Prudent Prepping: Monthly Roundup

The dust has settled and the First 72 Hours have passed. Now we concentrate on what to do in, and how to plan for, the long term via Prudent Prepping.

Monthly Roundup

This is my chance to wrap up the month and cover several topics at once.

Food and other supplies

Due to my budget, 3 items were purchased this month, all from Sam's Club:

• 25 lbs. of Jasmine rice on Closeout (I think), $14.95
• Bigelow Natural Green Tea, 160 count box, $6.95
• 24 count Duracell AAA batteries, about $13

I still need to find someone with LDS (Mormon) connections to get the bulk food items I've purchased repacked into smaller containers. A question was asked of me(in person), "Why there are so many small sized packages, instead of bulk buys, in your stored food list?" My response was, in my planning for a disaster here, the idea is to have multiple medium sized  containers(5-6 gal. pails) holding duplicate items to prevent all of one staple being destroyed. This will also simplify the sharing of supplies with friends and family.

To be purchased:

• Food Grade storage pails. I am continuing my run of bad luck in the search for free buckets and will look for a local supplier before ordering through Amazon and paying shipping.
• 1 or 2 6 gal. water containers to bring my stored supply to at least 18 gallons. Walmart has them for $16.95 in their Camping department

Camping Gear Test

Osprey Day Pack test. Over the weekend I went to one of the Regional Parks in the San Francisco area with 15 lbs in the pack (10 lbs of beans and approx. 5 lbs of water and lunch) and hit the trail. The trail went mostly uphill from the start and I stopped a bit over 3 miles in to eat lunch. The pack has internal straps to keep contents from shifting, shoulder straps wide enough not to dig in, and the water bottle pouches were easy to reach. Coming out, the trail seemed to be mostly uphill again (ahem) but survivable.

I am more than pleased with how the Day Pack worked and am going to start making it into my Get Home Bag!

To be purchased:

• New boots. My old hiking boots are falling apart and the insoles are shot. With my wide feet, finding comfortable boots in a Wide or Extra Wide is a priority. 
• 2-3 person tent. Still on the lookout for a good used 3 Season tent.
• More and better First Aid supplies for the GHB and stored for future use. Look at Lokidude's posts under Authors and here, here and here in particular for ideas.

 As always, if you have comments, suggestions or corrections, please post them so we all can learn. And remember, Some Is Always Better Than None!