What is the one item needed for prep plans that nobody has thought of...

Mike-Mike said:
Thanks for the tip. I just picked up some at lunch!
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Cody Lundin recommended it in his book - When All Hell Breaks Loose: Stuff You Need To Survive When Disaster Strikes.

Tincture of Iodine lasts longer than bleach in the bottle and has the iodine for the thyroid! Plus, you can use it on cuts as a disinfectant. Triple goodness in that little bottle (water purification, thyroid protection, and disinfectant). I have a bottle in the BOB, briefcase, and backpack.

Every once in a while I add a couple of drops to the water bottle if it hasn't been washed in a while. [wink]
 
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havent seen it mentioned. lock pick set, and practice using it. You can enter almost 90% of urban areas with a simple lock pick.
 
The original question is actually quite difficult - One item people aren't thinking about. We're a bad group to consider that, since most of us have a pretty broad range of considerations.

The basic, unpowered entertainment / recreation items are likely the things that are most over-looked. Even those of us who focus on preparing, often are focused on "Needs" those things you simply can't survive without, forgetting that not every minute will be consumed with pressing survival and light entertainment will be vital. A friend of mine recently picked up an spring driven wind-up phonograph (acoustic record player) and more than a hundred vinyl records. It runs several hours on a single winding, required no electricity and provides a beautiful creature comfort that eases labor and improves recreation time.



But more important than what "everyone" is forgetting, is what you're forgetting. So here's my process for evaluating what I have, what I need, want and should invest in next - since we all have limited funds and unlimited ambition.

1) Make a list of possible emergency / survival events, then order them in terms of probability of ocuring. Include the mundane - Jobloss, Extended Illness or Injury, Personal/family emergency, etc and the more extreme - temperary loss of government control / public services, total collapse of government, natural disaster, etc.
2) Once you have a list of likely events, make a list of tasks each entails, resources for those tasks and time frames that you'll need to complete them.
3) Take the list of tasks, and make a list of materials, supplies or equipment needed to accomplish them.
4) Work down the list of tasks related to the most likely events first, the moving the less likely. They next thing you should buy is the equipment, supplies or materials needed for the highest priority task that's not fully met in the most likely emergency event.

Make the list, and work your way down. Review the list every 3-4 months to make sure you're updating as you learn more about possible events and tasks you might have to accomplish.
 
A simple 1" check valve and 25' of 1" irrigation pipe is all you would need to get gas from a deep tank. I am able to get water from my well easily using the check valve and a little elbow grease. Simply attach the hose to the check valve submerge the valve into the liquid then force downward a couple of feet. The action will force fluid into the pipe but the check will not let it out. Each force adds volume into the pipe and very quickly it will come out. It is remarkedly easy, simple and fast without the need for electricity. My well is 22' deep and i can get 5 gallons out in less than 2 minutes.
 
Rommel,

That technique will work for systems deeper than 25' as well, if you have more pipe. As long as the check-valve is on the bottom, you're not relying on atmosphere to push the water up What you are relying on is that you can push down with more force than the weight of the water in the pipe.
 
friends

Okay, so not really an item (and I already answered once) but the more I think about it, the more I come back to how many people will that take for each scenario. Going for gas by yourself or with just one other--asking for trouble. Leaving one (or none!) person at home--asking for trouble. So the best accessory would be a team of like minded folks. Which, we all have friends and family but seems like there is never enough good people around when you need them. Group buy? [wink]
 
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Another_David said:
friends

Okay, so not really an item (and I already answered once) but the more I think about it, the more I come back to how many people will that take for each scenario. Going for gas by yourself or with just one other--asking for trouble. Leaving one (or none!) person at home--asking for trouble. So the best accessory would be a team of like minded folks. Which, we all have friends and family but seems like there is never enough good people around when you need them. Group buy? [wink]
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Friends are a definite. It was a few years back that I had some extended discussions with some associates of mine to discuss how many people you'd actually need to maintain reasonable safety in a post apocalyptic era. Of course the exact nature of the apocalypse can greatly affect that, we settled on the most likely being a minimum of 8 adults. That allowed each person 8 hours of sleep and 2 3-hour long watch shifts with 2 people on watch at any time. That gave each person 10 additional hours per day to do necessary maintenance, fabrication, scavenging, cooking, cleaning, cultivating, recreation and leisure. Smaller groups start to lack the ability to maintain constant watch, or maintain security while scouting/scavenging/foraging, which will be a vital portion of survival. Sure, you and your wife can maintain security at your house by rotating watch shifts and rarely seeing each other, but when your stock-piled supplies run out, it will be very difficult to obtain more.

When you consider the amount of supplies that an 8-adult team requires, more than 50 gallons of water per week, 24 meals per day, things can get daunting, but that should be in everyone's plan.
 
I skimmed the posts and didn't notice these. Since the contest is over then I guess I can post more than 1.

In case of any situation where vehicles are still running: oil, 30 & 40 weight and 2 cycle engine oil, transmission fluid spark plugs and other misc car parts that can keep you going.

Charcoal as a back up for cooking outside and some type of good sized metal can or galvanized trash can to cook in with a dutch oven. Or use it for burning any trash you want to get rid of.

I also keep extra corn starch. It takes a long time to break down in your stomach so you feel full longer. You could add it to soups or stews to thicken them up.


Chainsaw and extra chain.

Items for insect and rodent control. Rat traps make nice squirrel traps.
 
Years ago I had a discussion with an MD, and asked the question "if you could only have one drug" in your SHTF situation what would it be? The very quick answer that surprised me was bayer aspirin. You can look up benefits of the wonder drug. Lets just say I have supply at my retreat destination, and bottle of 500 in my BOB.
 
northny said:
Years ago I had a discussion with an MD, and asked the question "if you could only have one drug" in your SHTF situation what would it be? The very quick answer that surprised me was bayer aspirin. You can look up benefits of the wonder drug. Lets just say I have supply at my retreat destination, and bottle of 500 in my BOB.
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You might want to add some low-dose or children's aspirin instead of just the regular or maximum strength ones.

Also consider adding Excedrin or its generic equivalents. That's Aspirin, Tylenol and Caffeine in a single pill. The Caffeine speeds your body's absorbtion of the aspirin as well as boosting alertness.
 
Hiker's headlamp. We lost power today and when working in a dark basement, this item was invaluable. Power came on in 5 hours
 
Blitz1 said:
Did anyone say extra shoe laces? I carry an extra pair for edc.
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oh come on, you do not carry a spare pair of laces with you everyday!

when was the last time your shoe lace broke and were you like stranded and had to call AAA for a replacement lace or something?

What I carry with me at all times is knowledge of how to tie a knot. Which when I was like 10 my lace broke once and I just tied it back together.
 
Another_David said:
oh come on, you do not carry a spare pair of laces with you everyday!

when was the last time your shoe lace broke and were you like stranded and had to call AAA for a replacement lace or something?

What I carry with me at all times is knowledge of how to tie a knot. Which when I was like 10 my lace broke once and I just tied it back together.
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Yup, easy to carry and why knot?
 
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Blitz1 said:
Yup, easy to carry and why knot?
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ShadeWPI said:
Whomever hasn't thought of a snow shovel hasn't lived in the North East very long. I think we have 4 standard ones and a telescoping shovel in each of the cars.
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I never cease to be amazed by the general stupidity and lack of common sense of most people. Today as my apartment complex began digging out there was a woman walking up to each person shoveling around their car. When she finally came up to me she asked if I was almost finished and could use my shovel. This happens to me literally every snow storm, the dummies here must forget which state they're living in, or what the weather reports have been predicting for the past week.

Even better, after shoveling out my car I'm relaxing in my apartment and look out the window to see a group of zombies hanging around in the complex just gawking at a Bobcat that was stuck- apparently for 2 hrs! I grabbed my shovel and ran out to help dig the Bobcat out, all while they just continued staring. I wonder what, if anything, goes through some people's minds sometimes.

And just so I'm not hijacking by complaining, here's my contribution: lots of D3 and Lomatium dissectum. They are natural anti-viral and anti-bacterial vitamins/herbs that will help to regulate your autoimmune system in the event of a flu or virus. Most of the people who died in the 1918 flu epidemic did not die of the flu, they died of secondary infections and the resulting cytokine storm.
 
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A cook book.

People have lots of long-term food stored, others massive amounts of ingredients. But having food and keeping it unteresting for 6-months to a year while you establish your new "normal" whether it's riding out some disaster and recovery effort or re-establishing complete self-sufficiency - you'll want ideas on how to keep things interesting. Even if you don't have the exact ingredients that the recipies call out, you'll want a foundation to build on and adapt from.
 
PaperPatched said:
Cheesecloth for filtering fuel. One dose of questionable fuel and your generator/truck/snowmobile is out of commission.
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Do coffee filters work for that? We have a couple of strainer funnels ut I also have a couple of those gold metal coffee filters I was planning to use, if the need arose.
 

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