Haven’t hit this subject in a while. I feel like 2020 wasn’t really the best time to talk about prepping, honestly. Everyone else was hitting it pretty hard, and most normal people didn’t really need convincing anymore. It’s not so hard to imagine a multi-week shortage of supplies when you’ve seen that very scenario happen in your own town.
I haven’t just neglected the documenting of upgrading my preps in the past year, but in the actual work as well. Losing jobs and being furloughed really put a damper on things. And, as you can expect, the thing that makes the preps necessary is the thing that keeps you from getting them. A real ant and grasshopper tale, to be sure. That part is thankfully behind us, so now is the time to prepare for the future. That’s why I included completing the current level of preps in my list of list of goals for 2021.
To make things easier to see at a glance, I’ll be putting the list together as a table instead of in paragraph form. You can find the table at the end of this page. Now, let’s get into it.
Preps
Now that we’re out of the winter, it’s tornado season in my area, so I need to be prepared to deal with downed trees, blown debris, etc. A weather radio is also invaluable in those sorts of times, as relying on WiFi during severe weather is a terrible idea. To these ends, I’ve purchased an electric chainsaw and have a nice handheld radio picked out for purchase soon. Thanks to Matt at everyday marksman for the recommendation.
The chainsaw is helping immensely in the firewood collection dept. I had a large tree in my backyard fall during the winter that I’ve been slowly cutting up and processing. I just need to split it soon and get it seasoning for use during the winter months. Maybe also build some sort of rack to keep it off the ground? Maybe something with a roof to keep the rain of of it? We’ll see what I come up with.
I need to take stock of my food supplies and get a good calorie count. I’ve got at least one day’s worth in my pantry, but I’m not sure just how much I’ve got. I also need to either find or repurchase the 5 lb bag of dog food.
In a similar vein, I need to get my water supplies back up. I’ve lost some over the last 2 years due to breakage in the relatively thin walls of the jugs I prefer. I’m going to have to change to a different jug for future water purchases. I like the very compact square-ish jugs I currently have, but they’re just a little too fragile. Either that or I need to get some store-bought shelve to keep them safe. Maybe also put my emergency-only food rations up there as well. Great, just one more project…
Getting the emergency ammo stockpiled will also be an issue. I don’t see ammo prices going down any time soon, either. I tell people it’ll be 6 months at the earliest, but that’s a wild guess. It could be longer than that.
There’s a reason why I separated ball ammo from hollowpoint ammo in my pistol ammo stockpile list. The pistol ball ammo stockpile is going to be for training events in the future that I may get wind of short-notice, whereas the hollowpoint ammo is for more social uses. I’m a big fan of 55 grain ammo for defensive use in .223, so I figure I can use the cheaper ball rounds for both training and defensive use if need be. I’m only shooting for a 1,000 rounds of ball because I don’t really see myself as the leader of a combat effective squad of dudes fighting an active war for months, if not years, with no other resupply. I’m just a dude with a family that has a few guns lying around. I really wonder what the goal is for those dudes that have 10,00+ rounds of ammo in reserve. I’m all for having it, if you can afford it, but I just wonder what they think is gonna go down and how they think they’ll have a good use for that much ammo.
As for actually getting that ammo stockpiled, I figure I’ll wait till the prices start to come back down and reserve half the ammo I regularly purchase towards that figure. Unless I make a purchase specifically for the stockpile, in which case it would all go to the shelf.
I’m considering doubling my 5 gallons of gasoline to 10. The recent pipeline nonsense makes me feel like having less than half a tank isn’t as prepared as I thought it was.
| Prep | Need | Have |
| Water | 15 gallons | |
| Firewood | 3 days’ worth | A tree needing chopped |
| Cooling | ||
| Food (kcal) | 20,000 | |
| Dog Food | 5 lb | 0 lb |
| Ammo (9mm) | 1,000 ball, 200 hollowpoint | |
| Ammo (.223) | 1,000 ball | |
| Emergency Fund | Undisclosed | |
| Cash on Hand | Undisclosed | |
| Battery Backup | 10,000 mAh | |
| Emergency Lighting | ||
| Gasoline | 5 gallons | 5 |
| Medical | First aid + trauma | First aid + Trauma |
| Fire Extinguishers | 2 | 2 |
| Radio | 1 | 0 |
Final Thoughts
2020 was a crazy ride, and 2021 seems to be a little more stable. Things seem to be settling down, though I’m not entirely happy with where they’re settling. I hope that these preps I’m collecting are never needed, but I’m not counting on it. [Related: Peace is the Exception.]
Stay safe, stay prepared, and we’ll see you next time.
-S_S
Pro-Gun Millennial 
I’ve got stuff lying around, but not terribly well organized. For water, you can get those Sawyer filters from Wal-Mart for $20.
Black beans and rice store well for food but need water to actually eat. Oatmeal and peanut butter are maybe not as long term, but are super easy to stock up on and use. Food safe 5 gallon buckets are a very handy tool to put all that stuff away and you can seal them up for long term with a lid and slap a label on them to keep track of the date and contents.
Batteries and flashlights are easy. Guns and ammo aren’t hard to do, and thanks to the internet care and storage guides on those are everywhere now.
I’m actually pretty good at organizing my stuff and making good use of available space, but with the caveat that I rarely take the time to do it. Making everything fit sensibly takes time and gets really messy looking for the short term while you do it.
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RE: the goal of 10,000 rounds. That wasn’t my exact numerical goal and I can’t shed light on everyone’s reasoning but I can tell you mine. I panicked while ammo was cheap ($169/case for 9mm) with the goal of being able to continue shooting during an ammo shortage, and so that when prices started shooting up I didn’t feel pressure to buy in a seller’s market. So far that has strategy has proven effective. Can’t say that’s anyone reasoning by my own but maybe it gives a bit of insight.
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I’m eagerly awaiting the non-panic times. And I’m not looking for 10,000, just 1,000 should do for me. I also don’t shoot as much as most and may work my way up to the 10k mark in the future.
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Why an electric chainsaw when one of the first things that fails in a disaster is electricity?
Water is another failing around us as all the mains water is pumped which again is very dependent on the electricity supply reaching the towns two pumping stations. One of the penalties of living in a ‘flat’ part of the country.
We have rain butts amounting to 260 liters as our emergency supply plus 36 liters of ‘commercially’ bottled water. For filtration we use gravity ceramic filters backed up with a dose of Chlorax (pool shock) into the water butts if rain isn’t plentiful. The standing joke is fishing out tadpoles from the water butts before filtering. The wife gets paranoid about it, I say it adds to the flavor.
As for shooting?
Not a lot goes on around here as most of the preppers we know trap (snare, spring traps) and go fishing (the sea is only 400m away from us). However, all of us use high power pellet guns for anything stupid enough to rear it’s head. Quieter than firearms they don’t attract any attention. Plus they are cheaper to ‘feed’. Current ‘ammo’ holdings? 10,000 .22 So you can probably guess, we aren’t going to starve soon.
With a goody amount of game birds and wildfowl from the marshes, most of us don’t ‘starve’ or have to pay for the substandard supermarket meat.
As for money? LOL.
After taxes and bills, we bring in enough to NOT owe anything and have a couple of months worth of folding stuff put aside for emergencies. That’s about it.
Other folk worry about money and have savings, portfolios, or whatever.
Way we figure it is when the power goes down, or the Gov close the banks, we’ve got the basics covered, as credit cards are the first to fail when it all goes dark.
As for the end of panic? Another LOL and keep smiling!
General consensus is “Don’t worry, there will be another panic following this one”.
Just as soon as the government can dream something up.
Stay safe, and above all relax!
Because when the end of the world (as some see it) arrives, the world will still be there afterwards for the resourceful among us.
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