Prepping Advice: What are you hoarding for "the bad times"?

[Owen Lucas]

I've not seen any mention yet of sanitation. How many people involved and what are you using...sewer or septic system? In a worst case scenario I don't expect the sewers to function very long nor do I expect to get a septic system pumped when I want it done. What about your trash? Do you have a plan to burn or bury it that won't contaminate your water supply? How much do you trust your neighbors? All the prep in the world won't help if you don't have at least some cooperation.

I have city sewer. If the water treatment plant stops working is there a chance sewage could backflow into the house from the street? I don't know if sewers rely on active pumping or if there are backstops to flooding from city infrastructure. Barring a weather even where there is flooding that is.

Trash collection is definitely an afterthought but I would have to get creative.

That's my point. If canned goods just sit there on a shelf, then eventually after several years, to be safe, they need to go. You don't want to open a can with a best-by date of 2024 in 2027.

Exactly, I'll be rotating through canned items and some of the stuff that I don't regularly eat like spam will just get donated before it expires. There will be waste but I'll try to minimize it.

 

[nomas]

I wouldn't call it hoarding but I have a LOT of toilet paper in the bathroom closet . Probably 80 rolls or so . Thousands of rounds of .22 and 9mm also .

 

[Snagglefoot]

Not sure how to rotate out all that stuff. Do you give it to the Food Bank before it goes bad?

 

[Astro14]

I think it bears repeating, though I’ve said it before:

You should be prepared when living in hurricane country.

You should have extra food, water, medicine, fuel, flashlights, sundries, sandbags, etc.

Failing to prepare for a natural (weather) disaster is simply foolish. So many people take the availability of goods for granted.

 

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[JeffKeryk]

During the '89 Loma Prieta Quake, CA and the Bay Area pulled together.
During the horrible 1980's Santa Cruz Mountains Fire, I had 3 refugee friends and a huge Lab living with me in my rented house. The Lab ate my fence.
I have no fear. If I were in Ukraine, things would be different.
Oh yeah, I make sure everyone I know has quality flashlights in their home.

Not sure what "bad times" you are referring to.

 

[Owen Lucas]

Not sure how to rotate out all that stuff. Do you give it to the Food Bank before it goes bad?

I didn't buy everything at once so I go I'm rotating through the canned beans, pastas, usual things I like. Items I don't normally eat will be donated before they expire.

 

[AutoMechanic]

We always keep canned goods on hand. We have back packs filled with mints, toothpaste, toothbrushes, rice, bagged water and other stuff that my sister made up for us. We do rotate it though so like we’ll take a bag of rice out and eat it and replace it with a new one. We have pretty much done this for about 3 years now maybe longer. It’s just always good to be prepared. I need to add about 100 cans of corn and ravioli to mine and I’ll be set. Lol 😂.

 

[Snagglefoot]

I like the zombie movies featuring urban apartment buildings. The real “ you are screwed” time is when they turn the tap and there is no water.

 

[Boomer]

Ammo and firearms for hunting and personal and family protection.

 

[wpod]

Drugs and alcohol just in case... No I don't actually do drugs and alcohol ,not my thing.

 

[wpod]

You never know. A big storm or other event can mess things up for quite a while. The gubbermint says for the first 72-96 hours you are on your own. That is very conservative.

Try several weeks without power or services. I did. Being prepared and being able to adapt also means you are better prepared to help others as well.

The gubbermint being the cause of the problems can not be expected to also be the solution to the problems they caused.

 

[Cujet]

You should have extra medicine,,,,,,,

That's a great point, and currently difficult for me. I can't go long (only a few hours) without T3 (thyroid) meds that I take 6x day. Despite having a prescription for 90 days, and paying cash, Publix, and other local pharmacies will not provide more than 30 days worth. For example, right now I have about 10 days remaining and can't refill yet.

It's so bad that I can't be away from home more than about 3 weeks if I time it right.

Some of you might remember my hotel theft story, where my meds were stolen. I made it home the next day (I had one pill in my wallet) but was almost in a coma (yes that's what happens). And it took days to fully recover from the low T3 in my cells.


My point: It might take quite some effort to get a bit of a prescription "cushion". There is high reluctance to provide, supposedly due to drug shortages.

 

[Owen Lucas]

That's a great point, and currently difficult for me. I can't go long (only a few hours) without T3 (thyroid) meds that I take 6x day. Despite having a prescription for 90 days, and paying cash, Publix, and other local pharmacies will not provide more than 30 days worth. For example, right now I have about 10 days remaining and can't refill yet.

It's so bad that I can't be away from home more than about 3 weeks if I time it right.

Some of you might remember my hotel theft story, where my meds were stolen. I made it home the next day (I had one pill in my wallet) but was almost in a coma (yes that's what happens). And it took days to fully recover from the low T3 in my cells.


My point: It might take quite some effort to get a bit of a prescription "cushion". There is high reluctance to provide, supposedly due to drug shortages.

Maybe your physician can provide you with a paper prescription along with sending RX electronically to your pharmacy. This way you can take the paper RX to another pharmacy and pay out of pocket to get double your supply.

A medical excursion trip to Canada can convert a US RX converted to a Canadian one. There are medical clinics on the Canadian side of the border that specialize in flipping prescriptions and writing new ones for US citizens that face high medical costs. I've read about busses in Detroit and NY that do this monthly. Basically you meet with a DR, give him your RX or they diagnose you, write up a script and there is usually a pharmacy right next to the doctors office so it's one stop shopping.

 

[Jdeere562]

What do you have in your prepper inventory? I've been stocking my basement shelves incase a major even happens that knocks out the food supply chain. I'm working on a 1 year+ food supply for 4 people.

What do you think of my prepping and what do you recommend? This is what I have so far:

GRAINS:

• 5x 20lb bags of rice
• 100x+ cans of beans
• 40x boxes of pastas
• 5x large boxes of steel cut oats
• 20x large boxes of dried potatoes

Canned Proteins & Veggies:

• 40x cans of chicken
• 30x cans of tuna
• 30x cans of spam
• 50x cans of various soups
• 50x cans of misc. veggies

Misc. (multiple containers of):

• Coconut and olive oils
• Peanut butter
• Salt & spices
• Honey & molasses
• Jell-O's
• Tea, instant coffee
• Condiments

Tin Foil Hat Section:

• Potassium Iodide kit (130mg) for 10 days
• Been keeping all of my old antibiotics and medicines for years
• Ammo

I know I have to at least triple the amount of food I have and am looking to add more 20lb bags dried beans and parboiled rice.

Access to a natural source of water without power but also have multiple cases of bottled water.

I didn't go the way of buying prepacked kits from my patriot supply or another reseller since I think those are just overpriced and repacked generic products.

What do you recommend?

As a single old man speaking today. If the situation comes down, bad enough to eat though your 100 LBS of rice and other goodies, I have but one last request.

Let me find my gun and one cartridge. Lord, please help me aim right behind my ear. Let my last shot, be my best. In Jesus name, Amen.

 

[Owen Lucas]

As a single old man speaking today. If the situation comes down, bad enough to eat though your 100 LBS of rice and other goodies, I have but one last request.

Let me find my gun and one cartridge. Lord, please help me aim right behind my ear. Let my last shot, be my best. In Jesus name, Amen.

Oh man that's pretty serious, don't you want to wait until after you run out of supplies?

 

[wxtech]

25yr shelf life food. enough for 4 people for 16 months. longer if rationed.
water purifiers/filters
canned food.
first aid supplies. replace/rotate as needed.
toilet paper. rotate as needed.
clothing. shoes.
personal hygiene items. rotate as needed.
cases of water. rotate as needed. always 12 cases on hand.
gold & silver coins. rolls of quarters, dimes, pennies, nickels.
lots of ammo. several rifles, handguns, & various weapons.

I've been part time prepping for years. started out as a hobby type thing and its grown into something a bit more complex. i have lots of other odds & ends not listed. its also a good idea to have a backup location for supplies. always have a bag ready to go with minimal essentials.

 

[Jdeere562]

Oh man that's pretty serious, don't you want to wait until after you run out of supplies?

No, just give them to my kids. I'm too old to deal with doom's day and that crap.

 

[palmerwmd]

I stopped reading his list once I hit the part about the Chef Boyardee stash.

It was cheap.
Yes I know its not serious prepper food as the acid in the tomato sauce will eat away at the cans eventually. But I got it for 80 cents a can!. Thats a lot of calories per can and dollar even if it does not last as well in storage.
Ideally I would prefer more Spam. But have u looked at the prices for spam lately?

 

[palmerwmd]

Another point: silver and gold will be worthless in a bad scenario. Owning them is no substitute for having food and other survival needs, because no one in his right mind is going to sell you goods he needs for his own survival at any price. You don't want to be the richest hungry man in the neighborhood.

Any scenario you can picture in which stores are open and accepting gold for a loaf of bread is outright 100% rubbish. The stores will have been looted long before that point, with no replacement goods likely to arrive soon if ever.

Right now in Venezuela with a starving population, gold or silver will still buy you anything. Gasoline, food, even women.
It cant all be about the Zombie apocalypse. there are a lot of grey areas or slow slides into dystopia such as the one the US is undergoing right now.