The next area where I see many people woefully understocked: candles. Batteries and flashlights are fine for a day or two without electricity. Beyond that, you will want candles, a LOT of them. Five to ten day electricity outages due to severe storms are fairly common, depending on where you live. And if such an outage occurres when days are somewhat short, you could be looking at needing 160 hours of candle burn time per candle. Now add the fact that you would probably want at least four candle-lit rooms (meaning that you need at least four candles) and suddenly you need at least 640 hours of candle burn time.

The beauty of these two critical supply items for a disruption is that they are inexpensive and last forever if you store them appropriately.

Oh, and expanding on the fire concept, consider keeping several very large bags of charcoal on hand. As long as you keep it dry, it will last forever as well. And you don’t have to worry about insects or rodents getting into it. Best of all it isn’t anywhere near as dangerous as propane to keep on hand. (Pro-tip: look for super simple charcoal “stoves” that you make with empty cans which allow you to efficiently burn only a few coals at a time.)

Been doing exactly this since the 70s. Having a father that grew up during the Great Depression he instilled in me the values of always being prepared for the hard times with old time knowledge much of which has been lost in today’s society. We never have less than 3 months of food, water/purification and medicines. As well as first aid and advanced trauma kits. Multiple heat sources and spare everything. Along with multiple books and manuals on everything from medical procedures to survival foods and How-tos on most everything for when the interweb goes down. 3 is 2, 2 is 1, and 1 is none. When SHTF and don’t forget about security and perimeter control. Because there will be millions of people who aren’t prepared and will be coming for your stuff. Because they believe the government will save them.

Be like the Mormons and make it one year of preserved food on hand. No need to buy it all at one time, each time you grocery shop, pick up a few things and put them away.

Get into the habit of label, date, and rotate so you don;t get stuck with spoiled canned goods…

“Two is one, one is none” as well.