Assembling a Survival Kit
 

so, I don't want to go all militia on y'all, but I've been putting some thought into putting together a small emergency/survival kit. You know, for like if we get snowed in without power for a couple of days, or if there's a nuclear holocaust or something like that.

I'm not building a bomb shelter, but I was thinking of getting some water and canned goods and stuff and put them in a designated shelf in the basement. and I want to do this cheaply, of course, since I never, ever, ever will need to use it.

so what do you guys and gals think I would need?

Include a can opener.

We keep a handcrank radio around (it also takes batteries).

Seriously, at my local Costco they have been selling a kit like this pretty cheaply - has all the obvious non-food items you'd need including light medical aids. Something like that might be worth doing for peace of mind if nothing else, plus it would be in a nice little case and would therefore look a little less creepy than having a shelf full of cotton balls.

Is it even possible to be snowed in for days? I mean we've had about as much snow as you could imagine at times and you could still get around.

Canned Goods... The new way is Army MRE's...

I've been snowed in at my parents house before. There was four feet of snow on the ground and we couldn't get past the driveway for three or four days until the snow plow finally made it to their street...

I guess I amend my comment to "is it possible to get snowed in for 3 days if you live anywhere near civilization."

This was in a suburb just south of Denver, kid.

I still can't see 3 days. Although I can't say I've been a part of a storm dropping 4 feet. 3 feet yes and it took maybe a day. I guess that extra foot is a bitch.

A "manual" can-opener, not one of those fancy electric ones.

A stove / grill that doesn't require an external fuel source. Our gas grill works well, or a camp stove would work. Better to eat hot Chef Boyardee instead of cold Chef Boyardee.

Head to your local warehouse club and buy bottled water and canned food.

Where do you live?

Nashua, NH.

Yes. If you live, say, in the middle of North Carolina where you never get more than a couple of inches of snow maybe twice a year, so they don't have a lot of plow equipment as it's cheaper to just shut down for a day twice a year, and then you get 20 or more inches in one big dump (with it starting as a half-inch or so of ice, which of course got nicely compacted by all the snow on top of it), plus it stays cold for a couple more days so melting takes a bit.

It was day 3 before I was able to drive to the Vet to get a med for our dog, and that was dicey.

How did you make it through without a survival kit? :p

It's certainly possible to get snowed in under the right conditions up here. The longer the snowfall, the higher the likelihood.

Portable scanner. To answer DD's question.

A gallon of water, per person, per day. Everything else that people have said seems really good too. I would plan to have enough food for up to 3 days without access to additional food sources.

To save space, just keep a P-38 handy...

I guess, for air support against looters. :confused:

Actually, having moved here from Florida, we keep a couple of days worth of canned food and water on hand all the time

Besides, in this case we actually had power, so cooking and water weren't an issue. We've had an ice storm knock out power for most of the day (some people not too far away were out for a week or more), and we've had a hurricane knock out power for most of a day. I'm lucky enough to live near a major transmission line (but not too close), so we're among the early ones to get power back as they need to restore our power to get to all the others.

It's 1942 and 1943 all over again!

that's actually a nice idea. I don't have a Costco or anything like it near here, but I think I'll check that out next time I'm in the big city.

Here's an Amazonlink to some products that try to do this sort of thing in an organized way. The related products include things like supplements and so forth...

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...83144?v=glance

Asprin?

And isn't the P-38 the military designation for a can opener?

Yes.. I just left that out to allow for the requisite plane or pistol jokes. I wasn't disappointed. :)

Howabout a week's worth of perscriptions? You'd hate to run out if something happens.

Most Rx's would go bad (the meds, not necessarily the script) in about six months. It's a good idea, but keeping the meds fresh would be a pain in the ass.

For DD: Shotgun and shells. Worse comes to worst, you can always shoot and eat the family.

Snowed in maybe, but you can definitely be iced in. There have been a couple of ice storms in Memphis during my 20 years here that you couldn't get around for days.

wussies

Condoms and Twinkies.

Since you won't be using the bomb shelter all that much, I know you guys will probably use it as a late night getaway.

And Twinkies last forever.

Do MRE's have a long shelf life? I would that that canned food is only good for a few years at most, so you would need to refresh your supplies every few years..

Stored in a cool environment (60-70 degrees), you can expect 5+ years. (I've heard up to 10). Granted, I think shelf life of an MRE is subjective.. I think it is based on 'does it still taste good?' rather than is it spoiled.

Any emergency kit should include basic food, water and some shelter for 3 days. I would keep it in a duffle bag or something in your basement in case your emergency forces you to leave the house. Shelter could be a pup tent, a giant tarp and rope, just something that can get you out of the elements for a little bit. I would also try to have some old clothes with it just in case. I have a Boy Scout handbook in mine because it has a lot of basic first aid, sanitation and safety information as well as the "outdoorsy" stuff.

A couple of resources:
www.beprepared.com
www.providentliving.com
http://www.redcross.org/services/pre...,0_91_,00.html

Baby Wipes. Trust Me.

We have a kit that includes our perscriptions. We just make a point to check our kits on our birthdays (they're 6 months apart). Kinda like checking your smoke detector.

DD - howabout a toy or a teddy bear for your daughter? If something were to happen, it might be nice to give her something to get her mind off the situation. I think I'm going to add a football or something for our little guy the next time we check the kits.

MRE's only taste good when you are starving, so stick with the 10 year estimate.

DD, living on the gulf coast I can tell you all of the suggestions above are good ones. Only things I would add would be a board game or two, oil lamps, aspirin, instant coffee if you drink it, and, as mentioned above, condoms (we had a major baby boom around here about 9 months after Hurricane Ivan).