Prepping: A Few Things You May Have Missed

So you think you’ve got all the bases covered; beans, bullets, and bandages right? Well, chances are there are a few things you may have over looked (as we have), so I decided to put together this incomplete list of commonly over looked preps.

Reading glasses/Contacts and Supplies If you wear glasses or contacts, breaking or losing them during a crisis situation can range from simply annoying to near debilitating. I keep all my old glasses when I purchase new ones as well as having some cheap reading glasses in each car and EDC bag along with a few stashed around the house. If you have contacts you should consider having a few sets of readers along with a good stash of cleaning supplies for your contacts.

Disposing of Garbage This maybe the single most overlooked item on the list; in a SHTF situation, what will you do with the garbage you are creating? It’s highly doubtful that that garbage service will be available and a pile of garbage in your yard (God forbid in your house) will attract rats and other pests as well as drawing attention to your home. People without supplies won’t be generating very much garbage so the fact that you are could make you an obvious target. You need a plan to dispose of the garbage.

Black Plastic Sheeting Having a light source during a blackout/grid down situation is critical, however that light can draw unwanted attention to your home. If you are in a situation where your home is readily visible to others you will need a way to block the light from nosy neighbors; black plastic sheeting is a cheap and effective way to cover you doors and windows.

Dental Emergency Care Few things are more painful and debilitating than dental pain. You should have a decent supply of OralGel or similar product (cloves also work well) to dull the pain as well as some of those temporary filling kits to get you through till you can get a more permanent fix. Have you ever had a toothache on say Christmas or New Years; to say the least it’s something you want to be prepared for.

Bug Repellent/Wasp Spray A pest is a pest is a pest, regardless of where you live or what the current state of affairs might be. However, certain events like floods (or rotting food from a powerless refrigerator) can increase the number of mosquitoes, flies or other undesirable flying or crawling pests some of which can spread disease. Play it safe and keep plenty on hand as well as insect bite/sting treatment.

Pet Food So you’ve got plenty of food and water stashed away for your family, but what about those furry little friends? Maybe it’s chickens, goats or other animals that rely on you; have you taken steps to make sure they have food and water as well? We vacuum seal dry dog and cat food that we keep stored in 5 gallon buckets.

Fix a Flat Flat tires are not nearly as common an occurrence as they used to be, that being said, they do still happen and usually at the most inopportune moment. Hitting some road debris in a bug-out situation could significantly slow your journey to safety when time is of the essence.  Even in ‘normal’ times, changing a tire on the side of the road can make you an easy target for those who might have less than honorable intentions.

Landline Phone/ Hard-copy Phone Numbers & Addresses Cellphones have changed the way we communicate and most of us would be hard pressed to remember more than a couple of phone numbers. Even when cell towers have been damaged or simply overloaded, a landline phone will often still work, but again you need to know some phone numbers. Note: Landlines typically still function when the power is out.

Smoke Detectors/Fire Extinguishers We often get so caught up in prepping for extreme events that we neglect to cover such common sense items. I would venture to guess that everyone reading this has at least a few candles stashed for emergencies, but did you know that candles are among the top 5 causes of house fires? Have at least 2 fire extinguishers per level, make sure the batteries in those smoke detectors are fresh, and never leave burning candles unattended.

So these are just a few of the most commonly overlooked items that we discovered while routinely reviewing our preps and I’m sure over time we will discover even more.  Have any suggestions to add to the list? We would love to hear from you.

Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.