34 Important Survival Items You Should Stockpile
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This is a list of essential survival items that might just seem a little bit crazy or “out there” but they are actually quite useful in an emergency situation.
You might have seen many lists of what to prepare when disaster hits, and I’ve got these lits on this website as well, but the things you won’t see on many common lists that might just seem a little bit strange, could just save your life.
Stockpiling is essentially the start and finish of preparation. I mention this because that is usually the first thing we do when we “wake up”. Even before we decide to become preppers, we frequently begin stockpiling.
Simultaneously, most of us continue to add to our stockpiles even after we’ve completed all of our other preparation projects. It appears that the process of stockpiling is never truly completed.
Part of this is due to the high cost of stockpiling, especially if you wish to store enough goods to last a year. While there’s no certainty that any of us would require a year’s worth of supplies or that a year’s worth will be sufficient, it’s become a goal for many of us. This is a good practice for any household, but especially for households with larger families.
It’s really a shame going to the grocery stores and seeing empty shelves, and then panicking and worrying about how we will feed our families. This is why we stockpile now, so we don’t have to panic later.
I’m always on the lookout for new items to add to my stockpile. Some of them may not appear normal to most people, and some may even appear to be survival gear. When a survival emergency arises, however, you’ll wish you’d also stocked up on these items.
“Why would I need to store that?” you might wonder as you go through the list below. a little strange Well, you never know what you need until it’s gone, and these are some of the things you don’t want to try to live without. They are so inexpensive that they may appear insignificant. They aren’t.
See also: Top 20 Barter Items to Stockpile
Strange Survival Items You Should Stockpile
Fire Extinguishers
At first glance, this seems obvious, but it is very rarely mentioned on prepper lists.
With limited water and no fire department, a fire extinguisher would definitely be needed for safety. It also is a solid blunt object for a weapon, and the spray can blind intruders and allow you to escape.
Safety Pins
Pins for safety. They’re also extremely adaptable! They can be used to hold up your pants, repair a broken zipper, or even as a makeshift hem. They can also be used as a fishing hook or to keep a tent door shut. They can even be employed as a self-defense weapon in the worst-case scenario.
If you have a battery, you may make fish hooks, tweezers to remove splinters or ticks, a quick clothes repair, a finger splint, an easy attachment while making a tarp shelter, a means to close a severe wound and a fast fire starter.
Zip Ties
Although they are becoming more widespread, they still receive little emphasis on prepper lists.
They’re useful for securing goods, constructing a shelter, hanging food from trees, securing fencing or plants in a garden, and, if necessary, restraining attackers’ hands or feet.
They are used by many police departments and security firms in place of or in addition to handcuffs.
Shoestrings
You’re probably not thinking about shoestrings, but you’ll need them. Walking and outdoor work will be required for survival. The strings in your shoes become weaker as you tie and untie them. When your shoe is slipping off and you’re trying to go around, a broken shoestring is a significant concern. Because they’re inexpensive, stock up on a variety of sizes.
Salt
Salt is another ingredient that is frequently overlooked in most people’s survival kits. I’m not talking about sprinkling your dish with a pound of salt. I’m referring to enormous amounts of salt used to preserve food.
Because salt is a natural preservative, it is commonly used in various methods of food preservation. It’s required for canning, dehydrating, and smoking, as well as variations such jerky and salt fish. You probably don’t have enough salt if you don’t have 100 pounds or more in your stockpile.
Duct Tape
Duct tape is on almost every survival/prepper checklist, but a single roll isn’t going to cut it. You’ll find that duct tape comes in handy in a variety of situations. If you use plastic to cover windows, replace broken glass, and so on, you may easily go through a roll in the first week. Duct tape to waterproof shoes is a popular trend, but what they don’t tell you is that one pair of shoes can consume almost an entire roll of duct tape.
Sanitary Napkins
Aside from their obvious utility, sanitary napkins can come in handy in a survival emergency. Those napkins are sterile and made to absorb a lot of blood. This makes them ideal for use as bandages, especially for bigger wounds that may bleed profusely. Most of us don’t have a lot of large bandages in our first-aid kits, so sanitary napkins are a cheap way to get some.
Nails and Screws
Screws and nails. These are not always inexpensive, but you can find them at yard sales or thrift stores for a reasonable price. When you’re beginning from scratch, big buckets and cans of screws and nails, even if they’re used and rusty, will come in handy. They can be used to construct new shelters, repair old structures, and repair fences, among other things.
Books
Books, of course, are meant to be read, but even outdated romance novels serve a role. Using books to make hiding cubbies is a brilliant idea. You can keep important objects by hollowing out the insides of the pages.
The pages can also be used as tinder. If necessary, the pages can be used as toilet paper. In a pinch, a couple layers of books taped across your chest can be used as a temporary bulletproof vest.
Wicking
People frequently discuss adding candles to their survival supplies, but not candle or lamp wicking. Granted, none of us are likely to come into a cache of paraffin that can be used to manufacture candles, and few of us have bees. So, why buy candle wicking in bulk? Because it may be used to build an oil lamp, which will provide light when the batteries run out and all of the candles have burned out.
An oil lamp can be made out of a variety of flammable materials, while an improvised light can be made out of a variety of items. The wick is the most important component. Oil lamp wicking is preferred since it is wider than candle wicking; however, wider varieties of candle wicking will still function.
In simple terms, the wider the wick, the greater the flame, and thus the more light produced. However, the faster the lamp burns the oil, the faster the lamp will burn the oil. As a result, there is a tradeoff.
Wire
Snare traps made of wire can be lethal. It can be used to start a fire with a battery and to create a loop around containers to make them easier to pull out of the fire.
You can construct a devastating weapon out of a few of sticks. If your hands are cold and numb, it is also easier to attach a shelter with wire rather than cordage. You never know when you’ll need to fix something electrical, like a radio or a light.
Gloves
Various types of gloves. Exam, rubber, and work gloves will be really beneficial. When butchering an animal, putting on a pair of exam gloves is a delightful pleasure, especially if water is scarce. Rubber gloves can be used to clean up icky situations, such as the bucket toilet. When performing outside chores, work gloves will protect your hands from blisters.
Paper Plates
Plastic utensils and paper plates They’re a bit of a luxury, but picture being without water. You won’t be able to do much dishwashing. You don’t want to eat off dirty dishes because it might make you sick, and you also don’t want to leave a sink full of dirty dishes since it might attract unwelcome visitors. Paper plates can be used as fuel and then burned.
Reading Glasses
Reading glasses are required. At the dollar store, you can get them for a buck. Purchase a large quantity. If you have a little vision problem, you’ll want to be able to read, conduct any type of detailed job, and see in general. You’ll want to keep the spare glasses on hand if there are no more eye doctors or the like.
Rat Traps
A spike in the rat population is one of the things that tends to happen in the aftermath of any calamity. This is primarily due to an increase in rat food supply. Rats, on the other hand, can transport disease and get into our food supplies.
So, even if we find ourselves in the position of having to eat those rats, we’d be better off eliminating them. However, getting rid of them necessitates either having a rat-catching cat or having a large number of rat traps. So, if you don’t have a cat, you should get some traps.
Old Clothes
Wearing garments with gaping holes in the outdoors is not a smart idea, but it may be utilized for a variety of other things. Cloth that has been torn can be used to mend other garments. Zippers, buttons, and snaps can all be taken out and used for different purposes.
Torn clothing can be repurposed into blankets or sewed into bags for transporting other goods.
Cloth strips can be made into wicks or fuses, and then turned into char cloth. It’s also useful for bandages if you’ve been hurt.
Repair Parts
Almost anything that mankind can create can also be broken. That holds true for our survival gear just as much as it does for anything else we utilise. All of that gear is going to receive a lot of usage in a true survival situation, so it only makes sense to be prepared to repair it. If you have an ancient Coleman lantern that burns gasoline, for example, you should have a repair kit for the pump because it’s a key part that can fail with heavy use.
Our homes are another location where we all require repair components. Natural disasters present numerous opportunities for our homes to be destroyed, such as when a tree branch falls on the roof. If you don’t have emergency supplies on hand, the damaged roof will leak, making it impossible to utilize that section of the house and causing more damage to the rest of the property.
Garbage Bags
These take up a very small amount of space. Garbage bags can hold a variety of items, including food, clothing, and even water if necessary.
You may build a float for fishing or a lifejacket by trapping air inside and tying off the end. It can be stuffed with dry grass or leaves to produce a comfortable, warm sleeping cushion.
Gasoline Extender
Gasoline has a six-month shelf life in most cases. Despite this, it is most likely the most important fuel we have today; not just for our cars, but also for power tools such as chainsaws. There’s a significant chance that some gasoline will always be available, whether it’s stolen from cars, pumped from underground tanks at gas stations, or hoarded in someone’s garage.
However, if the gasoline is old, it will not perform as well. Adding a fuel life extender to such gas will revitalize it, reintroducing some of the more volatile hydrocarbons that have evaporated and making the gasoline viable once again.
Rawhide
At one point or another, I’ve heard a number of folks talk about constructing primitive weaponry. I don’t have anything against that, but if you’re going to construct primitive weapons, you’ll need the correct materials. Rawhide lashings were a crucial component of such primitive weapons and the way they were produced. While we can use paracord, it will not be as effective.
Rawhide has two fundamental qualities that make it an excellent lashing material for anything that must be permanently fastened together. The first is that when wet, it stretches. Then it shrinks as it dries. This strengthens the joint by tightening it. The other feature is that it dries firm, which helps it hold things together even more. Rawhide, unlike twine or paracord, does not slack up over time.
Dental Floss
Of course, this aids in oral cleanliness, but it also has a variety of other applications. Fishing line, cordage for a shelter, or stitches if you have a wound are all examples of floss.
You can use it to make a fire starter by wrapping it around a stick. Waxed floss can catch fire.
Arrowheads
Regardless of how much ammunition you have, I would keep some arrowheads if you plan on creating a bow. There are a few different techniques to make arrowheads, but they aren’t all that simple. It’s very difficult to knap a flint arrowhead.
I’m not talking about broadhead arrowheads, which are typically employed for big game hunting. With your bow, you’re more inclined to go hunting for small game. So, even if you have a few broadheads on hand, I strongly advise you to have field points.
These are not only far less expensive, but they’re also great for small game because they don’t leave as large a wound cavity while still being powerful enough to put down smaller animals.
Spokeshave
The spokeshave is one of the most important tools for manufacturing primitive implements including clubs, spears, and bows. It’s a two-handed instrument with a small blade, similar to that of a hand plane.
The spokeshave, which was originally designed to make wood spokes for wheels, is ideal for turning a sapling into a bow because it allows you to selectively cut material from the sapling. While other procedures, such as whittling, can be used to construct a bow, none of them are as effective.
Clay Pots
These can be used to grow vegetables and herbs, but they’re also useful for their insulating capabilities. Make a homemade refrigerator using two pots and some damp sand in between. For more survival tools you can DIY visit this helpful post.
The inside will cool as the water evaporates. You can also build a clay oven by lining the inside with hot coals.
Clear Plastic Sheets
Because of the principle of radiation, they can be used in a variety of ways. Heat from the fire outside will pass through but be trapped within if you drape it over your shelter.
You can make a greenhouse out of it to convert light into warmth, or you can use it to line your windows to keep your house warm in the winter. To ignite a fire, fill a cupped piece with water, tie the top off, and form it into a lens.
Fishhooks
I’m not sure why people believe that a survival fishing kit should just have two fishhooks. I don’t think I’ve ever gone fishing without losing at least two hooks. Yet, when I look at most people’s survival fishing gear, I only see two hooks. For myself, I’d say 100 or so. In fact, I’d up the ante on bobbers and other essential fishing gear.
Fish are the most abundant of all the different types of food that may be gathered from nature. There will be fish in our rivers and lakes long after the big game has vanished. Fish seem to be able to survive and thrive in the most improbable of places.
Aluminum Foil
Foil is an item that is becoming increasingly common on prepper lists, but it is still worth mentioning. You may fold it up to use as a scraper or spread it out to make a solar oven.
When touched to a battery, aluminum foil can be used to notify an airplane or to start a fire. With its glitter, it can be added to your fishing line to attract fish.
Plastic Bags
Plastic bags, whether Ziploc or grocery bags are one of those products that can be used in a million different ways. We’ll find a number of uses for plastic bags in any survival circumstance, from storing seeds to lining a bucket toilet to collect human waste. Stockpile a variety of sizes so you can choose from a variety of possibilities.
Cigarettes
In a survival crisis, smoking is not a good idea. Cigarettes, on the other hand, can be used medicinally to halt bleeding from injuries, relieve toothaches, relieve bug bites and bee stings, and even remove parasites from the digestive tract.
They can also be used as fire starters, and the filters can be utilized to make a water filter.
Alcohol
It’s also a poor idea to drink while in a survival crisis, but having alcohol on hand is a smart idea. It has the ability to disinfect wounds as well as sterilize instruments. Alcohol is an excellent fire starter and fuel, and it can even be used to power some vehicles.
Alcohol can be used for a variety of purposes, including repelling insects and cleaning your feet after a long trip. Vodka can be used to ignite a fire by cleaning your eyeglasses or any lenses. It can also be used to keep some foods fresh.
Chalk
This writing tool is ideal for leaving brief messages. It can be wiped clean so that no one else can see it. It may also absorb moisture, which prevents metal from rusting.
Chalkdust can be used to deter ants and clean up oil spills. If you don’t have any other options, it can also help with heartburn.
Lime – Calcium-Hydroxide
When it comes to a bucket toilet, one of the most overlooked products to store is lime. No, I’m not referring to the fruit; rather, I’m referring to a calcium-containing mineral component known as calcium-hydroxide.
Today, lime is commonly utilized as a construction material, such as in concrete mixes. It is, nevertheless, widely utilized for wastewater treatment. In our instance, it’s useful for lowering stink in outhouses and other latrines, as well as eliminating flies.
Aerosol Cans
These items typically serve a highly useful purpose. They can, however, be used as a weapon.
Aerosol can be sprayed in an attacker’s eyes or split open and thrown as a distraction. If necessary, you may even light a match in front of one to make a little flame thrower.
Candies
These delicious sweets can provide a sugar boost to help you get through physical duties, and if kept dry, they can last for a long time. They’re useful for bartering, but they’re even more useful as a weapon.
Grasp one in your palm with the stick jutting out between your fingers. If you hit an intruder in the eyes, throat, ribs, or groin, he or she is unlikely to get up.
Bottom Line On Stockpiling Strange But Essential Items
In the end, the only limit to your stockpile is your own imagination. There are probably hundreds of different items that could be repurposed for survival.
Make use of your own expertise and experience to come up with something that is both available and beneficial. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure when it comes to preparation and survival. Make the most of every opportunity to improve your preparation.