Quote from a post allegedly made by 'declan_murphy'...

"...What sort of things do you store for emergencies?..."

But first, how *long* should you prep for?  Well, according to various US
embassies (and yes, this *is* Official), if you are a US Citizen living
*outside* of the USA, you should have enough supplies to let you
'shelter-in-place' for "...at least two and up to twelve weeks..."

US Embassy in Tunisia...
http://tunis.usembassy.gov/avian_influenza.html

A 'short list' of things to store...

-Bottled water (brands purified by Reverse Osmosis can have a 'shelf life'
of 2 years or more)

-Bottled and canned food (ring-pulls are easy to open, but keep a manual can
opener in case the ring-pull fails!)  Fruit slices in juice, dark grape
juice (contains resveratrol), baked beans, salad beans, corn kernels,
spaghetti in sauce, fish (salmon, tuna, sardines, etc), meat (SPAM, ham,
corned beef, Turkey SPAM), condensed milk, 'meals'.

-Plain cooking salt (sea salt).  Make saline solution for medical use, make
Oral Rehydration Solutionwith it.

-Lite salt (50-50 mix of sodium and potassium chlorides).  Make Oral
Rehydration Solution with it.

-Glucose powder or syrup (type of sugar used by our bodies, needed by
Diabetics in emergencies).  Make Oral Rehydration Solution with it.

-Sugars (powdered white/raw/etc sugar, golden syrup/molasses, etc).  Make
Oral Rehydration Solution with it)

-Powdered Milk (while not suitable for infants, it *is* suitable for
lactating mothers to drink - it helps replace what breastfeeding takes from
their bodies).  Same comments apply to condensed milk.

-Condiments.  Candied Ginger or ginger powder helps with stomach ailments.
Black and white pepper, garlic powder can help with colds.  Powdered
cinnamon can help with diabetes (read the New Scientist report 'Cinnamon
spice produces healthier blood'  here's the important quote, "...half a
teaspoon of cinnamon [powder] a day significantly reduces blood sugar levels
in diabetics...").  Curry powder, and other herbs and spices may also have
beneficial health effects.

-Powdered drinks/cordials.  Gatorade (can be used as an Oral Rehydration
Solution as it contains sodium, potassium and glucose).  Cup-a-soups make a
mug of liquid soup, and can be used as 'stock' when cooking (tomato, cream
of chicken, etc).

-Dietary supplements.  Multi-vitamin and vitamin B group, vitamin C, vitamin
E, Herbal supplements (evening primrose oil, garlic, Echinacea, etc), Fish
oil, Zinc, Calcium and Magnesium, etc.

-Medications.  This includes what your Doctor actually prescribes for you,
any 'generic versions' of the same, and any 'alternate medicine' herbals,
etc.

-LED (Light Emitting Diode) torches last longer on a set of batteries than
torches with 'incandescent' bulbs (krypton, halogen, xenon, etc).  Have at
least one LED 'headlamp' as this frees your hands for cooking, cleaning,
First Aid, etc.  Note that 'Luxeon' LEDs have a brighter light, but produce
considerable amounts of heat.  In any case, should be 'waterproof' to a
stated depth, and thus 'weatherproof' in most weather conditions)

-Alkaline batteries (*not* Lithium due to fire hazard if short circuit
develops).  Shelf life of major brands is *5* years or more.

-AM-FM-TV band radio to get *local* broadcasts (shortwave radios are good,
but you may not get info relevant to *local* needs)

-Solid fuel 'Hexamine' tablets.

-Wind and waterproof matches.

-Fuel efficient kettle (Thermette, Kelly Kettle, Eco-Billy, etc).  For quick
boiling of water, and to make best use of fuel

-Large Billy (stockpot type)

-Tealight candles ('church' candles that are short and as thick as they are
tall, are more stable than tall, slender candles)

-Essential oils (eucalyptus, tea-tree, lavender, etc).  Refer to the on-line
article 'Candles With Essential Oils Kill Bacteria', the important quotes
are "...The scientists used essential oils of orange, palmarosa, may chang,
thyme, and an element of tea tree oil called beta-pinene....  ...The candles
containing beta-pinene and may chang did the best job of killing the
bacteria. Both were almost 100% effective, virtually wiping out the
bacteria....  ...The staph bacteria were killed within an hour, but it took
five hours for the beta-pinene [element of tea tee oil] candle to destroy
the E. coli bacteria....  ...The candle flame and essential oil components
appear to work together for a sterilizing effect, say the researchers..."

-Olive oil (use for food/cooking, medical, and as fuel for 'wick-type'
Hurricane lamps and DIY 'slush' lamps).

-'Wick style' Hurricane lamps (the larger they are, the more light they
produce).  Keep a few spare glass chimneys and wicks.

-Brightly coloured rope (at least 6mm thick, with some lengths of 10mm or
thicker for heavy duty work).  Use to mark safe walkways, cordon off
dangerous areas, and general camp set-up (tents, tarps, etc) as the bright
colours are more easily seen (especially at night).

-Tarpaulins (heavy duty polytarp, or woven nylon/polyester tent flies).

-Tent pegs

-MOSQUITO NET!  Essential, helps keep flies and mozzies at bay.

-Insect repellent.  Those with higher levels of DEET
(N,N-diethyl-m-toluamide) work longer than those with lower levels of DEET.

-Blankets (100% woollen have fire-retardant capabilities, 100% acrylic
'polar fleece' are flammable and will burn/melt.)

-Sanitary napkins.  Stock 'external' pads instead of 'internal' tampons -
the main reason is 'toxic shock', the secondary reason is that external pads
can be used as wound dressings.  Learn how to 'make your own' at the online
article 'Homemade Sanitary Pads'.

-Toilet paper.  Some brands aren't fit to wipe your backside with - get a
*decent* 3-ply brand (like 'Quilton').  If possible get 'double length'
rolls as one of these rolls takes up less room than 2 regular rolls.
Doubles as facial tissue.

-Garbage bags.  Any plastic bag will do, but if you're using them to store
body wastes, used sanitary pads or *used* disposable bandages, then 'double
bag' your waste, tying each bag off separately.

-Solar shower bags (use sunlight to provide hot water for bathing, *not* for
drinking or cooking)

-Synthetic 'camp' towel (wring dry and reuse immediately)

-Baby soap (mild on baby's skin, and to those with allergies, or injuries)

-Dishwashing liquid

-Laundry detergent (laundry soap, oxygen bleach powder, etc)

-Clothes pegs

-Milton Method Tablets (each tablet has 500mg of Sodium
Dichloroisocyanurate, the same chemical used by Puritabs and Aquatabs to
disinfect water for drinking).  Use strong solutions (1 tablet in 2 litres
of water) to disinfect utensils and as a surface wipe.  Use weak solutions
to disinfect water for drinking purposes (1 tablet in 32 litres of water and
wait 15 minutes).

-Water filter.  Boiling and chemicals may or may not kill off bugs, but what
about *chemical* contamination?  90% of contaminants are in suspended solids
(silt, sediment, floaters).  Filters with 'activated carbon' and 'ion
exchange resin' can remove pesticides, herbicides, and metallic toxins.

-First Aid (*bulk* supplies of disposable bandaids, bandages, etc)

-Safety Gear (hard hat, box goggles, safety spectacles, ear plugs, leather
gloves, *nitrile rubber* gloves, steel cap work boots, respirator).  Note -
Minimum for respirators is the American N-95 (Australian P2) rating (N-100
and P3 rated are *better*).  Respirators approved for use by welders will
filter smoke, metal fumes, etc as well as asbestos (remember the 'dustcloud'
of 9-11?  You'll need several respirators as they clog up...) .

-Tools.  Crowbar, axe, crosscut saw, shovel, claw hammer, assorted nails,
screwdrivers, assorted screws/screweyes/screwhooks, shifting spanners (one
large enough to do taps and gas fittings), assorted nuts/bolts/washers,
builders line level, measuring tape, rasp and file, rivet gun and assorted
rivets, linesmans and/or longnosed pliers, baling wire, household fuse wire,
light bulbs/tube, fluorescent starters, tap washers, Teflon plumbing tape,
gaffa/duct tape, sheets of clear plastic

-Pressure cooker.  See 'cooking under pressure' below, and check out the
on-line article 'Hot Steam Sterilization Using A Pressure Cooker' on how to
use one as an 'autoclave' for Hospital grade sterilisation - the important
quotes "...pressure cooker at 15 PSI for 30 minutes...  ...The pressure
cooker, a common household appliance can generate a pressure of 15 pounds
per square inch (PSI) and temperatures of 121