12 Surprising Items You‘ll Need When the SHTF

Estimated reading time: 10 minutes

How do we define SHTF anymore? What are the key metrics? At the very least we can say that our society is currently in a strong decline. The things that are increasing are crime, drug use, suicide, and the total cost of living.

Hopefully, these conditions have inspired you to at least gather up your bullets, beans, and bandages. As you know, there is much more to prepping than just those three things.

We have put together a list of 12 surprising items you will need when SHTF.  These are all items I store for myself and hope that you will begin storing them, too.

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1. Pest Control Measures

In our society pest control is a phone call. Pest control is a young man with a hat on and a smile who shows up to spray or trap whatever your problem is. In SHTF and you see a roach or a mouse in your food storage pantry then it is going to be on you to deal with that.

Once mice move in, they will gnaw through everything to get to the food you have painstakingly stored over the years.

Storing pest control measures like sticky boards, mouse traps, live traps, and rodenticide are all essential. Snake repellant can be another great one if you have poisonous snakes around your property.

2. Coffee Filters

In all honesty, coffee is enough of a reason to have coffee filters. Still, there are many ways of brewing coffee without filters. Coffee filters can also be an incredible layer to add to homemade water filters. They are also great for straining other liquids. This could include curds to make simple cheese.

If you have coffee and the ability to brew it, you will be a king within your group or community. There is a company that sells green coffee beans in 5lb bags called Disaster Coffee. These green coffee beans can be stored like long term food storage and roasted when you are ready.

Bunker Beans Raw Green Coffee Beans 5lbs – Disaster Coffee

3. Dental Floss

We all hate the dentist. Imagine the dentist without any Novocain. Dental hygiene is very important, right now. It will be even more important when there is no dentist. Having dental floss is an important part of that.

Dental floss can also help with a variety of other things like creating traps, having a fine cordage for sewing, and even starting a fire. When lit with a match, dental floss can burn slowly if you wrap it around a stick. Rolls are cheap and easy to store.

4. Super Glue

You do not want a survival shelter or survival gear that is super glued together. However, super glue can really solve some things for you. Moreover, super glue is a highly effective means of wound closure. Super glue is one of those things that is easy to just drop in a first aid kit and use it in a pinch.

5. Trash Bags

In SHTF we will not be generating as much waste as we do now. The moment we stop producing packaging the amount of trash and waste we create will very rapidly decline. There will still be waste and having trash bags gives you the ability to haul waste easily.

Did you know that in the event of radioactive fallout you can use trash bags and duct tape to fashion a suit that will protect your skin from the radioactive particle? Trash bags can also be used as protection from pathogens in a viral outbreak.

They are also waterproof, and this goes a long way if you must create an impromptu poncho or even temporarily cover a hole in your roof or other structure.

6. Condoms

Pregnancy, childbirth, and raising children are going to be a serious drain on resources in a post-apocalyptic world. It is not to say the continuation of the species will still not be a necessity, but some form of birth control is gonna need to be on the table. Not to mention the spread of sexually transmitted diseases will also be rampant and possibly deadly.

You will be glad you have condoms, and if others come looking then I am certain they will make for one of the very best barter items you can get your hands on!

7. Wine Corks

Wine corks represent a whole lot of things. They are great for survival fishing purposes. Not only do they make great bobbers, but they can also be turned into poppers to catch fish. Simply running a hook through the cork and adding some fur, feathers or other flashy materials will create a topwater fishing lure that can be very productive.

Corks are also a great little handle for something like a fire striker or ferrocerium rod. The cork can be cut out and the ferro rod glued inside the handle. Cork is a lot easy to hold onto then the smooth ferro rod.

8. Baking Soda

Baking soda is a wonder that you should probably already be using at home for several things. In a fallen world having baking soda means having access to a product that can do so many things for you.

1. Deodorizer
2. Cleaner
3. Key Ingredient in Homemade Dental Hygiene
4. Heartburn Relief
5. Leaving Agent
6. Itch Relief from Insect Bites

This miracle substance does all this and even more if you know how to use it. Storing lots of baking soda is also very cheap and there is no reason not to have your own stockpile.

9. Diatomaceous Earth

While most preppers understand how to use Mylar bags and oxygen absorbers to protect long term food storage for decades. However, you can do the same thing with diatomaceous earth. By layering food with diatomaceous earth, you can store dried grains in 5-gallon buckets without the concern of pest infestation.

Diatomaceous earth is also great for pest control in the garden. The product feels like a fine powder but is actually crushed up shells of a fossilized single celled algae. This substance is sharp to small soft bugs and repels them.

10. Peat Moss

Most people don’t even consider what happens to human waste once they flush the toilet. When there is no more running water then this problem is going go from the bottom of the list right up to the top of the list.

Before you get hungry you are gonna have to use the bathroom. Where do you do that? Are you gonna do that in the woods? There is an incredibly simple solution to human waste if you have the two most important pieces of that puzzle.

The first is a 5-gallon bucket and the second is peat moss. With a scoop of peat moss at the bottom of the 5-gallon bucket you can do your business in that bucket and then cover it up with peat moss and that will block the smell and begin the process of breaking your waste down.

Storing peat moss makes this off grid toilet a simple prep that you can begin on day one.

11. Animal Bedding

I like to think that even if you do not have livestock of some kind now, you will at some point in SHTF. Keeping animals like quail, chickens, and rabbits is simple but having bedding and feed will make it much easier.

Feed you can grow, and these three animal types in particular are great for eating things like scraps and grass. Quail does require a higher protein feed, but you can learn how to produce that.

Storing animal bedding is great for the ease of upkeep when it comes to caring for this kind of food producing livestock.

12. Simple Fishing Tackle

I have seen all manner of survival fishing setups.  The stance that I take is the most simple and effective one. Buy a 220-yard spool of high-test fishing line 10lb or higher. I have one that is 10lb and one that is 80lb test. These are not the spools I use for recreational fishing. This will be the SHTF fishing line. It is more than you will ever need.

Next you are going to want to buy a 2000pc worm fishing hook set from Amazon. It’s $20 and you will never need another hook for the rest of your time on the planet. You could add bobbers to the party if you like. You do not need a fishing pole or reel to catch fish.

Conclusion

What are some of the items that you store that are surprising? Were some of these already on your list? Remember, our way of life is going to continue to change. Don’t tell yourself stories, our world has been rocked since 2020. Most are living a very different kind of life already.

We are only just stepping across the threshold of change. Your life is going to continue to change. SHTF is not going to just pop out and get us. Those four letters are just going to become more and more visible as the years go on.

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