How To Store Emergency Preparedness Items
Today I’m following up with my ideas on how to store emergency preparedness items. I have a small home, as I have mentioned before. It’s 1900 square feet, and you may remember, I have a three-car garage. The third stall, which could hardly fit any size car, is where Mark and I organized all our emergency preparedness items.
All my food storage remains inside the house. I only store emergency preparedness stuff that can withstand the heat here in Southern Utah in the summer. Outside temperatures have gotten as high as 120 degrees, making the temperature in the garage, even with all the insulation we have added, higher than food storage items can stand for any length of time.
Yep, it’s hot here in the summer! We have a lot of dust here, so you see that almost all of my stuff has been put in protective plastic zippered bags.
I hope this post shows the world several different options to store emergency preparedness items. I apologize for the different size pictures, but I wanted you to see as much as possible on each rack.
How To Store Emergency Preparedness Items
I have hanging shelves from my garage ceilings (I have seen the shelves at Costco). They are 4 feet by 8 feet and about 18-24 inches hanging from the ceiling. The portable washing machines are two 6-gallon buckets (one has drilled holes in it), a green Gamma lid and a mobile washer like this one: Breathing Mobile Washer Classic – Portable Clothes Washing Machine – Handheld – Manual – Mobile Hand Powered Laundry Solution – Superior Materials and Construction
The large wash buckets can be found at most stores, these are made by Behrens. Behrens 2, 15-Gallon Round Steel Tub
I went to an antique store to get a washboard. Bwbg7 Galvanized Washboard (Wbg7)
I bought some heavy-duty racks from Costco online and they deliver them to your house. They are 72 inches tall by 48 inches wide and 18 inches deep. They have some heavy-duty rolling wheels which are nice when I need to move them. The clear bags above are 33-gallon garbage clear bags from Costco.
I label everything with cardstock and place the 1/2 sheets in the buckets so I know what I have in each one. My 72-hour kits below are in plastic bags with a list of items that are in each one.
I have a very small kitchen, so I store my pressure canner and water bath canner outside in those bags as well. These are the bags that I buy, depending on the size of the item I’m storing: Richards Homewares – Set of 4 Md Chests 12 Guage Vinyl 12x16x8 each, Kitchen
You can buy these at Bed Bath and Beyond as well.
All of my Lodge Dutch ovens and cast iron pieces have Lodge bags, if available, and then they are stored in the appropriate size bags to keep them dust free. Set of 2 Clear Zippered Sweater Storage Bags
The buckets below are color-coded for a reason. I can see at a glance how much FUEL I have. I have the regular propane tanks out on the back patio stored away from the house. I buy these colored buckets and Gamma lids from Pleasant Hill Grain: Gamma Lids (all different colors) and the 5-gallon colored buckets. Any bucket with a lid will work, I’m just an organized chick, it’s who I am.
- Green-clean scrap wood
- Red-oak lump charcoal
- Black-clean pine cones
- Blue-Kingsford’s charcoal briquettes without the starter fluid
Final Word
Now, that I have shared some of my ideas on how to store emergency preparedness items I hope it helps you get motivated to be prepared even more. We don’t all have an extra garage space to store items, I get it. We need to learn to be creative about storing things using limited space. I had never thought about hanging shelving from the ceiling in the garage. Hopefully, you have some closets with unused space, even if it’s a small area. As I’ve mentioned before, I have some BlueCans (water) in cases behind an entertainment center in my master bedroom. Get those creative juices flowing, you’ll figure out some new places to put the things you need. May God bless us all when an unforeseen disaster strikes our community. We will be ready, that’s for sure.
Ahhhhhh the struggle is real!!!!!
Fine line between prepared and horder lol
Oh, Matt, now I have the giggles about hoarder!! LOL! Linda
I live in a small 2 bedroom apartment. It is about 750 sq ft. I have become pretty inventive for my storage. For example, I use the small bedroom as my bedroom and other than the fact that I cannot fit a dresser in there, it is adequate. That leaves me with the larger bedroom for my craft/sewing room and storage. I do have a small storage area on my deck as well.
I keep my camping equipment, cooking, fire equipment in the storage area on my deck. The walk in closet in the craft/sewing room is uses for the camping equipment I don’t want outside, sewing and craft materials and food storage (long term). Where I got creative in giving myself more storage space for my preps is that I put the couch across a corner leaving a pretty large open space behind it. My buckets of “goods” and water storage go behind the couch.
One of my biggest issues is that I have multiple sized storage bins. That will change soon as I plan to purchase new bins all the same size so that storage is more uniform.
Hi Leanne, good idea for the storage buckets to be uniform, they stack more compactly. You are rocking with storage ideas! I love it! Linda
I have a 716 sq ft apartment with a fairly large bedroom where I set up a 10′ run of cheap plastic shelving across one wall, covered with a curtain so it looks nice. Water and many larger items go on the floor and lower shelves and small light things above. Firmly attached to wall to prevent tipping. Gradually upgrading to the adjustable wire shelving for more capacity and less wasted space. Also easy to hang things from. Food items in regular rotation, emergency cooking and lighting items, canning and drying supplies are on adjustable wire shelving in the pantry/entry closet along with the grab and go bags. Bucket, breathing washer and drying rack are in the bathroom since I use them for a lot of hand wash things. Galvanised tub, antique but functional hand wringer and scrub boards are part of the décor in the living room, along with a functional treadle sewing machine. There are plastic underbed storage bins in bedroom and living room and where I sleep there’s one with dust masks, goggles, gloves, pry bars, spare clothes, water and granola bars in case of being trapped by an earthquake. I’m working on a headboard with easily accessible storage for that stuff. A tent cot, pop-up toilet shelter, emergency toilet and shower and a variety of camping items are tucked in the clothes closet. I use a 4 wheel walker to get around so I’ve adapted a lot of straps, bags and hangers to arrange grab and go items on it if I have to evacuate for whatever reason. There is always a headlamp next to my bed and in each storage area.
Hi Alice, you have thought of everything! You are one prepared chick even with a 4-wheel walker. I LOVE it! You have everything organized in case of an emergency! Good job! Linda
Been thinking of converting the rec room to a dual purpose TV/computer area and preparedness room because right now my room is filled with emergency gear and it’s all over the place. I will still keep my favorite and better quality gear there and some things will go into my car.
The rec room also has two french doors which we can close just in case people show up asking for things and then nobody sees what’s in here.
As far as we know, none of our friends or relatives close to us are not into prepping, so if the proverbial poop hits the fan I fear they might come expecting help and advice. But most importantly, I’d like it to be organized and accessible at any time for inspection, for use or to restock, resupply or add to rather than stashed and stuffed into different spaces or piled up.
We had an emergency preparedness meeting in our apartment building which was fairly well attended but the people I’ve spoken to since haven’t actually done anything yet. I decided not to mention my preparations.
Hi Alice, it’s really too bad that some people do not “get it”. My neighborhood is the same way. They have classes in the local church and community and then it stops, period. I’m guessing they have never lived through some minor or major disasters. They will be in for a rude awakening real quick. May God bless them to understand the urgency. Linda