Post COVID-19 prepping...

[K Frame]

So... I've been thinking about this...

There's talk about Covid 19 resurfacing later this year.

We know that happened in 1919 with Spanish flu. Only when it re-emerged, it had mutated and became extremely lethal.

Will that happen with Covid? Who knows.

But, let's talk about our plans for what we intend to do... just in case.


At a very basic level, I'm going to get some more shelves for the basement and I'm going to really up my stocking up on supplies. I'm also going to start freezing a LOT more meat and the like.

And, I'm going to lay in at least basic stocks of things like TP, hand sanitizer, and medical supplies.

I started upping my supplies in early February when I started hearing about Covid, but I realize that there were a lot of holes in my plans.


Saying this is all well and good, but actually making an actionable, and LOGICAL, plan, is more of a problem. Let's discuss, and if you have any good resources for making such plans, post away because it's likely that they got lost in the other Covid thread, which is now 70+ pages and growing.

[charby]

I see a business opportunity in a crematorium.

[WLJ]

I see a  business opportunity in plumbing.
Clearing out all the TP substitutes people flushed down their toilets

[Kingcreek]

Covid-20?
Pretty much always prepped here but I want more MONEY in reserve. It’s going to be hard with all the expenses coming up, Illinois property taxes due, crash of business income, annual propane contract buy date...
We are not paying our credit card in full - for the first time in 30 years we will be paying interest on a credit card. We have had less disposable income ever since Obamacare drive our insurance costs way up to $1200 per month.
I will stock up on more sanitizer and hygiene stuff than before including masks if or when they become available.
Food is never a problem here. 2 people in a house with 3 freezers and 2 fridges , probably going to go down to 2 and 1 to save energy costs and used freezers and fridges might sell well right now.

[Ben]

As I mentioned elsewhere, I've ended up being relatively happy with my preps for this. Besides my usual emergency stash of stuff, pretty much all I added "at the last minute" was more meat for the freezer and topping off the spare fuel containers. I can continue to get by okay with what I have, but improvements are:

More dog and cat food. I was able to go and buy a couple of big bags yesterday, but next time everything might be closed or sold out.

At various times, I was unable to find eggs, milk, potatoes, and bread (other things were sold out, but I have a good supply of them). Bread is easy, I have a lot of flour. I have powdered potatoes, eggs, and milk, and almost used them, but then found them fresh. I'm making sure to start my chickens this year. I don't plan on getting a cow, so will up my powdered milk supply. I need to look at better potato storage methods.  I can grow them easily, but another couple of tins of Auguson Farms potatoes is likely a good idea.

I really like fresh fruit, and that has been hit or miss for anything decent. I have mature apple and peach trees, and planted grapes and blueberries just recently. I need to get into canning and/or dehydrating.

I could use around 25 more gallons of fuel storage to keep doing normal things around the farm in between filling containers back up.

The pandemic got me to doing an inventory of my emergency stuff and I found a lot of expired stuff in the first aid supplies. I really slacked off on doing inventory.

[charby]

More frozen pizzas, sometimes you're lazy and don't want to cook, but you also don't want to visit drive thru.

I usually keep a good supply of meat around; I hunt, I buy 1/2 pigs and get my favorite cuts when they are one sale. If I pass a meat locker on my travels for work, I usually pick up a pack or two of brats/sausage. I do need to buy more frozen veggies and fruits.

I also need more entertainment, wife and I don't like to play the same games. I'm really missing playing cards at least once a week. In all this "free" time I am knocking out a lot of remodeling work in my basement and my yard work is getting done.

[Jamisjockey]

Mask and gloves in my old hurricane box.  Need to pull that out and go through it, as I'm sure there's stuff in there I don't need anymore or could replace.
Anyone know how well TP does being vacuum sealed? 

[AJ Dual]

Mask and gloves in my old hurricane box.  Need to pull that out and go through it, as I'm sure there's stuff in there I don't need anymore or could replace.
Anyone know how well TP does being vacuum sealed? 

Pretty well. Many people take the core tube out so they can compress them more.

[Kingcreek]

Anyone know how well TP does being vacuum sealed? 

It does pretty good. I found some packets of TP shrink wrapped with matches and hand wipes in my hunting backpack from a remote mountain elk hunt 20 years ago.

[K Frame]

Perhaps the biggest challenge in keeping up with ready supplies is making sure that the stuff you have doesn't age out...

Obvious answer to keep it front of mind is to write the purchase and expiration dates on it in Sharpie marker.

On top of the can, on the end flap of the box, whatever.

Anything that goes into the freezer should also obviously be labeled.

[Ben]

Perhaps the biggest challenge in keeping up with ready supplies is making sure that the stuff you have doesn't age out...

Obvious answer to keep it front of mind is to write the purchase and expiration dates on it in Sharpie marker.

On top of the can, on the end flap of the box, whatever.

Anything that goes into the freezer should also obviously be labeled.

Yeah, I've normally not done dating in the fridge/freezer, but I have a ton of stuff in there now so write the dates on most things, especially the vacuum sealed stuff. I also wrote the dates on all the Auguson Farms tins. With 20-30 year shelf life, I know i'm not gonna remember, and my eyes will be too old by then to read the printed dates on the cans. 

[K Frame]

I also have a white board in the basement on which I have (don't now, freezer is pretty empty) a list of exactly what I have in the freezer.