An Ultimate Survival Preparedness Checklist

An Ultimate Survival Preparedness Checklist

In times like these, putting together your survival checklist is more important than ever. It can take a while to get all these supplies together, to it is best to get started the moment that you realize the need.

Our team has put our heads together to come up with his Ultimate Preppers Survival Checklist. For this list, we selected only the most essential survival items that can help keep you safe, fed, and healthy in a number of different emergency scenarios.

Water Supply

The very first thing that any prepper is going to want to cover is the water supply. If you are livening on a property with a well, then make sure you have a manual method of drawing from it if the power goes out. If you don’t have a well, then be prepare for municipal water systems to be shut off without notice.

3.5 Gallon Water Bricks

Everyone knows that water is the most important element to human life, so if you are a true prepper than you are going to need to have the ability to store a lot of it. Don’t be like those basic preppers who simply buy hundreds of .5L bottles of water. These bricks are safe, stackable, and easy to use.

Water Filtration System

You never know when something bad might happen to the municipal water supply, or if service might get shutoff altogether in the wake of a flood, earthquake, or tornado. A good water filtration system will let you pull water from just about any source. Be sure to invest in a few extra filters as well.

Water Purification Tablets

Even the most reliable water filters are at risk at breaking, especially after extended use. A two-year of supply of iodine tablets can fit in a small box, and is a fantastic failsafe for emergency water purification. While the long-term ingestion of iodine tablets is not necessarily recommended, they can certainly come in handy in a pinch.

Bleach

Big 1-gallon jugs of bleach ar easy to stockpile and they can have a lot of uses. Bleach is able to kill most viruses and bacteria, which can be essential if you find yourself in a disaster scenario with more than one individual and you are worried about infection. Bleach doesn’t have a super-long shelf life, however, before it starts to lose its anti-microbial abilities.

Emergency Radio

The best emergency radios have multiple methods of power, these days including USB, solar, and perhaps most importantly, hand-crank. Choose an emergency radio that can pickup on NOAA weather alerts and that has other built-in emergency frequencies to keep you connected.

Dried Food Stockpile

Freeze-dried foods are very easy to store, they’re lightweight, and they last a long time. Today there are plenty of pre-mixed dehydrated backpacking meals that you can use to this effect, but it is also possible to find much larger, stackable containers of base ingredients that will allow for more variation in your doomsday cooking.

Canned Food

Contrary to popular belief, not all canned food lasts as long as we think that it does. When you are putting together your stock of canned foods, be sure to keep a log with all the expiration dates and make sure to keep everything rotated. Keep an eye on sodium levels … while iodine is an essential mineral, a diet of mostly canned food can have dangerous amounts of sodium.

Spices

Dried spices last pretty much forever, and they are a good way to turn dehydrated meals into something that is actually edible. Salt and pepper are an absolute must, but consider some other catch-all favorites like Lemmon pepper, garlic powder, and cumin.

Canned Meats

These days, it is possible to find just about any kind of meat on a shelf. While tuna is the old standby, you can now get turkey, chicken, salmon, and various forms of pork all in a well-sealed can that can last a long time.

Dried Staples

Both rice and beans are available in massive 50# bags, and as long as they are stored in a cool, dry, and rodent-free location, they can last for years. They are also a great way to make other canned and fresh foods last longer by simply adding a cup of cooked rice or beans to the meal.

Vitamin & Mineral Supplements

Even a well-stocked disaster shelter is not going to be able to provide the same balanced intake of vitamins and minerals as a diet of fresh foods, so adding some vitamin supplements to your prepper list is a good idea. Vitamin D is a must to compensate for lack of sunshine, while potassium and magnesium can help sort out a variety of ailments.

Cooking Stove & Fuel Source

A one-man backpacking stove is not going to cut it if you find yourself in a situation where you are preparing daily meals for multiple people. Not only are you going to need a larger camp stove, but also the fuel to operate it. Propane based cook stoves are convenient, but require the storage of a significant amount of propane, which can be hard to replenish in an emergency.

Pots, Pans, & Utensils

The basic frying pans, saucepans, and baking trays will make end-of-the-world cooking a lot easier and more convenient. Stock pots can also be used to boil water, clean clothes, and perform a number of other helpful tasks in case of an emergency.

Extra Clothing

Make sure you have additional clothing on hand for both cold weather conditions and wet conditions. A spare pare of shoes is a pro-lever prepper item that you might just thank yourself for.

Sewing Kit

The ability to men your own clothing, sleeping bags, or tent could be the difference between staying warm and catching your death in an emergency. Needles and thread can also prove to be a valuable medical tool in certain cases.

Work Gloves

There are so many uses for a good sturdy pair of work gloves its hard to imagine any emergency prep kit as being complete without them.

Sewing Kit

The ability to men your own clothing, sleeping bags, or tent could be the difference between staying warm and catching your death in an emergency. Needles and thread can also prove to be a valuable medical tool in certain cases.

Toolbox Essentials

A prepper’s toolbox should include a hammer, a socket kit, a good set of channel locks, plumbers tape, super glue, a wood saw, multiple screwdrivers, and a full-sized shovel or two.

Duct Tape

Lots of duct tape. Need we say more?

Emergency Shelter

Even if you have one of the best disaster shelters dug into your own backyard, you never know when you might need to venture back out into the post-apocalyptic world for a supply run. A 4-season backpacking tent can keep you warm and dry on all “away missions”.

Full Sized Axe

The ability to procure more firewood is key. A full sized axe might be heavy, but it works so much better than a survival hatchet at actually getting the job done.

Survival Knives

We are using the plural here to emphasize one of our favorite points: that you can never have too many survival knives. The hard part is making sure you know where you put them all, as well as keeping them sharp and clean so they don’t start to degrade while not in use.

Sharpening Stones

Keeping your knives, blades, axes, and hatchets at prime sharpness is easy with a simple sharpening stone. Not only can it be even more effective than modern electric sharpeners, but it is a valuable skill for anyone who is preparing for the potential of a world without electricity.

Solar Charger

Solar technology has come a long way in the last decade or two, expecially when it comes to small, lightweight models meant for backpacking and camping. When paired with a big power bank, a solar panel can provide enough electricity to bring your phone back to life, or to power that emergency radio for an evening of listening.

Power Bank

A solar charging panel is not much good without somewhere for the power to go. A power bank is a like a big battery that can hold the stored electricity, and usually features USB ports so it can be used to charge all sorts of different devices.

Rechargeable Light Source/Headlamp

You can either stockpile batteries, or simply find a good bright light than can be recharged via handcrank or USB. ALWAYS be sure to have a backup of a different variety just in case. Some emergency radios come with built-in solar lanterns.

Walkie Talkies

You’re going to want a pair of walkies with plenty of channels, and emergency call button, and a method to keep them powered up. Most walkie talkies are notorious for eating through AA batteries … but if you can find a set that is charged vis USB, then you can keep them running with a simple solar charger.

Waterproof Matches

Even if the matches themselves are advertised as waterproof, you’re going to want to keep them in a water-proof and airtight container just in case. Stormproof Matches are designed to work even if they have been soaked through, but you still have to wait for them to dry.

Ferro Rod Striker Tool

A well-made ferro rod can start thousands of fires before it needs to be replaced, saving valuable matches and fuel for when you really need them.

Tinder Supply

There might not be a stack of newspapers around the next time you need to start a fire in an emergency situation. Having some material on hand that can be used to light a quick fire, like wood splinters or dryer lint, is a high-level preparedness move.

A Well-Stocked Medical Kit

This is not a simple camping first aid kit. It needs to be comprehensive:

  • Medical tape
  • Gauze
  • Alcohol pads / wipes
  • Tweezers
  • Scissors
  • Band aids
  • Painkillers
  • Hydrogen peroxide
  • Blood clotting sponge
  • Vaseline
  • Neosporin
  • Ace bandages

Soap & Shampoo

Just because the world as you know it is coming to and end doesn’t mean that you won’t appreciate that clean and shiny feeling. Stockpile soap does not have to be fancy or scented. It lasts for years in storage and can help keep people healthy.

Teeth Care Supplies

That last thing that you want to experience in an end-of-the world scenario is having to pull a tooth without painkillers. Keep your champers healthy with all of the basics: toothbrushes, toothpaste, and floss. You might also want to consider a topical tooth pain ointment.

An Ultimate Survival Preparedness Checklist
We will be happy to hear your thoughts

Leave a reply

WildProofGear