Most of us envision yard sales as being the domain of suburbanites scouring tables full of useless nicknacks and vintage finds.
While most yard or garage sales usually have a table of that type of stuff, if you are careful and spend time looking at all the items for sale, you almost always can locate a critical survival item – and get it at a reasonable price!
Make a list and take it with you. Don’t assume you will remember because there are quite a few survivalist items to look for.
1. Cast Iron Cookware – This stuff tends to be pretty pricey when buying brand new, but you can get it for about half the price at a garage sale. Cast iron pans are exactly what you need for cooking over an open fire, which is going to take the place of your kitchen stove when the power is out.
2. Camping Gear – Anything that has to do with camping, i.e. cook stoves, tents, lanterns and so on can all be major assets to your emergency supply stash. When the power is out or you are forced to bug out to the wilderness, camping will be the way of life and any gear you have is going to make life easier.
3. Winter Clothing – Old flannel shirts, coats, gloves and hats are very inexpensive at garage sales. Stock up on these things when you can. Buy several in varying sizes, especially if you have children that are going to be growing like weeds. Having plenty of coats ensures you will always have something dry to put on if you should have to go out and chop wood, hunt, or look for water.
4. Gardening Tools – Buy extra hoes, rakes, shovels and other gardening equipment. Your prepper garden will need tending and you will likely not have gasoline to run your equipment. These tools tend to break after time so you want to have backups. You also want to have plenty of tools so more than one person can tackle a big job at the same time.
5. Board Games and Puzzles – You need something to do in the long hours without electricity and all of those technological gadgets we have come to depend on. Good old fashioned board games and puzzles will be an ideal way to pass the time. You can find these for under a dollar in most cases. The more you have on hand, the less you will be dealing with bored family members.
6. Emergency Supplies – Look for things like candles, radios, first aid kits and so on. Even the half-used candles can be bought for cheap and melted down to make your own larger candles.
Yard or garage sales are a hidden source of vital survival items that you definitely should take advantage of.
Not only can you locate survival items you need, you can usually get them at a much more reasonable price than if you bought them online or in a store. Remember, people hold yard / garage sales because they want to get rid of stuff, not just to lug it in and out of their garage every weekend.
Finally, a pro-tip: if you are limited in the time you can spend scouring, go early and focus the greatest amount of time in the late Spring – that is when most people off load their best stuff.
For more tips on critical survival items and tools you need to be on the lookout for at yard / garage sales, please visit The Urban Survival Site.