Today is June 23rd and a great time to start preparing for bad weather that tends to arrive late Summer and last through Winter. No matter the cause, we consider these the Top 5 Preps to Survive a Storm.
š„ The Video
ā½ļø Fuel
Storms are notorious for taking out power. You need at least one, if not two, alternative fuel sources to provide you with heating. Wood, propane, or gas (for a generator) are the most common. In addition to heating, fuels such as wood and propane offer the added benefit of being able to cook food with.
Prepper Tip #1
Your outdoor grill works just as well without power. Keep it fueled and ready for use when the power goes out.
Small butane cook stoves can also be used and purchased for a low price. These work great for indoor cooking in apartments or when access outdoors is otherwise unavailable.
š¦ Water
When measured by the jug, it is surprising how much water we consume each day! Store potable water ahead of time so you have a clean supply ready to use. You will need water for drinking, cooking, and sanitary uses. The bare minimum is 1 gallon per person, per day. However, you should strive to store as much as possible. Soda bottles and juice jugs are a great way to start your water storage now, for free! Thoroughly clean the container, add your water, then add a few drops of bleach to purify and preserve it. Use only unscented, plain bleach, and at an amount of 8 drops per gallon. See this link for more information. Milk jugs are not recommended. They lack secure lids and most are made of a plastic designed to deteriorate faster than usual.
Prepper Tip #2
Limited on space? These smaller water jugs can be stored in surprising locations. Closets, under beds, behind furniture, etc. Once you start looking, you'll be amazed at all the spots you will find to fit a jug or two of water!
Rotate your water storage every 6 months to ensure a fresh supply. As you rotate it, do not empty all the jugs at once. Instead, do them in batches. Just in case something happens while you are rotating/refilling your jugs!
š Food
Store ready-to-eat food. Items such as canned food, soups, or even peanut butter and jelly are all good things to start with. Don't forget to buy a manual can opener! For fellow homesteaders, this is where canning your vegetable harvests each year come in handy. If your budget allows, freeze-dried foods have an extremely long shelf life and are the best long term solution. However, bear in mind the amount of water you will need to re-hydrate your food to cook it. You will need to factor this into your water storage requirements. Try and get into the habit of storing more food in your home now. Buying a few more canned items at a time will lessen the impact on your wallet and is a good habit to get into in our opinion.
Prepper Tip #3
To save space, consider a can food rotator. These can be built yourself or purchased online for a very reasonable price. We personally use the Can Organizer in our home. It is a great solution for our small storage space.
š Comfort Items
Items such as board games, books, and other non-electric entertainment are a necessity if you have children and to ward off cabin fever. In addition to these, we put items such as flashlights, lanterns, and battery operated devices into this category. While very important, they are not critical to survival.
Prepper Tip #4
Store extra batteries for all your devices. Also consider purchasing hand-crank flashlights and radios. Solar chargers will not work well under most storm situations
š Your Home
The last item in our Top 5 list is your home. Every home should be well stocked with clothes and blankets to stay warm in cold weather. Other must-have items are:
- š First Aid Kit - A good First Aid kit. Unless you paid $100+ for your kit in a store, that commercial kit is not going to be sufficient for you in an emergency (even if you did pay more, still take inventory). Open your kit, take inventory thinking of any situation that may arise and add the items needed to address them. Don't forget to include medications in this kit--both over the counter, and prescription if you have extra on hand to devote to storing.
- šØ Detectors & Extinguishers - Every home should have smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors, and fire extinguishers. We recommend the larger commercial type extinguishers over the smaller "pretty ones". If you find yourself in a bad situation with a fire, you're going to want the big boy! Buy multiple detectors and extinguishers. Each bedroom should have their own, as well as the main living areas.
- šØ Tool Kit - Whether your a DIYer or not, you should have a basic tool kit in your home. These can be picked up all over the place for less than $25. At a minimum, we recommend: claw hammer, slip-joint pliers, screwdriver set, tape measure, level, pry bar, tape (gorilla or duct tape), and a hand saw.
Prepper Tip #5
Include every member of your family in these plans--even children. Have a fire drill and set meeting place outside of the home and drill it several times. Illicit the thoughts and opinions of others in these plans. They may have ideas about things you have not thought about.
In addition to the above items, we recommend maintaining your route of egress if possible. In the winter time, this will mean shoveling snow in case you have to leave. In other times, it may mean a saw to cut limbs or trees to pass through to safety.
š Recommended Reading
Here are books that we personally recommend and have in our library at home. They are great resources to begin preparing and to accompany you daily. We receive no benefit or kickback for recommending these books.
- The Survival Medicine Handbook http://amzn.to/2tBYdVT
- Survivalist Family http://amzn.to/2syEqZb
- Prescription for Natural Cures http://amzn.to/2sJNBEh
ā¹ļø The above is a brief, down-and-dirty Top 5 list from us and should be treated as a rough-primer. If you are interested in learning more, check out the active prepping posts on Steemit: https://steemit.com/active/prepping
What are your Top 5 Preps? What books do you recommend? Leave a comment below and let's continue the conversation!
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