Prudent Prepping: Water Jugs

The dust has settled and the First 72 Hours have passed. Follow along as I build a long term plan via Prudent Prepping.

I have been busy with a whole bunch of personal drama that doesn't relate to prepping, other than "be prepared for anything."  This a short post of what I am doing to plan for the short term and how I can change that into long-term success.

Who's On First
"I don't know! Third base!" is the traditional response, if you're a certain age and/or appreciate classic comedy. Have you a group of like-minded folks you can trust? Even if you don't, deciding for yourself on how things are done and in what order is important. For me, ensuring that my folks are safe is my first priority, then my physically close family (I say 'physically' since some are 900 miles away).

After that, I'm on track to have one month of easily transported food for four by summer, not counting the normal bulk goods my friends stock normally. There is always rice here, and now we have an extra 25 lb bag in a food safe bucket. Spices have been restocked, and anything half full or not used in the last 6 months has been dumped. It's pretty easy to look at dates on some of the things I have and say, "Yeah, I really don't need this in this condition," and useful items have been replaced.

Water Jugs

After last year's fires and potentially a new round this year, I've decided to add to the one thing that could be a real sticking point if the power goes out for more than one or two days: Water. There is always a case of water in the house and I keep one in my car, but if there is an earthquake or a power outage lasting several days, there may not be much water out of the faucet, so I bought another of my personal favorite water jug, the Reliance Products Jumbo-Tainer 7 Gallon Jerry Can.

https://amzn.to/2Vqo03S

This jug does what I need the things I own to do:

• Be reasonably inexpensive
• Do what it's designed to do well
• Not take up too much room

From its Amazon page:

• 7-gallon jumbo-tainer style rigid water container
• Combines the easy to carry shape of a traditional jerry can in a more contemporary shape
• Features reliable tap style spigot and dual grip-through handles

If I really want to stop and think about it, I believe I've bought maybe 7-8 of these containers over the years, but I always end up with 4. I have given away the balance to friends when they were starting their preps, and I think I punched a hole in one by not securing it well in the back of my long-gone truck. Right now I have jugs in the back of my closet; looking at my calendar and how busy I was in December, I neglected to dump and refill my existing jugs at Christmas.

This one is going to be washed out with dish soap, rinsed and refilled twice and left in the sun for an afternoon, just to be sure it's clean and ready to store. I do go to the extra step of adding 2-3 drops of regular, unscented chlorine bleach to each jug, even though I replace the water every 6 months. I want the water fresh, no matter how long it may be stored.

Recap and Takeaway

• There is never a bad time to go through your preps, unless it's when you're panicked and short of time.
• I bought a Reliance Products Jumbo-Tainer 7 Gallon Jerry Can from Amazon: $17.99 with Prime.
• Nothing else was purchased this week.

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

NOTE: All items tested were purchased by me. No products have been loaned in exchange for a favorable review. Any items sent to me for T&E will be listed as such. Suck it Feds.