The Cheap Guide to Surviving Collapse: The Home survival kit that’s 100 dollars or less.

 The Cheap Guide to Surviving Collapse.

The Home survival kit that’s 100 dollars or less.

This isn’t meant to be an entirely comprehensive list or anything like that. This is merely a way of showing that it’s possible to be somewhat well prepared for emergencies for relatively small cost. Will include other info for basic skills and the like as time goes on.

Worry about water first.

Water filter with container: $21.97. Went with this one because it can be screwed onto other water bottles and has a built-in container. This makes it more useful for pouring water out. There are other options that are cheaper or have better options. This one is just an example. Water should be the first concern for anyone making a list like this.

5 gallon food grade container: 0-$20.00. Carrying water and finding ways of storing everything should be high on this list. This list of uses for a 5 gallon bucket with a lid are too large to list here. Prices on these range from free as many stores/restaurants just give them out if you ask nicely (find places that do baking) to up to 20 dollars for some reason, then down to as low as 2 dollars in some circumstances. Maybe they’re a loss leader? Anyway, get some buckets.

Food that’s cheap and shelf stable.

20lb Bag of Rice: $9.78. Cheap source of carbs. If using purely this to survive off of, this sack of rice would last over 16 days assuming a 2000 calories per day. It’s hard to beat that for less than 10 dollars. Makes a great companion to beans. Remember to rotate the supply out!

20lb Bag of Beans: $14.46. Cheap source of protein. If using purely this for protein, that's over 41 days of protein assuming 50grams per day. Makes a great companion to rice. Note these should be cooked thoroughly. 

Things that don’t require cooking: $5.92. Went with these granola bars because they’re cheap, taste fine, easy to hand out to people, easy to eat on the road, shelf stable. For any food store it’s always best to make sure not the entire supply requires cooking as there will almost certainly be times when a heating source is completely unavailable. Replace this with whatever you want and like eating provides it meets the above criteria.

Renewable power/lighting/communications.

Crankable/Solar Radio Flashlight and Phone charger: $19.99. It’s not perfect but it gets the job done. Has an option to charge a phone and the radio somewhat works. It can also be charged off of a regular usb cable to avoid having to deal with muscle and solar power. 

Headlamp: $1.00. Incredibly useful for any task where you need to use your hand in the dark. Which there tend to be a lot of I’ve found when the power is out.

Making Fire.

USB firelighter: $8.00.Would pair with another method of starting fires, but for 8 dollars it’s worth considering. At the click of a button a spark is formed. Best if paired with some paper or light leaves to have it get going.

Magnesium bar and striker: $4.46. The classic, grind down a small pile of magnesium with the little tool then strike the flint to make a spark. A bit more clunky to use than preferred, recommend using another knife other than the tool it comes with.

Keeping warm.

Space blanket: $2.74. Ordinarily I would recommend a high grade sleeping bag per person which can be found in many thrift stores never used. But finding those reliably is fairly difficult so this is the budget option.

Staying Alive.

First aid kit: 6.99. I certainly hope some version of this is already in everyone's home. There should also be some basic meds such as stuff for pain, cold, upset stomach, allergies, daily meds, burn gel, spf 50, bug spray, and probably 50 things I can’t even think of. Please get some kind of first aid kit before you need one. A first aid kit is more vital than a plunger for a house, I’d argue it’s more vital than a bed!

Total = 95.31 /100.00

Note that this list assumes that common things found around the home would be included. So expect there to be more food available, minor tools and sundries such as duct tape, screwdrivers, a decent knife. The kitchen gadgets of at least a sparse apartment including a pot and a few tupperware containers, changes of clothes depending on the season, and maybe fifty things I’m not even thinking of. This list is meant to help someone who already has a basic living space, not make a living space from scratch.