Gifts For Preppers – Christmas, Birthday, Whenever…

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1. We are giving some sleeping bags, with good rating, down to -20. We are in a warmer area. Last year, we gave a few get home bags, since we want certain people to make it here. They included tarps, ponchos, a few packets of Mountain house and a little camp burner, also a heavy tin cup in which to cook. I think they got Sawyer water straws, some kind of safe water treatment, but I don’t remember.
   All the suggestions here are good ideas, and can transfer over to any type of short term emergency or to check the chickens at night… Some #10 cans could be nice, if someone you know is starting out, in a half-way serious manner.

2. Made up some 5 gal buckets for my boys. One was first aid/hygienic body cleaning items like soaps along with matches, Bic lighters, candles, paracord, super glue, WD40, emergency blankets, light sticks and other such items, clothes pins too. The other was food stuff like drink/coffee salt and pepper, sugar, hard candies, chocolate which I vacuum packed and a nice can opener. I also give them commercial FD food buckets and #10 cans too. Solo stove with fuel. How about a Berkey. The clear blue one is not terrible expensive if you give as family present. A nice stocking stuffer would be Kilpit nail and toe clippers. Very nice and sturdy.
   This year I am think of trade items maybe.

   1. what is the best sleeping bags to buy. Me and my wife have no kids at home anymore and we are trying to start our prepping and we have almost everything that we need to live in the woods when tshf. just need a few more things toget.

      1. @Gary – 2 major determinants for choosing a bag: how cold a temperature will you be sleeping in and will the conditions be relatively dry or wet / damp. The answer to the first question determines the fill and therefore the weight of the bag. The answer to the second determines whether to use down (real goose down) or polyfill which will still insulate when wet. There have been great strides made in the quality of polyfill in the last 10 years so there are now choices that are close to down in comparability for weight and insulating power and it makes sense to buy the absolute best bag you can afford because you will most likely have it for a long time. For our multiuse bags, we have bags that go down to 15 degrees F. I have an eddie bauer down bag taht I have had for 40 years and it is still in excellent condition. Because we camp and backpack, we also use the exped dreamwalker duo, which is more of a down quilt that covers both of us atop two insulated exped iinflatable pads. These are lightweight but we sleep super warmly. Consider buying your sleeping gear from REI which has a full satisfaction guarantee. I have been buyiing from them for decades.

3. I am single so I bought myself: 2 fleece housecoats or robes, several fleece sherpa fleece jackets (5, on sale at 40% off) to wear in my apartment or to layer under winter coats if it gets too cold. If we have fuel and heating crises, these will come in handy. I wear a sherpa fleece jacket every day inside my unit and rotate them. Enough toilet paper until the snow goes as it is bulky, some more Tylenol as even adult pain medicine is in now in short supply, boxes of kleenex, soups, tea and coffee. Almond milk or soy milk that does not need refrigeration. Canned chick peas and kidney beans, canned veggies, canned fish. Snack food such as popcorn. For those who can have the sugar, chocolate bars or boxes of chocolates. Good as treats to ensure compliance in children and youth, but NOT for pets. Fleece blankets that can be washed in the bath tub and hung to dry vs a comforter (in case of a power failure), warm jogging pants, warm socks including thermal house socks. Extra hats to wear inside if needed, various weights of mittens. Good ole garbage bags. Books and large print books. An extra pair of comfortable boots with good treads. An ice pick for the cane. A transistor radio, a flashlight and extra batteries plus a purse or backpack flashlight. Chocolate based cookies or Jaffa cakes. Reusable water bottles. A wagon sled with both wheels and skis in case the streets get snowed in and you need to walk to the grocery store and transport heavy items such as milk, cat litter, canned food, etc. Blankets and coats for your pets. Pet auto food and water dispenser stations in case the family has to go to the hospital and is stuck in the ER for a couple of days just waiting, Fluffy and Fido can be self sufficient up to a point. A visit to a vet clinic to have your pets micro-chipped for a safe return in case they get lost. For families, kids’ grow snow wear in case they grow and the stores are sold out of a larger size or sold out totally until the next season.

   1. @CL – excellent list !

4. Food. Freeze-dried, canned, or bulk buckets of beans, rice, peas, lentils, etc. Even cooked, blankets are not to my taste.

5. A Red Ryder BB gun. And safety glasses. (Don’t want to put your eye out.)

6. If it’s a gift idea for a Prepper like myself? Gift cards. I hate getting gifts. At least with gift cards I can get what I know I’ll like or can put to practical use.

7. Survival seed pack of heirloom seeds. Dental kit (toothbrush, toothpaste, floss, clove oil, filling material, glue for loose fillings). Ammo. Motion detector lights, alarm, sprinkler.

8. I have given several of these to my kids over time. Weather radios because they’re both in tornado alley. Solar chargers were a hit to take biking or to kids’ ball games. Some of the other smaller items as stocking stuffers. This year more direct gifts. 72 hour dried food sampler. MyPatriot Supply had survival playing cards. Both families love card games. Another hit from the past The Camping Game was a trivia game with 3 or 4 levels of questions on each card. Animal identification and traits and outdoor know how. Grandkids loved it.

9. Regarding silver as a gift. I know GoldenEagle Coin is a sponsor, but try jmBullion as well, I feel, better prices and look into “cull” coins. They have just as much silver in them as higher graded coins, just not in perfect shape, but silver is silver when it comes down to it.

10. I don’t know. As far as Random Year, BU, American Silver Eagles, JM Bullion and Silver dot com are both $5.00 more each than Golden Eagle. Haven’t looked at the culls or rounds, but that’s a pretty big difference. Still paying almost twice over spot….

11. This year I gifted myself the silent power station. For me, it was an investment. For my wife it is a gift. Some peace of mind in event of the most frequent types of outages we will most likely experience in my AO. I do like the idea of receiving gift certificates. Just like money to spend as long as it is for the stores that I already go to. Now that I bought the big ticket item, I can look at Solar panels that are compatible and a small wind turbine from West Marine Boating Supplies.

    I’ve lived and worked off grid for a number of years when I was younger. I don’t want to go that primitive ever again at my age. (Nights feel colder, the ground got harder and the hills got steeper than I remember 30 years ago).

12. Give the gift of self defense. 9mm pistol and jhp rounds with cleaning kit.

    Good deals out there right now on both.

13. When the balloons go up water will be inaccessible. A life straw on the cheap side or a big berkey water filter on the more expensive end. Water is life. Merry Christmas all.

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