8/29/09

One of the books I bought last week as part of the homesteading library gave me a very good idea, which I plan to put into practice as soon as possible. It's stocking a an emergency grab-and-go cooler and keeping it somewhere safe.

Actually, I went to a street fair today and some group I didn't take notice of the name of which (grammar?) had a sample of such a cooler. More than a cooler, I'm going to say it was about the equivalent of a 55 gallon drum on wheels. It wasn't round though, it was a low rectangle on wheels with a secure (presumably water-tight) lid. The idea was to keep this thing stocked with durable essentials so that in an emergency you could grab it and run.

Without having thoroughly investigated the contents of the bin at the fair, I'd say that I should buy a similar sized bin and stock it with (items I already own are marked with an asterisk):

4 liter sized propane tanks

1 cooking burner designed to screw onto the propane tanks*

1 lantern ditto*

1 camping cooking kit* (made for cooking on the propane tanks)

quantity of candles*

can opener*

knives*

canned food for one week*

rice and beans for one week*

water purification tablets

matches and lighters*

space blankets

first aid kit

passports and other important documents*

extra socks and other essential clothing*

hand cranked radio/flashlight*