The Great Reset | Survive & Thrive | Create your own self-sufficiency toolkit

When we were kids, all had bikes, and were allowed to go off for rides, it wasn’t uncommon for us to have a puncture repair kit handy – even if we didn’t have any idea how to use it if we had a punctured tyre, and would usually rely on a parent or another adult fixing it for us if we did.

Good times. Especially when there was always an answer to the problem and everything could always be fixed.

As we navigate our way through the challenges that lie ahead, it wont just be punctures on a bicycle that we need to think about being prepared for.

In fact, it would be a good idea for us to have the most practical contingency plan in place possible, to take care of anything that we have a genuine need to use regularly – if its something that can be easily fixed, or something that we need to use to feed, heat or support ourselves when we are unable to access our ‘normal’ supplies.

Some of the following items are things that we will need. Some we will use regularly. Some we will never need – but it will be better that we have and don’t use them, than finding ourselves without them if we do!

There will be others – and if you start thinking about what you would need if there is no power, water or heating, you’ll begin to get an idea of the things you might need for you to be able to do all the things that you need to do:

• Sewing kit (including some needles, different coloured thread)
• First Aid Kit (including plenty of plasters, some antiseptic cream etc)
• Paracetamol/Aspirin or other basic pain relief tablets that you and those with you would normally use
• Large air-tight resealable bags
• A ‘Swiss Army Knife’ of multi-tool gadget that you have tested for robustness
• Water Purification Kit – the kind you would take for a long camping trip
• Firelighters
• Matches
• A small torch with spare batteries
• Candles and/or Tea Lights
• A wind-up / solar radio and phone-charger
• Cable Ties (assorted sizes)
• A hatchet or small handled axe
• A small pan for boiling water that can be heated on a naked flame
• A small frying pan / griddle pan that can be heated on a naked flame
• A small sharp cooking knife
• A few packs of baby wipes / wet wipes
• Some basic dried and canned foods including pasta, rice, fish and the types of things that you can turn into a meal without need of anything else – clearly depending on what your dietary needs (NOT WANTS!) and those of the people with you normally are
• A can opener (if there isn’t one on your tool gadget)

There will probably be others too. But again, the emphasis is all about what we will need and not about what we want. The two are very different things and this is all about being happy with what we have already got!

Please remember that this is just a guide. Visualise a situation where nothing is available, and you will soon know what you will really need.

You will find all of these things online, and most of them will be available in supermarkets, DIY and home stores too. Please remember that as distribution systems increasingly fail – as they are going to, even goods that are available online, wont be shipped or even delivered to local stores so that you can buy or collect them there.

The time to prepare for all eventualities is NOW. NOT when there are shortages of everything and being prepared makes real-time sense!