I was reading this thread about “The Big One” in GQ and started thinking about a list of necessities if, well, TSHTF.
Scenario:
Some catastropy (terror attack, earthquake, snowstorm, locusts) occurs. There is no electricity, no running water, no communication, no gas (natural or gasoline) available. We’ll avoid things like nuclear fallout so that in our case we’re free to walk outside. Let’s say things stay this bad for, oh, a month. And in my list, the quantity is per person so for a family of four, multiply by (you guessed it) four. One more thing, everything should be able to fit in a medium sized closet or a small corner of a garage.
I’ll start:
30 Gallons of water. (1/day - drinking/cooking/cleaning)
30 cans of food.
1 can opener.
1 gallon of bleach (cleaning, disinfecting water, etc)
1 large blanket.
10 gallons of gas (for the vehicle, probably won’t be going on any big trips, so 10 gal should do in a pinch)
What are we missing? Remember, nothing that will perish in less than 10 years, and must be reasonable, affordable and small enough to store in our limited space.
One of the flashlights that you shake or wind to recharge (then you don’t have to worry about batteries.)
A good first aid kit and a book on basic first aid.
A large sheet of plastic and a roll of duct tape (it’s amazing what you can do with these 2 things)
a good knife
matches
a folding shovel
Don’t forget that most of us that live in a house have 30-50 gallons of clean drinkable water stored in our hot water heaters.
You know, in case it turns into our job to repopulate the earth. I don’t know about you all, but my “bounceback” time isn’t as short as it was in my younger days. And with the recent catastrophy described in the OP, I’m going to be under a bit of stress. I might need that little jumpstart to get me “in the mood”.
What in the world are we going to shovel? Ohh, I get it. And good point about the water heater, I haven’t thought of that. Not to mention the 5-20 gallons in the toilet tanks.
Really Not All That Bright, thanks for playing but all your ideas suck.
I think I’ll just go outside, IrreverentTone. I have a pretty strong gag reflex.
Yes, and in case of a catastropic event, Casey1505 will be thinking not of himself but of how to repopulate the earth. How gallant.
from Small Clanger we have booze.
Sounds like a party to me. Who needs the natural disaster?
Seriously, if I were going to have an emergency kit all ready to go, I would not want to forget the can opener. It would suck to have can food and no way of opening it. Also, if I had a chance to prepare for my disaster, I would be using my dehydrator like a mad woman. Fruits, meats – it’d all be good.
I don’t see any provisions made for heat. Weren’t many of the deaths in that big ice storm the northeast had a number of years ago due to people freezing to death?
I think a months worth of duraflame logs or firewood would probably take up too much space. You can buy cans of ethanol that supposedly burn for 4 1/2 hours and can keep a midsize room warm. (A bit expensive, though)
You could also use the aforementioned saw & axe to chop up your furniture, in extreme emergencies. (I think I could dismember my back fence and be warm for a while-- though I may have to fight my neighbors for it.)
Also, if you have pets, 30 days worth of food for them as well. Even if you usually feed dry food, canned wet food not only keeps longer but has a higher moisture content, so they’ll need less of your water.
A wrench, pliers, etc, so you can uncouple the pipes to get at the water in your hot water heater.
A supply of any medications you desperatly need.
This is actually very cool. I’ve been meaning to make myself an earthquake box. When I lived back east, my friends laughed at the roommate & I for stocking up on emergency supplies right up until Hurricaine Floyd stranded us in the middle of the flooded Raritan with no water or power for 5 days. . .and guess who had 10 gallons of the only drinkable water in the building?
I think you should have two can openers in case one breaks or gets lost.
Of course the best WTSHTF list is from a movie about the TSHTF
Survival kit contents check. In them you’ll find:
one forty-five caliber automatic;
two boxes of ammunition;
four days’ concentrated emergency rations;
one drug issue containing antibiotics, morphine, vitamin pills, pep pills, sleeping pills, tranquilizer pills;
one miniature combination Russian phrase book and Bible;
one hundred dollars in rubles;
one hundred dollars in gold;
nine packs of chewing gum;
one issue of prophylactics;
three lipsticks; three pair of nylon stockings.
There should probably be more prophylactics.
Vitamins (if you’re eating nothing but canned beans, you may need vitamins! Wouldn’t want that blasted scurvy!)
If there are children in the household, something to keep them busy. Yahtzee dice, deck of cards, mini-travel versions of Trouble, Snakes and Ladders, etc.
And if it’s winter and the house will be cold with no heat, warm socks and mittens.
Obsidian already mentioned a wrench/pliers, but I think a mini toolkit would be helpful, with a multi-headed screwdriver, duct tape, nails, small saw. You know, to make the barricades for your windows to prevent the jealous unprepared neighbors from breaking in to steal your stuff.
And of course, messenger pigeons, pens, and paper, to contact the other Dopers who are stuck like you.
