I've got a lot of work to do thanks for the list traveller

http://www.happypreppers.com/37-food-storage.html

http://www.happypreppers.com/37-non-food-items-to-hoard.html

http://survivalcache.com/37-things-you-should-stock-but-probably-arent/

And yes My wife and I have all this stored in our storage....very good lists....

Thank you traveller for the lists....great sites.

This is really helpful, great post. Thank you. Also, what are the benefits of storing distilled water over, lets say, spring water? (If any benefits) I also remember a mechanic friend telling me that distilled water is better for auto/mechanic purposes. The example he was using was my radiator. Not sure why, maybe it is because the distilled has less mineral compounds that would retain heat, making it better for cooling? Any thoughts?

Unless you tapped the spring or paid a bundle, most bottled "spring" water isn't. Just saying. It's clean, it may lack some chemicals in city water systems, but it's largely just filtered water. Distilled water is pure H2O - it was heated to vapor and the vapor was captured and bottled. Evaporation and transpiration are both forms of distilling. Distilling leaves behind all trace elements (that's how mineral salts build up in soil and wreck it for growing when too much of the wrong kind of irrigation is used). The up side is that it's a way to take truly ugly water and purify it - all you need is a pair of containers, an umbrella (lid) and a heat source. There's nothing in there - no minerals at all. Well, it may pick up a few from the jug. If you have to drink it, you're going to want to pour it back and forth between glasses or pour off some and shake the stuffing out of the re-capped jug.

I use tap water for ice and to wash veggies and to make grains and pastas with, and it goes in my coffee and tea. I'd rather rotate it into the garden and sprouts every year or six months than spend the money to buy or the time with my stove running to make distilled water. Maybe that's just me.

One list mentions flour. Depending on how the flour is stored (paper bags vs. some kind of metal, glass or plastic) and the definition of "long term" that wants to be applied, I don't know that stocking up on flour is a smashing idea. Paper bags are susceptible to bugs and gnawing pests. Flour goes bad in 1-5 and sometimes 10 years (by climate and container; "bad" defined as that bitter rancidity), as opposed to whole wheat kernels that will last 3-10 or 20-30+ with differing storage techniques. Cornmeal in bags is the world's worst for bugs in temperate environments, it seems, but it lasts longer in the plastic tubs we use than any of the milled flours do, with the whole wheat and specialty grain or nut flours going bad before the white flour.

I like the lists - good post. Both are so much better than the "50" or "100" items that supposedly jump off shelves before major storms or disasters - which have included things like dogs, goats, chickens, and oral hygiene items. Maybe those authors live somewhere that happens, but not here for the hurricanes or the winter storms. I hadn't run into those two before. Thank you.

thank you for the info very helpful