Must have SHTF survival gear

[jgradyc]

I've read a bit about bug out bags, but the wife really can't walk long distances and we're probably safer in our rural home than most anywhere else. That said, what would you consider to be your must have SHTF gear?  Let's assume a scenario where there is no electricity and no cell phone service.

 

One thing I don't have is any form of communication past my cell phone. Should we get walkie talkies, hand-held CBs? Ham radio doesn't seem to practical to me since so few people have them.

Edited October 14, 2013 by jgradyc

[whitewolf001]

I've read a bit about bug out bags, but the wife really can't walk long distances and we're probably safer in our rural home than most anywhere else. That said, what would you consider to be your must have SHTF gear?  Let's assume a scenario where there is no electricity and no cell phone service.

 

One thing I don't have is any form of communication past my cell phone. Should we get walkie talkies, hand-held CBs? Ham radio doesn't seem to practical to me since so few people have them.

 

In your case, I'd have a G.O.O.D. bag prepped(Get.Out.Of.Dodge.) for a just in case contingency. The thing about bugging out is that you want a general location in mind that you'll be headed. Plan accordingly as well for how far you'll be traveling. Pack light if you'll be hoofing it to somewhere somewhat close, say within 60 miles. With a light pack I'd have gear that would shelter you from the elements but I don't think I'd worry about starting a fire. Also, pack light but high calorie foods, MRE, protien bars, anything that doesn't need to be cooked and be eaten on the go. Your weapons should also be lightweight, for bugout weapon, I'd use something like a Mini14, M1 Carbine, and the absolute heaviest I'd go would be an AR stripped with the exception of a light. Remember, ounces lead to pounds, and pounds lead to pain. I've gotta go through my pack and reorganize it as it is constantly evolving. You want some medical supplies, some way to make a temp shelter like a poncho(I use a surplus Swiss poncho) or even a trash bag would work, also a handy item to have is a emergency blanket, some form of sleep system(sleeping bag), your munitions( though I keep mine on my chest rig so it is sperate from my pack but does add weight regardless, though pending on your total weight I'd have extra ammo if at all possible), food is very important but as I said before, go with something like workout bars or MREs with just the meal and gut out the rest of it, water and some way to filter it(if you run out of water on the way you'll need to replenish it be any means possible and this may include starting a fire. There are many schools of thought on the subject and I try to take what knowledge I can and incorporate into my system, even if it's something I don't use until later on down the road. A phrase I heard recently aslo makes alot of sense, get a pack for your stuff, not your stuff for a pack; by this, I mean have all your items ready and then pick a pack system most suitable to your items and the space needed. There are other people whom can provide much more knowledge than I such as Timestepper and several others.

Edited October 14, 2013 by whitewolf001

[jgradyc]

I'm sorry. Rereading my post, it's misleading. I don't want the ultimate bug out bag. I want to shelter in place.  What are the things I need to shelter in place? I have the following...

 

- spring water

- 300 gallon(?) propane tank for cooking and heat

- AR, shotgun, handgun, tactical lights, 22lr with scope

- A big dog and a small barky dog to wake up the big dog!

- Maybe a month's supply of food for the two of us and our dogs.

- battery powered radio

[tennessee01tacoma]

Medical supplies including antibiotics(look into fish antibiotics) and training on how to administer aid, a way to heat your home, I wouldn't solely rely on propane for this, a wood stove with a good stack of wood is a better choice. You said you have spring water and that's perfect for drinking but what if it gets contaminated, also you should collect rainwater even if it's only 100 gallons it could be used for baths and washing dishes and clothes. A way to charge batteries like a simple solar system would make a huge difference. Maybe some fuel for your vehicles for emergency use only. 20 gallons is usually about a 400 mile range for most vehicles. Knowledge and training will be the most important things.

I composed this list cause its things on my list, you can never be prepared enough. Edited October 14, 2013 by tennessee01tacoma

[whitewolf001]

I'm sorry. Rereading my post, it's misleading. I don't want the ultimate bug out bag. I want to shelter in place.  What are the things I need to shelter in place? I have the following...

 

- spring water

- 300 gallon(?) propane tank for cooking and heat

- AR, shotgun, handgun, tactical lights, 22lr with scope

- A big dog and a small barky dog to wake up the big dog!

- Maybe a month's supply of food for the two of us and our dogs.

- battery powered radio

 

Go by the old addage, "Beans, Bullets, and Bandaids", you need to all three to be properly equipped, one or two will get ya dead. Keep stocking back food and rotating when it nears exp. using FIFO(first in, first out), same goes for your medical supplies. Use the propane sparingly, try to use firewood and renewable sources as much as possible. Have just as much food as you have for you as you'd have for the dogs, they are a multi layer usage item(as cold as that sounds), they are an alarm system, they can defend you, they can track prey, and in the absolute worst of situations, you can eat them. I know that sounds horrible but one of the worst ways to die is via starvation but as I said, that would be a last line that you shouldn't cross until you knew you had to. Radios are handy, I would couple them with a solar panel or something that can generate electricity for you. In a grid down, electricity is going to become a luxury that VERY few will have. I would look into rainwater collection as tacoma said above, if not, then I'd have a water source handy and very close by, you don't wanna carry several gallons of water HUNDREDS of yards and burn through a chunk of that to replenish what used to carry it. Extra fuel storage using stabil would be advised, rotate it out about every 10-12 months. As tacoma said as well, skills are the one TRUE bartering item that is completely renewable. Kerosene lanterns and led(non-C4 as they eat batteries) lights would be ideal. Stock up on batteries as well, this is something I REALLY need to do. They're not a priority but very nice to have and can be used as bartering item.

[McGarrett]

The advice that whitewolf & tacoma have given is solid; beans, bullets, and bandaids.

 

+1 on firewood & wood stove. You can heat, cook, boil water, etc. I keep about 2 to 3 winters worth of wood stored up and keep it rotated out. Plenty of fire starting materials, kindling, seasoned woods, & matches, zippos, flints, lighter fluid. I am constantly cutting, splitting, stacking and working with the wood year round. Good exercise and has a practical use as well. We do not exclusively heat with wood but it just supplements our regular heat and it's there if you need it. I also have a fire pit outside, I keep some charcoal as well as wood for it. We live on 10 acres and 1/2 of it is wooded so there is no shortage of wood, I am constantly cutting up trees or limbs that are down.

 

Lights- coleman lanterns, oil lamps, candles, flashlights.

 

Ammo- been buying a little along the years, need to have plenty for each type of firearm you have. I have a couple of combos of handguns & carbines that take the same caliber. I have .38/ .357 revolvers and lever rifle and .40 handguns and keltec sub 2000 carbine in .40. I also have some 9, .45, 22lr, 12ga, etc. Too much to list all of them but you get the picture.

 

Water storage, we have barrels as well as an above ground pool. Getting a Berkey filter soon.

 

I keep 2 propane bottles, 1 to use out of and 1 extra. We have a gas grill as well as a propane camp stove/ oven. Someone stole my coleman stove out of our barn and i have not replaced it yet.

 

Fuel storage & generator or small solar set up are things that are on my list. I keep enough gas to run the chainsaw and log splitter for a while with stabil & seafoam added to it. I get 100% gas with no ethanol. 

 

Food- my wife handles most of this, we have a variety of long term & short term food stored. She has been buying some bulk grains and other items from a place in Knoxville that is run by the Mormon church. They will sell to anyone and they also have a cannery set up to can items in the large #10 cans that is on site. I do not know much about this place because my wife goes there. Very reasonable prices. We are not Mormon but I guess from what I see they must believe in stocking up on food. We are also gardening and growing some grains; wheat & buckwheat.

 

First aid/ medical- we have been stocking up on your normal everyday medicine cabinet type items as well as first aid items.

 

CB is a cheap & common form of comms that has a decent range probably 3 to 5 miles max. I don't know much about ham. I think cb could be used to keep a community in communication with each other and maybe relay out to the rest of the world. I have been looking at one of the voyager solar/ dynamo radios but have not got one yet, only receives does not transmit. I have looking into the old military surplus field phones, they would be good where you can run wire or get onto existing cabling.

 

I keep a bug out bag in the vehicle with the intent to primarily use it to get home to bug in. We live in a rural area.

 

I hope this helps you out. I tried not to ramble on and overload you with too much information at once,

[UncleJak]

All this Is great advice. I'd lile to add: you need a way to secure your home. Wood, screws, nails, booby traps, etc...
If you are planning on staying put, plan on defending your castle.

Sent barefoot from the hills of Tennessee

[tennessee01tacoma]

All this Is great advice. I'd lile to add: you need a way to secure your home. Wood, screws, nails, booby traps, etc...
If you are planning on staying put, plan on defending your castle.

Sent barefoot from the hills of Tennessee

+1 unclejak, fence in your gardens if possible to keep animals out won't help much for 2 legged upright walking type but this past year we did just a simple 3 strand electric fence and we had zero pest issues

[Wingshooter]

All good advice given above. I also keep several gallons of bleach. It's great for purifying water for drinking and disinfecting anything. Keeping clean and healthy will be VERY important during such an event.

I also keep several rolls of duck tape and plastic sheeting. You can seal off a room to help keep toxins out or keep heat in (with proper ventilation of course).

[tennessee01tacoma]

All good advice given above. I also keep several gallons of bleach. It's great for purifying water for drinking and disinfecting anything. Keeping clean and healthy will be VERY important during such an event.

I also keep several rolls of duck tape and plastic sheeting. You can seal off a room to help keep toxins out or keep heat in (with proper ventilation of course).

Hate to break it to you but liquid bleach is almost useless after 6 months, calcium hypochlorite (pool shock) is better for storing for shtf. Still loses potency but not nearly as fast.

[Dolomite_supafly]

All good advice given above. I also keep several gallons of bleach. It's great for purifying water for drinking and disinfecting anything. Keeping clean and healthy will be VERY important during such an event.

I also keep several rolls of duck tape and plastic sheeting. You can seal off a room to help keep toxins out or keep heat in (with proper ventilation of course).

Calcium hypochlorite is much better than liquid bleach. Liquid bleach has lost most of its effectiveness in 6 months and is worthless after a year. Calcium hypochlorite can be found at pool supply stores. It remains stable as long as it remains dry. Once mixed with water it has the same properties as bleach.

Solar is what I am going to use for long term lighting. I am not going to use it for anything else other than to keep the boogeyman away. All my batteries are rechargeable and my flashlights use rechargeable batteries.

You really need more food. If nothing else just some beans and rice. One month is not long enough to get to harvesting of crops. If something happened today you are looking at 9+ months before harvest.

Basic first aid. Benadryl and Ibuprofen are probably the biggest ones to stock up on. Antibiotics are also good but they can be expensive. Most pet medications are identical to human versions. Band aids and gauze are some things to have. And believe it or not but stock up on feminine hygiene products. Pads are sterile and work well for bandages. Tampons work well for puncture wounds. And both work well for tinder.

I have a wood stove but I also have a multi fuel camping stove. I will use it to cook with when I do not have a fire going.

A good set of cookware. Stainless steel will last a long time as will cast iron.

Water storage is important. You can find plastic, food safe barrels on Craigslist for under $20. I would also suggest getting setup to can food when times are good. You can can almost any kind of food.

I will post more tomorrow.

[Oh Shoot]

A towel. Anywhere in the galaxy, you need a towel.

 

- OS

[Superman]

check out thesurvivalpodcast.com lots of good info there.

 

For electricity check out solar1234.com and battery1234.com good info on those 2 sites.

 

Stock up on fuel if you have a safe place to keep it, like a shed or garage. Fuel will keep forever if you keep it treated with stabil or Pri-G. I plan to get some of those blue 15gal water barrels to store fuel in. And was going to buy some Nato fuel cans to keep some extra in my truck, but they are expensive. Then I realized I can get a 22 gal fuel cell for about $100 vs $200 for 4 nato cans.

 

Start a rain water collection system

[tennessee01tacoma]

check out thesurvivalpodcast.com lots of good info there.

For electricity check out solar1234.com and battery1234.com good info on those 2 sites.

Stock up on fuel if you have a safe place to keep it, like a shed or garage. Fuel will keep forever if you keep it treated with stabil or Pri-G. I plan to get some of those blue 15gal water barrels to store fuel in. And was going to buy some Nato fuel cans to keep some extra in my truck, but they are expensive. Then I realized I can get a 22 gal fuel cell for about $100 vs $200 for 4 nato cans.

Start a rain water collection system

You can check around your area but if you have any race shops around like dirt car race shops they have 5 gallon cans without any goofy epa nozzles and they are way cheaper than the NATO or other "jerry cans" they are made from thick plastic and have sturdy handles.

[Wingshooter]

Good point about the bleach loosing effectiveness. I use it quite a bit, so mine stays pretty fresh. Calcium hypochlorite is a better choice though for storage

[Dennis1209]

Some great advice given above.

 

Renewable is the key word. No matter how much you have stored up, eventually it will all be consumed, bartered, stolen or go bad. I purchase many items on the Internet. In a worse case scenario such as hyper-inflation or an economic crash, which I feel is inevitable, problems will occur not purchasing face-to-face and locally when you need something. Many products and services might be a thing of the past.

 

Best to have what you need to start on hand or the means to be able to barter with something people "need". IMO, a person needs a minimum of 9 months of food for each member of the family to get by until a large garden can be grown. That means having a "two year" supply of properly stored and protected seasonal seeds on hand, and the hand implements to plant and maintain a garden. I said two years worth of seeds because you're not guaranteed a successful garden every year. Like this year, 2/3 of my huge garden died or did not produce well due to excessive rain, standing water, constant mud, mold, mildew, bugs, rabbits and deer. Same with pestilence, hail, drought, high winds, etc.

 

We have an abundance of deer, turkey, squirrel and game around here. But during an extended emergency people are going to get hungry, game seasons and limits are history and the wardens are at home protecting their own so, that resource will rapidly become almost non existent. A stocked pond and / or access to a local river or lake would be very beneficial.

 

As was briefly mentioned, conservation of resources and total use will also be paramount for quality of life. Many items can have multiple uses, recycled and used for a variety of tasks. Don't totally depend on fossil fuels and technology for survival and the more craftsmen skills you possess, the better off you and your community will be.

 

Beans, bullets and band aids are a must but, don't forget #1, water. A Berkley or such water filter will be worth its weight in gold. Cholera and other nasty's will be a big problem when SHTF so potable drinking water and safe sanitation and cleanliness are a must. Water and sanitation are going to kill more people probably than anything else, as history has proven. So, soap, laundry detergent, dish soap, disinfectants, cleaning supplies, first aid supplies, and common over the counter medications and anti diarrhea products are way up there on my list.  

 

One other thing that is critical on my list that so far isn't panning out is; keeping what you have, including your life from the hoards of looters, criminals and drug addicts that will be roaming during our next pandemic, regional / national disaster, economic collapse, etc. Security and survival in numbers. Most everyone around here believes things will go on as they always have and the government will take care of them. Some attitude huh? It would be nice to have a local plan with my neighbors and they realize the possibility of life without WROL. IMHO, a family by themselves won't stand a chance for long when a group wants what you may have and have you drastically out numbered and have the element of surprise.

Edited October 15, 2013 by Dennis1209

[Caster]

The best tool you can invest in is between your ears.
The old saying 'A book, a cook does not make'

There's NO skill you shouldn't be trying to learn. From edible plants in your area, memorizing where potable water sources are, to pressure canning, gardening and crocheting. Learn to knit a sweater and weave a basket. Fix a small gasoline engine, siphon gas from a late model car.

You need to develop a skill set that will allow you to bend your environment to your will. That will be your best survival tool. Without skills in producing, concealing and protecting, all your preps will be much appreciated by those who find them and take them away from you by hook or by crook.

I tell people, decide where you want to die. Is it where you are or somewhere else? Find that place and start surviving there NOW. Learn it know it live it. If you're already living the lifestyle then when fan gets splattered, then only outside threat levels will change. Your instinct to live with what you have and what you can procure YOURSELF will be the same. One of the best things you can do right now is weening yourself off the mentality "I'll just go out and buy one".
I make a point to at least attempt to repair or make a new one myself on EVERYTHING I can. Even if I fail or am not satisfied with the results and end up going to buy a new one. Whatever you're replacing still has value if you can learn something from trying to fix it. Think outside the box and you'll be amazed where you'll be in a year or two.

You can stockpile so much ammo. You can't eat it p, it tastes like crap. Lol Edited October 15, 2013 by Caster

[McGarrett]

I forgot to mention one other thing to keep on hand that has a multitude of uses. Apple cider vinegar.

[Timestepper]

All this Is great advice. I'd lile to add: you need a way to secure your home. Wood, screws, nails, booby traps, etc...
If you are planning on staying put, plan on defending your castle.

Sent barefoot from the hills of Tennessee

To that end, has anyone considered using caltrops? They're easily made and can be highly effective for home/castle defense. They are easily deployed and if several are strung together, they're also easily retrieved for redeployment or to allow temporary ingress/egress.

 

I won't say that I currently have them in use, but you probably also don't wanna' walk through our woods if me or my wife isn't with you. ;)

[Guest Riciticky]

I would also have a supply of prescriptions that you need to survive. Without them, I think I would be dead already.

[Guest Bojangles]

Timestepper...what are caltrops??? A lot of good advice on here, especially being told to learn. I might also mention attitude. When the "baddies" come around, you have to already know just how far you will go. Hesitation is also a killer.

[Oh Shoot]

Timestepper...what are caltrops??? A lot of good advice on here, especially being told to learn. I might also mention attitude. When the "baddies" come around, you have to already know just how far you will go. Hesitation is also a killer.

 

http://bit.ly/uza8zU

 

;)

 

- OS

[whitewolf001]

Timestepper...what are caltrops??? A lot of good advice on here, especially being told to learn. I might also mention attitude. When the "baddies" come around, you have to already know just how far you will go. Hesitation is also a killer.

They were used by ninja as a trap for those whom would give chase to them, the shinobi would drop them behind them and regardless of how it falls, it will always land where a point is sticking straight up. In the training at Konigun Ninjutsu I took when I was younger, to get you to hold correct form they would place these under your heels as... motivation, haha.