Last Minute & Last Chance
Most readers of TF should have metals & protection by now. If you don't have sizeable food storage, TIME IS GROWING SHORT. You're either part of the solution, or you're going to be part of the problem.
First: How many adults & children? Count everyone who is 80% likely to show up at your door, Can you turn them away with your spouse/children watching from the next room? That's the test. Plan generously; what you don't need yourself you can barter/share/store in separate location in case your house burns.
If money is no question, start ordering 1 year kits. Nitro-pak.com is reliable, so is emergencyessentials.com . Generally I shoot for MREs and Dehydrated entrees. Side dishes and "filler" such as rice you can buy cheaper elsewhere. MREs are helpful in case you lose all power, must go on "patrol" for defense or otherwise have to travel.
If you are on a budget or need to "stretch" to feed extra people who show up, remember: most of the world lives on rice & beans 3 meals per day. If you can eat r&b twice a day, eat one balanced meal, have vitamins, a small garden, and some chickens (eggs) you can survive a very very long time.
BASELINE SURVIVAL:
One balanced meal per day (see above) plus:
Rice: At 2 ounces of rice/day, an adult needs 275# per year.
Beans: 3 cups of beans/week equals 60# per year.
Sugar: 60# per year.
Fat/Cooking Oil:: 10 quarts per year
Dry Milk: a single 8 ounce serving per day = 24# per year (kids need more)
Fruit & Vegetables: All you can grow and/or Harmony House Foods for bulk
Salt: 10# per year
Cosco has great rice prices. Their beans are not great. Order Walton Feed for beans and dairy. They have lots more. Harmony House for dehydrated fruit. Oh, then US Plastics for FDA-approved food grade 5 gallon buckets. Better yet is to package food in mylar bags, add ogygen adsorbers and then heat seal. see https://www.survivalunlimited.com/buckets.htm or great link https://www.sorbentsystems.com/longtermfoodstorage.html
Water: Manual pump well is best. Also store water in house. Locate fresh water on surface nearby. Set up a wagon to haul. Look for Katadyn and/or Big Berkey filters. Have multiple systems in case of failure. Without clean water you die. Field kit: 100% charcoal plus sand, then UV light (steri-pen).
Head-lamps. You won't have enough LED headlamps. And batteries. And rechargeable batteries.
How to cook? Plan for problems. Natural gas will lose pressure quickly. Wood, solar, propane. Thermoses cut down cooking time (boil, water, mix with food, seal and wait) and thus conserve precious fuel.
Think bicycles and motorcycles.
Solar panels. Either Sam's Club or Cosco has 'em. Get a few. Be able to recharge your head lamps for nighttime. Obviously, the more the better. Get enough with car batteries and you can run hand tools.
Get to know your neighbors. Who can you trust? Who will put themselves in danger to protect you and your property? Discuss security.
Do you have a garden? At least some seeds? Maybe you share a set of seeds with that master gardener down the street, and in turn he shows you how to do it.
Personal Hygene. Are you a guy? Do you expect your sister and her two kids to arrive? Do you have tampons, liquid tylenol, chewable vitamins? Some age-appropriate books & games? Morale is part of surviving, don't think you can ignore it.
Don't think you can hunt your way out. The woods will be full of first-timers. Unless you are in remote North Dakota, if you go into the woods you are dead. And the game will be quickly gone, anyway.
Barter. You know what people need. Tobacco. Booze. Soap. toothpase. Seeds.
Immunizations: Tell 'em you're going to volunteer in Haiti.
Antibiotics: CalVetSupply.com. They're for fish. ITSHTF who care if you take 'em? Get a large variety and keep in refrigerator. Check out Typhoid & Cholera in Wikipedia, print it out for later.
Good luck & Godspeed.
