You almost certainly will not contract coronavirus, and that’s not why you should be FREAKING OUT about coronavirus. Let’s talk supply chains. (Or just scroll down for a shopping list.)
Coronavirus is already disrupting supply chains.
Apple announced supply chain issues, but that’s not a real concern except for the stock market (more on that, later)
America is completely dependent on China for prescription medication:
- Last month, the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission held a hearing on the United States’ growing reliance on China’s pharmaceutical products. The topic reminded me of a spirited discussion described in Bob Woodward’s book, Fear: Trump in the White House. In the discussion, Gary Cohn, then chief economic advisor to President Trump, argued against a trade war with China by invoking a Department of Commerce study that found that 97 percent of all antibiotics in the United States came from China. “If you’re the Chinese and you want to really just destroy us, just stop sending us antibiotics,” he said.
The source for that story is the CFR, which now looks pretty stupid. Their argument was that American should remain dependent on China. Big mistake.
Even if that 97% number is hysterical, the “real” number is high.
Yes, you’re going to see a shortage of prescription medication. (Although India may end up saving the day.)
What happens if thousands of truck drivers get the flu?
Your well-stocked grocery store’s most important area is “shipping and receiving.” You may have never seen this area unless you worked in retail. Each day dozens or more trailers of food arrive. These are brought to you by your friendly neighborhood truck drivers.
Without these daily deliveries, your shopping center 36 hours of food if a run on the store happens.
There was already a truck driver shortage, although this issue has been mitigated and new drivers can be trained relatively quickly.
In the short term, a food shortage is probable.
It won’t be a “Mad Max” scenario, but you may be forced to go days without a food resupply.
(Shelves in Italian cities are already empty.)
Supermarket shelves have been emptied in Milan, as residents stockpile food and supplies ahead of a government-enforced #coronavirus quarantine.
A dozen towns in Italy are in lockdown as authorities race to contain #COVID19 in Europe.
Read more here: https://t.co/6Zht40T43s pic.twitter.com/R2BhgvvDUk
— Sky News (@SkyNews) February 24, 2020
Shopping List for Coronavirus Prepping.
Think conceptually for a moment. If there’s a food shortage, you’re not going to be worried about your supply of reverse-seared rib eye. (Power outrages may mean such food would spoil.)
- Big picture: You want cheap calories that are easy to store.
We have about 100 pounds of dry rice, which you can buy at Costco in the Mexican food section. It’s on the bottom shelf.
We also have dry oats, lentils, and canned tuna.
You’ll need water to reconstitute the dry goods, and you should have a 72 hour supply of water anyway.
Food list:
- 50 pound bag of dry rice for every 3 people
- 20 pound bag of dried lentil
- 50 gallons of water
- Spices for cooking
- Coconut oil
Bonuses / extras:
If you have a propane grill, get an extra tank. You’ll be able to cook all of your food over a propane grill.
Mophie / charging batteries for your electronic devices. If there’s a power outage, you’ll need to be able to obtain access to information, and unless cell towers go out, too, your phone will suffice. Keep it charged with one of those portable power units. (I use this one.)
High lumens flashlight. Forget the Rambo fantasies. Most people don’t need an AR-15. You need a tactical flashlight. I recommend this one.
A high lumens flashlight will short-term blind an attacker.
I carry a high-lumens pen flashlight to every event.
A violent person who gets flashed in the eyes will be stunned momentarily.
This is a pretty good video showing that a flashlight is capable of much more than you imagined.
Do you need a generator for Coronavirus?
I don’t consider a generator a “must-have” unless you’re in a rural environment.
If you have the space and budget for one, a generator is a good buy.
In other words, a generator is a nice to have.
If you get a gas or diesel generator, you’ll need to store fuel. Fuel storage can present a storage hazard.
If you’re thinking about getting a generator, please do your homework.
Solar Vs Gas Generators for Prepping and Survival | Inergy Apex
Should you be “Freaking Out” About Coronavirus.
Yes. Yes you absolutely should be.
I want you to FREAK OUT about coronavirus, but my definition of that is limited to
- Buy some inexpensive dry goods; pet food; store some water.
- Get a Rx filled in advance.
- Buy some protein / Outright bars.
- If you run a biz, tighten belts.
- Maybe a generator.
- Don’t buy into the Buy Gold / Mad Max nonsense.
Coronavirus Prepping vs. Hardcore Prepping
A lot of hardcore preppers will find this article and start nit-picking it, and they’ll be blocked.
This article isn’t for people who get decked out in 5.11 tacticool wear, open carry AR-15’s (even though that’s your right) and who hope the world ends because somehow they will do better in a Zombieworld. Trust me, the current timeline is as good as it gets.
Normal, professional people need to be prepared for Coronavirus.
There are some wonderful videos by normal, sane people on food storage and prepping.
You need to be ready.
If you want to go deeper in this world, check out Guildbrook Farm – Simple Sustainable Living.
Using Mylar Bags for Food Storage
What’s your best Coronavirus prepping tip?
Post a comment below!
Hey Mike,
Great article! There isn’t a link for the external battery pack you mentioned, but two things to consider are:
1. The capacity of the battery pack (larger is better, of course) – for a single person, 10000mAh is enough to get two or three charges into a phone; if you’re a larger family, then a couple of 20000mAh ones would work
2. Recharging that battery pack
Now, most chargers that people have will output at 5V/1A, which for a battery pack, is pretty slow. However, there are better, multi-outlet chargers that can charge a battery pack WAY faster. I say this because if you have a generator and need to use it, you want to maximize your charging capabilities.
Let’s say you come across a generator or meet someone who will let you use theirs. You can either charge things slowly with poor chargers, wasting time OR charge multiple things up and refill your battery packs at the same time.
Here’s a recommendation for a multi-outlet charger and a battery pack:
Charger: https://www.amazon.com/Charger-RAVPower-Charging-Multiple-Compatible/dp/B07MSCC9KK/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=multi-outlet+usb+charger&qid=1582580732&sr=8-3
Battery Pack – this specific one is 20000mAh: https://www.amazon.com/Portable-Charger-Anker-PowerCore-20100mAh/dp/B00X5RV14Y/ref=sxin_3_osp116-393d2cef_cov?ascsubtag=393d2cef-f595-41d0-9051-b70a67013238&creativeASIN=B00X5RV14Y&cv_ct_cx=usb+battery+pack&cv_ct_id=amzn1.osp.393d2cef-f595-41d0-9051-b70a67013238&cv_ct_pg=search&cv_ct_wn=osp-search&keywords=usb+battery+pack&linkCode=oas&pd_rd_i=B00X5RV14Y&pd_rd_r=3af1b067-4323-49ef-820f-75d98aac7a7a&pd_rd_w=sdnVi&pd_rd_wg=v00iL&pf_rd_p=eb3e5cda-5ec9-4d94-919d-310a5d641b8b&pf_rd_r=8K6WQ7YE36W14SZ45SFW&qid=1582580962&tag=gadgetreview-tca-20
People tend not to like the bulkier battery packs, so if light travel is a must, I’d go with 10000mAh.
Thanks for the information! It was easy to read.
waterBob
Its a 100 gallon bag you can fit in your bath and fill if things go to shit.
Usually there’s a lag time between a problem and a problem happening.
So it’s easier to quickly open and run the taps and fill up a 100 gallon bag than storing bottles if you have limited space
A couple of my favorites are this USB rechargable flashlight that can take cr123s also and a backpacking solar charger to charge phones and light if power is out.
https://amzn.to/32yBhJf
https://amzn.to/3c6NYPN
OKL jackhammer for immune dynamite if needed: melatonin 10mg every few hours so long as not too sleepy plus nightly dose, vitamin D3 (5x daily dose), vitamin C (up to 1000mg every hour or IVC for really serious complications)
Personal hygiene wipes
Hey Mike,
FEMA , DHS and CDC all have websites where people can download all kinds of checklists for preparing for all kinds of disasters.
A copy of Emergency contact and family on paper in case you can’t access your phone or email…(if you have to borrow someone else’s phone)
Any food not in cans should be kept in totes to prevent mice from getting in.
Toilet paper is always nice to have. The Dollar stores have them pretty cheap.
I see it this way prep like you were going bare camping no toilets . Also make certain yo have alcohol bleach vinegar and hand sanitizer disinfectant as well as those huge black garbage bags for keeping trash contained.. on stock. All great..dont forget the pets and make certain you have laundry supplies readily available keep clean and disinfect and sanitize to minimize risk. Also when you venture out use gloves if touching surfaces and dispose prior to entering home in sealed container and disinfectant and seal until we learn more about this pathogen
What’s the vinegar for please?
White vinegar is great for cleaning, it is a good disinfectant & degreaser & it is not toxic to humans, one gallon can be diluted as needed in a spray bottle to clean with. I buy a 2-gallon box at Sam’s Club for less than $5. Apple cider vinegar is good for alkalizing the body making an inhospitable environment for germs to replicate. Fresh lemon or lime juice with water drank several times a day is also alkalizing, as is baking soda and water.
Wouldn’t citrus juice be acidifying?
If you use vinegar as a disinfectant, you should note the acidity (usually in %) on the bottle and not dilute it down below 1% if you want it to be effective.
It can be used for so many things including homemade shampoo.
Very good. I’d add laundry detergent since you’ll be wanting to strip down and wash clothes if you have to go out into infection land. TP up the wazoo. Pads for the ladies. A bunch of cheap ivory soap for handwashing (can also clean hair with it). I also got a case of Pepsi and Beer for moral support. Hot sauce. I also got a case of matches. I also have an SAS Survival Handbook just in case I really need to get crazy.
I recommend people push forward their next 3 month spending on consumables over the next 3 weeks. Just get a little extra each time you go out to grab something.
Apart from that, get a few things that would make a quarantine more enjoyable: your favorite chocolate, coffee, books, etc.
In North America it wont be so much about survival as maintaining a certain level of comfort.
Not a bad idea to augment your camping gear a little or if you have none, get the basics.
No need to really spend much extra on stuff you wont need anyway. One exception: head out to events or restaurants you really enjoy over the next couple weeks. Restuaranters would really appreciate the extra cash before the coming storm, in a month or two you may not be able to for a while.
Brilliant. Thanks for the information, Michael 🙏
Maybe not 100% necessary. Idk how good it will do, but go out and get a good air filter for your central air system. Like the advanced one that gets all the microbes and viruses. Maybe buy a few to change out often.
I bought portable bidets for each family member. Maybe we can stretch a bit on TP if water is ample.
Great practical prepping article. I would suggest a change/addition…a small propane camp stove and adapter cable. If people are starving, cooking outside will be unsafe. Also a stove like this can cook hundreds of meals on one 20 gal tank.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HQRD8EO/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073KV4WLJ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_aVhvEbTME7NYH
Good article Mike.
While I think the chances of things “popping off” like you said the other day are extremely low I’m still going to invest a little bit in some basic prep this week. Just basic stuff like rice, beans, and fat sources. Enough to last 2-3 months which should be pretty simple and likely extreme overkill. Just stuff to put in a closet along with tp and pet food. Have food safe buckets that I use in home brewing and Mylar seems decently cheap so I might throw in a few extra dollars for that. Already have a decent source of water and a way to purify if needed. Have a couple power banks I bring to music festivals already so I should be good there. I live in BFE so I have a 300 gallon propane tank. I’ll check it tomorrow but it should be around 100 gallons and I can call in some more if I think I could use some more.
Not going to lie. Your tweet yesterday is what got me thinking about this stuff. Figured the basics for 3 months is easy enough to do and I have the money so better safe than sorry.
Go back on TDS sometime. I enjoyed you on ep 20.
Mike,
IMPORTANT TIP!
Half the men in China smoke.
Almost none of the women do.
The death rate for women is 60% of that for men.
Thew virus attacks through your lungs
Please tell people to quit smoking if they can.
Now is the time
Mike -Note that a gallon of Clorox bleach will purify about 9,000 gallons of clear water (that’s no particulates)
https://www.happypreppers.com/37-food-storage.html
Remember your hot water heater already has 30-60 gallons of potable water in it. Skip the hot showers, and you’ve got an extra week or two of water already stored.
Throw a bottle of hot sauce or A1 into your box of beans and rice. After three days of nothing but, you’ll find the break in monotony a good morale boost.
Nowisa good time to lay in supplies for that garden you always meant to start. Soon as the ground thaws, get your vegetables and leafy greens going. Itis pleasnt, rewarding, and useful – supply disruptions or no.
I live in rural North Georgia, lose power often due to proximity to nat forest (end of the line on dirt road). My fire pit always comes in handy – I have picked up assorted grates and iron cookware – it’s actually really fun camp cooking. My stores also include canned salmon, jerkies, lots of peanut butter even the fancy fun kind like Biscoff cookie butter. I agree keep some comfort stuff around whatever that means to you – whiskey and chocolate are 2 must haves. and i store butter and flower and assorted baking needs so i can make biscuits and breads – lentils are great you can also make crackers with them. Im on a very cold creek get a metal box to store things that need to be kept cold (though I dont see power loss as likely) this just seems like a time to socially isolate once it develops here. Toilet paper is one thing but we keep stacks and stacks of washcloths – its much cleaner to wipe with (and thorough) and you toss into a hamper. If you keep Dr Bonners soap around you’ll have everything you need to wash hair, bodies, clothes and dishes. I take massive doses of C through winter, as well as immune support vitamins, drink lots of alkaline water and NEVER TOUCH YOUR FACE practice this. its the #1 way to avoid catching any bug. Have fun out there, stay in the moment, see it as an opportunity to disengage from the corporate MSM bs culture. Thanks Mike xo
Washcloths in lieu of toilet paper “and you toss into a hamper”. Oh no.
Pay your bills a few months ahead now so that you won’t have to worry about it later if you get laid off temporarily due to the virus.
Good suggestions, Mike. All those you suggest are practical and useful.
As vice president (volunteer) of the American Civil Defense Association, I would like to make a few additional practical suggestions.
Build a basic coronavirus safety kit: https://poetslife.blogspot.com/2020/02/building-basic-coronavirus-safety-kit.html (this is my civil defense blog I have written for 20 years with multiple posts on how to prepare for natural and man made disasters)
Learn about the unintended impacts of the Wuhan Coronavirus: https://www.subscribestar.com/poetslife (my subscribestar posts with other civil defense tips)
And please visit https://tacda.org/. I just uploaded 42 years of the Journal of Civil Defense published from 1962 to 2020. It is easy to search and read them there. There is also a Survival Store with just a few, practical items to increase your chance of survival.
It’s all about saving life and preventing damage to property. You are correct that the supply chain is interrupted and we will all need to plan for that reality. I have been thinking about this and writing about it for 20 years. Hope something is useful to you and your family.
Hey Mike,
I miss following you on Twitter. I don’t know what I did to bring you to block me. I would appreciate having the ability to follow you restored if you please?
Thanks,
@George_Babbitt
I’m getting a bunch of MREs.
They’re not the greatest for you, but you won’t have to use up precious water for cleaning pots & pans, and heaters that they come with only use up a little bit of water.
That being said, I’m also getting an Esbitt Stove and some dehydrated soup, beef broth, and eggs as well as some canned food.
If nothing does end up happening, I’ll have some cans to donate to charity, and a bunch of MREs for hikes and quick lunches for multi-day carbine classes.
Why do I need 50 gallons of water (or any amount) saved up. How likely is it that tap water wont run in the event of this or any other emergency?
And isn’t purifying/boiling the water easier than storing 50 gallons worth?
Thx
This is my go-to flashlight now. It’s a Nitecore like the other commenter above, but it uses the newer Cree XHP50 LED chip. It’s actually 4 LEDs on one substrate. It has 5 brightness settings, from super-low at 8 lumens to highest at 2150.
https://flashlight.nitecore.com/product/ec4s
I’ve had it a while now and the features are great. It’s rechargeable, which is a big plus. It will run on CR123A batteries too but you won’t get the highest setting because CR123s don’t put out enough current.
I use the batteries at the following link. They can power the light at 2150 lumens for well over an hour (they’re higher capacity than the ones shown in the chart), or at “low” setting (80 lumens) for about 42 hours. Nitecore also sells cold-weather-optimized rechargeables.
https://flashlight.nitecore.com/product/nl1835hp
Due to clever use of two buttons, there is near-instant access to lowest setting, highest setting, and strobe without blinking through other modes. There is also “SOS” (of limited utility, IMO) and a “beacon” mode, which flashes very brightly about every 2 seconds. Plus battery level indication, and “standby” mode flashes a small blue LED behind one of the buttons so you can find it in the dark when it’s off.
VERY solid construction, it costs less than the streamlight, and it’s not much bigger, despite 2 batteries: 6″ long and 1.6″ at its widest dimension.
As for the mylar bags: if you use them (up to a gallon or so anyway) in conjunction with a vacuum-packer like a FoodSaver, you eliminate most of the oxygen in the first place, you can use less oxygen absorber, and the food should keep even longer.
But you should only use that on dry goods. Vacuum packing anything with a high moisture content, or meat like beef jerky for example, creates a high risk of botulism.
I forgot to mention a couple of things.
First, with this light, you won’t get the brightest light settings from cheap Chinese 18650 batteries. You need to use good-quality batteries with ample current output. If the batteries are not up to snuff, the light will still work, but it will only go as bright as the batteries allow. Same is true for CR123s.
And a feature I forgot to mention is that there is also a “lockout” mode, so the light doesn’t accidentally get turned on when in a bag or pocket.
Personally I’ve been thinking at the bare minimum since late January a month worth of reserve food at the bare minimum would be needed in case I were to be quarantined sick or not. Quarantines have been from 14 to 30 days depending on the country.
I noticed a couple weeks back before the run on TP happened that there hasn’t been a can of SPAM to be found in my area anywhere.
My only tips are limit your travel to essential places. Work, Grocery stores etc. Decline social activities with friends and acquaintances. Remember this Virus spread 6 weeks in Seattle before it became noticeable. Any thing you do today could screw you or someone you love up to 6 weeks from now.
Keep your specific plans secret. If you tell Friend X and that friend tells another person he knows his friend has a months worth of food then that person could come target you. Don’t take photos of your home or your prepping specifics and put them on social media. People can figure out where you live and what you have. Don’t invite strangers into your home.
Also keep a journal. What places did you go? Who did you meet? If you get sick it might help figure out who got you sick and who is at risk
from you.