Melissa K. Norris

Simple Modern Homesteading for a Healthy & Self-Sufficient Life

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30 Day Preparedness Resource Page

A woman crouched by a woodstove with a fire going, holding an oil lamp.

Below you'll find links to products and resources to help you meet your preparedness goals. Many are items we have here on our homestead, and some are items on our wishlist, but I'll never recommend a product I don't already own and love, or that I haven't researched myself.

Disclosure: The below links are affiliate links, which means I earn a small commission when you make a purchase, but it doesn't cost you any extra. I truly thank you for your support and purchase. 

Shelter Items 

  • Wool blanket 
  • All weather space blanket – these are also great to have a couple in each vehicle!
  • Sleeping Bag – My husband invested in this sleeping bag for his week long back country trip, it only weighs 1.94 pounds and rolls up super small, making it a great option for packing. If you're looking for a tested and tried sleeping bag rated for zero degrees or colder, it's an investment, but First Lite is known for their gear.
  • Base Layer Shirts – A wool or wool blend long sleeved shirt as your next layer will give you lots of warmth. Many folks like these shirts as their base layer.
  • Wool Gloves – I really like this pair of wool fingerless gloves with the mittens that flap over, they even have a place for heat packets!!
  • Hand Warmers – These are great to have stashed in each car, as well as some for your house in case the power goes out during the winter months.

Water Purification

Light Sources

Tools

Fire 

Bags

First Aid and Health

Food Storage

  • Half gallon jars work well for dried beans. I re-use my used canning lids on my dry good storage. Old peanut butter jar lids work well as well. You can grab a case of lids for less than $15.
  • I adore the gallon size Ball jars with a rubber seal. Note: they're not for canning, but they work very well for things like oatmeal, flour, and sugar. However, gallon jars from Azure Standard are much cheaper and hold dried goods amazing well (and I also use them for fermented pickles and freeze dried apples.)
  • Keeping food in an air-tight environment also helps with the shelf life. You can use the attachment on a vacuum sealer or check out this tutorial on using a non-electric Mason jar vacuum sealer.
  • True Sea Salt I get the 10 lb buckets, get 15% off with coupon code “Pioneering” at checkout
  • Organic Coconut oil. (Costco also carries a generic brand of coconut oil at a slightly lower price)
  • Bulk raw cocoa powder available by the pound.
  • This is the best price I've found for Spelt Berries from Azure Standard. If it’s just a small dollar amount difference, then I’ll still purchase local, but if it’s a large amount then I purchase on-line. If you don’t have a co-op, then this is a local brand to my area and they also have really good prices.
  • I purchase my spices and seasonings (herbs and teas, too) from Azure Standard They’re a pretty awesome company out of Oregon. Another good source is Starwest Botanicals.
  • Sourdough starter basics and video series.

Resources for Grinding Flour

Books, Manuals and Field Guides

Home Butchering Equipment

  • Chicken kill cones to slaughter your chicken in as easy as manner possible for both you and the chicken.
  • You'll also want to make sure you have a nice butchering knife to help you cut up the chicken during processing.
  • A sharp knife is essential to clean cuts. You don't want to be sawing away and a good boning knife is key.

Canning Resources

  • This pressure canner states it is safe for glass top stove ranges.
  • If you're just getting into canning and don't have the extra funds, then starting with a Presto pressure canner is the best choice. My economical pressure canner is almost 15 years old and still going strong.
  • However, if you only want to purchase one canner for your lifetime, then the All American canner will be the one you want to consider. As its name states the All Amercian canner is made in the in United States in Wisconsin. It's earned a reputation as being a premier pressure canner. (I got one for Christmas from my husband a few years back!!)
  • How to alter your soup recipes to make them safe for home canning.

Dehydrating Food at Home

Drying food is one of the old traditional methods of food preservation known to man. In hot climates, food can be dehydrated simply by laying it out in the sun on a screen or rack. A solar Sun Oven is also an off-grid dehydrator!

Here are my favorite and most reliable items to use in your off-grid outdoor cooking.

  • Spider Dutch Oven– absolute must for cooking over an open fire. I actually own 3 in different sizes.
  • Dutch Oven w/ Casserole Skillet– This is the coolest thing ever. The lid turned upside down becomes a skillet. You get two items in one. Can I get a high five?
  • Dutch Oven Lid Lifter– Trust me, those Dutch ovens get hot. Cast iron retains heat (yeah, baby) and those burning coals are not something you want your fingers near. For less than $10 you'll save yourself a lot of hurting.
  • Outdoor Percolator — AKA coffee maker. Because a world without coffee isn't a place I want to be for very long. This little percolator will make coffee on almost every single way we have of off-grid cooking.

Ways to Cook Without Electricity

  • Best deal stove for under $10
  • Not only does it save on electricity, but no heating up the house on hot days, and it can double as a dehydrator–> All American Sun Oven
  • Not having to stand over a stove or feed a fire all day option, go here –>Wonder oven and it's got some great reviews to boot.
  • We've owned several smokers and this one is by far our favorite. We only have to load it with fuel once and it holds the temperature for over 12 hours without adding anymore. Our favorite smoker— Weber Smoky Mountain
  • Here's how to cook in an earth oven and make your own.
  • Sometimes little things can have powerful impact… here's how to make and use a Tea Light Oven.
  • The neat thing about this little stove is you can use it on multiple surfaces and it can be used to grill, bake, Dutch oven use, or open fire cooking. Because you know I'm all about multi-use tools! For a 4 in 1 stove go here –>Volcano Stove
  • We take it camping and use it for all of our cooking when the burn ban is on. Can be used for canning too.  Our favorite propane 2 burner stove –> Camp Chef Explorer Stove
  • You can boil water in less than 10 minutes and not as much smoke as a regular fire. I love using Amazon because you can see from the reviews how well a product does in real life. Click here to check out the –> Solo Stove.
  • Learn how to cook outdoors with a smoker or old-fashioned Dutch oven inside the Pioneering Today Academy membership (if we're not open for new members, make sure you get on the waitlist!)

And that's a wrap for my 30-day survival checklist! Did I miss anything? What else would you add?