Author of How to Prep When You’re Broke and Bloom Where You’re Planted online course
One thing I learned when I went to Croatia to take Selco’s Urban Survival Course for Women years ago was that how you pack your bag matters. (He wrote about it here.) Taking that a step further, it also matters where you keep your preps in your home.
When Selco explains how to carry your gear, he talks about layers. Your first layer, he says, should be on your body so that you have immediate access to it no matter what. You can lose a bag, you can be away from your car or cache, but the stuff on your body is immediately at hand. This might include carrying a knife around your neck, some urgent first aid supplies in your cargo pants pocket (such as a compression bandage), a lighter in another pocket, a portable water filter in a waist bag, and a firearm in a holster at your waist. For ladies, you might have some of these items in a cross-body style purse. Then you have things you might urgently need to survive close at hand.
I believe the same thing holds true for supplies in my house. Here are a few suggestions about where you might keep your preps at home.
Layers count at home, too.
What are the things you might need most urgently when you’re at home? I’m talking fast access, not climbing up to the attic or digging through an overstuffed closet. This first layer for the home is similar to the first layer on the body that Selco described.
Where you keep your preps could mean the difference between seconds and minutes in an emergency. I want access immediately to the following items:
- Flashlights
- Urgent trauma care first aid supplies like pressure bandages, tourniquets, and EpiPens
- Packed bug-out bag
- Important documents
- Weapons
Nearly anything else can wait until I dig it out, but these things could be needed urgently. So, where can you keep your preps so they’re easily accessible but not blatantly screaming that you’re stocked to the rafters?
Prioritize these places for the first layer.
There are a few home hotspots where I like to keep supplies, and I have duplicates of some items for this reason.
By My Bed
First of all, I like to have the things I might need when waking up in the middle of the night close at hand. By my bed, I keep these essentials:
- Shoes or slippers with a hard sole – these will protect my bare feet if there is some kind of middle-of-the-night emergency that causes broken glass or debris
- Flashlight – I keep one right on my nightstand so that I can see what’s going on if the power is out.
- Firearm – This is also on my nightstand when I sleep for the obvious reasons.
- Folding knife – I keep a small one tucked into my pillow case, clipped onto the hem. It’s a backup in case there’s some reason I can’t get to my gun.
- Phone and charger – If I need to call for help my phone is on my nightstand, which has a charging port built in.
Now, I don’t have small children at home. If I did, I’d probably change where I kept my gun at night to some place they couldn’t access it if they popped in for a midnight snuggle.
By the chair in the living room
This area is really similar to my bed. If I’m sitting there, I’m relaxed. My end table has a little drawer that holds a firearm and a small flashlight. During the day, a pocket knife lives in my pocket, so that is always on me.
By the door
If you had to get the heck out of your house in a split second, how long would it take you to gather the most important things? I keep those things right by the door so that I can dash out of here fast in an emergency, and I’ve done so ever since I lived in wildfire country back in California.
- Bug-out bag – I keep one packed and in the entryway closet, on the shelf. It’s easy to get to and always ready to go.
- Important documents – I keep photocopies of these in my bug-out bag, a set in the cloud, and a folder with originals in the drawer of the table by the door. They’re in a fireproof document folder for an added layer of protection.
- Keys – If I’m at home, my keys are always on a hook by the door. ALWAYS.
- Sturdy shoes – We don’t wear outdoor shoes in the house in my family. I always have a pair of sturdy hiking shoes by the door for emergencies. Extra socks are in my bug-out bag, so if I have to jam bare feet into the boots, it’s only temporary.
- Flashlight – I always keep a flashlight right beside the door in case I need to go outside and see what’s going on. I started this habit when we lived in the Algonquin Forest – it was so incredibly dark there, far from civilization. The flashlight I keep by the door is the spotlight type. It’s also handy if the dog needs to go outside.
With these things by the door, I can leave fast if the situation calls for it. And it’s not just for natural disasters. These things are helpful for other types of emergencies, too. When I had to rush to the hospital for a family member one night, I grabbed my purse and my bug-out bag and had everything I needed to stay there overnight.
In the kitchen
Did you know that most accidents at home happen in the kitchen? Statistically speaking, “Two-thirds of home fires start in the kitchen, 480 people die a year in kitchen fires, and 350,000 people are injured by kitchen knives each year. The most common injuries are burns, fires, and lacerations.”
I base my kitchen preps on these threats.
- Fire extinguisher – I always, always have a fire extinguisher in the kitchen. (At least one.) These aren’t extremely expensive and it could save both your home and your life. I like this brand of fire extinguisher for its reasonable price and reliability. I keep one mounted in the cabinet beside the stove for fast access and a second one across the kitchen in case I can’t get to the first one due to the fire. When my daughter was 13, she had an unfortunate macaroni and cheese accident and used the fire extinguisher herself to deal with it. I believe these are vital additions to your home.
- Fire blankets – Another really useful addition to the kitchen that is in the cabinet beside the stove is a fire blanket. Some fires need to be smothered – and if someone catches a sleeve on fire or something, these could be urgently needed.
- First aid supplies – I keep a small stash of supplies to stop bleeding in my kitchen – you know, where all the sharp knives live. Under my sink I have a little kit containing a packaged compression bandage, a tourniquet that can be applied with one hand, and then some everyday bandaids for little cuts. If I were to sustain a bad cut, my immediate need is to stop the bleeding. I don’t need my aftercare items like wash, ointments, and gauze to be in the kitchen because I’m probably not going to clean and dress the wound there.
The philosophy of where you keep your preps
Things that are life and death matters – something you need urgently and immediately – should be stored where you are the most 
likely to need it. If you have a tractor, for example, you might want to keep a trauma kit in it. If you work on your car in your garage, you might require the same type of prep. If you have a workshop with a butane torch, you may want fire prevention items nearby.
You get the idea.
Having things close at hand can save you valuable seconds in a life-or-property-threatening scenario. It will only take a few minutes of your time to move everything into place, but when you need those items, you’ll be exceptionally glad you took the time to locate them conveniently.
So often, prepping isn’t about the huge expenses like a generator or a fancy new rifle. It’s about the little things, like having the things you need when and where you need them. Relocating a few supplies is something anyone, at any level, can do to be better prepared.
Where you keep your preps matters.
Do you have any little survival stations around your home and property? What kinds of things do you stash there? Where do you think it’s important to have a small stash of emergency supplies?
Let’s talk more about where to keep your preps in the comments section.
About Daisy
Daisy Luther is a coffee-swigging, adventure-seeking, globe-trotting blogger. She is the founder and publisher of three websites. 1) The Organic Prepper, which is about current events, preparedness, self-reliance, and the pursuit of liberty; 2) The Frugalite, a website with thrifty tips and solutions to help people get a handle on their personal finances without feeling deprived; and 3) PreppersDailyNews.com, an aggregate site where you can find links to all the most important news for those who wish to be prepared. Her work is widely republished across alternative media and she has appeared in many interviews.
Daisy is the best-selling author of 5 traditionally published books, 12 self-published books, and runs a small digital publishing company with PDF guides, printables, and courses at SelfRelianceand Survival.com You can find her on Facebook, Pinterest, Gab, MeWe, Parler, Instagram, and Twitter.
While I must admit that I am not nearly this organized, (have to work on that!) I will tell you something that I do think I do well!
I keep a “doggie backpack” which has extra food, a tie out cable and a ground stake, extra leash and harness, and a 2 ltr bottle of water. It has a water bowl, poop bags, and it also has some first aid supplies. This is kept by the exit door. Food needs to be rotated out, because no one likes stale kibble, even the dog! First aid supplies include bandages, those compression type wraps that stick to themselves, ointment, super glue (to close cuts), and for my dogs who experience stomach issues, I keep baby simethicone drops.
ALL of my dogs are crate trained! I can’t stress enough how important that can be in a survival situation. Remember hurricane Katrina? Remember all the dogs that were stacked up in an event center? Remember how they were losing their minds because they were not used to confinement? Think about how they are crated at the vet when they need medical treatment. That can be a HUGE advantage to your pet in an emergency situation. Start when they are pups, give them a treat every time you tell them it is bed time. Friends are amazed that my dogs have always run to their crate for a treat, and are happy when you follow their routine.
YES – totally agree on crates. Here’s another tip; particularly when we lived in wildfire country, I always fed our cats in their travel carriers. This way if we had to evacuate, loading them up was as easy as popping open a can or tossing in some kitty kibble. If your cat is timid about this, start by putting it at the edge of the crate where they only have to slightly poke their head in. Then over the next few weeks, move the dish back until they’re calmly and eagerly going in to eat.
I have a set of keys behind my back door in case I can’t access the front one. Always have a couple days of medication as well as OTC meds in an altiods tin in my purse. Have power packs and charging cables everywhere – purse, car, desk @ work. Have cash and credit cards stashed in multiple places at home and in the car. Have multiple sets of my dog’s vaccination records everywhere as well as a clear picture of her in case she gets lost. Added vet wrap to first aid kit because of the dog, but used it successfully on myself in an emergency. Love that you are posting about adjusting your preps to your mobility. Any suggestions for what you can do when you work in a vulnerable area. My employer is on a dead end road next to a major highway. You pass a beer distributer and a shooting range on the same road.
You can stop and get beer and stock up on ammo on the way out.
I have the cheap ($1 ) LED flashlights that have a lanyard attached at the fuse boxes, in the basement by the furnace/hot water tank, and other places that with lights out become problematic. They haven’t failed once in three years. This in addition to the heavy-duty flashes that double as a club that are by the bed and kitchen cabinets. I also stage fire extinguishers on each floor of the house. A house of redundancy, if you will.
Merely keeping flashlights (and some other kinds of lights) handy is incomplete. The tiny semiconductor that makes an LED light work would be instantly fried by an EMP. At that point you’d have to rely on older style incandescent bulbs in flashlights, lamp lights, ceiling lights, etc. Part of the problem using that backup strategy is the Idiot Biden’s proclamation that effective August 1st, 2023 it is no longer legal to sell incandescent light bulbs in the US — so you either have to rely on what incandescents you still have in storage or possibly import a supply from another country not subject to said idiocy — similar to how some people imported a supply of ivermectin from other countries after the US government and Big Pharma demonized its effective use against Covid-19.
A final thought on LED lights. If you simply saved some spare LED lights inside a Faraday bag, box, container, etc so you could pull them out after an EMP, you are making a tragic assumption that only that one EMP is all you have to worry about. Any competent military opponent would plan for at least one (or maybe more) time-delayed EMP to maximize the damage to not only LED lights pulled out of protective storage but also all kinds of electronic gadgets also dependent on tiny semiconductors to work.
There are of course other backup strategies such as long life candles, kerosene lamps, etc
Regarding home defense … there is a technology I seldom see discussed here on TOP. That is the ammo shells that fire a combination of tear gas and pepper spray. They can be fired either from your weapon (if there’s a match of calibers) or from a weapon these people sell per their website at
https://byrna.com/
They advertise that their ammo is NON-LETHAL even though it will incapacitate a bad guy for up to 40 minutes. That would give you plenty of time to call 911, tie up or hand-cuff the attacker WITHOUT having to worry about an expensive court fight over a possible murder allegation. I think that adding this technology to your emergency supplies would be an incredibly valuable and useful addition.
Another issue could be the actual implementation of a nationwide power outage such as the globalists’ 2021 Cyber Polygon exercise explored. As the push continues relentlessly toward replacing both physical and bank account funds with digital-only CBDC money (which is totally dependent on a working power grid), Any bad guy globalist with a mind to maximize the damage done by an EMP or other cyber attacks might likely wait until all physical cash had been rendered useless and replaced by digital money which could be instantly rendered useless by a nationwide power outage of unknown length. The sudden inability to buy groceries, gasoline, medical supplies, etc would be quickly death-dealing. So the prospect of having a little spare cash in a bug-out bag could be tragically useless should a long term power outage be implemented once totally digital CBDC “money” replaces all but cryptos, precious metals and barterable commodities such as ammo, alcohol, cigarettes, edibles, etc.
–Lewis
I was going to comment on something very important about this but I didn’t see my comment on the last column. Was never printed so I shall keep this extremely important experience to myself. Sorry….
It might have helped others.
Thank you Daisy, for this very practical article. If I may add just a few thoughts about fire fighting equipment in the house. I know it may ruin the decor but it needs to be in a prominent place so visitors or people who are unfamiliar with your kitchen can see the ‘bright red’ fire extinguisher and fire blanket easily. Inside a cabinet hidden from view adds to the response time if it can’t be found when you’re not around. Position it in the kitchen, near your path of exit so you can advance on the fire with your way out behind you should you be unable to extinguish it. If possible use the fire blanket to extinguish the fire as it makes less mess than an extinguisher to clean up and can be reused without any need for recharging. Garden hoses that are connected and can reach all rooms inside of your house are a great to have on standby. Don’t forget to turn it on fully before taking it to the fire. If you are able, install an outside faucet/tap/hose valve with garden hose outside, next to the door closest to the kitchen.
Daisy, very good article! Here are a couple of things to consider in a SHTF or Tactical scenario that might be slightly different than in a regular “Lights Out” scenario where we mostly have law & order still functioning.
Having grown up in the ghetto and spent time in the military in a combat environment, the last thing I would pick up if I heard a noise or was startled – would be a flashlight. That’s a good way to get instantly shot or attacked. My favorite toy in such an
environment is a night vision device such as one of the Aurora models by Sionyx:
https://www.sionyx.com/collections/aurora-night-vision-camera-range
They start about $400 and go up to triple that price for a top of the line unit. But they are quite good for a home & property setting. And way better clarity than the gear I used during the 8 months I was in Iraq. I feel like my life and property are worth it!
I live in a rural area now, and am out walking between buildings on my 5 acre property just about every night. I carry a ViperTek flashlight, which is about $24:
https://www.amazon.com/VIPERTEK-VTS-195-Rechargeable-Tactical-Flashlight/dp/B01FL444JW
I find I have to use it about 1-2 times per month, mostly for 4 legged varmints or slithering critters. LoL, I realize in both cases there are human versions of those! But the sound of the zapping is normally enough to make anyone or anything lose interest in me. Sort of like cocking a shotgun, as it has a very distinctive sound.
By the way, I also have a mounted Night Vision Scope on my Shotgun. From military training, I learned to positively identify what I’m going to engage. I don’t shoot at noises, so that I don’t shoot an innocent/lost human, animal, guest, or family member.
Lewis apparently has some tactical or street experience and makes some pretty good points. I looked at the Byrna gear, and actually like the Byrna LE pistol. It does seem a bit pricey at $480, but overall a good product. My thinking is that I’m primarily concerned with a silent or at least quiet “first shot/kill” for home & personal defense in a tactical environment, so I opted for a semi-automatic type of crossbow that holds 10 arrows. I also like the CVA Scout in .300 blackout with subsonic ammo. Very quiet!
There are a number of Intelligence Reports from high quality open source research that point to another lockdown coming in April, and running through the end of 2024 and into 2025. Most people won’t comply with another pandemic, so they’ll add to the mix with cyber & kinetic attacks, EMPs, War(s), Terror (etc) and so on such that they can close the banks for a couple of weeks. That WILL bring the entire nation and all commerce to a hard stop. It will allow them to roll out the CBDC as a “solution,” and start phasing out the dollar from there. I expect all of this to be fully in place by the end of September, if they get the lockdown in April/May. In or during 2025 we’ll get the rest of the story, with Vax Passports and Digital IDs (etc). Not a pleasant scenario, but isn’t that what we are actually prepping for?
Daisy, one last request that is CENTRAL (top priority) the “Prepping for the Apocalypse” theme you are famous for. We need to talk about food. The existing information leaking from multiple government agencies indicates they’ve shifted the mRNA Technology (and self assembling nano bots) from Vaccines to our Food. Nano particles in the food supply – and it is already done. The technology is activated via specific GHZ frequencies (via Starlink) to accomplish a variety of effects on our health & life. In other words, it will be their primary tool for compliance. This is NOT any sort of conspiracy theory or rabbit hole information! After 35 years of government service I can assure you it is here now, and is fully deployed. When the banks close and reopen with a CBDC introduction, just know the Starlink system will be “ON.”
No worries, there are solutions that are readily available (and inexpensive) to thwart these type of devices. But you’ll need to acquire them now. Likewise, it brings a whole new level of urgency to grow your own food. But learn to do so in a Greenhouse or indoor facility (with grow lights). Again easy to do once you learn how. I’ve been growing my own food (indoor, greenhouse, raised garden, etc) for about 10 years – because I knew this scenario was coming.
These are exciting times, and only the most intelligent and courageous people are going to make it through the installation of a global government and single electronic currency. I would think & hope the readers on this blog are such people!
Can you please elaborate on the readily available and inexpensive solutions? Also about growing indoors?
So how do we grow indoors without electricity in a zone 5 environment in late winter/early early spring?
And honest to God–I’ve been screaming the EMF side effects I get & the activation of all the towers, free watches, cell phones, ipads given away BY the cell companies for years now. All I get is deer in the headlight looks.
It’s been said that those with EMF/RF sensitivities are the canaries in a coal mine while others who have no symptoms really are the ones who will be oblivious to its damage. It’s a blessing & a curse.
I knew the cells & the shots were connected (no pun intended)!!