Gunner Quinn
Labels, Markers, and Tags
I purchased a label maker to help mark our shelves, totes and other containers. I am sure we have all run into a situation where we could not read some else’s handwriting that was scribbled on a piece of duct tape that over the years faded. Printed labels avoid this. I can pick different color labels and sizes of labels as well. So, for totes I use larger labels but when I label a drawer on a “parts” organizer I use very small labels. I also use the label maker to identify what food is in our buckets, how much and the date that it was put in the bucket. Each ammunition can also gets a label with caliber, and type of projectile such as full metal jacket (FMJ), soft point (SP), hollow point (HP), tracer or lead. I also identify the ammunition as factory or reloads.
Although labels are good for most of my items, I still use black markers with a wide tip to help mark things where labels will not work. For example, I used rough cut lumber to build shelves and the labels do not adhere well to the rough cut wood so I use a marker to label the shelf. Markers are also great for marking the date of purchase/expiration on containers, such as oil, spray cans, bottles and other containers, that are being stored on a shelf versus inside a container. For fuel cans, I use tags (normally plastic tag with wire ties) to note the type of fuel, date purchased and what I used to treat it with like Sta-Bil or Pri-G.
Safeguarding your supplies
Part of logistics is securing or protecting your inventory. This is from theft (from 2-legged or 4- legged creatures) and/or from the elements. Putting out traps for rodents and insects is protecting your investment. I personally like glue traps and place them around our basement door and around areas where we store food. I also use ultrasonic pest repellers. Cotton balls with a few drop of mint oil also helps keep pests away. Like any good “defense”, your defense against pest should be multiple layers.
For items that you do not want people to readily see, like your collection of ammunition cans we use locking storage cabinets. I built a shelving unit for my ammunition cans and added plywood doors onto the shelving unit so that no one could see what is inside. (On a side note the doors on the shelving units gave me a great space to hang up maps of my area.) Besides safeguards from theft or rodents/pests we need to consider the other “enemies” of our stored supplies, moisture, temperature extremes, and sunlight. Moisture can cause items to rust and/or mildew. Extreme Temperatures can cause items to become brittle or dry rot or otherwise break down. Items that are mixtures like paints or are that are in spray cans can separate or lose their pressure over time too. Each Fall, I fill two milk crates up with paints and spray cans from the garage and store them in our basement for the winter until the Spring.
Forecasting and replenishment
As mentioned in the beginning of this article, forecasting how much of an item you need to store away will be difficult. Setting storage goals based on estimated recovery times would be a good starting point. For example. If you are planning for a major hurricane, perhaps you decide the recovery period for your location will be two weeks. You would base your water storage then on providing ALL your water needs (drinking, cooking, hygiene, sanitation) for that two week timeframe. For some items, like water, it may make better logistical sense to plan on how to re-supply/replenish your supply of something. Sticking with the water example, perhaps you are preparing to survive a full-scale nuclear war. You determine you need thousands of gallons of water. Realistically you determine you can only store 110 gallons (two 55-gallon drums). You develop a replenishment plan where you will pull your well pump out and use a “baler bucket” to lift fresh water out of your well and pour into your 55-gallon drums.
Or perhaps you live in a state where “harvesting” rainwater is illegal. You decide that you will collect rainwater post-nuclear war so you stock supplies away to capture, store, and purify rainwater. Again multiple methods of replenishment should be planned for.
Besides water replenishment, food will be another area where replenishment is needed to ensure continued availability. Hunting is an option but it is only one option. Trapping, foraging, growing your own food, and raising animals also fit into food replenishment. Besides all the logistical needs for food replenishment, you must consider all the logistical needs for food preservation. Think about canning jars. If you were going to can just one jar of food for each day, you would need 365 canning jars and lids. Besides the jars and lids you would need canning salt, sugar, vinegar, and the space to store the jars. When you forecast and are plan for replenishment do not forget to plan for a little extra due to the unexpected. Imagine if you only put one pack of squash seeds in your storage and a mouse ate those seeds.
Also, consider adding extra supplies for those unexpected “guest”. It is easy to say that you will not “take in anyone” after SHTF, but when a trauma doctor shows up on your lawn looking for a place to call home, then reality will hit home. It is always better to plan for a little extra versus having to figure out how to reallocate your supplies to deal with the unexpected. Since we are dealing with so many “unknown” variables goal setting may be another method to build your stocks of supplies. If you’re just starting out 3 days of supplies would be a goal, when that is reached the next goal is 2 weeks, as you meet your goals you just move to the next.
As a long-time prepper, I always ponder when is “enough enough”? Again, I think there are many variables and everyone has differing situations such as funds and space. I am in a position where I now concentrate on staples such as sugar, salt, and baking soda. I live in a rural area surrounded by farms, many Amish, so I can always get corn and wheat and probably oats, too. What I won’t have access to is the sugar, salt, and baking soda. Throughout history, bread has been a staple. You may use about 2 teaspoons of salt, and about a quarter of a cup of sugar to make one loaf of bread. To make a year’s worth of bread (365 loaves) you would need about 5 pounds of salt, and about 46 pounds of sugar. So, Looking at recipes is another good method for helping forecast the amounts you need stored.
Maintenance and parts
If you have been prepping for years you have probably heard about fellow preppers who buy equipment and put it on a shelf. In this day and age when items are mass-produced by people in Third World nations it is risky to buy a piece of survival equipment and never take it out of the box. Using your equipment allows you to become familiar with its operation and provides you with an opportunity to perform user-level maintenance.
The lack of basic spare parts, like spark plugs, oil filters, drive belts, and the like, will be many Preppers’ downfall. Sometimes I am fortunate enough to be able to buy a used back up that is the same make a model as my primary piece of equipment. For example I have two ATV four-wheelers that are the same year, make, and model. This gives me the option of “cannibalizing” one for parts. This isn’t always possible due to cost but in many instances buying a second piece of equipment is more cost-effective than buying a handful of new spare parts. For example, it is cheaper to buy a used Coleman stove or lantern for spare parts than it is to buy a spare generator and pump assembly.
Make sure you have a copy of parts diagrams, schematics, and owner’s/operator’s manuals for each piece of survival equipment. I keep a small pocket notebook that I write down the make, model and serial number of tools and equipment. I also list the type of spark plugs, belts, filters, tire sizes, oils/fluids, for those pieces of equipment. When I see filters, spark plugs etcetera on sale or at second-hand venues, that notebook provides me the ability to quickly look up this information.
Dual Use Items
Considering our space availability and available funds, looking for items that are “dual use”, as in can be used for more than one thing, is a good way of using our space and funds wisely. Going back to salt and baking soda these two staples have way more uses than just for cooking. Other dual-use or multi-use supplies include vinegar, borax, potassium nitrate, potassium permanganate, activated carbon/charcoal, lye, and so forth. The list can go on and on. Some of these staples have whole books written on the “101 uses for” them.
Fabrication
As much as we prepare, there will inevitably be something that we did not consider that comes to light. Part of good prepper logistics is the ability to fabricate or modify items into things that we need. This starts with a good selection of hand tools. Think about the tools people used in the early 1900s. The book “FARM MECHANICS” written by Herbert Shearer, copyrighted in 1918 is a great source to see what a typical farmer had in his workshop. The book is available for free on Project Gutenberg. See: https://www.
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As we move seemingly closer to a major financial collapse, trade war and armed conflict across the globe, being able to do fabrication will be vital as supply chains and civilian consumer goods disappear. Logistically speaking having equipment and supplies for fabrication need to be stockpiled as well. Welding/brazing rods, welding/cutting torch gases, different types of metals in various gauges in flat, round and square forms, different types of hardware, stocks of rivets, gears, pulleys, sprockets and on and on. Piles of scrap metal and wood definitely have a value for the end of the world. But like everything these piles need to be in some type of organization. Having a mound of scrap metal that you have to dig through and move to find the piece you need waste time at the very least. Having metal pre-sorted and in some type of organization will allow you to know what you have and where it is. Ditto with wood scraps.
Final thoughts
Lack of organization, lack of a good inventory and inventory system, and no plan that identifies what you need and in what quantiles should be avoided. Also, avoid just drawing from your stores without updating your inventory. Someone should be responsible for maintaining the inventory and reporting the status of your stocks of food, water, medical supplies, fuel, and other critical resources daily after SHTF. Your logistics person should look for trends in use of various items, establish “burn rates” (how fast something is being used) and forecast when needed supplies should be replenished through trade, gardening, scavenging, and the like. Finding out that there is no more firewood or propane after the fact is not a sign of good logistics!
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