Thanks for the input folks.

I guess a little more background might set the stage a little better...

My neighbourhood is a little different than most.
Two hundred houses, close knit community within a big city.One road in , one road out. Middle class, not a "gated community"
In the hood, there is one small school with 32 of our children in it. They are all the kids of our friends and neighbours. Very close knit group who all bend over backwards to help each other. We know who the cops are and where they live. We know where the bucket heads live. We know where the paramedics live(this house for one).We also know where the elderly and immobile live.If you listen close you can hear the banjos start to play if a strange car drives past three times. I feel lucky to live here. (expect for the banjo music)

Most people have done some prep. Some extensive, some not. Everyone who will listen (and some that won't) has been exposed to lectures and letters.

Most people will get through the first three days. Not comfortably maybe but certainly get through.

The comment on water is a wise one but i think i'm ok there. Rain forest area, water table about 3 feet below ground level, one month stored water at a gallon per day for my family of four, several ways to filter and purify water in case of a long term event. Not much in the way of swimming pools but about half the houses have rain barrels. Not included in that stored water is 7 4gallon Reliance containers specifically sized to be handed out. (One thought i had was to include a bottle of water in the goodie bag with instruction to bring it back empty and i will refill it.)

I'm loving the input but what sparked this whole train of thought of mine was when i repackaged and consolidated my supposed 72 hour kit, i was left with rubber maid bins full of expired rations, aquablox, bottles water of unknown vintage, light sticks,cheap ponchos, hanks and hanks of paracord, matches, a whole bin of cheap one cell flashlights,crappy space blankets,half used right in the rain notebooks and the like.

So i thought to myself, rather than just have bins of spare stuff i should package it as if they were mini kits for other folks. Then i started thinking what else i could add to fill out the kits without breaking the bank or what is left of my storage space.

So if my request and answers seem a little "gearcentric", that is where I'm coming from.

Again, loving the input,thanks!

jenks

Mark-great thanks

Haertag, thanks for the reply.

Most folks have heard me drone on and have learned to fish about as well as they are willing to learn...

I remember there being a cheap earthquake book at REI once that wasn't that bad.

I have worked with the school and in addition to the school supplies each kid has a full on comfort kit and info goes home to the parents twice a year.

Chaos, that is the kind of post i was hoping for, thank you.

But i'm in Canada, so no CERT teams hear. I'm a PCP so i'm OK for first aid training. I've done some structural fire fighting training and light rescue/extracation.

We have Fire living in the community as well as two fire halls. (again, kind of unique area)

Garbage bags, tea light, cheapo flashilghts, that is the kind of stuff i was thinking about

Russ, i like that thought.

If i took my frozen water bottles out of my freezer, i could make space for other peoples' food and plug it into the genny. Most people would be better cooks than the wife or I so i might end up eating better. (Insert evil grin here)

If you're financially able, it would seem to make sense to increase the things you would need to the point where you could hand some out. I wouldn't bag them, I would hand them out individually, depending on need. Someone may have a box of 100 garbage bags, but just need TP. People with young children may not want candles, but really need a flashlight.

Generally speaking, needs are grouped by importance. In an at-home, generally short-term situation, you've got shelter and the need for first aid probably isn't great, so the list would probably go something like this:

1) Fire for heat, cooking or boiling drinking water. Lighters are quick and easy, but strike-anywhere matches can be 'subdivided' into plastic snack bags and spread farther.

1a)With limited burning materials available, a quick, cheap hobo stove would be invaluable: a large tin food can (emptied) and a can opener (church key). It works with a few charcoal briquets, conifer cones, twigs, sticks, construction debris. People often have quite a bit of food in their pantry, but no way to heat/cook it. Being able to provide hobo stoves to a dozen or more families would probably make you close to a god in your neighborhood.

2) Water will often be wasted by people who aren't used to conserving or survival problems. Stored water is great, of course, but clear plastic (polyethylene) tarps fastened along a fence, clothesline or railing and stretched out to drape into a container like a tub or clean garbage can will collect a lot of rainwater that won't need purification under most situations. Consider buying a large clear plastic tarp and cutting it into smaller pieces; a roll 10'x100' for ~$22 would make 20 5x10' rainwater collectors, working day and night when it rains.

3) Sanitation in the home almost always depends on water, but if you don't have drinking water, you often don't have flushing water, either. Using up gasoline for repeated trips to the river for 10 or 20 gallons of water at a time is less than smart. There is a free online book (including drawings and photos) called The Humanure Handbook by Joseph Jenkins that is excellent, where all you need is a standard 5-gallon plastic bucket and a $12 clip-on plastic toilet seat/lid. Clip-on toilet seat example. They are often available at local sporting goods stores for a similar price.

4) Food is something you could share, and if things get that bad, the more basic the food, the better. If there is a reliable source of water, some simple hobo stoves and matches, there is nothing wrong with cheap foods like rice, beans, spaghetti and sauces, spices, etc. If people turn up their noses at these things, they obviously aren't hungry enough. Buying bulk is cheaper. Dispense any grains/seeds/nuts into handy-sized sealed bags, then place in a freezer for 10-14 days to kill any insect eggs or larvae, or store with oxygen-absorber packs. If you have the room, you can store them there indefinitely. Some stores sell spices in bulk, too --WAAAAY cheaper, but choose carefully (if you're not much of a cook, ask someone who is).

5) Safety - here is where flashlights fit in. Flashlights need batteries. Sometimes batteries are all that are needed, people have the flashlights.

Also, organization and assistance between neighbors is often under-valued -- a stupid mistake. You know things they don't, so spread the word. They know how to do things you don't, so solicit their help and ask them to teach some basics to get everyone working together.

Sue

Very commendable, Jenks!

I'm not quite as altuistic but do think it's a great idea to help others out as much as possible. As others have suggested, getting to know your neighbours and developing a sense of community is a great first step.

We have about 100 houses in our area, and 10 on our street. We have two, single elderly neighbours that we keep an eye on and try to consider in our preps.

One of the most important things we've done is to make sure they know us. As they get older, dementia becomes more of a possibility. We can't help them if they won't let us, and that's more likely if they don't know us and become afraid of us during an emergency.

Home repairs would be beyond them, so keeping extra tarps, plywood, nails, etc. on-hand makes sense. If public transportation goes down, they won't be able to resupply so storing extra water, food, batteries, etc. makes sense too.

(EDIT: Eldery people tend to have trouble eating properly when they get frail, even when there's food on-hand, so I take a note from hospitals and Meals on Wheels. In the event that I can't get ready to eat meals to them, I keep a few packs of meal replacement drinks, like Boost/Ensure, stored for them. One of them is diabetic so that's the kind I get.)

We've also got walkie talkies for both of thrm, in the event that they need help between regular check-ins. Phones could well be down and I hate to think of what could happen because they had no way to call for help.

Printouts of emergency info such as how to make water safe, food safety during power loss, where to find water in your house, how to sanitize dishes after use, emergency hygiene, etc...

Dollar-store flashlights and radios.

The ability to charge their cellphones, iPods, etc at your place using solar panels.

Back when hurricane Ike took out our neighborhood power for a week we made sure every household had a walkie-talkie. Luckily there are a lot of hunters in our neighborhood and they all had the radios, plus they show up cheap at the local sporting goods store. Anyway, every house had a way to call for emergency help which gave everyone a great deal of comfort. Make sure they keep them on the same station.

-Blast

Are solar chargers for cellphones SPECIFIC to cellphones (and iPod things), or could a solar charger for use in charging a car battery be used?

Sue, electronically challenged to the max

In the same vein as taking care of the elderly, you might want to stock some powdered baby formula and bottles if there are little ones in your tribe. Again, I'm not trying to fan the flames of the breast vs bottle battle. Many people think and prepare as if the breast is the only way to feed a baby. If, god forbid, something happens to that lifeline, formula would be invaluable. A little expensive, yes, but totally worth it in my books to take care of the youngest and weakest amoung us.