Supplies guide
Fifteen things worth keeping extra of.
Cheap, useful every week, and the first things to run out when stores close.
One page. Read it here, save the image to your phone, or print it for the fridge.
This is not a bunker list. Every item here is something you already buy, that stores well, and that gets hard to find in the first days of any disruption. Keep one or two extra of each and rotate them into normal use.
- 1
Water
- A case or two of bottles, plus a jug
- Rotate it every six months
- First thing gone from every store
- 2
Canned food
- Beans, tuna, soup, fruit
- Things you already eat
- A manual can opener next to them
- 3
Batteries
- AA and AAA in a sealed pack
- Match what your lights and radio take
- Check dates once a year
- 4
Soap and hygiene
- Bar soap, hand sanitizer, toothpaste
- Cheap, light, and the first comfort to go
- Feminine products, extra
- 5
Toilet paper
- A few packs beyond the usual
- Stores flat under a bed
- Everyone remembers 2020
- 6
Coffee and tea
- Morale in a jar
- Instant coffee needs only hot water
- Long shelf life sealed
- 7
Salt and basic seasonings
- Never spoils
- Turns plain stored food into food
- Sugar and bouillon too
- 8
Lighters and matches
- A few lighters, matches in a dry jar
- Cooking and light start here
- Keep them out of kids' reach
- 9
First aid supplies
- Bandages, tape, gauze, pain reliever
- Any prescription you cannot skip
- Restock when you use it
- 10
Duct tape
- Fixes tents, hoses, shoes, windows
- A roll in the house, one in the car
- Zip ties and a tarp beside it
- 11
Fuel, stored properly
- Camp stove canisters, charcoal, a stabilized gas can
- Sealed, outside the living space, away from heat
- Only what you can store safely
- 12
Socks and underwear
- Dry feet are a health issue, not a comfort
- A new pack per person
- Wool if you can
- 13
Trash and zip bags
- Heavy trash bags, gallon zip bags
- Waste, storage, rain cover, water carrying
- Cheap and endlessly useful
- 14
Blankets
- Wool or fleece, one extra per person
- Space blankets in the car
- Warmth with no power
- 15
Hand tools
- Hammer, pliers, screwdrivers, a wrench for the gas
- Work gloves
- Nothing needs a battery
Buy one extra each trip. In two months the shelf is full and you never noticed.
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