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Best Survival Gear and Supplies

Food Storage Shopping at Your Regular Grocery Store

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How To Do Food Storage Shopping At Your Regular Grocery Store

(Skip to the complete list below)

There are many common sense reasons to store extra food. Sudden unemployment can certainly throw a financial hardship onto any family. Other unplanned financial issues can come up, such as automobile repairs, medical bills, inflation, increasing fuel prices and home repair.

During a financial crisis, it would be extremely valuable if you could find a way to reduce the costs required to feed your family..

Getting started in food storage does not have to be an overwhelming task. By taking just a few simple steps you can increase your food stores dramatically as well as increase your level of preparedness.

Food Storage Philosophy

For those just beginning to look to have extra food on hand, consider the following saying “Store what you eat and eat what you store.” This basic philosophy involves putting back quantities of common foods that already sit in your pantry and are found at your local grocery store.

The idea is to stock up and keep on hand much greater quantities of many of the very same foods that you already consume on a daily and weekly basis. These foods within the new storage system are rotated on a first-in, first-out basis, to make sure that nothing goes to waste.

What Is The Shelf Life of Food Storage?

Foods have varying degrees of storability. Shelf life varies tremendously between different categories of food and sometimes even between brands. Throughout the following “virtual tour”, of a typical grocery store, shelf life ranges are provided.

Please keep in mind that the typical shelf life range, provided is based on observations seen on the packaging. The reality is that most products true expiration date is substantially greater than that which is found on the package.

Now For The Food Storage Grocery Store Tour

OK, we have entered the grocery store, grabbed our shopping cart along with a sale paper and headed to the right side of the store. We are here to supplement our regular grocery shopping with foods that will be good additions to a food storage program.

Let’s go aisle by aisle, and cover some of the most basic, “staple” food storage items that we find:

1. Soup & Stew

Overview: Turning down into aisle #1 brings us to shelves of soup and stews. Canned soup has been a common food found in most homes for decades. Flavorful and nutritious, canned soup is inexpensive and has an excellent shelf life.

There are over 100 varieties of soups to choose from in some grocery stores. Maintaining variety of diet in a survival situation will assist in boosting morale and maintaining mental awareness. Soups are an excellent addition that adds variety to a food storage system.

Many soups can be purchased for as low as .40 cents a can when on sale. Using coupons can also reduce prices.

Shelf Life: Canned soups and stews generally have expiration dates that are two+ years from the date of purchase. In reality the true shelf life has been shown to be many years beyond that which is listed on the can. It is important that you do not dent the can as the protective liner inside can become damaged.

Shopping Cart Notes: This is a great place to start your food storage shopping. Select 3-4 varieties and buy 10 cans each. Beef stew is an excellent addition, mainly due to the higher protein content.

2. Canned Vegetables

Overview: Aisle #2 brings us to an important part of any food storage program – vegetables.

Vegetables provide valuable nutrients needed to maintain health and are an integral part of any diet.

Here we find a huge variety of vegetables to choose from. Although all these vegetables can be eaten by themselves, they can also be mixed and added to other foods to provide more variety to the diet.

Shelf Life: Canned vegetables generally have expiration dates that are 2+ years from date of purchase. In reality the true shelf life has been shown to be many years beyond that which is listed on the can. It is important that you do not dent the can as the protective liner inside can become damaged.

Shopping Cart Notes: Canned vegetables should be a major part of your food storage shopping. Select 2-3 varieties, and buy 10 cans each. Recommended examples are canned potatoes, corn, and green beans.

3. Pasta and Pasta Sauce

Overview: Some of the most inexpensive and easiest to prepare meals are made from the pasta found down on aisle #3.

Pasta can be used to make more than just spaghetti. Available in all different shapes and sizes, pasta can be combined with many other foods to create very flavorful and calorie dense meals. Pasta is high in carbohydrates which provide energy for the human body.

Pasta sauce comes in glass and plastic jars as well as cans.

Shelf Life: Dry pasta generally comes in boxes and has a listed expiration date of approximately 1 year from date of purchase. In reality the true shelf life has been shown to be many years beyond that which is listed on the can. It is important that you do not dent the can as the protective liner inside can become damaged. If the pasta is stored in a cool dry location away from insects, it can be stored for several years.

Pasta sauce in all containers often has expiration dates 2-3 years from date of purchase. Like all canned foods, true shelf life is longer.

Shopping Cart Notes: Pasta is very inexpensive and easy to prepare. Grab 10-20 boxes of what you like and half the quantity of sauce.

4. Canned Fruit

Overview: Aisle #4 brings another food storage basic component – fruit.

Canned fruit is nutritious and full of valuable vitamins. It is also very sweet. During a survival situation your diet will have a direct impact on your physical and mental wellbeing. Having some “sweetness” will be very welcome.

Shelf Life: Canned fruit generally has expiration dates that are 2+ years from date of purchase. High acid varieties tend to have a lower shelf life. In reality the true shelf life has been shown to be many years beyond that which is listed on the can. It is important that you do not dent the can as the protective liner inside can become damaged.

Shopping Cart Notes: Canned fruit tastes great and can be easily rotated using FIFO (first in, first out) as a part of your family’s regular diet. Look to purchase items on sale, select 2-3 varieties, and buy 10 cans each. Recommended examples are: canned peaches, pears and pineapple.

On The Grocery Store End Cap We Find…. boxes of saltine crackers on sale. These crackers go great with the soup found in Aisle #1. They are inexpensive and have a shelf life of at least 1 year. Grab three boxes. They are great with peanut butter, as well.

4. 1 Sugar

Overview: Sugar is a staple in any food storage program and widely used in many recipes.

Shelf Life: Sugar can be stored indefinitely if kept in a cool, dry, place away from insects and rodents. It is recommended that sugar be placed in a secondary airtight container for added protection.

Shopping Cart Notes: Sugar prices have increased over the past few years, so you should try to take advantage of sales when you see them. I recommend having at least six bags in your storage.

5. Baking Goods – Flour, Oils

Overview: Continuing down Aisle #5, you will find a variety of baking and cooking supplies, including a variety of flours and oils.

Flour is needed for making bread. Cooking oils are a common ingredient in recipes and also used for used for coating pans. You should review your typical recipes to determine which kind should be stored in extra supply.

Shelf Life: Flour comes in many different types. Consult the packaging for realistic expiration dates. Flour such as All Purpose and Bread varieties that are stored in air tight containers along with special oxygen absorbers can be stored for five years of more.

Shopping Cart Notes: Throw an extra 5 bags of All-Purpose and/or Bread Flour in the cart along with 3 bottles of vegetable or canola oil.

6. Powered Milk

Overview: Powdered milk can be found down aisle #6.

This is another excellent addition to any food storage program. It can be consumed itself after proper mixing and also can be used in the completion of many recipes. Due to its versatility powered milk can be looked at as a “boost” to any food storage program.

Shelf Life: Powered milk generally does not store well past one or two years. The packaging is often just a cardboard box with some type of liner. If repackaged into an airtight container, the shelf life can be lengthened.

Shopping Cart Notes: Throw a couple boxes in the shopping cart for now.

6.1 Pancake Mix & Syrup

Overview: Pancake mix is located a little further down Aisle #6. There are several varieties of pancake mix which require only water to make. This is super simple and easy.

Shelf Life: Similar to powered milk, the shelf life is one to two years. If repackaged into an airtight container, the shelf life can be lengthened.

Shopping Cart Notes: Throw several bags or boxes in the shopping cart. Practice FIFO.

Grab a couple bottles of pancake syrup while you’re at it.

7. Ramen Noodles

Overview: Aisle #7 brings a food item that many people who put themselves through college lived on – ramen noodles.

They are super inexpensive and store well. Easy to prepare, they require only water. They are also very high in sodium so they should be part of a food storage program, but not consumed too often.

Shelf Life: Stored in a cool, dry, location the shelf life can be in excess of two years.

Shopping Cart Notes: Throw a few cases of beef and chicken varieties in the cart.

8. Peanut Butter

Overview: Aisle #8 contains one of the best survival foods – peanut butter. Peanut butter is dense in calories and high in protein. It can be eaten straight out of the container, as well as spread on bread and crackers. Peanut butter can be easily included in a food storage program, as at it is often part of most people’s regular diets already.

Shelf Life: Expiration dates vary greatly from brand to brand so check around. Peanut butter generally carries a shelf life in excess of 2 years. Remember first in, first out.

Shopping Cart Notes: Find a variety with a longer shelf life that is on sale and add six jars to your cart.

9. Instant Potatoes

Overview: Aisle #9 has an invaluable food storage item – instant potatoes.  These are simple to prepare (you will need that powered milk from Aisle #6) .

Shelf Life: Expiration dates on packages generally run about a year from date of purchase. If stored in an airtight container, it is possible to keep them much, much longer.

Shopping Cart Notes: Grab a couple boxes for home and an extra six boxes to put back as part of your food stores. Use and replace as needed using FIFO.

9.1 Canned Ham, Chicken & Tuna

Overview: Aisle #9 offers canned ham, chicken, and tuna. Meat is one of the more difficult items to find in a storable form. Canned ham can be delicious, and is an excellent source of protein. Canned chicken is great to combine with other food items to make complete meals. Tuna is another source of protein. Also found in this aisle is SPAM. SPAM is considered a “meat”, and is high in protein as well as salt.

Shelf Life: Expiration dates on packages generally run two or more years from date of purchase. True shelf life is known to be much longer.

Shopping Cart Notes: Throw five to six canned hams in the cart along with the same of chicken ad tuna. Also, go ahead and pick up a few cans of SPAM. Use and replace as needed using FIFO.

10. Water

Overview: You cannot live for more than three days without water. Aisle 11 provides a basic solution to your water needs.

Shelf Life: Bottled water will last for years although the taste may change due to the plastic container. It is best to store it where light cannot reach, as ultraviolet light can break down the polymer container over time.

Shopping Cart Notes: Grab a second shopping cart and add 20 gallons of spring water  along with 6 cases of 24 bottles of purified drinking water. It’s a start and that shopping cart is heavy!

11. Canned Beans

Overview: Canned beans come in a variety of flavors and companies. Beans contain high level of nutrients, like fiber and protein. Dump some in a pot, heat and serve. Prices have risen over the past few years, however canned beans are still a good value.

Shelf Life: Expiration dates on packages generally run two or more years from date of purchase. As with other canned products, the true shelf life is much longer.

Shopping Cart Notes: Look for what is on sale and stock up now. Buy 10-20 cans depending on what you can afford.

12. Rice and Dry Beans

Overview: Rice and dry beans can be found down the last aisle. Typically found and purchased in bags, rice and beans are VERY inexpensive. When combined with each other and other food, it is very easy to put together nutritious and complete meals.

Shelf Life: If stored in a dry, cool place, the shelf life is just about forever. Many people will store large quantities of these components in special Mylar bags with oxygen absorbers.

Shopping Cart Notes: Throw 20 pounds of rice in the cart along, with 25 pounds of various beans. Read up on how to prepare.

That completes our tour.  

Summary Of The Best Food Storage Staples At A Grocery Store

The carts are checked out, order paid for, and the food transported home to be organized. What has been put together is a good beginning food storage program.

Let’s review what has been “put back” so far (some of this stuff is just as cheap, and way more convenient to grab on Amazon–links provided here):

This is a decent start, but a far cry from what is ideal. Again – the philosophy is to store what you eat and eat what you store. You should make lists for future shopping trips and purchase more items to add to your stores..

Here are examples of additional items to consider:

Starting a food storage program is not a sign of being paranoid. It is just being a responsible person. Take care all and prepare now, while you still can. Here’s a few final thoughts to consider:

  • Develop a routine to make sure you are using a “first in, first out” usage system. This will reduce waste and costs involve in replacing expired food.
  • Keep in mind that whatever food is stored may have to be prepared without power. Do you have an alternate means of cooking (like this simple DIY solar oven) to last the duration of the situation?
  • “Comfort foods” will be great morale boosters, especially for kids should a survival situation occur. Having some candy, hot cocoa, or fruity drink on hand will help provide some sense of normalcy depending on what is going on.
  • A water purification system is an excellent addition to any food storage system, as stored water supplies will only last so long. The Berkey line of filtration systems carried by are excellent.
  • When shopping in grocery stores, pay attention to expiration dates. The closest expiration dated products are supposed to be at the front of the shelf. It is worth it to take a few moments and reach to the back and compare to the front to get the freshest product possible.

How to Choose the Best Body Armor for Personal Protection?

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When you are looking for body armor that would protect you from either ballistic or stab/spike attacks, there are a few things you should consider, before finally making your mind.

Overt or Covert Armor?

You have to decide whether you want your body armor to go over your clothes (overt body armor) or to be worn under them (covert body armor). Do you have any special demands for your armor? For example, do you want to use a SAPI plate or maybe you want your vest to have a front zipper?

These are the questions you must answer before choosing a type of body armor you need.

Consider the Threats

Make sure you appraise your situation. Are the threats you will be facing going to be just ballistic or are they going to involve edged weapons too? Do you know the maximum caliber you are going to encounter? After considering this, make sure to refer to the NIJ ballistic protection ratings or the HOSDB stab/spike protection ratings.

As significant as it is to have proper protection, it’s also essential to not overestimate the protection levels you require, specifically if you must wear the armor for prolonged time frames. Body armor with higher protection levels will be a bit heavier, than armors of lower levels, and will frequently stiffen your mobility.

Make Certain about the Size

There are 3 (4 for women) essential measurements that a consumer should refer to in order to increase the chances of body armor fitting them well.

  1. First of all, it’s the overall standing height. This will help you make certain that the armor is not too long, but is long just enough.
  2. Secondly, estimate your chest size. You must as well match this to a reliable chest size chart and guide.
  3. Thirdly, measure the length of your breastbone – the distance between the belly button and the top of your chest bone. This particular measure is the most significant in ensuring the length of the vest is appropriate.
  4. Fourthly, and lastly, female wearers should measure their cup size.

Make sure that you collect all this data before you choose body armor for personal protection.

Factual Fitting of Body Armor

A lot of people think that a body armor vest has to reach all the way down to the waist. But, this is not how it is in reality. The vest has to extend just to the navel area – the belly button. If a vest passes the navel, it becomes too heavy, while protecting non-vital inner organs. A too long vest will as well impede with the mobility of the wearer. It will also not feel comfortable and won’t even allow the person to bend down, if needed.

Even though taking care of all these things may take some time in the beginning, it is still better to do it before buying body armor. These factors and measurements will help you make certain that you buy the perfect body armor for you and your particular needs.

 

Can War Games Help us to Prepare for TEOTWAWKI?

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A lot of us, when we talk about war games, think about a bunch of guys sneaking around the forest at night firing blank bullets at each other. But whilst this is slightly true, it doesn’t give an accurate representation of how serious war games actually are.

A war game is any type of military-esque exercise which is carried out to improve strategic or tactical expertise. Some of them take the form of highly specialized maneuvers, whilst other seek to replicate potential real life situations, such as domestic insurrection.

They’re great training for military personnel who are to be deployed into hostile situations, in which they might feasibly have to remain undetected and secure, whilst surviving any way they can, for long periods of time.

How Useful Are War Games?

So now we know how war games are used by the military. But can they be adapted to suit the purposes of the modern day prepper?

We can start by examining the way in which war games are designed. They mimic potential real life situations as far as is possible, in order to give the participants the training and experience they need to survive should such a situation occur. In some cases, this might mean going to sea on an aircraft carrier, or carrying out maneuvers in tanks in the desert.

However, many war game situations require participants to survive on the land for months at a time, having no contact with the outside world, and needing to plan and implement strategies for achieving objective goals. It is these elements which can be easily adapted to suit a prepper’s needs.

Designing Your Own War Game

The type of situation in which a prepper may find themselves after the shit hits the fan may not necessarily be ‘war like’. But it’s still true that in many of the potential SHTF situations we can imagine, skills such as living off the land or moving stealthily will become very important.

So, in this respect, using war games as a template for designing our own survival training situations is a great idea. And all we need to set up our own war game training exercise is a terrain map, goal objective (such as surviving for a certain period of time, or reaching a specific location) and whatever military gear at night we can find which might prove useful – such as sturdy boots, sharp knives or military-grade camping equipment.

How To Deal With Snails and Slugs in The Garden (Hint: Beer)

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Friends, I have some simple gardening news to share.

I have never found a more effective way to get rid of snails and slugs than beer traps! I have never found a natural solution that’s more effective. And (here’s good news!) the cheapest beer works just fine!

I’m sure this will work, no matter what you are trying to grow: flowers, veggies, whatever.

I set traps last evening; I use the plastic tubs from my favorite greek yogurt, and bury them almost level with the garden’s earth; I do like to mound it just a bit around the edges, being careful not to get a lot of garden soil in the container – mounding makes it easy for the snails/slugs to slither over the edges of the container. Otherwise, they may be too sharp and may discourage “crawling in”. I like the beer about 7/8 full in the container.

Well, this morning, I checked my beer traps, and they were FULL of snails and slugs! Snails and slugs love the yeast smell, and will crawl right in and drown themselves! All of the critters in my traps this morning explain why my green bean babies aren’t making it, and why the bras are full of holes, in spite of the insecticidal soap, or natural dust. While I usually change the beer in the traps every other day, looks like I’ll be changing them daily for a while.

I actually used beer that has been sitting around since last year, but it worked perfectly well to trap the snails and slugs! So, even if it’s “old”, don’t throw that beer out; it’s still useful for snail/slug traps.

If you haven’t tried beer traps for slugs and snails, they simply work! Just want to share that with you.

Alert! H7N9 Potential Pandemic! Alert!

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Tuesday when I reported the news I put this at the bottom of the news page from the CDC. After further information has come out I wanted to do an “oped” on what we can do to prepare ourselves and our family’s to keep us safe, or at the very least to make us all aware of the current situation.

Many of us tend to think of the flu as something we only get in the winter months. When we are indoors more and don’t open our doors and windows as much, well nothing could be further from the truth. This virus is deadly with a kill rate of up to 50%.

We need to get prepared to take care of ourselves and our family’s NOW before the panic starts and there will be shortages of supplies like the ones I am going to suggest. Will this prevent this H7N9? No, sadly it wont but it may help us to prevent it from spending if we do come in contact with someone who has it.

What you need to Know Via CDC web site

It was revealed late this week by researchers at the University of Hong Kong that the H7N9 bird flu virus which has infected 131 people (and killed 36) can be transmitted not only by close contact but by airborne exposure.

Their study, published this week in the journal Science, indicates ferrets were passing the virus cage to cage. Additionally, inoculated ferrets were infected before the appearance of most clinical symptoms, demonstrating there may be more cases than have been detected or reported.

Additionally, tests were conducted using pigs, a major host of influenza viruses. These tests also definitively showed that they could also get infected with H7N9, leading to the belief that H7N9 may combine with pig viruses to generate new variants. A particularly important, though unreported aspect of the entire H7N9 topic is that severe cases are reported to be hemmoraghic. What this means is that those infected could experience, among a myriad of other symptoms, excessive internal bleeding, liver or kidney failure similar to dengue, tick-borne encephalitis, and Ebola.

Readers are reminded that while reported infection numbers are still relatively low, H7N9 clearly has world health authorities seriously spooked. So much so, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the CDC this week published a 1 BILLION dollar cost plus Federal Solicitation for the purposes of emergency experimentation with H7N9 Flu vaccines and emergency experimental antiviral treatments.

The Solicitation specifically references “preparation for a possible large scale national H7N9 influenza vaccination program.”

Further still, the CDC is considering using the two oil-in-water emulsion adjuvants in its stockpile with an H7N9 vaccine in order to increase effectiveness. Of particular note here is that the CDC has never before allowed the use of adjuvants in either the seasonal or pandemic influenza vaccines as their use has been tied to onset of Narcolepsy, as was the case with their H1N1 vaccine.

And something you can be assured of is that if a nationwide H7N9 vaccination program is implemented, this will no doubt be made mandatory for school-aged children given the close proximity of students in a school setting.

Supplies for Combatting This Pandemic

1. Medical Grade Skin Cleaner – In theory flu viruses can be transmitted 3 ways: Air, body fluids and direct contact. One of the best things we can do is to wash our hands and often. One thing that hospitals use is Chlorhexidine Gluconate, or HIBICLENS (brand name) This is used as a surgical scrub, health care personnel also use it for hand cleaning and a per-operative skin prep as well as a skin wound cleaner. The cleaner bonds to the skin to help create a persistent antimicrobial effect. It can be purchased from Amazon at the following link or you may can find it other places. Hibiclens Liquid is the one I ultimately found.

2. N95 Surgical/Filtration Mask – This will be useful for reducing person to person infection. The mask are currently inexpensive and readily available.

3. Disposable Scrubs 

4. Disposable Shoes

5. Disposable Caps

The last three (3) items I would encourage you to get in addition to the first two (2) just in case you are the one having to care for the sick individual.

A trash can with lid and trash bags to be placed just outside the quarantine room will also be helpful in containing the contaminated items. This way you will be able to remove the disposable items place them in the trash and cover.

Next go to lavatory and wash your hands using Hibiclens Liquid with warm water. A good rule of thumb is to sing the alphabet twice all the way through. This will ensure you are washing you hands long enough.

You may also want to have disposable utensils, plates and cups. It is important that you keep contact with all items limited to the sick room. The less you have to be around this flu the better it will be for all. Use brown bottle Lysol or Lysol concentrate on ever washable surface in your home. What you can not wash –  use Lysol Spray.

The CDC is preparing for a full blown pandemic. Don’t take chances.

Garbage, Trash Removal and Sanitation Issues in SHTF Situation

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When everything goes south, we will need to deal with the “unpleasantries of life”, such as dealing with human waste disposal (or to put it less delicately, dealing with shit when the shit hits the fan). But what about those other “wastes” we must dispose of? What will happen to all the things we throw away every day, expecting them to simply disappear, never to give another thought?

How long will you be able to remain in YOUR environment when there is no trash removal around you? I’m thinking of the 1975 “emergency” in Great Britain, during which the local government went “belly up” because they could not pay the salaries of city employees, including garbage/trash removal workers. It literally piled high in the streets. We’ve seen that in a few American cities on occasion, as well.

Even if you have emergency plans in place, even if you can burn your own trash, and really are so good at repurposing, so good at “living green” and “simply” you have little trash or refuse, how will you survive living in a world surrounded with hills (or, even mountains) of trash, debris, and garbage that will increase by the day all around you? The disease potential? The rodents, snakes, bugs, etc.? How will you manage in that scenario?

Or, is this just more reason to be ready to “Bug Out”, rather than “Bug In”?

Yes, you could stay and hope it gets better before it kills you breathing what’s “out there”. Many people may have no choice. But if you have the option of a bug out property, far away from the crowds, then, my advice would be waste no time getting there as soon as it is evident that “IHTF” (“It” Hit the Fan!). Don’t delay; don’t debate; don’t gamble; get out of Dodge! If it gets better, you can return. No harm done. But get out while the gettin’ is good!

O.K., but, what if you don’t have a bug out shelter to run to? There are some proactive steps you can take now; some of them involve other people, and you cannot control other people, their attitudes, or their actions (or lack thereof). But you can try to influence them for the better.

The Old Steel Drum Garbage Burner

Start teaching people NOW about disposing of trash, garbage, etc., when there is no alternative – the city is NOT going to pick it up for you and simply make it “disappear”.

One of the things we have done is buy a metal trash barrel (an old storage barrel). DH had to cut the top out of ours; we dug a small, level hole in the ground, just a few inches, for safety. We bought three (3) concrete blocks and set them in a triangle; we punched holes in the bottom edges of the barrel, just a few all around, about ten (10) inches from the bottom rim of the barrel. Fire must have oxygen to burn efficiently. We bought a fireplace screen in a second hand store for a top cover, to keep burning debris from “floating out” on the wind, setting fire to the neighborhood (and this can happen easily).

We have this same arrangement on our BOL and do use it to burn what little trash we generate, although we re-purpose and reuse everything as often and as many times as possible.

Composting

Composting is the best way I know to reduce your garbage/waste footprint. The only things you can’t really compost are meats and foods that contain meats – hopefully, you’re not wasting meats – they’re much too expensive and a tragedy to think that living things died not for food, but to be “wasted”.

Don’t get me wrong – I’m a carnivore – but no animal or living thing should die because I’m wasteful of God’s creation, over which I have been made a steward. That is just not good stewardship, IMHO.

But, just about anything else, can be composted: peelings, egg shells that have been boiled (not raw); paper, etc. This is making soil, folks; once you learn the simple techniques of making compost (making your own rich, fertile soil) you will never lack for gardening materials, and you will significantly reduce your “waste”, and thus, your garbage/waste footprint.

In addition to composting, many fruit and vegetable “scraps”, such as lettuces and celery can actually be regrown to produce food more quickly

Cleaning Supplies

In a disaster, Walmart may not be open to sell you cleaning supplies; even if they are “open” you may not be able to get them, or, you may find yourself fighting for your life for a bottle of bleach, etc.

Why put yourself in that situation?

Get what you need NOW and stay stocked up; liquid bleach does not stay “good” for more than a few months, even stored under ideal conditions. Get Leslie’s Pool Shock, 73% calcium hypochlorite solution; a one lb. bag costs about $5.00 U.S., and will last a very long time. Try to get more than one; however, as it is small, stores easily and forever, and makes a great barter item.

A FEW GRAINS (note emphasis) of this in a gallon of water will do wonders to shock it (after filtering, if there’s stuff in the water requiring filtering) and make it potable. A few more grains in the same water produces bleach on demand.

Also, white vinegar is actually said to be more useful as an antibacterial, ounce-for-ounce, than even bleach and it won’t ruin your clothes. It will, however, kill everything you throw it on, just like bleach, so, don’t throw it out on grass or growing things you don’t want to kill. White vinegar is cheap in large bottles at your local warehouse club.

Homemade Laundry Detergent

Here is my personal favorite “recipe” for homemade laundry detergent, which you can use for washing off grid, and is also more natural and much less expensive than what you can buy “ready-made.” It works just as well for washing dishes, cleaning house, etc., as it does for laundry, so you don’t need a lot of cleaners.

Get a blue (non-food-grade) plastic bucket and lid from Lowe’s to keep it in. This will fill the bucket a little better than half full, and lasts for months.

Ingredients:

  1. One four pound twelve ounce box of Borax {Found in Laundry Isle }
  2. Six (6) bars of Kirk’s Castile soap {Found in bar soaps @ Wal-mart – bottom shelf} – harden these bars off for 3 weeks before making, by removing from paper and allowing to “air dry” on a rack, turning occasionally; it’s much easier to flake like this; when dry; flake by hand, just using a grater (very easy!).
  3. one four pound box of arm & hammer baking soda {Laundry Isle}
  4. one box of arm & hammer super washing soda {laundry Isle}
  5. Bucket  of Oxy Clean (laundry isle} – this is optional, but I personally do like to add it. Omitting it will reduce cost, however. I use the “Sun” brand, which works just fine and is much cheaper than OC.

Plastic bags will not be available later; stock up on them now. Plastic bags won’t be a great solution for things you will burn, but can be used for that which cannot be burned and will hold things at bay a little longer than, say, a paper bag.

Disposable Paper Plates and Towels

Disposable PAPER plates, bowls, etc. will be helpful, but try not to rely too much on them; it would be better to heat water outdoors and wash dishes daily than add to the mounds. If you’re burning, paper plates burn well enough. Please DO NOT buy Styrofoam unless there is no other choice – Styrofoam is petroleum based, it is not earth friendly and it takes forever to break down.

Really though, just wash your dishes. What else will you have to do?

You’ll need paper towels; you won’t be able to get these later, either. Hand wipes, especially sanitizing, will have a useful place, but don’t rely too heavily on them; like Styrofoam, this stuff doesn’t break down well or quickly, although it will burn.

Extra garbage cans may or may not help, depending on how widespread the problem and the duration; but having extras around can do no harm, either – so buy them while you can, if it’s in the budget.

Breathing Mask

Breathing will be a problem, especially for those who already are “airways challenged”; if you don’t have asthma or breathing issues yet, you probably will by the time we get to this place, and, yes, it could very easily happen. You could stock up now on breathing apparatus such as masks, but do keep in mind most of these need replacement filters, as filters have limited life.

You can also make a simple mask by putting two inexpensive face masks together with a layer of activated charcoal between them and a thin layer of plastic to hold the charcoal in place. Activated charcoal is something that should be in your arsenal as poison control, water filtering, and any number of other uses.

Now you have another one. “Instructables” posts a how-to for a gas mask using an empty fruit can and plastic tubing; there are a plethora of posts at youtube on using just the cheap masks and charcoal, as mentioned. Spend a few minutes coming up with whatever works for you, but, have the instructions, have the knowledge, have everything you need and be ready to use it BEFORE IHTF. It may save you much suffering later.

Make sure you have as much med as possible available if you are asthmatic, etc. Be ready.

Do you have a supply of mouse traps? Bug treatments? All of these things will be both needed and unavailable when IHTF. I buy wooden mouse traps and throw them away, mouse and all  – I refuse to handle the little nasties, and, at a quarter a trap (discount stores), at this point, I don’t care. Maybe someday I will, but, not today.

Backup Power

If you have enough money, look into an in-house recirculating system; this is better than bringing contaminated air into your home. This also assumes you will have power to run it; do you have a backup system? A generator you can run? Solar system? Now we’re talking real money, but, hey! If you have it, spend it. If nothing else, as long as you still have power, run your a/c system – this will recirculate air.

Do you have a good shovel for digging and burying if you have no other choice? A couple bags of hydrated lime for your local farm store for handling odors on those things you must bury?

Please DO teach your neighbors, friends, church family, school family, anyone and everyone who will listen that all of you WILL need a Plan B for your trash, garbage, and refuse when bad stuff happens; now is the time is to “be prepared”. The more people you can get to plan ahead for system failures, the better off you will all be when IHTF.

Personal cleanliness, as much as possible, anyway, will never be more important than it will be in this scenario. Are you prepared?