Spent years accumulating gear and supplies, but didn't think enough about upkeep. Batteries that died in storage. Tools that rusted. Food that expired before rotation.
Now I budget time and money for maintenance like it's part of the initial investment. Because gear that doesn't work when you need it isn't really gear at all.
This applies to shelter, too. A building that's falling apart isn't going to protect you when things get really serious.
What maintenance lessons have you learned? Any systems that help you stay on top of it?
First in first out...don't buy food you don't eat just because it's long lasting...I am canning myself, only things we like and how we like them..bought Cans with food at beginning of Corona only to find out they are super salty and taste awful
This is so true, learned this the hard way with MREs too. Bought a case thinking they'd be perfect backup food but man those things are just awful. Now I stick to canned stuff I actually use in regular cooking and just buy extra when it's on sale. Way easier to rotate through and I'm not stuck eating cardboard when SHTF
MRE= dollar store food.
Goes into the eat your storage food regularly thing. If you don't you may not know certain things suck. When you figure that out you don't buy them again and rotate via your animals- chickens, dogs, etc.
My chickens have no complaints when they get items that we don't like to eat.
We're getting chicken this year, looking forward to it 😉
Chickens are wonderful from a prepper and homesteading viewpoint, but they have to be the dumbest animals on earth.
I have a dozen silver laced wyandottes with some barred rocks and gold laced wyandottes mixed in. I like the wyandottes because they aren't as domineering of smaller birds like the plymouth rock and barred rocks.
They are not smart, but I could listen to them all day long ..always talking 😅 we will get Suxxex in porcelaine... a question. All my friends are feeding leftovers as well, including meat and sausage and my mother, who had up to 350 chicken when I was young said: No! Never feed meat!... do you feed meaty leftovers as well?
Yes, I do. I mainly give them vegetable table scraps, but they certainly like meat as well.
Thx👍
You're welcome.
They do love to talk and will tell you when they are unhappy!
Do you feed them egg shells its good source on calcium for them
I wanted to feed normal chicken food, plus leftover from kitchen and what they found in the garden. Eggshells will find their way into.the food as well.
I dont have chickens yet I know alot of people who have them. My bf and I are starting with meat rabbits
Rabbits are good as well 👍
Just make it unrecognizable. If they figure out eggs are delicious, they don't have anything against cannibalism.
Thx👍
I use oyster shell
We dont eat oysters but we eat eggs so giving the shells back to the chickens is a good way to keep them healthy. I mean when we do get chickens
I don't eat oysters either, but I buy the crushed shells from the feed store. I have had hens who would infrequently lay eggs and they would peck the eggs of the other chickens until they broke and then eat the broken egg including the shell. That is why I don't feed egg shells. I am not 100% sure that helps, but I know with a couple of the hens it became a bad habit
Didn't think of that! We just bravely ate that awful stuff 🤐...at least then...nowadays I only keep what we ear on a regular base, so lesson learned...and don't foeget hygiene, found out the hard way how mich toilet papers we need per week when Corona hit and toilet paper was nowhere to be found for weeks...also stamdar.medicine for headaches or cough medicine...
Not to mention, when you are sick, that one roll of toilet paper that usually lasts 7 days suddenly lasts 1 or 2. Or the roll that usually lasts a week in normal circumstances when you're working 5 days a week at the office suddenly lasts 1 or 2 days if you're on lockdown. What you use on a regular basis can change wildly due to a change in circumstances.
Cough medicine....best time to stock up is late August and into early September. Cold and flu season tends to start 2-3 weeks after kids return to school. Getting your stuff a couple weeks before that not only means you have fully stocked shelves in the stores, but it gives stores a bit of time to reorder and refill those shelves for everyone else when the busy season does hit.
That’s why you should invest in a bidet. It helps reduce toilet paper usage. Not completely but a lot.
But if you also have limited water....
One thing I like to do is checking the weekly sales and flyers before the sale starts. If something looks interesting and I've never tried it before, buy one or two on the first day of the sale, and try it immediately. If it's good, I still have several days to buy more at the sale price. If not, I saved myself the heartache of stocking up on a dud.
That doesn't always work. Those one day sales and catching a drive by deal is buyer beware.
If you don't you may not know certain things suck.
Are you implying that people stockpile foods they haven't tried? What sense does that make?
I think you'll find a lot of folks have done that.
In the past, I've done it. I remember a wholesale deal on Humanitarian Pouched Meals in the early 90's. Some dumbass at the state department ordered a boatload of these "Pork" patties to give away at relief efforts, etc, not thinking that you know about half the world doesn't eat PORK! Anywhoo, they were wholesaled off at ridiculous prices. Cases of 72 entrees for $10. a case wholesale. So yeah I bought some not even eating much pork. I was also preparing for 12 extended family members that were not- knowing damn well they would show up at my place if something happened. The Mt. House is mine, but here's a MRE Dog mean pouch, oops I mean a Pork patty! LOL
They were atrocious. MRE Dog food would be a better name for them. The beef and chicken patties were acceptable, the pork ones the dogs loved and were a helluva cheaper than dog food.
I agree! That happens to a lot of people, normal way of learning...
That happens when panik sets in, all people are stock piling, so you do what all the people do.... at least ones, then hopefully lesson is learned..
I only dip my toe into the emergency prepping side through my actual hobbies of camping/backpacking, but just like how I basically have an emergency food stockpile thanks to keeping a lot of backpacking meals, going out and camping gives you an excellent reason to go through your older emergency food.
They don't mesh perfectly since backpacking food tends to prioritize weight above all else. But with just some water purification (also part of backpacking gear) it'll work. And things like canned food are fine for backpacking, it'll just be a little heavier.
Plus it's good for fitness.
Never considered this, but I am not a camoing girl😉
Lithium batteries dont corrode (I have had to toss many things due to corroded batteries in tech), have a longer shelf life, and perform better in tempature extremes. Freeze dried foods cost more but have a longer shelf life. They also have the advantage of less weight so for backpacking you can shave off oz/lbs of weight by going this route.
In our area, a family just lost their home to a dog that chewed on a hand warmer (heated by a lithium battery). Lithium batteries are a good thing, but like anything else that is dangerous, needs to be stored properly. https://ottawacitizen.com/news/dog-chewing-hand-warmer-house-fire
Agreed. Lithium exposed to oxygen will ignite and start a fire.
You can easily see how neglect or non-use can let many things deteriorate.
Many skills are exactly the same way.
Break the rust off your skills, oil up your abilities, and raise/refurbish your knowledge, as well.
Running a mile is easy if you do it every day. Running a mile might take much more time if the last time you ran was in a different year.
Exactly.
I was just taken to task by someone wondering why I shoot so much after mentioning spending New Years day at the range putting about 700 rounds down range with rifle and about 400 pistol.
You have to put in the work to gain skills, then continue to put in effort to maintain skills. We did a 3 mile hike with rucks then hit the range that day.
What you don't use you lose it, physical and mental!
We've been doing one major upgrade in the 70 year old house every few years. We've now replaced roof, HVAC, leveled home, and replaced all plumbing and windows. My thinking this is not only a SHTF prep, but also a retirement prep. I'm doing the big things while I'm still making money.
Additionally, I need to plan to test my car battery jumper and tire inflator WAY more often than I do. My jumper battery was swollen and would not work the exact moment I needed it. My inflator finally bit the dust this week; thankfully I was in my driveway.
Just discovered last night my Jackery 100 was at 0, so I need to schedule a testing cycle for all my power stations and genertors. If I put it on my calendar, I'll actually do. If I don't, I forget and time just flies by.
This is a great approach. There is yet another major benefit I encountered.
I had to sell a house about 20 years ago. When the real estate lady looked it through she recommended a bunch of repairs to do, or the house wouldn't sell. So I had to pay to get them done to sell. Point is, at the same cost I could have been enjoying these repairs/upgrades for the last 8 years. So instead I'm doing them so other people get the benefit.
One example I had a number of windows on one side that had broken the seal on the dual pane window and would cloud with condensation. I tried to track down the manufacturer but predictably he was out of business and all warrantees were void. It didn't really affect insulation so I let it go. When selling I had to fix at a decent cost. But I could have had new windows for 5 years.
I'm in my 50s now, and the one thing I've learned is.....time moves one hell of a lot faster than you think.
All of the, I'll fix that next week or I'll get to that later, or we have plenty of time to eat up those supplies before they expire.....No. No, you don't. Make yourself a good schedule and stick to it. Don't slack off, because before you know it, a few months have gone by, and the simple maintenance and upkeep suddenly becomes a mountain of work.
Your body and teeth need maintenance too.
One we see quite regularly with the business- people that don't read the info we send to them via print, email etc. that don't take the batteries out of high dollar electronics and then they have to spend beau coup bucks on parts.
But this can go for anything that takes batteries- flashlights, radios, etc.
"But I want to keep my flashlight ready to go"- turn the last battery around and leave the cap a bit loose (so your remember) then flip the battery around right before use. All the flashlights in our rucks are like this and you'll lose a lot less flashlights over 40 years if you do this- ask me how I know :)
I keep the batteries in a baggie attached to the flashlight/lantern/radio/whatever. I can always use my phone’s crappy flashlight to see well enough to put the batteries in when I need it. (I do keep batteries in a cheap flashlight by my bed though, for nighttime emergencies.)
Sump pump. Make sure it is fast enough. And works. 2 foot of water happened to a friend. All his gear was downstairs.
To add to this keep stuff off the floor if you can and have a water alarm. It will give you a little time to figure stuff out.
I stopped buying cheap batteries. I’ve had more crap ruined by Costco alkaline batteries than I care to remember. Anything getting batteries left in them only get lithium batteries.
I go through my car kit at least twice a year. Inspect everything, replace all food and water, replace all batteries, charge my jump box, double check that all my spares are in good order.
But also some of this is being prepared for failure. Plumbing issues come up (in a house that was built in the late 1940s-early 1950s), so I have a stash of everything imaginable to fix thing. I’ve also put in shut off valves in various parts of the house, so even if I have a leak in one part of the house, I don’t have to go without a shower in the other bathroom.
I’ve removed the small amount of aluminum wiring we discovered in an addition put in during the early 70s. We replaced the vinyl siding with hardie board concrete siding so it’s much more fire resistant and is pretty much maintenance free for the next 40-ish years.
Maintenance and FIFO are as essential as knowledge and skill use.
We've taken the time to create logs and checklists for gear in addition to food. For awhile, was just an inventory list for food/pantry/freezer. Now it's more.
We found out like others, cruddy battery here, old strap there...and decided to add in a maintenence log for our gear and tools. Kinda like treating it like a regularly scheduled work log.
There's a lot of templates online. Find one that fits your needs. Tailor it. Save it. It becomes much easier once you have the file to adjust anything.
We have things like, but not limited to, check batteries, functionalities of components, i.e. switches, buttons. Checking straps now, lol, bungee(rubber/elastics) cords, expiry dates, fluid levels, oiling tools, rotation, etc.
We check all our bags at least monthly. Gear. Clothes. Tools. Bikes. Etc.
There's more, but I'm thinking of the top of my head on lunch break.
Point is, try creating logsheet or logbook that tracks all your maintenence for your gear. Weekly, monthly, yearly, etc. We prep to live and can't do that if our shiz isn't working. Well, we can, just without the cool gear we bought if we dont maintain it. GL!
Well in terms of maintenance, it's kind of how I was raised. If it's broke, fix it. Learn how. I drive service people crazy. I may hire you to fix something, but I'm looking over your shoulder and won't hire you again. Learn what tools you need and fix it. Always. Everything does not need to be pristine when SHTF, it will be chaotic. But knowing how to fix whatever comes up (and no matter how much you stockpile and prepare, something WILL come up. )
As to rotating stock just be aware that expiration dates on most everything are exaggerated on the downside. They want to sell you more. That MRE that expires in 2027 is probably good until 2050. I've had C rations from 1943. (well in 1979, but still) 100 batteries with only half charge are 100% better than no batteries at full charge. Aspirin expire in 10 years? Take 3.
It's good to be prepared, but realize you can not fully prepare for everything. In that way lies madness. People always ask do you plan for weather? civil unrest? natural disaster? War? Yes. I plan for I certainly don't know WHAT is going to happen. Be flexible. Be creative. That gives you your best chances.
I've learned that any time I repair an appliance to tape step by step instructions for the repair to the thing. The same thing almost always breaks more than once, just far enough apart that you don't remember what went wrong the first time.
Most things need rotation and/or maintenance. The way they are stored also impacts longevity. For example hand garden tools appropriately hung up will last a long time. If instead you set them on the floor of the garage and you live in a snowy climate where you bring in salt when you bring the car in the garage, expect some rust. If part of your prepping includes things with gasoline powered engines, make sure you run them regularly or they probably won't start when you need them. There are a number of posts about food already that are very to the point.
I set Google Tasks/reminders in my Google Calendar to replace or maintain items.
Today, I am draining and charging my Jackery because my 90-day reminder has gone off.
My truck's standard maintenance, including when the battery warranty expires (those damn things go dead within days of that expiration), is also in my calendar.
Battery replacement is also in there. I learned that after ruining a Mag flashlight.
If anything happens to my Google Calendar, I'm screwed. Maybe I need to set a reminder to download and back it up once and a while ;-)
Non-electronic method - index card box with dividers for months. (If you start on, say, March 15, put the March divider in the back of the box; next year’s March tasks will go behind the divider.)
On each index card, write task and other relevant info. Note frequency in upper corner (every 3 months or whatnot). On the back, write the last time the task was done (if any). File the task card in the box using the next “task is due” date.
Front of the box are the tasks that need to be done soon. Once a task is done, add any relevant notes and the next due date, then file it in the box. Cards will generally be put in towards the back; tasks that need to be done will migrate up to the front. When all of a month’s tasks are done, move the next month’s divider to the back, and begin the next month’s tasks.
I buy quality so it last longer and I don't have to shop gear all the time. Maintainance is part of saving money.
Rule 1)
Divide stuff into "long-term" and "operational". And that is not by type but by our usage.
What it means:
We have a 10 kg demolition hammer that is needed once in a few years, so it is treated as a "long term" items, hence:
- it is stored in a non-heated location and is not necessarily easy to access when needed, that is fine
- it is ALWAYS covered in oil after use/before storage to ensure it does not overly rust
Basically, any not-regularly-used item is consciously "conserved" appropriately such if it left alone for 10+years it will still be fine.
The 10 years "storage durability" target is chosen for psychology reasons. It prevents the mental fail of "it will last OK a few years and then I will handle it" .. no, you will not
The same hammer, if deemed "operational" would get zero special treatment
Rule 2)
Do Not buy/acquire/procure stuff that is not "operational"/regularly used, which you cannot ensure its storage regime to guarantee 10+ years without degradation.
What it means:
We want to be able to have some electricity, so a generator is a good idea. At the same time a big, static, generator while superior would NOT be started until SHTF meaning it is very likely it would degrade by the time it is needed - seals, electronics, etc.
So, INSTEAD of it we bought a super-small Honda that is ALSO practical to take when doing something far from the house, on a camping trip etc. It gets used about twice a year, moving into "operational" items hence it is fine.
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We use the same rules for any supplies - those we cannot store 10+ years are only purchased such they get rotated within about 1/2 their best-before dates under normal consumption rates.
Only supplies that are storable 10+ years /basically flour, rice, honey, high-sugar fruit spreads, etc./ are actually stored long term and not rotated (much).
Yes, this means our SHT(BIG F) supplies would be very boring after a few months .. but then again, we are not FIRMLY PLANNING on waging a WW3, are we?
My 2c.
Tape and glue also go bad, epoxy i just used was over 10 years old and was fine so that was good to know
yes!! adhesives have a shelf life. they deteriorate over time and will need to be replaced/cycled just like most everything else.
Truff.
I swear they have changed the formulation of PVC glue. Used to be you used it, put the lid on tight and a few years even later it was still workable (in the long long ago..). Now you open it, use it put the lid on tight and a week or so later it's barely workable.
Probably by design. The old planned obsolescence. I've also noticed deteriorating quality in various tapes and adhesives over the last few years. Prices are way up, quality way down.
Quality is going into the dumpster for just about everything these days.
Yep, it sure is.
I have a battery box that stores batteries and comes with a battery tester. I'm expecting a shipment of AAA batteries to arrive today. My batteries get used.
I have lights with batteries and rechargable
My tools get used
My food gets eaten
Headlamps! I've always kinda collected flashlights, but over the last few years I prefer to have hands free options and wear the light on my head. First I went the cheap route, even found a couple dollar store head wearable lights.
Then $10 dollar lights, moved onto more tactical style $20 lights. Got tired of the batteries running low and invested in some rechargeable. I have a nice Black Diamond light now, but I really like a cheap rechargeable Lepro light that I got from work. I keep my AA & AAA batteries at home with like 10 various battery powered light, but when I work nightshift I like the rechargeable lights and bring a small power block and cords.
I don't use my tools as much as I should, but I consider cooking to be a very valuable skill.
Hand free is the way to go. I also have neck lights for close up work on dim light.
Prepping has an order of things, one prep makes the next possible. Front load the preps that save you money today so you can afford more preps and make them practical. It's pointless to have 30 days of frozen meat if you don't have a solar/bat/gen prep to make it viable.
Lucky one of the first things I did years ago was invest in some of those rotating can racks that let you configure each row and load from the top. Then I filled the top have with cans of soup I eat on the regular and the bottom half of large freeze dried food canisters with a 25y shelf life (tests show much longer). It's been invaluable as a safety net. Between that, chest freezers and shelf stable goods on shelves, I didn't go to a grocery store for all of Covid. It was a really nice feeling about something I thought for sure I was just wasting money on. Gave a few friends some packs of TP during the time people went nuts.
Point being, I've tried to focus on things with long-life or replenishable. Not just in food, but I started replacing all of my standard batteries with devices that are USB / C rechargeable to try and rid myself of maintaining a battery supply - excluding lithiums now. My camping rig has a massive lithium power bank and solar which I designed to be able to run the freezers and recharge the devices. Making this shift changed the game for me when it comes to not spending money on things that I can't use within their lifespan.
The best way to ensure that your preps work is to actually live with them periodically. If you're preparing for a grid-down situation, flip the breaker on your home and live without electricity for a couple days. If you're preparing for the Internet to disappear, shut off your router and try to live off everything self-hosted for a week. If you're preparing for a fire, hold evacuation drills where you actually need to get out of the house in a hurry. If you're preparing for job loss, try putting 100% of your income into savings for a month or two and seeing what you need to do.
There are some things you can't really prepare for, eg. a bulletproof vest is only worthwhile if you get shot, and you hope to never get shot, and it's certainly not worth getting shot just to test it out. For those you basically just have to test the manufacturer. But it's worth remembering that all of these preps are about preparing for a lifestyle, so you should test out that lifestyle.
For food and battery, FIFO. Fasteners are best bought in big boxes. You will always need them sooner or later. Standardize connectors, fasteners, lumber, electricity supplies, etc, so that you can minimise stock. Buy the most common ones for the industrial sector: replacement parts will be available for way longer. If something is not present, it can't break. When designing stuff, KISS. Best first for maintenance: manual, mechanical, electromechanical, electrical, electronic, digital.
That last paragraph is important to remember 👌
Automotive maintenance. I'm a mechanic but I've seen people talking about bugging out to the country yet their ball joint is about ready to pop out of the socket and their engine is misfiring like a mf.
If your preps rely on any way on your car, you'll want to keep your car in great shape but also realize you get it for 6 months to 2 years max if there is a real shtf situation as that's about how long gas lasts. Diesel can be manufactured but even if you prep parts you'll probably only have 10-15 years with a car realistically.
I've learned a similar lesson with expired food. I started working on my preparedness software just for that reason. I needed a way to manage my supplies, not just food. I didn't really think about a PM process for the equipment. That could be a feature I should add. I have an expiration and a minimum quantity field, which helps with alerts.
I put a notice on my calendar to check my kits every six months. Then I remove and replace whatever is close to expiring.
This is an essential point often overlooked. Nowadays, I use a rotating schedule for supplies and quarterly checks for gear. It turns maintenance into a manageable routine.