Hello, my friend and welcome back! I watched a movie the other night about a disaster and half way through the movie the people were running around in rags or worn out clothes. When disaster hits and it all goes to hell, you will not only need clothing, but it will be a necessity to have the right kind as well. This is the subject of today’s post, so grab some coffee and have a seat while we visit.
Let’s start with why you need to keep clothing in your preps. I can tell you from experience that there is not much that is worse than being caught outdoors while being wet, freezing or both. It simply makes you miserable all the way to the bone. It can make a bad situation feel insurmountable. You should keep several changes of clothing, including socks and underwear, in a watertight container with your Preps at all times for you and each family member.
Something many people don’t really give much thought to is to keep the right clothes as well. What do I mean by that? To start with, you will want to keep some clothing that is too small for you, maybe one or two sizes at least. You see when the SHTF, one thing is for certain and that is no one is going to be gaining weight for quite a while.
In fact, pretty much all of us will begin losing weight as we start rationing our food supplies and exerting much more energy than normal. Gone will be the days of sitting, looking at computer monitors or watching TV. This will be replaced with long days of busting your butt hunting, fishing and gardening not to mention maintaining security. You will lose weight whether you want to or not. This makes the need for smaller size clothing mandatory if you want to be comfortable while working your butt off.
What other things should be considered when selecting what clothing items to store up? You will need to plan for the fact that there will be no air-conditioning (in all likely hood), and no central heat as well. You need to dress for the extremes of each season. In the summer, you’re going to want to have lightweight and breathable clothing for working outside and inside. There are many on the market, as well as clothing that repels water and dries quickly. A summer hat that protects the back of your neck and you face should be in preps too.
I know a lot of people will be packing shorts, but be sure to add long pants and long sleeves to your clothing items because the presence of bugs and mosquitos will increase dramatically. With all of the dead animals and possibly human bodies lying around, flies will be caring germs and sickness and you will want to protect yourself from that as well. Will also protect you from sunburns!
The winters will be hard if you’re not prepared with the right clothing. Staying comfortable in the winter will be just as much of a challenge as staying cool in the summer. Because you will be exerting a lot of energy outside, and sweating, that overstuffed coat of yours will not be what you want to wear. One of the worst mistakes you can make is to work up a sweat and then let yourself get cold in the winter. Once again, the common cold could become deadly. Wear clothing, that while still providing a decent level of warmth, will still allow you to vent the heat that your body will be creating. You need to plan for it because chopping wood to cook with or warm your home will be hot sweaty work. A warm hat that covers the ears, ski masks to protect your nose and eyes, all a good idea, not to mention WARM work gloves and wool socks.
Everyone being from different areas of the country will have to decide based on what their weather is like. Like here, the summers are the worse. My wife….can not tolerate the heat…pray for me! LOL Take the time to sit down and work through the different types of environment challenges you may face and then plan accordingly. Don’t leave to chance that you will have what you need when the time comes because it could cost you your life. Think and prepare wisely for any and all situations, and just maybe you will survive when so many others do not. I recently read where the President of Venezuela told the people to eat their pets to keep from starving. I guess he doesn’t get out much because those were eaten a while back… and it could happen here as well.
Well, that is it for today and I hope you have found this post helpful. Until next time, stay safe, stay strong and stay prepared. God Bless America!
-Sarge-
This is a subject I have not seen on prepper web sites at all until yours. Thank you for pointing this out. I thought I was the only person who thought that far ahead. I have included in my preps, not only summer and winter clothing for my family, but for extra people we might take in, good work boots and hiking shoes in all sizes for men, women, and children. I have bought clothes for my grandchildren for 5 years above the ages they are at any given time. We live in the deep south so no one owns flannel pajamas. I have bought those and flannel sheets, as well. I am retired, so I make the money stretch farther by buying clothes on end-of-year clearance in stores and catalogs. This is when I will pick up several sizes for the grandchildren and flannel pajamas, sheets, extra blankets, and coats for a pittance. I have been very lucky to find those shirts that dry out quickly at good prices at end of season, most recently at Bealls Florida when I got them BOGO, so they were $10 each. I have bought lots of shoes on clearance at outlet stores in all sizes, especially children’s sizes, for bartering, some as cheap as $1.50 and $2.25. I also got some size 13 boots in case we are lucky enough to take in a Thad, as in A. American’s Going Home series of books. On a trip to north Georgia, I bought a $300 leather jacket, flannel lined, at Goodwill for $12. And they had a pair of matching leather gloves in the pocket. Some man is asking his wife, “Where are my good gloves?” I haven’t bought anything in Extra Large or Large. I expect we will all be wearing size Medium.
You don’t have to be a Thad to wear a size 13 shoe or boot. I and both of my sons are only 6 feet tall and all ware size 13 shoes and boots. Heck, I have a nephew who wears a 16 🙂 Thanks for the information and for joining in.
-Sarge-
I recently finished reading “A Narrative of a Revolutionary Soldier” and the common theme was no food and being all but naked from wearing out the clothes. On a side note, even at that time, right after the war, people were complaining that the Continental Army used up the countries food and clothing to little effect, and that the militia would have been sufficient. The point of mentioning this is that things have not changed as much in this country as we sometimes believe.
Most clothes made nowadays are fashion only and do not hold up to hard use. I have found rugged clothes and have them stocked. It was hard enough to find them now, finding the right clothes in some dead guys closet will be all but impossible, or at the very least time consuming. You can fake a lot of clothing, but with footwear its important that it fit right. As stated earlier, most products out there are crap and common footwear will wear out under hard use in weeks.
From the top of your head to the soles of your feet, there is no arguing that proper clothing is a vital component of post-SHTF survival. I would submit that, within one or two months, there will be an abundance of clothing available to survivors. Those clothes, gloves, boots and hats will be in the closets of millions of abandoned houses, formerly owned by now-deceased people.
Thank you Ben I have always said the same thing. Tools, blankets cooking gear ect will also be everywhere for the same reason.
YOu raise a very good point. But the trick will be to find the type and size of clothing you need. I also think it will be more like 6 months before it would be safe to venture out. The big question will be, how soon looters will swoop in and take all of the clothing they can find to use as bartering items. In the beginning, those with groups of well-trained and armed people will go out and take all of the strategic items they can find within the first few months to use for bartering as well. If you wait, you may find yourself out of luck which is why I advocate for survival groups. Thanks for posting. 🙂
First, there is a difference between looting and scavenging.
Second, there are 126 million single occupancy houses in the US (as of 2016). That excludes apartment dwellings. I do not anticipate that looters will clean out 126M+ dwellings in 30-60 days. Once they realize that big screen TVs don’t work without electricity, they will be concentrating on finding food and ducking for cover from armed citizens who have it.
Ben, I pray you are right, but only time will tell. THanks for the input. 🙂