Id say money. Pretty sure about it too. Its the one thing that, given that you have enough of it, can get you all the water you want, food, shelter, safety, medical treatment, transportation, etc. Save money, save lots of it. In the real world its by far your most useful asset.
FerFAL

 

As long as money is worth something - i.e., you can trade it for something, and that something is available, then money is important.

I make approx. $100K USD per year and I set aside at least $30K of that for retirement. The only debt I have is my mortgage, and at this point in time I could theoretically sell my property for twice what I owe on it.

I have been unemployed many times - one time for two years.

I was poor for the first ten years of my adult life and I had a family to support.

So I don't disagree that money is important.

However, if something isn't available, all the money in the world can't buy it.

Our potable water supply is finite. As the human population keeps growing, the water per person decreases and becomes more and more expensive and scarce.

Even for places like where I live (the NW part of Orygun - the one part that isn't in a drought condition), it will be increasingly important to have water, to conserve it, to use it wisely.

If you live in a city, in an emergency situation, such as the power going out in a wide area, you could be without water within a few hours to a few days.

All the money in the world won't help if the PNW gets hit by the big earthquake that we are vulnerable to because it will be very difficult to get in or out of this area due to the damage.

Other areas get hit by floods (which can wipe out drinking water supplies due to contamination) or fires, or wind storms, or any number of other emergencies that will make it difficult for anybody to get water, no matter how much money they have.

By all means, save money for a rainy day or a financial emergency. But make some kind of serious preparation to have the basics for survival, the most important one being clean potable water.

More than 840,000 people die each year from water related diseases.

 

I'd agree water is extremely important.

Money is not even a close second.

 

Money is the most important item in a non-survival, normal scenario.

In a survival situation, water may be the most important material, although you may need more wood per day than water by weight.

IMO, the most important survival item is the will to survive. As Survivor-man said, without it, survival is possible no where.

 

Water vs money

If there is a major crash, money will be very useful as TP, Firestarter ect. Will not buy you anything unless there are still dolts that don't get what has happened.

 

Heretic, your second picture of the reservoir doesn't load. Here, also in the PNW, Farmer's Almanac is predicting a harsh winter with colder temperatures and lots more snow than normal. That might help with the water situation to some degree, but your point about the growing population is well taken. Just look at the freeway at rush hour, and you get the sobering picture of when TSHTF of getting out of town will be like. Last year was so mild we hardly burned any wood, but we're prepared even more now should Farmer's be correct.

 

The weather service is saying that the El Nino patterns will cancel out and long story short, that means we will have a mild winter, with much less snowfall than we need.

I would love it if we got a lot more snow - but I trust the weather scientists more than I do the Farmer's Almanac.

The hope is that next winter after that, the winter will be more "normal".

 

Old fashion common sense never goes out of style. It's the first thing you need in order to survive. It gives you the ability to think in a rational manner.

 

Water

Generally, most people can at least improvise shelter from weather.

You can't improvise water.

Water is not a huge problem everywhere. It's no problem at all where we live, more than we need here. Plus unless it is polluted with some really hard to remove chemicals, it's easy enough to clean surface water to make it drinkable. We drink untreated spring water and haven't gotten sick from it in the almost 3 years we have lived here ( SW Virginia)

I would say the number 1 thing you need is weapons. Sorry. But, if you are dead because someone killed you, all the water in the world won't help you.
You can also hunt food with them.

 

I would say the number 1 thing you need is weapons. Sorry.

Obviously, the situation dictates priorities. However, I think the OP is talking generally.

Generally, weapons are not the priority and most know the top priorities are shelter, fire and water. When I go backpacking, I typically head toward water and when I arrive I set up my shelter then prepare a fire (mainly for mood, atmosphere) ... Tonight I'm meeting a friend for a cigar. Arctic cold temperatures have arrived. I'm walking to our rendezvous point. In this situation, shelter is the priority with cold being the big threat.

While a human or animal predator is an occasional threat, the elements are always beckoning. Expanding on the Rule of 3's in agreeance with your post:

• 3s - death from predator (weapon could help)
• 3m - death from lack of air
• 3h - death from exposure (need shelter)
• 3d - death from lack of water
• 3w - death from lack of food

Going back to my backpacking scenario, water is 4th on the priority list. Generally, I do not start my adventure needing a weapon or protection from noxious chemicals in the air. Before I get to my watery destination I always stop and when hot, take shelter in shade.

There are times when I've needed a weapon and I found my walking stick to be the best in actual practice from aggressive animals.

 

Shelter, water, fire & food, along with the means to defend those things has always been the prerequisite for survival.

 

These are the bare basics for short term survival.

One also needs valuable trade items (money, valuables) and time, and to be injury/illness free, and at some point everyone needs medical treatment varying from basic to significant.

In my life, I've probably had a handful of times where without medical care I'd have died.

 

Your brain. That's why most people will survive neither TEOTWAWKI, a SHTF scenario, or even a localized nightmare. Most people rely on someone else to do their thinking and decision making for them, and acquiesce to what someone else says or spouts off, without looking at fact, thinking it through, and finding the correct choice instead of the popular choice.

When they no longer have whatever their "source for the truth" is, whether it's their TV or Radio or Internet forums to tell them what to do, what to think, and what to believe, they will not survive, even if they have some unfounded and irrational belief they will.

Manna will NOT fall from heaven and instantly fill their brain with right and wrong choices... And without that brain, they will not be able to choose for themselves, what will save them, and what will kill them, when S really DOES HTF... instead they'll turn to their "Personality prophets" which, for the most part, will end up being somewhere off in left field...

 

I was hoping someone was going to say brain, that is in fact your most important survival item, providing you know how to use it...LOL

 

Its ALL important.

The difficulty of acquiring each part of the survival puzzle differs vastly by region.

Water is perhaps the least difficult thing to get where I'm at, even though its a dry area the access to clean water is much much higher than the populations need for it.

No doubt its different in different places.

Money...the hardest to acquire and most risky prep. No matter what happens water is water, and food is food, a gun is a gun....but money is only as valuable as other people think it is and you have no control over the thoughts and feelings of other people.

 

Its ALL important.

The difficulty of acquiring each part of the survival puzzle differs vastly by region.

Water is perhaps the least difficult thing to get where I'm at, even though its a dry area the access to clean water is much much higher than the populations need for it.

No doubt its different in different places.

Money...the hardest to acquire and most risky prep. No matter what happens water is water, and food is food, a gun is a gun....but money is only as valuable as other people think it is and you have no control over the thoughts and feelings of other people.

Yet without the ability to use what god gave you, all the equipment and gear in the world is worthless. Knowledge is power, you first have to posses the knowledge and then know how and when to use it.


Take water as an example...Water is important yet without the knowledge of how to treat water so it is safe to drink, you risk contracting water borne diseases. Having all the water you could possibly drink does you no good if you drink it and it makes you sick.


Money is a means to an end...It's good to have some cash set back for small or localized disasters. Yet if the S truly HTF one might ponder the question as to why they hung onto it and didn't spend it up front on preps.

 

3rd the mind, if you keep a sharp mine you can figure out anything.

 

I always learned that 3 seconds was your life expectancy in a hard vacuum (think outer space)... also, at the other extreme, 3 centuries without an evil ex-... (maybe longer)

 

I always used 3 seconds for a catastrophic injury. I like the three centuries without an evil psycho ex.

 

I always used 3 seconds for a catastrophic injury.

This reminds me when I slept on a cliff in the Grand Canyon back in 1995. Certainly, catastrophic injury was on the mind of my buddy as I slept soundly through the night. :

 

Okay, thought about this for more than few. Seems like this might be a .45 vs 9mm thread, but thought I would throw my $.02 in.

Water, food and shelter. Rule of threes along with air. No air, all bets off.

Now if you have an ample source of clean water (or a way to make it potable) you likely will survive. Maybe 100 or 200 hundred pounds of rice and beans and you might survive. Not sure if I would want to but YMMV. Having the ability to raise your own meat, poultry and garden will come in very handy. I understand not everyone has the land and KSA's to do so,

Three things I am working on. Again just my opinion as I have the water, food shelter, heat & light equation worked out. Anyone who lives in the PNW should google Dr James Roddey, Dr Brian Atwater and Dr Chris Goldfinger. If you are not preparing for what they predict...well good luck.



1. Toilet paper. He/she who has toilet paper will be both comfortable and have serious trade goods.And I mean three times what you think you might need...then add more.

2. Antibiotics. Amox, Cipro and Keflex. Readily available online. Also, before you travel this road, get either training or a Nurse's guide also available online. Many seems to think this is not a good idea. But given the choice between dying and just waiting the meds to kick in...well I'll take the later.

3. Bacon. I think after a week or two of beans and rice, some would consider any trade or service for a meal of bacon and eggs. Plenty of sources for LTS if you look. Might want add coffee and tea just in case.

Just random thoughts from an old guy on the better side of the cascades.

Ez

 

1. Toilet paper. He/she who has toilet paper will be both comfortable and have serious trade goods.And I mean three times what you think you might need...then add more.


Ez

: you know, most places outside of the western world don't even use any now ....
ever been to India? They survive just fine without it

 

Will to survive. A lot of people just give up. Hugh Glass didn't quit.

 

Faith in Jesus Christ. The ultimate prep

If I have to pick a physical object, an itty bitty KJV Bible double wrapped in 2 zip loc baggies

 

Having been in survival situations a number of times, there are TWO main items a person needs to survive.

#1. You need to have a survival attitude as in, "I will survive!"

#2. The second thing you need is knowledge. Know how to survive in all kinds of situations. With the right knowledge you can find water anywhere. With the right knowledge you can make a fire anywhere. You can find or make a shelter no matter where you are if you know how to do it.

 

Our potable water supply is finite.

Not as long as there is Hydrogen and Oxygen.
The 75% of the planet's surface is covered by water that can be made potable.

Water moves around but it doesn't go away.
You just have to know how to obtain enough to meet your needs.

 

Yes, water is important, but saying it's the most important thing regardless of where you are is inaccurate.

Simply put, in a crisis you're going to need whatever is scarce afterwards. If your water comes to you pumped from hundreds of miles away and you live in a dry area, you're going to have a water shortage when SHTF. If you're a diabetic, you're going to have an insulin shortage. If you live in an apartment in a city, you're going to have a food and/or safety shortage.

I'm in northern Minnesota. If the grid went down today, with double-digit-below-zero temps forecast for the next eight days, we'd have a heat shortage, though we are surrounded by more water (two feet of snow, nearby rivers and lakes) than we know what to do with.

What's key in my opinion is to identify what will be scarce if a crisis occurs, and find the way to prepare for that scarcity. If you misidentify that item (or items), you may be in big trouble.

 

What's key in my opinion is to identify what will be scarce if a crisis occurs, and find the way to prepare for that scarcity. If you misidentify that item (or items), you may be in big trouble.

That's exactly true! And for us that would be the need to defend what we have. We have plenty of water, we have shelter, we have food ( live on a farm) so for us defense is the biggest issue and one I honestly don't know how to improve. You kind of need a small army to defend a farm.

 

GOOD HEALTH > sick/ill/weak/feeble, your chances of survival diminish greatly.

SMARTS - SKILLS - EXPERIANCE > greatly increases your chances of survival.

WELL THOUGHT OUT PLANS > greatly increases your chances of survival.

IMPLEMENTING & PRACTICING YOUR PLANS > greatly increases your chances of survival.

PROPER GEAR & EQUIPMENT > greatly increases your chances of survival.

A SECURE SOURCE OF WATER & HEAT > greatly increases your chances of survival.

WELL SECURED AMPLE SUPPLIES > greatly increases your chances of survival.

RELATIVELY DEFENCIBLE / SUSTAINABLE RESIDENCE AND/OR BOL.

 

Technology allows man to live in places that would otherwise be unsustainable...If you live in such a place then it is wise to mitigate the problems a lack of technology would create.

 

I'm in California. We need water, food, shelter, a good firearm and an english to spanish dictionary

 

In Minnesota, a Spanish-Somali, and a Hmong-Somali, and a Vietnamese-Somali, and a Lao-Somali, and an Ojibwe-Somali, and an Arabic-Somali dictionary...

I was on East Lake Street the other day and heard everything but English. Including in a shop where two immigrants were trying to find a common language (English wasn't it). They finally resorted to hand waving, pantomime, and pencil and paper to draw pictures and scribble numbers. No English necessary :taped:

There are a few block on the main drag in this area that really remind me of some parts of Brooklyn NYC, and some places in the Middle East.

The days of hearing Swedes and Norwegians going back and forth at each other in each others' languages are gone. And good luck explaining the lutefisk jokes/truth and krumkake irons

English is getting scarcer and less valued/used here, depending on where one goes. Most places are trying to hire bi/multi-lingual, and English isn't always at least one of the requirements. Maybe signs that say "English Spoken Here" are going to start cropping up... or maybe "Everything Except English Spoken Here." Perhaps English has become the anchovy of languages... eh?

It might just be that being fluent in multiple languages, especially languages spoken by significant populations in the area, could be pretty high up on the list of important preps.

.

 

The title of this post is "The most important survival item..." and I think I'm interpreting that differently than everyone else. First of all, the most important survival item could vary slightly depending on the situation; total financial collapse vs incoming nuclear fallout are two examples of very different scenarios so bear in mind that an "important" survival item in one situation could be potentially worthless in another. Your cache of buried silver and gold won't do you much good if you find out that you've got 45 minutes to get out of your state or risk being cooked alive.

The most important survival items to me are the ones that I cannot make, build or create in the woods or in my garage. Water is important sure it's critical, but I can go out and find clean water pretty easily; same with food, firewood, and several other important items; so I automatically categorize those items as "non-essential" even though they are important. The things that I cannot make I would consider "must haves" ... everything else is automatically a lower priority. My top 5 in order from the most difficult -

1 Firearms and ammunition - for all practical purposes IMPOSSIBLE to make from scratch
2 Knives and cutting tools - possible to make but very difficult
3 Rope and cordage - possible to make, but requires massive skills and long periods of time
4 Containers for carrying water - also possible to make but also requires skill and time
5 Fire (starting devices) - difficult but certainly possible with some knowledge and practice

Number 1 is a given, if you don't already have guns and ammo when something goes down, then you simply won't have guns and ammo. Numbers 2, 3 and 4 can be manufactured in the wild but even with mad skills/knowledge and prime materials you'll be left with poor quality knives, cordage, and containers. Number 5 can be made from scratch but fire is a very important thing to have for heat, clean water, cooking food, emotional comfort, construction and defense/safety so it's worth it to me to have a half dozen Gerber flint-and-steel firestarters and 50 Bics.

Their are several other items worth mentioning. If society completely collapses; ammo, water and fuel will be worth their weight in gold. I do have Sawyer and Lifestraw water filters because they are lightweight and easier than boiling water; and keep in mind that depending on the event, it may be tactically dangerous to build a fire to boil water. I keep as much propane and kerosene as possible because I don't know how to walk into the wilderness and whip up a batch of kerosene. I also have a ****load of AA batteries and a couple of two-way radios because I can't make those either. Medications and contact lenses/glasses are also pretty high on that list, good luck making those in your workshop.

I don't go by the "rule of 3s" and since I'm new to the group, expect that I might catch hell for it. I go by what I won't be able to make or find "after" the event ... that's what's important to me. Just my two cents and a slightly different view on things.

 

United Nations Agenda 21...they will regulate the use of water. There is a map out by them that shows what areas shall have no human use, highly regulated, limited, etc

 

Link? Please... thanks.

 

I'm seeing money as a preparing thing. You need the funds to procure the items that you need to survive. It requires proper budgeting. When the store shelves are empty your money won't buy a lot. In a natural disaster, funds will be required in your new location when you wait out the event.

 

Of course you need food, water and a gun to defend yourself. It is also true that in certain specific situations even if you have the money you many not be able to purchase those three, so you should have them already stocked.
But the priority is clear for me. Not becuase I can drink money or eat it, but because its the one most likely to be of use in the greatest variety of scenarios and the one that rather rare exceptions allows me to procure the other three.
Cash is king and all that.