SCP Survival

Best Survival Gear and Supplies

What Do You Need For Seven Days of Self-Reliance? [List]

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Natural or manmade disasters can occur!

What are the basics for you to survive without electricity, water service, heat, cooling, or sewage disposal for seven days in your home?

If you have your Bug Out Bag stocked and ready to go and have a 72 hour In-Home Survival Box prepared, along with a Get Home Bag in your vehicle you are almost there!

Now it is up to you to decide how comfortable you (and your family) want to be for a week without power.

Here’s what you need to add to the 72 Hour Box for In-Home Survival:

  • Toilet paper—at least two rolls per person.
  • Additional water—at least one gallon per person per day.
  • More paper plates, plastic utensils and paper towels.
  • Four more days of canned and/or non-perishable foods. Your BOB and Get Home Bag probably only contain energy bars.
  • More sturdy garbage bags for sanitation.
  • Another roll of heavy duty aluminum foil.
  • More replacement batteries for radio, flashlight and lantern.
  • A box of baby wipes for sponge baths.
  • Baby powder for a dry hair wash and general freshener.
  • One reusable emergency blanket per person if in a climate that gets below freezing.

Comfortable Self-Reliance for One Week

  • A portable heater with enough fuel for a week. Be sure to have a working carbon monoxide detector.
  • An extra bottle of propane for your grill for three seasons of cooking outside. A camp stove with extra fuel for inside cooking.
  • Add comfort food to your supplies—chocolate, popcorn, mac and cheese, peanut butter and jelly, marshmallows… Whatever will store well and taste good to you and your family. A good quality manual can opener.
  • A popup tent for “camping” in your living room or outside if the weather is nice.
  • A plastic, passive solar camp shower.
  • Two coolers in case you can access ice to keep your refrigerated goods from spoiling and dry ice to keep your frozen foods from spoiling. If not, have a block party!
  • More flashlights and lanterns.
  • Decks of cards and games.
  • Some wine or spirits to relax with.

Thriving Off-Grid for One Week

  • If you have a natural gas furnace, a natural gas garage heater mounted in the basement or upstairs – will it work without electricity? Heat rises and there will a comfortable area near the heater—these usually cost less than $300 installed. Be sure to have a working carbon monoxide detector.
  • Upgrade to a gas range and you will have burners, and, check before you buy, an oven to back in or use as an extra space heater.
  • A generator of at least 3500 watts

So it is your choice! Survive, be comfortable, or thrive and potentially be able to help others during a disaster!

How To Create Your 72 Hour Kit or Bug Out Bag

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Even Ready.gov recommends that every American should have a go bag packed and ready to leave at a moment’s notice if told to evacuate.

Why would you ever have to evacuate? Consider what we have seen on the national news recently:

  • Wild fires
  • Hurricanes
  • Earthquakes
  • Natural gas explosions
  • Hazardous waste truck and train accidents
  • Floods
  • Industry and warehouse fires

This pack is meant for you, and your family, to survive on your own for 3 days. It could happen to you!

Every BOB is individual. It could be a backpack, a carry bag, or a small rolling suitcase with handle. It must be easy for you to carry! And it should be set next to the doorway or at least near it so that if police or National Guard comes to your door you can just grab and go.

What it contains should also be individualized for you, your family and your pets. Essentially it should have food, water and supplies to allow you to survive for at least 72 hours.

Here is a basic list for you to consider:

  • Prescription medications and spare glasses
  • Copies of important family documents like identification (copy of your driver’s license or birth certificate and social security card), insurance policy declaration pages, and bank account records. Family phone numbers and emails. Create a survival binder and put it in a waterproof container or bag.
  • Enough cash and change to pay for gasoline, tolls, motel and food for three days.
  • A small first aid kit.
  • A sleeping bag or warm blanket for each person. If in a cold climate especially, consider adding the Mylar emergency blankets.
  • One complete change of utilitarian clothing, including sturdy shoes, per person. Rotate seasonally for appropriate wear.
  • Water AND a portable water filter—like a Life Straw.
  • A survival whistle (compass, waterproof match holder with matches and flint, signal mirror). SOS in Morse code simplified version: short/long/short.
  • A pack of wet wipes, antiseptic wipes, and zip lock baggies for personal hygiene.
  • Paper and pencil/pen for leaving notes.
  • Food: Consider energy bars or MREs (meals ready to eat). It has to be portable and you can eat it without cooking it.

Auxiliary Considerations:

  • Children or Infants?
  • Formula and infant food.
  • Disposable diapers.
  • Entertainment for the kids and food they will eat.
  • Toddlers plus can carry their own backpacks.

Pets?

  • Pet food, water, and portable dishes.
  • Pet carrier (small dogs and cats).
  • Leash and muzzle (Even for the most well behaved dog to protect the dog! Some people fear dogs and if you encounter an aggressive dog yours is less likely to be shot if muzzled).
  • Doggie potty bags and scooper.
  • A dog can carry its own pack as well. Practice with the dog!

This is a VERY BASIC list! So much can be added. But if you have this minimum and shelter, you can SURVIVE! Practice with your family at least twice a year!

The 72 Hour Home Emergency Kit

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Everyone needs to be able to take care of themselves for at least 3 days if any number of natural or man made disasters should occur. Consider the potential for blizzards, ice storms, severe thunderstorms, wind storms, tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, fires, gas leaks, even something as mundane as transformer failures or traffic accidents taking down power poles.

And a three day power outage (And we have seen three week power outages in the U.S. as recently as Superstorm Sandy for tens of thousands of people.) can be a disaster!

What are the basics for you to survive without electricity, water service, heat, cooling, or sewage disposal for 72 hours in your home? What is the least you need to survive this?

Think about a basic “survival box.”

The 72 Hour Box for In-Home Survival

  • An LED flashlight with extra batteries.
  • An LED lantern that is solar powered, hand crank or battery powered, with extra batteries.
  • One gallon of water per person per day. More if you have a way to cook.
  • Three days of canned, or non-perishable food, that can be eaten without cooking or minimal preparation and a MANUAL CAN OPENER.
  • Paper plates, plastic utensils and paper towels.
  • A battery powered radio with a NOAA Weather Radio tone alert, and extra batteries. Some emergency radios have solar and hand crank assist.
  • Toilet paper, moist towelettes, antiseptic wipes, sturdy garbage bags and plastic ties for personal sanitation. If it looks like the electricity will be off for more than 12 hours, line your toilet bowl with a garbage bag (or put 2 together for sturdiness), fold over and put down the seat. You can tie shut after every use if need be.
  • Wrench or pliers to turn off utilities, if notified to do so.
  • An N95 reusable dust mask to filter the air if needed.
  • Plastic sheeting and duct tape to shelter-in-place (This is considered specific to a nuclear disaster, but is important to survival in the winter as well to create a warm room.).
  • Heavy duty aluminum foil—to heat food with a candle in the oven, to face shiny side outward on windows in the summer to reflect excessive heat, to face inward on windows in the winter to reflect heat inside.
  • Whistle to call for help. SOS in Morse code, simplified version: short/long/short.
  • A Mylar emergency blanket will reflect back 90% of your body heat. Ideal for winter if you put one under your sheet facing up and one over your sheet and under your blankets facing down.

72 Hour Survival Items for Children

  • Formula and infant food for at least 3 days.
  • Disposable diapers for at least 3 days.
  • A handheld fan to keep them cool.
  • Warm blankets and emergency blankets to keep them warm.
  • Toys and games to entertain them.

Survival Items for Pets

  • Pet food and water for at least 3 days.
  • For sheltering-in, a “potty” corner with a lined tray and plastic baggies.

This is the absolute minimum you need to survive for 3 days without assistance. Do you have these items in your home? Easily accessible? Where you can find them in the dark if need be?

What is a Rocket Stove Heater?

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Rocket Stove Mass Heater After doing the Off-Grid series with the masonry heater this just caught my eye! An inexpensive owner-built masonry heater that uses sticks like a rocket stove! “Rocket mass heaters” in a nutshell:
  • heat your home with 80% to 90% less wood
  • exhaust is nearly pure steam and CO2 (a little smoke at the beginning)
  • the heat from one fire can last for days
  • you can build one in a day and half
  • folks have built them spending less than $20
The verbose details on rocket mass heaters: This could be the cleanest and most sustainable way to heat a conventional home. Some people have reported that they heat their home with nothing more than the dead branches that fall off the trees in their yard. And they burn so clean, that a lot of sneaky people are using them illegally, in cities, without detection. When somebody first told me about rocket mass heaters, none of it made sense. The fire burns sideways? No smoke? If a conventional wood stove is 75% efficient, doesn’t that mean the most wood you could possibly save is something like 25%? How do you have a big hole right over the fire and not have the house fill with smoke? I was skeptical. And then I saw one in action. The fire really does burn sideways. The exhaust is near room temperature – and very clean. The smoke doesn’t come back up because a huge amount of air is getting sucked into the wood hole. Neat! I sat on one that had not had a fire in it for 24 hours – it was still hot!”

Prepping Food Recipes: Frying Pan Stuffing

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How To Cook Frying Pan Stuffing Recipe (1)

Here’s another frugal and easy food choices for prepping, camping, and survival on a budget: Pan Fried Stuffing.

Learning how to cook some simple, hearty dishes is an important part of learning to be self-sufficient. It can also help you learn to utilize some items from your survival food list.

My daughter, Montana Storm, actually came up with how to make stuffing from leftover bread in a frying pan one day (she may have stumbled on this because all the pans were dirty!). I don’t know how, but became quite a hit in our family. And now I always have a bowl sitting on the back of the counter to catch the heels of bread, and leftover rolls and buns that will mold if not frozen or dried, for stuffing and meatloaf, meatballs, croutons, whatever.

Frying pan stuffing takes about five minutes to make and can be (depends on how you dress it up) oh so good!  It will fill the stomach, can be eaten alone (I like it with leftover gravy) or as part of a meal.

This is the basic recipe, from here it is all what you have available and your own personal taste palette.

Pan Fried Stuffing Recipe

Ingredients:

  • 9-10 bread end pieces (white, wheat, French, rolls, buns, garlic)
  • 3 tbsp. butter
  • 1 c. boiling water
  • 1/2 med. onion, finely chopped½ tsp. sage
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Other optional ingredients I have used:

  • 2 cloves garlic, minced or garlic salt
  • 2 tbsp. freshly chopped parsley or dried
  • More sage
  • Marjoram
  • Rosemary
  • Italian seasoning
  • 1 stalk celery, chopped
  • Chives
  • Raisins
  • Walnuts
  • Apples diced
  • Cranberries
  • Cooked potatoes, makes almost a hash
  • Add bouillon to the water for more flavor

I also keep ice cubes of “drippings” from roasts, etc. to create a good soup stock, broth or gravy. Nuke a couple of these and it will make your stuffing oh so much more delicious!

  1. Dice (or tear) bread ends and measure about 4 1/2 cups.
  2. Melt butter in a large frying pan (or pot).
  3. Add onion and whatever else you’ve decided to add.
  4. Sauté over medium heat about 3 minutes.
  5. Add whatever you’ve decided to add in the way of spices and stir.
  6. Add boiling water or broth—yes, you can simmer this to make it even more savory and bring out the flavors in the spices.
  7. Stir and bring mix to a boil.
  8. Fork in the bread, turn off the stove (if using gas, move to another burner if using electric), stir and cover for about five minutes before serving.

Serves 4-6. Or two if this is the meal. ENJOY!

I would love to publish a series of “basic” recipes that people can add to, to taste. Just good frugal recipes, especially those with an eye toward using rice and beans.

Small Farm Income Ideas: How We Make Money Homesteading

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Due to their unique life off the grid, this intentional community has had to be extremely clever in how they can make money to support their homesteading. Here are some of their small farm income ideas:

Pizza Restaurant

Along the side of a gravel road an old farm wagon advertises pizza! Wood fired pizzas every Friday from 5-8 pm, May through October. This is just one of the homestead based businesses this family runs to make ends meet without an outside income.

The building behind the greenhouse is used on this evening as a restaurant. Note the wood fired pizza oven centered on the back wall. The player piano provides music and a chalkboard is used to announce the pizza menu available. “Bring your own plates, utensils, and beverage,” is clearly written on the chalkboard. A pizza picnic!

Al fresco dining is also available at two levels to take in the view of the gardens and pastures against the backdrop of limestone bluffs and deciduous forests.

Community Supported Agriculture

In between the indoor dining and the outdoor dining is a certified kitchen which is not only used for the pizza business but also the CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) from the extensive gardens. And when interns and workshops are given at the farm this is a communal eating and gathering area.

The gardens occupy perhaps two acres of land. Besides the families that live here, this garden has supported up to 30 CSA families as well. However, even though demand is increasing the cooperative has decided to cut the CSA families to 15 to not only better serve them but also to balance lifestyle desires with financial rewards for the members working the CSA.

Loft Turned Theater

The loft of the old barn has been converted to a theatre for local actors and comedians to ploy their trade on Friday evenings. It is also used for a “movie night” for the families who live on the farm. And in the winter, it again becomes storage for hay for the working animals on the farm.

Handmade Goods and Curiosities Shop

The Curiosity Shop houses the only telephone on the farm. A landline that is hooked up to an answering machine and checked daily. It also is a retail outlet for the various crafts and wares that the members of the cooperative create.

Classes, and Workshops

The cooperative also provides internship opportunities for people interested in CSA ventures. Workshops are held for horse farming and solar energy.

I asked about workshops were being planned for next year. The wife just smiled and said that they would be planning that over the winter.

Winter Is For Looking Back and Looking Forward

Winter is a time for this family to recuperate from the hectic three season schedule of greenhouse gardening, planting via horse cultivation, the intensive work of gardening for multiple families and the CSA, pizza nights, theatrical productions, workshops, interns and guests, putting up wood, and the harvest. It is a time to think about what worked and what didn’t, and to plan for the new year.

The silence provided by the great white blanket of snow that covers the north country can be therapeutic, not only for individuals, but families. Homeschooling provides a closeness that is enviable in today’s fast paced society of after-school activities and both parents working outside the home. This family revels in that quiet time of winter.

I have been invited to revisit this cooperative farm in the spring. They will know then what their venue will be for the summer.  If you have questions or comments, feel free to email me and I will try to answer them now, or then.

This is part of an off grid series, where I take you on a tour of the off-grid home without solar assist and a walk around the farm.

If you enjoyed this post, be sure to check out the other posts featuring their: home without electricity, masonry heater, off grid water system, and gardening efforts.

My hope is that you will enjoy the experience as much as I did and perhaps learn, or remember, a bit of an older/newer lifestyle.