Last minute prepper ideas for Grasshoppers

a reply to: DoomsdayDude

No joke. having things that make food taste good stored with your prep food can make all the difference in the world. One of the key things to have in a survival situation is a positive mind. And eating plan white rice for days at a time will lower anyone's spirits.

a reply to: infolurker
I started to make my own gear a few weeks or better months ago. I made my own life straws from 100ml plastic syringes.Filled them with first a layer of cotton, then a thin layer of plastic fleece, cotton again, then a layer of perlite, wool again, then i opened a Brita water filter to get the active charcoal and added a big layer of it, wool again and fleece again. Cutted that part for your fingers on top of the syringe and took the closure of an empty mouthwash bottle that fitted exactly to the top of the syringe. On the bottom i cut that part where the needle goes in and drilled a few holes in the bottom so it looks like kind of a sieve ( of course i did the last part before filling the syringe xD). It works great and tbh, it isn´t much of a different when it comes to weight and size compared with Sawyers or Lifestraws.

On another syringe i left that part where the needle goes to and added an adapter with a tube that is made for these syringes (got gifted a huge bag of "hospital stuff" because a good friend works as a nurse) so it touches the bottom of a 0.7l plastic water bottle where the syringe fits exactly into the opening of the bottle and i can open and close it with the mouthwash closure(used cutted fingers of rubber gloves as sealing rings). So now i have a bottle for directly drinking or squeezing but all that didn´t cost me an arm and a leg because most of the stuff i used was free for me, it took only a bit of work and time.

I made a lot of other stuff like several spirit burners of different materials, sizes and slightly different designs (some are "safety burners, i added perlite that sucks up the spirit and if you accidentally knock over the burner while burning you will not have a sea of spirit and invisible flames growing around you or your shelter). Or fitting cooking sets from stainless steel stuff bought for a few cents in a second hand shop and food safe containers which formerly contained, guess what, food. Tin cans and other stuff. Again not much difference from bought sets when it comes to size, weight and material. Aluminum or metal zip ties help a lot to build handles which look and work the same way like on the bought pots, cups etc, only fixed with these zip ties.

I learn a lot about knots and trap construction right now, downloaded a few survival books like the US Army Survival Handbook, the SAS survival book and a few others to store them on my old e book reader. In a few days, when it´s released, i will receive a gift, a hardcopy of a survival book called Urban Survival by a former soldier of the Bundeswehr (4 years) and the french foreign legion/Légion étrangère (17 years), Thomas Gast. I bought all the stuff needed to prepare dry and lightweight food that doesn´t need to be cooked but only hot water added, inspired by this guy here.

There is a lot more i bought and modified to my belongings. If SHTF really hard i will leave the city and live a bit outside of the civilization, in the nature, the forests i know like the back of my hand from my entire childhood and youth. But near enough to civilization to reach everything that is needed to do whatever is needed then, visiting "civilization" only by night then maybe...

Prepping Scenario: General Societal Disruption

This scenario assumes you have limited or no food preps at all, that you have limited financial resources, and the grocery store shelves are quickly going bare. When the doo-doo hits the fan,it's already to late! People will be looting and rioting for any supplies they can get their desperate little hands on.

In The Beginning

So,what now? If you have no preps and very little money, start simple. Buy water, lots of bottled water! a person can last 30 days or more without food, but without water that figure goes down to 3 days. where I live a gallon of water runs about $1.16/ jug. that's well within most people's budget, and will save your life in an emergency. Every family member needs about a gallon of water/day to maintain normal bodily functions. Keep that number in mind when prepping. If you toss in sanitation and hygiene needs it's more like 5 gallons/per person/per day! Prepare for things to get very fragrant should your water supply be interrupted. Think Old West..

Emergency water sources

At the first signs of trouble, clean your tub real good, and fill it to the brim with water. You now have about 35-50 gallons of drinkable water with a minimal effort. The water in the back of your toilet tank is also potable if not treated with any chemicals. Your hot water heater holds anywhere from 20 to over 50 gallons of drinkable water as well depending on it's size.

Food, Glorious Food!

As the title states, this is a list of last moment supplies, not tasty, nutritious, gourmet meals. If you have money for that sort of thing, might I suggest trying the Weiss or Mountain House line of per-packaged meals? They're delicious, nutritious, and will cost you a small fortune, which most of us don't have! MREs are another great option, but they're expensive too.

So, where to start.. Buy a few extra cans of your favorite vegetables, fruits, canned meat products( i.e. potted meat, Vienna sausages, luncheon loaf, raviolis, spaghettios, soups), etc. when you do your shopping. Try to buy what you normally eat if possible, if not, now might be a great time to start liking asparagus spears and artichokes! I'm certain there will be plenty of these items left on the shelves. If you have children, buy some powdered milk and sweetened Kool-Aid packets. Add a sack of all purpose flour and corn meal to the list as well. These are staples items that are used often in cooking.

Rice and Beans

Rice is cheap and filling. You can get 25lbs for 10 dollars or less with a little looking. Rice can sustain a person by itself, but to make a complete protein, you also need some type of bean to go with it. Beans and other legumes have gone up in price recently, but they're still within most budgets. Don't forget the sugar, vinegar,hot sauce,and spices you that you like to go in your food. It's survival, not torture. Sit down and seriously think about what items you use daily, and plan accordingly. If you set aside $10 to $15 every grocery day, your emergency preps will grow quickly.

To be continued..

a reply to: JAGStorm

The trick is you have to understand at the start that you may have to flee leaving good equipment behind so you can live.

If you cant stand to leave things behind, good chance you will die because of it.

a reply to: rickymouse I do that on a daily basis nowadays.. WTSHTF, I'm toast. My bugging out days are over. I have all my preps for my family in place, and they have all the knowledge they need to survive

I originally had thoughts of trying to help newcomers to prepping out, but I see derision is going to be my only reward. No one had posted in weeks when I logged in to this forum, and I had hoped to encourage some of the older members to start posting again, but I surrender. I'm going to Lurker mode instead.

originally posted by: LLoyd45
a reply to: rickymouse I do that on a daily basis nowadays.. WTSHTF, I'm toast. My bugging out days are over. I have all my preps for my family in place, and they have all the knowledge they need to survive

I originally had thoughts of trying to help newcomers to prepping out, but I see derision is going to be my only reward. No one had posted in weeks when I logged in to this forum, and I had hoped to encourage some of the older members to start posting again, but I surrender. I'm going to Lurker mode instead.

Other than milk and eggs, we have enough food for the wife and I to survive for about a year in stock. But I also have kids, grandkids, great grandkids, a brother and his wife and their kid and I would split the food stores up to make sure that someone does not come here and take all of it if something happens. If there was a natural disaster here, the wife and I would probably stay put. No interest in bugging out unless it was a forest fire coming to our house.

a reply to: rickymouse I'm Glad to hear you and your family are all squared away for an emergency.
I'm assuming you have BOB's just in case you need them. I bought a couple of cases of powdered milk from the LDS church store awhile back fairly cheap, You might check them out.

Like you, I don't plan on going anywhere. Not that I wouldn't like to, I just simply can't. Walkers don't do well in the woodsunfortunately. My son is now the group leader in my stead. Thanks for the reply.

Buy a LifeStraw so you can drink all the lakes you find

A axe so you can destroy things

A new mindset, caveman style