I’m old enough to remember those PSAs where network TV would remind parents, “Oh hey, you remember you have kids, right?” My apologies to the writers for those PSAs, but I thought a riff on them would be a fun way to introduce our topic.
If a disaster hits, you likely won’t have time to search for this or that needed item. Further, it’s too late to order something you’ve overlooked. Having a working inventory of your supplies and gear is an important component of a preparedness plan. There are a few different elements at work here.
Inventory — Know What You Have
At a basic level, a preparedness inventory tells you what you have on hand at any given time. It’s a list of your supplies, gear, and other assets that may be needed during a crisis. The accuracy of the list will depend upon how well you maintain it, which we’ll get to in a bit.
How simple or complex the system is will depend on how you want to set it up. The important thing here is that you have some way of knowing with certainty what you have available to you, not just what you vaguely remember purchasing at some point in the past.
This information does a couple of things for you. It prevents you from overbuying so that you can utilize your preparedness budget to its maximum potential. It can also help you find and plug holes in your personal supply chain.
Inventory — Know Where It Is
I’ve often said that if you can’t find something when you need it, then you might as well not own it. There’s little point in investing time, money, and effort into accumulating gear and tools if it goes unused because it’s misplaced. A well-maintained inventory will help with this.
Keep your supplies organized in a way that makes sense for you and your situation. For many, totes and plastic or metal shelving do the trick nicely. However you decide to organize your supplies, I encourage you to avoid using cardboard boxes. They can degrade over time, as can the tape securing the top and bottom.
Pegboard works great for tools. I’ve never been one to draw outlines around my tools, but I know some folks find that useful. Rolling toolboxes filled with drawers are another option. Smaller ones work great for EDC gear like folding knives, flashlights, and what not.
Upkeep is Key
I’m not going to sugarcoat this. Maintaining a reasonably accurate inventory can be a monumental pain in the butt. It requires everyone involved to be diligent about recording when things are taken or added. Some people are going to naturally be better at this than others.
One method is to keep a spiral notebook in the pantry. Write down anything you take out and anything you add to the shelves. Separate notebooks could be kept near your bulk supplies, your first aid kit, and such. Make a point of doing a complete inventory at least annually if not twice a year. Some folks like to transfer this handwritten information into a spreadsheet on their computer.
You could make this inventory part of your preparedness journal. Some might find it easier if all of this sort of information is kept in one place.
The takeaway here is to find a system that works for you so that you can keep up to date on what you have and what you need, so that nothing falls through the cracks.
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