I was just wanting to know if any of you have anything prepared just in case of an emergency, if so what? I was thinking of doing this and I wanted some ideas. Thanks for any ideas you may share with me.
By Teresa from VA
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I have some aluminum blankets, candles, lighter and matches, flashlight. Put the batteries in this way, one normal position and one backwards, it will preserve the batteries for when they are needed, water, powdered soup mix, cocoa, coffee, milk, small pkgs of fruit such as raisins, military MRE's and heaters, scissors, band aids, kotex or panty liners, individually wrapped. They work as bandages as well as the obvious use! Don't forget pet food if you have a pet.
Coffee can, old fashioned "church key" and charcoal wrapped in a little newspaper. You can make an emergency "stove" with these items; just punch a few holes in the SIDES of the bottom of the can with the church key to let air flow in & keep fire going, use a wire coat hanger across the top to hold a small pot or use foil to cook things on.
Bisquik is also good to have. I could go on forever but it really depends on where you live and what you are "preparing" for. I have lived through some bad earthquakes and I can tell you one of the most important things I learned is to have toilet paper!
We also have a tent, and something to sleep on, whether sleeping bags, or just old bed linens and pillows. And I keep the 'good' old towels in a plastic bag with the tent to use for washing up. We have a 'coleman' stove and several jars of propane as well. It is all in plastic heavy duty tubs in the outside storage shed.
What kind of emergency are you thinking about?
A couple years ago, my husband started getting worried about the economy (back when all the "experts" said everything was GREAT). So we talked about it at length, and started gathering things just in case. We have a pretty good stash of non-perishables split between the garage and a closet in the house. We have a bunch of sealed 3 liter bottles of water. We keep a stash of cash at the house. And I let him get a gun, and we both took a class on how to use it (I *really* didn't want a gun, but finally agreed if we'd take a safety class and get a proper safe for it). We also got a thing from the camping dept. for cooking (two burners, fueled by propane), along with a few tanks. We have extra food for our cats.
We got those things in case we have a collapse of our society. Sounds crazy, doesn't it? But if the banking system fails, there will be chaos and looting. We didn't want to have to deal with empty grocery stores, and we wanted to be prepared in case things like water and electricity go out. I don't know how long we'd last on our supplies, but it's better than nothing, and it gives my husband some peace of mind.
When we bought our house, my dad showed my how to turn the water off outside by the street. He showed me in case we ever had to do water repairs. But it could also be useful if your local water supply is compromised. You could cut the supply off before it gets to your house, and you have whatever is left in your water heater.
We had to deal with massive power outages a couple winters ago (huge ice storm). We now have batteries, batteries, and more batteries. Plus we make sure we always have something for the fireplace. We were lucky that our power came on in a couple days, but some places went weeks without power.
And just for general safety, we have a smoke detector in each room (other than bathrooms) and a few fire extinguishers. We put night lights in our bathrooms that convert into flashlights if the power goes out. THOSE are very handy! If you require certain meds, it'd be good to have a little extra in your safe place, but remember to replace it with a fresh supply every now and then.
Hope this gives you some good ideas. Good luck!
I, too, prefer to be proactive about these situations. I get some funny looks from some friends and family but I don't care. I would rather them think I am being paranoid then be unprepared.
This is very interesting and I'm wondering if I need more, too. I bought a crank radio and a crank flashlight, thought no batteries sounded good, but am disappointed in them both; they no longer hold charges. I have candles and "space" blankets, can opener, hand warmers, plastic bags, but no TP! I'll add some of that. Also some cash, that sounds like a good idea.
Recently I've bought extra juice and soup, and cat food, in case I get the flu this winter and don't want to go to the store.
I keep frozen containers of water in my freezer to help regulate the temperature and it would be useable for drinking if necessary. Thanks for the ideas, and I'll be checking back for more!
Something else that is/can be important now that some of you have brought up losing the water----you can buy water filtering STRAWS in the camping section of some stores.
I bought mine at Fred Meyer which is also Kroger in some areas of the country. They run about $6 but you can always buy one or 2 at a time to add to your supplies. These things are great and small so easy to pack; they filter out most harmful bacteria including giardia {sp} which can kill you eventually and has been found in all open water sources in the U.S.
It would allow you to drink from mud puddles if it became necessary.
Also add a few tools like hammer, small saw, screwdriver & pliers.
Something else that I forgot since I don't think lolol!
I have solar lights that have 2 "spotlight" type sections and when our electricity has gone out in the past I used them for flashlights and just store them on a window sill when we go to bed.
They last longer than flashlights and are actually much brighter than any flashlight I own.
These things recharge even during the winter here in the great northwet {northwest lol} where we get very little sunlight and mostly are underwater from rain during the winter.
Here is a reserve food supply for 4 people for 2 weeks, from Irene and Keith Smith's publication 'Hard Times Handbook"
Powdered milk. 2 and half kilograms, equal to 28 litres when made up.
Flour, 7ks for bread making, etc
Breakfast Cereal. 1.75 ks
Rice and or pasta, 1.7ks
Dry cracker biscuits, 1/2 kg
Sweet biscuits, optional
Other grains, oatmeal, buckwheat etc 1/2 kg.
Dried beans, peas, other legumes, 12ks.
Dried fruit and nuts, 2 kgs
Tinned juices and fruits..10-12 kilogram tins
Fish and meat. 2-2/1/2 kigs sardines, salmon etc.
Oils and fats, litre of cooking oil
Other, depending on tastes, salt, pepper, jelly/Jam spread, Peanut butter vinegar, sauces, mustard, yeast, coffee tea, cocoa
Perishables. even though these things are perishable, they will keep for quite a while without refrigeration-- eggs, onions, carrots, parsnips, garlic, potatoes, pumpkin, lemons, apples, oranges, mushrooms.
Hope some of this may be useful to you.
As an old school student in preparedness, you have all gone to great lengths to prepare for the worst. However, don't forget to go high tech, too. Some disasters are not widespread, and in fact, might happen to just you. I am talking about fire, earthquake, flooding, etc.
If you suddenly came home and it was gone, would you remember what you had? If you were a renter, do you spend 13.00 a month for insurance or figure nothing is going to happen. If it happened, are you positive that in your grief or shock, you would know what movies or jewelry you lost?
So, I spent an entire weekend a couple of years ago making a detailed list of everything I owned, then scanning that list onto a computer, then photographing everything. I even took all my rings, turned them upside down on my fingers, and laid them on the scanner to capture the details.
My insurance agent, best friend, and daughter all have a copy as well as one in my files.
I keep a backup of everything in cd's in a small briefcase by the door. If I am home and a fire starts, I can (hopefully) grab the cats and the bag and I am out the door. Technology has come so far that there is no excuse for not having an inventory of your life...like scanning those irreplacable family photos and even those works of art on the fridge.
Make several copies, keep them with your insurance and attorney, or at the very least, in a safety deposit box.
Stocking up on food is of course, essential. But don't forget to feed the mind and spirit, too. When things got tough for us back in the 70's, my family and I went to thrift shops and got puzzles, books, craft supplies, art kits, and more. During hard times, people get bored easy. Cabin fever sets in and things get even harder.
As a person who was snowed in for over a month in a cabin in Fox, AK, I can tell you that you have to keep the mind sharp as well as the body sound. You can buy battery powered visors that give you simulated daylight to keep the "sad" people happy, (24 hour night time up there).
Keeping the spirit up makes you remember that things might not be great now, but that it is most likely temporary.
For long term emergency, I keep a case of peanut butter and several containers of honey . Those 2 mixed together , taste good and will keep us from starving once everything is eaten up.
Also lots of fruit juice and vegetable juice and I do rotate.
I keep solar powered lights handy & a supply of candles. There normally is canned food here but not anything real "special" so it would definitely be for dire straits. I know where the blankets are.
I recently read someones post mentioning shoes for herself & kids - to find them sometimes in the middle of the night was hard - so she put strips of safety tape on them & kept them by the door so they were there. Maybe a tin full of candies,meat sticks or crackers you would remember to occasionally change out to keep them fresh might be a good thing too.
The kids might love to have a stuffed animal in case an emergency should arise they didnt have time to grab one - it could also be a pillow that someone loves or favorite old sweater.
A ziplock bag with some crayolas & a coloring book might keep kids calm & quiet for a while - I know that sometimes can be a really big help when everyone can be quiet.
Here in Iowa, we have had many power outages from tornadoes, ice storms, etc (weeks for some) and massive flooding over the past couple of years. My husband and I don't keep much emergency food. Our cupboards are always normally stocked with soups, vegetables and various other ingredients we could eat in case we get snowed in for days. We also normally have bread in various forms in our freezer because we stock up when it's on sale. One winter we lost power for over 24 hours, and we had a nice candlelite dinner next to the woodburning fireplace with our soup we heated on it! :)
We moved to the country a year ago this month, and the first thing we bought was a generator. We must have it for our well to run (if we don't have water, we can't flush!) Also, it is going to be nice to have some electricity running in parts of the house. We have our electrical box marked with what to turn on after the generator hooked up so there is no confusion.
Most importantly, we have a flat of water bottles (in case the water gets bad) and gallon jugs for our dogs. Don't forget about the pets!
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