Prepper supplies can serve as a massive hedge against uncertainty when you need to be ready for the worst, whether you expect it or not.
Here are 10 critical prepper supplies and why you need them – along with where you can get some of them and others.
- Bottled water: Bottled water is shelf stable, doesn’t take up a lot of space, and is vital to hedge your bets if the well runs dry, gets contaminated, or if the city water supply gets shut down.
- MREs: MREs, or “meals, ready to eat” are basically pre-cooked, freeze-dried meals that are usually rich in calories and don’t need any extra preparation. This makes them ideal for disaster preparation since they don’t need cooking. They’re also shelf stable under most conditions.
- Honey: Honey is one of the few foods that will never expire, which is why it’s vital as a prepper supply. Also, honey is rich in sugar, calories, and other nutrients, which makes it an excellent survival food. Always have a little in your prepper supply stash.
- Heirloom seeds: There is one very specific reason that heirloom seeds are a must in any cache of prepper supplies. Most crop seeds are hybrids, which means that while they will produce crops, the next generation of crops will be sterile. Heirloom seeds are fertile, which means you can save the seeds from one year to the next.
- Flashlights: Flashlights are perfect for keeping you out of the dark, even if you lose power. Always stick to the maxim “two is one, one is none.” Get some small, light ones that are waterproof and physically durable.
- Batteries: You’ll want not just batteries for your flashlights (which are essential) but also batteries for whatever other small electronics your disaster supply kit contains. Other general batteries you’ll want are AA, AAA, and 9V batteries, too, as well as CR123 batteries.
- Candles (and matches): Candles are a redundant backup to flashlights but in some ways they are better than them because they can be used to light fires. Plus, candles will work even if you can’t get access to batteries, and don’t have batteries that can die.
- Duct tape: Duct tape is a crucial prepper supply if only for the number of things for which it can be used. In addition to its use as a general fix-all, duct tape can also be used to create rope, splints, slings, bandages, waterproof vessels, bags, and much more.
- Vaseline: Like duct tape, vaseline has a plethora of uses, including but not limited to its use as a topical moisturizer and soothing agent, as a fire starter, as a fuel, as a lubricant, and much more.
- First aid kits: No collection of prepper supplies could be called complete without a first aid kit, necessary for the sundry, potentially life-saving items it contains. You can buy a pre-made first aid kit or curate the contents on your own but either way, it’s something you should have in your collection.
Where to Explore These and Other Prepper Supplies
Interested in bulking up your collection of prepper supplies? One of the best places to shop online for them is Fatigues Army Navy. Not only do they sell a variety of the supplies mentioned in this list, they carry many others.
The thing is no list of prepper supplies could ever be called truly complete. These are just a few of the essentials. It’s a good place to start, but with the rest of the offerings at Fatigues Army Navy, you’ll be better positioned to meet the unknown head-on.
