Keeping track of your preps: The View From Across The Pond

I think anyone who is prepping has storage problems. Either they do not have the space to store everything they need or the have stored everything in a haphazard way. I know I have both those issues.

I have several large jerry cans full of fuel. Every now and again I fill the cars up with the cans and refill the cans with fresh fuel. That way I can keep my fuel fresh and ready to go whilst having a reasonable stock. Legal limit of course. I’m going for a trip in the next few days and annoyingly I cannot find the spouts for the jerry cans. I’ve got two spouts and can’t find either of them. Brilliant.

It’s my fault. I document all the perishables with quantity, dates and locations so that I can rotate them and so they are traceable. The medical items I keep in three different locations and although I don’t have an up to date quantity list I do have a list of the items. Tools are a lot easier, they are kept in the garage and the sheds so I can usually find them easy enough. The two weak areas that I’m not very good at documenting are my books and my general goods, items such as the fuel spouts, ropes, cable ties are basically piled on top of each other in a storage area and the more I add the more I cover things up. This isn’t normally a problems as I usually keep the items I use out of the way so I can find them but all it needs is for them to be moved slightly and they go missing, like the fuel spouts. Although to be honest I rarely need anything from these stockpiles, when I do I can usually find the items but the few times I can’t means I have to go an purchase some more. It is annoying on a time basis but I look at it that tomorrow I’ll have three spouts. That gives me spares.

One area that I should have handled better though is my books. I have thousands of books, all neatly packed away in boxes and I have no way of knowing where a particular book is. Someone can be looking for one of Ragnar Bensons books for example, I’ve got it, I know I have and they best I can do to find it is look in the few boxes I can reach which were the last books archived. Not long ago they were all on shelving and easy to find but not any more.

In my defence I only stored things that way because it was only going to be temporary. I was moving them to another location and the move was cancelled. If an event happened I would pull them all out anyway so they would serve their purpose. It just doesn’t help me now.

So, learn from my mistakes. Document everything, put a list on every box, record that list and the box location in a folder so that you can find it again. It will not only help when you want to know what you have but it will help you find items quickly and save you having to go out and buy something again because you were stupid.

Over the next few weeks I have to go through the garage and sort it out after it leaked over last winter. I’ll take advantage and make sure I document it all. Won’t help with the books though. It will take to long to sort them out unless I’m putting them back on shelving.