Top 10 Prepping Items You Need from MidwayUSA

Magic Prepper • July 24, 2024

MidwayUSA has a ton of stuff related to preparedness, so here's my top 10 list of prepping-related items I have personally acquired and tried for myself from MidwayUSA. The first item on this list is something I find extremely useful to anybody who wants to survive more than three days...

Grayl UltraPress Titanium Bottle Filter Purifier

Not only can you filter up to 40 gallons of water per filter, but you can also use this as a cooking device and boil water in it because the outer sleeve is titanium. This is my number one favorite prep item I have from MidwayUSA because it works very well, it's very slim, it doesn't weigh a lot, and you can use it for so many different things, not the least of which is drinking clean water no matter where you are.

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Military Surplus Ammo Can 50 Caliber

These are my favorite thing to store ammunition in for the long term. I like to store it in these ammo cans loose with some silica packs and call it a day. They're simple, very durable, very rugged, and they have a lot of other uses too. You can make little mini-cache survival kits and keep them in these.

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Magpul Magazine Multipacks

If you're looking to stock up on magazines, you can get 3-packs of Glock 17 mags or Glock 19 mags. Glocks usually come with three mags, so get a three-pack; now you have six. That's my bare minimum mags-per-pistol that I like to have good to go. You can also get a Magpul PMAG M2 MOE Magazine 10-pack. I think that's a really good way to make sure you have plenty of mags for your rifle right out the door without having to think too hard about it.

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ESP Safety Shelter

The six-person ESP Safety Shelter is by far one of the best preparedness-related items I got through MidwayUSA. In fact, this is a huge piece of mind for my family because we live in a manufactured home and we don't have a basement or anything else to shelter in from a tornado. This above-ground shelter will protect us from up to an EF5-level tornado, and the above-ground shelters are generally safer than below ground shelters because you don't have risk of flooding and possibly drowning in your shelter. It's an impressive product. My wife and I installed it ourselves. It doesn't require a team or anything like that. It's relatively easy to do as long as you have the right tools and a little extra time on your hands. I highly recommend the ESP safety shelters if you live in a tornado-prone environment, and you don't have somewhere substantial to shelter your family and yourself during a storm.

This particular shelter has an entire grant available to it, depending on what state you live in, so make sure you do your research. You may be able to get your local state and federal government to help you with the cost of a shelter like the one I have. So do your research and check out the ESP safety shelters that MidwayUSA offers, because, in all honesty, it's by far one of the most practical and best preparedness items I've literally ever acquired.

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Military Style 4-Piece ECWS Sleeping Bag System

If you didn't know, MidwayUSA makes a sleeping bag system. What's really cool about this is that it's very similar to some of the higher end, let's just call it Special Forces-style sleeping bags that are out there, especially from companies like Snugpak, but it's a lot more affordable than some of those sleeping bags. It's a sleeping bag you can use in any environment, or any season, whether just as a bivy or in negative 40-degree weather. It's really the only sleeping bag you'll ever need.

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Danner Sharptail 10" GORE-TEX Rear-Zip Hunting Boots

Footwear is extremely overlooked in the preparedness community. People don't always give a second thought to what will be on their feet in a SHTF situation, but you need shoes that are going to last. One pair of shoes I got from MidwayUSA that has lasted, been extremely durable, very comfortable, and, honestly, just one of the best pair of boots I've ever owned are the Danner Sharptails. I wear a size 15, and it was really nice to see that these were available. It's hard to find size 15s just about anywhere, but I was able to get these from MidwayUSA. These Sharptail boots are one of the few pairs of laceless boots that actually fit my foot well because I have a kind of a narrow foot. I use these for everything--for gardening, for working on the property, or for just hanging out with the dogs. Whatever I need to do outside, I can throw these on and feel good about it. They have GORE-TEX, so they're waterproof. They have zips on the back so they're easy to slide on and off. Because they're leather, you can treat them and condition them, so they'll last a very long time. I really like these boots. They're not steel-toed, so they're not meant for working construction, but if you're just doing something outdoors and want to have some additional protection for your feet while maintaining some level of comfort (they do have removable insole), check out the Danner Sharptails.

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Military Surplus Swiss M90 Rucksack

If you're looking for a rucksack or some military-style backpack that you can throw some extra magazines, some MREs, maybe a woobie, and everything else in there, but you're on a budget, one of the best solutions is a military surplus rucksack. They were purpose-built for that exact thing, and they're still very high-quality yet affordable. The Swiss M90 rucksack is a perfect example of such a rucksack. It's a durable, tried-and-true design that still holds up after decades of existence. There are other military surplus backpacks and bags at MidwayUSA, but this is one I own and can recommend. These types of bags are more affordable than some of the more modern offerings. True, they're not as high-speed, they don't have all the pouches and aren't made out of materials like Cordura, but they're still high-quality and they still get the job done to this day. So, if you're on a budget, but you still want reliability, check out rucksacks that are military surplus. This is a really nice bag, in all honesty.

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XMRE Meals

MREs from XMRE -- you have food that's ready to eat without any preparation at all. These aren't going to be as lightweight and calorie dense as some of the freeze-dried food options that are available, but you can eat them right out of the packaging, and you don't have to cook. It's ready to go. It has calories, it has nutrients, everything you need in order to get through a short-term scenario. I like having MREs. I throw them in my vehicles, my backpacks, or in my storm shelter. I have MREs just about everywhere because they're convenient and they're still a good meal if you're in a bad situation.

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Blue Force Gear RACKminus SAV-2 Ten Speed Chest Rig

I don't necessarily think that everybody's going to need tactical gear for whatever preparedness scenario is there, but one thing that's really nice about a chest rig, especially for civilians, is that it's a convenient way to carry additional magazines when you're out at the range, or if you're out on a hike, or anywhere you might be where you have your rifle system with you. It's not always about being tactical, though. It's also convenient for carrying other things as well. For example, on mine, I have a monocular, some first aid, some water treatment options, and some tourniquets. I have a radio on it with some comms available to me. This particular chest rig is something I'm extremely happy with, and I've had some experience with other models. I'm not an expert on the topic, but this particular Blue Force Gear chest rig is awesome. You can still use standard AR-15 style magazines for it, but it'll also take AK magazines and SR-25 AR-10 style magazines. Keep in mind, this is a base: it doesn't come with the pouches, the mags, or the comms, but it's a really good base. For someone who's just starting out, it provides a lot of capabilities right out of the box, then you can add additional systems to it as you go. I also find it to be extremely comfortable, lightweight, and minimalist, which I appreciate.

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Peak Refuel Freeze Dried Food

Peak Refuel tends to be some of the best-tasting when it comes to this type of food. It's also nutritious, and it is easy to store away. You can store these buckets and stack the buckets, at least to a certain point. You don't want to stack them too high and weight them down, but they are easy to store away. There are over 10,000 calories in the Peak Refuel Base Camp Bucket, and it'll last over 25 years. They say 5-year shelf life, but I would think that's probably more about the flavor than it is the calories and I feel pretty confident that they'll remain edible long after 5 years. Regardless, this a really simple option for storing food away for the long term that you don't have to think about, you don't have to check on it, you don't have to worry about refrigerating it or putting it in a freezer, you don't have to worry about it going bad inside of a can and having botulism or something like that. It's just easy, good-to-go food that you can have during any type of situation, as long as you can rehydrate it.

That's one of the few things that can be a little bit more difficult about this type of food; you still have to have water in order to rehydrate it and make it taste good. Then you want to be able to have enough of it for it to actually get you through a long-term situation if that's your plan. Because 10,000 calories for the average person is really only five days' worth of food, so keep that in mind. But even though these are a little pricey when you weigh it out pound for pound, it's still high-quality nutrients you don't have to think about, which is very important during a survival situation. You throw this in your storage and it's there in case you need it. I do recommend trying it out first to see if there's actual types of food that you enjoy when it comes to survival food like this. But Peak Refuel does a good job of maintaining flavor while also still having all of the other benefits of being freeze-dried.

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So, there you have it; my top 10 preparedness-related items to get from MidwayUSA. Working with them in partnership has been very beneficial because I've had a chance to discover some items that I might not have been aware of otherwise. And the fact that most of the things we talked about in this video are relatively affordable is awesome, because that's what more Americans need access to: affordable, yet good quality preparedness-related items. That's why I suggest checking out the military surplus category. Of course, some of these things are expensive, like the storm shelter or the ECWS sleeping system, but the storm shelter is a peace of mind you really can't have any other way if you don't have access to a real shelter, and the ECWS sleeping system might be expensive, but not in comparison to all the other similar sleeping systems.

At the very least, these are some things to keep in mind, and I hope sharing this list will get you thinking about what you have - or don't have - ready to go for SHTF preparedness and provide you with another resource for finding these items (if you didn't already know).

--Magic Prepper

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