"MORE" Things You May Want On Your "MUST HAVE" List (11-15)

When tragedy strikes, items that you typically take for granted become essential. If you plan on surviving, you have to know what items are necessities and what you can look past. The items you hoard can mean the difference between surviving another day and having to plunder and steal to live. If you’ve never given this any thought, you need to seriously start considering it. In order to give you a little help, we’ve compiled a list of items you should hoard in an emergency. When a natural disaster occurs, you will be at an advantage if you stockpile the items mentioned below.

11: Activated Charcoal Tablets

As many have learned in emergency situations where doctors and medical facilities are not available, you need to learn some tricks to help you if you get sick. If you were to eat something potentially poisonous or harmful to your body, what would you do? If you don’t react quickly you will potentially lose your life, so charcoal tablets can definitely come in handy. Because of charcoals absorptive qualities, the tablets are able to soak up any toxins or poisons you may have ingested and hold them until they exit your body. This can potentially save your life so they should be a necessity for you. They’re small as well so you should be able to keep plenty on hand.

12: Swiss Army Knife

It should go without saying, but a Swiss Army Knife is extremely valuable in disasters. The all in one tools have the potential to do dozens of different things. Whether it’s opening a bottle, cutting something open, cracking something, fixing items, or almost any other handyman type of situation, a Swiss Army Knife can do it. Because they’re so small and can fit into your pockets, there’s no reason you shouldn’t keep a Swiss Army Knife with you at all times. You might want to have at least a few just in case one should break. It definitely beats having to carry around 20 different individual tools. 

13: “Dry Shower” Foam 

As humans, we typically have a basic need to want to be clean. This goes beyond simply smelling good. Keeping your body free of dirt and germs will help you stay healthy and not be exposed to certain diseases and conditions. In the event that you don’t have water available, using dry shower foam will allow you to clean your body off and ensure that you’re walking around in your own filth. It will become even more valuable if you’re in a situation where the water supply is contaminated so showering isn’t an option. 

14: Gloves

Gloves are another versatile item that you should stock up on. You’ll want a few different types of gloves if possible. Gardening gloves, woven gloves, rubber gloves, and plastic disposable gloves will all come in handy. The thicker gloves can obviously be used to keep your hands warm. Gardening or work gloves are great for things like opening up stubborn bottles or touching hot and hazardous materials. You’ll also want some latex gloves if possible in order to treat cuts or scrapes. You don’t want to touch open wounds with your bare hands and latex or disposable plastic gloves allow you more freedom with your hands than work gloves.

15: Hand Crank or Battery Powered Radio

When a disaster strikes, you will want to know what’s going on. If the electricity is out, you won’t be able to use your TV or the internet to get the news. But the government relays emergency information on the radio so you will be able to get updates on what’s going on there. A hand crank radio is probably optimal, because battery powered radios can die on you. But it certainly doesn’t hurt to keep both on hand.