Disaster prepping and homesteading have gone mainstream. Because of the growing uncertainty in the world, post-apocalyptic themes seem to be everywhere. The massive popularity of books, movies and TV shows about the zombie apocalypse, disease outbreaks, or economic collapse reflect the growing concerns of millions. In the real world, the exploding desire for self-sufficiency gear has inspired the innovation of some awesome products.
Want to survive a potential Apocalypse in style? Or maybe you just want to have the best tools for your homestead? Either way, here are 13 super cool items that will help you survive anything in comfort and style.
1. The Groundfridge
The Groundfridge is a super useful item to have for homesteaders or preppers seeking to survive grid-down scenarios in comfort. It’s basically a prefabricated underground root cellar about 20 times larger than the standard refrigerator. Similar to the root cellars that our grandparents utilized before modern refrigerators came to be, the Groundfridge uses no energy and keeps its interior temperature based on the temperature of the ground surrounding it. Prices start at $9,900. Learn more here.
2. Deluxe Wine Making Kit
Making your own alcoholic beverages is super easy when you have the right equipment. The wine making starter kit by Master Vintner is by far the most comprehensive kit to start making wine, mead, ciders and even beer. The large fermentation carboys allow for homestead-scale production. The kit only costs $145 with free shipping and comes with an instructional video seen below.
3. Golf Cart with Solar Charger
Once the dust settles from the Apocalypse and the last drop of fuel is gone, you’ll still have transportation with a solar-charged golf cart. This is a perpetual energy vehicle and it is quiet to drive. While others fight over oil and remain stationary, you’ll still be able get around. If you already have an electric golf cart, there are solar charging kits for under $1,000, or you can have a custom off-grid cart made for less than $10K.
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4. Wood Cook Stove
When the power dies out and the propane dries up, you’re still going to need to cook food. Most survivors of the Apocalypse will cook every meal over an open fire. You, on the other hand, will have read this article and spoiled yourself by getting a modern wood cook stove. The designs of these stoves have gotten much better in recent times. They cook evenly and efficiently while also warming the kitchen. You can even find some nice models on Amazon for under $2,600 with free shipping.
5. Cast Iron Pots and Pans
If you get a wood cook stove, or even if you don’t, you’re going to want a good set of seasoned cast iron pots and pans. If there’s even the slightest chance that people will be cooking over wood fires, cast iron cookware will be a highly valued tool worth their weight in gold. You can get the kit in the image above on Amazon for only $150 with free shipping.
6. Greenhouse
Onsite food production will be a necessity to thrive during the collapse of society. A greenhouse allows you to extend your growing season and control the environment for your most vulnerable crops. You can buy a fancy climate-controlled greenhouse, a DIY greenhouse kit, or you can build your own greenhouse for around $50.
7. Sun Oven and Food Dehydrator
In the spring, summer and fall when it’s too warm to always cook with the wood stove, you can still bake bread, slow roast casseroles, or dehydrate your harvest with a passive solar oven. The Sun Oven may be extremely valuable if the survival situation is dire and you don’t want to reveal wood smoke during cooking. Baking temperatures up to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Under $300 on Amazon with free shipping.
8. Solar Chest Freezer
Having a DC-powered chest freezer attached to a solar panel is the ultimate survival treasure chest. The temperature of these freezers can be adjusted so they can serve as a highly efficient refrigerator. The SunStar Solar Freezers come with 4.5-inch-thick insulation and are designed to work on a variety of off-grid settings. Cost for this set up is much less than the Groundfridge; around $1,600 without the solar panels.
9. Non-circulating Hydroponics
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Mike Adams of Natural News has developed an innovative self-contained unit for growing a wide variety of vegetables using non-circulating hydroponics which doesn’t need pumps or electricity to grow healthy food. These turnkey systems are affordable at around $99 and several of them can fit on a balcony or porch. Adams also provides full plans and video instructions on how to make these yourself. See more at FoodRising.org.
10. Berkey Water Filters
You should already have an awesome water filter because public water is appallingly bad and feral water isn’t much better. In a survival situation, clean water will be crucial to being healthy and living comfortably. If you’re going to invest in a household filter that doesn’t require electricity, you might as well get the best. Berkey Water Filters come in many sizes from a sport bottle up to community-sized units. The luxury Crown model costs $357 with free shipping. They get less expensive down the line.
11. Traditional Archery Gear
Hunting with a gun during a collapse of society can be dangerous. Gunshots can be heard from miles away. So even if you are in your isolated bug-out location, your gun shots may give you away. Learn archery. Long after the bullets disappear and the compound bows break, traditional archers will thrive. Traditional recurve bows or longbows are a fun part of survival preparations. You can find quality starter bows for around $180 with free shipping.
12. Foot- or Hand-powered Laundry Washing Machines
Pedal-powered laundry machine: Drumi
Hand-powered clothes washing machine
No one wants to think about doing laundry without power and running water because it’s too painful to imagine. Luckily, there are two excellent options to avoid scrubbing clothes on washboards in the river with hunched backs. The pedal-powered Drumi machine above is a brand new design that requires no electricity, has over 3 gallons of water capacity, and cleans up to five pounds of laundry per load. It’s in presales now for $239. The next one is a $50 hand-cranked washing machine that also doesn’t require electricity.
13. Gerber Apocalypse Survival Knife Kit
Last but not least on our list of must-have gear to survive the Apocalypse in style is Gerber’s Zombie Apocalypse Survival Knife Kit. Not only is it practical to have a good set of blades and hand tools, this set is also super cool. During an Apocalypse, you might not have to fight off zombies but you’ll likely use sharp blades throughout the day for many tasks. This kit is $325 with free shipping.
14. Homebiogas Backyard Compost Biogas System
If you want to make your own cooking gas and fertilizer after the apocalypse, HomeBiogas is the most advanced, efficient, and user-friendly household biogas system on the market. HomeBiogas fits perfectly in any backyard, converting household food scraps and animal manure into clean cooking gas and liquid fertilizer daily. The HomeBiogas system costs just over a thousand here at their website.
Whether or not the Apocalypse ever arrives in full, the items above are must-haves for anyone looking to maintain a solid level of preparedness in their day-to-day lives. Even during small-scale disruptions due to natural disasters or economic conditions, acquiring useful tools and the skills to employ them will give you a feeling of confidence to meet whatever challenges might come.
Do you have a favorite must-have survival item? Please share your advice and help others prepare in the comment section below.
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The idea is not to try to continue the same of life has before in a pre or post apocalypse scenarios the more you carry more weight you have to carry around and more likely you will be more vulnerable for predators especially humans that will want your stuff. You freaky Americans, while people are all twisted up carbonized or zombiefied you will take a sip of wine… and make a dollar more on stuff to survive the end of the world. Capitalists to the very end… More is less and less is more. My prepping is mostly complete and all fits in a rock sack and covers just about all scenarios I could think of including the walking dead scenario as horrifying this may sound. I have two copies of the Holy Scriptures and this covers my higher needs. You will run out of food and will need to hunt or scavenge what ever dry food you can come across and some freak will want to get your food, your stash, your survival gear, and your throat if it comes to that… So you will sleep with one eye open if you are alone or take shifts if you are with trustworthy people. You will need to move around a lot so carrying too much you might have to leave some stuff behind especially the wine cellar…
You Renaissance Europeans have hid behind the Geneva Conventions, NATO, the UN, the NWO and the EU. Very soon will be fighting off Muslims and to prevent the scenario you describe above in Europe you will once again, expect American troops to save you.
The article was written with the “agriculturalist” mindset…i.e., stay in one place until you’re killed. Too bad the article only focused on expensive “fixed” preparations and didn’t even consider the likelihood that you’d (probably) need to abandon everything “fixed” when the golden horde arrives. Well, the knives are portable, at least, and you could console yourself with a bottle of wine you made yourself, I guess.
Makes me wonder who paid this guy to write the article in the first place, eh?
“all fits in a rock sack and covers just about all scenarios I could think”
Please enlighten us. The more prepared your neighbors, the better off you are yourself.
There are far worse things than death. Surviving under apocalypse scenarios is one of them.
Thank you! Glad to see someone on my page. Death is nothing to fear. We are more than flesh and blood and I think thats what scares people the most; the unknown. I dont want to be hunted like a dog for the remainder of my days or live as a slave. So, I will go out fighting for my rights. At least I leave this world on my terms. Cheers, friend.
All salient points – especially the wine kit – makes sense to me, must have wine to get thought the zombie apocalypse. Call me a freaky American.
Entertaining, tounge-in cheek article….except the solar oven IS legit.
The article focuses on those who have lots of money to throw away. If you’re hiding by day and moving by night, the solar oven isn’t going to be of too much use…won’t cook a squirrel if you live in the Northwest…better luck with it if you live in the Southwestern desert. None of the “fixed” solutions will do you any good if you’re overrun…not even the wine kit, unless you’re going to invite the horde inside for a party as you turn over all your goods.
Not a practical article at all…unless…you live in a wilderness cave already, far from the madding crowd.
With a special emphasis on LOTS of money. Lots of really expensive stuff you’ll have to leave behind when circumstances dictate you’ll have to get on the move, and fast.
Look you preppers, I dont want to judge you guys, we are all in this together. However, spending your days sleeping with one eye open and forever running is no way to live. If ‘they’ dont get you the anxiety will. Maybe just me but, I would rather face my enemy and fight. Death is nothing to fear if you face it on your terms. I know its going to be hard for us all but, you can run, but you cant hide. I think every creature on earth has this understanding. Except human beings. Cheers, friends…
None too practical. Actually, I was kind of “with you” until you suggested a cistern beneath the hut and (you insinuated installing) an indoor toilet with “trap drain.” Neither would Work in a hut that size. For health’s sake keep your sanitary (drinking/cooking) water FAR from your unsanitary waste stream. You really need to investigate ideas behind the “septic” system for wastes to understand what I’m saying. Also, the minimal roof collection area of that tiny hut is WAY too small to provide daily needs for one person long-term (unless you live in Hawaii where it rains every day). A larger hut (to gather MORE water) would take a LOT more energy to heat.
In addition, you’d best at least TRY digging up some couple of hundred pounds of clay, molding it, firing it, etc., before thinking Mr. Everyman can do any of this in a timely fashion. The guy (obviously) spent WEEKS making that video. FYI, Hypothermia can strike in as little as four hours…read up on temporary shelters and build one of those FIRST…then…maybe, try something that requires quite a lot of time and considerable skill to accomplish…and most shelters WILL NEED insulation in most parts of North America during the winter…unless you’re one of those who doesn’t need sleep and can tend a fire all day and all night long.
Armchair prepping just isn’t going to cut it. You’ve got to be practical. You’ve got to try out those “cool ideas” you see on YouTube. You’ve got to have the mindset that you MAY have to abandon your “camp” at a moment’s notice and start over somewhere else (further away). If you aren’t already a forager, better learn it NOW. A “good” survival book in the wilderness (without any prior experience) is going to get you just as dead as the kid next door who’s playing video games in all his spare time.
Get real folks. Spend a week without electricity. Spend a month foraging for your daily food. Spend a couple of hours making one of those “cool” shelters you saw on YouTube. Spend your spare time walking and conditioning your body. Spend some time filtering drinking water from a neighboring ditch/stream. Spend some time digging cat holes or a bonafide latrine. Spend some time mending camping equipment or purchasing stuff that won’t easily fail when you’re dependent upon it. Spend some time learning the basics of healthcare where there is no doctor and no dentist, and you’re solely reliant upon herbs and weeds. Learn to run. Learn to hide. Learn to defend yourself. None of these things will come automatically because you’ve read a book on it…without practice you WILL FAIL!
Except for the bow and arrow, the $50 DIY greenhouse, the knife (forget the bulky kit), and the Berkey water filter, this is not “style” but simply expensive gadgetry. Besides, when you’re trying to “survive” you don’t get “life points” for style. You get “life points” for knowing how to do everyday stuff with little or nothing and being able to avoid troubles (i.e., able to run fast, know where to hide, and still have ALL your needs already on your back at any given moment).
Sadly, too many people have the Agriculturalist mindset. In other words, their thinking is skewed around permanency. They can remain in a permanent location because: 1) troubles will never arrive at their front door… 2) they’ll ALWAYS have a garden growing (perhaps even that cute PVC green house that NO ONE will ever disturb/rob)… 3) they’ll always be able to collect their water needs from a rain barrel… 4) they’ll have a fireproof abode that is also (somehow) impenetrable to outsiders… 5) they have an everlasting food supply (more than three year’s worth)…and 6) “someone who is alert, ready, and armed” is going to watch over them and their “goods” 24-hours-a-day… and 7) they’ll be able to hang their laundry out to dry on the lines in the backyard. Yeah. Right. If that’s your mindset, you’re screwed from the outset. Maybe for the first week, even two, if you live in a rural area…but after that? Expect the masses to arrive shortly thereafter. Then what??? Let’s just say…you won’t be living in style much longer…you’ll be running for your life, or sharing all your goods with strangers…then what???
Cast iron cookery isn’t portable. A home with a cookstove isn’t portable. A below-ground fridge isn’t portable. A solar-powered freezer isn’t portable. A long-bow isn’t too practical for most hunting scenarios. Bulky tools won’t help get you to safety.
What should you focus on? Learn NOW everything you can about foraging for food, which weeds are edible, how to cook turtle and snake, what are “essential” items besides a good knife, how to quickly construct a temporary shelter, how to doctor gunshot wounds, how to care for your teeth when there is no dentist around, how to trap, fish, and the “how-to” of guerilla gardening.
Finally! Someone with a good common sense base. LEARN all that you can NOW, before you are under duress! I am amazed at how many people think they can keep all they will need to know on an Ipad or Tablet. They’ll be gone with the wind long before the cell towers stop working.
Thanks Cheryl! Re: the Ipad or Tablet: my kids have them, but I don’t. Instead, I tend to keep a stack of 3-ring binders with printed paper copies of “how to” stuff in them…but I’m not deluded enough to think I’ll “always” have those binders of information available to me. So, instead of depending on those copies, I try to “do” the stuff that is in them because that “experience of doing” will stay with me a LOT longer than anything I’ve been reading over the past several years. It’s the gist of what you said: Learn NOW.
People with photographic memories will likely fare better, but my photographic memory lacks film.
Good point. If anyone REALLY thinks they could tramp out into the wilderness and survive for any length of time, taking with them no more than they truly KNOW and can carry, let them go and do it. The experience might be disappointing, but would certainly extend their practical knowledge. Worked for me.
What a bullsh*t yuppie article.
“Hey Bob, a lot of scary headlines lately, let’s see if we can make some bucks off of them.”
How many more reasons needed to invite a true wiping out of humanity and starting over?? From a buddy of mine…
“The only real change in society’s structure can come from a cataclysmic “act of god” where no group, nation or ideolgy can be blamed.”
Jay Kominski
Note to anyone who took this article as anything but a joke:
An AK-47 (one of the most durable all-terrain rifles in existence), a few 30-round magazines, survival knife/bayonet, a high-end pocket water filter, Leatherman or Swiss Army-style multi-knife, mil-spec Para cord, rugged neutral-hued clothes suitable to your environment (particularly boots), rugged tactical flashlight, a canteen and Bic lighters, basic lightweight camping and cooking wherewithal (NOT cast iron–aluminum toxicity will be the least of your worries) and all the condensed nutrition you can carry (go for low-carb/high-fat and -protein such as pemmican, high-fat jerky, and whey powder–skip the candy bars, oatmeal, and pasta–that sort of “quick energy” is just as quick to fade when you need it most). If you can’t run 200 yards or jog a half mile when fully loaded, lose some of the basic baggage. If you want to try lugging additional stuff (ax, saw, tent, gas mask, etc.), be sure it’s carried separately so you can drop it and run if you have to.
Also survival knowledge/skills, muscles, and the will to survive (play out the various scenarios in your head). Develop these attributes NOW.
An AK and ammo are heavy, stash/dispense with them if/when you consider it prudent (perhaps in favor of a small .22 LR–but certainly hang on to the serious firepower till you’re clear of any dangerous urban or suburban situation). If you get into a real firefight your boots may be your best defense anyway. But if you have NO defense, be prepared to give up everything, boots included.
Seek and cautiously approach any intelligently surviving community at your earliest (safest) opportunity. A lone wolf does not survive long. Offer your support in the form of muscles/skillset(s)–if that includes experience as a lawyer, lobbyist, banker, broadcaster, or politician, avoid any mention of this fact.
Katadyn Pocket Microfilter: 13,000 gal. per ceramic filter, filters down to .2 microns–small enough for bacteria and protozoa, 20 year warranty. You would naturally have a means to boil water with you under most restricted survival conditions, but not always the opportunity to use it. The Katadyn is smokeless, odorless, and can instantly provide you with a quart of potable water in one minute. Very convenient on the go or bivouacked. Not cheap ($370 or so), but field-tested by generations of explorers in unpronounceable places.
This is great stuff, even if you don’t happen to live in the Australian bush, provided you’ve secured your terrain, have nearby water, food, and fuel. More of a Robinson Crusoe marooned sort of situation, where you don’t have to worry about marauders.
Agreed. But if one can carry the knowledge of how to with them, then evading the marauders will allow them to continue again elsewhere. “Look, marauders! No worries, let’s move on elsewhere. We can set up another ‘camp’.”
Also we need to let go of a fear of sharing practically. “You want to eat? Help me with some of the gardening, work and we’ll share our food and teach you how to grow your own.”
Katadyn Pocket Microfilter: 13,000 gal. per ceramic filter, filters down to .2 microns–small enough for bacteria and protozoa, 20 year warranty. You would naturally have a means to boil water with you under most survival conditions, but not always the opportunity to use it. The Katadyn is smokeless, odorless, and can provide you with a quart of potable water per minute. Very convenient on the go or bivouacked.