Still haven’t dialed in the piece of property I want to buy. But I have no doubt that its going to happen within the next year. I mean, sure, its possible it won’t but I really think it’s a pretty much a lock. To that end, it seems to me that it isn’t a bad idea to start picking up the things I anticipate needing…another generator, four wheeler, PV setup materials, batteries, tools, equipment, materials, storage tanks, piping, wiring, fixtures, etc, etc.

The problem with that is…where do I keep it until I have the need for it? I’m not throwing it all under a tarp in my in-town backyard, and I’m not storing it in my living room indefinitely. It seems to me, at first blush, that the answer is to get a storage unit. (An ideal plan would be to just buy a cargo container to use for storage, but, again, where the heck am I going to keep it until I buy property?) [Although, I could, I suppose, buy a small 10′ conex cube, park it in a storage unit, and have a sort of secure storage wthin a secure storage.]

So, I need to shop around for a storage unit, I think. This of course opens up all sorts of barrels of fishhooks in regards to opsec, persec, and just avoiding general thievery. The most obvious way would be to simply not store anything of substantial value and high portability (guns, for example) in such a place. But…thats not always going to be feasible. While I’d never store guns and ammo in a storage unit that was not under my direct observation, I am going to need a place for fuel cans, water jugs, blue barrels. generator, four wheeler, tubs of clothing, bedding, etc, etc.

I’d like to start amassing things now since a) prices are only gonna go up and b) who knows where availability might go? And by buying before the property is acquired gives me time to research things to make sure I’m getting the best bang for my buck. The major detraction from doing this, as I see it, is that this involves spending money before I purchase the property…which means I may be handicapping myself in terms of available cash when a property comes up that I like. I suppose that can be mitigated by saving the very high dollar items for further down the road after the purchase, but there are definitely some things Id like to have all packed up and ready to go once the ink dries.

I suppose its time to crack open Excel and start a list with pricing, sources, priorities, and that sort of thing.

Im still in the process of re-organizing my basement. I expect this process to take a couple months for the simple reason that I just don’t have a lot of time. I’m pretty tired at the end of the day, so it ain’t getting done on weekdays. Weekends are full of stuff I should have done during the week but didn’t do because I was too tired. As a result, I have a few  hours each weekend to get things done and, my friend, there’s a lot to be done. Re-arranging shelving units, going through everything, checking for damage, checking for continued usability, upgrading what can be upgraded, tossing and replacing things that are outdated, etc, etc.

Some of the more interesting things I’ve come across so far: bottled water from 2002. Now, it stored just fine but I am curious about whether there’s a concern about ‘microplastics’ or other issues from sitting in a plastic bottle for the last two decades. So, that’s one example of interesting stuff I’m coming across.

I came across a storage bin in a corner that I had no idea what was in it. Opened it up and rather surprised myself. It was a stash of military winter shooting mitts, liners, and the like from 2004. I know its from 2004 because they were bundled into a vacuum seal bag along with a note describing what they were and when they were stored away. Out of about ten packages, only one had lost its vacuum. The others held up just fine. I went ahead and opened them up and they were just fine. Absolutely no reason to think they wouldn’t have been…they were protected from pretty much everything…damp, moths, etc..by virtue of their packaging.

Also came across a stash of Italian surplus military wool blankets and blanket pins. The blankets had been rolled up tight, slipped into vacuum bags and sealed up. Again, they were perfectly fine. Still had the naptha smell from the anti-moth preventative measures that the military had taken with them. Sent the blankets out to be washed and dried and they returned slightly fluffier and with a greatly reduced naptha smell. They’ll wind up going in the linen closet. I have better blankets and sleep systems for grimmer situations. I remember when I bought these blankets from Sportsmans Guide all those years ago. Nowadays, finding surplus wool anything is a lot more challenging. Its out there, but it’s not an easy find.

Also came across my stash of TA-312 field phones and spools of comm wire…just the thing for simple field communications when I eventually get Commander Zero’s Post-Apocalyptic Bunker O’ Love And Lingerie Proving Ground up and running.

All sortsa interesting stuff turning up. Some of it still has the price tags on it and it’s a sad thing to see .223 FMJ at fifteen cents per round compared to what it goes for today, which is usually three times that. I’ve no doubt I’ll find more interesting stuff.

You guys are familiar with these ubiquitous yellow-n-black 27-gallon totes, right? In my opinion, they aren’t the best totes from a survivalist standpoint but sometimes the not-best becomes the most ubiquitous and by virtue of that ubiquity it becomes the de facto ‘standard’. A good example of this would be the old VHS vs. Betamax war in the home video market back in the day…Betamax was a superior format, but VHS was cheap and it was everywhere…and it drove the better product into the dustbin of history.

So, I have a bunch of these totes for storing things I want to protect from..well..everything. What I did not know, but that I should have guessed, is that there is a surprising thrid-party market for accessories for these things. Case in point, I was up at Lowes picking up some things and saw these:

A set of internal dividers for those yellow-black totes. I suppose you could whip up something similar using an Xacto knife and some heavy duty cardboard. But..I’ll take the easy way when I can. Assembling them and fitting them in the totes gives you this:

Handy for some needs. But as I mentioned, there’s a bunch of third-party support out there for these things.Another notable accessory, which is currently available at Costco (or, at least, my local CostCo)…a wire shelving rack.

What is it I don’t like about these totes. Really, three big complaints: a) a more tactical color would be nice, although  other companies do make versions of this in OD, though. 2) the tote tapers from the bottom to the top…the footprint of the bottom of the tote is smaller than the footprint of the top of the tote..like a funnel. This means stacking things uniformy is pretty much impossible. I understand why this situation exists – if the tote were straightwalled it wouldnt drop out of the mould as easily as a taperd design. But…still annoying. III) The lids for these are designed to facilitate stacking these totes, and thats a good thing, but the tradeoff is that lid will collect any liquid or debris that accumulates on top. Also, they really cant take too much weight on them. A couple of totes full of Christams lights and decorations? No sweat. Canned goods? Gonna be an issue.

But, as I said, the ubiquity of these totes, and their price point ($6.99@ at CostCo today) makes them the most common tote in this size that youre gonna find virtually everywhere. And, since these things are all over the place, with the large numbers out there the aftermarket sweeps in to bring us the aforementioned accessories.

Usually these totes are about $10 at most places, and my CostCo, as of late, haas them at $6.99. For that kind of money, theyre a nice way to keep stuff off the floor, outta the wet, free from dust, and just generally keep what limited space you have looking orderly.

Remember this post? That was where I picked up these:

Well that was about three years ago and, dang it, I need more…fortunately this guy still has a few hundred left and I picked up another 25:

Do a Facebook Marketplace search for AMMO CANS in Missoula and you should find ’em.

What am I using them for? Well, over the last few years I’ve been stocking up on magazines. I’ve got sealed cardboard cases here of Magpul P-mags and those cardboard boxes dont last forever, don’t stack well, and are subject to damage. I transfer the mags to the ammo cans, stencil a number on the side, slap a hangtag on them, update the spreadsheet, and set ’em down for the Deep Sleep.

Given that it’s an election year, I’ll probably pick up another case of Pmags and some AK mags. And…they need a nice place to spend the next decade, so there we go.

Oh…and I got in on a group purchase with some local LMI to the tune of 30,000 rounds of CCI 9mm ball ammo. Came out to $0.22 ea, shipping included, so I’ll tuck my share of that away in one of these also.