Disaster: Your Survival is at Stake. You have 15 minutes in a grocery store.

Something awful has happened in your state and you are lucky enough to have been entering a supermarket when you heard about it on the radio prior to your entrance.

You have ten or fifteen minutes to buy what you need and get out of the store before everyone else gets there.

What do you buy?

to go with the scotch

Mega-pack of TP!

We have a huge store of TP in the closet under our stairs. He has also stockpiled about thirty gallons of tide. Several huge bags of rice. He has a crank flashlight/combo radio.

We invested in a down comforter (the obscenely high fill kind, so we can go without heat at night). I like that investment.

We have drawers & drawers of vintage wool & cashmere sweaters, blankets, & a huge stockpile of old church candles.

We also have a big house, so we are guessing if things got really bad, we could be headquarters.

:)

Seriously, I think about disasters, but as I am still in a student apartment, there isn't a lot of prep I can do. We live in a Midwest earthquake zone and are reminded periodically to create a huge plastic garbage can full of essentials. . .but how do I do that when I hardly have room for the everyday stuff I have in this small apartment?

I have done some things. . .I have a crank radio, always buy the largest package of batteries (like those 36's or 64's) to keep on hand, two small battery lanterns, one pocket television, another portable radio with shortwave channels, a hand-held CB, a three-man tent and sleeping bag. .. I just invested in a Sherpa blanket (these warm me faster than an electric one ever did), Sherpa throw. . .

So if I had fifteen minutes in a store...it would be water, drink mix, purifier, a big bottle of liquor, lots of canned tuna, veggies, even Chef Boy-Ar-Dee, sterno, vitamins and supplements, basic drugs (aspirin, cold medicines) extra first aid stuff, chocolate...protein bars, drinks, canned/jars of fruit. . .

:evilgrin:

having been through three natural disasters since the beginning of the 21st century, i haven't seen any evidence that jacking somebody else for their food has ever helped anything

shotgun for self defense, yes

jacking your neighbot for their supplies, well, that's what a * or a cheney would do, it is not a normal reaction to a natural disaster tho

Disaster: Your Survival is at Stake. Maybe it's a nuclear disaster where a murder conviction isn't even a consideration.

Remember: Your survival is at Stake!

if it's a nuclear disaster and i'm dead anyway, i don't see the point of killing my fellow sufferers, unless they want to be put out of their misery, that is, and even then i think i would have trouble doing it with a gun

if i want to put myself out of my misery, it's my job to bring the booze, pills, and plastic shopping bag

but i bet if you quizzed everyone on DU who was in a disaster, for most, for it to be a true statewide disaster, it would be a natural disaster

your survival is at stake every time you drive to the grocery store, so what, i've been in real disasters, i don't scare as easy as you do apparently

os people who behave this way. I never saw it in NC. People did not do this in eastern nc. We were not armed, just checking on civil works, handing out water and evacuating medicals, mixed in with physical labor in the summer time.
However MPs would be inclined to arrest and or shoot you for endangering them or others in a disaster area.

I think I answered it. People break the law everyday to feed their families. I would do the same.

You are saying that you would take food from your neighbor, kill if necessary? We ain't talking about robbing a 7 friggn 11 here.
only people with food would be your neighbors. Curious, are you a Christian?

How long to you figure on staying alive to feed your family? Other people have guns. In my case, if you put one foot on my property in a disaster while armed you are going to be in my rifle scope. I would assume you are a threat to me & put you down.

If a starving family approached and ASKED for help I would share what I could.

:shrug:

http://www.beerlooterdude.net

http://www.looterguy.com/

:headbang:

he just thinks it somehow makes him look cool to say so :eyes:

even people who were literally starving on nationwide teevee during katrina did not jack people for food, people who commit armed robberies do it in good times and bad because they are bad guys, not to "feed their families"

will save him. I tell him they didn't help at Ruby Ridge.

Those who disagree that is better to pick up guns rather than food need to see "mad max", or the news about darfur.
Defence is a priority in all cases, specially in case of catastrophe. You would need weapons to protect yourself and your food from the gangs that would roam the wasteland in search of prey. Any man will kill to survive, and you cannot be naive to believe that every other guy will pick food instead of a weapon. Hell Zywiec wouldn't!!! In a real case scenario those who did not pick weapons would be killed and their food stolen.

:wtf:

Or a flood, or hurricane or blizzard?

MKJ

Since the disaster is non-specific, the use of firearms is conditional.


Regardless, in any prolongs disaster there will emerge people who were not prepared but will for their own survival seek out supplies. Since it is much easier to do when a) armed and b) in numbers, the gangs will emerge. A patchwork of diverse social orders will emerge and be tied to geographical areas, perhaps even on a block-by-block or building-by-building basis.

Suggested reading: Lucifer's Hammer. Those that were not prepared or organized wandered about, slowly coming into some sort of order. Those that were prepared but not organized headed for the hills. Those that were prepared and organized holed up in their secure places, limited immigration, and defended themselves against intruders. Those not prepared but were organized preyed on the prepared but not organized, stealing the food and supplies that others had gathered.

"If I have I gun, I'll never starve."

You're probably right... you'll probably just wind up becoming a stiff from an 'accidental' gun shot.

People go CRAZY over STUPID things. OP said "Disaster: your survival is at stake".

Be sure to have PLENTY of ammo - you will need it.

A REAL disaster hits an area - it will be survial of the well armed and the straightest-shooting.

Anyway, grab some water too.

Sure a few people out in the sticks can live off the land. But there is just not enough there for most to do it. Also, one annoying fact about guns is that without those brassy packets that go inside they become nothing more than so much scrap iron.

He wants to eat his neighbors. :hide: :evilgrin:

nt

but I have more squirrels and bunnies than I could possibly eat. On nice days, it's not unusual to look out in the yard and see a dozen or more squirrels. At night when I come up the lane the rabbits scatter and there are always doves out dusting themselves on the lane.

For people who would hunt, don't forget the lowly air rifle. Great for small-game/fowl, low noise, the ammo is priced right, and very little worry about over penetration or ricochets.

Regards, Mugu

You'd be fighting all the other fools who weren't prepared.

It's like $12 for a box of 9mm Para. now and that's just the practice grade. Two years ago it was like $8. I'm paying the same for 0.38sp. now that I was paying for 0.357mag. two years ago.

I think I have about 50,000 rounds of assorted calibers at home.

I bought a few cases before the price went up on 9, 0.38 and 0.357. I don't have a proper rifle (0.357 carbine) so I don't have any of that.

Besides saving money (in the long run) you can get better performance out of your ammunition.

Eventually I want to get into that.

Do not handload shotgun ammunition (especially waterfowl loads) over your expensive hardwood floors.

I'll restrict it to the cellar.

That's why I have about 200 rds of 00 Buckshot for my Benelli tactical shotgun, 200 rds ea of 30-06 & 300 Win Mag Ballistic Silver Tips for my bolt action rifles, and 500 rds of .40 S&W JSPs (with 4 extra magazines) for my Sig. That ammunition is kept separate from all my other ammunition and is to be used only in cases of emergency.

Will there be power at home? If not, a lot of canned food and bottled water. If so, then frozen vegetables, canned food, and bottled water. Various sundries. Rice. Vitamins, perhaps. Medication and first-aid supplies. Pet food.

Like I said, some of it depends on the disaster.

Some of the things I would buy include:

rice
iodine
salt
bandages
water
canned goods
soy nuts
duct tape :P

I'm sure I am forgetting essential items but these are the ones that jumped into my head

If necessary I can drink my martinis straight from the bottle with or without paper bag.

In L.A. you keep canned goods, medicines, bandages, off the counter pain medication (Ibuprofen), and other things. Apples keep. So does cheese. Water needs to be fresh.

all those things can be used to trade with others.

You need canned beans. Rice is not useful unless you can cook it. We probably would not have gas or electricity and would not dare set open fires here in California if there were are really bad emergency.

beef jerky, canned fruits and veggies, food bars. That's a start. oooohh....toilet paper.

I want to just listen to what everyone says, but I'm making my list right now, and it is very, very close to yours.

think about what's already in your disaster kit and you realize it probably took more than 15 minutes in one grocery store to get there

gasoline is the one thing that you really can't store safely, although i do try to keep reasonably "top offed" during hurricane season

Tobacco is worth a lot when the lights are out...

stockpile cigarettes, addicts will trade you anything you need for a carton or a pack. other than that though rice, coffee, and bottled water, possibly a high proof liquor for recreation and sterylization

obviously if it's another katrina, it would be all the food and water i could grab that didn't need to be refrigerated and also run out front (if it were a grocery with a gas station) and PUT GAS IN THE CAR -- my hurricane kit had food, water, medicine, but you can't safely stockpile gasoline and i had problems for weeks not being able to buy sufficient gas, at one point, my husband could not evac for rita because of not being able to get any more gas, he had returned to our house a bit early to secure it (it was torn open by katrina)

also important to buy ice, you'd be surprised how important it is to be able to drink something cool in a heat index of 108 degrees

a different disaster, such as a nuclear reactor meltdown and we're all dead in a few weeks anyway of radiation poisoning, might as well buy the finest champagne or scotch and steak they have and enjoy it while i still can digest without vomiting

different disasters call for different supplies, and what you grab when you hope for a long term future is different from what you grab if mr. anthrax has just sprayed the city with a weaponized form of ebola virus

Basic sterilizing stuff like alcohol and bleach.

That'd get me through a short crisis.

Oh...and a nice bottle of wine, just because.

canned meats (chicken, tuna, spam)
dried beans, rice, flour
salt, sugar, oil/lard
matches, propane
toilet paper, kleenex, aspirin/tylenol/etc
canned peaches/pineapple
canned tomatoes
bleach
vodka

and toss in some chips and cookies for good measure
and some beer, too

Guess I'll have to survive on food and water.

Hold on, that stockboy looks like he might have some weed on him....

The rules vary from province to province, but generally nothing in supermarkets. I think in Quebec you can get beer and wine, if made in Quebec, in convenience stores and supermarkets. Quebec beer is good, wine not so much.

The provinces make a ton of money selling alcohol and are resistant to letting private industry in on the game.

:mad:

What is the disaster?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=2760373&mesg_id=2760439

:P

beans
grains (rice)
jerky
peanut butter
canned foods (soup, canned veggies....)
a small charcoal grill and matches
first aid supplies
water filteration (brita pitcher and spare filters)
bleach
large plastic garbage bags

my neighborhood had no electricity for a month and i was in one of the earliest neighborhoods to be allowed back into our homes

items that need to be cooked or stored cold are worthless in a genuine disaster -- anything that needs to be cooked or chilled is a terrible choice for a disaster kit

you need to be thinking canned goods, ice, etc.

but in my humble experience, my kit had everything i needed and more to get by a few days -- including the vodka


the things we ran short of were the things that couldn't be stored, ice and gasoline

If there's electricity, it's not much of a disaster.

:P

that new invention is not your friend and it isn't a friend to those unlucky enough to be around you either

easy to see at glance who has actually been in a disaster, in fact, many of us, the disaster in question WAS a fire, some of the california crowd can back me up on that

a lot of you folks, with 15 minutes to think about it, are going to be making some terrible decisions

if i need to.

there is some scary badly misinformed people here on this thread

you do not go around blithely starting fires during a disaster that affects supply of electricity and water, did you know that during an earthquake, one of the biggest causes of destruction is FIRE? did you know that a lot of buildings, including an entire shopping mall, was lost to katrina because of FIRE? where there is a widespread destruction, there is no ability to put out fires, there are no firetrucks able to get to the scene in many cases!!!!

you "can" do a lot of things, but a smart person is not setting fires willy nilly in many of the most common disasters, and they sure as hell would be an idiot to want to sit over a fire cooking for the length of time required to prepare dried beans!

your disaster kit IS the disaster, think about it, investigate, and think about it some more

the disaster or during the disaster. That's not why you've gone shopping. You use food from the fridge/freezer in the first two days. Then the disaster shopping kicks in. By then the fires from the disaster are usually out and you need to cook, boil water, etc. If your car survives you can use the hook up via the lighter and boil water. If not you will need that BBQ or coal stove, coal pot whatever.
Think four to eight weeks without electricity. You're shopping for at least four of them.

Soak the peas and cook using a coal stove - add coconut milk and seasoning - great meal. We lived on dried peas for weeks after Gilbert. Eggs can be soaked in salt for up to six months and remain perfectly fresh. You'd be surprised what can be kept fresh - learn from the poor country folks.

and in event of a natural disaster about to hit in 15 minutes they are not suddenly going to acquire them

i agree eggs can be kept fresh longer than most people realize, but the person on this thread who doesn't know that open flame is an issue during many natural disasters is also not going to know the secret ways of storing eggs

keep it simple stupid (not calling you stupid, it's the name of the principle, called KISS)

you have 15 minutes and in this person's case they admittedly have no groceries stored, they are not a preparedness minded individual

they'd better just grab the canned stuff

or if push comes to shove any old pot will do. In a disaster coal is king. Cooking outside is safer unless you're sure they're no gas leaks. In rural Jamaica, the old folks used to buy eggs in summer when they are cheap and soak them in salt until December (when the price increases) when they baked Christmas cakes. The eggs remained as fresh as they were when they left the market.
Any dried peas are great. We even add chicken broth from packets. Salt fish is great hurricane food. We make fish balls with potatoes, onion and hot pepper sauce and roast them on the BBQ - great with bread. I think I should produce a hurricane cook book.

We don't eat canned stuff and we live in a hurricane area so we're always semi-prepared. Potatoes last for ages - good disaster food.

and lots of cheap salt then just make sure the eggs are completely buried in salt. Do not cover.

I have long been convinced that people who do not abandon survival techniques used by the ancestors are way more likely to survive than those who abandon everything in the name of modern living.

Does the temperature of the eggs matter? Cold from the fridge means they'll get condensation and wet the salt, so does that affect the process? How long is this good for? I don't know if store-bought eggs have anything on the shells (like wax, it seems all the fruit is waxed) or does that matter.

This is fascinating information. I really want to try it.

Hekate

Rural peeps buy fresh eggs from the market but you can let supermarket eggs reach room temperature and use them.
Check these - they preserved eggs for two years - hahahahahahaha
http://books.google.com/books?id=BRjcXH0NgP8C&pg=PA200&lpg=PA200&dq=preserving+eggs+in+salt&source=web&ots=bcW6-7RuiY&sig=AnIbiNMxJ8hiRHPQFWL76MfHyYA

People here preserve them for about five months using just salt.

Here are several google links
http://www.google.com.jm/search?client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&channel=s&hl=en&q=preserving+eggs+in+salt&btnG=Google+Search

Edit subject

in most of your posts to this thread you seem to act like fire in any form is your enemy...it is not. With reasonable precautions fire is a necessary tool in most "survival" situations.

sP

I'm afraid I'd just have to pick up a bag of charcoal briquettes and/or scavenge.

Hekate

and the supermarket bags work really well. Store them in garbage bags so they don't get wet.

... it would have to last a long time in storage, and I notice the paper bags really deteriorate over time, then leak black dust. I bet a new plastic trash can would work too -- I've used them from time to time for long term storage of toys and such in my garage.

I was teasing about the coal -- it would make sense in regions where people actually use the stuff already, but I've never lived there and really have only seen a few pieces of actual anthracite.

Hekate

Hubby buys our coal from a rural community organization who earn money picking up fallen trees after storms/hurricanes and making their own coal.
It's quite an art.

I know homes in rural Jamaica where they have a modern kitchen and a coal kitchen away from the house. Coal can be messy but believe me food cooked with coal tastes much better.

coal trains pass by, so there was always a supply. Bituminous coal is what we have here in Ky, not the hard, clean Anthracite.

Yeah, we were poor.

Could you elaborate? Thanks!

Lots of our ancestors kept fresh eggs pre electricity :D
add

As many others have pointed out, it's not easy to decide without an idea of what the disaster is. I live in a semi-arid region, no rainfall 8 months of the year, no nearby natural sources of fresh water, so dried items (which I have plenty of on hand anyway) are useless emergency foods. Fuel's not the problem: I have my camping stuff and can find some stuff to burn in the house and neighborhood if necessary, but with my water supplies limited to what's in my water heater and stored under the porch beans and rice aren't much use.

Canned goods for this area, something that stores at room temperature, can be eaten out of the can, and doesn't break when the earthquake knocks it off the shelf. Ice is nice, but we don't get all that hot -or cold. But as much water as possible.

BTW, I'm in the Bay Area, about 2 miles from the San Andreas fault. Other regions will have different emergency requirements.

also plenty of wood right out my door.

but the only electric cooking appliance i have is the microwave, anyway.

Undergarments.

WATER- learned this in scouts- you can live at least a week without food but only a few days without water. Most disasters involve an interruption in the water supply

the lists here read just like my camping master list

Most likely scenario for my area is a major earthquake. While I keep a water supply at home, extra won't hurt. The soups, while they have too much sodium, can be eaten without heating if necessary, since power and gas may be gone. It's not the best diet, but will suffice for a short emergency, say a week.

The big problem, though, is if there is a disaster, how am I going to get this stuff - and myself - home?

Mind you, I've done a lot of planning, so I already have necessities like batteries, lights, radios, cash, etc...


So I put on my list:

Canned fish (which I already have stored, but need to be replenished)
Protein powder (tubs of whey powder)
L-glutamine, the amino acid
Nut butters, especially organic peanut and almond.
Nuts in general.
One gallon Tubs of water to add to what I all ready have.
Canned oysters in cottonseed
Canned organic beans
Spices: Curcumin, Turmeric, hot spices that are anti-carcinogens
Olive oil containing dressings

And as for supplements:

Fish Oil
B complex
Vitamin C, as pure as I can get it
Magnesium
Niacin
Ginko
Ginseng
Vitamin A
Berry derivatives, especially blueberry for eye protection
Selenium
Vitamin D

were used as folk medicine after atomic blasts.

They are good for radiation poisoning.

So, I can assure a death by chocolate...:evilgrin:


Seriously, my list is like most of the comprehensive ones, but I'd be hitting the vacuum packaged salmon and tuna and peanut butter, beans, rice, water for sure-- also nuts, hard cheese, etc., etc.

what kind of disaster leaves the lights on just long enough so hippy folks can cook their beans and rice every night?

in event of a real disaster, the beans and rice are dead weight

No sweat with light cooking during snowstorm induced power outages, etc. I can even make my latte (with canned milk).

You don't have a camping stove or the ability to boil water over an open fire in your yard?

Hell, I could boil the water on a grate on my fireplace.

Google Katrina rainbow kitchen.
Rainbow clans can set up field kitchens from nothing in no time flat.
If there is ever a disaster-follow the hippys.

My shopping list
Water filtration equipment
Bic lighters
Batterys
Sport nutrition bars(Powerbar,Odwella,slimfast etc...)
Staple foods like beans rice etc
Simple first aid and medical supplies
Salt
Coffee
Booze
Tobacco

Far better to have a means of purifying water than having to try to carry water.
One can only carry around so much water.Having purification equipment allows one to not only have clean water for yourself but makes it easy to supply others with clean water in the event of a disaster.

Canned foods since they can be retained w/o refrigeration and potatoes since they are a much more storable form of Vitamin C. Since trucking would all but shutdown, one needs to maintain at least a basic supply of Vitamin C.

i don't think potatoes are a good source of vit. c, and potatoes are dangerous to be eaten uncooked FOR SURE, just grab a bottle of vit. c tabs if this is a big worry

did you mean to say bell peppers? they are a good source of vit. c, can be eaten raw, and store a reasonable time without refrigerator

younger. Still alive and kicking.

look up solanine

i don't know what you actually ate, but the memory is a funny thing, and i guess all of us have some memories that never happened

of potatoes to help carry us through the winter, and I peeled them and ate them like apples. They were delicious. I still like raw potatoes, put a bit of salt on them and eat them like an apple. I've always eaten them like that.

Sometimes I get a craving for a raw potato. I eat at least a couple a month like that. Still kicking.

said there had been too much rain and the potatoes were real big, but hollow inside..they were the bestest I ever ate. They were kind of sweet raw. Never found any like them since.

and i would be glad to eat one as is...i enjoy dipping them in a little salt and then crunching in...and i promise you that i have not died from them as of yet

sP

OnEdit...cooking doesn't seem to reduce your deadly poison much...

<snip>
Deep-frying potatoes at 170°C (306°F) is known to effectively lower glycoalkaloid levels, whereas microwaving is only somewhat effective and boiling has no effect.
<snip>
Source : Wikipedia

Since they last much longer unrefrigerated before they get nasty than bread will.

as for the uncooked rice and beans - you can eat them UNCOOKED - they just swell up in your stomach...

eggs Oatmeal/ cream of wheat
..tea coffee
to trade for dairy stuff a chicken and a goat if possible too

I'm all stocked up on canned goods

...

canned hams, canned fish, dried fruits, nuts, sausages, hard candy, water lots and lots of water, aspirin, anti-bacterial gel hand wash stuff, canned beans, cat food - clean out entire aisle, aerosol cheese stuff, peanut butter,sundries, bottles of lemon juice, multivitamins

Why not buy them ahead of time?

but first would be water..as much as I could get. One thing no one mentioned is candles. Having candles makes life a lot more doable in a disaster.

i know of too many fatal fires caused by people without electricity using candles, and not all of the fires were katrina related, from smaller economic disasters too, for instance, a neighbor's family was broke, electric was cut off, they used candles, one of them accidentally somehow lit a curtain, well, long story short, one of the children was burned to death in the resulting fire

that said, i too have candles in my kit but i also have those long burning type white light flashlights that never seem to have the batteries run out!

purchase solar-powered landscaping lights. They will light up the room enough to navigate around and without the fire hazard. The ones I had would last about six hours before dying. Of course in a emergency situation, I found that we all went to bed early and it didn't matter.

And if the generator isn't working, you can use a hand-crank flashlight to read a book with.

will we be cut off from re-supply for two days? a week? a month? for good? is it bad weather(and if so, is it summer or winter?), a revolution? aliens from outer space?

we're semi-rural already, and i pretty much always have at least two weeks worth of food on-hand, we have well water, a whole-house standby generator for power outages, as well as being fairly well-equipped for self-defense of the domicile.

i guess i'd probably get whatever it was i was going in for in the first place, as well as grabbing some things that i could horde and barter with, or sell for a nice profit to those people who weren't lucky enough to be near the store when the disaster occurred...this is the land of opportunisticness.

batteries, dry milk, canned food and lots of it - particularly canned meat and canned whole meal type stuff, healthy dry cereal, candles - particularly the kind that worked with these little camp stove things we had - we didn't buy water back then but in a blizzard of course you can melt snow. That's about as much as I remember. Oh and kerosene because we had a kerosene heater in case of blizzards and power outages.

Water source, food sources are all around (deer, game, garden, canned stuff.)

Deployed on hurricane relief and water was a major problem for most people. If you have no way to pump it or store it problems follow.

After 30 days people run out of prescription medications.

Basically I do not want to be around people in the event of a major problem.

There are two kinds of people, those who carry jumper cables, and those who do not. The people who do not are always going to need help..

I don't know how to actually use jumper cables, but they have really come in handy a couple of times. I also carry a full kit for emergency car repairs on the same principle.

And I will thank you charmingly for your trouble.

I may be a dork but I'm not prone to attacks of the vapors.

Hekate

I cannot survive without the latest news of the celebrities in Hollywood.

I need the advice that only Cosmo can give me.

I also need to know about the latest Elvis sightings, and the latest UFO landings.

I also need all those "find a word" puzzles, too.

And who can lilve without the latest "Pillsbury Bakeoff Recipes"? Gotta have that!

I already keep large quanitity staples ie: sugar, flour, rice, oatmeal, canned goods at home out of GP. The season matters as well, because winter sucks, but it is nature's fridge. You could concievably stock up on a bit of perishable protein. Cheeses can last awhile unrefridgerated. I'd probably stock up on the more ephemeral stuff ie: T.P., medicines, shampoo, razor blades (all hotly traded in the former soviet union during their collapse, I recall hearing). I'd also fill in anything I was low on and probably come back to fill my water jugs if I could. ...Oh, and cat food. I'm probably more worried about food for the cats than I am for myself.

edit to add: I buy Dr. Bronner's by the gallon so I have soap for a year. I tend to think ahead that way :).

your answers than mine. I know what my answers are, and they are, like, 80% satisfactory to me. Something is missing.

But big bags of rice and beans would definitely be on the list.

(Sorry, man. I couldn't help myself.)

Isn't this how the game works?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supermarket_Sweep

I think it work like this. Instead of trying to load the cart with the biggest grocery bill, the contestants are placed on a deserted island with only what they can put in the cart. The contestant that lasts the longest wins.

peanut butter, dry beans, canned meat and fish, powdered milk
salt, canned greens, spices, vitamins

Lots of dried peas, bread, eggs*, salt, Flour, coconut powder, canned milk, salted fish, pickled mackarel, rice, noodles, pasta, potatoes, crackers, water, beer, wine, coffee, batteries, matches, candles, kerosene, paper towels, jiffy cloths, toilet paper, bleach, vinegar.

That's it. Then I'll fill up the tank and head home.

We always store coal for emergencies.

*fill a container with salt and place eggs - they last for months.
Add.

Imodium for when I find out what just happened.

Lil Debbie cakes and the almost 100 degree heat after Katrina don't mix together well.

I bought them as a snack and the super sweetness in the heat made me ill. UGH.

While it didn't give me distress, it's the kind of thing that just sits in your stomach like a rock. I'm definitely sticking the the blander snacks for my hurricane supplies next time.

There were some afternoon rainshowers a couple of days later.
I ran outside with my soap and shampoo to bathe with hopes that it lasted long enough for the rinse cycle.

Better than gold on the black market.

Water, Water, and More Water
Bandages
Batteries
Candles
Lighters
Matches
Soap
Tylenol
Immodium
Bleach
TP
Vitamin C Tablets
Can Opener
Beef Jerky
Canned Beans
Canned Soups
Canned Tuna
Spam
Crackers
Peanut Butter
Honey
Canned Peaches
Dried Peaches
Nuts
Raisins
Apples
CHOCOLATE!
Cheese

Two Absolute Dietary Requirements:

SALT
OIL

Duh!

Plus I'd wipe out all of their gummy candy.

If I couldn't have bananas, life would not be worth living.

OK, maybe banana chips ... yeah, banana chips.

Bottled water, Tang and little cereal boxes (you name me a disaster where Tang and little cereal boxes aren't appropriate! -- they kept my family alive in every budget motel room we traveled to when we were kids on vacation!)

Canned goods -- veggies, fruit and tuna. Lotsa canned Bartlett pear halves; dried corn. Can opener. Peanut butter, Kashi bars (the ones with all the nuts and grains), Kashi wheat crackers; and every almond and raisin I can get my hands on! And Sunsweet prunes (I don't need THAT problem on top of a nuclear disaster, now do I?). Cans of black, white and red beans.

And herbs de provence. Can't live without my herbs de provence.

I would have been soooooooooooooooo screwed!

And chocolate! What was I thinking???

See, this would be me two hours after I already left the store and was bunkered down somewhere... going, "Oh SHIT! I forgot the coffee and chocolate!!!"

Powdered Milk
Batteries
Huge bags of rice
brown rice
Flour
Soap
Peanut butter
Yeast
Potatoes
Beans
Canned Soup
Canned Food
Tampons
Dried Pasta

And, as many Cadbury fruit & nut bars as I could carry

Batteries would be another purchase if I had the time. I'd get more triple As for my mp3 player.

ETA: Microwave popcorn. I'd go home and pop it, bag it in gallon bags, and then eat it later as a snack. I did this in preparation for Katrina and it worked out really well.

I also would probably buy more water containers as well and fill them up at home. You never can have too much water.

And DONUTS!

I'll assume my bank-card has a little range and I expect bad shit to be coming down....I'll assume I'm also given I have a kitchen and pantry already equipped and available-so I walk in after hearing this-I shop as follows...Flour, sugar, rice,....baking soda and powder...yeast...boullion cubes. Looking for stuff that will not be produced and long expiration dates...large amounts of salt. Cured/preserved meats...slab bacon.Root vegetables.Tons of potatoes, carrots, turnips, and cabbages...lard because it takes longer to become rancid...Bagged noodles and rices for light weight. Deli-cured salamis. Check for rennet as a building block towards cheese....Toilet paper as a great light space filler...a trip down the "beauty products" aisle...ibuprofen, oragel, toothpaste, antisceptic gel....three days worth of beef. Non-refrigerated meats (small canned hams pepperomi slim jims) and blocks of cheese.Two Gallons of milk and two dozen eggs. Two pounds of Butter.Five gallons of oil.Kielbasa.A mess of canned tomatoes.Grated parmesan cheese.Canned saurkraut and beets.Aluminum foil and plstic wrap.A pack of plastic knives forks and spoons.Two cases of bottled water.Candy Bars...I guess thats about it....

We shop at Costco now, so we usually have an abundance of paper goods on hand, like TP and paper towels. I'd need to supplement what I have, which in addition to the above is at least half a dozen novena candles. The novena candles are courtesy of the Mexican Foods section of Ralph's grocery -- they are in a tall glass and are supposed to last a week of continuous burning, plus you get a prayer in both English and Spanish, which would be handy in times of stress.

I notice other religions use them as well: when my father in law passed away the Jewish burial society sent us a white candle exactly like the Catholic ones minus the pictures of Jesus and Mary. We put it in a safe place and yes, it burned for a week.

They're safer than other kinds of candles, and I keep them under the sinks for power outages.

My home made disaster kit includes a pair of leather gloves in case we have to dig out of the rubble from an earthquake. The tool to turn off the gas outside is wired to the gas meter. We have a radio with a crank battery, and some flashlights that also have wind-up batteries. We have a camping potty that uses plastic trash bags, if it gets that bad.

With 15 minutes to spare I'd mentally assess my pantry. What I want is a filling and reasonably nutritious diet, but I have to be careful of too much fiber for my husband because he has had ulcerative colitis. I have IBD with the opposite problem.

Number One: be aware of your family's special needs.

Dry goods:
Rice
Instant coffee
Powdered breakfast drink like Tang
Crackers, if I make it down that aisle

Canned goods:
Fruit
Tomatoes - stewed has a good flavor and vitamins A and C
Green vegetables, a couple of different kinds
Corn
Kidney beans and other beans
Vegetarian-style refried beans
Meat, fish, chicken
Milk

Other:
Peanut butter, the hydrogenated kind that needs no refrigeration
Oil
Water
Hand-wipes and baby-wipes for personal cleansing

Fresh apples, hard cheese

I could zip through all the aisles of my local Vons picking up as I go. I think this list lives in my head.... And I am learning from all of you.

We had a major fire come within 3 miles of us in 1990. We live in earthquake country. We live in a narrow coastal zone easily pinched off at either end by floods, fires, mudslides, and even train wrecks.

And George Bush let us all know that if anything bad happens we are bloody well on our own. I wept and raged not only for the residents of New Orleans, but for all of us.

Hekate

edited to add a few comments

as I could fit in the grocery cart. :P

Go ahead. Eat and drink... it's going to smell real bad... I may be dead, but nobody will have to wear a gas mask when removing my award winning corpse. :P

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=2760373&mesg_id=2760439

Or Gas Masks. :silly:

For my meds and my husband's meds. After that, all of the canned food and batteries that we can grab.

:shrug:

I have camping gear, so I'm good one batteries, flashlights, stove, etc.

I live in a rural small town, have enough consumables to get by for several weeks as it is. I have food that doesn't need to be cooked and plenty of water. We have frequent power outages so am accustomed to that situation. Most of town had power out for 3-4 days after an ice storm a few years ago, including banks/atm's; cash comes in handy.

We can survive a while without food but we must have water!

I'd fucking raid the jerky section.

This was really fun....and informative.

...in case the disaster affects my internet connection

Let the people who need to improvise have what they need from the store. Good luck to them.


If you don't have a plan like this in your family already, you aren't going to make it without a lot of extra worry and difficulty.

Disaster preparedness does not mean "Have a shopping list ready".

:argh:

We purchase basic hurricane supplies every May before the season begins and we have a meeting place arrangement as well, but anytime we spot one coming we still head to the supermarket for other stuff. Potatoes, bread, etc. don't last from May to November.

With an earthquake, you have very little warning if any.

The things you mention are the kinds of things I most often buy when I go to a supermarket anyway. I agree it would make sense to buy them, if you have a chance.

My point is that I can get by comfortably on what I keep in my house at all times.

We always have emergency food supplies, water, batteries, coal, bleach, TP and a very good first aid kit, but if we get advanced notice we'll always add to our supplies.

That said, we can survive at least a week if an earthquake shakes up the place now although two more bottles of wine would be nice.

Something awful has happened, I doubt anyone is going to be manning the cash registers.

From the inside. We'd all survive just fine right there in the store.

:P

Lots of Condoms :bounce:

:thumbsup:

OK, here's my list:

Rice
dried beans of all kinds
tomato paste in tubes
canned tuna, salmon and crab
instant potatoes
dried milk
canned milk
honey
maple syrup
whole wheat flour
white flour
batteries
soy sauce
wine
candles
jars of concentrated chicken, beef, mushroom and vegetable concentrate
dried mushrooms
pasta
canned tomatoes
canned veggies
blocks of cheddar, parmesan
bottled water
bandages, topical antibiotics, pain relief medication anti-diarrhea medication hydrogen peroxide, alcohol, betadine, soaps, eyewash, bleach, baking soda
kerosene for lamps

I already have everything I need stocked up at home.

...hundreds and hundreds of them! Then I'll cook them over the burning remains of my apartment.

...no one would buy Hot Pockets?

Fill up my gas tank and withdraw cash.

if a disaster of no-more-civilization proportions, any vegetable seeds, more first aid supplies.

I'd buy some bottled water, coffee filters (in case I need river water after the bottled water runs out), a ton of snickers bars, multivitamins, tylenol, nyquil, socks, something to use as a weapon, duct tape, matches, and condoms.

:rofl: :shrug:

Situations like that, depending on how long they last and the circumstances, could lead to all sorts of opportunities or needs. Hey, I'm a passionate person, and what better ways are there to temporarily escape hardship right?

Well having that said, depending on the circumstances, I wouldn't want to survive the disaster only to be thwarted by some disease down the road, or cause some women I likely may never see again to have to all of a sudden have to raise a child alone, ya know?

Just being responsible. Horny, but responsible. :rofl:

:)

:rofl:

I have a solar well pump so there would be plenty of water available. I might buy a couple of premium steaks like two inch thick ribeyes- one last "good meal" before I have to eat beenie weenies to survive.

Further investigation will reveal more about their nature:

> what is a grue?

The grue is a sinister, lurking presence in the dark places of the earth.
Its favorite diet is adventurers, but its insatiable appetite is tempered
by its fear of light. No grue has ever been seen by the light of day, and
few have survived its fearsome jaws to tell the tale.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grue_(monster)

Do you:

1. Re-enter the Supermarket? Turn to #21.

2. Walk down the black alley? Turn to #60.

3. Barricade oneself inside the gun store? See last page.

As you turn down the dark alley, you hear a horrible gurgling noise. "If only I had purchased a flashlight before I reached the checkout line" you think, as you are immediately consumed by slavering fangs, razor-sharp claws, and death awaits you all with pointy little teeth.

THE END

Get containers that you can fill up from the tap - unless the water is already disrupted or contaminated.

I also keep a backpacker's water filter and purification tabs in the emergency kit.

One trick - close the stopper on your bathtub(s) and fill it. If you have less than a perfect seal, drip candle wax over it. This provides you with a large in-house store of water. YOu probably don't want to drink it, but with a pail it can be used to refill the toilet many times after flushing and cleaning.

We fill a massive tank for everything but drinking and buy water for drinking, cooking and coffee. Since the hurricane season finished, we're drinking last year's hurricane water. We still have about ten three lt. bottles left.

Only have 4 rolls in the "Bug-out kit". That won't last long.

A pack of smokes. Then I take one out, light it and watch with bemused entertainment as the apocolyptic end-timers run like pinballs.

Then, fifteen minutes later when the aliens land, they give me the keys to the whole planet for my assistance, and you all become my loyal subjects...

(I like the crust cut off my grilled cheese sandwich, you bunch of peasants...)

...that so many people have lost their way so badly that they cannot provide the basics of existence without supermarkets and power/utility companies.

Here in Earthquake Country, anyone who isn't prepared BEFORE disaster strikes is asking to be in a world of shit with no TP.

Lost their way from what? Living as a hunter-gatherer?

I could as easily say, "lost their way so badly that they cannot understand The Epic of Gilgamesh in the original Akkadian.", as the arts are also a fundamental basic of existence.

Canned beans will last indefinitely and are extremely nutritious. They can be eated cold if necessary.

If city water stopped, most people would be screwed. We can only last maybe two days without it and it is necessary for digestion. In other words you can't eat if there is no water.

i hate camping and could not possibly endure without my beloved bathroom, tasty food, and luxurious bed.

what's the point of trying to survive at that point? living a la Mad Max in the aftermath is just gauche. go out with a bang, i say...