Authored By :
Bill Kochman
Published On :
October 17, 1999
Last Updated :
February 27, 2020
A List Of Mainly Nonperishable Items Which You May Wish To Store In Your Home In The Event Of An Impending Emergency, Major Crisis Or Disaster Occurring In Your Area Of The World
As requested by some of my online friends, I have compiled the following list of survival items for your consideration. This list is basically the same as the items I mention in my article called "Y2K Preparation: Are You A Procrastinator?". The primary difference is that I am also including precise amounts, size per piece where applicable, and pieces per case where applicable. As I explain in the companion article "Y2K: How Bad Will It Get?", after some prayer and study of the Word, I have chosen to prepare our family for a possible period of trouble of seven months, during which time food and other basic human necessities may be limited on store shelves. Thus, this list serves as an example survival list for two people for a period of seven months, based upon a thirty-day month, or two hundred and ten days.
Please note that this list is based upon personal preference regarding food items. You can alter this list as much as you want, based upon your family's personal food tastes. You may want to add a large quantity of canned and dried fruits to this list for example. In short, the following survival list is only meant to serve as the framework for your Y2K -- or other crisis -- preparations. Depending upon the size, age and gender of your particular family's structure, it may not be complete.
Allow me to also stress that this items list is geared more towards urban and suburban dwellers; many of whom live in densely-populated apartment complexes. As such, due to the possible infestation by rats, cockroaches, beetles, and other pests, you will not find listed here many food items which are sold in either paper or plastic bags, cardboard boxes, or burlap sacks, such as rice, beans, flour, powdered milk, and so forth. This list consists primarily of canned goods which are readily available on the store shelves of many cities around the world. The product brand and size may be a little different depending upon your locale, but the basic contents will be about the same. Of course, if you have sufficient space, it is possible to store the afore- mentioned items in tightly sealed metal cans, such as those large galvanized garbage cans. As anyone can tell you, large city rats have no problem chewing through plastic, or even through thin metal, so watch out! Please don't waste your money on items which may not survive the duration of whatever crisis you may be facing.
Allow me to also state that unlike the American culture, which stresses three wholesome meals a day, while many of the poor people of the world are starving, this list offers one or two good meals a day for two people, plus sufficient liquid per day, and a few snacks. Believe me, if the degree of the crisis you face is sufficiently severe, you will more than likely be out of a job, at least temporarily. If this is the case, your body may be a lot less active; which means that it will also require less food, being as you will not be expending as much physical energy. Please remember that the main objective of this list, is to survive, and not to live "high off the hog" as they say in the United States.
If you are hit with a major, extended crisis, you may be surprised to find out how little one can survive on when he needs to. Finally, I feel that it is also wise to mention that if you do have an impending crisis which is drawing really close, it is probably foolish to even consider placing large orders with survival companies which offer dehydrated and freeze-dried food stuffs. Why? Because most, if not all of them, will probably already be months behind in their orders, due to the large demand for such items. Of course, if the expected crisis is still months away, then go for it and place your order.
Survival Items List For Two People For A Seven-Month Period:
Unless otherwise stated, the size of the cans is about 13-16 ounces per can, depending upon the brand name you choose.
Liquids:
210 gallons of commercial drinking water in one gallon jugs. We purchased this in cases of six jugs per case. This amount allows one half gallon per person per day.
210 cans of "Seven Up" soft drink/soda. We purchased this item in cases of twenty-four cans each. While most soft drinks are loaded with sugar, for those of you with sensitive stomachs like myself, this item, or perhaps "Sprite", may prove to be very beneficial. Not only that, but being as you may be using some of your drinking water for cooking purposes, the canned soda will contribute to your getting a half gallon of liquid per day.
210 cans of canned milk. Personally, I do not like the taste of canned milk; however, you might; and if you have children in your family, this is also a wise item to have on hand.
Canned Goods:
210 cans of whole kernel corn. We purchased this in cases of twenty-four cans per case with six left over.
210 cans of cut green beans. We are purchasing this in cases of twenty-four cans per case with six left over.
210 cans of chili with beans. We purchased this in cases of twenty-four cans per case with six left over.
210 cans of pink salmon. We are purchasing this in cases of twelve cans per case with six left over. The pink salmon is cheaper than the red salmon.
210 cans of "Chef Boyardee Beefaroni" in 26 oz. cans. I am not sure how many cans come in a case, as it is out of stock at the moment, and we have thus far only purchased a few single cans.
210 cans of "Chef Boyardee Mini Ravioli" in 40 oz. cans. I am not sure how many cans come in a case, as it is out of stock at the moment, and we have thus far only purchased a few single cans.
7 cans of natural, raw, unfiltered mountain honey in five pound cans. If there is no electricity, there will obviously be no bread being made; however, you can still use honey in your tea or coffee, or even eat a teaspoon or tablespoon of it to boost your energy. Honey is much better for you than white sugar; and being as it is in cans, it is much better protected from pests, than sugar which is normally sold in a bag or a cardboard box.
Energy Snacks:
The following items are good energy sources, and contain significant levels of fiber, iron, and other important minerals.
70 six-packs of raisins in 1.5 oz. boxes, or a total of 420 1.5 oz. boxes of raisins. This is sufficient for a two-person team to have one box per day. If you get these, make sure you store them in a metal container if you can. This applies to any dried fruits you may choose to purchase. Rats would go straight for these!
210 8 ounce boxes of "Fig Newtons". While you can purchase these in larger sizes, remember, the idea is to only open what you need, as you need it, so that it doesn't go bad or get moldy, or attract varmints. As with the raisins, keep these in a metal container if necessary.
210 6 ounce cans of cashews, or other type of nuts. We prefer the cashews ourselves. They are more expensive, but their mineral content is good.
Other Food Items:
7 jars of Garlic Salt in 19 oz. jars. Not only is garlic good for you, but you can use it to spice up your corn, green beans, salmon or tuna, etc.
7 cartons of iodized salt in 26 oz. containers. If you don't like garlic, then you may prefer regular salt to add some flavor to your canned foods. Not only that, but if you live in a tropical climate, unlike those living in the cold north who may be freezing when Y2K hits full force, you may be doing a lot of sweating without your air-conditioner. You are going to need to replace all of that salt that your body is losing.
7 Bottles of soy sauce. As an alternative to garlic salt and regular salt, you may prefer to use soy sauce. I have found that it tastes great on some of the canned food items mentioned above. We purchased this item in two-quart bottles.
7 Boxes of "Lipton Tea Bags". Each box contains 48 tea bags. For a number of years, I stayed away from both coffee and tea; however, during this year, a dear friend presented us with a gift which included a large tea cup and a cute porcelain tea steeper. Needless-to- say, I am hooked again. Tea with honey is a nice hot beverage; particularly for those of you who may be freezing up in the cold north when Y2K hits. Not only that, but it is much lower in caffeine than coffee; so it doesn't give you the jitters.
Toiletries And Cleaners:
Some of the following items may, or may not, be useable, depending upon whether or not you have water in your home, or if your city or town has a water supply station near you. Remember, you may not have any motorized transportation, since gasoline may be rationed, or gasoline pumps may not even be working due to a lack of power; so you may be forced to carry limited amounts of water to your home every day.
12 four-roll packages of toilet paper. We purchased the 1000-sheet one-ply rolls. That's enough for two people to wipe their bottom, blow their nose, or whatever else they need to do with it.
12 15 oz. bottles of shampoo.
7 8 oz. tubes of toothpaste.
28 5 oz. bars of bath soap.
14 7.5 pump bottles of liquid hand soap.
12 1 1/2 gallon bottles of regular bleach. We purchased this item in cases of six bottles each. Not only can you use it to purify water if it is available, but if you are careful with the fumes, you can use it to sterilize the toilet bowl as well.
7 42 oz. bottles of liquid dish soap.
14 plastic containers of "wet ones", or "baby wipes". Each container holds eighty tissues. Let us assume that you have no running water whatsoever, and the nearest water station is not within a reasonable distance of your home. While you have enough drinking water, what are you going to do to keep your body clean? You certainly don't want to waste your precious drinking water. Baby wipes can be very handy in such a case. It might not be nearly as good as taking a bath or shower, but at least you can clean up after meals with them and refresh yourself.
Other Survival Items:
2 butane stoves. Originally, we just had one stove, but wisdom dictates that it is a good idea to have a spare available in case the first one breaks in some way. If the kids are real hungry, you might even consider using both stoves at the same time to prepare the meal; although I think it is wiser to teach them to have patience, and keep that second stove as a spare.
224 cans of butane fuel. We purchased eight cases, which each contains seven four-packs, or twenty-eight cans per case. This is enough for one can of fuel per day. If you have a large family, you may need to get much more than this.
210 boxes of candles. Each box contains six candles. That will give you six candles for about a twelve hour period from 6 pm to 6 am. You may want more, depending upon how many rooms you wish to light.
48 four-packs of AA batteries. We purchased these to use with our am/fm/shortwave radio, as well as with our little emergency flashlight; and we may use them sparingly with our little tape recorder to play our KJV Bible tapes.
??? boxes of stick matches. I didn't bother to calculate this one. You will need them to light your candles, perhaps to start your butane stove, and maybe to burn your paper trash if you are able to and permitted to by your local authorities. All I can say is, being as match heads sometimes become unusable due to moisture I would get a lot of these.
??? plastic garbage bags. Again, I didn't bother to calculate this one. We haven't purchased any of these yet being as we always save our plastic grocery bags and recycle them by using them as garbage bags.
As noted above, this list is not meant to be all-inclusive. I am sure that you will think of other items that you would like to have on hand should some kind of serious crisis wreak havoc in your life for an undetermined amount of time. In fact, even if a crisis or catastrophe is not imminent, it still wouldn't hurt to have these survival supplies on hand. As Christians, we all know that sooner or later, the world's systems are going to collapse. In addition to this, many of us live in areas of the world where other things, such as volcanoes, earthquakes, hurricanes and typhoons, heavy monsoon rains, heavy snow storms, floods, etc., threaten our lives on a periodic basis. If you weren't prepared for such things before, perhaps the wise counsel I have shared in these various Y2K-related articles will help you to be prepared now. As King Solomon wrote:
"A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished."
Proverbs 22:3, KJV
With these thoughts, I will bring this article to a close. It is my hope that you have found it informative, enlightening, and I pray that it has been a blessing in your life as well. If you have an account with Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr or with any other social network, I would really appreciate if you'd take the time to click or tap on the corresponding link that is found on this page. Thanks so much, and may God bless you abundantly!
For additional information and further study, you may want to refer to the list of reading resources below which were either mentioned in this article, or which contain topics which are related to this article. All of these articles are likewise located on the Bill's Bible Basics web server. To read these articles, simply click or tap on any link you see below.
Does God Cause Natural Disasters?
Hurricane Katrina and Other Natural Disasters
Are Personal Tragedies Due to Sin?
Do You Want Love and Light, or Rod and Wrath?
The Fruits of Disobedience
Beholding the Evil and the Good
"God's Divine Protection" KJV Bible Verse List
"Fear and Peace" KJV Bible Verse List
"God's Desire for Healing and Repentance" KJV Bible Verse List