Important Prepper Supplies for 2021 – Are You Being Ripped Off

We all know how, when you say Prepper or survival, the price seems to sky-rocket. Everyone seems to be jumping on the bandwagon and trying to make a quick buck. This is a serious concern to most Preppers and in this article about Prepping Supplies, I will give you a few tips about sourcing Prepper Supplies that are suitable, safe and cost-effective.

Know What Are Your Needs vs Your Wants

In this tough economic climate, most of us are finding it difficult to scrape together money to buy prepper supplies. Not all of us have disposable income and that which we have needs to really stretch to meet our needs.

With that in mind, it is a good idea to sit down and consider your current situation, What your “Risks” are (flood, Civil War, Power Blackout) and what you will need to survive immediately and what you will need to survive long-term.

There are a lot of gimmicky goodies out there that are clever, nice to have and unnecessary! Things that will make life comfortable, easier and remind you of home. The question – no, the questions, are:-

• Can you eat or drink it
• can you survive without it
• Can you afford it

As an example, Is a tent necessary? Just think about it. It is nice and comfortable and you need shelter from the rain, wind, sun and cold but will a cheaper alternative do?

What about the old Army styled Ponchos, a couple of waterproof groundsheets or could you make a shelter from sticks, branches or grass?

I would personally go for the ponchos as they serve a dual purpose, are light and easy to carry and set up.

Go through your plan and evaluate what is a need and what is “nice to have”. Remember, you need to carry it on foot or have a place for it in your vehicle.

Another thing to consider is what you need at your destination, and you need to know the destination that you are going to try to reach. Without a planned destination, you will be wandering around aimlessly.

Knowing your destination means that you know what you need when you get there. For example, if you are going to a destination that has ample food and water, you might not need to load all that maize, flour, tinned food etc. Just carry what you need to get there.

I would also pack seed etc as there will probably be a lot of refugees and you don’t know how long the food will last in your area.

Yes, Circumstances may change and you might have to change your destination, but you will have learned some important skills in the planning of your original destination and you will have an idea of what you need to look for.

How Much Do you Need

This is something to consider and is in line with what was mentioned in the paragraph above. You don’t want to take more than you need if possible. Any extras take up space or are weight that you might need for things like water and medicines.

Plan how much you need for each item and take only what is necessary for each person in your group. I personally carry items that would enable me to replenish supplies like Water and food.

Some things included in my stock are:-

• Plastic bags (for water and to collect berries and edible items found along the way)
• Fishing line and Trace Wire for fishing and making traps for small game and birds.
• A few blocks of Stock (beef, chicken veggie) to flavour the game. It also makes a good impromptu soup if you have nothing but water. I actually keep a supply of “Soup in Your Pocket”, an old-fashioned traveler ration which is easy to make and lasts well.
• A good knife.
• An emergency “Space” blanket. Can be used for shelter, collect water and for warmth./

What To Buy vs What to Make

When considering your prepper supplies, I would definitely consider making as much as I can. It is far cheaper and there are a lot of proven recipes and methods that have been used through the ages. You can make:

• Pemmican ( meat that lasts years without refrigeration and you can live on pemmican alone.
• Soup in your pocket (a type of dried stock that lasts well and is easy to use to flavour stews or make a broth.
• Dried fruit & veggies
• Vacuum packed food. With today’s technology, you can vacuum pack most of your food to make it last longer
• Groundsheets and ponchos. Even a small tent. There are a number of ways to waterproof these items once you have made them

The point I am trying to make here is that you do not need to buy everything. As soon as an item is suitable for prepping it generally becomes un-affordable.

Buy The Best You Can Afford Without Breaking The Bank

Now we do not all have the skills or facilities to make everything ourselves so we need to buy it in. This can lead to us paying out our hard-earned cash to unscrupulous people. There are many people out there that now buy cheap, almost disposable survival items and they sell them at a ridiculous price.

Shop around, do your research and check on the quality of the products that you intend to buy. Not all advertised bargains are true bargains.

Where To Buy

If you have to buy then I suggest that you buy from a reputable business or person. See what people say about them or their products. For the most part, I like the Reputable stores as opposed to the “Chinese markets”. I have found that, for the most part, the cheap items just do not last and when the SHTF it will be too late to discover that the item does not work or packs up after 2 days.

Beware of the Self Styled Suppliers

And this paragraph is the reason that I thought that this article is noteworthy and I am speaking from experience, not on hearsay here.

As I cautioned earlier, be careful from whom you buy your prepper supplies. There are some people that are genuinely helping us by sourcing supplies that are of suitable quality and selling them at a fairly good price. And then…..

There are a lot of people selling cheap knockoffs. These are generally cheaper than the genuine articles but they are flimsy and do not last the course, leaving you high and dry when you really need them.

To give you two examples. One, of a person selling dried goods and one of a national store selling a pressure cooker to bottle meat and other foodstuffs.

• A friend of mine ordered R5 000-00 worth of dried fruit and vegetables. He was excited to receive them but that did not last long. When he got them, they were in a sealed box. When he got home and opened the box, he was shocked. These items were advertised as “Vacuum-packed”, and they possible were at some stage. The problem was that they were probably packed with the cheapest vacuum sealer available and were in plastic bags thinner than the sandwich bags that we used to pack our lunches in.
  • Most of the bags had holes in them and no longer vacuum packed so he brought them to me and asked me to re vacuum & pack them with decent plastic. When I started to do this, I found worms in a lot of the packets, indicating that they had been open a while or had not been properly dried.
  • A lot of the fruit and thicker veggies were soft and pulpy and some even smelling. Unfortunately, he lost a fair amount of his supplies in that effort.
• In this, the second example, I went out and bought a pressure cooker that could bottle meat, or so it was advertised on the box. I rushed home to start bottling some of the meat which we had bought and, as I do, I read the manual to see how long the meat had to cook for.
  • Now I bought this pressure cooker from a store in Wonderboom. 4000mtrs above sea level. Tucked away in the middle of the instructions is a little note stating that the bottling of the meat must take place below 2000 Ft above sea level or the meat could develop botulism!
  • I returned the pot to the store and informed them of this issue and to date, they have still not placed any sort of warning saying that the item is not suitable for use above 2000ft above sea level. This, even though the bottling is the main feature of the pot.

I have not named the places where these items were purchased as the purpose is simply to give you a heads up and to impress on your the importance of doing your due diligence when buying your supplies.

Where to Keep Your Prepper Supplies

This is something you should consider carefully. Your supplies need to be kept handy and preferably all together so that you know exactly where they are. You do, however, need to keep them in a cool, dry place. This means, not in the Buckie, car, caravan or trailer, unless they are parked, full time, in a cool, dry place.

What Is Kept In Your Vehicle

Yes, there are things that need to be kept in your vehicle. Things like:

• Spare wheel,
• Jack (not jack daniels ????),
• Wheel spanner,
• Tin of “Fifth Wheel” for quick puncture repair,
• Tow rope,
• Jumper cables
• triangle
• Drinking-Water

MAKE SURE THAT IT IS ROADWORTHY

Who Knows What You Got

This is one of the most common mistakes made by preppers. They let everyone know how well they are prepared. Not a good idea. The fewer people that know how well-prepared you are, the better

The argument goes, especially if you are in a group, that leaders need to know how well-prepared you are. That is a lot of horse Doo, bull shit or anything else you want to call it. Why do they need to know?

In one group I was in, it came to light that they intended to seize all the maize etc to distribute it through a central kitchen. So, what else were they going to seize for the good of everyone?

Do not be fooled into thinking that your only enemy will be from outside your group. If some of your members are not well-prepared, they will look to you. I even had a leader that told me straight that, if she ran out of food, she would steal from other members!

Nobody needs to know how much of what you have. They don’t need to know how many weapons, what weapons or what ammo you have. That you have weapons and food is enough. Keep it low key and keep it safe.

So, What Do You Need

Many people request lists of what they should collect. I personally do not like giving out lists. Lists are subjective and my list may not work for you. I have no children to care for. You might have babies, toddlers or teenagers. They all have their own needs so my list will not work for you.

I would far rather teach you how to go about determining what you need than giving you a list that will not suit your needs. If you need help or advice, feel free to use the Questions welcomed form and ask your questions. I will get back to you and possible answer your question in an article.

I will, however, leave this list of items that you should consider. It is by no means everything but it is a start. As you prep, so you will become more aware of what you need. You will eventually start prepping for the Long term.

Here Is A List To Help You Start

This is not a list that answers all your needs. It simply suggests where to start. Everyone’s list will, of necessity, be different, so here goes. Go here for my top 10 food choices.

Here is a list of possible clothing, equipment and Meds you might consider. These are not in any sort of priority:-

1. Good Leather boots or shoes. I prefer leather as they tend to last longer than other materials.
2. Woollen socks. Take a few pairs as they get wet, walked through and smelly if you only have 1 pair. Not good for your foot health.
3. Heavy Longs, like denim. If you can take two, do so. Some people like to waterproof them but this makes them heavy and hotter.
4. Shorts?
5. Jacket
6. Poncho
7. Hat, suitable for sun protection
8. Water bottle
9. Plastic bags – Heavy duty To collect food and water
10. Garbage bags
11. Paracord – a good quality cord that has the internal strands to use for fishing trapping etc.
12. Portable Shelter if you do not have a poncho
13. Chronic Meds
14. Pain meds
15. First Aid Kit
16. Compass
17. Binoculars
18. Matches and lighters (at least 4 fire sources)
19. Steel Cup
20. Dixie/(Vark pan)[South African Term for the army aluminium dishes]
21. A good Knife/axe/saw
22. Fishing hooks
23. Fishing trace wire – for making traps for small game
24. Bleach (unscented) or Water purification tablets
25. Soap
26. Buckets and lids
27. Earbuds
28. Cotton wool
29. Gloves
30. Compressed toilet rolls
31. Folding spade (trenching Tool)
32. Tip ice
33. Toothbrush & toothpaste
34. Vaseline
35. Pencils and paper Sharpener but you could use your knife
36. Alcohol for wounds
37. Asma pumps
38. Radio – Two-way and FM

To Summerise

Determine your needs, not your wants. Make sure you buy the best quality you can and be careful of where you buy from. Don’t waste money, it’s scarce. Don’t advertise your state of preparedness. It could come back and bite you in the rear.

Don’t try to buy everything at once but start somewhere. A good place is here.

If you have any questions, please ask here.

 

“It is better to have prepared and never to need it than to be unprepared and be in desperate need of it”.

Be Aware. Be Safe. Be Prepared!