NO POWER = NO WATER, NO SEWER, EXTREME SHORTAGES, PRICES SKY-ROCKET,
SHUT-DOWN OF BUSINESSES, STORES, SCHOOLS & HOSPITALS, MANY LOSE THEIR JOBS, LOOTING & BREAK DOWN OF LAW & ORDER

COMMON TERMS:   a SHTF event (Shit Hits The Fan, i.e. a major disaster), Homesteading (backyard garden/farm to a full family farm/ranch)

You will most likely be a victim if you go out or do not secure the location where you plan to spend this initial chaos period.

Where will you spend your Chaos Period?  At Home/Apartment? with Family? with Friends? with a Group? Church?
YOU NEED TO MAKE A PLAN NOW.

You will need to store food, water, equipment there.  
You may need to clear space in closets, rooms, maybe sell some things to downsize and make room from survival supplies and equipment.

You will need to make it secure and safe.    You will need to make a plan to get there.

What would force you out of your safe space, home bunker?

• FIRE  -  Prepare with extra fire extinguishers. Check out newer advanced products like 'fire blankets' and 'powder balls" that can be thrown at a large fires.

• SEWAGE BACKUP  -  No power, no municipal sewage treatment, unless you live in a rural area and have your own septic system. Your neighborhood's sewage can back up into your home and will force you to leave. In a house, condo, or apartment - it would all stink, quickly becoming unbearable, and be a hazard to your health. Sewage can backup into all drains, including ones in the floor, sink, tub, and showers, also through the toilets. 

  • FOR RENTERS, options are limited, but may include sandbags, and water activated sandbags that expand when it comes into contact with water, and end-of-pipe plugs, which requires disconnecting sink drains.

  • FOR HOME OWNERS: The best solution is to make sure you have a 'back-flow' or 'backwater' valve on the sewer line going to the street can be installed by a professional plumber. This prevents a neighborhood sewage backup from coming into your home. Other options include placing back-flow valves on each individual drain or using sandbags over them.

  • Reusable Water-Activated Sandbags: on YouTube (watch videos), products on Amazon, products on Google Shopping (multiple stores).

• LOOTERS  -  Bad-guy roving gangs, good-guy neighbors turned hungry for your food. You need to prepare. 
  During the Chaos Period, which hunkering down in your home, try not to attract attention.  Secure your home ahead of time. Make a plan. Simple weapons like bats, metal whips, pepper spray/gel should be included in your plan.  Firearms like pistols and shotguns are a reasonable option, only if you learn how to use them safely. Classes and practicing at your local firing range is a must.

  • Secure all entry points (doors, windows), gates into property, out-buildings and sheds.
    FOR DOORS - long screws on hinges & plates, and a secure fold-over door latch to prevent someone kicking the door in.
    FOR WINDOWS, consider boards/plywood/panels. Best to purchase them ahead of time and pre-make and cut them to size, marking each one with which window they are made for. This is often done in Hurricane country, coastal Atlantic and Gulf Coastal areas. We screw open-ended bolts into the window frames, cut and fit boards/panels onto the windows, and use corresponding bolts to attach window protection. Sometimes we even cut a few little holes so we can view out during the hurricane.

2 to 3 weeks  |  For regular disasters, FEMA recommends every home store 2 to 3 weeks of food and water, plus assorted tools, flashlights, and batteries.

3 to 4 MONTHS  |  For a major nation-wide Power Grid Down disaster, we recommend a minimum of 3 to 4 months of food and water to survive the Initial Chaos Period.

CASH IS KING. With no power, there is no credit card network. Cash will be the only way to purchase things, besides barter. Do expect prices to soar and inflation to significantly rise. While Gold and Silver does have its place, most purchases initially will be on a Cash Only basis. Gold would be used for only very large purchases. Silver would be useable for everyday purchases, but only in fractional forms (units smaller than an ounce, like the Mexican fractional silver peso).

COOKING EQUIPMENT that fits your specific needs will depend on your surroundings and available resources. Gasoline-based systems can be used by all. See the Coleman Dual Fuel Equipment below. If living in a rural environment, wood burning options like a rocket stove would be key along with assorted tree sawing and axes to cut wood with. If living in a city or urban area, solar ovens become more reasonable option.  Everyone should have TWO DIFFERENT TYPES of cooking systems to give you redundancy.

How to Store Water
For beginners, Store-Bought Bottled Water is the easiest and most cost-effective way to begin. Distilled Water Bottles can be stored for about 1 year.  Other Spring Water or Tap Water will last about 6 months.  Beyond this, chemical treatment is required to prevent bacteria and eliminate slime build-up.  SEE: Water Storage, Filtration, and Treatment for more details.  

If you own property, adding a water well could be cheaper in the long-run and the key to your survival. Most cities and counties allow you to add a shallow well with no prior approval needed from a planning/zoning board. These are commonly installed and used for watering lawns and gardens without using and paying for municipal water rates, and which also have chlorine in it that kills grass and plants. Well pipes and pumps (electric, solar, and manual) can be bought and installed yourself or you can hire a well drilling company.

What Food to Store
Can Goods and Dry Goods are at the core of most preppers' long-term pantry.  The cheapest and longest stored food items are Dry Goods like rice and beans. These can easily last 6 to 10 years in a dark cool storage closet, if it's kept in its original sealed bag or re-packaged to keep moisture and buggies out. If you re-packaged them in mylar bags with oxygen absorbers, which can get a little expensive, some university research shows they can last 30 years. Can Goods will normally last a few years, but you will need to rotate them (put new purchases into long-term storage while eating from the older cans). Pasta is cheap and remains a serious option, yet will only last a few years in storage and you will have to use a rotation system like previously mentioned.

HOW LONG IT TAKES TO COOK & PREPARE IS AN IMPORTANT FACTOR?
When choosing what which food to buy and store, most don't consider cooking time (which equals more fuel to burn). For example: regular white rice may take 20-30 minutes to cook. Most regular beans require pre-soaking, either overnight or for a few hours.

EDITOR'S PICKS - A complete meal can be cooked in less than 10 minutes saving a lot of time and cooking fuel.

• RICE:  Basmati Rice, which is an aromatic and more flavorful rice, that only takes 8 to 10 minutes to cook.
  BUYING: Most Basmati Rice comes from either India or California. Walmart's Great Value 20lb bags seemes to be the better buy because the cost is cheaper and the bags are very thick plastic, so they can go directly to storage shelves. They also come in 5lb and 10lb bags but the price is higher. There are various other brands and sizes. Try to pick one in a good bag where you don't have to repackage the rice.
  COMPARE:  Long-Grain Enriched (20lb-$11): Cheaper, 20min Cooking Time; Jasmine Rice (20lb-$17), taste better, 15min Cooking Time; Basmati Rice (20lb-$19), Best tasting, 10min Cooking Time. 

• BEANS: Red Lentils was chosen because it requires no soaking, and it only takes 5 minutes to cook. Red Lentis have more nutrition than the slightly cheaper Brown Lentils, which takes 20 minutes to cook. PEANUT ALERGIES: Some Doctors note that 20% of those allergic to peanuts are also allergic to some beans/legumes.
  BUYING: Most come in 1lb plastic bags. They are sometimes available in local stores. Prices fluctuate throughout the year, and from year-to-year, but generally over the past two years since 2022, the best time to buy is in the summer months. They are sometimes harder to find in the stores, so I tend to buy from Goya on Amazon in a 24 pack of 1lb bags. Try to wait and buy when the price is $40-$50 per box. For long-term storage, I leave the box un-opened and tape up the seams of the box with thick packaging tape to secure it from bugs.

• BROCOLLI SEEDS for growing Broccoli Sprouts to provide that extra level of nutrition and antioxidant boost completes my normal meal. Broccoli Sprouts are super easy to grow in a jar, in the window, from seeds to sprouts in 4-5 days in a 1/2 gallon, wide-mouth mason jar. VIDEOS: Benefits, Anti-Cancer Cell Protection Nutrients (video2), How to Grow in Jars.

Everything Else really depends on your own needs, circumstances, and available finances.

Common Stuff:  Battery-powered Lights, Rechargeable Batteries & Chargers, Emergency Radio, Basic Tools, Duct Tape, Zip Ties, Boots, Rain Gear, Tarps.  Don't buy equipment with built-in batteries, since replacing them would require someone with electronics skills to replace them. Only buy lights and radios that use regular standard types of batteries that can be easily replaced (AAA, AA, C, D, 18650, 21700).

Medical:  First-Aid Kit and extra prescription medications. Get your refills at the earliest possible date, and you will be able to slowly build up a small excess for emergencies.

Hunting, Fishing, and Gardening:  Adding to, and generating new food sources are critically important. Get into the habit of doing by actually hunting, fishing, and gardening - even if you only do it to learn - it will be the skills and tools/equipment you may need to survive. Starting a basic garden to learn how and with basic gardening tools and a reserve of seeds would be wise.

Bathroom Replacement:  You will need to find replacement/alternatives for the toilet, showering/bathing, and washing of hands. That's why, if you own land, having a shallow well for water can be so helpful. Toilet systems are much more complicated to replace but do-able. Solutions range from the simple dig-a-hole and burry it; to toilet seat over a 5-gallon paint bucket or bed-side commode where you use a trash bag or bucket; to a porta-potty camping toilet; to the old-style 'out-house' or military latrine over a pit (with proper venting, it's not so bad); to the best option of a 'composting toilet' that separates the liquids and solids to cut down on the smell and efficiently dispose of the waste.  FOR CLEANING: Discover the wonder of Wet-Wipes.  Yup. They work, they're cheap, and have multiple, multiple uses from cleaning the butt to a replacement for showering and bathing.

The 'Keep it Light & Mobile' Strategy

Main Survival Equipment Should Always be... Small & Portable!

All equipment you buy in the beginning should always and primarily be focused on 'SURVIVAL' equipment - items that you absolutely need to live AND that have DUAL FUNCTIONALITY:

• MOBILE USE  |  Small, Portable, lite enough to carry yourself in a Mobile Bag, Cart, or Backpack.
  Secondarily, what you can easily and quickly pack in a car. If you can't carry it with you, you may have to abandon it - and thus it will do you no good to buy, at least initially.

• BASIC HOME USE  |  It should also be good enough to use in your home, at least in a basic or primitive way.

You should develop 1 MOBILE SURVIVAL PACK PER PERSON. If you get separated, each person (adult, teen, and child) needs to have a basic survival pack AND know how to use the equipment inside.