Beans & LegumesDid You have to Take a Number and Get in Line?
A little over a week ago there were literally millions of headlines from across the world that read something like this:
“8.9-magnitude earthquake struck causing a tsunami”
For future reference when you see headlines like this in mainstream media you’ll know that for most people in the area that was affected the time for preparation is in the past. A week later and now all the headlines read something like this:
“Japan’s nuclear crisis has led to empty shelves at shops in Tokyo.”
In the emergency preparedness industry you commonly hear the phrase, better to prepare too early than a second too late.
The unimaginable disaster in Japan and even on a lesser scale, the current economic concerns here in the US are validating just how true this statement really is.
With radiation being a very real threat to those in Japan and a potential threat to those on the US west coast, there’s been a run on potassium iodide (used to protect against low levels of radiation). When did the large majority of people attempt to purchase the pills?
Three to four days after it became apparent that there was a threat. The unfortunate reality is that there’s just not enough of a supply to go around. It doesn’t matter how much you’re willing to pay, it doesn’t matter how badly you need it. When there’s an available supply of 1 million pills and 10 million pills are needed, manufacturers can work 24/7 and you’ll still not get your pills in time.
In the US we’re experiencing record high demands for long term food storage products. The demand has reached such high levels that most people that place an order today, regardless of which company you go with are expected to wait anywhere from a couple of weeks to a couple of months to receive their products.
In short, you’re being told to take a number and get in line. And while taking a number and getting in line is a far cry from the position you’d like to be in, the reality is it will still put you in a better position than a lot of people.
On a side note, I’m not going to lie, there was a certain sense of satisfaction for me, knowing that I had my IOSAT – Radiation Protection Tablets in my Grab-n-Go bag, enough for every member of my family. I’m sure I’m not the only one whose giving themselves a small pat on the back!
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I have been buying preparedness items for over 11 or 12 years and have never seen wait times this bad no matter where I go.
I feel bad for some of these people that never really knew these products were out there, there are a lot of good people that simply dont know about this stuff since it isnt talked about much in schools or in the media, at least not out in media out here the NE.
Hopefully this is a learning lesson for a lot of people.
March 19th, 2011 at 12:29 pmThe high demand started in December even at other websites, the long wait times for food have gotten worse since the disaster in Japan. More and more people are starting to get on board with being prepared in the event of a disaster. I’m kind of kicking myself for not buying Iosat when it was available, even though the experts say that the radiation from Japan won’t affect the US.
March 20th, 2011 at 2:49 am@Jay
That is the great thing about preparedness, you can do it with little money. iosat tablets are usually around $10 for a 2 week supply. Sure there are some things that are more expensive than others but there really are a lot of great options that leave people little excuse to get prepared for the unknown.
March 21st, 2011 at 5:35 amI’ve been buying emergency prep items from The Ready Store since 9/11/2001. If it hadn’t been for this site, I wouldn’t even have considered iosat radiation tabs, or freeze-dried foods, or any of the other items I’ve now got in our emergency stores.
March 21st, 2011 at 6:04 amI bought my IOSAT tablets a long time ago.
March 21st, 2011 at 7:18 amI sure hope they are still good.
I dont expect I’ll need them now, but when
supplies are replenished I wi buy more.
Our family believes very strongly in having food storage and 72 hour emergency kits ready but we are on a very, very tight budget. So my question is…. where do we begin? I’m not sure how to get all the things we need for our family of 5 with hardly any extra money. Any ideas are appreciated!
March 21st, 2011 at 8:16 am@Tiffany~ I know how it is…I have 7 in my house at the moment and finding the money can be hard! I started by just picking up something extra every week, one more jar of peanut butter, an extra can of fruit…I check the dates and find the ones furthest in the future. Then, I tuck those extras away in a closet I don’t get into often. It’s amazing how much I’ve been able to store in the last year. Another thing we’ve done is have a yard sale. We cleaned out extra clutter and made money specifically for food storage. We don’t go to movies or eat out, just save our money for the important things! We also dedicate a portion of our tax refund for the storage…maybe take some of yours and make up those 72hour kits! Good luck!
March 21st, 2011 at 8:44 amTiffany, what my family did was the following:
Food
We looked at the year supply kits and see what was in them. From there we just placed orders every couple months for the items in them. 9 months later we are pretty close to having one complete.
Water
We bought the MSR Sweetwater filter that was pretty affordable and luckily we have a river that is about 1/2 mile from us. We have 6 of the 5 gallon water containers that we can fill up.
72 Hour Kits
Same thing here we looked at some of the different survival kits out there and built our own. Some of the items we bought from here (calorie bars for example) and other parts at Walmart and the dollar store. We had some backpacks that the kids no longer use and put it all in there. We also have one for each trunk in our cars.
Hope this helps!
March 21st, 2011 at 8:48 amWe started with some of the sampler cases when we had extra money. One case at a time when we could. Soon you have a thirty day supply for the family. Then sixty days, and so on. You just need to start.
March 21st, 2011 at 4:35 pmTiffany: Just start today with Something!
The most important thing to have stored is water! Take 2 liter soda bottles or juice bottles, (if you don’t buy soda or juice ask friends or family to save them for you) fill them with water and store in a basement of under the bed, in the garage, preferably out of sunlight. We are freezing them and leaving them in the freezer so that if we lose electricity we have ice to keep our food cold and once they melt we have water to drink. (Of course we have extra freezer space, yours may be limited) Remember there are other places in your home that have extra water, hot water heater, toilet tank (not bowl), water pipes etc. get online and do research there is a plethora of info that will keep you reading for days. Water storage in this way is pretty inexpensive! The key is 1 gal/day per person.
Then start by building a three month supply of canned foods that your family regularly eats. (Tuna, chili, Spaghettios, Mac and Cheese, spaghetti, Peanut Butter and Jelly etc.) buy an extra can or jar each time you do your shopping and remember to rotate the food (newest at the back). The point here is food that your family regularly eats. This way you will use it and not waste money on food commodities that no one will eat. You don’t want to hear your children crying when they are hungry because there is “nothing to eat”.
In no time you will have an emergency supply built up a few cents at a time! Good Luck and don’t be overwhelmed REMEMBER: It’s DOABLE!!!
March 21st, 2011 at 5:24 pmHow do you convince someone that this is a necessary thing to do. I live in an area that would seemingly not have a disaster that I would not be able to drive a few miles and be ok. I also aqm having trouble getting started.
March 24th, 2011 at 6:30 amJust curious has anyone personally or do you know some one who has in the last month had a dream specifically about earth quakes?
March 24th, 2011 at 6:34 pm