Home Survival Essentials

The Brutal Truth: If You’re Not Ready, You’re a Liability

Let’s drop the niceties: your cozy suburban home becomes a trap the moment the power cuts, the food stops flowing, and chaos knocks on your door. Prepping isn’t about luxury—it’s about lasting.

If you’re depending on 9-1-1, grocery stores, or good luck when things hit the fan, you’re not just unprepared—you’re bait. The government won’t save you. The police will be overwhelmed. And your unprepared neighbors? They’ll be your biggest threat.

So build your home into what it should’ve been all along—a self-reliant fortress.

Water: The Non-Negotiable

Without water, you die. Period. The average person lasts three days, and guess what? The taps will stop flowing the minute the power grid falters or the supply is contaminated. City infrastructure is a house of cards—and it’s already swaying.

What You Need:

At least 1 gallon per person per day, for a minimum of 30 days.
Multiple water sources: bottled, jugs, rainwater collection barrels. Learn how to collect rainwater here.
Filters and purification methods: Berkey, LifeStraw, bleach (unscented), iodine tablets.
Storage: Food-grade drums, stackable containers, bathtubs with water bladders.

Pro Tip: One source fails? You’ve got backups. Two fail? You still live.
No water = no future.

Extra Reading:

Food: Eat or Get Eaten

In a crisis, your fridge becomes a tomb, not a pantry. Frozen pizza and Uber Eats won’t feed your family when the trucks stop rolling. Food is survival currency. You either have it, or you’re begging for it.

What You Need:

At least 3 months of non-perishable food for every mouth in your house.
Canned goods, rice, beans, pasta, peanut butter, freeze-dried meals.
Manual can openers (plural), long-term storage buckets, mylar bags, oxygen absorbers.
Garden seeds. Yes, you should be growing food now. Start with this Medicinal Garden Kit and expand constantly.
Hunting knife.
Cooking utensils, like a cast iron skillet.

Pro Tip: Store what you eat. Eat what you store. Rotate. Test. Stay sharp.
You don’t want to learn how to cook beans when the power’s out and stress is sky-high.

Extra reading:

Power: Keep the Lights On When the Grid Dies

When the power dies, modern life halts. You’re not living—you’re surviving cold, dark, and vulnerable. Don’t be that guy holding a dead flashlight with a confused look on his face. At the very least, read this article about emergency power supply when the grid goes dark.

What You Need:

Solar generator (Jackery, Bluetti) or gas generator (plus fuel stabilizer).
Battery banks, rechargeable AA/AAA batteries, hand-crank chargers.
Flashlights, EDC flashlights, LED lanterns, headlamps, candles, solar lights.
EMP protection for critical electronics (yes, it’s not tinfoil-hat talk anymore).

Pro Tip: Light = morale. Light = safety. Light = control.
Lose it, and you’re one step closer to panic.

Extra reading:

Shelter & Warmth: Your House is a Shell Without This

Your home isn’t automatically “safe.” In the cold? It becomes a freezer. In heat? An oven. In riots? A soft target. You need to fortify and climate-proof your home—now.

What You Need:

Heavy-duty blankets, sleeping bags, wool clothing, tarps.
Insulation hacks: window plastic, foam board, thermal curtains.
Portable propane or kerosene heaters (vent properly or you’ll die faster than a bullet).
Fans, shade setups, body cooling towels for heatwaves.

Pro Tip: Treat your home like a bunker, not a beach house.
Comfort is a weapon in long-term survival.

Extra reading:

First Aid & Medical: You’re the Doctor Now

No ambulances. No urgent care. Just blood, panic, and whatever supplies you’ve stashed. Medical preps aren’t optional—they’re life insurance.

What You Need:

Trauma kit: tourniquets, chest seals, Israeli bandages, QuikClot.
OTC meds: painkillers, allergy meds, antidiarrheals, antibiotics (fish meds, yes).
Prescription meds: stockpile and rotate—quietly.
First aid guides, suture kits, CPR training.

Pro Tip: In a crisis, infection kills more than bullets. Be ready to clean, stitch, and save—or bury. If you need a longer list with all that you need in your home first aid kit, click here!

Extra reading:

Security: Defend What’s Yours

You think looters are a fantasy? Ask anyone who lived through Katrina, the LA riots, or Venezuela. Desperate people do desperate things. Your gear is worthless if you can’t keep it.

What You Need:

Firearms (plural), ammo (lots), and training. If you’re not ready to shoot, don’t bother owning.
Non-lethal options: pepper spray, stun guns, dogs, alarms.
Reinforced doors, window bars, motion lights, cameras (solar-powered preferred).
A plan. Who defends what? Who watches what door? Don’t wait until it’s too late to decide. If you do not know much about this topic, we recommend you enrol in the Special Forces Home Defense Academy! Available for a 60% discount at this link!

Pro Tip: Every prepper without defense gear is just a warehouse for someone braver.
You are the first responder now. Act like it.

Extra reading:

Sanitation & Hygiene: Stay Clean or Get Sick

You can live with bad food. You can live without power.
But live without sanitation? Welcome to disease and death.

What You Need:

Trash bags. Buckets. Bleach. Gloves. Toilet paper (yeah, that’s right).
Makeshift toilet setups (Luggable Loo, DIY composting toilet).
Soap, disinfectant, feminine hygiene, diapers (if needed), wet wipes.
Pest control: traps, repellents, bug nets.

Pro Tip: Your house can turn into a biohazard if you ignore this. Stay clean, stay healthy, stay alive.

Communication: Don’t Get Cut Off

The internet is fragile. Phones go down. The second you’re blind to the outside world, you’re making decisions in the dark.

What You Need:

NOAA weather radio (solar/crank-powered).
HAM radio (licensed or not—you’ll learn fast in a crisis).
Walkie-talkies for intra-family comms.
Maps, compass, signal mirror, whistle.

Pro Tip: Intel is everything. Know what’s coming, where it’s spreading, and when to move.
In the dark, you die.

Extra reading:

Documentation & Planning: When the Fog of War Hits

When panic sets in, memory fails. Plans fall apart. You need written protocols, critical documents, and checklists to keep your household on mission.

What You Need:

Copies of IDs, deeds, insurance, prescriptions—physical and encrypted digital backups.
Emergency plans: bug-in, bug-out, rally points, supply maps.
Paper notebooks, pens, laminators, waterproof pouches.

Pro Tip: The mind breaks under pressure. Your plan on paper won’t.
Don’t rely on your phone. Don’t rely on your gut. Rely on your plan.

Mental Strength: The Hidden Essential

Nobody talks about it. Everyone needs it.
Mental toughness is the final line between survival and collapse.

What happens when the days stretch on, the supplies shrink, and there’s no rescue in sight? You break—or you adapt. That’s where mindset separates the survivors from the statistics.

What You Need:

Books. Games. Faith. Discipline. Routines. Community.
Practice discomfort before the disaster.
Remove weakness from your circle.

Pro Tip: If your brain isn’t trained, your body won’t last.
Resilience is the weapon they can’t take from you.

Final Word: This Is War—Prepare Accordingly

Prepping isn’t a weekend project. It’s a lifelong rebellion against dependence. Every item on this list? It’s not just gear—it’s freedom.

They want you obedient. Exposed. Helpless. But you? You’re building your stronghold. You’re securing your lifeline. You’re training to win a war most people don’t even see coming.

Don’t wait until the knock at your door comes too late.
Start building. Start fortifying. Start surviving—right now.