Welcome.

As far as home water is concerned Izzy hit it right on the head. One thing to consider from personal experience, if your at home when a disaster comes and your bugging-in, fill your bathtubs with water and some extra 5 gallon buckets from the lumber stores.

A tub will give you about 40-50 gallons of water and since its in your pipes it won't be contaminated. You can ration this for hygiene, drinking and food prep. Then save the grey water. If you practice tonight you will know how much water it takes to flush your toilet by pouring this grey water into it, usually a couple liters. Then you can know you can flush your toilet once or twice a day with it.

Preparedness is not just about stuff and stockpiling.

It's also acquisition of knowledge and skills. (i.e. your hot water heater is a stockpile)

Should keep me busy for the rest of my life.... ;-)

Sacramento -- major plausible natural disaster threats are earthquakes and flooding?

Everyday car kit, for me, would include: backpack, hiking shoes/socks, headlamp, flashlight, batteries, rain hat + poncho, 3 or 4 32oz Nalgene water bottles full of water, NUUN tablets or Gatorade powder, Cliff MoJo bars, leatherman, First Aid kit, leather gloves, hiking poles, bear spray (self-defense), AMK Heatsheets bivvy.

Home supply: At least 2 weeks of food and water for peops and pets. And we have bicycles and bike trailers in case cars are not an option. Actually we have the bikes for fun but like many things, they are dual-use.

Good habits to get into include keeping your vehicle in good working order and keeping fuel tanks full or at least half-full. And keep some cash at home. If something major happens, ATMs may not function for awhile.


Welcome aboard!

Welcome to the fire Dennis! The only things I have worth adding to what has already been said are:
1. Blast's short essay on being prepared
2. If your plan involves a cat getting wet you need a new plan!

-Blast

Welcome Dennis, from another relatively new guy.

For your home of a designated bugout location, you can store up as much as you feel you need. But a BOB/SHTF bag has to be light enough for you not to want to leave it at home.

I only carry 4 20-ounce bottles of water in my bag, but I also carry a 32-ounce Nalgene bottle and 200 water purification tablets (plus some coffee filters and means to boil water also).

I carry 9 400 calorie emergency food bars (in one 3600 calorie package), 3 MRE entrees, and 8 granola bars in there right now. I'm thinking of adding a few more MRE entrees as I found a few more at MREDepot that sound pretty tasty.

I put a few more things in my bag than I probably need. For instance, I have a Thermolite II emergency bivvy as well as 3 space blankets, I have a tarp as well as 2 contractor bags, I have 50' of white paracord and 50' of Olive Drab paracord. I have 1 lighter, 1 match safe of waterproof matches, and a magnesium fir starter. I have 2 compasses, one of which is just a tiny zipper pull one. I have 2 flashlights, again 1 is just a Rayovac penlight.

I'd rather err on the side of having something and not needing it than vice versa. In my line of work, I'd rather have 10 feet too much wire than be 2 inches too short. There's no such thing as a "wire stretcher" to my knowledge, lol.

Welcome Dennis!

Glad to have you join us, there are many folks that participate (& Lurk) on these forums and quite a few of them are knowledgable about the many different aspects of being prepared.

Water storage concerns:
Consideration needs to be given to things like what if...the water containers leak or get hit / bumped into / knocked over or off of a shelf? There will be others that depend upon individual situations.

While 1 gallon milk jugs are great for storage, they need to be monitored for plastic degradation due to water chemicals, sunlight and ultraviolet exposure, heat, freezing, and not to forget...being close to other chemical containers as flavors and smells can leach through plastic containers.

The floor loading issue is much different if you are on a single floor building with a concrete floor versus a wooden floor over a basement or in a multi floor structure.

As others have noted, there is "hidden water storage" in most houses that have hot water heaters, commodes with storage tanks in back or on top of them, plus a certain amount that will reside in the house piping itself. In the event that you have warning of an incoming issue/disaster as we do in Florida with hurricanes, it is wise to fill tubs, and other containers with water well before the storm is close. Having water purificaton available is always a good thing especially for those events where you simply do not have water storage available and need to "do it on the fly".

So draw up a log to sit on, hang around the campfire with us and feel free to chime in.

Regards,
Comanche7

Dennis

Do you really need to carry all that stuff? Unless you expect your neighborhood to be underwater, wouldn't it be easier to camp out in (what remains of) your home (or the backyard ... or a local park). So you could go back and fetch more of the wwater when you need it. Take a look at how much water your family is using each day. I try to plan for my family having access to about the same amount of water for a couple of weeks. It adds up. You could just fill a (clean) 44 gallon drum with water, add some purification chemicals, and store it in your backyard.

First-aid. Well ... you're the nurse. The main thing is that you're going to have to clean and sterilize wounds. There's time for infection if you don't do this. Wouldn't hurt to have some injectable lidocaine (wound cleaning hurts). Bandages & splinting materials, of course. You've got a tough problem with analgesics, because the medical system won't kick them loose. Codeine, or better vicodin, would be great if you could nab a little. A broad spectrum antibiotic would help too. Keep in mind that you will b enormously busy after a natural disaster - because the neighborhood will be coming to YOU for medical assistance! Think about that.

Take it steady. Learn how to b resourceful and improvise. You can improvise a pretty good cooking stove with scraps of metal and chicken wire, or you can use Coke cans or tuna cans. You need some fuel, and it's worth keeping some denatured alcohol around fo that. Try this stuff out now while you've got plenty of time. That way it will be no sweat if you ever really need to do anything.

Disasters bring out the best and the worst in people. But o matter who those people are in your neighborhood - they definitely will NEED a nurse. You will be able to negotiate a trade of your skills for just about anything you need ... food, water, batteries etc. So no need to freak out.

cheers,
Pete

One to add to the water list: Some of us can get water straight from the ground around our homes. My house is on top of a hill, but the water table is still normally about the level of the base of the foundation.

Wow. I would like to thank all of you for the great responses. You have given me a lot to think about. I will try to respond to some things specifically.

Again thanks everyone for all the help.

Dennis

We all have areas of expertise or greater comfort.So it is natural for an EMT, RN or other medical pro to pack more quantity and quality than my kit. And while even a full pharmacy would be emptied in a major emergency, a kitted out EMT connecting with ie a trauma surgeon with little or nothing would be a welcome sight indeed.

Hi Newperson!

You ask "how much is enough". The answer is simple- how much is enough for you? What are you planning on having bite you, for how long, and how many people do you need to worry about? Any special needs (special medical issues? pets?)? Any special considerations (ag chem plant a mile away? house is under an overpass?)? How are you going to react (dig in? bug out?) under certain conditions?

I mean, some of us plan for everything, and I mean everything. Zombies, aliens, Atlantians, yeah, some of have plans for those invasions because prepping becomes as much a lifestyle or hobby as it is an activity. Others just worry about what is likely to happen, and sleep well.