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Sunday, August 11, 2024

The Ultimate Prepping List

Wood Stove Portable

There are so many things to think about when it comes to prepping. Sometimes, it’s hard to narrow it down to a list. In many cases, we prepare for specific disasters, but we never know what could happen. So, I’ve made the ultimate prepping list broken down into categories so you can create your own checklist: 

  • Power
  • Cooking
  • Sanitation
  • Food
  • Medication
  • Water
The Ultimate Prepping List

The Ultimate Prepping List

Where Will My Power Come From?

Storms can knock out the power for hours, to several days, or even weeks! Mother Nature isn’t always consistent, so it’s essential to have other power source options besides your local utility for when these things happen. Here are some basic things to consider when thinking about your power sources:

Wood Burning Stove

This would be something to consider getting, especially if you live in an area with cold winters. Of course, even places that seldom get ice and violent storms are infrequent can sometimes have extreme weather (think Texas with their grid down a few years ago). If the power goes out, so does the heat. So, when it comes to power, you should also consider heat sources.

The small steel wood-burning stove above is one I bought several years ago in St. George, Utah. It’s called a DAX Stove. I tried to look for a link if someone wanted one, but I think it may not be currently available. I think Harry posted one similar to it a few months ago. This one has been in my storage unit for almost three years, waiting for our home to be finished.

Related: How to Stay Warm Without Power and How To Heat Your Home In An Emergency

Don’t forget about stocking wood, fuel, fire starters, and lighters. 

Backup Generator

For most of us, a backup generator is great to have on hand, especially if you will only be without power for several hours, a few days, to a week. There are several options:

Batteries

Lots of things in your home can be powered by batteries. Stock up on all the batteries you would need! In addition to making sure you have extra batteries, grab some of the things you can use the batteries with, such as:

How Will I Cook?

You may have enough food to keep you and your family alive for a year, but it does no good if you can’t cook it! If you lose power, you may struggle to keep your food cold for longer than a few days, but things like pasta, baking bread, and other meals require you to be able to cook your food as well. Here are some excellent options:

Related: Why Do I Need Different Emergency Cooking Stoves

In addition to a cooking source, you will also want to stock fire starters and fuel such as:

Related: Types of Fire Starters to Stock

What Will I Do With My Garbage?

Depending on the situation, you may need to be prepared to deal with your garbage and waste. You can either burn your garbage or bury it. But what about human waste?

Related: Proper Waste Disposal During an Emergency

Well, back in the day, we used outhouses. They were holes in the ground with a building around them. A combination of lime, dirt, and ash could cover the waste and minimize the smell and spread of germs. Be sure to protect your local water system from the waste. You know that toilet paper is one of the first things to disappear at stores during a natural disaster. Be sure to store an amount that will last your family for an extended period, depending on family size. You’ll also want hand sanitizer, wipes, soap, and feminine products.

Related: How to Deal with Human Waste

What Food Should I Stock?

Having various kinds of food products in your food storage stash is essential. You especially need non-perishable items, as keeping things cold if the power goes out will be tough. Here’s a list of survival items you’ll want to stock:

  1. Wheat Berries 
  2. Salt
  3. Ready-to-eat canned food
  4. Protein bars
  5. Dry cereal or granola
  6. Peanut butter
  7. Dried fruit
  8. Canned juices
  9. Non-perishable milk (canned or powdered)
  10. Food for babies and infants
  11. Canned soups and chili
  12. Dry pasta
  13. Sports drinks
  14. Honey
  15. Baking soda
  16. Dry yeast
  17. Popcorn
  18. Instant Potatoes
  19. Crackers
  20. Beans
  21. Rice
  22. Lentils
  23. Oatmeal
  24. Nuts
  25. Pasta sauce
  26. Teas 
  27. Oils
  28. Corn starch
  29. Pancake mix (add water)
  30. Eggs and powdered eggs
  31. If you have pets, they’ll need food too

Foods You Can Grow

In addition to stocking up on non-perishable items and a variety of food, you should also learn to grow your fruits and vegetables. Whether you have a yard or not, you can still learn to grow things independently, from tomatoes to strawberries. If you aren’t sure where to start, along with this ultimate prepping list, check out my guides for what to plant each month of the year:

Make sure you are saving or buying seeds as well. I get my seeds from SeedsNOW!

What Medications Do I Need?

If you are on prescription medications, you will want at least a 3-month supply of your medicine in your medical supplies pack that you’ve stocked up. It cannot be easy to do this with prescriptions, but if you talk with your doctor about being a prepper, some will prescribe enough for 90 days; it always depends on the prescription. In addition to your prescriptions, you will also need to stock up on over-the-counter medications, which include:

Related: 35 OTC Medications You Should Store

How do I Store Water?

You can store water in various ways. It is recommended that you store 1 gallon of water per person in your household daily. I recommend increasing that to 4 gallons of water per person daily to cover hydration, cooking, personal hygiene, and limited laundry chores. I recommend storing at least a month’s worth of water for each person. 

  • 55-gallon water barrels
  • Waterbricks
  • BlueCans

Water Sanitation

No matter how much water storage you have, if a situation lasts longer than you prepared for, you’ll have to find water from somewhere. But if you want the water to be safe to drink, read my post How to Make Your Water Safe to find out what you need. I like Big Berkey and PortaWell products for water filtration as part of their prepping gear. Water purification tablets may be workable when you’re out hunting and camping. Still, for volume water treatment, you need a purification/filtering system you can rely on in your emergency kit.

Other Items to Stock

In this ultimate prepping list, you will need other essential items besides those listed above. Here’s a list:

  • Hygiene products – include toothpaste, toothbrushes, and floss
  • Paper products – for meal serving and dishwashing/drying
  • First Aid Kits – rotate and update items as needed – consider masks, splints, slings, gauze, and extra bandages
  • Fabrics – you may need to make some DIY clothes, shelter/tent, medical coverage, etc.
  • Bleach
  • Duct tape
  • Extra blankets
  • Full change of clothing for every family member
  • Tools of all kinds – knives, pliers, ax, hammer, socket set, and screwdrivers – battery packs for power tools
  • Important documents – insurance policies, birth certificates, bank information, etc.

Final Word

The best way to be prepared is to break down what we need and stock up a little at a time. Please don’t feel pressured to get all of these items on my ultimate prepping list during one shopping trip. Pick and choose what you need and get one thing at a time as your budget allows! I’ve always suggested my readers can get properly prepared “one can or other prepper items at a time.” May God Bless this world, Linda

Copyright Images: Wood Burning Stove AdobeStock_139391005 by Casa.da.Photo

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