October Week 4: Blankets, ponchos, hand warmers

Today's food storage/emergency prep items are:

October Week 4: Stay Warm and Dry! - Wool blankets, emergency reflective blankets, rain ponchos, hand warmers

These should be items that you won't have to replenish every year. All of these items can be purchased at an online store such as Emergency Essentials, or you can also find most of the items at stores like WalMart.

I like the wool-blend utility blankets I got from Emergency Essentials. They were somewhere around $15 and measure a good-sized 60X80 inches. I also have some wool Indian blankets that I will keep in the stack in my emergency supply room. This is what Emergency Essentials has to say about their wool blankets:

Stay toasty warm with this fire-retardant, economical wool blend blanket. Comfortable, soft, and breathable, this blanket will keep you warm without trapping condensation or sweat against your body in cold weather. It measures 60 x 80 inches, and is 65% wool and 35% polyester. A great addition to any emergency or car kit.

The rain ponchos are $3.50, so very affordable. I think I will add a few to my supply so that I have enough for each of my family members, regardless of whether they live here at home or not. Just in case...

The PVC Poncho with Hood is a full-size cut and is made out of waterproof PVC Material. Keep one in your car and in your emergency kit, so you won’t be caught unprepared in bad weather. Lightweight and reusable. Each emergency poncho includes an attached hood. One size fits most.

The reflective blankets are very affordable, too. They're under $2.00, and can be critical in keeping body heat in. This is what Emergency Essentials has in their description about them:

This lightweight and compact blanket fits in any emergency kit or bug out bag. The Emergency Blanket’s unique reflective material maintains up to 80% of your radiant body heat to help preserve crucial warmth. The emergency blanket is large enough to cover from head to toe (84" x 52") or to wrap around the upper body front to back. Small enough to fit in a pocket. It's lightweight and waterproof. Thicker material than other reflective blankets of this size and price range. With an Emergency Blanket you’ll have a powerful pocketful of warmth.

I think I'll get a few more of those, too. Can't hurt to have plenty of them on hand.

And of course, hand warmers. If you've ever used these beauties when your fingers feel like they are so cold they'll fall off your hand, then you know they can really come in handy. Here in Utah, we get cold winters, and I can imagine how useful handwarmers might be in some wintery situations:

These hand warmers provide up to 8 hours of continuous warmth—in any place, at any time. Keep several on hand in emergency kits, camping gear, and the trunk of your car. The Hand, Pocket & Glove Warmers heat up in minutes. Ideal for winter sporting events, outdoor activities, camping, fishing, and other outdoor situations. Invaluable as an instant heat source in emergency situations. Environmentally safe and disposable. Inner contents are biodegradable. 

Decide what you and your family might need in an emergency situation. This is aside from your 72 hour kit, remember. Just imagine that your family is without heat, or without shelter for some time. What can you provide, in your emergency supply, to help your family through a catastrophe? If you have extra blankets in your home, you can stack those on the shelves, too. Make sure they're plenty warm and optimally have at least some wool in them.

Once you have decided what you think you'll need, start collecting the items. Purchase what you need either online or at a store. Get the items on your shelves and update your inventory sheets, and feel at peace that you have provided warmth and comfort for your family for an emergency situation.

If your budget doesn't allow you to purchase all of the items at once, begin with one or two of the items, and get them on your shelves. As your finances allow, add to your storage, or next year, when this week comes up again, finish up the list. Just be sure to do something this week, even if its just putting a few blankets on the shelves, or buying a couple of reflective blankets for a couple of dollars each.

If you would like the full info on the Week-By-Week Food Storage Plan, just click on the tab at the top of the page. You can then click on any single week and it will take you to the most up-to-date post that featured that week's items. It also has the information as to how you can get a copy of the weekly schedule as well as the complete inventory sheets.

October Week 3: Apples: sauce, butter, dried, etc.

This week's food storage items are:

October Week 3: Apples -- applesauce, apple butter, dried apples, apple pie filling etc.

Couldn't be easier. If you and your family eat apple sauce, estimate how much you will eat in the coming year, and either buy it or can it. Same goes with the apple slices. I like to can the dried apple slices at the Family Home Storage Cannery. They last for 30+ years, so they seem like a good thing to have around for those long-term emergencies. And since I have started drying my own apple-pears, I have some of those on my shelf also (and I'm told they'll last for at least a year). If you use any other apple product (apple filling, apple butter, etc), think about how much of that item you may need in a year's time, and write it down.

Make your shopping list of what you will need to complete this week's items, and in the next couple of days, get to the store. Once you have the items on your shelves, update the inventory sheet, and voila! You've got another good week under your belt.

Now, you may be saying to yourself that you and your family wouldn't eat apple sauce or apples slices, or any other apple product. If that's the case, then you will have this week to catch up on any weeks you haven't quite finished. But remember... in a long-term emergency, it may be really nice to have some dried fruit that you're able to eat in place of fresh fruit. Just saying.

If you would like the full info on the Week-By-Week Food Storage Plan, just click on the tab at the top of the page. You can then click on any single week and it will take you to the most up-to-date post that featured that week's items. It also has the information as to how you can get a copy of the weekly schedule as well as the complete inventory sheets.

October Week 2: Wraps and Bags

This week's food storage/emergency supply item(s) are:

October Week 2: Wraps and Bags - aluminum, saran wrap, wax paper, garbage bags, freezer bags, etc.

This week, you should decide on which items you use or might use in case of a long-term emergency. Aluminum foil has many uses in an emergency, so I keep a couple of rolls of that. I also keep plastic wrap, wax paper, garbage bags (kitchen bags and also a heavy-duty garbage bag), gallon size freezer bags, and baggies. All of these items, I keep on a non-rotating basis. So, I do my best not to delve into my supplies. But, I sometimes find myself without foil or baggies, or some-such thing, and I gratefully remember I've stowed some away for emergencies. 

Each year, on this week, I go down my inventory sheet and check that my supplies of wraps and bags are what they should be. If I have taken from my supplies sometime earlier in the year, this is the time to restock my shelves. I make a note of what I need and in the next couple of days, pick up the items at the grocery store. Then, I get the items on the shelves and update my inventory sheet. Yay! Another week of items on the shelves. It is SUCH a great feeling!

If you would like the full info on the Week-By-Week Food Storage Plan, just click on the tab at the top of the page. You can then click on any single week and it will take you to the most up-to-date post that featured that week's items. It also has the information as to how you can get a copy of the weekly schedule as well as the complete inventory sheets.

October Week 1: 72 hour kits

This week's emergency preparation item is:

October Week 1: 72 hour kits. Start them or update them.

72-hour kits in back packs

72 hour kits
(includes the rolling cart under the backpacks)

So...... if you have a 72 hour kit, this is relatively easy. Just get your kit(s) out and go through them. Throw out the old, expired food, batteries, etc, that may need replacing. Then, write the items on a list and get to the grocery store in the next couple of days to purchase what you need. When you have the items back in your kit, and your kit back where it belongs, then check it off the list, and relax until next week.

I like to keep my 72 hour kits on the main floor, in a closet that is readily accessible. It's the closet on the way out to the garage, so it's pretty convenient. Everyone knows where the kits are, so we should be able to grab the kits and go quickly. If I kept the 72 hour kits in the basement with the rest of my emergency supply, they would take longer to grab (which may not be possible in the case of a house fire or earthquake), or they might get ruined in the case of a flood, etc.

Now, if you don't have a 72 hour kit yet, then you've got your work cut out for you. BUT, this is the time to get started. I have a couple of different lists... one for the kids' 72 hour kits, which are contained in separate backpacks for them. The other list is a comprehensive list that includes everything my husband and I would need, along with some items that the entire family will use. This is the week I check on all of my items, and try to get them completed and updated.

On my lists for my 72 hour kits, there is a place to write when items expire so that I can just look at the list (without even pulling my kits out) and purchase the items that have or will soon expire. Once I have bought them, I can just switch the items in the kit out and update the list.

In the coming months, we'll work on 72 hour kits here on the blog. I've tried to come up with a simpler way than what I already have going, but I think it's about as simple as I can get it (and still be useful in almost any emergency). We'll start the first installment this coming Thursday (click here to go to the post), so that you are keeping up with your Week-By-Week Food Storage Plan. As we get into the 72 hour kits, I'll have a better idea of how many posts it will take to cover them. I want it to be a doable thing, and it would be too overwhelming to try to do it all at once.

Now that we have all of our kids married off, and on their own, we don't keep an emergency kit here at the house for each of them. In fact, I've passed on to them their 72-hour kits in their backpacks. They can keep them, update them, build off of them, or whatever they want. I will continue to encourage them to build their own kits for their own little families. In my opinion, the 72-hour kits should be for whoever is living in your home at the current time. Any others should keep their own kits at their own homes.

If you would like the full info on the Week-By-Week Food Storage Plan, just click on the tab at the top of the page. You can then click on any single week and it will take you to the most up-to-date post that featured that week's items. It also has the information as to how you can get a copy of the weekly schedule as well as the complete inventory sheets.