Some emergency preparation questions and answers

 

Following my recent articles about emergency food and water, and answering some reader questions about them, I had other queries to which I responded.  I thought some of you might be interested in reading some of them.

Q:  My red dot sights for my rifle and shotgun use coin-style batteries.  I guess, in an emergency, those won't be all that readily available.  Can I safely store them for long-term use?

A:  I honestly don't know.  A lot of batteries advertise that they have a certain shelf life, but experience with them shows that those claims are frequently wildly optimistic (if not fraudulent).  They leak all over the place within a year or two.  (I'm looking at you, Duracell!)  My suggestion would be three-fold:

• By all means keep a stash of coin-style batteries to fit your existing sights.
• If your budget allows, get a couple of red dot sights that work on standard AA batteries.  (Sightmark's Wolverine series aren't too expensive:  they're a bit larger and heavier than today's teeny-weeny red dots, but have worked well in my experience.)  You can use your lighter, smaller, more sophisticated sights while coin-type batteries are readily available, and switch to one of the AA-battery units when they're not.  Lay in some rechargeable AA-size batteries while you're at it (don't buy cheap crap:  ENELOOP is a trustworthy brand, at least so far), plus a solar charger for them, to ensure you'll always have power for your sights and other tools.
• The time may come when any battery is hard to find, not to mention there will be many appliances and items of gear needing them.  A couple of simple telescopic sights are worth having under such circumstances, because they need no batteries at all.  Don't buy cheap junk, but there are some adequate-quality sights out there at reasonable prices.  (For example, see my recent review of a Primary Arms offering.)  Lower-powered scopes are most suited to "tactical" use;  higher-powered scopes are for hunting or precision marksmanship.

Q:  When you spoke about emergency water supplies, you didn't say how much is needed for washing your cooking and eating utensils.

A:  That's because I've already recommended in several previous articles that you keep a stash of paper plates and bowls, and plastic knives, forks and spoons, for use in an emergency.  I suggest enough for at least 30 days, possibly for a longer period if you have storage space available.  This saves a great deal of water, and also a lot of time, in that you don't have to wash and dry crockery and cutlery several times a day.  Used paper bowls and plates can be scraped clean (or licked clean by your pets), then dried, torn into strips, and used as fire-lighters.  In the same way, paper cups can be used for cool drinks.  That leaves only pots and pans to be washed.

Q:  How many buckets should I buy for water storage?

A:  When it comes to 5-gallon buckets, I don't think one can have too many (provided you have storage for them all).  Food-safe buckets can be used to store dry food as well as water (line them with mylar bags and heat-seal the latter if necessary), and their lids will do for both purposes.  Non-food-safe buckets are useful to water plants, hand out washing water to individuals, launder clothes, and a host of other tasks.  They also make very good trading material in an emergency, because a lot of people don't have enough (perhaps none at all), and they'll need them for all those tasks.  I currently have 40-50 5-, 3½- and 2-gallon buckets and lids of all types, and if I get the chance to lay in a few more at low cost I'll take it.  (Look for free buckets from bakeries that buy icing in them.  All they need is a good wash, and they're good to go.  Buy different color buckets if you want the color to indicate what's stored inside.)

Q:  I don't have enough storage space in my small house to store emergency supplies.  What do I do?

A:  Use every scrap of available space.  For example:

• In your garage, fasten shelves on brackets to the wall above the roofline of your vehicle(s), and store totes and other supplies on them.  If there's enough vertical space, stack two or three of them on top of each other, using a stepladder to reach the top one if necessary.  You may have to move your vehicle(s) out to get at those supplies, but they'll be there when you need them.  (If you live in earthquake country, don't forget to adequately secure what's on those shelves!)
• See how much you can put under your bed(s).  If necessary, replace solid box springs with metal bed frames.  You can get them from 12" to 18" in height, and in varying widths.  You can fit a lot of containers underneath them, from shallow underbed units to full-height storage totes.  (Shop for totes at your local Walmart, Lowes, Home Depot or equivalent store;  they're usually cheaper there than buying them online and paying for shipping.)
• A lot of drawer units use drawers that don't take up the full depth of the unit.  See whether you can store water bottles (upright, of course, so they don't spill) or shallow upright storage containers behind them.
• Use the back of pantry cupboards, shelving units, etc. to do the same thing.  I once stored three or four dozen #10 cans of freeze-dried food, stacked 2 high, at the back of shelves containing kitchen plastic bags and wraps, salad bowls and similar items.
• Consider your attic.  It may not be configured to store anything, but if you can get a few planks and nail them across rafters, you can make space to fit several totes or plastic bags.
• Consider renting a small storage unit, sharing the cost with friends, so that each of you can store a few cubic feet of emergency supplies there.  This isn't an optimal choice, because in an emergency you may not be able to get to the unit quickly or easily (and storage units will be prime targets for looters), but it may be the only solution you can find for larger items.

Those are just a few ideas.  I'm sure you'll find many more as you look around.

Q:  I barely make ends meet on my salary.  I can't afford emergency preparations!

A:  I feel your pain.  Many of us are in the same boat:  for a long time, they included my wife and I.  However, as the saying goes, "The longest journey begins with a single step".

• Buy one or two extra cans of goods every time you shop for groceries, and put it/them away.  Vary that by buying an extra packet of pasta or an extra bag of rice now and then.  In two to three months, you'll have a full box of food.  That's the start of your emergency pantry.
• Ask your friends to save you half-liter, or one-liter, or two-liter soda bottles (with their caps) when they finish their contents.  Wash them out carefully, rinse thoroughly, and fill them with water.  In two to three months, you'll have two to three days' worth of emergency water supplies.
• If friends of yours buy their household needs from stores such as Costco or Sams Club, save up your pennies and ask them to buy you one of those stores' bulk packs of toilet rolls or paper towels.  (If that's too much, ask your friends if you can contribute a few dollars to the cost of those bulk packs and get a pro rata share of their contents.)  The cost per roll is so much lower than buying just a couple at a time that you'll be able to put aside a roll or two each month towards an emergency.
• If you can't afford plastic storage totes, use cardboard boxes.  They're not ideal, and they do perish over time, but they're a lot better than nothing.
• Look for stores that want to get rid of things you can use.  I mentioned earlier bakeries that get five-gallon buckets full of icing sugar, pre-mixed.  I know some just throw away those buckets.  Why not ask the bakery(ies) for a few?  If they say "No", you've lost nothing;  but if they say "Yes", you've got some very useful containers.
• Give up a few small luxuries (e.g. one or two cans of soda per week, or one take-out coffee per week, or take a paper-bag home-made lunch to work instead of buying it from a vendor) and use that money to expand your emergency supplies.

There are any number of ways to get started.  I'm sure readers can contribute many from their own experience.  The main thing is, get started, and keep going.  If you never start, you'll never be prepared.

Peter