The best products to stock-up on for lockdown, according to a survivalist

If Covid-19 has taught the world anything, it's that we aren't typically well prepared as individuals or a society to handle sudden massive upheaval. Empty shelves haunt social media timelines, toilet paper is now gold-level valuable, and seemingly well-stocked products disappeared from online retailers overnight.

To combat these types of widespread shortages in the future, one can hardly seek better advice than that of those who've planned for an event this scale for years, even decades.

Doomsday preppers and survivalists have long been eyed with scepticism, but their measures – some reasonable, some extreme – have certainly proven beneficial in times of reduced access to necessities, and we could all stand to take a lesson from their foresightedness. We talked to a handful of experts in the field who have practiced mindfulness and mobility on the subject for a long time now and got their best suggestions on what to keep handy in the face of an extended battle with coronavirus and other lingering threats.

Jim Cobb is the author of Backwoods Survival Guide: Practical Advice for the Simple Life, an upcoming 192-page "definitive guide to living off the land" as well as numerous other books on the topic found on his website. His approach to preparing for tough times is a level-headed one that relies on common sense, and his 'must-haves' follow suit. "My approach to preparedness has always been decidedly not disaster-specific," he wrote in a comprehensive list of advice to us. "By that, I mean that I don't recommend people look at a single threat and prepare just for that. The simple fact is that prepping for, say, unexpected and lengthy unemployment isn't much different than prepping for a pandemic, not when you get down to the details. Our basic needs, such as food, water, and shelter, don't change."

We also spoke with the highly resourceful business owners and mothers to large families Michelle Walrath and Fran Paniccia, co-founders of Long Island and Hamptons-based lifestyle eatery Organic Krush. Michelle compiled an extensive shopping list of weekly and long-term items to stockpile, so we've selected a few to include here along with their benefits. "When we shop for our families we prioritise: organic, fresh, seasonal and colourful." Many common staples like apples, bananas, olive oil, and nuts made the cut, but a few unexpected items cropped up along with an outline of their helpful properties.

The third source we tracked down is Douglas Katz, a survivalist turned divorce lawyer (truly a man prepared for everything), who prefers to create a self-made version of a Go Bag as opposed to the premade options on the market and recommends reasonable investments over splurges. "A Band-Aid is a Band-Aid," he expounds, "but if you need to get a decent pair of forceps you're not going to corners."

Read on to find some top-rated suggestions in line with what each of our sources thinks the average person should have on hand–you might be surprised at how much far a little thinking ahead can get you.

Read the full article by Kelsey Chapman on The Independent's website here.