Less Talked About Prepping Items

[bwframe]

Are we bugging out, or bugging in? Ive bought a few oil lamps, one "hurricane" lamp, and four or five bottles of oil. I should probably pick up a few extra wicks as well.

I bought these Deitz Jupiters and a couple of their Air Pilots after last year's sub zero power outages. They share the same wick size. Home Depot has the best pricing on KleanHeat, which I prefer for fuel.

don't buy too much bleach, it does have a short shelf life

Chlorine Bleach Shelf Life

Great info! Time for me to go to the store.

 

[Sybaris]

Reading glasses, many pairs. In the case of SHTF I prefer these:

Mag-Safe Full Magnifying Reader Safety Glasses

 

[OneShotFOGE]

Don't keep bleach - use this to make your own, and purify water:
Amazon.com : Doheny's Super Pool Shock 12 x 1 Lb Bags : Swimming Pools : Patio, Lawn & Garden

And for "feminine hygiene," I had a GF who used these and never had a problem (just had to make sure to rinse often):
Amazon.com : Natural Sea Silk Sponges - Pack of 12 : Makeup Applicators : Beauty

And you can never have too many lighters:
http://smile.amazon.com/Cigarette-L...=UTF8&qid=1407161479&sr=8-4&keywords=lighters

Agreed, but I find those lighters arent that dependable. I bought those exact ones and they're fine, but they can break easily. If you hold down the flame button for a few seconds, the spring can pop out of place. I bought the 50 pack, and have been breaking a lighter every week. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IMMIXES?psc=1 might be a better choice, as Bics last forever and never break.

 

[LockStocksAndBarrel]

Agreed, but I find those lighters arent that dependable. I bought those exact ones and they're fine, but they can break easily. If you hold down the flame button for a few seconds, the spring can pop out of place. I bought the 50 pack, and have been breaking a lighter every week. Amazon.com: BIC Classic Lighters Cigar Cigarette MAXi Lighter Full Size (5): Health & Personal Care might be a better choice, as Bics last forever and never break.

I keep the Bics for my use and the El Cheapos for barter.

 

[abuckle]

Grandmaster, very good explanation, I appreciate the comment. This clears it up well.

 

[Paul30]

Thanks for the tip, I did not realize it's shelf life was so short. Sounds like one of those emergency items to add to the list while everyone else is cleaning out the batteries and bottled water. I can purify all the water I need with bleach. I believe a teaspoon will purify a gallon, so a gallon of bleach would purify a lot of water.

Also good tip on the bic lighters, I have had the other ones fall apart often.

 

[Justus]

Thanks for the tip, I did not realize it's shelf life was so short. Sounds like one of those emergency items to add to the list while everyone else is cleaning out the batteries and bottled water. I can purify all the water I need with bleach. I believe a teaspoon will purify a gallon, so a gallon of bleach would purify a lot of water.

Like mentioned in an earlier post, you're probably better off storing powdered pool chlorine and not worrying about liquid bleach.

 

[output]

I've gotten all of my wool military blankets from Sportsman's Guide for under $10 ea. I've got one in each car and a couple in the house.

Thanks for the heads up. I will be picking some up.

 

[Snapdragon]

I did check, and they are "military-style" blankets. They are listed as wool in the big print, wool blend in the fine print.

 

[churchmouse]

I did check, and they are "military-style" blankets. They are listed as wool in the big print, wool blend in the fine print.

And they are very warm.

 

[Snapdragon]

And they are very warm.

That they are. I have one in each car and a couple in a trunk of extra blankets.

 

[Sybaris]

epinephrine autoinjector pens for you and your kids. Anyone who has been in the military knows they're good for more than just bee stings and peanut butter allergies.

 

[BrewerGeorge]

Just remembered another one:

Lye. Powdered, food-grade Red Devil.

Has lots of cleaning, manufacturing and food-prep uses. Having some handy for short term use could be useful. Also, although lye is pretty easy to make with white ashes, controlling the concentration is problematic. Having a ready supply of dried allows the making of benchmark solutions of known concentration which could be used to calculate a floating hydrometer to test your homemade.

 

[Sybaris]

Training family members in First Aid, weapons handling and surviving off the land. Don't be the sole source of knowledge.

 

[churchmouse]

Just remembered another one:

Lye. Powdered, food-grade Red Devil.

Has lots of cleaning, manufacturing and food-prep uses. Having some handy for short term use could be useful. Also, although lye is pretty easy to make with white ashes, controlling the concentration is problematic. Having a ready supply of dried allows the making of benchmark solutions of known concentration which could be used to calculate a floating hydrometer to test your homemade.

English man.....English....

 

[BigBoxaJunk]

Just remembered another one:

Lye. Powdered, food-grade Red Devil.

Has lots of cleaning, manufacturing and food-prep uses. Having some handy for short term use could be useful. Also, although lye is pretty easy to make with white ashes, controlling the concentration is problematic. Having a ready supply of dried allows the making of benchmark solutions of known concentration which could be used to calculate a floating hydrometer to test your homemade.

And very good for making hominy from dried corn. If you ever have to rely on corn as a staple food item, that's a more healthy way to eat corn, since you don't get all the nutrients from just ground cornmeal.

Another important part of our preps is a collection of How-To books of various kinds. You-tube is my go-to reference when I want to learn how to do something, but what are you going to do if/when the power goes out? I go to a used book store and pay very little for lot's of good reference books. Gardening, canning, first aid, chemistry, you name it.

 

[BrewerGeorge]

And very good for making hominy from dried corn. If you ever have to rely on corn as a staple food item, that's a more healthy way to eat corn, since you don't get all the nutrients from just ground cornmeal.
...

Definitely. Field corn to hominy was the primary reason I added lye to the list. Around here, obviously, corn is pretty common.

 

[Consciouscitizen18]

Soap is something that is not often talked about. Aquaponics is something that seems like it would be good for any type of prepping. You raise fish, use their waste-product to grow crops, use the algae to make Biodiesel, and use the by-product of the Biodiesel to make soap. I saw it on Doomsday Preppers but it was really brilliant and efficient as soap and biodiesel are two things that would be valuable in bartering.

 

[LoriW]

Another important part of our preps is a collection of How-To books of various kinds. You-tube is my go-to reference when I want to learn how to do something, but what are you going to do if/when the power goes out? I go to a used book store and pay very little for lot's of good reference books. Gardening, canning, first aid, chemistry, you name it.

The Indianapolis Library is having a used book sale Friday and Saturday. I usually get a range of topics. Friday will be 1/2 price day (hardback should be a $1 IIRC) and Saturday is $7 a bag day. ALL the books you can fit in one of their bags will run you $7. Last time I went I got over 30 books for $14. I have quite the collection thanks to them and Goodwill on all kinds of subjects.

 

[spencer rifle]

Super glue. Not only for repairs, but for it's original purpose - to hold woulds together in place of sutures.