30DayUrban.pdf
Everything You Need to Survive an Emergency at Home
Dear Friend,
We live in an unstable world. You never know when we could have a temporary economic meltdown, complete with bank closures and ATMs running dry… when the next natural disaster is going to hit, shutting down infrastructure and access to food, water, and electricity… and who knows what types of wars we will be involved with in the future, especially in today’s chaotic global climate.
That’s why I believe it’s vital for all Americans to have the ability to sustain themselves for at least 30 days.
In light of all of this, I’ve created this report to provide a simple list of things your family should have on hand at all times.
Here’s everything you and your family would need to survive for 30 days, should disaster strike.
Water
I’d recommend you have one gallon per person per day. That means to prepare for a 30-day survival situation, you should have 30 gallons of water stored for each member of your family.
This does present some logistical challenges. First, how do you store this water?
One option I like is 55-gallon water storage barrels. You can buy these at Costco or on Amazon. I’d personally recommend the Shelf Reliance brand.
Using a big barrel helps eliminate some of the challenges of having so much water stored — it keeps a large quantity all in one place, and you can store it in a storage room in your basement, where it’s out of the way. I’d recommend these large barrels if you have a larger family.
Another more portable option is seven-gallon containers. I’d recommend the Reliance Aqua-Tainer in particular.
The benefit of the seven-gallon containers is that they’re easier to transport.
While storing water is important, there are also many other places you can get water. There is water in your toilet tanks, in your hot water heater, and in your washing machine if you immediately turn it on after a disaster.
There is also water in creeks or rivers nearby you.
If you’re getting water out of a creek or out of your hot water heater, you’re going to want to purify it. Katadyn makes some of the best water purifiers on the planet. It’s what I own and what I use when I go hiking and camping.
Another way to purify water is to boil it, if you have that option.
By the way, I recommend changing out your stored water every year. So every 12 months, empty out your containers and put in fresh water.
Now let’s move to food…
Food
Storing enough food for 30 days may sound daunting, but it is not a difficult task at all.
There’s not a set-in-stone rule of thumb when it comes to how much food a person needs for 30 days. What I’d recommend is to try to plan as close to your regular eating pattern as possible. That way, you’ll be able to live comfortably and maintain your health and strength in a crisis situation.
I’d recommend making a 30-day meal plan, factoring in all three meals each day. That will be a good indication of what food you need. If you generally use a cup of rice for dinner each night, you’ll need 30 cups of rice for 30 days of storage.
Getting all of this food together is a bit trickier, but there are two good options.
You could simply go to the grocery store and buy a good amount of canned goods and shelf-stable products as they are. This is an easy way to do it, but it isn’t as customizable and could take up more space than you’d like.
My wife and I believe in having a year’s worth of food storage in our home, so we take a slightly different route, storing our food in larger quantities in buckets.
There are food-grade buckets available for purchase. I’d recommend Uline brand.
Otherwise, just get painters buckets from your local hardware store. If you go that route, you must store your food in Mylar bags. (I recommend mylarbagsdirect.com.)
Mylar bags come in several different sizes, so you can use one bag per meal if you choose. Or you could use larger bags that can fit two meals, or an entire day’s worth of meals.
Let me give you an example of how this all works.
Let’s say you decide that you’re going to buy two 50-pound bags of rice from Costco as part of your food storage, and you’re going to put them in painters buckets.
Decide how many cups of rice you’d like to put in each bag — I’d recommend three or four cups.
Once there’s rice in each bag, seal the bags with a clothes iron. (You just run the iron over the bag and the heat seals it.)
Once the bag is sealed, throw it in the bucket. You can use this method for your rice, flour, and all types of grains.
Just make sure you have enough food for 30 days and that if you use any of your canned food or bags of rice, you remember to replace them.
Also, don’t forget about food storage for your pets. Make sure you have a 30-day supply for them too.
You’ll also want to have:
• A manual can opener in your house
• A small backpacking stove to cook meals on (Coleman and MSR make good stoves)
• Spare fuel cannisters
• Several books of matches
• Several cigarette lighters.
Now that we’ve got our rations covered, let’s move on to home defense.
Guns
In my opinion, it’s pointless to have food storage and water storage if you don’t have a way to defend these supplies and keep people from entering your home during a disaster.
There are three types of guns that I believe everyone ought to have.
1. Handguns. These are for walking around on the streets where you want to be able to conceal your firearm. The handgun I use is a Glock 19. Whatever type of handgun you buy, make sure it’s a quality one and that you train with it.
2. Shotguns. The shotgun is the ultimate home defense weapon. The shotgun I use is a Remington 870. I use 00 buckshot for my ammo in my shotgun. If you don’t want to buy Remington, Benelli and Mossberg are also excellent shotgun companies.
3. Rifles. The rifle is perhaps the most important gun to have if the “stuff really hits the fan.” I recommend having at least two types of rifles. First you need a .22 (I like the Ruger 10/22). This gun is easy to use, and a less experienced person could use it to defend themselves if they needed to. Also, if you run out of food, the .22 is great for hunting. The other rifle I recommend is an AR-15 (I like Rock River Arms.) The AR-15 is a good close-quarters rifle, so if the world really is coming to an end, it’s a much better option than using a handgun or shotgun to defend yourself.
Just remember to train with all your firearms and to have plenty of ammunition — at least 1,000 rounds for the handgun, 200 rounds for the shotgun, and 1,000 rounds for the rifles. These are minimums, in my opinion.
Now let’s go over a few miscellaneous items I’d recommend you have in the house at all times.
Misc. Gear
• Hand-crank AM/FM radio in case the electricity goes out
• Hatchet (multiple uses)
• First-aid kit. You should buy one ASAP if you don’t have one in your house. Remember to add any medications you take
• Toilet paper and feminine products
• Toothpaste and dental floss
• Duct tape
• Sleeping bags in case you need to stay warm
• Well-equipped toolbox
• Money stored in a fireproof safe (I’d recommend having at least enough to cover one month of living expenses, in small bills)
• Copies of important documents
• Fixed- blade knife (I like the Gerber LMF II)
• Propane lantern with propane canisters
• Candles
• Flashlights with plenty of batteries.
If you have the items listed in this report, you’ll be off to a better start than the majority of Americans if a major disaster occurs. For more information on how to create the ultimate escape bag for survival, check out The Escape Bag Blueprint: 37 Items You Must Have to Survive a Crisis.
Of course, in addition to these reports, there are many good books to read on emergency preparedness and survival. But even if you never plan to read those books, at least get your food, water, and guns in order so you’ll be prepared for the unexpected and your family will be taken care of.
Stay safe,
Jason Hanson
