Time to go, are your ready? A thread for the Prep Folk

WanstallsOnline

WanstallsOnline

Expried Business Member
Location
Maple Ridge BC
With the recent Covid 19 situation we have on our hands, a lot has changed.

One thing that got me thinking was how ill prepared I was for an actual pandemic or disaster. Sure guns and ammo aren't an issue I have the typical 3-4 weeks of food set aside. But I had never thought about things like being on the move, water filtration, sleeping supplies for being on the move, signaling, compasses, tie downs, fire starter in our terrible west coast rain, IFAKS for myself, the wife and spares. etc etc...

This sent me down a rabbit hole of 72 hour bags, get home bags and in general being better prepared on a day to day basis. I seem to have found myself yet another hobby to add to my endless lists of things to do. This has also led me to start ordering stuff for the shop because hey, if 1 person wants it, 2-3 people more would likely be looking for it to.

One thing I noticed is the Canadian market although has a lot of stuff, it is spread out over multiple sites/ shops and everything (from at least my research) has to be sourced from multiple locations. Granted Amazon has a lot of stuff, but certain things like IFAKS or water filtration I was have a hard time purchasing due to the little info out there on some products or lack of knowledge on others. I didnt want to get stuck with off brand blood clot.

So my question is to you guys/gals, do you have a 72 hour bag? of a get home bag? What is in it? What was hard to find or put together? What do you wish you could've found north of the "wall". What brands do you like? What brands do you hate? What have you thought of your fellow preppers may not have? Also if it is stuff with enough demand, I will source it and start carrying it


Personally a complete IFAK was my biggest pain to find. A complete kit I have 0 intention of applying myself, but hope someone with the knowledge could use on me if required.

I would like to start compiling info here so Canadians have somewhere to read and because its in our forum, it will show up on google searches.
So post your supplies, pics, lists.... whatever you have.

Ill be throwing my stuff up tomorrow with lists and pics.

-Matt
 
Hi Matt,

Not sure how useful 72h bags or go home bags are in a C19 scenario.

I would starting looking at industrial U.V lights/boxes for disinfection, carrying PPE like gloves,suits,masks,n95, filters, etc. Chemical cleaners and anti bacteria wipes as well. Bulk containers of alcohol (99%), water storage systems, survival food as well and wood cooking stoves, if you have the relestate.

It's seriously unlikely we will see a vaccine in near future, which means the use of all of those items listed will be your primary protection during these interesting times.

Cheers,
 
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Not always possible to shelter in place. Need a bug in and bug out bag. I’d buy Platypus water filtration products if you sold those. Anything prep related would sell in these times and I’ll be watching.
 
A response to the new currency. I have rolls of tp flattened and in a medium zip lock freezer bag. 1-2 per 72 bag. I the hardest thing is having enough room for water and food. I can’t wait till we can have dehydrated water packs.
 
I had a hard time finding first aid kits that included what I wanted for a remote property. The best I found were kits by the Canadian Red Cross. They had some pretty complete emergency preparedness kits.

Make sure that whatever you buy has enough of the specific items for your most expected injuries. I have a lot of chainsaws on the go so I bought some extra items that I added to the kit with the thought that the likelihood of these type of injuries was higher than most people. My travel kit for hunting has similar additions for a remote location firearm injury or animal attack. The common gauze pad included in many first aid kits will solve many home first aid applications, but not as many conditions created by the tools needed for remote survival.
 
What's the proposed reason for a 72 hour bag; Power outage, earthquake, fire, flood, backcountry vehicle breakdown, wilderness survival, collapse of society? What is your destination; FEMA type shelter, hotel, friends and family, cabin, the woods?

We have a "bail out" bag. Basically it's to grab if the house catches on fire or we get evacuated due to a gas leak or something. There's not really any other reason I would "bug out" with almost zero notice and only require 72 hours of supplies.

In our bag we have:

- Binder with copies of important documents: passports, licences, insurance papers, mortgage papers etc

- Full change of clothes

- Basic toiletries

- Couple hundred bucks cash

The bag is stored in our entry way closet, so in order to get it I have to pass my wallet and phone which I'd grab while leaving too. The wallet has a debit card and a credit card with a high limit. I also have a sizeable line of credit available if need be. I can get virtually anything I'd want or need providing society is still functioning.
 
Interesting thread - ultimately, imagine your house was going to burn down, what are the true essentials you need to bring? Bull it gets it right, documents etc. Beyond that consider getting to your safe location and potentially having to navigate unexpected obstacles, civil unrest, road blocks, poor weather, lack of water/food, injuries?
One of the reasons I keep a go bag ready is in case I need to pickup a family member or friend due to emergency - Ft McMurray fires for example - if you're on your own for 72 hours, that shouldn't be too hard to get somewhere? Beyond that you need more than a bag... A couple of great sites are Canadian Outdoor Supplies, and Canadian Prepper - most high quality gear in Canada.
 
If you pick a disaster and prepare for that one, you're more well equipped to deal with any disaster than someone who chose to react at the last minute. So prepare for whatever you think is most likely.

You'll find that a lot of things have multiple uses.

For example, that tarp you bought to cover your load on your exodus, might be used as a rain collection system after an earthquake ruptures the water main.

But general hardware store items that aren't hard to source probably aren't worthwhile additions to your centralized retail source. There are more specialized items that ARE hard to get though. These aren't things you absolutely have to have though. I say this because you can literally drive yourself crazy trying to prepare for every possible scenario. But if you have the basics (food, water, shelter) you'll do OK. But we want to do all we can right? So I like to have a little more than just a pot to boil water in and a tarp.

I feel like there are basically four kinds categories of things you will be looking for, and a fifth, bonus category that is the hardest one to fill.

1) Basic stuff to cover off food, water and shelter needs, like for a bugout bag. Example: MREs, Sawyer filters, SOL Shelters, first aid
2) Long term stuff. Example: Water storage, Food preservation, medical supplies, even bug out locations, motor homes and wall tents would fit here.
3) Specialized products for specific emergencies, like sandbags for flooding, masks and gloves for C-19, or faraday cages to shield electronics from EMP.
4) Gucci kit to streamline your processes having satisfied yourself with 1 through 3 above. (HAHA! Its never done!)
5) Skills - You can't exactly buy a skill. You have to get learn them the hard way or get training. This is the hardest one to do for preppers because it requires the expenditure of money AND time. You could get your amateur radio, pilot or firearms license, take a course on wilderness survival or first aid. Take up archery, or auto mechanics, build something... Skills are invaluable. But its hard to get prepper specific stuff not only because of the time and money required, but because preppers often don't want to talk about it in public or identify themselves. We are also notorious for not getting along well together. We are an odd bunch, though I think the idea is a little more mainstream thanks to Covid 19. If you could mastermind something like this, you're a genius and you deserve to be rich. Creek Stewart from Kentucky does a pretty decent job of teaching skills. But in my opinion, what he offers is not ideally suited to our environment and is a mile wide in topic range, but not too deep. You might check out what he offers as a starting point to build off of. But I would happily sign up for a regularly scheduled class if Wanstalls could host a training program. I'd love to learn about wild edibles from someone in person. My first aid is out of date. I'd also be interested in networking. People are stronger together afterall.

As for actual products you might sell, here are few of those items off the top of my head;

-Berkey filters
-Books on wild edibles in our part of the world with large, descriptive colour photos.
-Strong netting
-Good rain gear
-A solar charger for gizmos like phones, radios, flashlights, and/or a common battery like AAs (and solar compatible AA batteries)
-Long lasting beeswax candles.
-Portable ram pump

I would also be interested in some high grade, ultralight or indestructible backpack prepper basics, like a really good folding shovel, or long shelf life energy bars. I think anything lightweight, durable and waterproof would have me hovering over the "add to cart" button. Something that is more comfortable than my Klymmit mat, that is not heavier would be nice.

Then there are products that as far as I know, do not exist, like a Canadian homeowners emergency manual that is compact, concise, highly visible, and waterproof. Something that tells folks how to turn off their water, gas and power, how to deal with ice dams, or flooding. Something that maybe even comes with a doodad that lets you mount it on the wall in your utility room...
 
My range bag is semi-prepped. It holds -

Fire starter
Matches
Lighters
Multi-tool
Emergency Fishing Kit
Hatchet
Water
Water purifier
Emergency Blanket.
Small tarp.
4" flip knife.

And ids always accompanied by firearms.


It follows Les Strouds 5 needs. Fire (fire starter,lighters, spark), Shelter (tarp), Signal (fire making tools), Cutting (Hatchet,bag/pocket knife), Food (what is taken to the range + fishing gear/guns).[SUB][/SUB]
 
Built 64 pattern ruck sack with:

-Rain gear
-Air mattress
-Below 30C sleeping bags
-96hrs food
-Toiletries
-Multiple pairs of underwear/socks
-Layers of warm clothing
-Ground sheet
-Headlamp
-Matches
-Jet boil and 2 tanks of fuel
-Dry bag
-4L of water
-Multitool
-Rechargeable batteries
-Solar charger
-Power bank
-First aide kit

I recommend everyone getting a ruck, 50lbs feels very little with a good rig.
 
Medicines. Tell your doctor you are going to Central America or Africa and would like a prescription for a broad spectrum antibiotic and pain meds. The doc likely won't balk at prescribing a dozen pills to get you through a few days.

A suture kit. This takes practice, but even if you aren't the one doing it, knowing that its available to a more skilled person in a time of crisis could be helpful.
 
I would be interested in provisions for a family with children, as of now I can't find affordable, long lasting energy bars. Right now my focus is on bugging in.
 
Good, affordable IFAK are always the hardest for me.

You can build them, but you end up spending a fortune to get supplies in bulk. Or, you can buy them off the shelf and spend way too much... Most IFAK are padded with cheap stuff or stuff you don't need to get to a price point.

A really good, off-the-shelf solution would be great.
 
FyreFighter said:
Medicines. Tell your doctor you are going to Central America or Africa and would like a prescription for a broad spectrum antibiotic and pain meds. The doc likely won't balk at prescribing a dozen pills to get you through a few days.

A suture kit. This takes practice, but even if you aren't the one doing it, knowing that its available to a more skilled person in a time of crisis could be helpful.
Click to expand...

Yeah - I second this. You used to be able to get fish meds, but...
 
One huge (if not quite possibly the hugest) factor in prepping that people neglect is safety in numbers. One person carrying a backpack full of expensive gear just says "I'm a walking loot chest, rob me". Keep on good terms with the neighbours, make connections in the community. You always need people to watch your back. Can't stay awake for 24/7.
 
General Overlanding gear. However unlikely, if a bugout scenario was to happen, your vehicle would become home base. The 72 hour pack is good to sustain for a few nights away from your vehicle. I don't prep, but I enjoy thinking about the "what if's".
 
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