This'll only hurt a little bit.

Wednesday, September 21, 2005

Your first list - Go shopping!

FOOD

This seems easy until you realize that there might not be any power or gas. Think about camping and go that direction. Again, the point of this is to make it for a few days without building a bomb shelter (unless you want to do that, in which case, have a ball).

Eat the stuff in your fridge first, then the freezer, then the dry/canned goods. In that order. That’s how it’ll go bad in case you don’t have any electricity for 2-5 days.

Canned food (tuna, veggies, fruit, stuff that you like, and a lot of it)
1 Bag Dried Beans (5lb or more if you have a family)
1 Rice (5lb or more if you have a family)
Powdered milk (if you have kids)
Peanut butter (pretty close to a perfect food really)
Jelly
Water (a couple of flats of bottles – cheap and easy to replace. In case you need to leave)
Salt, pepper, and or garlic salt (something to take the monotony away)
Matches and lighters (get a 5 pack or whatever)
Candles
Sterno cans
Radio (generated or battery) or, find a crystal radio. They make wind-ups that’ll charge your cell phones – SWEET)
Flashlight (LED-types will put out good light for longer)
Batteries (lithium batteries will last for 10 yrs)

If you are lazy, you can go the MRE (Meal Ready to Eat) route. They're not super tasty, but last a long time, and can be eaten hot or cold. Kind of pricey though.

Now, some will say (with some legitimacy) that you need 2 weeks worth of food. If that's your gig, go directly to Major Surplus and Supply at the link below. There are other outfits, but I trust these guys. Not some dopey mom-n-pop reseller scamming you on your fears. Think of them as survival porn. No one blinks an eye when you order some shit you'd be ashamed to talk to your friends about. You pervs know what I mean.

http://www.majorsurplusnsurvival.com/products.htm

WATER

The most important thing you can/need to have. You can go WEEKS without food, but after about 3 days without water, you're dead. Period.

Remember that if you live in a house, your water heater has 40-80 gallons of fresh water in it. Close the valve at the top (the municipal water supply might become contaminated, and boiling water or bleaching it is a drag) and you should not have to worry a lot about drinking water. There is a valve at the bottom to get the water out of it (without pressure coming in, nothing will come out of the pipes in your house). You can hook up a hose.

Remember that you need to keep old/non-potable water around for flushing if you are trying to use the toilet. Speaking of which, there are 4-6 gallons in the tank on top that is fresh. No drinking from the bowl.

Get shoppin' slackers!