I bought my Doomsday Prepper home of my dreams in northern PA, but I figured I could write an article here about what you should look for if you are in the market. Consider the below items when buying a place and prepping.

Then, I am going to turn this into a video to release since none of you can read more than 10 words without yelling TLDR on Twitter.

Item 1: home/camp to go to

The most important aspect of finding a place is to have it nowhere near major highways or towns/cities. There are plenty of you who may be 1 hour from the closest grocery store and have me beat. But I wanted to point out the obvious. If bad things happen, the more people around you, the more vulnerable you are.

My location is in the Appalachian mountains. This was also due to the concept of meteors or tidal waves – I wanted to be high enough up and have mountain cover. I’m at about 1200 feet above sea level, which works for me. You don’t need to be at the top of the Rockies. If you do not have one of these places and can’t buy one – become friends with someone who does. People like me want those with particular skills to join me in tough times.

Item 2: water

My place has two streams that border it. I am also on a well. The well is powered, but I will get to that in a bit. Worst case scenario, I can walk to my creek with 2 5-gallon buckets and fill them up, filter it, and boil it. Mountains are pretty good for this for streams of water all over the place. I’d be very careful to ever drink that water because you have no idea what bear or deer upstream just did in that water. My books also have water filtration systems I wish to create to store excess water in drums for long term with some bleach.

Item 3: food

While I have made it a habit to store lots of food, the mountains also produce all kinds of food in the form of animals. I’m close to a lake as well, so with that, I can also fish if needed. One issue with the mountains – I always wanted an orchard, blueberry bushes, and raspberry patches. As I was researching this, I learned that not only will deer eat all of your shit, but if the deer doesn’t get it, the bears will. And while most bears I have dealt with are migratory, if you present a place they can routinely find food, they will keep coming back and then you have bear problems. One potential solution for this could be expensive high fencing all around your property to keep the animals out. That fencing could also be great for defensive purposes. So if you have the extra serious cash needed for high fencing around your property, go for it.

Item 4: wood

I have done a lot of tree sawing recently. Downed trees on my property – meet my chainsaw. But I also want to mill my own wood there. You can get relatively inexpensive home saw mills to then slice the wood. However, you then need to let it dry. Air drying for 6-18 months may work well for 1-2″ slabs, but you may need a form of kiln to get this to a lower moisture content to then build furniture. Why wood here is important is that you can:

  • – create firewood to then cook food
  • – sell firewood or barter for other items
  • – make furniture for the house
  • – make furniture to sell
  • – make your own defenses
  • – build lookout stations

Item 5: guns and ammo for them

While guns for defensive purposes may be self-explanatory, you have to understand you might need 5 different guns. Many want to understand why Americans have so many guns. And the first thing many liberals think of (errantly) is that we are violent people. My wife was asked once, “why does he need so many guns”? The first thought to the ill-informed is that “he must be compensating”. But the truth is, guns are tools. If you don’t know anything about wood working, you think you just need a hand saw. But then when you get good at it, you realize you need like 8 different saws for different cuts and jobs. Guns are the same thing – and each gun has a different job it is good for. What guns do for law abiding people is to stop violence against them. This is what is lost on a lot of the urban crowd when they say, “just call the police”. In a grid down situation, there are no police. Worse yet is if you are rural – even if there are police, response times could be an hour.

The second thing is providing a tool to hunt for food. And – different sized furry food containers with legs require different guns to access the tasty meat.

Here are the guns I would recommend and why:

  • – .22 handgun (with silencer). While you can use this to hunt squirrels and rabbits, this is pretty good for home defense. The silencer can keep noise from really traveling through the mountains and attracting others. If the grid is down, and people hear gunfire – they may then travel TOWARDS it because they want to steal the guns.
  • – AR15. While Joy Behar thinks an AR is so powerful that it explodes bambi into a million pieces, the reality is it isn’t used for deer hunting because it is far underpowered to kill a deer. This is what gaslighting does to people. The AR with iron sights is incredibly useful for a 20-100 yard range. Maybe someone breached your fence 75 yards away and continues to run at you, even after warnings. This is the weapon to stop them. If you have chickens – the AR is the right tool to stop coyotes, wolves, etc from getting at your chickens.
  • – .22 rifle. This is good for your squirrels and rabbits from some distance away. The AR is too powerful. The .22 is perfect, and with this, you get to use .22 ammo which is dirt cheap. While the “stopping power” isn’t great, enough shots of this will also kill someone if needed.
  • – .308 rifle. I have a .308 with a scope that I have hut metal targets at 500-600 yards away with. The scope is great for range, but the issue is under 100 yards, the scope doesn’t work incredibly well with how it is sighted. A .308 is great to hunt deer with. The 30-06 is a little too much kick for my preferences.
  • – Over and under shotgun. I have used this for a lot of sporting clays with the father in law, but this is a great tool to shoot birds or deer with. Anything more than 40 yards and it scatters too much to kill a deer. But the buck shot for deer can take them down and the birdshot for birds will spread pellets. You then have to adjust the choke to ensure your target range is set right. Slugs are pretty powerful. So with this one weapon you have multiple uses, based on the ammo you choose.

Item 6: tools

Any place you go should have an abundance of tools. While I love my Ryobi battery powered tools, you also need a good amount of hand tools in case the grid really is down for good. But here I would list the below tools/items

  • – knives
  • – axes/hatchets
  • – machetes
  • – attachment tools – drills, impact drivers, nail guns
  • – cutting tools – circular saw, chainsaws, jigsaw, bandsaw, chop/miter saws. You don’t know if you need to build something there or not
  • – metal detectors
  • – rope
  • – chains
  • – sharpeners/sanders/grinders
  • – a ridiculous amount of nails, screws, etc
  • – hammers, sledge hammers
  • – socket sets, ratchet sets
  • – screwdrivers, wire cutters, wrenches, pliers
  • – logjack to help saw downed trees
  • – work gloves to protect your hands
  • – buckets (used for carrying water, holding sawdust, storing items)
  • – shovels
  • – wheelbarrows
  • – carpenters pencils (can use knives to sharpen and doubles as writing pencil)

Item 7: cookware

I have multiple ways of cooking there. The inside stove is electric, but I have a fire pit and an attachment to it so I can cook over the fire. I have cast irons, and tons of other cookware there. Ensure you have things like tongs and spatulas as well

Item 8: power

This is the problem I currently have. While I am attached to the grid there, one thing I would like to get at some point is solar and batteries. I have seen how to sort of do this yourself for rather inexpensive, but for me, I don’t need the full house powered. Ideally, I just need the well water pump and the refrigerator. I don’t think that is a ton of solar needed, but in a grid down scenario – a generator can be wildly loud and run with gasoline that may be hard to come by. Ideally, you have some sort of power backup. Perhaps the best need is for refrigeration.

Item 9: staples

I have tubs where I have food stored in them, and tubs where you have things like flour and sugar and salt. I use tubs because it can keep mice out, for sure. And – if a place takes water in for some reason, the sealed tubs protect your food. But I would ensure you have at the very least:

  • – salt
  • – yeast
  • – sugar
  • – flour
  • – rice
  • – oats
  • – canned goods (and openers)

You can get a 50 pound bag of oats for like $60, and with this, you can feed people for a long time on that. Same thing with rice. When you are thinking survival, it makes sense to store calories. Flour can be used to make bread. Yeast as well.

Item 10: medical kits

I have a few there, and with that – you are seeing things like bandages, salves, and anti-bacterial creams. What I wish I could store, but don’t really have access to, is a lot of antibiotics in case of infections. The med kit I did buy that is rather big, also has things there to treat gunshots.

Item 11: cleaning supplies

While you might have some 509 laying around, people don’t consider that if the grid is down for a year or more, cleaning things eventually can be a problem. If you can’t properly clean things like cookware, you could become ill. If you can’t clean surfaces, you might get bugs or mice. If you can’t clean things overall, dirt and grime can lead to disease. Soap is something people take for granted

Item 12: candles

I have wax melting tools as well as bags of shaved wax along with wicks and scents. Idea is that perhaps when night time comes, that you may have solar and a battery, but you do not want to have lights on and attract people from miles away. Using candle light when the sun goes down can be a good alternative.

Item 13: fireplace

I have a fireplace, but can’t seem to find a damn chimney guy anywhere near me. A fireplace, during winter, can provide heat for the home. While people may be in the living room around this, it will provide good heat when the temps are freezing outside. And if you have this running, you may produce smoke in the evening. But, if you don’t run it, you die.

Item 14: High ground

A place you pick should have good security with views around. I got somewhat lucky in that my place for half of it, has a cliff drop and a valley below deer are, so hunting them is pretty easy. What you somewhat worry about is 360 degree protection. In the military, they have “gates, guns, guards”. Your place should be higher up (protects from floods) but also gives you good views of the area. I am lucky in a sense because I am on a dead end road, so the only traffic that should come is for me or my neighbor. Single ingress/egress points for a vehicle, and I have 100 yards or so where I can identify someone before they get anywhere near my place.

Item 15: fencing

This is on my “wish” list, but could be expensive for professional installation. I may just make my own fencing, then plant ivy all around it. This could help from animals getting in, but also can prevent people from seeing on to your property. Fencing can work well to keep animals out – like I stated above with bears and deer.

Item 16: Chicken coops

While I have the chicken coops that came with the place, I don’t have chickens. Someone relatively near me has chickens, and I might be able to barter for some if times get rough. An egg source is endless food for the family. Note – you would need to keep out animals like foxes

Item 17: Clothing for the woods

I have muck boots there for the weeds, mud, and creek. But it makes sense that you have things like jeans and boots for the terrain. Extra clothing at your place could not hurt.

Item 18: tick/bug sprays

In PA, we deal with lyme disease. My son got it last year. Having tick sprays can help keep the family from getting diseases.

Item 19: books

I stock the place with a lot of survival books. Ideally, I have a few months someday to read them, but they are there for references. If SHTF, then my job would be to use these books extensively to help protect my family

Item 20: friends

I have a group of friends that also are into a lot of this with me. My place is a rally point. While at first, you may think “I am only going with my immediate family”, you then realize that you have problems trying to take watch and doing security. With shows like “The Walking Dead” – you see the strength in small groups. While you may have disagreements, this group of people will be your new family, and you need them as much as they need you. Your friends should have a variety of skills.

Item 21: Practice ranges

I am not advocating for you to create a militia overnight, but my friends and me do practice on my range. You want your entire group proficient with an assortment of firearms. I even have knife/axe throwing area.

Item 22: Bows/crossbows

This is important because sometimes you want a weapon that doesn’t make noise. While you can hunt for deer with this, you may also want to defend your property in silence without alerting nearby enemies.

Item 23: Foundry/3D printer

One item I added recently is a foundry to melt metals. It will melt things like copper, tin, aluminum, gold, silver, and brass – but cannot melt iron/steel. This is important because you can then create tools/weapons as needed. Consider if you are out for a few years and have lost all of your arrows, it makes sense to be able to sand cast some new arrow heads. Or a flat head screwdriver. I also added a 3D printer to this for anyone who has a backup power source – perhaps you need to make tools? You can make 3D printed tools – or use them for a sand cast to then make them out of metal.

Item 24: batteries

I have a ton of batteries at the place. While you may think of their usefulness with flashlights, it may also be useful for them for radios.

Item 25: radios

While we need the batteries above for some of these. Some radios you can get that only need to crank a little bit. I also have walkie talkies there for talking across my property.

Item 26: gator

I don’t have one of these yet, but if you have a good amount of property, a vehicle like this can help you move logs/firewood, get to places quickly, and even transport injured people.

Item 27: fuel

This is a tough one, because I have a horrible record of storing gas and letting “bad gas” happen in things like my riding tractor mower up there. So if you are going to rely on motors, ensure you have fuel additives to preserve it for longer.

Item 28: log splitter

This thing is loud. It can run through fuel. However, it saves a lot of time and your back. If you don’t mind the noise or can contain it, you can process entire trees in about 1 hour. What you would need to do in the fall prior to winter would be to run this a few days and get yourself cords of firewood stored.

Item 29: toilet paper/paper towels

I run through paper towels pretty quickly. Storing them – I would go through them quickly. But TP is something no one ever thought about here until COVID. In January 2020, I was in the store filling up my cart like I was about to go live on a deserted island for 3 years. People looked at me. Well, I was well informed of what was coming, and I had TP for about a year.

Item 30: lighting fire tools

I can’t tell you how bad I am at this. I cheat and use lighter fluid, but then struggle to find lighters. My buddy makes fire bundles up. And I plan on making a ton of these. I mean an absolute warehouse of these. Between excess lint from a dryer, wood shavings and sawdust from my shop, and the wax I have – I have all of the materials to make serious fire bundles up. Throw one in, light it, and walk away and come back 10 minutes later to a roaring fire.

Item 31: lumber

While I have wood above – I am mostly talking about wood there for making furniture and burning. But consider what having sheets of OSB or plywood can do if you have broken out windows from looters? Consider having a ton of 2x4s laying around in case you needed to build something quickly?

Item 32: tarps

This one is missed, a lot. These can cover your wood piles, of course, but if you have a hole in your roof- this will go a long way to keeping water out. If, for some reason, you have to go mobile for a bit, you can make shelters with this quickly – not only to keep you off of dirt, but to keep water from coming in above.

Item 33: duct tape and fasteners

What good is a tarp if you can’t tape it down? Tape can be used for a million reasons. Duct tape is unusually strong, and you even have things like gorilla tape as well. While you are at it, super glue is a good one. Wood glue is needed for making furniture that will last a long time.

Item 34: money

While it is true you cannot eat gold, gold is the longest form of financial energy storage. Assume you produce excess eggs and someone wants to trade you a gold ring for food. If you don’t need immediate barter items, you store things like gold and silver for someday when the grid comes back online. What I would recommend is 20 oz of silver per person in your household and $200 in cash for each person in your household. In the early days, people may take $50 for a bottle of water. But as time drags on, cash will almost become useless. But assume the grid goes down, and a year later a new monetary system comes back online with the power. Gold and silver can trade into that new currency. Old dollars may be worthless.

Item 35: medicines and antibiotics

I talked about medical items above – but that was more geared towards treating wounds and cuts. It makes sense to stockpile what you can and store extra there.

Item 36: Go bag

You should be able to get out of your house in 15 minutes. While a grid down scenario can last a few hours and come back online, those who may have battery powered radios may hear we were hit with an EMP or nuclear weapon and think the grid could be down for some time. My place to get to doesn’t really have a lot of red lights. Once I get on a major highway near me, I’m mostly in the clear. A go bag for most may just be a handgun and some clothing. My “go bag” is:

  • – clothing
  • – medicines/medications
  • – 5 guns
  • – food from freezer/fridge in big cooler
  • – portable tool sets

I can be out the door, fully packed with the family in about 18-22 minutes. I can fight my way Mad Max style to get where I need to go. Maybe it’s longer than what you are comfortable with, but if I don’t have all of that stuff, I will never make it to the other place.

Item 37: Night vision goggles

The ones I have, have a rechargeable USB port. Because of a grid-down concept, battery powered ones might be better. But the idea is, perhaps, you haven’t eaten in 4 days and a lot of animals are out at night. Maybe you hear someone sneaking around your property and want to investigate. Night vision goggles at least give you a level playing field, if not an advantage – to seeing in the dark.

What is NOT on here, and why?

  • – Generators. While most preppers have these, I keep this off of the list because of the sound. This might be good for a post hurricane, but I think in a grid down scenario, unless you are a farmer with a massive fuel tank, most people would run through all of their fuel for their generator in a few days. Not only did you risk being detected, but your long term plan for power will only last a few days. No grid also means no power for gas fuel pumps.

This is a 95% list, and I’m sure I have forgotten something. What item would you bring that I don’t have?