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Survival room items

So I cleaned out a 8x4 closet/ space in my basement next to my loading bench last week., and it was the first time I saw the floor in 8 years. Looking at it empty is making me ill. I've realized that I'm not prepared at all for any type of SHTF situation. I'm starting to stock water, food, and medical supplies in this area.


What would you put in this? What would be something that is essential to you for a disaster type situation?
Be sure to install a glowie detector!
 
You need to have it all. There's not anything you can do without. If you don't have it, you need money or something like gold/silver to buy or barter. No one is going to sell you water unless they have an unending supply. Food can be grown or hunted for. Shelter is another thing that won't come easy and something you will have to fight for. As long as your health holds out, medicine won't be needed, but get sick and medicine will become priceless.

Since many are putting up canned/processed food, you're going to need a lot more water because of the salt content. Meats won't last long, because there probably won't be any refrigeration. SPAM will be like caviar because it can sit on the shelf for a few years.

There are some smart preppers out there and I have learned a lot from many of them.
 
peanut butter keeps ok, and is calorie dense (you can survive a while on a jar).
 
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If we really believe SHTF is coming (and I do) then we need to save food and stuff to keep US as long as we can depending on storage spaces and budget. I have friends and neighbors who have stored oodles of dried beans, canned/dehydrated meat, and various canned/dehydrated veggies. But do they eat this stuff on a regular basis? Not really.....we eat beans/rice/lean meats/veggies and simple home cooked foods on a daily basis. We rotate the food we have stored by eating it and replacing the oldest with new stuff. A bag of dried beans, a large can of canned Beef, and a couple cups of rice makes literally days worth of food for a couple people...break it down to portions and we literally have 2 years of food if we have no other input.

But if you eat Fast Food and Processed Food and burgers and fries/pizza/ frozen burritos and waffles as daily fare, guess what? if you set a slow pot over a low fire and load it with soaked beans/tinned meat and serve it with rice and whatever condiments you have (like peppers and onions from the garden) the Processed Food Aficionados will likely shit their brains out and die. The food I eat and store weekly would likely cause instant dysentery in most of my neighbors . My point is that if yer gonna store food then eat the food you store and condition your digestive tract to exist on that type of food.

Expecting to suddenly shift from a diet of burgers and pizza to dried beans, rice, and peppers will kill you faster than than the disaster you are preparing for. Hence the need for Imodium and serious medical stuff. It's not just about food and water...you have to get ready for US to become a third world shithole with filthy water and eat what you can find. Simple things like getting the Runs and stepping on a sharp stick or lacking protective shelter (or shoes) will kill as many people as lack of water or sustenance.



Medical supplies and eating properly, good clean water and proper hygiene is paramount. Not eating for a month but drinking clean water and not getting lacerated or dysentery is a better scenario than living in filth and getting cut/punctured and eating food that stresses the digestive tract. Store what you eat - eat what you store. You need bleach/vinegar and Imodium and clean dressings and proper medical kit as well.

Disease and bad water and injury will kill way faster than starvation or exposure in some cases.

VooDoo
 
For a real SHTF scenario, you can't beat this stuff. It's an acquired taste, but dense in calories and somewhat nutritious.

Easy to make, from my understanding it's from the Plain Indians. With these 5 recipes, you can make a diverse selection so that you don't get burned out on just one flavor.

I've used deer and beef and both taste good. If you use deer meat, I suggest rendering pork fat. My least favorite is the peanut butter recipe.

 
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I see a good deal of great info here. I do not honestly think I would have "enough" to survive. I also, honestly, am not a prepper. I do try to have some of the items mentioned here. I do not farm, nor have an area to do so.

You guys seem mostly knowledgeable on the subject. What about MREs and the dehydrated type stuff such as Mountain House (and other brands)?

However, I do think that being honest with ones' self about expectations is important.

This part is hypothetical - Just one example is all the talk about having gold / silver. How would a reasonable value would be established? How would one know if it is "pure", real or otherwise. How would you go about finding out who has what you are looking for? How would you know to actually trust anybody - selling or buying? Where could you store it long term without being found out? Numerous other questions about not just money or precious metals. What about medicine, stored food, water, guns and ammo? Eventually someone will know. People will absolutely try to steal it. A dedicated and hard working and honest father, who might not have saved the correct amount of the correct and necessary items, would eventually be driven to commit acts that he would never otherwise commit. Prepping and surviving are excellent knowledge and efforts but some of that stuff is movie level crap.
 
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I saw someone mention batteries earlier.
I highly recommend these for storing batteries. Great for throwing in a pack, car kit, etc.

 
I see a good deal of great info here. I do not honestly think I would have "enough" to survive. I also, honestly, am not a prepper. I do try to have some of the items mentioned here. I do not farm, nor have an area to do so.

You guys seem mostly knowledgeable on the subject. What about MREs and the dehydrated type stuff such as Mountain House (and other brands)?

However, I do think that being honest with ones' self about expectations is important.

This part is hypothetical - Just one example is all the talk about having gold / silver. How would a reasonable value would be established? How would one know if it is "pure", real or otherwise. How would you go about finding out who has what you are looking for? How would you know to actually trust anybody - selling or buying? Where could you store it long term without being found out? Numerous other questions about not just money or precious metals. What about medicine, stored food, water, guns and ammo? Eventually someone will know. People will absolutely try to steal it. A dedicated and hard working and honest father, who might not have saved the correct amount of the correct and necessary items, would eventually be driven to commit acts that he would never otherwise commit. Prepping and surviving are excellent knowledge and efforts but some of that stuff is movie level crap.

As far as gold and silver, gold is best kept in 1/10th ounce coins or small denominations. Half ounce and full ounce coins will be worth a lot in this scenario. More than most bartering situations unless you are talking about transportation or guns/ammo. Only collect gold and silver bars if you have complete faith that they are full-weight gold or silver. There are a bunch of fake gold/silver items. US minted coins provide the most protection but even those have fakes all over the interweb. So, I buy from an approved US mint clearing house. They are all over the interweb.

Keeping your stash safe is an individual choice. The smaller coins can be hidden in many nooks and crannies. You can store some here and some there, bury some in your backyard, then some in your front yard. You can have thousands of dollars in a combined area no bigger than a box of ammo.

As far as all of the other stuff your questioning, if you plan on staying put and not bugging out, then you house is the answer. Medicine is usually good for a lot longer than the expiration date. I had a co-worker whose wife worked in pharmaceuticals, and she would send thousands of battles of meds (some prescription and some over the counter) and she assured us those were good for at least a year after the expiration date. Food and water should be kept in your basement where it's normally cooler than the rest of the house. The best info I can give you is to not talk about what you have. Not now, not when the trouble starts. Deny owning any firearms and of course ammo. Never show off your collection to family or friends.

I can't tell ya more than that other than to keep adding to your stash. But, it's up to you to find what works best for you and yours.

Good luck!
 
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Do not throw away any old prescriptions. My wife used to do this before I came along and showed her this article.


“Most of what is known about drug expiration dates comes from a study conducted by the Food and Drug Administration at the request of the military. With a large and expensive stockpile of drugs, the military faced tossing out and replacing its drugs every few years. What they found from the study is 90% of more than 100 drugs, both prescription and over-the-counter, were perfectly good to use even 15 years after the expiration date.”