Apartment Survival

Casual Preppers Podcast - Prepping, Survival, Entertainment.

This episode of the Casual Preppers Podcast provides a specialized guide for maintaining preparedness while living in an apartment. The host

Key takeaways

• Utilize vertical space and hidden areas like under beds or inside ottomans to maximize limited square footage.
• Prioritize smaller, modular water containers over large drums to ensure portability during evacuations.

Main topics

• Apartment Storage Strategies
• Water and Food Preparedness

Notable quotes

Apartment preparedness is probably more about options than it is about stockpiles.

Conclusion

Successful apartment prepping requires a shift from massive stockpilin

Transcript preview

Speaker 3 (0:02) The threat of disaster is never pleasant. Speaker 1 (0:05) Welcome to the Casual Preppers Podcast. Speaker 3 (0:07) These safety measures are essential. The Speaker 1 (0:09) only place for prepping, survival, and entertainment. This will be your source of survival instructions and information. Every member of the family must be coached in the business of survival. Here Speaker 2 (0:20) are your hosts, Cam Speaker 1 (0:22) and Kobe. Speaker 3 (0:25) Ah, welcome Cameron. Thank you. Today is exciting. It is exciting. For the folks who live in apartments. Speaker 2 (0:31) We've moved on from this. For the folks Speaker 3 (0:33) who live in apartments, today is your day. Speaker 2 (0:36) Yeah, you've Speaker 3 (0:36) been Speaker 2 (0:37) waiting for this for a long time. We Speaker 3 (0:38) have done an episode on this, but it's been years. It's been years and Speaker 2 (0:42) years Speaker 3 (0:42) and years Speaker 2 (0:42) and years. Yeah, and there's a lot of people who live in apartments. Yeah, Speaker 3 (0:45) they keep asking, do you want an apartment? Yeah. I live in 4C. How am I supposed to do this? That's what I keep saying. Speaker 2 (0:54) Yeah, it's tough, right? I've lived in an apartment. You've lived in an apartment. We didn't live in one together, but it's hard. There's not a lot of space. Speaker 3 (1:03) That would have been a roommate. Can you imagine what it would have been like, though? Yeah. Stop talking like that. Who lives down there? A couple of old codgers? Speaker 2 (1:15) What is that voice? Yeah, Speaker 3 (1:16) they Speaker 2 (1:16) would be annoyed for sure. What's going on? But yeah, I think it'll be a good episode because it is very different to prep and store things in an apartment. It's much different when you don't have control of the power and the heat and the water. When things go wrong, you've got to figure out how to work around the stuff. That's right. Not only the storage problem, it's like... How do you get out? Can you even get your car out of the garage? All that stuff. You have a garage. That's Speaker 3 (1:45) what Speaker 2 (1:45) we're going to talk about. Yeah, Speaker 3 (1:47) we're going to hit a lot of stuff really quick because there's a lot of different stuff to speak on. Yeah, there's Speaker 2 (1:52) a Speaker 3 (1:52) lot of talking. We're going to do lots of talking today. We're all going to say a bunch of words. Good luck. I'll try. I might make a few up. Cam's probably going to a lot of gibberish. Yeah, that's OK. Before we get to the gibberish, though, I got to tell you about Battle Box. It's the monthly subscription box full of solid gear for adventure seekers, survivalists, outdoor enthusiasts and casual preppers. Each month, Battle Box sends you the coolest selection of handpicked outdoor survival and everyday carry gear, all valued at far more than what you normally pay. You never know what's in the next box, but here's a sampling of what users. received this month the Mimetic Trauma First Aid Kit. That's all you need. That's all you need. But they got more. They do have more. The XX Knives Bush Daddy. Bush Daddy. All this badassness starts at just $34.99 per month. They've shipped over a million boxes and won Best Subscription Box of 2020. Our listeners get 15 % off when you sign up at survive.battlebox.com slash casualpreppers. Get your first Battle Box and 15 % off. at survive.battlebox.com slash casual preppers. Speaker 1 (2:57) It's a mad, mad world. Speaker 3 (2:59) So, this is an interesting thing that I read here, Cam. Do you like dolphins? Love them. Speaker 1 (3:08) They're my favorite thing to talk about. Speaker 3 (3:10) Maybe your favorite. Yeah, maybe. So, a dolphin off Australia's east coast has been caught displaying an extraordinary feeding behavior, chasing fish until they throw up their food, then swooping in to eat the vomit. Speaker 2 (3:25) Why chase a fish when you can make it throw up and just eat the stationary? Dude, this is the craziest thing. What the hell? Speaker 3 (3:31) The unusual tactic documented by scientists over several years offers a rare glimpse into how dolphins use intelligence and sound to secure an easier meal. The bottlenose dolphin nicknamed Bubbles. by locals, was first reported engaging in the behavior in 2017 near Lady Elliot Island in the southern Great Barrier Reef. Researchers have now documented repeated instances of the animal forcing big-eyed trevally fish to throw up their recently consumed food. The findings published this month in the journal Ecology and Evolution provide one of the first well-documented examples of food stealing, known Speaker 2 (4:08) as Speaker 3 (4:08) kleptoparasitism. Speaker 2 (4:10) Oh, that happens in... Humans, too. Yeah, Speaker 3 (4:13) it Speaker 2 (4:13) does, apparently. Speaker 3 (4:14) So instead of catching and eating the fish, the dolphin would single out an individual and pursue it relentlessly, ignoring the rest of the school. The chase continued until the fish regurgitated its food and swam away. Bubbles would then consume the food, repeating the tactic with as many as 10 more fish within 30 minutes. That's Speaker 2 (4:33) insane. Speaker 3 (4:34) So I just don't, it's weird to me that, like, instead of chasing other, it was just like, they just got to make a puke. Worm out, make them puke, eat that. That's pretty smart. I mean, could that be a survival tactic somehow? That Speaker 2 (4:46) could definitely be. We haven't talked about that one. Speaker 3 (4:48) Chase your Speaker 2 (4:49) prey. Don't kill them. Let them vomit, and then you got a whole bunch of food. Just think Speaker 3 (4:52) about it in an SHTF situation. There's no food. You see somebody who just ate some beans. Chase them. Make them run. They will eventually throw up. Now you have the beans. Maybe Speaker 2 (5:03) a community member or something in your group. And they just take too many rations? Yeah. They don't chase you until you... Speaker 1 (5:09) It's Speaker 2 (5:10) mine now. I'm going to hurt you. You better run. And then just panic until they puke and you're like, you're fine. And then eat a little pudding. Grab out Speaker 3 (5:17) your fork and Speaker 2 (5:18) get eating. You know? That is crazy. Yeah, pretty weird, huh? Yeah, that's a good one. Yeah. Life is evolving out there. It is, man. You never know. In Speaker 3 (5:26) a weird Speaker 2 (5:26) way. You never know. So this was terrifying. I don't know if you mentioned this. I swear I've seen it before. I Speaker 3 (5:33) don't think I've seen this one, to be honest. This is Speaker 2 (5:34) creepy, man. So a company in Auburn, California is developing a robot called Three Halves. Pretty cool name. Like three halves? Three halves. Yeah. Yeah, right. Halves. I guess that's how you probably say it, huh? Three halves? I don't know. I mean, it's three halves. It's Speaker 3 (5:55) three halves, but could it be like H-A-V-E-S? Like, I have three. Right, that's what I was trying to... Or three halves of something. I was just trying to figure out. Speaker 2 (6:04) Yeah, so it's the weirdest looking robot. And it doesn't... It looks kind of ridiculous. Oh, it looks Speaker 3 (6:09) weird. But it Speaker 2 (6:10) serves a purpose. Looks Speaker 3 (6:11) like a minotaur or something? Yeah, Speaker 2 (6:13) so it's on all fours. Yeah, it looks like a minotaur, and it has a bull head, regular arms but little clasping arms, and it's designed to basically work through the worst scenarios, like fire, floods, all that stuff. Seven foot tall, four legs, centaur robot with horned head in the woods, or that you would see in the woods would creep you out. Yeah, but why does it have the Speaker 3 (6:39) head like that? So the Speaker 2 (6:40) horns actually are like 3D camera, 360 cameras. So the operator can actually see like a 360 view, you know, like the new cars at park and you can see like a top down view. It's because they can operate it remotely. But since it's built this way, that's what makes it creepy. It's like it's made to endure like fire and like high heat and debris and all that. If this thing went haywire, it's terrifying. Did you see the picture I put on there of him holding a chainsaw? Is Speaker 3 (7:14) he really going to use a chainsaw? He's supposed to Speaker 2 (7:15) cut trees and wood and stuff to go into different fire zones that firemen can't go into. But they did develop the back end and the chest has air. It's basically hydraulics, but with air, not oil. And that's actually a safety feature. You're supposed to shoot it. in the back or in the chest to rupture the air tanks so it'll stop working. So they already have like a safety feature. Oh, in case it goes Speaker 3 (7:42) haywire. Yeah. So I was like, it's pretty Speaker 2 (7:44) creepy that they built this into it. Can you imagine Speaker 3 (7:46) just being out in the woods and then all of a sudden that sucker runs up on you? They made it look Speaker 2 (7:50) so freaky. I think the name of it actually is like sat, what is it? It sounds like, yes, satiris. Oh, satiris. Is Speaker 3 (7:59) that what it is? Satiris? I don't know. And I was like, is this satire? I know. It kind of feels like it is, huh? Speaker 2 (8:05) But it is crazy. Yeah, look it up. Three Halves is the creepiest robot you'll ever see. And they're actually putting it into production to help with basically these scenarios. So the things that we train for, we haven't incorporated this robot into it. You have to consider you might run into it in one of these emergency scenarios. Good Lord. And it might be carrying a chainsaw. But guess what? If you have a gun, you shoot it in the chest or in the back and it'll. rupture its hydraulic system. We're already Speaker 3 (8:32) giving away its secrets. That's why you listen to us. But man, Speaker 2 (8:35) this is terrifying. Look at why they designed it that way. You Speaker 3 (8:39) know what else is terrifying? Living in an apartment complex. Speaker 2 (8:42) It can Speaker 3 (8:42) be. But here's the thing with apartment complexes, living there, preparedness is a little bit different. Speaker 2 (8:49) It's Speaker 3 (8:50) not the same as it is in your home. In a real home Speaker 2 (8:53) and Speaker 3 (8:54) house. Like where families live. Speaker 3 (8:58) I think the biggest difference is like how little you actually control. Like, cause in a house, it's like you have access to everything. Like, you know, or you should know where the water shut off is, you know, where's your furnace? Does that thing go up to 5,000 degrees? Electrical panel, generators, you know, exterior doors, everything else that keeps the place running. But in an apartment, a lot of that belongs to the building. You know what I mean? So when something fails. you may just be waiting for someone else to fix it or figure it out. Which is nice and not nice. It's nice and not nice. It's nice Speaker 2 (9:26) because you're like, hey, it's not my problem. Come fix it. I hate owning a house for that. I can't drink water until someone fixes it. Yeah, Speaker 3 (9:32) but when Speaker 2 (9:33) it's something that's Speaker 3 (9:34) life-sustaining. Yeah. Your apartment can be perfectly fine and you still have to leave because, like, a fire somewhere else in the building. can fill your hallway with smoke. A broken pipe upstairs in someone else's room can flood your... Speaker 2 (9:49) We had that happen. Did Speaker 3 (9:50) you? Yeah, that can happen. Or like a sewage problem or an electrical problem. It can affect everybody in the building. So you're sharing a lot more than just walls with all of these people around you, right? And space is a big deal because it changes what your preparedness looks like. You can't necessarily stack six months of food in your apartment. You can't have a hundred and... 200 gallons of water just sitting there waiting because like there's not enough room for it. And like all that specialized gear we put somewhere, like it's hard to find the space. That's one of the biggest things with this is like space is limited. You know, everything you keep just really needs to justify the space that it takes up, you know. And you might have to think vertically in some ways, like five gallons of water weighs more than 40 pounds, which is manageable until you're like carrying it like six flights up or down. Right. Depending on where you live in this thing. And like maybe the elevator's dead and you're on the 40th floor in Manhattan. That's the most Speaker 2 (10:47) terrifying thing to think about. Yeah. Speaker 3 (10:49) Yeah. It's so terrifying. And it's like, and then you're also like, maybe you're trying to evacuate with kids or pets or all these bags or someone with mobility issues. Or all these people on your floor. Yeah. The worst. And there's like six flights of stairs. Like, how do you do this? It becomes very hard. Speaker 3 (11:05) apartment preparedness is probably more about options than it is about stockpiles. Like you want enough food, you want enough water and power and medical supplies and a base of gear, you know. But you have to keep everything manageable. You're basically trying to make a small amount of space cover as many problems as possible. And to be honest, like, I think everybody should be thinking this way anyways, even if you do have more space. Yeah, Speaker 2 (11:25) for sure. Speaker 3 (11:25) Like, I don't think I could take up any more space right now or my wife would kill me. Speaker 2 (11:29) Yeah. It's Speaker 3 (11:30) like, you've had enough. Right? That's it. You don't get any more. You take up Speaker 2 (11:34) this much of the bed. I don't want you anywhere else. Yeah, you got like two feet of bed. You're already breathing and using the same air I do. That's my Speaker 3 (11:40) air. I Speaker 2 (11:41) hate Speaker 3 (11:41) that. Speaker 2 (11:41) You shower in my shower, for one thing. You poop on my toilet. Disgusting. Disgusting. Speaker 3 (11:47) And they can't have no more space. Yeah. So you just, you know, you have to be careful with that. You may also have to be willing, when you live in an apartment complex, to leave earlier in some of these SHTF situations because, you know, if you're in a home, you have more supplies, you have more options, but in your apartment, it's like, It's limited, and things can get hairier much faster. For sure. Because of all the people that live in and around and below and to the side of you. Speaker 2 (12:15) Yeah. Let Speaker 3 (12:16) that deposit go. Just get out of there. Yeah, the cleaning deposit's Speaker 2 (12:20) gone for sure. Speaker 3 (12:21) It's going to be Speaker 2 (12:22) gone as Speaker 3 (12:22) soon as you sign the contract. As soon as you sign the contract. Don't Speaker 2 (12:24) even Speaker 3 (12:24) worry about it. You just have to be ready to head out quickly. So Speaker 2 (12:27) those are just some things to consider Speaker 3 (12:29) if you're an Speaker 2 (12:29) apartment prepper. For sure. Liver. River liver. Frigging apartment liver. So yeah, the first thing obviously to talk about is like the storage and limited space. Like how do you utilize that limited amount of space? I think if you were living in an apartment on your own, you have a lot more options, right? Sure. You should make a table out of 55 gallon water barrel. You got no wife to care. Put a Speaker 3 (12:53) piece of particle Speaker 2 (12:53) board on top. Good. You Speaker 3 (12:55) got a dining Speaker 2 (12:55) table. Now I can Speaker 3 (12:56) eat my Coke Speaker 2 (12:57) and macaroni right Speaker 3 (12:58) there. But when you're Speaker 2 (12:59) married, usually your significant other has some say in how the place looks. Or Speaker 3 (13:05) all the say. Speaker 2 (13:05) All the say. Yeah, that's true. You Speaker 3 (13:07) know Speaker 2 (13:07) what I mean? Exactly. Yeah. But yeah, prioritize by probability and impact. You know, prep for the most likely disruptive disruptions. Because we talk about these crazy scenarios, but it comes down to thinking about like the area you live in. What's Speaker 3 (13:23) the Speaker 2 (13:23) most likely thing to happen? you're going to have to really focus on what's most likely to happen more than just, you know, in general. I Speaker 3 (13:30) think the threat assessment is huge when you live in an apartment because you've got to go like, okay, I can take one, two, three. I can't do five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. Yep, Speaker 2 (13:39) you can't. Speaker 3 (13:39) I'm not worried about Yellowstone, Supervolcano. I'm not worried about aliens. I've got these three things. I want Speaker 2 (13:45) to, and I do, but I can't do anything about it. I Speaker 3 (13:48) can take up some mental space with those, but no physical space. Speaker 2 (13:51) Right, yep. Speaker 2 (13:53) With the storage areas, you know, you've got to use hidden functional storage spots to avoid making your living room look like, you know, a concrete bunker. You can. If you're living by yourself, you can do whatever you want. But, like, a living space should be comfortable and look pretty normal. In most scenarios. Should be. Most living situations, you're going to want to utilize any kind of extra space that you have. Sure. So under the bed, there's always some space there. Mine's been full for my whole marriage. Yeah. I don't Speaker 3 (14:24) know Speaker 2 (14:24) what's Speaker 3 (14:24) under there. Speaker 2 (14:25) Bins full of like, I don't even know. Socks. It's like. Yeah, exactly. My scriptures are under there. Speaker 3 (14:31) Baby clothes Speaker 2 (14:31) and my kids are like teens now. Speaker 3 (14:34) All my physical scriptures have been under there for like eight years. Haven't touched them. Speaker 2 (14:38) Yeah. Yeah. There's always one sock under there. One sock. And it's Speaker 3 (14:43) like an inch of dust on it. Yeah. Speaker 2 (14:45) And I think I have like my fire stuff, like a fire helmet and a blanket and stuff under there. Exactly. Just in case I'm safe. Speaker 3 (14:53) And then a fire making kit right next to it. Speaker 2 (14:55) Exactly. Yeah. But yeah, use that under the bed space for storage bins and things like that. And you can get like fancy little rollout bins or you can get anything to kind of hoist the bed up more so you have more space to put things underneath. You can put a ladder. Speaker 3 (15:12) You can be Speaker 2 (15:12) 12 foot high. Get a bunk Speaker 3 (15:14) bed, but take the bottom bunk out. Just like a closet underneath your bed, basically. Speaker 2 (15:20) But yeah, that's a really good space to use. And then... The other thing is like your living room, you can use ottomans that open up different chests and things like that. Storage or pirate's chests, whatever you like. Whatever you're into. Pirate's booty. You can probably have some extra space. And coffee tables, a lot of those coffee tables have a lot of storage space in them. Sure, why not? Behind the couch gaps. Yeah. Or maybe not put your couch all the way up against the wall, slide it out a little. I like to store like- Wrappers. Spoons. Speaker 3 (15:54) And wrappers. Pudding containers. Pudding containers. That's where I put it all. Speaker 2 (15:58) Actually, Speaker 3 (15:59) that's where Speaker 2 (15:59) my kids put Speaker 3 (16:00) it all. Speaker 2 (16:00) My kids have been storing for years in these spaces. They're preppers through and through. There isn't a single couch gap. anywhere yeah Speaker 3 (16:07) between the like we found so many spoons it's just ridiculous i don't yeah my kids do Speaker 2 (16:12) the same thing it's so irritating i'm taking Speaker 3 (16:14) this spoon upstairs i'm putting it behind the couch Speaker 2 (16:16) still like some of them are still glued into like the jello pudding they'll never come Speaker 3 (16:20) out like why did you Speaker 2 (16:21) do that um but yeah behind the couch gaps or under the couch there's a lot of space in there couches in general man like There's nothing to them, like up inside. I mean, if you really want to get crazy, flip it over, cut it open, stick some stuff up in there. Imagine. Yeah, you could definitely do that. There's a lot of space in there. Speaker 3 (16:42) Why'd you couch poke? That's where I keep all my knives. Speaker 2 (16:47) Yeah. Sounds crunchy. Yeah, my chips are on that side. Don't sit there. Don't sit too hard. Crunch it on my lays. I sit over here. It's quieter. Over there, it's kind of Speaker 3 (16:57) stiff. This is Speaker 2 (16:57) where I keep my cotton Speaker 3 (16:57) candy. You Speaker 2 (16:58) just popped a bag. Thanks a lot. Speaker 3 (17:00) Get out of that hole. I've Speaker 2 (17:01) got to crawl in there. Speaker 3 (17:02) Get out of my house. Speaker 2 (17:04) Yeah, but you could get crazy and stuff your couch full of a bunch of junk. We should make a prepper couch that just has a place you can put food and stuff. Because you know cats and stuff will live in there if it's even remotely cut. That's where they go. Why not? So put your food in there, whatever you want. Speaker 3 (17:22) Why Speaker 2 (17:22) not? Closet floor space, top of the closet shelves. You know, there's a lot of space there. We have a lot of junk in ours. It's really annoying. Over-the-door organizers, you know, those Speaker 3 (17:33) little Speaker 2 (17:33) hangy things. Speaker 3 (17:34) They're kind of annoying, but... They're Speaker 2 (17:36) really annoying. Speaker 3 (17:37) Half the Speaker 2 (17:37) time, your door won't shut, too, or it scrapes up the door frame. Ours is that way. Hate it. But... You can. There's like every door in your house. You can have an organizer behind it. Sure, yeah. Or on front of it. Whatever you want to. A door organizer. Yeah, exactly. That's what Speaker 3 (17:51) they should call them. Speaker 2 (17:51) They should. I'm sure someone does. I'm sure. Vertical wall shelving. There's all kinds of different ways that you can set things up. Get those shadow boxes and put some water in them. Speaker 3 (18:02) Yeah. Speaker 2 (18:03) Or. Speaker 3 (18:04) That's an interesting art. That's just water, boy. Cans of water. It's just like a plexiglass thing of water. Speaker 2 (18:12) Well, Speaker 3 (18:14) that's interesting. Yeah, I don't know. I'm an artist. Yeah, it's pretty. Speaker 2 (18:17) It's a prepper style. Why are some of them open? Speaker 3 (18:19) I've been eating some of them. Okay. Speaker 2 (18:22) I didn't know where to put it. Put it back where it was. Put it back where Speaker 3 (18:25) all the other ones were. When I finish it, Speaker 2 (18:26) I'll take it down. Yeah, sir. It's art. Yeah, like you said. The other thing is like ceiling-mounted pulley shelves. You can get real crazy with that kind of crap, but some apartments won't let you do all that stuff. Nah. Or you do it anyway like I did. What are they going to do? Yeah, kick me out? I'm giving up my deposit anyway. Yeah, good luck getting this couch out of here, Speaker 3 (18:44) son of Speaker 2 (18:44) a Speaker 3 (18:44) bitch. Exactly. That thing weighs a million pounds. Speaker 2 (18:47) And then bookshelves. You can have a hollow book and you can store all kinds of crap on the shelves. There's just a lot of different ways you can utilize that Speaker 3 (18:54) space. Speaker 2 (18:54) That book's hollow. Ain't Speaker 3 (18:56) nothing Speaker 2 (18:56) in it. Top shelves, Kraft macaroni and cheese. Second shelves. That's what it looks like. But yeah, there's a lot of different ways you can kind of utilize that rare space that you're probably not using right now. The other thing is like don't get crazy with the typical stuff that we talk about. 55-gallon drums of water. Most of the stuff you see preppers use, you're probably not going to be able to, like I said, you'd make a table out of it. You could. If you're by yourself. Speaker 3 (19:23) You're right. Speaker 2 (19:25) Or staged seating like I did in apartments. Exactly, yeah. In college, it's Speaker 3 (19:30) like one of them's up on a bench. Theater seating. Yeah. Speaker 2 (19:33) And then, yeah, choose smaller modular containers over the big ones for all kinds of stuff. So, I mean, pretty obvious stuff. Your pantry, you can kind of organize to use that space. There's always like Speaker 3 (19:46) the fake, like. corner cabinet like there's nothing behind it yeah Speaker 2 (19:50) there's a lot of those so you could just like before i run the cords for christmas lights and stuff that's down the road right down here cat Speaker 3 (19:57) dies just chug it back in there Speaker 2 (19:59) it's true there is a lot of those open spaces and on top of like your your cabinets there's all that space up there it's just full of like three or four inches of dust dust skin random crap But yeah, so anyways, utilize that space as best possible. You can definitely find some open space in your apartment right now. Go look. Pause this podcast and go look right now. Go do Speaker 3 (20:23) it. Go do it. Yeah, water. Let's talk about