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August 11, 2024 by Linda Loosli 40  Comments ,

The Ultimate Prepping List

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There are so many things to think about when it comes to prepping. Sometimes, it’s hard to narrow it down to a list. In many cases, we prepare for specific disasters, but we never know what could happen. So, I’ve made the ultimate prepping list broken down into categories so you can create your own checklist: 

  • Power
  • Cooking
  • Sanitation
  • Food
  • Medication
  • Water
The Ultimate Prepping List

The Ultimate Prepping List

Where Will My Power Come From?

Storms can knock out the power for hours, to several days, or even weeks! Mother Nature isn’t always consistent, so it’s essential to have other power source options besides your local utility for when these things happen. Here are some basic things to consider when thinking about your power sources:

Wood Burning Stove

This would be something to consider getting, especially if you live in an area with cold winters. Of course, even places that seldom get ice and violent storms are infrequent can sometimes have extreme weather (think Texas with their grid down a few years ago). If the power goes out, so does the heat. So, when it comes to power, you should also consider heat sources.

The small steel wood-burning stove above is one I bought several years ago in St. George, Utah. It’s called a DAX Stove. I tried to look for a link if someone wanted one, but I think it may not be currently available. I think Harry posted one similar to it a few months ago. This one has been in my storage unit for almost three years, waiting for our home to be finished.

Related: How to Stay Warm Without Power and How To Heat Your Home In An Emergency

Don’t forget about stocking wood, fuel, fire starters, and lighters. 

Backup Generator

For most of us, a backup generator is great to have on hand, especially if you will only be without power for several hours, a few days, to a week. There are several options:

Batteries

Lots of things in your home can be powered by batteries. Stock up on all the batteries you would need! In addition to making sure you have extra batteries, grab some of the things you can use the batteries with, such as:

How Will I Cook?

You may have enough food to keep you and your family alive for a year, but it does no good if you can’t cook it! If you lose power, you may struggle to keep your food cold for longer than a few days, but things like pasta, baking bread, and other meals require you to be able to cook your food as well. Here are some excellent options:

Read More of My Articles  5 Prepping Things You're Not Doing That You Should Be

Related: Why Do I Need Different Emergency Cooking Stoves

In addition to a cooking source, you will also want to stock fire starters and fuel such as:

Related: Types of Fire Starters to Stock

What Will I Do With My Garbage?

Depending on the situation, you may need to be prepared to deal with your garbage and waste. You can either burn your garbage or bury it. But what about human waste?

Related: Proper Waste Disposal During an Emergency

Well, back in the day, we used outhouses. They were holes in the ground with a building around them. A combination of lime, dirt, and ash could cover the waste and minimize the smell and spread of germs. Be sure to protect your local water system from the waste. You know that toilet paper is one of the first things to disappear at stores during a natural disaster. Be sure to store an amount that will last your family for an extended period, depending on family size. You’ll also want hand sanitizer, wipes, soap, and feminine products.

Related: How to Deal with Human Waste

What Food Should I Stock?

Having various kinds of food products in your food storage stash is essential. You especially need non-perishable items, as keeping things cold if the power goes out will be tough. Here’s a list of survival items you’ll want to stock:

  1. Wheat Berries 
  2. Salt
  3. Ready-to-eat canned food
  4. Protein bars
  5. Dry cereal or granola
  6. Peanut butter
  7. Dried fruit
  8. Canned juices
  9. Non-perishable milk (canned or powdered)
  10. Food for babies and infants
  11. Canned soups and chili
  12. Dry pasta
  13. Sports drinks
  14. Honey
  15. Baking soda
  16. Dry yeast
  17. Popcorn
  18. Instant Potatoes
  19. Crackers
  20. Beans
  21. Rice
  22. Lentils
  23. Oatmeal
  24. Nuts
  25. Pasta sauce
  26. Teas 
  27. Oils
  28. Corn starch
  29. Pancake mix (add water)
  30. Eggs and powdered eggs
  31. If you have pets, they’ll need food too

Foods You Can Grow

In addition to stocking up on non-perishable items and a variety of food, you should also learn to grow your fruits and vegetables. Whether you have a yard or not, you can still learn to grow things independently, from tomatoes to strawberries. If you aren’t sure where to start, along with this ultimate prepping list, check out my guides for what to plant each month of the year:

Read More of My Articles  25 Prepping Items to Hoard

Make sure you are saving or buying seeds as well. I get my seeds from SeedsNOW!

What Medications Do I Need?

If you are on prescription medications, you will want at least a 3-month supply of your medicine in your medical supplies pack that you’ve stocked up. It cannot be easy to do this with prescriptions, but if you talk with your doctor about being a prepper, some will prescribe enough for 90 days; it always depends on the prescription. In addition to your prescriptions, you will also need to stock up on over-the-counter medications, which include:

Related: 35 OTC Medications You Should Store

How do I Store Water?

You can store water in various ways. It is recommended that you store 1 gallon of water per person in your household daily. I recommend increasing that to 4 gallons of water per person daily to cover hydration, cooking, personal hygiene, and limited laundry chores. I recommend storing at least a month’s worth of water for each person. 

  • 55-gallon water barrels
  • Waterbricks
  • BlueCans

Water Sanitation

No matter how much water storage you have, if a situation lasts longer than you prepared for, you’ll have to find water from somewhere. But if you want the water to be safe to drink, read my post How to Make Your Water Safe to find out what you need. I like Big Berkey and PortaWell products for water filtration as part of their prepping gear. Water purification tablets may be workable when you’re out hunting and camping. Still, for volume water treatment, you need a purification/filtering system you can rely on in your emergency kit.

Other Items to Stock

In this ultimate prepping list, you will need other essential items besides those listed above. Here’s a list:

  • Hygiene products – include toothpaste, toothbrushes, and floss
  • Paper products – for meal serving and dishwashing/drying
  • First Aid Kits – rotate and update items as needed – consider masks, splints, slings, gauze, and extra bandages
  • Fabrics – you may need to make some DIY clothes, shelter/tent, medical coverage, etc.
  • Bleach
  • Duct tape
  • Extra blankets
  • Full change of clothing for every family member
  • Tools of all kinds – knives, pliers, ax, hammer, socket set, and screwdrivers – battery packs for power tools
  • Important documents – insurance policies, birth certificates, bank information, etc.

Final Word

The best way to be prepared is to break down what we need and stock up a little at a time. Please don’t feel pressured to get all of these items on my ultimate prepping list during one shopping trip. Pick and choose what you need and get one thing at a time as your budget allows! I’ve always suggested my readers can get properly prepared “one can or other prepper items at a time.” May God Bless this world, Linda

Copyright Images: Wood Burning Stove AdobeStock_139391005 by Casa.da.Photo

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40 Comments

  1. Soapbox time:
    The MIND is the first thing you’ve got to get right in order to survive or do well during an emergency.
    This is a good list that will be beneficial in most scenarios.
    Stop thinking “it won’t happen here”, it “only happens to others” and “someone will do something”.
    HOAs are not your friends. Your paying someone to tell you how to live. It’s frustrating when people whine about they can’t do this or have that but I’d like to do something to be prepared. Look in the charter. There is zero contingency for emergencies. Stop pretending.
    Politics aren’t your friend. Especially if you live in liberalville that again can’t do this or have that. Don’t immediately say you’ll move either. Fix it
    Your budget needs fixing. If your mind is set in maxing out house, vehicles, nails and games to impress then no you won’t have other items that can assist you in emergencies.
    It is a lifestyle. It’s a way of thinking. It’s actually thinking. It has an element of doing requiring action.
    That stimulus money hit. Consider fixing one area such as a generator.
    Look at this list again and fix one thing on it this month.
    You don’t to go full blown doomsday prepper and build a castle like on tv. In fact please don’t.
    Exit soapbox stage right.

    Reply

    1. Hi Matt, I LOVE LOVE LOVE your comment! I read the part to Mark about the HOA is not your friend. We’re paying someone to tell you how to live. You are amazing! I totally agree about maxing out the house, vehicles, etc. AMEN. You said my thoughts exactly. Linda

      Reply

    2. Matt, I agree with all you said there 100%. But, it is not soapbox, it is just common sense. It goes along with my recent comment about personal responsibility. If someone won’t do for themselves, why do they think it is someone else’s responsibility? Too many make excuses rather than preparations. Many folks around me, to whom I have been talking preparations, have started waking up in the wake of our recent freak cold weather fiasco here in Texas. Sometimes God just has to give us a slap in the face to wake us up. We have a saying here in Texas, “Remember the Alamo!” I am going to start a new one, “Remember February 2021!” Maybe I can use that to jumpstart more folks’ personal responsibility to get their preparations started. LOL!!!
      Happy Easter!!

      Reply

  2. Linda, one of the best posts you’ve made. No wonder we love you so much. You are so good to us. A lot I knew, and a lot I learned. Thank you so much for all you do for us. You are my hero!

    Matt, good reply! You are right. The mind set is very important. I know that it CAN happen to me. If it happened when my Mother was a child, it can happen to me just as easily. The Great Depression was real. My parents and grandparents learned from it and I learned a lot from them.

    Reply

    1. Hi Deborah, you are so cute! You made my day, girlfriend! Man, I wish we were neighbors! I believe another Great Depression is near, the housing bubble is going to explode. Hang on for the ride. Linda

      Reply

      1. Linda, I wish we were closer neighbors, too. I’ve believed a Greater Depression is coming for the past several years. I believe it will be the worst ever. I’m preparing for a rough ride. You hang in there, too. We need you on our side.

        Reply

    2. Been preparing since we readied for Y2K, n dont regret a minute, one thing I’ve recently been made aware of is that we’ll be going through 3 1/2 years when we as Christian’s will not be able to buy/sell. You talk about preparations, it’s a different ball game vs. preparing for storms n even economic collapse. But God is able n we’ll get it accomplished with the Lord’s help. PTL.

      Keep prepping, trust the Lord to lead .n guide n you’ll be able to lead others to survive. A real survivalist.

      Blessings

      Reply

      2. Jerry, I started prepping in Y2K as well. Just not a diligent as now. My husband thought I was being silly. Not so much now. In fact, he is getting on board. Especially since Covid hit.

        Reply

  3. Happy Easter to Linda and all you great folks who comment on her blog. Stay ready because, as Linda says, it is not a matter of if, it is a matter of when. It is not a matter of how bad, but a matter of bad enough to make your preps worthwhile and possibly save your life. One thing that I would pass on, and I have said it before, don’t lament the fact that you occasionally have to throw away a few preps because they have expired. Look at those as a form of insurance premium. They were there if you had needed them before they expired. How many times have we all paid insurance premiums on various insurance policies without ever filing a claim before the end of the term and a new premium payment is due? To me that is what expired preps are, an interim insurance premium.

    Reply

    1. Hi Harry, Happy Easter my friend! Thank you! I can still remember you talking about the insurance premiums. That is the best comment EVER! How many times do we pay that house insurance premium, and never have to use it? Thank goodness, so far. If the cans are expired, let them go, and don’t look back. Happy Easter to all today! Linda

      Reply

  5. I find it interesting that in recent years more friends have stopped laughing at me for my prepping and started asking for advice. I happily steer them in your direction. A caring attitude and good, practical information without all that lecturing about things that don’t really matter in the long run. Thank you!

    Reply

    1. Hi Alice, oh you are so nice!! Thank you for your kind words. I’m glad to hear your friends understand now what YOU have been doing all along. An example is everything. Good job, Linda

      Reply

  6. Linda, I always enjoy your articles and this one was excellent. I also like Matt’s comments. a few things though. First about learning to grow food, you should tell people to focus on open pollinated and heirloom seeds–since they are the only seeds that will breed true. Second they should also have hybrid seeds availble to get in a first crop during desperate times as hybrids are generally more disease and pest resistant than heirlooms.

    Third, where is the section on How to defend your family during tough times? How about learning how to barter?

    Reply

    1. Ray I’m glad to hear I’m not the only one saying have hybrids for that first year of starting or the big increase.

      Reply

      1. Matt, I do believe people need to learn how to grow heirlooms/open pollinated plants so they can learn to save seed and make their gardens more sustainable. But there’s a learning curve involved with many heirlooms and in desperate times no one can afford a poor crop. You and I know that hybrid vigor will produce a crop when heirlooms might fail. Sure, once that seed is gone it’s irreplaceable but that first year’s garden could well prove critical to survival.

        I’ve been growing heirlooms for decades, but I still resort to hybrids on occasion. For instance, I have three asparagus beds. Two of them are heirlooms and one is hybrid. All should be producing asparagus for the next 20 years.

        Personal taste gets involved too. My wife loves Short n Sweet carrots, a hybrid, so I grow them for her. I love Kuroda and Scarlett Nantes which are both heirlooms. You know the drill.

        Reply

  8. Linda,
    This is one fantastic edition of yours! This exemplifies the KISS principle. Very practical & understandable. Have I told you lately how much I love you?
    One little note: butane won’t vaporize worth doodly below 32*F; therefore no flame. Even when it’s more like 40* or 50*, if your rate of demand from your butane source is too high, butane will chill itself below its vaporization temperature while you’re trying to use it. If you’re prepping for a possible exposure to low temperatures, propane is a better choice. Even propane gets slow to vaporize below freezing. Even though less convenient, white gas (Coleman fuel) is superior to either.

    Reply

  9. Linda, I love, love, love your blogs! I read them every day and save the ones I really want to re-read, etc. But I have to admit, one of the best things I love the most about your blogs is the comment sections. I LOVE Matt from Oklahoma and Harry the Texas Patriot. I get such a kick out those two, their no-bulls#*! approach to things, etc. There is always something in everyone’s posts that can be learned from and applied/tweaked to ones’ area/living circumstances. Keep up the amazing work!

    Reply

    1. Hi Robbie, oh you made my day! We really are blessed to have those two in our group! We have kind people with knowledge willing to share their thoughts, skills, and so much more. I really appreciate it too! Life is so good when we have positive people with good hearts working together. Linda

      Reply

  10. Great post, Linda.
    I think communications and having a plan for what to do if the whole family is not together when the emergency hits are both prominent needs. It does come down to using your brain/mind to really think about the “what ifs”. What if the kids are at school, mom and dad are at work. Do the kids know what to do and where to go/wait for mom and dad?

    When my daughter was in school, every fall the school sent out a paper telling the parents to make up an emergency bag: parents contact information (I also included a signed note that she could be picked up by *** or go to *** home); storable food (jerky, cup a soup, granola bars, hard candy, water additives, hot cocoa, tea, etc.). I also included a metal mug for heating or serving the soup and/or water as well as tissues and other “female” necessities (as she got older). I used my FoodSaver to vacuum seal the bag then labeled it with her name, address, my phone#. We always carefully cut the bag open so she could eat the jerky and other foods but kept the non-perishable items in the bag to be replenished the next year. The teacher kept this in a bin in the class room in the case of emergencies.

    One could also make up bags of this sort for the car but include water as well.

    Reply

    1. Hi Leanne, oh my gosh, I remember making these for my grandkids with my daughter. We used my FoodSaver to seal the stuff. It’s a great reminder even for homeschooled kids because these are great to have in the car should an emergency arise. Making a plan for every scenario should be done ASAP. Great comment as always. Linda

      Reply

  11. Hi Linda. Great article. But I’d like to see “lighting” added to the list as well as “power.” Whether it’s finding the key you dropped in the driveway or delivering a baby at midnight, lighting can be critical. I found this out in 2003 when I took a job in Canada and 2 weeks later the lights went out in the entire Northeast for a few days. We were not prepared. We did not have so much as one candle with us. When the sun went down it got dark. Later on, after retiring, I wrote The Non-Electric Lighting Series. Perhaps the most useful book in the series is “Olive Oil Lamps &c.” Vegetable oil lamps have been around since biblical times. Worth a look: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KB7F9SU/ref=series_rw_dp_sw

    Reply

  14. Everytime I think I have it all figured out, you and your readers teach me something new. We are heading for some very hard times, and I am grateful for all I have learned. Please everyone, stay safe, alert and healthy

    Reply

  16. I’m the preparedness coordinator for my LDS Ward. I needed an article for our monthly newsletter due today and copied and pasted this one and submitted it last night at midnight. I couldn’t figure out why it said I already had saved an article by that same name and asked my husband about it. I found out that I had used your same exact article for our newsletter in May, 2021. Maybe all the useful information will help someone that didn’t see the first article. Perhaps when you’re reprinting the same article, you could state that it originally appeared on …… and list a date. Thanks for all the work you do!

    Reply

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