History has shown that those who are are prepared have a better chance at survival than those who are not. You don’t really need to take your preparedness to the next level especially if your budget is tight. But there are a few inexpensive things you should consider stockpiling now.
You never know when something could go wrong, as those who live in California have come to discover during the PG&E blackouts. However, having these five things on hand just in case could make a huge difference if the SHTF.
- Toilet Paper – this shouldn’t need an explanation, but if you’ve only got one roll when the grocery store gets emptied out, you could really be up a creek in an uncomfortable way!
- Cooking Oil – this can be any oil you like to cook with, and could come in handy if you need to make an oil lamp. Oil has several uses and is likely to be something that’ll disappear from shelves quickly in the event of an emergency.
- Candles/Flashlights – try to buy candles in bulk and those with a long burn time if you can. Flashlights are really personal preference and so many have an opinion on what’s best. I prefer Maglites in all sizes, but those often cost a little more than a cheap knock off that will likely perform almost as well.
- Batteries – make sure you have more than enough batteries to operate your flashlights and any other electronic equipment. You may need to rely on battery power in the event of a long term power outage, so there isn’t really such a thing as “too many batteries.” Keep all sizes on hand, and you have a good barterable item as well!
- Matches/Lighters – You will want to be able to make a fire and light your candles, so grab cheap matches and lighters. Make sure to check the lighters periodically to ensure the fuel is still usable and keep your matches dry. Nothing could be worse than not being able to easily make a fire if you need to! These are also items that you can buy a lot of and buy often as both matches and lighters could be bartered with.
Obviously, there are far more than just these few things that you could stockpile now as a way to prepare for anything. I really tried to make a point of stockpiling these five things just because they are incredibly useful, and most (if not all) will have some value if you need to take to a barter system.
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I have stock piled ammo.
Now I can get anything I want. – just kidding
but ammo will be worth its wieght in gold
right, trade something that will be likely returned to you at high velocity rather than just buy some damn TP now.
makes sense.
Before I bugged out to my BOL almost 5 years ago, I prepped for 5 yrs prior. I bought 400 lighters for .20 cent each. The most widely used prepper item I use every day, to light the stove to lighting a cigar or a night oil lamp at my BOL. That is truly one resource you definitely need and buy as much of, as you can. In SHTF Lighters will be at the top of the list in demand and a great barter item or go sell them for $1 each and make 500% profit on every box. Convenience stores do it, why not you? Imagine what someone desperate would pay for a lighter in SHTF grid down.
Over at: ht tps://survivallife.com/traits-successful-preppers/
Top 10 Traits of Preppers. #10 was faith. Which does not make any sense.
Faith is actually contrarian to Prepping, as the definition of Faith is “a set of Beliefs absent of any facts.” How do you prepare using hope and prayer? Faith is the remaining result, due to the lack of prepping. You want to believe in something? Believe in yourself, everything else can and will let you down. Wanna predict the future? Go create it. Take charge of your life and never give up, and never let anybody steal your property which you have a right to defend.
Many of the founding fathers had faith.. they were some pretty good preppers id say
That is not the definition of “faith”, that is a single definition of faith.
Faith in the New Testament is the Greek word “pistus” and means to have faith in someone or something you can trust. Like a child having faith that their father will do what is right and protect them, if they have reason to believe that.
It literally means you trust it because there are facts and evidence that you have already accepted.
You can trust yourself, and every prep you make all you want, but you’ll still die of old age, cancer or something. Some gang could come and steal your preps and gang rape and kill your entire family, and you never saw it coming. You have no idea.
“Faith” in the sense of prepping would be that you did everything you know you need to do to be prudent and wise to mitigate disaster. Prepping and faith are not at all contrarian.
Only very stupid people lack faith in God.
The Zippo lighter in WW2 was the most covered gift a soldier could get from home. Being able to reliably light a fire or a fuse saved a lot of US soldiers. Even the guys in the South Pacific needed them to start a fire to boil water so it didn’t kill you.
A fifty pack of BIC lighters should be in every preppers bag.
I would use BIC lighters as currency in the SHTF long before I’d ever sell any ammo to an unknown for food.
Anytime I see BIC lighters on sale, in bulk, I buy them. I also have several Zippo lighters plus fuel and flints, but BIC lighters are the high tech replacement.
Zippo lighter hack. Take a pack of flints, remove the bottom felt pad from the fuel tank, dump in the flints, replace the pad and ignore them. They can stay there for decades, until needed.
I can get a BIC lighter wet, and get it working in minutes with hand friction heating to dry it. A wet Zippo not so easy. I have BIC lighters in my tool box that just keep working, for decades. I have a lot of respect for them. My Zippo lighters, the fuel evaporates from over time. As long as you have fuel Zippos are awesome. Like I said, Zippo lighters saved a lot of GI lives in WW2.
Yard sale blankets, gas. survival books. If you don’t have a gun and boolits you don’t deserve to survive…
Soap. Cheap and easy now. Making soap especially under primitive conditions is a pain in the butt.
https://www.survivalfinds.com
I kept bees as a kid in 4-H. Candles made from bees wax just freaking burn forever. The honey was yummy too.
An observation.
Amazing stuff bees wax. Lots of uses. Mix with olive oil until it’s the consistency of soft shoe polish. It’s a great balm for cracked dry skin. Nothing beats it. My experience when the SHTF, you will be working with your hands like you haven’t in many years. Preserving them is basic survival.
Salt will be invaluable and a highly desired barter item.
Check out coin tissues
Boy Scout manual
Dont use lighters under age 16 !!