Preparing on a Shoestring Part 13: The 2 Week Supply

This segment is going to be fairly short. The reason for this is that the 2 week supply is more or less a doubling of the 7 day kit. Quite literally, doubling up on the food and water supplies and fuel supplies listed in the 7 day kit will provide you with sufficient supplies to get through 2 weeks in the Stone Age.

It is advisable to use your imagination (stretch it to the limit is more accurate) to provide for a wider variety of foods for your diet. Unless you are boring like me, eating chicken noodle soup for 2 weeks straight is a good way to get so sick of it that you will not be able to look at it again. Even I get tired of the same old meal after a few days. Additionally, the same meal over and over can cause short tempers at meal times. You don’t need that trouble on top of the stress of an emergency situation.

Another concern is that your body needs variety too in order to get all the nutrients it needs. If you don’t give your body what it needs, it will rebel against you. Stomach upset and diarrhea are not things you want or need to deal with during an emergency situation.

Two weeks is more than you can expect frozen foods to last. That pretty much rules out canned biscuits or frozen bread dough. It is advisable to add saltine crackers at a rate of 2 boxes per person into the 2 week supply over and above the bread and biscuits recommended in the 3 and 7 day kits. A side benefit is that saltines can usually be tolerated by someone who cannot keep any other food down due to illness or stress. If you have folks in your group that have nervous stomachs or react badly to stress, add another 4-6 boxes of saltine crackers.

If you haven’t done so already, now is a good time to expand your first aid kit.

- 2 Ace bandages in 2 or 3 inch width.
- between 2 and 4 bottles of eye wash
- 1 large bottle of peroxide
- 2 finger splints
- surgical dressings (heavy flow feminine pads are not sterile but work well for this)
- splinting rods (6 surplus US military survival half pole sections are perfect for this)
- 1 wool blanket (army surplus is perfect) for keeping a victim warm and to use as an
improvised stretcher. 2 wool blankets is better. One to carry, one to cover.
- 1 bottle of Betadine (Iodine)
- 2 tubes of triple antibiotic (don’t be stingy when using it. Use plenty every time
you change a dressing on minor injuries. Do not use on major or deep wounds
without doctor’s orders.)
- Steri-strips These are adhesive strips designed to take the place of stitches
- Surgical gloves, antibacterial soap, hand sanitizer.
- A notebook and PENCIL, not an ink pen. A pencil will always write. Note all
incidents and treatments. Also note time and dosage of all prescription meds taken.
- Get all adults and children of appropriate age First Aid and CPR certified. The life
your kid saves may be yours.

EQUIPMENT

Now is the time to consider an alternate power source. A generator is a good and viable option. Don’t mess around. Any generator smaller than 2500 watts is just a battery charger. If you are going to spend that kind of money, buy one that will run a frig, microwave, coffee maker or small heater and a couple of lights at the same time. Better yet if you can come up with the money and have the space, buy a genny in the 6000 – 10000 watt range. It will run most or all of your home. It is more fuel hungry, but you get more work out of it when it is running.

If you get a genny, keep at least 10 gallons of fuel for it on hand at all times, 20 gallons for the larger sizes. Either treat the fuel for storage or rotate it through your vehicle every 4 weeks (once a month). When you need fuel, dump the cans and then take them with you to the gas station to refill along with topping off your gas tank. You should run your generator for 15-30 minutes once a month powering appliances to draw between 25% and 50% of the genny’s rated load to exercise it. You want it to run and run right when you need it. A good method is to power those appliances you would most likely use in an emergency. Make sure the genny will take the load and what things you can run together without exceeding the generator’s capacity. For this to work as intended, you must actually use the appliances you are powering while they are on the genny.

A quieter and less expensive alternative is to buy a power inverter. A 750 watt inverter will produce 6.25 amperes, enough power to run most refrigerators. It won’t run anything else while running your frig, but can be used for other loads for a few hours a day without letting your frig get too warm. A word of caution, if you use your car battery to power the inverter, you need to run your car every hour for around 10 minutes to keep the battery up while the inverter is in use. Also run your car for 30 minutes after you shut the inverter off for the night.

A 750 watt inverter can be had for a little over $80 and a good marine deep cycle battery can be had for around $100. This will give you enough battery capacity for 1 day without recharging and without draining your car battery. You can run the inverter while charging with your car. It will take about an hour to an hour and a half to fully charge the deep cycle battery with your car after a 50% discharge. I use a variant of this system to power my wife’s CPAP machine during power outages. It will go 3 days between charging. Disconnect the inverter from the battery when not in use. They drain a little power even when not supplying a load.

If you go the inverter route, consider a few 12 volt lights. Also try to buy other appliances like DVD players that will run directly off a 12 volt hookup. Many laptops have a 12 volt power option too.

This would also be a good time to consider a portable DVD player and a supply of assorted DVD’s. Playing cards and board games are good for as far as they go. They get really old after a week or so of constant play. A laptop computer is a good option too if you can afford it. A laptop will also allow you another way to get news and information and keep contact with family and friends.

The best news is that at this point in your plans, you are becoming well prepared. You are not there yet, but you are leaps and bounds ahead of the average person, including the majority of your neighbors. At this point, you have given you and yours a solid fighting chance of getting through come what may.

When you have your 2 week supply built (at this point it is really too big to be called a kit), do something fairly major for a fun break. Take the money out of your prep budget. Yes, I am serious. A good mental attitude toward preparedness is just as important as are the supplies and equipment to be prepared. By the time you have reached this point, you have gone to considerable trouble and expense, especially on a shoestring budget. You have also put yourself in a place where you can look at those run of the mill emergencies like snowstorms and such and simply say, “So what? Not a big deal.”.

For your own psychological and emotional well being, you need a break and you need a reward. Take it and don‘t feel a bit guilty about it. You have earned it. Afterward, you can start on the next phase of your preparedness plan.

Good luck, sit on your laurels for a month, and happy prepping!