Garage sales are a great way to stock up on items at a more affordable price and this is true for preppers as well. As the saying goes one man’s trash is another man’s treasure so going to garage sales for some of your prepper items is a good idea to get your essentials.
Since your prepper items will be sitting in wait until you need them you may not want to spend a fortune on new items that will sit gathering dust until disaster strikes. Second hand options from garage sales are a great alternative. These are some prepper items to look out for at garage sales that could help serve your survival needs.
Why Shop For Prepper Items At Garage Sales?
Garage sales are a great place to find items you may no longer find in stores but are still very useful for prepping needs. Often older items are built to last and you can pick up some good quality older goods that will last much longer than their brand new counterparts.
In general garage sales will allow you to pay much less for items than at a thrift store or at a shop. The money is going to an individual and they will often accept much less for an item as they are not looking at it from a business point of view.
Another aspect around price is also that it is often negotiable. When you are dealing with the owner of the garage sale you could look at making a deal for buying a larger amount of items to ensure you pay an overall lower price.
Prepper Items You Can Buy At A Garage Sale
There are a range of prepper items you could get at a garage sale and it will really depend on what’s for sale on the day. We will look at the prepper items you should look out for and some likely items that you could find people selling at a garage sale.
Cookware
Cast Iron Pots And Pans
Cast iron cookware is useful to have in survival situations. You will often need to cook on alternative energy sources which may even include open flame and cast iron can handle the higher temperatures.
Cast iron also tends to be more durable overall so getting them second hand will mean they will probably still be in a usable condition and will tend to hold for a longer period of time even through end times.
Barbeque Items And Accessories
Being able to cook outside could be a necessary requirement if disaster strikes and having portable barbeque items and accessories could really assist you. Often if people are downgrading their homes to an apartment they may get rid of all their barbeque equipment so you may find a full set that could help add to your post apocalyptic cookware items.
Manual Kitchen Utensils
We have become dependent on technology for so many things and this extends to kitchen tools. Garage sales can be a good place to find manual kitchen utensils that do not require electricity and will make cooking and baking much easier when SHTF. Things like grinders, graters, hand mixers and can openers can become invaluable for a prepper.
Survival Items
Camping Gear
Many people buy camping gear with the hopes of using it but soon find they never get the time so they end up selling it at a garage sale. Camping gear is perfect for survival needs from tents for shelter purposes, to paracord that has multiple survival uses.
You can also find camping stoves and utensils which can be useful for meal prep in a hurry. Camping gear translates in general to off grid which is ideal for survival purposes.
Medical Supplies
Things like old medical supplies from a relative that has passed away can often be found at a garage sale. You can pick up all sorts of home medical supplies that would be needed to treat a sick or fragile person. Including things like masks, gloves, alcohol wipes and syringes.
You may also get things like unopened bandages and gauze as well as crutches and splints which could be useful for home medical treatment in emergency situations.
Emergency Items
Often people tend to overstock certain emergency items and they will then sell the oversupply at a garage sale. Things like flashlights, first aid kits, radios, candles can all be found. Even things like partially used candles have a purpose where they can be melted down and made into bigger candles.
These are all acceptable second hand items that will be useful in an emergency. Just remember batteries may need to be added or replaced for certain emergency supplies.
Tools
DIY will be essential if SHTF and picking up some quality second hand tools will make maintenance so much easier. You can find general manual tools useful for DIY and maintenance like hammers, screwdrivers, pliers and spanners. There can also be gardening tools which will be handy to add to your emergency store.
Rakes, garden shears, spades all will be helpful to have on hand for survival purposes and not just general gardening needs.
Storage Buckets
These little gems have plenty of uses for the survivalist and they are one of the items that people would prefer to get rid of. You can get various sizes of buckets at a garage sale and they can be used for storage of a number of things like food items or gardening items to protect them from the elements and keep them in one place. You may even be able to negotiate some storage buckets for free if you are buying enough other items.
Hunting Gear & Knives
Hunting gear is a definite survival essential if you aim to be self-sufficient. You often find people will sell the older hunting equipment when they get new items to not be oversupplied. Quality knives can also be found at a garage sale which are very useful for a range of survival needs from DIY, to cooking, to hunting. A good knife can go a long way.
Final Thoughts
Garage sales can really reveal some diamonds in the rough to add to your emergency store and you can save a lot of money by going this route to get these items. There are often quality older items you may not find anywhere else that will make useful additions to your survival tool kit.
One thing is certain you should definitely keep your survival items in mind the next time you come across a garage sale: you never know what you might find.
Via SHTFPreparedness