10 survival items for beginning apartment preppers

This is a good list to give to friends and relatives that live in the city. This is a basic list, not in-depth for long term survival but it is a great starting place. I have all but the crank flash light because my bulb burned out and I am having trouble finding a replacement. I mainly have all solar flashlights now and they charge so easily.

http://survivalcommonsense.com/10-survival-items-for-beginning-apartment-preppers/ Please follow the link for the rest of the list.

 

I'm thinking more along the lines of a good bug out plan.
Why?
Because of other people's stupidity and land lord frugality. Mainly because of fire.
2 examples recently come to mind.
My cousin in Maine was living in a converted 3 plex. Well it burned down and the people next to her died, no smoke detectors in the one where the people died. She, here baby daddy and 3 kids all got out with PJs only. Cousin's place burned down because nothing was any where close to being up to code. They think the middle one where the people died a plug in heater over heated the aluminum wiring which sparked the fire.
Near where I live some meth heads had one of those back yard fire places in their apartment for heat and cooking after their gas and electric got turned off when getting meth became me more important than paying the bills.
Guess what happened next.
That apartment was pretty much up to code so no one died and it didn't completely burn down.

 

If you search there are LED replacements for most flash lights ,superior to the incandescent .
But it should be SOP, to kept the incandescent handy, in the event there is an EMP.
I keep both in reserve.
As for apartment reserves that's difficult call . every situation needs it's own assessment.
Storage in a building you don't own is chancy, and renters insurance may not cover it all.
However when I was renting, What I did was build a trailer my vehicle is capable of hauling .
Basically a boxed in shop trailer .
My wind and solar are on top and the 6500 watt diesel generator on back and battery bank are below deck in a box between the axils .
The provides as secure a structure as one can haul with them home to home or in the bush as required.

As for storage i found square 5 gallon buckets that are practical for storage sensitive situations ,and I would not store any thing in any thing more than 5 gallon buckets because moving larger and heavier containers is rough on the body.
Emergency situations usually have ones energies well spent ,one does not need greater strain to the task.
Water in square containers store well and will weigh roughly 8 lbs per gallon+ the container.
Personally i do not throw any vessel capable of cleaning and filling with water. both for storage and providing water after the event .
Some things may need filtered after long term storage but it is still a bird in the hand, no matter how you slice it.
Canned food is king , stuff that actually needs no cooking to eat right out of the can .
"Dry" Rice and beans are OK but need soaking and cooking ,you ca't eat them raw and their life span is shorter then that of canned food, no matter how it is stored.
Honey is probably the most valued food being an antibiotic and a better sweetener than sugar and stores indefinitely .
second rule of storage is eat what you store, and store what you eat.
don't forget canned vegetable and fruits.
At the store if your buying 2 of something get 10 , put the 8 in storage.
Lastly .
look through your dressers and cabinets and see if there is dead unused space you can use , you'll be surprised at how much wasted space there is .

 

The 5-gallon container is a wise & practical limit for size and weight. Square 5-gallon containers stack with less wasted space, but the dead space between round ones can be neatly filled in with cans or jars.

Apartment dwellers above the first floor can load out in a hurry by way of the balcony. Tie one end of a long rope to the rail, put a pulley hook on the rope, and wrap the free end once around the rail. Instant winch for swinging down 5-gal. buckets or similar bundles quick & easy.

A fire ladder let's people load out, too, if the front door has to stay locked.

Inside an apartment, an amazing amount of storage can be accommodated by replacing bed frames with a layer of buckets, making draped coffee tables and end tables, and corner stacking in various rooms. Add a drape and long mirror to the corner stacks.

G2G.

 

One of my sons has just moved into a 1 bedroom apartment with his GF....
among other things I gave him a basic tool kit Supatool 105 Piece Tool Kit In Tool Bag, augmented with a number of extras

1X tape measure
1X roll duct tape
1X roll electrical insulating tape
1X tube glue
2X small G clamps
2X rolls different gauge baling wire
1x small LED torch
1X pr scissors
1x box cutter with spare blades
2X carpenter's pencils
1X mini hacksaw
1X mini hand saw with combination of various blades
1X 6" mini L square

It's a start, and should see him through most minor make and mend tasks.....as well as surviving TEOTWAWKI...

 

I keep thinking I need plywood for the windows but that seems like too much for a short term rental.

Because I know the rules of 3's, I found water. It is a trashed drainage ditch but it is flowing. I would not want to drink from it but it does have the possibility of collecting water for use.

 

Best other option is to develop friendships with people that trust can be nurtured so you have a place to go if things go south .

 

I have never heard of this. We had someone allegedly cut into the roof of a gun shop out here but people really do that to apartments? Problem is that I do not think like a thief.

 

My bed/mattress sits on plywood and 5 dressers about 30" high each, and the vacant space between has storage as well as the cavities below the bottom drawers.
If you have the courage to build , false walls are not that difficult in which you can hide things . keep in mind you can't show these things to any one ,not even your best friend.

 

The link at the OP was for apt dwellers and power outages. The linked article was well written and covered almost all the bases.

All I would add is a decent first aid kit with some extra gauze (4x4 or larger) and at least one pressure bandage.

 

Can you please elaborate on this. I have 2 locks on my front door to my apartment which I can lock from the inside and also have an inside chain lock on top and it never occurred to me to inquire about them

 

One thing I don't understand people not doing is not buying in advance and keeping on hand a 6 to 12 month supply of food they eat anyway like Spaghetti, Canned Soup, Rice, Beans, etc., all of which have a shelf life of 1-2 years and don't cost much money. You can just eat them as you normally do and restock them as needed. You can also keep canned Freeze dried Ground Meat, Potatoes, etc. that lasts 10-25 years from places like Mountain House and Saratoga Farms, albeit they are more expensive but not prohibitive. I also store about $200 worth of Campfire Food Barbecue Beef and Rice and Chilli packets which last about 10 years. Of course preventing people from trying to steal them from you in SHTF situations is another story. I make it a point not to advertise the fact that I keep a years worth of food on hand to my friends and neighbors.

 

Getting into a typical apartment. Maybe 20 seconds. No tools required.
Going through the drywall.

A little quieter .. actually a lot quieter. pocket knife, score the drywall, push slowly into wall cavity. score along studs and push into apartment. There ya go, instant door.