Recommended Preps

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This page will undergo frequent revision as we find better products to recommend or other products to add. Please check back frequently for the most up-to-date recommendations. Also remember - while products are nice to have, skills are essential!

Preparedness Supplies

Food

Mountain House Freeze Dried Foods We were first introduced to Mountain House Foods when we owned the sporting goods store. They are a Pacific Northwest company and their pre-made meals are fabulous. Instead of freeze drying the individual ingredients and then putting them together, they make the meal first and then freeze dry it, thus allowing the flavors to better blend. The link above is for a three day emergency kit. While there are more affordable options for long-term food storage, we recommend having a few pre-made meals on hand. Let's face it, in an emergency there are likely to be days when you don't have the time or patience to put together a nutritious meal. Having a few already made will make those days easier.

Here are links to some of our favorite two-person pouch meals they make:

Mountain House Chili Mac with Beef

Mountain House Chicken and Dumplings

Mountain House Biscuits and Gravy

Water

WaterBOB Bathtub Storage - Designed for emergencies, this water bladder can be put into your tub when needed and filled. It holds up to 100 gallons, is BPA free, and comes with a hand pump to make water retrieval easy.

Long Term Storage Containers - We have several of these Reliance water storage containers. They are convenient for storage and dispensing because they include a spigot and are small enough to be lifted. For easy access to your water, simply take out the spigot (it stores inside the container), attach it, set the container on its side and open the vent. We have used ours multiple times for camping, and they work really well. Best of all, if you take care of them they should last several years.

Big Berkey Gravity Fed Water Filter - This is the brand of water filter we have at home. It has done a great job over the ten plus years we have owned it. We filter our drinking water through it on a daily basis. It requires no electricity and when empty is light and easy to carry, making it a good option for camping as well. It has two kinds of filters - black to filter out a variety of potential contaminants and an optional white filter to reduce flouride and arsenic. One of the benefits of Berkey filters is that they are high quality. They are long-lasting and filter over 200 typical contaminants that can be present in drinking water. There are a few other quality brands of filters that will work with the system such as the Boroux filters. A word of caution: Clean water is very important, especially in a disaster scenario. Be sure to purchase a quality filtration system and high quality filters. 

Heating

Mr. Heater Indoor Heater - 18,000 BTU

Mr. Heater Indoor Heater - 4,000 to 9,000 BTU

Vesta Heater/Stove - The Vesta Heater/Stove uses canned fuel to heat and cook. It includes a heat-powered fan and is capable of heating a space up to 200 square feet. It includes a built-in stove that can be used to heat food and water. At 7.6 pounds, it is portable and can be used for camping, picnics, or home power outages. Canned heat is odorless, smokeless, non-toxic and generally safe for indoor use, making this a perfect emergency stove to keep a room warm during a power outage.

Cooking

Vesta Heater/Stove - See description above.

Ecozoom Dura Wood Rocket Stove or Ecozoom Versa Dual-fuel Rocket Stove - Rocket stoves are a great option for cooking because they do not require you to store butane or propane canisters. The wood rocket stove works with wood, twigs, branches and other biomass. The dual-fuel works with all of the above, plus it can be used with charcoal. These are heavy-duty enough to hold heavier cookware such as a Dutch oven or cast iron pan but are still portable, with the Dura weighing in at 12 lbs. and the Versa at 14.5 lbs. The vertical combustion chamber is designed to reduce emissions and boost fuel efficiently providing you with a cleaner burn and saving on wood.

Lighting

MPOWERED Luci Inflatable Solar Lights - Luci lights are rechargeable inflatable solar lanterns. They store flat but can be easily inflated when needed. We bought our first Luci lights over eight years ago and they are still going strong. Since then, they have broadened the options available and now offer different models with features such as a USB charger and colored lighting.

Beeswax Taper Candles - 8" or Beeswax Taper Candles - 12" - Candles are always a good lighting option. They provide a soft, warm light and help create a comforting atmosphere. Tapers are one of my favorite candles for prepping because they offer a lot of light for their size. I prefer beeswax because they are all natural and emit a soft, sweet fragrance without the use of harmful artificial ingredients.

Chamberstick Candle Holder - If you use taper candles, it is nice to have a candle holder. These chambersticks are the old style short holder with a finger loop for easy carrying. They have a nice wide base for stability and are a great combination of elegance and functionality.

Oil Lamps - Oil lamps offer another lighting option. You can use different fuels for your lamp (just don't mix them). Kerosene is one option widely known due to references in books and movies about the Old West. Liquid paraffin is a superior modern option, though (see below). 

Liquid Paraffin Lamp Oil - This is the oil we buy for our lamps. Liquid paraffin claims to be smoke and odor free, without the soot and pollutants found in kerosene. Best of all, it is said that it can be stored indefinitely if stored properly, making it an ideal preparedness option for your lamps. We have stored paraffin oil for years in sealed containers and have never had a problem with it degrading.

Gardening Supplies

Seeds

When choosing seeds for your garden, especially if you are choosing seeds with survival in mind, it is important to choose non-GMO, non-hybrid, open-pollenated, heirloom seeds so that they can produce seed for you to use the following year. Having them packaged in mylar or a sealed can for long-term storage is essential. Here are some great seed options.


Mountain Valley Seed Company Vegetable Garden Can  - This was the first "survival seed can" we purchased. We stuck it in the freezer for several years before opening it to use. Our can has been open for four years and the seeds are still sprouting and growing well. While it only contains 16 varieties, they were selected for their hardiness and ability to grow in many regions, including those with a short growing season. We couldn't be more pleased with these seeds. For hardy varieties that fare well, this option can't be beat.


B&KM Farms Jumbo Variety Pack - With 50 varieties and a generous portion of each variety, this is a great option for immediate planting or for emergency/prepper supplies. If you are ever in a situation when you have to plant these to supplement your family's food supply, you will likely be grateful for the variety of plants this pack will add to your diet.


Open Seed Vault 32 Variety Pack  - This is a good in-between package. It has more varieties than the Mountain Valley without having as many as the BK&M package. 


Garden Beds and Accessories

Metal Raised Beds - 3x6x1 We bought this size in a two pack to use for our first venture into using raised beds. While the two-pack is no longer available, this size is still available in a single pack. We are moving into our fourth garden season with our galvanized beds and they still look brand new.

Metal Raised Bed - 8x4x1 (2 pack) This is the larger version of the 2 pack above. Our daughter has these and if you have the space, these are a great option for maximizing your garden space and still being able to reach the center of your beds.

Metal Raised Bed - 8x4x2 The two-foot raised bed is great for being easy on your back. It does take a lot more to fill the taller beds like this, however. To save on the amount of soil needed to fill such a tall bed, we employed the permaculture approach by putting down a layer of logs (interspersed with rocks from the yard to help with drainage), followed by branches, and then topping it off with leaves and grass clippings. We then added the square foot garden soil mix that we mixed ourselves.

Plant Stakes We use plant stakes for our easy up garden fencing as well as for staking plants like tomatoes. Keeping certain plants off the ground increases air flow which helps to keep the plant healthy, gives the plant support, and helps the plant grow vertically.

Seed Starting Mats We bought our first seed starting mat in 2023. The room where we start our garden seeds is poorly insulated and gets rather cold, especially at night. The seed warming mat helps to bring the soil to the right temperature for the seeds to sprout thereby accelerating the sprouting time. In an area with a shorter growing season, this has been particularly helpful for getting a start on our garden.

Canning Supplies

Essential Items

Presto Pressure Canner - You can purchase a water bath canner and/or a pressure canner, but I prefer the pressure canner because it gives you more options. You can water bath can and pressure can using only one canner rather than having a separate canner for each purpose. This saves on shelf space. Furthermore, the pressure canner has a nice flat bottom rack, unlike the old water bath canners with the baskets that allowed the jars to tilt at odd angles. Pressure canners can also double as pressure cookers, giving you yet more ways to use your pot. We personally like the 23 qt. size because you can double stack pint jars, allowing you to can more at one time.

These can be found many places online and in-person. You can find them at hardware stores and superstores. Keep an eye out at thrift stores and yard sales - sometimes you can get them for a great price! Just be sure to have the pressure gauge and seal checked before using it. This is something you should do every year anyway as part of your pre-canning maintenance.

Jar Lifter - A jar lifter is helpful for lifting your jars into the canner without touching the hot water and for moving your hot jars out of the canner on onto the counter. They are easy to use, grip well, and are an improvement over the old style my mom had when I was a kid. 

Stainless Steel Canning Funnel - A canning funnel is such a help for getting your contents into your jar with no mess. It makes filling your jars simple and easy. There are a number of canning kits out there that have several extra tools beyond a funnel and a jar lifter. We personally don't use most of these extra items. However, other people love the extras, and these kits can be a great way to try out all the tools.

Canning Jars with Lids and Rings - We use a variety of canning jars. Regular mouth quart jars are great for items like juice, applesauce, pie filling, and soup. Wide mouth quart jars are nice for larger items like pickles, pears, potatoes, and peaches. We tend to use regular mouth pint size  jars for jams and jellies, pickled items like dilly beans, vegetables like corn and green beans, relishes, and sauces. You can use wide mouth pint jars for the same items and for smaller amounts of potatoes, pears, and peaches. We also have jelly jars (half-pint) for smaller amounts of jams and jellies. This size is a favorite for canned tuna as well.

Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving - I highly recommend that you have a reliable canning guide. It will give you instructions for safe canning methods, which is crucial. It also provides numerous recipes and ideas for preserving your food. There are two options listed above in the books section as well.

Stainless Steel Soup Ladle - This is essential for getting the hot water, brine, syrup, jam, etc. to your jar. Having a nice ladle that pours well, in combination with the canning funnel, makes filling jars fast and easy.

Long-handled Stainless Steel Spoon - We have used all kinds of spoons to stir our contents while bringing them up to temperature. I cannot tell you how many times I have had hot jam splatter on my hand. I finally got a spoon with a very long handle and have been so glad I did. It really made a big difference when stirring boiling items for long periods of time. I use it for making our laundry soap, too.

Stainless Steel Stock Pot - Be sure to get a heavy gauge steel for your stockpot. We had a lighter steel pot when we first got married and the jam would burn too easily. It hasn't been a problem with the heavier steel pot we now use. The pot we have is a 12 quart. It may be too big for some people, but I personally like the taller sides to cut down on splatters.

Optional items

Food Mill - We use the food mill a lot when making jam out of small fruits with large seeds. We have used it with serviceberry, hawthorn berry, blackberry, and plums. It can also be used to make applesauce for canning. While it is not an essential item, it is really nice to have it. It does have uses outside of canning as well. Some people use it to make smooth mashed potatoes and tomato sauce.

Norpro "The Original" Saucemaster - This is a great item to have if you plan to make a lot of tomato sauce. It is said that it works well with other fruits and vegetables as well such as apples and peaches. You can purchase a berry screen, salsa screen, and/or pumpkin screen to complete your set-up. Because it separates the pulp and juice from the seeds, spitting out the seeds and peels as you go, it is much faster to use than the Food mill listed above.

Steamer Juicer - This is a great option for making canned juices. It steams the fruit to extract the juice. It is helpful to have since the juice comes out hot and temperature ready for canning. What do you do with canned juices? The first and most obvious is to use them for drinking. Because you can it, you control the amount of sugar that is or isn't in it. We have also used canned juice for popsicles, jello desserts, and jelly.

Lid Lifter - This is useful for getting the warm lids out of the water. You can use a fork to slide under them, but this makes it easy to lift and keep them steady when putting them on your hot jars. 

Canning Kit - Canning kits like this include a jar lifter, funnel, magnetic lid lifter, tongs, bubble popper/measurer, and jar grip. These are a good way to get everything you might want to try out in the way of helpful canning accessories.

Chopper/Dicer - This is a recommendation from our cousin, who has many happy years of canning experience. It saves a lot of time chopping vegetables, not only for canning but for general use in the kitchen.

Apple Peeler/Corer/Slicer - This device cuts down on time when processing apples. We use it when making applesauce and apple pie filling.