Prepping BIG in SMALL Spaces

“We live in a small house. As soon as we can afford to buy land, we’ll start prepping.”

I’ve heard that excuse and similar remarks from people who incorrectly believe disaster preparedness requires owning ten acres in a remote location. I use the word excuse because anyone can start preparing for unexpected disasters now – if they really want to.

My husband and I lease a small apartment in an older complex with few amenities. We prefer this to the larger communities because it’s quiet and tucked away on a secluded cul de sac. It would probably not be the first place looters targeted because we are surrounded by affluent residential neighborhoods.

We’ve learned to maximize space and utilize innovative efforts to build our mini-fortress. We live in a second floor unit with ground access from the front and a balcony on the back. That leaves one accessible entrance to guard which we can fortify on a moment’s notice with a portable door brace and door bars. We also have a rope ladder to throw over the balcony rail or through a window if the front is under attack.

We keep our guns and ammo strategically placed throughout the rooms but out of sight. In the event of a breach, we can be armed in seconds no matter where we are.

There’s not a lot of storage inside most apartments. Lease agreements typically prohibit permanent alterations – so this is where the creative part comes in. We raised the bed in the spare bedroom with 5 gallon buckets and use a bed skirt to camouflage the cavity. The buckets hold our dry goods i.e. rice, beans, flour, sugar, etc which we have sealed in mylar bags. With the extra space beneath our “tall boy” bed, we can now store bins containing larger items like ropes, bulk dehydrated food, candles, gallon sized jugs of water, medical supplies and our bug out bags. I found a sturdy garage cabinet (4’x6’) for free on Craigslist, repainted it, added new hardware and a lock on the doors. It now holds canning supplies and home canned goods as well as our personally dehydrated foods and MREs. It looks like a bedroom armoire so no one is wiser should they come into our apartment.

You’ve all seen those clever rolling pantries that fit into the space between your refrigerator and wall, much like a pocket door. They‘re about the width of a soup can. We took that same concept and applied it to a headboard in our master bedroom. We have a king bedframe. The extra width allowed us to build two “pantries” which roll out from each side of the bed. I upholstered the front of the unit to create a more authentic headboard look. No one knows the inside is hollow and contains sliding shelf units filled with food and prepping supplies. This is also a nice hideaway for guns and ammo.

Our balcony hosts a small water heater closet with storage. We’ve placed our faraday cage inside with extra electronics in case of an EMP, along with another scope since our first one is electronic. We hope to add parts for our vehicle’s electronic ignition in the future.

A second armoire occupies a corner of our living room. It’s been converted to a dry bar on top and extra storage beneath, with two sets of doors that allow us to keep the bottom half closed. This is where I store things like our 100 gallon bath tub bladder, water filters, extra solar blankets, sterno, batteries, flashlights and solar lanterns, tools, extra fire starters, etc. Concealed closet nooks contain a small generator, chargers/inverters, silver ingots, USB sticks containing copies of important papers, and other valuables.

We were on a roll at this point and needed to put that excitement to good use so my husband and I created a ‘wish list” of additional ideas to incorporate concealed storage into our small space. Concealed is a key word for renters because you will always have those periodic walk-throughs by maintenance or management. Don’t advertise your prepping efforts. If an unexpected disaster occurred next week, those same people will remember where to find food, water and guns. And they’ll tell their family and friends.

Here are some ideas from our wish list. They might work for you, too.

Cabinet style end tables or trunks offer room for lots of goodies in otherwise unused space. Why have a four legged table when you can maximize that dead air into a functional yet attractive storage unit? I love the idea of Murphy bed type storage. An eight inch pull down box will hold a lot of supplies if you use vacuum sealed bags. When not in use, it functions as a designer friendly accent wall. If you can’t sacrifice the height for a full wall unit, use the same concept beneath a window disguised as a small seating bench or ledge for your herb garden. Eight inches barely encroaches into livable space but provides a LOT of usable storage. Another way to add extra “hidey holes” is using dressers for TV stands, dining room buffets or a foyer table.  Build a hollow base for your dining table with a small access door. All of these ideas provide room for supplies in under-used areas which could equate to survival when the SHTF. And best of all, they can be dismantled easily should you decide to move.

A thick, wooded area meanders behind our building. We will utilize it as part of our exit plan if we’re forced to leave our dwelling. As a precaution, we buried a sealed box with more supplies (in the dead of night, away from curious eyes) in case we have to leave in a hurry. Things we included were two seasonal changes of clothing, one for warm weather, one for cold, space blankets which can double for shelter, extra bug out bags, a pistol with ammo, and knives. I won’t go into details about our bug out bags since the topic has been covered extensively by other contributors – but we each have enough food, water and gear to live off grid for a week. It’s important our personal packs provide self-sufficiency for one person because if my husband and I are separated, we both need to survive.

With supplies stashed all over our apartment and in the woods, it would be easy to forget what we’ve acquired. Maintaining a running inventory is mandatory. I’ve categorized my food products and listed them by expiration date so I can rotate out the old and add in the new. I also noted the location of each item so I know whether to look under the bed, in the armoire or behind the sofa.

I’m sure most survivalists are never prepared to their satisfaction, and neither are we. We want another rolling pantry unit behind our sofa disguised as a sofa table, a solar panel for the balcony, and walkie talkies. I‘ve begun collecting an assortment of essential oils and herbal remedies but have a lot more to acquire. If you ask my husband, he’ll tell you we need more ammo. I guess that’s the difference between men and women but together, we should have everything covered!

Disaster preparedness and learning survival techniques is an ongoing process. We’re not as “ready” as some but better prepared than others . . . and I’m okay with that. The key is to take the first step. Buy an extra case of Ramen noodles and store it in your pantry. Beef up your first aid kit. Prepare a basic bug out bag for everyone in your household with enough supplies to last a few days. Or stash away a couple of boxes of ammunition.

The upside is you’ll feel more confident about enduring minor events like a winter storm or natural disaster. The better upside is being prepared for something worse like an EMP or terrorist attack.

And you don’t need ten acres and a cabin to start.

http://www.thesurvivalistblog.net/prepping-big-in-small-spaces/