Sears Emergency Prep List

Below is a full list of what I’ve done to prepare for supply shortages and whatever else may unfold in the next few years. I’m sleeping better at night knowing we are well prepared for anything.

I hope we will never need to use any of it, but know it’s important to have things ready in case. I hope my research and prep work serves you and your family during these tumultuous times!

Basic 2 Week Survival Needs:

The Beginner Prep list below comes from ThePrepared.com. It’s an excellent website that explains everything you’ll need to know. Read their entire beginners plan HERE. Below is the short version that I am using as a template for our 6 month prep plan.

The Essentials

Water: Store 15 gallons of potable water per person (roughly 1 gallon per day) and have ways to treat dirty water via either a portable water filter or countertop water filter

Food: at least 23,000 calories per person (roughly 1,500 calories per day) of shelf-stable food that’s ready to eat or only needs boiling water to make; usually one or a mix of extra supermarket food you normally eat anyway or special prepper food that lasts forever

Fire: lighters, matches, and backup fire starters

Light: headlamps, flashlights, candles, lanterns

Heating and cooling: indoor-safe heaters, extra blankets, USB-powered fan

Shelter: a cheap tarp (anything you find at a local store) comes in handy for improvised shelter, plugging holes in the house, and clearing debris

Medical: list of 145 prioritized home medical supplies

Hygiene: wet wipes, hand sanitizer, camp soap

Communication: either a one-way NOAA radio or a two-way ham radio (if you know how to use it)

Power: spare batteries and rechargers (your bug out bag will have a solar charger, but you can also get a second one for home)

Tools: axe, shovel, work gloves, wrench for your gas lines, zip ties, duct tape, etc.

Self defense: depends on personal views, may include body armor, firearms, etc.

Cash: as much as you can reasonably afford to stash

Mental health: board games, favorite books, headphones, movies downloaded to a tablet, etc.

Documents: copy of deeds/titles, insurance policies, birth certificates, maps, pictures of family members, etc. in both physical and USB thumb drive forms

Local & emergency info: write down important contact numbers, know the location of the nearest hospitals, etc.

Below are the resources I’ve used and the supplies we’ve stocked up on based on the above template. We have planned for at least 6 months of food and supplies for our family of 3.

Water:

30 gallons of reverse osmosis water in 5 gallon plastic jugs Berkey 2.5 gallon Countertop Filtration system for family of 4 2 Extra Berkey Filters Lifestraws - 5 pack for family of 3 Lifestraw Gallon Size Water Bag Water Purification Tabs - I bought AquaTabs and Potable Agua tabs.

Food:

Food Storage Calculator - Use this food storage calculator to figure out how much food you need to buy and store for your size family and how many months you want to plan for.

We don’t eat some of what they recommend, like wheat, corn, lard, etc. So I just bought more of the things we do eat like beans, quinoa, rice, etc to make up for other things.

I chose coconut oil as our primary oil since it’s one of the most stable oils. Apple cider vinegar as our primary vinegar. Canned sardines and tuna for JP for meat in case we don’t have access to refrigeration.

https://ezprepping.com/food-storage-calculator/

Long Term Emergency Freeze Dried Food - We purchased the 30 day supply, but they offer a vast array of different emergency food kits, including gluten free options. This is a quick and easy option for those who don’t want to put a ton of time and money into a lot of whole bulk foods.

https://mypatriotsupply.com/collections/long-term-food-storage

Organic Shelf Stable Food In Bulk:

Eating organic is important to us and I found a few great bulk suppliers online. I ordered about 350 lbs of food for a 6 month supply of shelf stable whole foods from Essential Organics. They took about a week to ship my order, but have amazing prices! The best I could find online.

Another great place to buy from with similar pricing is Food To Live Store on Amazon. If I had ordered from them, it would most likely have arrived faster. It seems like they are a bigger supplier, so if Essential Organics has things out of stock and you prefer to order from Amazon for speed, go with Food To Live.

For non bulk items check out ThriveMarket.com. They have eliminated the mild man and offer your favorite organic brands at a much better price. I’ve started to stock our pantry monthly with a big order from them. Much cheaper than going to Whole Foods or other organic grocery stores that jack up prices.

I bought cases of sardines, tuna, gallons of coconut oil, and cases of canned coconut milk from our favorite brands on Amazon.com.

Storing Food:

Make sure to store all of your dry bulk food in food safe gallon buckets with screw top lids to keep bugs, mold and other critters out. I ordered a bunch of THESE. You want to store food in a cool, dry, temperature controlled place to prevent it from going bad too quickly.

Fire:

5 lighters, Flint Firestarter logs 10 firewood bundles

Light:

3 headlamps - Battery powered option. Rechargeable option 5 flashlights with back-up batteries 2 solar powered lanterns

Heating & Cooling:

We are less concerned about cooling and focused on staying warm.

Portable space heater Emergency blankets

Shelter:

I’m currently looking at family tents and warm sleeping bags for the 3 of us and our two dogs. I’ll update this section once I decide and purchase.

Medical:

We already have a few travel medical kits but I bought THIS survival kit as well.

Hygiene:

Seventh Generation Wipes 4 bars of normal soap 30 back up rolls of toilet paper for our home pantry.

Communication:

Solar Powered Emergency Radio Pack of long range adult walkie talkies

Power:

Spare batteries Portable solar powered charger Solar Power Portable Generator - this generator comes with solar panels and is great to plug appliances into. We will use this in our home and in case we need to travel somewhere that doesn’t have power. We opted for solar instead of a gas generator simply so we wouldn’t need to store or travel with a lot of extra gas or worry about finding some.

Tools:

We already have everything they suggested: small axe, shovel, work gloves, wrench for your gas lines, zip ties, duct tape, etc.

Self Defense:

We have a few firearms Extra boxes of ammunition Pepper spray

Clothing & Toiletries:

I’m going to pack a bag for the family that includes at least 7 outfits per person, plus necessary toiletries and must have baby supplies like bottles, wipes, cloth diapers, disposable diapers, etc. This bag will sit packed and ready to go, so it won’t include things we use everyday.

Documents:

I put together a package with all of the essential docs they recommended.

Local & Emergency Info:

I printed out a physical list of the important info they recommended. I also have this info in notes on our phones.

Car:

SUV that can hold the entire family and two dogs that can easily pull an enclosed cargo trailer of supplies. We are leasing a Toyota 4Runner, since our two current cars don’t have tow ability. We will be purchasing an enclosed cargo trailer within the next month to carry and haul all of our prep stuff.. I’m also going to pick up some extra gasoline in case there are gas shortages.

Bug Out Location:

Where will you go if you need to leave your home? Plan ahead for this and know where you will stay.

Amazing Resources:

Educate yourself on what you need to fully prepare for all kinds of scenarios and become more self reliant and off grid at the following websites.

https://ThePrepared.com

https://MyPatriotSupply.com

List of Top Prepper Websites to explore and learn more HERE.

I will continue to add to this list as I learn more. Feel free to share this doc with those you love. Keep in mind that you may want to store your supplies outside your home, or in a location only you know about. Especially if you share your prep list with others. As much as we all want to believe in community coming together during challenging times, in dire situations people can act like animals.

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