Here are five simple items every prepper’s shelf should have stocked. Life in the aftermath of a disaster could become a little difficult without these staples.

1. Alcohol
There are many reasons why alcohol is an excellent resource. The top two are obvious: its physical impact on us when we consume it, and its ability to disinfect wounds. Whether you’re personally into drinking alcohol or not, you’re going to regret not having enough alcohol when the SHTF. After all, think of all the people who would be willing to trade almost anything for a bottle of their favourite whisky or beer.

2. Can Openers
It’s great to have a high quality can opener, but if you lose it or break it, you’re in a lot of trouble. The majority of stockpiles will have a very large number of canned goods, and without a can opener, it’s going to be difficult to get what’s in the can out without wasting a good chunk of the insides or cutting yourself trying to get that can open. Do yourself a favour and get a backup or two, just in case.

3. Toilet Paper
There’s a reason why this one makes it onto pretty much every list like this. Yes, it’s a simple thing, and yes, of course you can live without it, but you probably really won’t want to. Do yourself a favour and make sure you’re always (and I mean always) heavily stocked up on toilet paper. You can keep a back up of tissue paper and paper towels to use when the toilet paper runs out, just remember not to use them elsewhere or that back up plan will go flying out the window.

4. Screws, Tools, and Building Materials
You’re definitely not going to regret having stocked up on hardware materials post-collapse. In fact, you’ll probably wish you’d stocked up on more. Nails and screws are essential hardware materials. They go fast and are a giant pain to make from scratch. Make sure you have enough lying around while you still can.

5. Ammo
This one’s obvious. Even if you’ve got the guns to hunt with, you can’t hunt without ammo. You’ll probably need more than you expect, so really, you can never have too much ammunition.
Along the same lines, it’s also beneficial to stockpile arrowheads and bow strings. Just remember that in a SHTF situation, you probably don’t want to advertise your position and the fact you have guns.

A short but impressive and well-meaning list.

There are more and you can go over to More Than Just Surviving  to check them out.

While we’re sure there are alternates to these necessities even those may eventually run out. You might as well store all these “must haves” now. I mean, think about it. The disaster itself is going to be hard enough but life without toilet paper, for some, is unthinkable!