A "Real List" ...or just your list?

[101airborne]

I guess we have somewhat of a list(s) one is what we have stored, when we bought it, when to rotate it. Second is our to get list divided into two parts. First part is our need to get list and our we'd like to get list. We're lucky to have a couple of locations to choose from to hunker down in. here at home and at our vacation/BOL / retirement place. both are stocked with supplies more here at home than there. Curretly we're working on 14 months supplies for us and pets here and about 6 months at "the place" We are lucky we have neighbors at the place who are fellow preppers and watch it when we are not there. We have practiced loading supplies here and getting to the place in an emergency. We can be loaded and rolling in less than 30 minutes if need be.

IMHO anyone starting to prep basically need 5 catigories to work on. These are...
Food
Water
Shelter
medical
Defense

After that when you have a basic supply stock then you can/ should consider items for comfort/ luxury and barter. We have a good stock at both locations of books, DVD's, CD's, games and such along with Liqour for medicinal as well as comfort use. Barter items right now are not where I want them but slowly growing. Some items are...
Small ($10) first aid kits.
Tooth brushes
small soaps and such.
Female products
blankets ( from yard sales)
shoes an clothing

These are a few items of about 20 or so we get as we can for barter.

[zeeman]

this brings up something i'm caught in right now. next major purchase will either be a good generator or a good solar panel kit, and i'm having trouble prioritizing. The generator will get more use but in a truly critical situation I would leave it and depend on a solar kit. My brain is strongly going for the generator while my heart is leaning heavily toward the solar kit. Any words of wisdom out there?

In a totally off the grid situation you will need both. The solar can charge your batteries during the day and when the sun is out. When there is no sun or limited sun you have to run the generator to keep the batteries charged. I have a miltary multi fuel generator I made and it will run on any oil including gas, for a short time. I have a dual muffler system on it an you can hardly hear it run. I bought a u'haul box that it is in so you can't hear it or see it.

[wac220]

I keep a list of lists on my I phone. Each list is constantly changing updating. I always have it with me and can fill or modify items it on a whim while out and about. I also keep lists for home and work projects on it for the same reasons.

While reading some of these posts, I will add to/modify my lists.

I am not to worried about it failing during a SHTF situation, because if the list isn't filled by then, it is already too late.

[Morgan101]

When I started to prep I used a Wilderness Survival List. This is what I used to complete my first BOB. Over the course of the years my prepping has evolved from individual wilderness survival to family disaster/SHTF/TEOTWAWKI prepping. I'm old school, so I read. Yes read. Didn't look up on the internet. Got books, which I saved, and started writing things down. All of the books had common denominators; the same things you should have. The best thing I saw, and I did this, was to make a list of lists. You CANNOT remember everything. I think it is an old Chinese proverb: the weakest ink is stronger than the strongest memory.

Your list of lists will include things like Shelter; Fire; Water; Food; Security etc. I organized my lists by rooms in my house. If I had to bug out what would I need from the bathroom, bedroom, kitchen, garage etc.? From there I started prepping. I guess I had about 8 lists each having 20 - 50 items. I still keep them in a binder in plain site. All family members know where it is.

The last thing I did was make a Bug Out List, which is in the front of the binder. This is a checklist of everything we have to take with us and where it is located in the house or garage if we had to Bug out. All family members know where everything is stored, so one person could load up a vehicle if need be. Our Plan A is to bug in, but we are ready to GOOD if we have to. Writing everything down is time consuming, but it is EMP proof, and will not require electricity to reference. I should waterproof it. I will add that to my list.

[Oscar Wilde]

.... The only items I still need are body armor and NVG. But I thought those items were restricted to law enforcement and military only.

Not that I'm aware of .... not yet. > http://www.ebay.com/sch/Sporting-Goo...Vision+Goggles

Looks like the prices have dropped a bit.

O.W.

[Mangler]

Thanks Rancher for the list. I don't have a list.

As I looked over your list I realized I have everything, to some degree, on the list. Because we also live where it gets hot, cold, and wet, and we live out of the city, we naturally have on hand what it takes to get through a week or so without power. For the last year we have been simply increasing our reserves.

The only items I still need are body armor and NVG. But I thought those items were restricted to law enforcement and military only.

[Applejack]

Whether you elect to have a secure location to out last a crisis event or would rather be mobile...one needs supplies and gear for either. I would imagine since you are on this site you have started stashing away some stuff....

Just what is it you have stashed anyway? Things you “think” you would need. Or have you cruised the internet and other sources for lists to compare to them in order to make your own. Learning from others is much better than learning from yourself.

Some things would be in common regardless of either of the two groups you go with. Others would be more unique to each group. Again...how can you figure out all you would need without consulting others and their lists. Two heads are better than one.....

So have any of you developed an organized “Written List” of everything you would need and the quantities there of? Or not? If not...why not? Without said lists you will be found “lacking” in many areas and overstocked in others during a crisis event and then it is simply to late.

I also was wondering about some here on this site planning on staying where you are.... no problem but does your location get any of it’s power/water/garbage pick up/sewer/gas/road clearing or whatever from a public utility? If so just how will you survive during a real crisis when it is ALL shut off? No water...no toilet. No sewers being pumped... then they back up and disease spreads. No garbage...it is cast outside and disease spreads. No heat? No nothing.... Got a pet? Got pet food stashed?

Have you ever found as I have that most preppers end up imagining that they can... live off the land by picking edible “things”... this dream always takes place in nice weather when one can get to such things. Not when they are under two feet of snow or in frozen ground or not even in season.

Much like preppers who figure on staying where they are and count on flushing their toilets.... but just once so make it count ;-0. What if the “lights go out” when it is minus 5 outside and snowing??? Bad things do not just happen in just the summer right after a good nights sleep and a great lunch ;-)

Can you handle it? Do you have a real list... compared to others? Have you tested and retested your plan and systems? If not you will find yourself lacking I promise you that. None of us wish that on anyone here.

We are staying put and yes we have 2 others plans if and only if we must leave we have other places to go, we are on city everything and we still have our septic tank (just not in use that can be reverted back if need be. We have a wood fireplace and plenty of wood and woods where we can get more. We have several ways to cook without electricity. Also we have a natures head composting toilet so we are getting things together pretty well and some of our neigbors are doing the same. We are surrounded by water on 3 sides. and have a place where we can dump trash. We will be composting anything we can as we as well as other neigbors have our own gardens and can. We have 2 hunters and serveral men that fish. We have ways to filter our water for drinking and such. and solar showers that we can use in our reg. bathroom showers. We also have a well and so do some of our neigbors that are working together with us. we are now looking at a baker's oven heat cook stove. This is wood fired and as I said before we have plenty of woods around here. I think it can be done if you really think it out to stay put in your home. And don't underestamate us we are armed to the hilt. We also have some navy seals in this with us so we will be fine .
Applejack

[preppinmomma]

Got my list. It is a work in progress, as we are always adding new items. Just heard on the news that we will be having our water pipes flushed all next week. This owill mean low water pressure, andbrown unuseable water. So we've decided to use this opportunity to see what it will be like when the water is off. Kids are not infavor of this training.

[fearpink]

[QUOTE=hubste5;22739]I am looking for a good first aid kit that I can supplement as I find sales and such, then a field type surgical kit, yep I ain't scared to go there if need be.

Try an ultimate trauma kit, bought at Cabela's.

[dgriffit]

I am actually just starting to make a list and it has been a dilemma on what or what not to include since the tendency is you would really want to bring everything as much as possible but yet you want to be able to move more easily so you dont wanna have to carry around a very heavy pack. i am trying to learn from different people, lists that they have on the internet end thankfully on this site i do learn a lot.hopefully i can come up with my own personalized list pretty soon.:o

[lalakai]

As for the poster torn between Gen and solar I would say Gen first! Solar prices are dropping daily and the controller, batteries and inverter are gonna be a big chunk so you can save for it a little at a time and get quality stuff.

Thanks. I was thinking pretty much the same. Plus I think the gen will get more overall use until it's time to BO, then i'm not so certain. Having a generator in that circumstance will be nice, but it also paints a very large and noisy "bullseye" on your forehead.

[stairman]

Oh yes I have lists. For camping my list is written on a board so it stays put. Came about after alot of woods time. Obviously some primitive camps dont have to utilize items on the master list. For my EDC Bag and BoB, I have a small notebook with the bags contents on the inside cover and anything removed is written on the 1st page. This way I can see at a glance, what needs replenishing. As for the poster torn between Gen and solar I would say Gen first! Solar prices are dropping daily and the controller, batteries and inverter are gonna be a big chunk so you can save for it a little at a time and get quality stuff.

[myakka]

Our list is more like a big flow chart plan
We have areas of concern mapped out, with items to buy/ skills to develop
We then prioritized which things to work in each area
now every two weeks when I get paid we focus on a different area and make progress in it.

(My wife is sooooooo organized. Not me. LOL I am the dreamer.)
She brings the control I bring the chaos.
We are perfectly matched opposites!

[lalakai]

this brings up something i'm caught in right now. next major purchase will either be a good generator or a good solar panel kit, and i'm having trouble prioritizing. The generator will get more use but in a truly critical situation I would leave it and depend on a solar kit. My brain is strongly going for the generator while my heart is leaning heavily toward the solar kit. Any words of wisdom out there?

[ColoradoMike]

Ordered a couple of those.....thanks for the info