The food saver is my number one recommendation!  Heck, even if you’re not a prepper, this thing is worth it’s weight in gold!!  This is the food saver I have and it’s honestly the most simple, cheapest one but it does an amazing job so it’s the one I usually recommend.  It has the accessory port too you can get the jar sealer accessory and such the air out of your canning jars with ease.  When preparing my ground beef for the freezer, I like to use the 8″ Food Saver bags because it feels like the perfect size for a square, pound.

This is the food dehydrator that I have and love!  You can also buy extra trays for it, which was something necessary for me.  My favorite things to dehydrate are fruits and herbs but you can also dehydrate veggies, meat (although I love beef jerky, my favorite way to make it is in the smoker), fish, and a whole variety of other things.  For long term storage you can store your dehydrated foods in jars or bags and I like to add an oxygen absorber to ensure they stay fresh for the longest time possible.  (I also usually suck the air out of the jars or bags with my food saver to further ensure they last.)

A hand crank radio is a must in my opinion.  When something big does happen, it will be helpful to know what’s going on outside of your home.  Any radio would work but I like to have at least one hand crank one on hand so that I don’t need to depend on batteries or electricity.  This is my favorite hand crank radio out of all the the ones I have.  I love that you can even charge your phone with it and it has the mini solar panel to help keep a charge.  Could definitely come in handy.  It also has a flashlight, reading light, AM/FM radio, 7 NOAA weather stations and more.

A solar charger is very important to me.  I actually use these all the time whether it’s a power outage or we’re going on a trip and I want to be able to charge my cell phone on the go… they’re so handy!  I actually keep a few of mine in my window seal so they constantly charge and are ready to go if needed.  This is the one I most recently got and I love it!!!  I didn’t even realize my phone could charge wirelessly when I purchased this one but it does and that’s an added bonus.  I love the fold out option so that the surface area to absorb the sunlight is even greater.  Most chargers like this can also charge a kindle or other small devices.

I definitely have an obsession with solar chargers so I do have quite a few 🙂 but in addition to those, I also have a couple of these bigger fold out solar panels that charge phones, kindles and other small electronics.  I haven’t tested their full capabilities because I really only need them to charge phones and kindles but I’ve heard great reviews on their abilities.

 I’ve mentioned Kindles a few times and that’s because these things are great to store resources on so if you lose power or the internet, you can have your ebooks and anything else you’ve downloaded on it at your fingertips. The Kindle in this link is my favorite because it’s cheap yet it does a perfect job at doing everything I need it to.  I also keep a couple on hand loaded with kids games because if the power goes out, I’ll have something to entertain my kids if I need to be working on something else.  Keeping a couple in a Faraday cage loaded with resources is always a good idea too.  

Medical Supplies are very important to have on hand because there could come a time when we can’t depend on anyone else helping us.  (Heck, even at the height of Covid they were having to turn people away at the hospitals.)  For my family, we prefer to take care of ourselves as much as possible and leave the hospital as an absolute last resort.  I’m not a doctor so this is just what we do, it is not medical advice and I definitely suggest you do your own research and only do what you feel comfortable doing.  Having a blood pressure monitor seemed obvious to us as that’s something important to keep an eye on, especially if you’re sick.  We like the upper arm ones like the one pictured/linked but they also have wrist monitors if you want something smaller and a bit cheaper.  A finger oximeter was another must have for us and honestly, we use it ALL the time.  We actually have about 4 now in various medical bags and we use them regularly.  Besides having a large supply of bandaids, gauze, tapes and the like, we also like to have Bleed Stop on hand and Bleed Stop Antibacterial Gel.  With 3 kids, we’ve definitely found a hefty supply of Steri-Strips to be very helpful.  We’ve avoided stitches a couple of times but cleaning a wound very well and using Steri-Strips to help keep a cut closed.  Now, not all wounds are going to be able to be closed with these so it is important to have a suture kit on hand- and even more important that you know how to use it!  This Suture Practice Kit is a great resource.  If you don’t have one already, I’d get one ASAP and start practicing.  The Suture Like a Surgeon book is another great resource because although you might practice, what if you’re the one in your group who needs sutures and you’re not able to instruct someone on how to give them?  Having a book to guide them could save your life.  Definitely do your research now on these things because you don’t want to suture up a dirty wound so definitely know when and how to perform something like this.  Having a really good wound wash is also important.  

…………………………………..Lots more coming soon!