Difficult to make, useful, but currently very cheap

[Arwen Thebard]

I am currently storing boxes of electronic parts, they are very cheap and come in large quantities. Should China stop shipping, things like resistors, capasitors, diodes or leds etc will become extremely expensive.

If you do not know how to use them, having a electronic spares box with a soldering iron solder etc will at least enable you to equip someone more knowledgable if needed.

I know we are dealing with the pandemic still but if an emp strike was launched all of our electronic equipment would become dead in seconds, having a box of parts gives you are chance to repair things.

On ebay you can buy soldering practise kits, for a couple of pound. Examples such as little led flashing christmas trees, or build your own torch kits etc. If you dont have electrical skills now is the time to learn.

Or get to know someone who does.

[GillyBee]

Screws nuts and bolts as these need a small machine shop to make.
Cycle parts. I think these are already in short supply
Any thing useful for repairs/makes of low tech equipment.
Plant fertiliser and pesticides,
Sewing - hooks and eyes, snaps,buttons elastic for repairs and thread to go with the needles previously mentioned. Sewing machine needles - especially if you have an off grid model.

[jansman]

Screws nuts and bolts as these need a small machine shop to make.
Cycle parts. I think these are already in short supply
Any thing useful for repairs/makes of low tech equipment.
Plant fertiliser and pesticides,
Sewing - hooks and eyes, snaps,buttons elastic for repairs and thread to go with the needles previously mentioned. Sewing machine needles - especially if you have an off grid model.

I have a workshop full of all sorts.I also carry spares for my Brompton folding bike.Bike - spare shortages will ease when the clocks change. Everyone who has ' discovered ' cycling won't be doing it when the weather turns.Fact.I go to work across 13 miles of countryside at 5 am each day.The amount of ' cyclists ' WITHOUT lights is astounding.But not surprising.

[Lemne]

I make dog equipment and use a bonded nylon thread. Coats Nylbond, which is not effected by just about any outside elements. It has a massive break strength. You would only used it on something made of a very strong fabric but good for rucksack repairs etc. I have a smell reel in my go bag.

[grenfell]

As this list grows ever larger i'm beginning to think that storing everything is an impossible task or at least close to impossible without devoting considerable space and money to those stores . Not that it means i won't store things but i will accept that there are going to be things i haven't considered that will probably come back to bite me when i realise i need them.
I suppose the biggest problem is not soap or needles that can literally be put away and forgotten but commodities that have a limited shelf life , food obviously but also stuff like cement and some paints or seeds that will see a lowering germination rate .

[ForgeCorvus]

Store cement like you would flour, it needs moisture to cure so keep it airtight.

I have a half full small lidded bucket from when we cleared Dad's shed, it was at least five years old when he died... So it must be close on nine by now.

[GillyBee]

Agreed We needed to make a solid base for a water butt that was leaning alarmingly against the workshop. A quick rummage in the shed found an unopened ten year old cement sack from when the workshop was built. Cement was still in perfect condition and did the job nicely.

[grenfell]

From experience i'd say you were pretty lucky to find the cement still in perfect order in it's original bag . The paper sacks i've always found to be less than airtight and easily damaged . Even the plastic sacks are really quite thin and can be damaged. How the bags are handled plays a part i feel , i've seen puffs of cement co.ing from bags many times at a builders merchants . I 've seen cement hard in the bags direct from the merchants. For a long term solution i'd be looking more at lime which can be made much more easily but if i did want to store cement for a long period then i'd look at taking it out of the bags and into sealed plastic tubs.

[jansman]

From experience i'd say you were pretty lucky to find the cement still in perfect order in it's original bag . The paper sacks i've always found to be less than airtight and easily damaged . Even the plastic sacks are really quite thin and can be damaged. How the bags are handled plays a part i feel , i've seen puffs of cement co.ing from bags many times at a builders merchants . I 've seen cement hard in the bags direct from the merchants. For a long term solution i'd be looking more at lime which can be made much more easily but if i did want to store cement for a long period then i'd look at taking it out of the bags and into sealed plastic tubs.

I always keep sand ,ballast,and cement in.I take a bag of cement ( If not using it) and I tip it into a five gallon screw top barrel. It keeps.Well.

[ForgeCorvus]

Grenfell: Lime is safest stored as putty, its heavy and a PITA to transport which is why you tend to see it as a bag of powder.
Mortar, plaster (both scratch coat and finish), whitewash and limecrete can all be made from the putty form.
Brother was 'into' traditional materials when he renovated his first house