125 Preparedness Items You Need To Stock
Today I have 125 preparedness items you need to stock as your budget allows. You may be better prepared in some areas than others. That’s okay, this list is to help you think about what you have now and what you may need in the future. Let’s be clear, these preparedness items will mainly be used at your home, although you need to also consider things you may want in your car and at your office. I wanted to update this list from a few years ago since there are so many challenges facing us each day.
I understand a lot of people may go up in the hills if a disaster hits or an unforeseen emergency directly affects their family. I won’t be heading for the hills, that would make me a target for the people up there who are looking to take advantage of others or who have no common sense. At our age, we’ve pretty well decided to shelter in place unless required to evacuate.
Would you like the world to go back to eating at the dinner table as a family? With zero electronics, phones turned off and communicating with one another face to face. As we put our family emergency plan together, we need to teach our kids and grandkids to listen up, be aware of their surroundings, and apply the things they’ve been taught to do in emergencies.
Some of the kids can help fix the meals, with some help. Our offspring also need to “clear the table” and wash the dishes or load and unload the dishes together as a family. I view it as learning to be kind to one another and learning to work together as a team, all things that are important during survival situations.
Preparedness Items
Food Storage/Stock The Pantry/Freezer
One critical aspect of any disaster or emergency situation is to have enough food to maintain energy and cognitive skills. The list below is a minimum inventory of things that will help maintain a healthy and nourishing environment for those you love. Some are non-perishable food items you should consider as staples to build meals around, others need special storage considerations so they don’t go bad.
- Flour/Wheat: if you have these you can make bread or bread-based meal products. Of course, the wheat has a longer shelf life.
- Oil: used in many recipes and to cook with. Some varieties are more shelf stable than others, requiring some homework on your part.
- Salt: we all need salt in our diets to stay healthy, not just to flavor our food.
- Honey: a great sweetener with a fairly long shelf life. If it crystallizes, just heat it up.
- Sugar: many recipes call for sugar, particularly pastries and other desserts. Ingredient kids love to see.
- Spices: in an emergency, meals may tend to be bland. The right spices can make a real difference.
- Butter: another common recipe item and can be used as a cooking oil too.
- Instant milk: if you lose your power you’ll want a supply of instant milk as a substitute for fresh milk. Has a decent shelf life for storage.
- Yeast: needed when making bread-based foods so they rise properly. Works best when fresh, so I keep mine in the freezer.
- Brown sugar: besides regular sugar, some recipes call for brown sugar.
- Canned meats: awesome addition to your longer-term storage with the proteins we need.
- Canned fruits: canned fruits make it possible to enjoy our favorite fruits all year long.
- Canned vegetables: great additions to salads, soups, stews, and more.
- Canned tomatoes: we love to make Italian and Mexican meals all the time. Tomatoes are a key ingredient in almost all of them.
- Beans/Rice/Pasta: superb long-term storage items with so many meal options.
- Pet food: we can’t forget our furry friends, they need help in emergencies too.
- Seeds: preferably Organic, Non-GMO, or Heritage Seeds: if you really want to feel comfortable with your preparedness plan, make good use of your property and grow your own food. There’s nothing like knowing how your veggies have been grown regarding pesticides and fertilizers.
- Infant Formula: although there’s been a shortage, try to get a good supply for your storage inventory as you can. The formula comes in powder and liquid.
Water
- 4 gallons of water per person per day: you need water for hydration, cooking, cleaning, and personal sanitation. Can’t survive without it!
- Water purifiers: we can’t trust all our water sources. Be sure to have a way to filter and purify.
- WaterBricks: one of the best water storage products I use. Stack easily, not too heavy, and be stored under your bed.
- 50-gallon water barrels with a pump: very popular water storage option. Do require a pump to extract the water, but they work great.
- High Capacity Water Tank: we have 160-gallon and 250-gallon tanks in the garage. We use Water Preserver so we don’t have to change often.
- Water Preserver: allows you to only drain and replace the water every 5 years, gotta use it!
- Big Berkey portable water filter systems: well-known and respected company. Campers and backpackers highly recommend these.
Preserving our Bounty
- Quart mason jars: both Ball and Kerr make good products. I like using wide-mouth jars.
- Pint mason jars: some things will be easier to store in smaller containers.
- 1/2 pint mason jars: work well when making jams and jellies.
- Mason jar lids and rings (thanks Harriet): these have been hard to find. I’d shy away from lesser-known manufacturers.
- Water Bath Canner: my food preserver mainstay. We’ve canned thousands of jars of fruits and veggies over the years.
- Pressure Canner: especially good for meat canning. Amazing how fast they process the foods.
- Bottle lifter: protect your hands when pulling the bottles from the hot liquids.
Fuel/Emergency Stoves/Matches
- Butane Stove with Fuel: I used one of these for a number of months while waiting for my gas stove to be installed. Very pleased with how well it worked.
- Butane Fuel: can’t run the stove without some fuel. Be sure to set aside a place away from your home for storage.
- Dutch Ovens (Keep in mind those cute colored ceramic Dutch ovens cannot be used outside): use mine all the time to cook so many things. Be sure to get one with a lip on the lid to effectively hold the briquettes.
- Sun Oven: great backup option to cook if you lose power. As the name suggests, you do need the sun to make them work.
- Camp Chef Stove/Oven Combination: not only good for camping but also a trusty plan B option if your stove goes out or you lose power.
- Propane Tanks: most camp stoves use propane, so it is readily available and reliable.
- Briquettes (without starter fluid): can be used in your BBQ, grill, and Dutch oven.
- Buckets with Gamma Lids to store briquettes: I use these for all my carbon fuel options. I have them color coded so I can track inventory.
- Cut Clean Wood: as mentioned, I have a bunch cut into small pieces and stored in buckets. Great for starting fires and cooking too.
- Matches/Fire Starter/Butane Starters: need a way to get those fires started. Have some waterproof containers just in case of rain.
First Aid/Medical Book/Home Remedies/Personal Items
- First Aid Kit Linda’s First Aid Kit List: very extensive list you should print out. Don’t forget the importance of different sizes of bandages, gauze, hand sanitizer, masks (including dust masks), moist towelettes, and more.
- Medical Handbook “Survival Medical Handbook”
- My Book, “Prepare Your Family For Survival”
- Our Friend, Raymond Dean White, “Bugging In”
- Prescription Medications
- Change of clothes for all family members
- Warm blankets and sleeping bags
- Extra contact lenses and all necessary solutions
- Plastic sheeting to cover you and your supplies
Laundry
- Laundry Soap/Detergent: we at least need to clean our underwear in an emergency. One of the reasons we need ample water supplies.
- Laundry Buckets: we need somewhere to wash and then rinse the clothes.
- Laundry Hampers: a place to store and protect the clothes until it’s time to wash them.
- Clothesline: that trusty dryer may not be working in a disaster situation. Have a place to hang the clothes to dry them out. Our ancestors did!
- Clothespins: buy good quality clothespins, you may be using them for a while.
- Emergency Laundry Buckets
Sanitation Supplies
- Toilet Paper: you can make your own “personal rags”, but I’d sure prefer good old TP.
- Hand Towels: paper or cloth work well.
- Shower Curtain: we all appreciate privacy.
- Garbage Can: we can’t burn all our rubbish.
- Lotion: if you’re forced outside, your skin can dry out pretty fast. And don’t forget some for protection from the sun.
- Shampoo: makes you feel all the more clean.
- Conditioner: maybe not the most important, but maybe more so with the ladies of the house.
- Hand Soap: fights bacteria from all kinds of sources. A good two-minute washing habit is a good one to have.
- Shaving Cream: you can go a few days without a shave, but you’ll feel better and have less chance of disease with a clean shave.
- Shaving tools: we have single-blade and multi-blade varieties.
- Menstrual Pads: that time of the month comes whether we’re ready or not, better to be prepared.
- Menstrual Tampons: most women’s preferred method.
- Diapers/Cloth or Disposable ones: if you have little ones, these are critical.
- Toothpaste, toothbrushes, deodorant, and other personal hygiene items
Emergency Toilet
Kitchen Supplies
These are all pretty self-explanatory. Having a good supply of each item will make surviving the emergency so much easier.
- Paper Towels
- Hand Towels
- Wash Rags
- Hot Pads
- Garbage Can
- Stand Mixer
- Hand Mixer
- Can opener: don’t forget to have a manual one, the power goes out more than we’d like to admit.
- Toaster
- Dishes/cups/glasses/silverware
- Various cooking/baking pans
- Wheat grinder
- Bosch Bread Mixer
- Bottle opener (thank you, Wendy)
- French Press (thank you, Patti)
- Candles/Oil lamps with oil (thank you, Patti)
Emergency Vehicle Supplies
Sewing Supplies
- Sewing Machine: knowing how to sew seems to have become a lost art. Having the machine won’t help much if you don’t know how to use it.
- Treadle Sewing Machine: you can use this one with “foot power” when the power goes out.
- Bobbins
- Thread
- Needles
- Scissors
- Seam Ripper
- Needle threader
Garden Tools
As mentioned above, having a garden and learning how to grow much of your own food makes for a strong self-sufficiency plan. Make having a garden a key part of your family emergency plan.
- Shovel with a sharp point to dig holes.
- Square shovel to move dirt and debris
- Hand clippers
- Lawnmower
- Garden Tiller
- Lawn Edger
- Spade
- Hoses
- Garden sprayer
- Hoes
- Picks/Axe
- Water Key
- Smaller garden tools
- Rakes
- Snow shovel
Tools/Building Materials
Whether it’s to build your own shelter, repair that storage shed, or make your shelter-in-place homestead safer, having the right tools and the skills to use them as intended is critical. You don’t have to get them all at once, start now and build up your tool chest as you can afford it.
- Screwdriver (various ones)
- Drills
- Wrenches
- Saws
- Scrap wood
- Levels
- Hammers
- Pliers
- Power nailers
- Tiling tools
- Ladders
- Spackling tools
- Paintbrushes
- Paint trays
- Paint drop cloths
- Work gloves (thank you, Patti)
- Flashlights, headlamps, batteries, solar flashlights, and lanterns
- Duct tape
- Bungee Cords
Knowledge and Skills (my favorite thing)
The world has so many offerings to help make us the best we can be, and that includes being as well-prepared as possible. Now is the time to sharpen up on things you’ve learned in the past and to also learn new useful skills that may save your life.
- Books
- Internet
- Library
- Podcasts
- Documentaries
- Classes
- Movies
- Venues
What are some other things I may need to be properly prepared?
Here are some additional items to consider when putting your emergency plan together:
- Copies of important documents like insurance policies, birth certificates, property titles, settlement papers, trusts and wills, contact information, critical medical records, bank information, passports, identification papers like social security cards, employment contracts, and other documents you feel are important.
- Communication options like cell phones and chargers, walkie-talkies, hand crank radios, whistles, and possibly a ham radio
Final Word
If you have some preparedness items for me to add to this list, please comment and I will add them ASAP. Thanks again for being prepared for the unexpected. May God bless this world, Linda
Copyright pictures: Kitchen Utensils: AdobeStock_184536668 by Merces Fittipaldi, Ingredients for Making Bread Depositphotos_246192340_S
Need mason jar lids and rings.
Hi Harriet, thank you! I’m adding these items right now next to the mason jars. Great comment, Linda
Seeds, its hard to grow food without them. Preferably heritage seeds that you can save and then always have a supply of.
Hi Natasha, great comment! I am adding this my list! Thank you so much! Linda
Linda, excellent lists! May want to add bottle opener by Mason jars. My hand can opener doesn’t have this little tab thing on it. I keep my bottle opener on my frig with a magnet. Fast cheap portable toilet: 5 gal bucket with a handicap toilet riser (a hard plastic thing that is used on toilet seat to make it taller. I got mine at thrift store.) Lol, I just had mine used by friends who wanted to ‘wilderness’ camp by my lake. I have packets of stuff that eat up the waste. (From my folks small camper).
Again, great list for me to walk around my house with…
OH, Wendy, I love this comment! I’m going to add your ideas to my blog right now!! I love the toilet idea!! Thank you again, Linda
Hi Wendy, maybe to save money, simply place the bucket toilet on a besa brick or block of wood to raise the height of the seat. Some medical devices are expensive and ultimately unnecessary or can break down over time. Conversely, for little ones, use that same brick or block to create a step so the shorter citizens among us can access the toilet seat more comfortably. Great idea though, adding the portable toilet to this excellent list! 🙂
Skye, I must not have described well enough the thing that sits in the bucket, to act as a seat. It is a very hard plastic donut shaped thing that is commonly used by disabled/elderly when their (real) toilets are too low for them to comfortably sit down on, harder yet for them to rise from. It fits in the toilet bowl/seat and adds about 6 inches to height of toilet. Don’t know what the new cost would be from a medical supply place but I see them often at estate sales, thrift stores. I got mine over 20 yrs ago (thrift store, $2) for my dad to use when he’d visit, had a hard time with my relatively short toilets. I’ve also had to use it with the bucket when my septic tank had a freeze up. My sons thought it was pretty funny, until they needed to use it for #2 and it was 20 below outside, lol. Many of my ‘preps’ are used in the here and now at my homestead.
Hi Wendy, great comment on explaining the portable potty chair. Great tip! Linda
I appreciate your clarifying the riser seat Wendy. We have one in our home as well. We purchased it from a Medical Supply place in our town and it is next to useless lol I found that for Mum, all we needed to do was to raise the bucket while camping, onto a block platform just made from wood and she found it useful in that sense. Both ways will work for some folks one way or the other, I’m sure. (Different seats for different peeps (or should that read Poops? lol) 🙂 I really liked your way with telling a story in your explanation. Thanks so much. 😀
Skye, a great idea for your mom! Lol, my 19 yr old son replaced his toilet with one that sits almost 10 inches taller! Heck, hate to say it but I’m almost hoping mine gets a crack or something. It’s way nicer to use a taller toilet, and I’m only 5’3″! Lol, I use the plastic ring on bucket just to make sitting more comfy. Hey, we used a 5 gal bucket by our back door when I was a kid at night/winter. Outdoor toilet, running water meant using hand well pump at the sink, galvenized bathtub for Sunday night baths (my folks played cards on Sat nite!), wood/coal cookstove, wood stoves throughout house, and oil lamps in each room as electricity was not reliable. Lol, phone was party-line, when it even worked. Gee, what great training for if we have Shtf. I’m 58, btw. My 16 yrs older sister gets a kick out of my rural preps: guess she Really lived without today’s basics. She says I need to get some rabbit traps for ‘just in case’. Heck, I just want her to be here to tell me how to do stuff! Last time she was here, she wanted to make potato salad, I told her I was almost out of mayo. She then proceeded to Make Mayonnaise! Like, cool!
Looks like a few of these things might require electricity to work. If so, allow me to suggest a power list: generator to supply power to run refrigerators and freezers, electric cords big enough to connect the generator to whatever is necessary, fuel for said generator, batteries, solar charger for small things such as cell phones, charger sticks for cell phones, battery-powered fans and other small appliances (camping type things), battery-powered or wind-up-powered radio with weather information, flashlights everywhere,
Also – French press for coffee, leather work gloves to protect hands, oil lamps and/or candles.
We were without power for six days last September, 2017, when Hurricane Irma came through. We live in the country so we are on an electric well, electric lift septic tank, and satellite TV. We are at the end of our particular power line. We managed by moving into our camping mode and using our generator to power the freezer and refrigerator. We discovered how well our emergency/S$*@ plans worked.
I love your blog!
Hi Patti, oh my gosh, you rock with ideas! Thank you so much! I can’t imagine the six days without power from Hurricane Irma. I call these learning curves we gain knowledge to share with others. I forgot the French Press, can you imagine all the people without their coffee in the morning??? LOL! I’m adding your ideas to my post, thank you from the bottom of my heart for following my blog. Linda
Great ideas, Patti! I too live rural so same stuff for well, septic, tv here. I have one of those wind-up weather radios. It’s cool. A French press for coffee is a good idea. I’m the only coffee drinker here so seems silly to pull out camping percolator. I’m going to get one. Camping supplies rule!
Absolutely!
Seeds
Hi Lu Anne, I just added seeds. Thank so much! Linda
Great list! I would add flashlights, head lamps, extra batteries, and lanterns
Hi, Laura, I’m going to add these right now. Thank you so much!! Linda
I believe the gloves used by factory workers , butchers and fishmongers who open shellfish etc. will be a real asset. These metallic mesh gloves cannot be cut through even with a sharp blade, so to avoid laceration injuries when hospitals are no longer in service or simply if medical help is far away, we should do all we can to avoid injuries in the kitchen or the wood shed alike. Also, for safety’s sake avoid gasoline operated generators. The 4Patriots Solar Generator is the best in the country. It is virtually silent, gives out no toxic fumes and uses only the renewable energy of the sun, even in winter, to operate. Wish we could import them into Canada. I would purchase one in a heartbeat. Proven and safe technology. 🙂
Hi, Skye, thanks for telling me about the 4Patriots Solar Generator. I need to look into that one, great tip. The different gloves would be awesome!! Linda
Hi Linda, here is a link to the 4Patriots Solar Generator and also one of several links to those protective gloves I mentioned above 🙂 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06WGV2XP6/ref=sspa_dk_detail_6?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B06WGV2XP6&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_p=a54d13fc-b8a1-4ce8-b285-d77489a09cf6&pf_rd_r=Q0E8E2SM9Z9QZ7WRZA4V&pd_rd_wg=adpu3&pf_rd_s=desktop-dp-sims&pf_rd_t=40701&pd_rd_w=Hcbih&pf_rd_i=desktop-dp-sims&pd_rd_r=3ff78cfd-a125-11e8-8aee-6fd78bb15702
(Sorry the link is so long). This is Amazon.com but the gloves are also available on Amazon.ca for Canadian buyers as well. They even have these gloves for kids!
Love your articles, Linda. Have followed your blog for a long time. It’s a great place to come and learn about taking responsibility for our own well-being and that of our loved ones and neighbours. I’m not someone who expects various emergency and govt agencies to come to the rescue every time something goes awry. I believe as do some many of your supporters, that ultimately it is down to us as individuals, families and caring groups to protect one another. Thanks for all you do to help us learn how. 🙂
Sorry, forgot to include the 4Patriots Solar generator link. Here ’tis: https://www.4patriots.com/products/ppg.php
Hi Skye, thank you for the link!! I looked at it, it looks very similar to my Goal Zero solar generator. Great tip!! Thank you, Linda
Oh, Skye, you made my day!! It’s people like you that keep me going. I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I am going to order those gloves right now. We really need to get our neighbors, family, and friends to learn that we are responsible for ourselves. Great comment!!! Hugs, Linda
Skye, your metallic gloves suggestion is great! I totally forgot about these, even tho I used to manage a roast beef place. Sort of a cheapo thought, but I wonder if roast beef places might sell/give their older ones? We used to throw ours away frequently as they got nicks in them. But, I think they were fairly pricey. I do remember one of our carvers would sometimes take the ‘bad’ ones home as he was a hunter. I also remember getting a few small cuts when butchering chickens at my place. Should have had metal gloves!
Hi Linda, Printed your blog to add to my emergency binder. Love that they are all printable now. Have to add, I just scored a huge bargain on a 1928 treadle machine and I’m over the moon with it. I would add in some assorted fabric to make repairs with, at least a scrap bag. I also keep extra cold weather bedding, as we don’t prefer to run our household generator thru the night. Our location needs prep for ice storms or tornadoes – as we are not in a hurricane zone. So honestly, the paint supplies were a little confusing to me.
Beth,you are so lucky with the treadle machine! My mom had one. Lol, she sewed a lot of patches on to our jeans with it! Funnily enough, this was in early ’70’s when it was cool to have patches on butt of jeans! She was pretty cool about doing this, especially on jeans that were new, haha. One time, my sis got a pair of hip-hugger bell bottoms, but dang, they looked too new! My mom went and got my dad’s belt-sander. Put them jeans on ironing board, sanded them suckers right down! Sewed ‘keep on truckin’ patches on butt, with treadle machine. My dad said she was Looney. She just looked at him and said ” honey, ,times are achangin’.” Geez she was funny!
When you talk about loading and unloading the dishes, I have to laugh, since that assumes a dishwasher, an appliance we don’t have and that the wife doesn’t want, which also makes the expense and maintenance one less thing.. As for the hills, they are hours away in southern Ohio, so we will be sheltering in place. As for offspring, our youngest is late 20’s and lives out of state, leaving us to pretty much fend for ourselves along with help from local relatives and neighbors.
On your food storage items list, we have them all in quantity.
For water, we have a good well and a creek, plus rain catchment, that this year is overfull, along with DIY gravity and pressure drip filters using food grade buckets and purchased filter elements, that work as well as a Berkey: but, at a significantly reduced cost.
With a whole house generator and plenty of fuel (propane) we can keep everything running for months in a pinch. For flushing we have a gravity septic system, so we do keep some 5 gallon buckets of water on hand for that purpose.
For preserving the bounty we have equipment and skills to water bath and pressure can, as well as dehydrate and Freeze Dry, although we’re still working on mastering the freeze dryer. We are in the process of constructing a summer kitchen, and just received a 24×48” stainless work table to nearly complete the project. All we need now is an inexpensive propane range and we’ll be in business. Those stainless mesh gloves and a good butchering kit are also a good item to have on hand.
For your Fuel/Emergency Stoves/Matches list, we have everything; plus, we can heat and cook with wood, or cook outside with wood. I’ve also acquired some new fire (actually) flame starters, using modern technology. These are plasma lighters that generate a plasma arc in the palm of your hand, These produce a 2000° plasma arc that will easily light nearly any flammable tinder and recharge with a USB power outlet like most phones and tablets.
Items you really need to add to your First Aid/Medical Book/Home Remedies kit should be:
• A good supply of prescription medications.
• Coban stretch bandages. Ours were purchased for $0.99 per roll in bulk from a vet supply.
• Single use tubes of Cyanoacrylate (super glue).
• Afrin or generic Neosynephrine. This is a vasoconstrictor and with some cotton balls can stop a nose bleed rather quickly. In our case we use the Wal-Mart generic reuiate brand.
And finally on the Kitchen Supplies
You should probably keep several hand operated can openers and a good manual knife sharpener on hand. We keep several Smith’s CCKS 2-Step Knife Sharpener in the drawer with the knives, since I hate a dull knife. They are inexpensive and can be found here: https://www.amazon.com/Smiths-CCKS-2-Step-Knife-Sharpener/dp/B00032S02K/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1534657373&sr=8-3&keywords=Smith%27s+CCKS+2-Step+Knife+Sharpener
When I first saw the title: “125 Preparedness Items You Need To Stock” it seemed like a lot of items; but, we have them all and more, all collected over time, so it is indeed possible.
There are now many ways to light your way with LED options and rechargeable batteries. Small solar panels that can charge a phone, tablet, batteries, or plasma lighters are inexpensive. I recently purchased some of the Lyfelite emergency led bulbs with the built in battery, that simply stay on when the power goes out. There are many inexpensive and incremental ways to solve these problems.
Hi, Ohio Prepper, You have listed some items I need to get. I’m on it! Thanks for another great comment! Linda
I am wondering if you could place 5 or 10 pound flour bags in a big zip lock bag and place that in a 5 gallon bucket with a tight lid, placed in a dry hall closet…..would this help keep the flour the flour longer?
Hi Susan, here’s the deal with white flour (I’m assuming you are asking about) it has such a short shelf life. I make bread a lot, mostly whole wheat bread (which has a really short shelf life). White flour has a shelf life of about 12-18 months at the very most. It goes rancid. I only buy enough white bread flour for one year. I have a lot of wheat stored that I can grind when needed. If you really want to store white flour for an extended period of time (I do not) you can purchase some #10 cans from Thrive Life which is unbleached white flour (it is not bread flour) that has a shelf-life of about 5 years under optimal conditions. Once opened it must be used within one year. I hope this helps. I buy about 25-50 pounds of white bread flour each year and fill a 5-gallon bucket as needed. Linda
Hi Linda! This is an awesome list! We have most of the items on it. I have a suggestion on all of these items. Check at garage sales and thrift stores first. I found a treadle sewing machine at a garage sale for $40. All it needed was a good cleaning and oiling. It also needed a belt. It works great. It came with a drawer full of attachments, not sure they belong to the treadle machine though. A jar of buttons, some old thread and a few other items. The machine table is in excellent condition. It sews great! One thing I would also suggest is a still. Like you make liquor with, but for distilling water. We have a propane Cook stove in the house. And propane water heater.
HI Deborah, oh you are so right, garage or thrift sales are the best! I keep hearing about people who will need a still to make water for their CPAPs! Boy, that was a bargain for a treadle machine!! I love it! Linda
I realize that this post was originally sent several years ago. Good reminders though!
An inexpensive but very useful “oven” is a Girl Scout Box Oven – just do a search for complete directions. But basically it is a cardboard box, lined with foil. Use briquettes to heat the oven. As a former Girl Scout Leader/Trainer, I used box ovens frequently during camp outs and when teaching other leaders. You will likely want to look at several different ways of making these. I have made – one that is placed upside down over charcoal with the food up on a grate; one used as a reflection oven. I even tried one with a cut-out so I could see what was cooking but I don’t recommend it very highly as you lose heat that way!!
Also, something I think we all need to practice is doing without: electrical items. For example, I have never had a stand mixer and at my age, I am NOT going to invest in one!! I have never needed one! Nor do I need a bread mixer/maker. I realize that not everyone was raised as I was but I learned to make bread using my hands/muscles!! they are very effective tools! Also, we have become so reliant on out electricity that I am concerned that we will totally fail when it comes to doing without. So I think a BIG TOOL that needs to be in EVERYONE’S toolbox is practice! Practice making bread without a mixer/bread machine/electric or gas oven. You can do it!! Practice hand sewing (I do have a treadle sewing machine though). Practice is a great way to teach kids and grandkids as well!
Hi Leanne, oh yes, making your own sun oven would be awesome! I have friends that have never owned a hand or stand mixer. I got the giggles when you said, at my age I’m not about to buy one now!! Love it! I think we were all raised to make bread in a large bowl or just on the countertop. I thought I was in heaven when I got my first Bosch bread Mixer! LOL! It’s still nice to know how to make bread, biscuits, bagels or whatever without electricity. Great comment as always, my friend, Linda
We’ve talked about a toilet riser to make things easier for adults, but don’t forget about the kids, you need a toddler toilet insert to help them. My daughter bought a cool looking one that folded to carry in the diaper bag, but my granddaughter refused to use it. Amazon has this one that seems affordable. https://amzn.to/42KPC2R
I have a handicapped bedside commode that we will use in an emergency. It has a smaller bucket that can be emptied, however, if multiple people in a family were needing to use it, it might be more effective to put a 5 gallon bucket under it. I have often seen them at thrift stores.
If you come across one in a yardsale or thrift store, another item that would be nice is a wheelchair. If you had to evacuate and have an elderly person or an injured person, the wheelchair would be very good to have. Or you can pile your BOB or luggage in the chair and push it instead of carrying all the items.
Thanks for the link to the cut free gloves, that would be good to have and I added them to my list of things I want to buy.
Hi Topaz, thank you for these great tips, yes we need adult and toddler portable toilets! Yard sales and thrift stores are the best places to find things we need. That’s a great reminder! Thank you, Linda
HI Linda:
One thing I need is a cheese slicer. We like Velveeta Cheese and I like to buy the boxes of it when it is on sale and slice it myself to the thickness my family likes. I had a really good one until my son decided it would be good to Peale a apple one day. To say it did not work is saying something.
HI Jackie, oh we do need a good cheese slicer. I grew up on Velveeta cheese , I like that it’s shelf stable. I hope you find one that works for you. Linda