New Prepper Questions

I am going to start prepping and I have a few questions.

On a $75 - $100 budget per month.
What food should I stock up on?
What should I store the food in?

On a $100 - $150 budget
What items should I put in a bug out bag?

If you have a list of items please post them. I don't care if its the smallest of things such as a Q-Tip.

Also if you have information on any of the following please post.
Snare Traps
Defensive Traps
Edible Plants
Edible Insects
Edible Reptiles
Fire Methods
Barter Items
Water Filtration

Remember whatever you buy you might have to move it in a hurry so theres no point having 5 ton's of rice stored away if you only have a 125cc motorbike as it depends on what type of the "S" hits the fan will be the main starting point (fire/floods/rioting/alien or zombie invasion etc ) so its best to have a good think about what happens should something happen, like dried food is great but if you are in an arid zone where you gonna get the water to reconstitute it?

reply to post by Maxatoria


Good input we actually have a good amount of land and a "safe house" to keep things in. Also I feel government take over will be more likely than other things. I don't live in a large city or anything so I feel it would be one of the last areas to be "controlled".

Hemp Seen & Sprouting Seeds

Seeds are the best itemto begin withas you can eatthem, trade them, or growthem. I personally think they will have more value than anything, especially god and silver.

reply to post by Melyanna


Thank you. I believe you are correct I am compiling a list this shall be added.

good axe / hatchet .. good fixed blade knife .. heirloom seeds .. flint and steel for starting fires. keep it simple you can do quite well without all the high tech toys and useless gadgets that people seem to think they need ...

You could dig ditches around your property and put a small sump at the bottom known as an "ankle breaker", it worked well for the Romans to slow down anyone curious about your property

reply to post by Expat888


Thank you as posted above I am compiling a list. I will be posting this list publicly with prices once I get a good list going. I have an Ontario Machete.

If the SHTF i'll be holing up in my local supermarket/Wallmart....why prep when you have everything you need to survive already set up for you..

reply to post by Maxatoria


That's awesome I never heard of that although I have heard of something similar where you dig a 2 ft hole insert spiked sticks and hope the enemy steps in them.

Originally posted by Expat888
good axe / hatchet .. good fixed blade knife .. heirloom seeds .. flint and steel for starting fires. keep it simple you can do quite well without all the high tech toys and useless gadgets that people seem to think they need ...

Do you have any name brand hatchet that you know is of good quality?

Originally posted by Soloprotocol
If the SHTF i'll be holing up in my local supermarket/Wallmart....why prep when you have everything you need to survive already set up for you..

Unfortunately that's probably not going to work out the way you would hope. A large mob is harder to go against than you would think and I'm sure many would be wielding weapons.

Originally posted by JOakes

Originally posted by Soloprotocol
If the SHTF i'll be holing up in my local supermarket/Wallmart....why prep when you have everything you need to survive already set up for you..

Unfortunately that's probably not going to work out the way you would hope. A large mob is harder to go against than you would think and I'm sure many would be wielding weapons.

Depends who YOUR back up is...choose a good team of ex seals and or well trained militia and i'm sure "Fortress Wallmart" should work out pretty well for you and your small but effective unit....you could hold out for as long as it takes for order to be restored...

Originally posted by Soloprotocol

Originally posted by JOakes

Originally posted by Soloprotocol
If the SHTF i'll be holing up in my local supermarket/Wallmart....why prep when you have everything you need to survive already set up for you..

Unfortunately that's probably not going to work out the way you would hope. A large mob is harder to go against than you would think and I'm sure many would be wielding weapons.

Depends who YOUR back up is...choose a good team of ex seals and or well trained militia and i'm sure "Fortress Wallmart" should work out pretty well for you and your small but effective unit....you could hold out for as long as it takes for order to be restored...

It would be nice if that would happen, but me being prior service. I wouldn't try to hold down a walmart. Too many points of entry it would take at least a team of 12-15, and then you would have to make sure you had enough ammunition to hold out even during reloading if it came to that, but not only that walmart has sky lights and I can almost assure you people would be willing to repel or try too. You also have to consider everyone who lives in a 50 mile radius will be flooding walmart for sure. I just can't see that being plausible. My county/city has a total population of 73,741 and I would assume majority would have the same idea. This is less than a 20 mile radius of the local walmart I don't for see a small unit holding off half that number of people.

Hi there,
For a fixed blade (on a budget) I recommend you the Cold Steel GI Tanto, those things are indestructable...
As for a big robust folding knife, look for an Enlan el-01... cheap as hell and very tuff, hold an edge also quit well

Regards

My suggestion would be to buy extra of the same foods that you already buy. Love canned fruit? Buy a couple of extra cans each time you do your shopping. It will add up, this is how I did food storage in the beginning. Also, keep your eye out on sales, it will help you stock more quickly. Learn preservation methods like canning, you will be surprised at how quickly you can add to your food storage by simply canning your extras or whatever you find on sale items.

As far as edible plants (foraging) I would suggest you research this very carefully, and make sure to devote your research to YOUR area. Pointless to know that cattails are edible if none of them grow around you, know what I mean? In this area it helps if you know a few "old-timers" and are NOT a city person (no offense to city people). Dandelions are a weed that you can find nearly anywhere, as are broad-leaf plantain. I'm not sure of the nutritiion value of either, I just know they're everywhere. Dandelion tea is supposed to be good for the liver, and you chow on the leaves just like a salad. Find a couple of good books on the subject, then go out adventuring in your neighborhood trying to find the things you're reading about.

One thing I've learned about prepping is redundancy. Have a couple (or three) ways of doing things. For starting fires, have a flint/steel, matches, and whatever else starts fire. I'm still working on the whole redundancy thing, but I think it's fairly important to always have a plan B.

Best Wishes!

Hi Joakes, here's a few of the survival threads I posted that cover a couple of the subjects you speak of -

B.O.B w/ links and pictures:
www.abovetopsecret.com...

Bowdrill firemaking:
www.abovetopsecret.com...

Wild Edible Plants - A guide to safe gathering and usage:
www.abovetopsecret.com...

Remember that usually when it comes to survival you will need to provide for shelter, water and fire before you do anything else. Keep your insides wet and your outsides dry (stay hydrated and don't get your clothes soaked with rain or sweat).

For snares use old electric guitar strings to make rolling snares and learn to make a Paiute deadfall. Those 2 simple traps will provide all the protein you need.

As for prepping buy food that you know you like and would likely eat regardless of whether there's an emergency or not. Beans, rice, flour, peanut butter will go a long way but become boring to eat everyday, be sure to add some variety.

That should get you started on a few of the subjects you mentioned.
Learn a new skill every week - shelter building/ trapping / filtering water/ cordage making / friction fire making are the first skills you'll want to acquire.

Cheap portable water filtration?
LifeStraw. It does 1000L.

reply to post by JOakes


ESTWING Completly made of tool steel (except the rubber grip) Very High Quality

reply to post by superman2012


LIFESTRAW, Really good choice, goes down to virus size and weights nothing....three will do the AT trail...