mentioned above, you can plan Faraday cages in advance or use triple wrap foil and foil tape.
Related: Survival Electronics When the Power Grid Fails
I am writing for those in position who are sheltering. Be sure to lock your doors, garage doors and windows. Remember, if someone you don’t know come to your front door, it’s best to keep the back door secured as well.
I bought outdoor LED motion lights to bring darker areas of my back yard in place. For the front door as well, this will also work. It will look dark, but the lights will go off and warn anyone if a vandal gets near.
We got a couple of shotguns, and they sold the weapons out before we could get more. I’ve been researching the best air rifles and air pistols that if anyone rushes at you with a gun, bat, knife, or other weapon, can become just as good for protection.
Practice intrusion scenarios for your mates.
One of my sons has sharp blades, marble sling shots, and pieces of steel. Another author proposed wasp spray here which goes 20 feet.
There are traps which you can set up as well. Using 50 lbs. fishing line, lined across a fence to a wall on the sides of your house, about calf or knee height. Repeat about 18 inches of each line; that any burglar will certainly trip up at night with a solar motion light when notifying you of incoming people.
Related: 6 Traps to Place on Your Property Against Looting Rioters
Remember, too, that you must be able to get out easily in an emergency with all the closed doors and windows. Have your family practice quickly getting out and avoiding traps.
Some of our weapon dry:
Using your discretion on your own. And note, if you’re in a small town, not everybody who knocks at your door is going to be a predator. Your neighbor’s kids are going to starve, and desperate parents are doing strange things. With bartering, this can be done.
Bartering
Often add some stuff for family or close neighbors you trust when purchasing your food supplies.
When neighbors come knocking, behave like you don’t have anything either… but they have a handy list of items you need such as medicine, flour and firewood. If they get desperate, you will be shocked at what they may find lying around.
If you are in a smaller town where it is safer, before things change nationally, you might consider opening a small trading post.
You can build trade-able care packages separately from your food to see the future in advance. You know how much you have in that way. A $1 spaghetti noodles/1$ spaghetti sauce, Two or three boxes of Chili (for Chili mac) Mac n Cheese is about $2, Pancake Mix (only add water) with Syrup is about $2… etc.
For my generator, one of my oil lamps with an oil container could be worth someone’s tank of gas. All is negotiable.
Related: How To Deal With Neighbors And Friends That Come Begging For Food At Your Door In A Crisis
Common Sense
No one knows what could cause a prolonged blackout for sure. For those sheltering in place, this is intended. You will have to be rational, not emotional, about what you do. Common sense would be crucial for survival in your circumstances.
You will just have to remain sane when the lights go out. That little bottle in the cupboard of anti-depressants might end up being needed. Any initial panic can occur. Ration your water and food. To secure what you have, set up traps to stop criminals from entering backyards, garages, or belongings.
Remember where the supplies for your first aid are. And a slight cut should be treated right away without physicians. Place numerous guns in their best positions. In the long run, set up a person for guard duty in the best position for each time of the day if it gets dangerous out there.
Getting board games and puzzles will be a nice thing to make life almost feel normal from time to time. Also, pre-load your laptops and phones with music and videos.
Offer regular tasks to everyone in your house and maybe guard duty. This will give intent, a timetable, and wellbeing.
Plan for the worst, hope for the best… just in the event that S does HTF.
