Portable Phone Charger – How to Pick One That Still Works When the Grid Goes Down

When the lights go out, your phone stops being a toy and becomes your radio, flashlight, map, medical reference, and the only way to tell your family you are alive. Most phones die in a day or less of hard use. A portable phone charger is what stands between a working lifeline and a dead slab of glass.

The problem is that most people buy the wrong one, or buy the right one and let it sit dead in a drawer. This guide covers how to read the numbers on the box, which types of chargers earn a place in a prepper’s kit, how to keep them safe, and how to build a backup system that keeps a phone running for days instead of hours.

Why a Portable Phone Charger Belongs in Every Kit

Federal health officials keep the advice simple: charge your phone and devices before a storm hits, because once the power drops you are living on stored energy. A wall outlet is useless in an outage, and a phone at 100 percent can still be flat by the second evening if you are checking weather and texting family.

A charged power bank turns that single day into several. It also covers situations that have nothing to do with the grid, like a breakdown on a back road, a wrong turn on a trail, or a hospital waiting room with no free outlet.

Think of it the way you think about water storage. You do not wait for the tap to run dry before filling jugs, and you should not wait for the outage to start charging your backup power.

Reading the Numbers: mAh, Watt-Hours and Real Capacity

Every portable charger is rated in milliamp-hours (mAh), and that number is where most buyers stop thinking. It is a useful starting point, but it does not tell you how many times the bank will actually refill your phone.

Convert mAh to Watt-Hours

The more honest measure is watt-hours (Wh), which accounts for voltage. The FAA’s spare battery packing guidance gives the formula: multiply volts by amp-hours. Most power banks use 3.7-volt lithium cells, so a 10,000mAh bank holds about 37Wh and a 20,000mAh bank about 74Wh.

Watt-hours matter for two reasons. They let you compare banks fairly, and they decide whether you can carry a bank onto a plane, which we cover further down.

Expect to Lose About a Third

No power bank delivers its full rated capacity to your phone. Energy is lost stepping the cell voltage up to USB output, lost as heat, and lost again inside the phone’s own charging circuit.

A reasonable rule of thumb is that you will get roughly 60 to 70 percent of the label. Modern smartphones carry batteries in the 3,000 to 5,000mAh range, so a 10,000mAh bank realistically gives one and a half to two full charges, and a 20,000mAh bank gives three to four.

Match Capacity to the Job

• 5,000 to 10,000mAh: everyday carry in a pocket or purse, enough to get you through one bad day.
• 20,000 to 27,000mAh: get-home bag, vehicle kit, or a weekend-long outage.
• Portable power stations of several hundred watt-hours: multi-day outages, whole households, and powered medical devices.

The Main Types of Portable Phone Chargers

Not all chargers are built for the same situation. A serious kit uses more than one type, because each has a weakness the others cover.

Standard Power Banks

This is the workhorse: a sealed lithium battery you charge from the wall and drain into your phone later. It is the fastest, most reliable way to put power back into a phone, and it is where most of your budget should go.

For everyday carry, a compact 10,000mAh unit like the Anker PowerCore 10000 or the lightweight Nitecore NB10000 disappears into a jacket pocket. For a home or vehicle kit, step up to something like the Anker 737 Power Bank (24,000mAh), which can also run a laptop or tablet.

Look for USB-C Power Delivery (PD) on any new bank. It charges modern phones faster and lets the bank itself refill much quicker, which matters when grid power comes back for only a few hours at a time.

Solar Chargers and Solar Power Banks

Solar is the only option that refills itself without fuel or muscle, which is why it gets so much attention in prepping circles. It also gets oversold.

Mississippi State University Extension notes that it takes eight to 10 hours of direct sunlight to fully charge a solar charger, and that is for small, dedicated units. The postage-stamp panels built into many “solar power banks” are far slower, better described as a trickle that slows the drain than a real recharge source.

The setup that actually works is a separate foldable panel feeding a regular power bank. A panel in the 20 to 30 watt range, such as the BigBlue SolarPowa 28 or a Goal Zero Nomad panel, harvests far more energy than any built-in cell, and the power bank stores it for night use. Our guide to rechargeable batteries for preppers uses the same buffer idea: charge the bank from the sun by day, then charge your devices from the bank after dark.

Hand-Crank Chargers

Crank chargers work when nothing else does: no sun, no fuel, and a dead bank. The catch is output, since the same extension guidance says several minutes of cranking produces enough power for a short call, not a full charge.

That makes a crank a last-resort tool, not a primary one. The smartest way to own one is built into an emergency weather radio with a USB port, like the Eton FRX3, so the same crank also keeps you tuned to NOAA weather broadcasts.

AA Battery Chargers

These are simple cases that hold AA batteries and push their power out through a USB port. Extension specialists put their output at roughly 20 to 60 minutes of phone charging, depending on the unit.

They make sense if you already stock AA batteries for flashlights and radios, because one battery supply covers everything. If you are ever caught with nothing at all, our older piece on how to charge your phone when there is no electricity walks through an improvised 9-volt battery method.

Vehicle Charging and Jump Starters

Your car or truck is a large battery on wheels. A quality 12V USB-C car charger turns it into a phone charger, and many portable jump starters, such as the NOCO Boost GB40, have USB ports built in.

Run the engine only outdoors in open air. The CDC warns never to run a car or truck inside an attached garage, even with the door open, and outages are exactly when people make that mistake trying to stay warm while they charge.

Also keep an eye on the car battery itself. Draining it to charge phones and then finding the vehicle will not start is a classic outage mistake.

Portable Power Stations

A power station is a lunchbox-sized battery with AC outlets, USB ports, and a solar input. Units like the Jackery Explorer 300 or Anker SOLIX C300 hold roughly 290Wh, enough to recharge a typical phone more than a dozen times.

They are heavy and expensive compared to a power bank, so they are a home-base tool rather than a pocket item. If someone in your house depends on a CPAP or another powered medical device, though, a power station moves from luxury to necessity.

What to Look for When Buying

Once you know the type you need, a few details separate a reliable charger from a dud or a fire hazard.

• Safety certification. OSHA’s guidance on lithium devices stresses using batteries and chargers tested to a recognized standard such as UL 2054 and certified by a Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory, so look for a UL or ETL mark on the bank itself, not just the box.
• Proper battery management. CPSC staff point to UL 2056, a safety outline written specifically for power banks, and recommend packs with charge control and short-circuit protection built in.
• USB-C PD input and output. It is faster in both directions and it is the standard every new phone uses.
• Pass-through charging. This lets the bank charge your phone while the bank itself is plugged in, which is handy when power returns in short bursts.
• Capacity printed in watt-hours. Reputable makers list Wh on the case, and if you cannot find it, be suspicious of the mAh claim too.
• Physical toughness. A rubberized or sealed bank survives a bug-out bag far better than a glossy one.

Be skeptical of no-name banks with huge capacity claims at bargain prices. Cheap cells and missing protection circuits are exactly what you do not want in a device that sits next to your body.

Portable Charger Safety: Heat, Cold and Recalls

Lithium batteries are safe when they are well made and treated right. When they fail, they fail hard, with fire and toxic smoke.

The danger is not theoretical. In 2026 the Consumer Product Safety Commission reannounced a recall of about 429,200 Casely wireless power banks after reports that included a woman who later died from burns when a bank caught fire on her lap while charging her phone. Check every bank you own against CPSC recall notices, and stop using one immediately if it shows up.

Temperature Rules

OSHA notes that lithium batteries can be damaged at temperatures above 130°F, and that charging lithium-ion cells below freezing can cause permanent internal damage. Both numbers matter for preppers who keep gear in vehicles, sheds, and bug-out bags.

Do not leave power banks on a dashboard in summer, and do not charge a bank that has been sitting in a frozen car until it has warmed up indoors. In winter, carry your everyday bank in an inside pocket where body heat keeps it usable.

Warning Signs

Retire any power bank that bulges, cracks, hisses, leaks, smells odd, or gets hot while idle. Move it away from anything flammable, ideally outdoors or into a metal container.

Never charge a bank under a pillow, on a bed, or on your lap overnight. A hard, non-flammable surface gives you time to react if something goes wrong, and a fireproof LiPo safe bag is cheap insurance for storing spares.

Flying With a Portable Phone Charger

If your get-home plan includes air travel, your charger has to make it through security. The TSA states that power banks containing lithium-ion batteries must be packed in carry-on bags, never in checked luggage.

Capacity limits come from the FAA watt-hour rules covered earlier: banks up to 100Wh are allowed, 101 to 160Wh need airline approval with a maximum of two, and anything larger is forbidden. A 20,000mAh bank sits around 74Wh and flies without trouble, but some airlines now add their own stricter limits, so check before you go.

Storing and Maintaining Your Chargers

A dead power bank is just dead weight. The most common charger failure in an outage is not a broken unit, it is one nobody remembered to charge.

Charge Level and Rotation

For long-term storage, lithium banks are happiest at partial charge rather than full or empty, kept in a cool, dry spot. Check and top off stored banks every two to three months, and charge everything to full the moment a storm shows up in the forecast.

Put the check on a calendar, or tie it to something you already do, like rotating stored water or testing smoke alarms. Banks that get used now and then also tend to stay healthier than ones that sit untouched for years.

Cables and Adapters

A charger without the right cable is useless. Keep a short, sturdy braided USB-C cable rubber-banded to every bank, plus whatever cable older family phones need.

Store a spare cable and a 12V car adapter in each vehicle kit. Cables fail far more often than batteries do.

Disposal

When a bank reaches the end of its life, do not toss it in the trash or curbside recycling. The EPA advises taping the terminals and taking lithium batteries to a dedicated recycling or household hazardous waste collection point, because crushed lithium cells start fires in garbage trucks and sorting facilities.

Stretch Every Charge: Phone Power Discipline

The best power bank in the world will not save a phone that is burning through its battery hunting for a signal. Power discipline roughly doubles the value of everything you have stored.

• Turn on Low Power Mode or Battery Saver at the first sign of an outage.
• Drop screen brightness and close background apps.
• Use airplane mode when you do not need a signal, especially where coverage is weak, since searching for a tower drains the battery fast.
• Text instead of calling. Extension specialists point out that short texts use less battery than voice calls and are more likely to get through crowded networks.
• Download offline maps and key documents ahead of time so you are not streaming them during the emergency.

Building a Layered Phone Power Plan

No single portable phone charger covers every scenario. The goal is layers, so that when one fails, the next one picks up the load.

Layer 1: Everyday Carry

A 5,000 to 10,000mAh bank and a cable, on you or in your bag every day. It covers the roadside breakdown and the first evening of an outage.

Layer 2: Home and Vehicle Reserve

Two or more 20,000mAh banks at home, kept charged, plus one in each vehicle with a 12V adapter. That is several days of phone power for a household before you touch anything renewable.

Layer 3: Renewable Recharge

A foldable solar panel to refill the banks, and a crank radio with USB output as the fallback when the sky stays gray. This is the layer that stretches days into weeks.

Layer 4: Heavy Backup (Optional)

A portable power station makes sense if your household is large, you work from home, or anyone relies on powered medical equipment. Pair it with a larger solar panel and it can carry the whole family’s electronics through an extended outage.

When the Power Goes Out, Will You Know How to Survive Without It?

A fully charged power bank might keep your phone running for a few extra days. But what happens when the outage lasts a week? Or longer? What will you do when your batteries are empty, fuel is scarce, and the systems you depend on stop working?

Real self-sufficiency isn’t just about having the right emergency gear. It’s about having the skills to survive when that gear is no longer enough.

That’s exactly why The Lost Skills of Independence deserves a place in your preparedness library.

This practical guide explores the forgotten knowledge and traditional skills that helped previous generations live with far less dependence on modern conveniences.

Discover how to:

• Become less dependent on the electrical grid by learning practical, old-fashioned solutions for everyday needs.
• Prepare for extended emergencies when electricity, communication networks, and essential services become unreliable.
• Develop practical self-reliance skills that can help you make better use of the resources you already have.
• Build a more resilient household by reducing your dependence on fragile supply chains and modern infrastructure.
• Rediscover traditional know-how that can prove invaluable when modern conveniences disappear.

A portable charger is an excellent first step in emergency preparedness. But batteries eventually run out, and no single device can replace the confidence that comes from knowing how to take care of yourself and your family.

The best survival tool isn’t something you plug into a wall. It’s the knowledge you carry with you.

Don’t wait for the next blackout to discover how much you depend on electricity.

Get The Lost Skills of Independence today and start building a life that’s better prepared for whatever tomorrow brings.

Discover The Lost Skills of Independence Here!

Final Thoughts

A portable phone charger is one of the cheapest, most practical preps you can buy, and one of the easiest to neglect. Buy quality, understand what the numbers really mean, keep it charged, and back it up with a way to refill it.

Do that, and when the grid drops, your phone stays what it should be in a crisis: a working link to information, help, and the people you care about.

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How the Russian Plague Scare Could Affect You

Back in early 2020, plenty of folks watched a strange pneumonia story out of China and figured it was half a world away. A few weeks later, the pharmacy shelves were bare, and the experts on TV were still telling everyone not to worry. So it’s no surprise that a death at a Siberian plague lab has a lot of people feeling that same knot in their stomach.

Some are already calling it “the Russian Covid”, and even though nothing has been confirmed, the way this story keeps shifting deserves a hard look.

What Really Happened in That Lab

Daria Shipilova, a 28-year-old technician at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute of Siberia and the Far East, died on October 2, and authorities quarantined the hospital in Shelekhov and put 197 of her contacts under medical observation. Officials described the cause as pneumonia of unknown origin, and for a few days that was all the public got.

What Happens to YOUR Prescription Drugs If the Medicare Plan Disappears in 2027? 

The local version of events didn’t match for long. A Russian news outlet reported that she died of plague, possibly after contracting it from a broken test tube. Also, the head of the neighboring Buryatia republic posted that she had died of an unspecified form of plague. Russia’s health watchdog pushed back hard, and it said extensive testing found no microorganisms connected to her work.

Later, the World Health Organization said Moscow told it no case of plague had been registered, although Reuters couldn’t establish whether that meant plague was ruled out in her case.

Why This Feels Like 2020 All Over Again

A lab that studies dangerous germs and a young worker dead from a mystery pneumonia make a combination anyone who lived through 2020 will recognize. Back then, the idea of a lab leak in Wuhan was brushed off as a crazy theory, and years later several U.S. agencies said it was the likely source. So people have good reason to doubt a government that first spoke of a “particularly dangerous infection” and then insisted nothing went wrong.

The details coming out of Irkutsk don’t help either. After her death, more than 60 institute employees were reportedly barred from leaving the building, and a local aluminum plant made masks mandatory the next day. Steps like that rarely happen over an ordinary case of pneumonia, and folks in Siberia noticed.

The details coming out of Irkutsk don’t help either. After her death, more than 60 institute employees were reportedly barred from leaving the building. The next day, a large aluminum factory in Shelekhov, the town where she was treated, ordered every worker to wear a mask on the job. That factory has nothing to do with the lab, so the order told locals that someone in charge feared the illness could spread from person to person.

Those sudden mask orders probably bring back a few memories of your own. In March 2020 and the item you couldn’t find anywhere, whether it was toilet paper, Tylenol or a simple box of masks. You probably remember standing in that empty aisle and wishing you’d bought it two weeks earlier.

So this time, make sure you already have the 11 things that will vanish within 48 hours of an outbreak. Nobody knows if another pandemic will hit the U.S., but you can make sure it doesn’t catch your your family empty-handed again.

Why Pneumonic Plague Worries Doctors the Most

Plague comes from a bacterium called Yersinia pestis, which still lives in wild rodents and their fleas across parts of Siberia. Most people picture the bubonic form from the Black Death, where fleas do the spreading and the lymph nodes swell up. Pneumonic plague works differently, because it infects the lungs and the patient coughs out infectious droplets that can reach other people.

Left untreated, the pneumonic form is almost always fatal, and it can kill within days. The good news is that common antibiotics like doxycycline and ciprofloxacin work against it.

Antibiotics only help if you can get them in time, though, and a plague scare is exactly when that gets hard. Picture a fever climbing past 103 at 2 a.m., with the urgent care turning people away and the ER line ringing busy. Would you know what to do in the first 24 hours of a life-threating fever, or would you be pacing the hallway waiting for a callback? The right first aid can keep someone stable until help gets through. And while nothing beats antibiotics and a doctor, those first hours are in your hands. 

The Shortages That Could Reach Your Town First

Even if this never turns into an outbreak, a big scare can empty shelves all on its own. In 2020, N95 masks disappeared within weeks, and pharmacies ran short of fever reducers as people stocked up. A plague headline would put that same pressure on doxycycline and ciprofloxacin, because those are the first drugs people would go looking for.

Worse, a large share of the raw ingredients for American generic antibiotics comes from China and India, so trouble overseas shows up at the pharmacy counter here.

And it won’t stop at antibiotics. If you take a daily pill for your heart, your blood pressure or your blood sugar, picture the pharmacist telling you the next shipment is “a few weeks out” while your bottle runs dry. So at your next checkup, say THIS to your doctor before the next shortage hits, and you could walk out with far more than a single month of pills. 

Plague Has Been in America All Along

Plague never left the United States, and the CDC records an average of about seven human cases every year. Most of them happen in the rural West, especially northern New Mexico, northern Arizona and southern Colorado, with some in California, Oregon and Nevada. The bacteria live in prairie dogs, ground squirrels and wood rats, and their fleas carry it to people and pets.

Cats are especially vulnerable, and an infected cat can pass the pneumonic form to its owner by coughing. So for anyone on a homestead or near open country, the real risk may sit closer to home than Siberia.

Treating dogs and cats for fleas year-round and never handling a dead rodent barehanded help a lot, but there’s an ingenious rodent trap you can make to stop the problem before fleas ever reach the porch:

The Symptoms That Can’t Wait Until Morning

Pneumonic plague typically develops one to three days after exposure. The most alarming symptoms include:

• Coughing up blood-streaked mucus, sometimes pink, watery, or frothy.
• Rapidly worsening shortness of breath, breathing can become severely difficult within hours.
• Sharp chest pain, especially when coughing or taking deep breaths.
• A rapidly worsening cough, which may begin dry before producing mucus.
• Sudden high fever and intense chills, often appearing abruptly.
• Extreme weakness and exhaustion, sometimes making it difficult to stand or perform normal activities.
• Rapid breathing – the body struggles to get enough oxygen.
• Blue or gray lips and fingertips – a late, critical sign of dangerously low oxygen levels.

The biggest warning sign is how quickly symptoms worsen. Not everyone coughs up blood, and these symptoms can occur with other serious illnesses. Suspected pneumonic plague requires immediate emergency medical care.

How a Quarantine Could Look in Your Own Home

If an outbreak ever reached the U.S., the first order from officials would likely be to stay home, and the grocery stores would be packed that same afternoon. Having two to four weeks of food, water and regular medications already in the house keeps you out of a crowded checkout line, breathing the same air as everyone else.

You’ll also want a sick room, ideally a bedroom with its own bathroom where you can care for one family member apart from the rest. With plastic sheeting, tape and a few cheap supplies, you can turn a spare bedroom into an isolation room in a single afternoon and stop one illness from spreading through the whole house. And while things are still calm, ask your doctor about keeping a course of antibiotics on hand, because that conversation gets much harder in the middle of a panic.

Why Siberia Is Worth Watching from Here

Russia has stayed tight-lipped about what killed a young lab worker, and that silence alone keeps the story alive. President Trump called her death a “big problem for Russia,” so Washington is clearly paying attention too. For now, the WHO has no confirmed plague case, and local officials say 60 percent of the people placed under quarantine have already been released.

Even so, 2020 taught us that the best time to get ready is while the story still sounds far away.

Dr. Maybell Nieves, one of the doctors who wrote The Home Doctor, spent years treating patients after her country’s hospitals and pharmacies ran out of medicine, electricity and running water. With nothing new coming in, her team had to rely on expired drugs, and they found that many of them kept working for years past the date on the label. A few of them turn dangerous with age, though, and telling them apart can matter a great deal once your local pharmacy can’t restock.

Don’t have The Home Doctor yet? You should, and here’s why:

• It’s 304 pages written and approved by doctors, made for the days when help is not on the way and the ER is no longer an option.
• You’ll get a simple at-home protocol for the flu and other respiratory illnesses, for when a trip to the hospital is off the table.
• It covers the 4 antibiotics worth keeping at home and why having all four matters, with a reminder to talk to a doctor before taking any of them.
• It shows the 10 cheap medical supplies that vanish first once panic buying starts, so you can get them while the shelves are still full.
• Doctors share what they do to keep their own immunity strong after close contact with sick patients, so you can stay on your feet while caring for a loved one.
• Reveals the legal, safe way to build up extra prescription medicine, even insulin, before the next shortage hits.

Nobody can say yet whether that lab in Irkutsk will turn into a footnote or the first chapter of something much bigger. But you already know how fast things moved in 2020, from a few odd headlines to empty pharmacies in a matter of weeks.

This time, you have the chance to watch from your own porch with the medicine cabinet stocked and a plan in place, while everyone else is still waiting to be told what to do. 

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15 Emergency Items That Are Quietly Disappearing

Estimated reading time: 12 minutes

Experienced preppers have been paying close attention lately. The economy's looking shakier by the month, conflicts are spreading across the Middle East and Europe, and there are plenty of other signs that hard times are on the way. Which is why preppers are quietly stocking up.

The obvious survival items (your classic beans, bullets, bandages, etc.) are in high demand, and manufacturers are working hard to keep them in stock. So for right now, you shouldn't have too much trouble finding the essentials. However, there are many less common emergency items that tend to get overlooked.

Duct tape, for example. There are countless reasons you might need duct tape in a long-term disaster, but the average person doesn't know that. Experienced preppers, on the other hand, understand the value of these items, which may explain why they're starting to disappear from the shelves. Just the other day, I couldn't find a single bottle of hydrogen peroxide at Walmart or any of the stores I usually go to.

This is probably why the Youtube algorithm gods recommended this video to me. It's from the channel, Prepping With Mike Dawson, and he lists some other items that are starting to disappear. You can watch his video and read the list below.

15. Petroleum Jelly

Most people see petroleum jelly and think chapped lips. Preppers see a fire starter, a wound protectant, a rust preventer, and a cold-weather skin shield all in one little tub.

The big one is fire. Cotton balls smeared with petroleum jelly catch a spark almost instantly and burn for several minutes, which gives you plenty of time to get a fire going even when conditions are wet, windy, or cold. It's one of the most reliable DIY fire starters out there, and it's taught in plenty of wilderness survival courses.

But it doesn't stop there. A thin layer on exposed skin helps protect against windburn in harsh cold. It keeps minor wounds moist under a bandage so the dressing doesn't stick to healing skin. It protects metal tools and battery terminals from corrosion, and you can rub it on container threads and rubber seals to help keep them airtight.

14. Non-Iodized Salt

Most of us grab iodized table salt out of habit, but plain non-iodized salt (like pure sea salt or canning and pickling salt) is the better choice for preparedness.

The difference isn't about flavor. It's about what's added. Iodine and anti-caking agents can cause problems in some uses where pure salt works just fine.

For example, mix about 1 teaspoon of pure salt into 1 cup of clean water, and you've got a basic saline solution that you can use for rinsing wounds. It's not the same as sterile saline from a pharmacy, but it's a lot better than nothing when the pharmacy shelves are empty.

Pure salt is also food for food preservation. It's used in dry-curing meat, preserving hides, and lacto-fermentation, which lets you keep vegetables for a long time without refrigeration or canning equipment. USDA canning guidance calls for pure salt in brine recipes because additives can mess with the results.

13. Hydrogen Peroxide (3%)

Chances are you've already got a half-used bottle of this under your bathroom sink. Preppers buy the big bottles on purpose, and they buy more than one.

At 3%, the CDC considers hydrogen peroxide a low-level disinfectant that works against bacteria, viruses, and fungi when you give it enough contact time. You can use it right out of the bottle on countertops, bathroom fixtures, and doorknobs, which comes in really handy during an illness outbreak, and it breaks down into water and oxygen, so there's no need to rinse.

It's also sometimes used for a first cleaning of a dirty wound to help loosen debris. Just don't keep using it on a wound over and over, since it can actually slow healing. And for drinking water, stick with proven methods like boiling or unscented bleach rather than relying on peroxide.

An unopened bottle lasts around three years, but once it's open, it starts losing strength within about six months. Keep it in its original dark bottle (or a dark spray bottle) to help it last. You'll find it in the pharmacy section, and it's cheap enough to grab two at a time.

12. Nitrile Gloves

When you're dealing with illness, treating a wound, or handling water you're not sure about, your bare hands are one of the easiest ways to spread contamination. There's a reason gloves and hand hygiene are the first line of defense in the CDC's standard infection-control precautions. And after floods, long power outages, and other disasters where sanitation breaks down, illness tends to spread fast.

Nitrile gloves are also useful for handling fuel when you're filling a generator, processing raw meat, working with harsh cleaning chemicals, and cleaning up storm debris. Nitrile is the way to go instead of latex, since latex allergies are fairly common and can be serious. They'll last around three to five years if you keep them away from sunlight and heat. Look in the pharmacy or cleaning aisle, and grab at least two boxes.

11. Birthday Candles

I know, this one sounds a little silly, but a multipack of birthday candles is only a couple dollars, and they're a surprisingly handy backup light source.

Each candle burns for roughly 15 to 20 minutes, so a pack of 24 gives you somewhere around six to eight hours of reading light without using up your fuel or batteries. That's a lot of light for a few bucks. Their small size is a plus, too. Stick one in a bit of clay, a bottle cap, or a jar lid, and you've got a small, stable light that's easy to manage.

Good lighting matters more than people think during an outage. When you can't see, you trip over things, knock stuff over, and misread labels (including medication labels). Birthday candles also make great fire-starting helpers, since you can hold one under slightly damp kindling long enough to dry it out and get it burning. As always, never leave a lit candle unattended.

10. Instant Dry Yeast

Unless you bake, you probably walk right past the yeast. But a strip of individual dry yeast packets could be one of the most valuable items in your pantry during a long-term emergency.

The big reason is bread. With flour, water, salt, and yeast, you can bake an actual loaf of bread when store-bought bread isn't an option. That's a huge deal for both calories and morale, and those basic dry ingredients store well and don't take up much room.

Yeast also opens up the door to fermentation more broadly, which people have relied on for thousands of years. Individual sealed packets are the best format, since each one stays fresh until you open it. Unopened, they usually last about two years (longer in the fridge or freezer). Look in the baking aisle and grab a couple of strips.

Related: 20 Survival Bread Recipes for Emergencies

9. Unscented Baby Wipes

When you don't have running water, hygiene goes downhill fast, and that's more than just uncomfortable. Sweat, grime, and bacteria can lead to skin infections, which are a common problem in disaster situations. Baby wipes are one of the easiest ways to stay reasonably clean without water, and the military uses the same kind of waterless approach in the field.

The unscented part matters. Fragrances can irritate sensitive skin, and in some outdoor situations you just don't want to smell like a flower shop. Wipes are also good for wiping down food prep areas and cleaning your hands, and wiping your neck and wrists with a cool wipe can help you cool down in the heat. Head to the baby care aisle and grab a travel pack for each kit plus a full-size pack for the house.

8. Safety Pins

In first aid, safety pins are what you use to secure a triangular bandage as an arm sling. Without one, that sling is just a piece of cloth draped over someone's arm. They're also great for quick gear repairs, like fixing a torn pack strap, a ripped tent, a busted zipper, or clothing when you don't have a needle and thread.

Here's a fun one most people don't know: If you stroke a steel pin repeatedly in one direction with a magnet and float it on a leaf in still water, it'll roughly line up north-south. It's not a real compass, but in a true navigation emergency, it's better than nothing. Check the sewing and notions aisle and buy a couple of packs so you can put one in every bag.

Related: 8 Survival Hacks Using Safety Pins

7. White Rice

Obviously, rice is a cheap, filling source of calories. But it's also one of the easiest foods on your stomach when you're sick. Plain white rice is a go-to food for recovering from an upset stomach, and stomach bugs from bad water or spoiled food are common after a disaster.

White rice also stores incredibly well. It'll last several years in its original packaging if you keep it cool and dry, and it can last decades in Mylar bags with oxygen absorbers. The dry goods aisle is where you'll find it. Grab a few bags each trip until you've built up a solid stockpile.

6. Heavy-Duty Aluminum Foil

Most people think of aluminum foil as a kitchen thing. Preppers see it as a multi-tool.

You can wrap food in it and cook right on hot coals with no pots or pans needed. You can use it to line a homemade solar oven to cook with sunlight when fuel is scarce. You can lay it under your sleeping area to help reflect body heat back at you. You can shape it into a bowl or trough to carry water a short distance, or make a funnel for pouring liquids.

It also works as a signaling device. Shiny foil reflects sunlight and can help you get the attention of rescuers from a distance. And of course, it's great for wrapping and sealing food. You'll find it in the kitchen storage aisle. Buy two rolls.

Related: 33 Prepper Uses for Aluminum Foil

5. No. 2 Pencils

Most people skip these because they already have pens. But pencils beat pens in a lot of emergency situations.

Pen ink can stop flowing in the cold, smear when it gets wet, and dry out if a pen sits unused for too long. Pencils don't have any of those problems. They work in the cold, they work on damp paper, and they can write on things like wood, plastic, and rough surfaces. That makes them perfect for marking maps and leaving emergency notes.

They also have a couple of bonus uses. Rub pencil graphite into a sticky lock or a stuck zipper, and it works as a dry lubricant when you don't have oil. And if you have a pencil sharpener, you should know that pencil shavings make great tinder.

4. Glucose Tablets

You'll usually find glucose tablets near the diabetes section of the pharmacy, but they aren't just for diabetics.

Your brain runs on glucose. When your blood sugar drops from hard physical work, skipped meals, stress, cold, or illness, your thinking can get foggy before you even feel physically weak. Your judgment slips, and you might not even notice it's happening.

Each tablet has about 4 grams of fast-acting sugar that gets into your system quickly without needing to be digested like regular food. They're the standard first response for mild low blood sugar episodes in people with diabetes, and they can give anyone a quick boost during a demanding emergency, like evacuating on foot or clearing storm debris.

3. Duct Tape

Duct tape can hold together a makeshift splint made from sticks or a rolled-up magazine, which is a technique covered in wilderness first aid. It can seal cracked windows, torn tents, and split tarps well enough to hold up against wind and rain. It can patch leaky hoses, cracked containers, and torn rain gear.

Wrapped around your pant cuffs and the tops of your boots, it helps keep ticks and other bugs from getting to your skin. And if you write on it with a marker or pencil, it makes a weatherproof note or trail marker. It lasts a long time as long as you keep it away from extreme heat. Check the hardware or automotive aisle and buy two rolls.

2. Manual Can Opener

Plenty of households have dozens of cans of beans, veggies, and soup stored away but only an electric can opener in the kitchen. When the power goes out, that opener is useless, and so is all that canned food if you can't get it open. It sounds almost too obvious to mention, and that's exactly why people forget it.

In a pinch, a can opener can also help you cut through plastic packaging or light cord if you don't have a knife handy. Keep it dry and it'll last pretty much forever. Buy two from the kitchen aisle: one for the pantry and one for your go-bag.

1. Collapsible Water Container

Water is the most important resource in pretty much any emergency. You'll start feeling the effects of dehydration within a day, and after about three days without water, you're in serious trouble. The CDC recommends at least one gallon of water per person per day for drinking and basic sanitation. For a family of four, that's 12 gallons for just three days.

That's a lot of heavy, bulky water to store, especially in a vehicle. A collapsible container folds up flat when it's empty, so it barely takes up any space, but it's ready to go the moment you need it. If you have to evacuate suddenly, you can fill it from your tap, bathtub, or anywhere else safe and bring that water along. Without one, you're stuck with whatever bottles you happen to have lying around.

Make sure you get one made from food-grade, BPA-free material. Buy one for every vehicle and every emergency bag in your house. If you keep water stored in one, swap it out about every six months.

None of these items are exciting, and that's kind of the point. They're cheap, easy to overlook, and incredibly useful when the SHTF.

You May Also Like:

• Beginner Prepping List: The Bare Minimum You MUST Have
• 23 Reasons To Stockpile Salt
• An Emergency Candle That Can't Possibly Start a Fire
• 7 Prepper Tips for Teenagers
• 20 Inexpensive Items to Stockpile Before Prices Rise

The post 15 Emergency Items That Are Quietly Disappearing appeared first on Urban Survival Site.

from Urban Survival Site

Friendship Soup Mix In A Jar

Don’t we all have a friend we want to send a little “thank you” to? Back in the day, it was common for women to share recipes and food gifts. Let’s bring that back! This Friendship Soup Mix in a Jar is an excellent gift for someone you love or are concerned about. It’s also an easy way for your family to enjoy soup.

Let’s make this soup mix in a jar, and you’ll see how easy it is! My friend Janet (a reader) held my hand and sent me detailed text messages explaining how to use lentils. I thank her from the bottom of my heart.

I’m updating my soup mixes in jars. There’re so many food shortages that we must be prepared now more than ever.

Friendship Soup Mix in a Jar is the Perfect Gift!

My friendship soup mix in a jar is a healthy, wholesome meal everyone will enjoy, and it’s easy to prepare. Add some bread, biscuits, or crackers, and dinner is ready. I have some tags for you to print if you wish to give them as gifts; they tell you how to prepare the soup. One of the things I like about this soup-in-a-jar approach is the beautiful presentation. All the colors make it truly look like a fancy, cherished gift, which it is.

The recipe is also printable below. You can make these in pint- or quart-wide-mouth jars. This recipe is for the 32-ounce wide-mouth quart mason jars, but you could cut it in half for the wide-mouth pint mason jars.

Ingredients for Making The Gift Jar:

• Dried green split peas: The mature green peas are peeled, split, and dried. The split peas don’t need to be soaked before cooking.
• Dried lentils: A legume, the seed of the lentil plant. Lentils are never eaten fresh from the garden; they’re only dried products.
• Pearl barley: Used to bulk up soups. A very healthy grain! It has twice as much fiber and calcium as brown rice.
• Beef bouillon granules or cubes: Highly concentrated cubes or granules made from beef stock, spices, herbs, and vegetables.
• Dried/Minced Onion: When dried, onions develop a richer flavor than fresh onions. This makes them perfect for soups, as they add a sweet onion kick!
• Uncooked white rice: Jasmine, basmati, and long-grain rice are the most popular. They have a mild flavor and are light and fluffy when cooked.
• Uncooked small pasta (I used Ditalini): There are various small pasta shapes, such as ditalini, alphabet pasta, or macaroni.
• Italian Seasoning is a spice blend of ground herbs such as basil, rosemary, oregano, garlic powder, sage, thyme, or coriander.
• Bay Leaf: A highly aromatic leaf that imparts a subtle minty flavor when infused in a liquid.
• Salt and Pepper to taste: They help to enhance the flavors of the other ingredients in the soup.
• Water or beef broth: Used to cook dry ingredients and seasonings.
• Additional ingredients to add after the soup has cooked: one pound of cooked ground beef (drain excess fat from cooking), one 14-15-ounce can of diced tomatoes, undrained, and one 15-ounce can of tomato sauce.

Filling the Jars:

Grab a wide-mouth quart (32-ounce) mason jar to layer the dry ingredients above. First, put the pasta in a baggie as stated. Place the seasonings in a small bag so you can place them under the lid after filling the jars with the other ingredients. Start with the minced onions, green split peas, dried barley, lentils, and rice, and end with the pasta on top. Trust me, you’ll need a Funnel to fill the jars with the dry ingredients.

The seasoning bag will go on top of the pasta bag. These are so fun to make, my friends! They would make great gifts for someone who is sick, having surgery, or just having a bad day—the list is endless. I used seasoning bags. I bought the 3.5” x 5.5” size bags. You may want some Twine for the printable gift tag(s) or create a printable label.

What the Soup Looks Like When Made!

Step One: Pour the Dry Ingredients and Seasonings into a Soup Pot

After opening the jar, remove the bag of pasta and set it aside. Grab a soup pot or other large pot, pour the dried soup ingredients into it, and add the seasonings.

Step Two: Add Water and Bring to a Boil

Add 3 quarts of water and bring it to a boil. Cover and let the soup simmer for 50-60 minutes.

Step Three: Remove Bay Leaves and Add Pasta.

Remove the bay leaves, add the pasta, and cook for 15-20 minutes, or until the pasta and grains are tender. Salt and pepper to taste.

How to Make Friendship Soup Mix In A Jar

CLICK HERE TO PRINT

Friendship Soup Mix in a Jar Recipe

Print

Friendship Soup Mix In A Jar

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour 20 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Servings 8 people

Author Linda Loosli

Ingredients

• 1 cup dried green split peas
• 1 cup dried lentils
• 1/2 cup pearl barley
• 1/3 cup beef bouillon granules or 1-2 beef bouillon cubes
• 1/4 cup dried minced onions
• 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
• 1/4 cup uncooked white rice
• 1-2 bay leaves
• 1/2 cup Uncooked pasta. I used Ditalini (place in a small plastic bag so it's easy to remove from the jar).
• 3 quarts of water (when ready to make soup)
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Instructions

Assemble the Jars

• Grab a quart (32-ounce) mason jar to layer the ingredients above.
• First, put the pasta in a small plastic bag as stated.
• Place the seasonings in a small bag so you can place them under the lid after filling the jars with the other ingredients.
• Start with the minced onions, green split peas, dried barley, lentils, rice, and the bag of pasta goes on top. The seasoning bag will go on top of the pasta bag.

Cooking Friendship Soup Instructions

• After opening the jar, remove the bag of pasta and set it aside.
• Grab a soup pot and pour the dried soup ingredients into the pot; add the seasonings.
• Add 3 quarts of water and bring it to a boil.
• Cover and let the soup simmer for 50-60 minutes.
• Remove the bay leaves, add the pasta, and cook for 15-20 minutes or until the pasta and grains are tender. Salt and pepper to taste.

Optional Add-Ons

• You may want to add the pre-cooked meat and tomato products when you add the pasta. One pound cooked ground beef, one 14-15-ounce can of diced tomatoes, and one 15-ounce can of tomato sauce.

What can I serve with this soup?

• Homemade Biscuit Recipe
• 2-Ingredient Biscuit Recipe
• Easy Dinner Rolls Recipe
• Homemade Cracker Recipe

What kind of jar can I mix friendship soup in?

I prefer wide-mouth mason jars. Be sure to check out garage sales and thrift stores for these jars. So many people have stocked up on canning supplies but may never use them. Hopefully, they’ll sell them or give them to a neighbor.

The suppliers know they need them, so watch for jars in the spring. One thing that helps while filling the jars is a funnel. This one fits on regular and wide-mouth jars. Canning Funnel

Do I need to use a FoodSaver to seal the jars for the friendship soup recipe?

The FoodSaver removes the air from the food, which is critical to keep it safe for one year. I put the seasonings in bags inside the jars so the seasoning powder doesn’t clog my FoodSaver hose.

Dicorain™ is Now Available

In case you missed this post, here it is. It’s a way to seal the jars without having to put them through the usual canning process. It’s a time saver and relatively inexpensive. Rays told us about them. Dicorain™: A New Way To Vacuum-Seal Some Foods. Dicorain™.

Do I need to use oxygen absorbers in my jars?

You can if you want to; I don’t. Based on my Master Canning and Preserving classes, the food is good for one year. I don’t have the equipment to extend the shelf life, so one year works for me.

Can I store my Soup Mix in a Jar or Mixes in Bags?

Yes, you can, but some pasta or dehydrated vegetables may pierce the bags. I never use bags because I worry about mice or critters contaminating my food. I only use jars.

Is there a gluten-free noodle option that would work?

Yes, here’s an option for our GF friends! Gluten-Free Pasta

What’s the shelf life of my Soup Mix in a Jar Recipes?

As you know, Mark and I took classes to become Certified Master Canners and Preservers even though we had been canning, dehydrating, and pressure canning foods for over 56 years together. I lived in Logan, Utah, and purchased a Ball Canning book in 1970. I then drove to the Utah State Extension Service to have my equipment tested (pressure canning gauge and seal). I had a Presto pressure canner back then and eventually bought the All-American pressure canner.

Shelf Life of One Year

I feel strongly about mentioning this because I learned that the food we can at home generally has a shelf life of one year. If we dehydrate food at home, the shelf life is one year. Let me be honest: I ate my canned peaches when they were 3-4 years old.

I get it—I’m sure you do, too! I’m just telling you what I learned. If you think about it, if we grow a garden or go to a Farmer’s Market to get fresh fruits and vegetables, one year should be fine for a normal shelf life.

We Can Do This, My Friends!

Grow food and preserve it by canning or dehydrating it. Each year, we start all over again. We can do this, my friends. I want to make soup mix in a jar because I saw what happened after disasters in many states. These jars would make great gifts and easy last-minute dinners. They’re perfect during a disaster, as they can be used with boiling water to feed the family.

You must have a way to boil water, cook a meal, or make a soup after a disaster. Please get a Butane Stove and Extra Canisters. The perfect pan for a butane stove is a 4-quart Saucepan.  You don’t want the pan hanging over the burner on your Butane Stove. It’s all about safety.

My Soup Mix in a Jar Series

• Chicken Noodle Soup Mix in a Jar
• 3 Bean Chili Soup Mix In A Jar
• Pasta Fagioli Soup Mix in a Jar

Final Word

The next time you want to cook in the kitchen but aren’t sure WHAT TO MAKE, these Friendship Soup Mix in a Jar options are fantastic for gifting, especially during the holiday seasons, and keeping around your own home for a quick meal solution. Canning is an important skill, and these soup mix jars are a great alternative to traditional canning. Plus, you’ll have TONS of delicious soup to eat later. Happy soup-making, my friends! May God bless this world, Linda.

The post Friendship Soup Mix In A Jar appeared first on Food Storage Moms.

from Food Storage Moms