Emergency Preparedness / Prepping
 

The Coronavirus thread has evolved into a "prepping" thread so I thought we could move out of that thread. Post your hints, tips, and suggestions for surviving after a natural disaster or all-out SHTF.

To kick thing off:
1) Plan ahead. Trying to obtain food, water, etc when a catastrophe hits is going to be very difficult - you'll be competing for limited resources with everyone else.
2) People can survive for weeks without food but only 2-3 days without water. Food is important but water is even more so.
3) You will need some shelter. Hopefully, your home will be livable but keep a tent or other lodging handy.
4) You need to have some means of providing heat during those disasters that happen in cold weather.
5) Lighting (flashlights, lanterns) is more important than many people realize. Keep a good supply of batteries, fuel, etc.
6) You'll probably want to heat up or cook some food so have a portable stove on hand. Coleman has stoves that will run on gasoline or propane.

Ammo, dude. I can't take your ammo with my food or water, but I damn sure can take your food and water with my ammo.

Fixed that for ya. ;)

To expand:

(mostly this is full on SHTF stuff)

If you own firearms:

1) 2000 rounds per caliber owned. (minimum)
2) Military 50 cal cans or larger. The 50 cal cans will hold 840 rounds of 5.56 each (about). I've gotten 1000 in a can with careful packing. The 30MM cans (double height 50 cal) will hold about 1000 rounds of .308. Figure on 3 per caliber to start.
3) Reloading press (single stage or progressive)
4) Dies for each caliber owned
5) Brass
6) Powder & primers
7) Bullets (the ones that go into the brass cases, not the loaded ammo)
8) Dessicant pack
9) Common repair parts (firing pins, magazines, etc)
10) Good quality lube and cleaners (including patches and cloths)

I could add equipment to cast bullets (lead, furnace, molds, flux, etc) but that is up to the individual. Lead bullets don't go bad, they can be bought in bulk (500 count boxes) and you can store them in the basement. Powder and primers are the big issue, cool and dry is the watchword here. The basement is the best place, but not everyone's basement is 100% dry. If you do not desire to reload, cultivate a friendship with someone who does and who you trust. In a full-on emergency, trust is going to be hard to come by.

I'd maintain a stock of precious metals (besides lead and brass). Silver is probably your best bet, possibly copper. Gold is good, but the difficulty there is ease of exchange.

For archery enthusiasts, I'd presume you would need replacement parts (bow strings, cables, springs, rollers, etc) for your preferred bow or crossbow. Extra arrows/quarrels/bolts, tips and things like that. How many of each, I'm not sure. Archery projectiles are usually more easily recovered than bullets, but probably not in all cases. ;)

You can find lots of barely used camping equipment at garage sales. People buy a bunch of camping stuff and then decide they don't like camping. One of my buddies has 7-8 tents that he's bought for $5-20 ea. He and I have a lot of Coleman stoves, lanterns, and heaters that we picked up cheap (they are very easy to rebuild and parts are readily available, even for units dating back to the 1950s).

Another tip: If you are using mantled lanterns (eg, the ubiquitous Coleman lantern), get the Thorium impregnated mantles. They are much brighter and whiter than other mantles.

Either way, I'm good. Either I just ended up with a bunch of food and water, or I don't need food and water any more.

:roflpuke2: :driving: :tup:

Great idea. I use plastic ammo cans with o-ring seals on the lids (most of them are made by Flambeau). Throw some ammo and a desiccant pack in there and I'm good to go. I also have some .50 cal ammo boxes but they are heavier and harder to open than the plastic boxes so they are used mainly for tools and spare parts.

I like to take factory ammo out of the cardboard boxes and put them in plastic boxes for storage. I'll tear an end flap off the box and put inside the plastic box. Cardboard tends to attract bugs and water. :eek:

I used a large Sharpie to write the caliber on the ammo can flap.

I pick up surplus 50 cal boxes for like 5 bucks each at gun shows. Not a big fan of the plastic ones.

Other things to consider to have on hand:

P38 Can opener on every key ring
Full gas tanks and perhaps a jerry can or two of fuel
Cash and/or gold/silver

Don't tell everyone in the neighborhood of what you have. Only a select few. Otherwise you will have everyone beating on your front door when something happens.

Remember the 3's. 3 minutes without air. 3 days without water. 3 weeks without food.

Lol any suggestions on mitigating the 3 minutes without air?

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Really shouldn't have to be said in this forum - aside from JAR - but make sure your vehicles are in proper running order.

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