What to put in my disaster preparation kit

My friend is part of this group that stresses both man-made and natural disaster preparedness. After he talked to me about it, I realized I’m really not prepared at all. I live in California and don’t even have a plan if a big earthquake hit!
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I’ve decided to purchase canned food, supplies, and bottled water. Right now, I’m storing everything in my garage; it gets to 90 degrees in there, so how long should I expect it will last before I have to throw it away and buy new? How often should I be replacing these supplies?

“A man may die, nations may rise and fall, but an idea lives on.” – John F. Kennedy

 

Welcome to the forum Collin. Ditto what RH said. If you have room in an extra bedroom or closet, anything that is climate controlled it will last a lot longer. Canned food will last for years, but after the use by date the nutrient value will often decrease. Chlorinated water will last indefinitely, you can go for a long time without food, but not long without water. Store plenty of it. I would start my prep kit with a good first aid kit. You will need to pack some extra clothes, flashlights, canned food, or other foods such as Mountain House which is a vendor here. Having a firearm is a good idea, and some extra ammunition. Fire starters, a blanket, a rain pancho, there are a litany of things that you can add, depending upon your individual situation. Maybe a extra couple of five gallon cans of gas, a lot of the people running from Hurricane Rita ran out of gas on the highway since all of the stations were closed or empty. Did you live in a urban area, or a rural area? Do you have a family to plan for? Do you have a place not too far away that you can go to if something bad happens? What kind of disasters do you think are most likely for your area?

 

First prepare to hold in place. You got to start somewhere. Might as well fortify the homefront first off. Food, Water, Lights, Weapons. ( I know, your in the Peoples Republic of Kalifornia) But do the best you can. At a minumum, aim for a two week supply in the house at all times. They sell a neat system called a FI FO (first in, first out) can rotation that keeps the stuff you bought rotated on its own.

Then get yourself a B.O.B. together in case you have to flee. Learn a couple ways out of town. Try to find those out of the way places that you may be able to travel when the SHTF. Learn how to avoid the major highways. Everyone will be using them. If you can, store at least two extra cans of gas to throw in the car when you decide it is time to run. Never let your car get below a half a tank from now on. As mentioned. One of the biggest problems during Katrina was running out of gas on the highways as peoples car ran out of gas.

Keep it simple for a start. Then every payday. Buy yourself something else. Freeze Dried Foods. MRE's. Bottled Water. Extra Toilet Paper. Doing something, anything, is better than doing nothing at all.

Be part of the solution. Not part of the problem.

Read lots more on here and get into the right frame of mind now. Always be prepared.

 

Thanks for the advice, I am starting to build my kit. In addition to my kit though, my friend is strongly recommending that I take a
disaster preparation
class that he took. Anyone ever used one of these?

 

The first things I got together were the basics... A good Knife, a utensil set, matches, candles, sterno canned heat and a sterno stove, a small 1-2qt.pot, water tablets and a small water filter unit, a couple Bic type butane lighters, heavy mil poncho, emergency blanket (the real one's :"quilted") not JUST the cheap mylar kinds, instant coffee, tea bags, sugar, boullion, meds, prescription glasses, first aid items, a mirror, razor and shave cream, comb, tooth brush, tooth paste, tweezers, scissors, rubberbands, elec. tape, duct tape, roll of heavy mil. plastic, flashlight and extra batteries, can opener's, and an AM/FM radio, towel, wash cloth, hand/bath soap, toilet paper,....etc., etc. ....... Most small lightweight items you can easily carry in a small ditty bag... Anything that will give you a source of: water, heat, light, keep you dry and warm, informed and some food. imho

 

Hi Collin,

Just my 2 cents worth, Classes are great, but they never have enough time to go over everything you will need to know. I would start with the basics as Dragonfly has pointed out before taking a class. There are loads of information available on this site along with knowledgeable people here that are very helpful.

Personal Opinion: Save your money on a class inorder to start buying whatever basics you don't already have and learn for free from Research, this Site, and Books....

Hope this Helps...

Regards,
Bodak

 

Stick to canned foods since they don't need water to prepare and can be worked into your daily food when approaching the "use by" date. Also, canned foods packed in water can add to your drinking water supply!!!!

 

also these days 99% of what u need to know u can find a video for on you tube...

you can almost always find all your basic "survival tools" a beginer prepps at garage sales on the weekend!!!!

 

If true SHTF does occur you can count on not having a reliable source of power/electricity. Buy a Rocket Stove (or make one). They are a terrific and economical way to cook food or boil water.
Also, consider buying a Katadyn Hike Pro Water Filter. You can only store so much water; if SHTF comes, you will have to purify a source of water. But definitely hang onto your water bottles or other containers; they will become very valuable.

 

Have a mock "disaster" weekend with your family where you don't use power or water. You'll see quickly where you're gaps are (e.g. do you have a non-electric can opener? Do you have a radio to check news? Sanitation Protocol?)

Don't overlook a "get home" bag. Unless you work from home, the odds are that you'll be away from home when disaster hits. Your family should have a plan for getting home without the aid of communication.

I recommend reading a most excellent book: Going Home. It's available on Kindle for a couple of bucks that gives a plausible scenario and what a bag might have in it.

Sent from my Kindle Fire