Post Your Home Emergency Supplies List

[jyl]

Topical topic - I'd like to see recommendations for what emergency supplies a family should have on hand. Including, please, the contents of an emergency medical kit.

I used to be very diligent about stocking food, water, lights, medical stuff, etc (even weapons) when I lived in LA during the decade of two big earthquakes and the Riots. But I confess we have slacked off and currently have no more stuff laying around than the average house would have.

C'mon, there's enough survivalists here, we should have some good lists.

Thanks.

[bryanthompson]

I've got my swiss army knife and the boxed set of Macgyver on DVD.

[azasadny]

9mm Beretta and hollow-point ammo
bottled water
flashlights and batteries
ponchos, tarps and blankets
duct tape
cell phone and extra, charged battery
knife, wrenches, screwdrivers
hand operated staple gun
rope and nylon line
4x8 sheets of plywood and 2x4's

[alf]

Pretty much the stuff i would take camping is all neatly packed in a box in the garage by the sleeping bags, tent, pop, juice and some canned food. It has a very basic First Aid kit with it.

Will have to consider getting one of these first Aid Kits to supplement.

http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/ctd/dept.asp?dept%5Fid=612&category=Camping&dept%5Fname=First%2DAid+Kits&mscssid=T1JPC5BCSAE79PSKKW9PWNE4VGNMDLS0

Also some water and gas might come in handy.

[mikester]

We're pretty hard up for supplies as well.

That's going to change very quickly and with the reports I'm reading about in New Orleans I'm seriously considering a sidearm and some training for the wife and myself as well as some good old fashion self-defense training for the both of us.

Regardless of what TABS thinks, a 1911 and a shot gun should be sufficient eh?

[vash]

i need to get more water.

damnit, i need alot of stuff. i am not prepared, cept the 9mm, flashlight, basic 1staide. i am gonna add, a propane lantern, more food.

[cbeers]

Tangent alert:

how come you all carry 9mms and not .45s ?


All I have is booze


-Chris

[BlueSkyJaunte]

Glock 22 (.40 S&W)
S&W .44 Mag
Rem 870 12ga
Ammo
tequila

Party at my place!

[gassy]

Maker's Mark. 3 bottles. 2 full, 1 empty. Filled the empty one with potable water, while extracting the wax for a candle, if needed. Two remaining bottles to clean wounds, hearts, and minds. I've just tapped into one of the two bottles. Hey, you can shave with the drool produced from Maker's! It's the ultimate survivor tool. The world isn't coming to an end, guys.

[gr8fl4porsche]

mmmmmm, Makers!

Knob Creek goes down nice as well.

Where's that party?

[Rondinone]

my house:

flashlights, lots
gas lantern
gas stove
inverter (nobody's mentioned this one yet?)
canned food (corned beef=unlimited shelf life. most other canned foods=2 years)
Water filter
Weapons

9mm = I'm a big fan of the metric system!

[gassy]

Gr8fl4porsche:
Elmhurst IL, my man. You're welcome any time.

[Jims5543]

LOL!! Almost every response is from West Coasters or Mid america.

CASH! Lots of it. Once some sort of disaster hits credit cards are squat. After the 2 hurricanes I delt with I spent over $1000 in cash to get what I needed and fix what needed fixing. Everywhere I went was cash only.

Get a water proof container to put all your important ducuments in. Insurance papers, wills, stocks, financial papers, family pictures, etc. That goes in the trunk of your car and goes everywhere with you.

Water, lots of it. - We have a water delivery service and make sure we have 20 gallons on hand at all times.

Knowing something is coming? Like a hurricane.

Generator - worth its weight in gold.
In Florida - A small window A/c that will cool one room. That is your room of sanity. When you cannot deal with the mosquitos and heat anymore you duck into that room and chill, pun intended.

Plenty of fuel - This requires keen anticipation and beatig the masses to the station to stock up. I am in the process of switching to a propane generator at the house (have one at the office) so fuel will not be such an issue.

If the disaster is bad enough Cel phones will be useless. But it is still a good idea to have them charged up. Although that golden generator helps with that issue.

A old school phone is good too. A lot of the time phone service is actually in tact after a storm.

As mentioned above a good stockpile of your favorite Beer and booze, after a disaster the Government banns the sale of alcohol so stock up.

Plenty of food.


Also the biggest thing I learned after the hurricanes and we are witnessing first hand on TV in NO. If you are depending on the Government for help you are screwed. I know this for a fact. I realized if I wanted to save my business I needed to do it myself at a tremendous capital output. $50,000 to be exact. If I had waited for help from insurance or govenment I would still be waiting a year later and bankrupt. I cannot stress this enough. The lack of response in NO is typical of what we saw in Florida. Except no one really cared after a week we were old news and America moved on to something else.

(please insert all your impressive stats here about how wrong I am)

Have a good financial plan in place and be prepared to leave town for good. If you are evacuating from a hurricane really be prepared to loose your entire house and pack accordingly. As I said before, there is no feeling in the world like looking at your house as you drive away and wondering if that is the last time you will see it. You cannot comprehend the feeling until you have lived it.

[Joeaksa]

A lot of what Jim mentioned is a good idea. Cash will always work, while plastic is worthless without an ATM or fuel pump.

Guys, this is not rocket science. I drink stuff in 2 liter bottles. When the bottle is empty, take it to the bathroom and leave it there. Every morning when you take a shower, put a funnel in the opening and while the water is warming up put it into the drink bottle.

This way you start getting a collection of portable drinking water. If you need to water the plants around the house its free water. Stockpile a bit of this.

Go to Costco or Sams club. Everytime they have tuna or soup on special, buy an extra case or so. It might get old after a couple of weeks but bet that the people in the Superdome would love to have anything right now.

Basic survival gear is like camping. Just check it every so often and make sure its fit and ready for use.

Also, this is not something that you want to advertise to everyone in the area. I would assist my neighbours but if they cannot prepare for the future like they should I am not going to run out of food and water keeping them going. I have enough for myself and a friend and possibly one extra person. After that its going to be tight if its needed. I just hope its never needed...

Joe A

[yellowline]

Being an (almost) Eagle Scout...I can help. Some of you guys have great ideas, but you have to remember that this stuff should be highly portable.

For general first aid, you need the basics:
-Band-Aids of various sizes. Get a reasonable amount.
-Gauze, scissors
-Cotton balls
-Triple antibiotic (Neosporin)
-Bandanna or ace bandage (can be used as a sling). Know your knots!
-Burn cream
-Moleskin
-Over-the-counter meds, like Advil, Tylenol
-Water purification tablets (iodine). Bad taste to the water, but cheap, safe, and portable. Couple of Nalgene bottles would be good too.
-Rope

Other necessities:
-2 way radios
-Batteries
-Pocketknife or Leatherman
-Firestarters, Bic lighter (yes, it may come in handy)
-Emergency blanket
-Perhaps a weapon of your choice...no experience there.

Add a small supply of freeze-dried meals, a Whisperlite backpacking stove, and a supply of white gas. To cook for a family, 1 gallon should last about 2 weeks.

Aside from the food, these should fit in a good-sized school backpack.

[HardDrive]

Norinco MAK90
Crate of 7.62mm
Booze

[Jims5543]

Almost forgot.

Saran Wrap! I bought a case of this stuff. I used it in my office that I was sure would loose its roof and it did. I bought these 2.5 foot wide huge rools of it. I wrapped up anything I did not want to get wet.

Copy machines, fax machine, filing cabinets, storage boxes It worked lke a charm. We had 2 inches of water int he office and everything I wrapped made through dry.


My office after Jeane in 2004.


Notice all the shiney saram wrap and not even a thank you from my insurance company. I could have got all new equipment if I let it all get wet like most business owners did. I wanted to be functioning after the storms call me crazy.


Some of the stuff that I did not save.

[campbellcj]

This site has some very comprehensive survival kit "checklists". IIRC they sell some prebuilt kits but a lot of info is posted as well for those who want to DIY.

http://www.equipped.org/

[Jims5543]

BTW - I was sure my office equipment was gonna get looted. I forgot there was a retirement community across the street. The Natl. Guard was there so no one dared to mess with our building.

[RickM]

- .45 with ammo with long arm counterpart.

- Swimming pool..when your case of Poland Spring runs out I'll have 39,998 more gallons to filter or decontaminate for potable purposes. Note: Don't use plastic "Hefty" type bags as liners to contain water. Many brands impregnate the plastic with pesticides.

-Cash (Food and Ammo may be worth more)

- Natural gas (convertible to propane) generator. Next would be a diesel powered unit as home heating fuel can be used.

- Canned and dry food.

- LED flashlight with hand crank for power and or solar panel recharger. Extremely efficient designs nowaday.

- Radio with integrated solar panel

- Have Solar panels but should also have adapters to utilize communication equipment of some sort...cell phones etc