Photo by Muffy Aldrich
The Modern Guide to The Thing Before Preppy

Sunday, July 4, 2021

For What Do You Have Backups?

 

A reader question:

Happy Fourth, Muffy!  I just ordered a backup coffee maker, and have followed some of your early advice to stockpile some great sweaters when they were available.  Here is my question for the community.  In what areas do your readers make sure they have backups?  This can be clothes, but also appliances, books to lend, even food.  (I always have about three weeks of coffee on hand.  Hmmm, I am sensing a pattern!) 

Thank you, and enjoy the holiday! 

    

34 comments:

  1. Three things off the top of my head: several (five or six?) light blue oxford cloth button-down shirts (not including those "retired" to yard work), an extra French Press (more by accident than design), and several bags of coffee in the freezer.

    Happy July 4th.

    heinz-Ulrich

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  2. Deck shoes, L.L. Bean gum shoes!

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  3. Other than reasonable supplies of the obvious essential things like razor blades, paper goods, gin, bourbon, wine, pantry items, firewood, and such I have a pretty strong bias towards minimalism. I am, however, moving ahead with a whole house generator. I recently had a failure of the supply chain occur when ordering a very routine item, a white OCBD, but Mercer is bailing me out and winning a new loyal customer. As regards things like backup appliances my kitchen is perhaps the best equipped kitchen in which I have ever cooked. Should my Bonavita drip coffee maker die, I guess I could keep going with espresso from the ancient Elektra lever, the Bialetti, or the press.

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  4. We use Bodum french press coffee makers (big and little) and experience has taught us that we always need to have the next glass insert for each on hand....

    Backup shirts? Jeez, I have five (packed) linear feet of shirts in the closet at all times. I'm not yet worried.

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    1. I’ve lost count of the number of glass inserts that I’ve broken. I then discovered the unbreakable polypropylene ones. Buy one as your next spare and when you’ve broken all the glass ones and are using it, it will be the last one you need to buy.

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    2. @Quentin Smith: Sounds great, got a link to a source?

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  5. Overseas travel, i always carried an extra watch and pair of shoes. Hiking, extra headlamp, batteries, bag of energy food.

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  6. Vino bianca. Vino rosso. N’importe quoi.

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  7. China. We have 13 sets.

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    1. I have to ask...how do you store 13 sets of china?

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  8. gallons of water, over the counter pain meds, protein shake/mix....heat and cooling source.

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  9. My favorite photos and genealogy files (extra back up in addition to my normal computer backup).

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  10. The Mr. and I have always believed in the concept of having enough frozen/ canned/ pantry items on hand in case of unexpected guests, inability to get to the store, power outage, snow storm, etc. To that we have added an ample supply of tea, coffee, wine and liquor. We don’t horde, we just like to be prepared and are thankful to live in a country of incredible abundance.

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  11. -Striped tops, L.L. Bean jeans, ragg wool socks and totes, and sweaters

    -Various foodstuffs, spices, OTC meds, etc. I am an expat and there are things that they don't have in my host country, so I stock up when I can. I also keep a stash of a few favorite beauty products as they don't sell my favorite brand here.

    -Books. I don't live in an English-speaking country and I prefer to do my leisure reading in English. Since I can't just pop into any random bookstore, library, etc. I always make sure to keep plenty of reading material nearby.

    --EM

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  12. I have a second, smaller coffee maker that comes out when we have house guests, like over the past weekend. It's also been used as a backup when my primary coffee maker quit working. My wife, though, doesn't drink coffee.

    As for extra clothing, I laid in a good supply of things like socks and underwear just before I retired (at 71), on the theory that I'd never have to buy any of that stuff again. I probably won't, since I tend to wear those things until holes start appearing. When it has two holes, out it goes. I have an embarrassing number of shirts, both dress, casual and even wool flannel, as well as wool cruiser jackets. I even have six or seven old canvas rucksacks, one of which I bought while I was still in college.

    As a matter of fact, we're in the process of passing things on to my daughter. Sooner or later she and our son will have to deal with it and it's probably easier one car load at a time.

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  13. In addition to a Mormon inspired pantry, we always have five pounds of Equal Exchange coffee beans and a hand grinder, in addition to our two electric grinders. We keep lots of water in various large containers, of course and now, post covid-tide, 128 rolls of tp. Oh, and butter. Lots of butter. And bourbon. One must always have bourbon for the apocalypse.

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    1. How do you and the others who mentioned it, store the water and how much do you have on hand?

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    2. Store bought tall, gallon size/square shape-slightly bendable/adaptable to other gallons/storage place. Store under each bathroom sink till full then top with packages of paper products not heavy weight items. In house doesn't freeze as quickly anywhere else in garage, patio, porch.

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  14. Two is one. One is none. If it’s important to you…get another one

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    Replies
    1. Yes! And this applies to every object in your life that you yourself cannot make from scratch. Car parts, plumbing, hardware, you name it. Get at least one backup if its important.

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  15. Two products from Rhode Island; Lightfoot’s Pine Scented soap and, in the freezer, a stock of “spinach
    pies” and their variations from Jeanette’s Bakery!

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  16. I have 1 bottle of wine and 690 back ups.

    David J Cooper

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  17. While others were stockpiling at the beginning of COVID, we quickly realized that we had no need. Living in a rural setting, hearing stories of the Hurricane of '38 and experiencing the Blizzard of '78, we've always been well-provisioned. Having a chest freezer, root cellar and generator is just part of how we live. That said, in addition to the necessities, my near-necessities include Marvis jasmin mint toothpaste, wine, liquor, chocolate, a fresh "uniform" (unworn boxers, undershirt, OCBD, and khakis) and a new white dress shirt as well as Pantherella over-the-calf dress socks.

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  18. We have to worry about hurricane season here in the Caribbean. So..we stock up on water, canned foods that don't need to be cooked (and would never eat unless we absolutely had to), and cash. ATM's usually don't work for a few weeks so we need to be prepared. I play tennis every day - usually morning AND night - so I stockpile tennis skorts, socks, and polos.

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  19. I am never without my marinières (Breton shirts), white shirts, tote bags, quilted blankets, Birkenstock sandals, good coffee, Dalfour confiture (either wild blueberry or cassis), and a scarf for when the weather changes.

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  20. Coffee
    Vodka
    Good Tequila
    Extra Coffee
    Band aids

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  21. French skincare I can't get in the US
    Dry Shampoo
    Ponytail Holders
    Lip Balms
    Tote Bags
    Kitschy Vintage Books
    Cashmere V-neck sweaters
    Polo Shirts
    Black Tees
    Flip Flops

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  22. Yorkshire Gold tea
    Candles (for power outages) and dinners

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  23. Beer, bourbon, bean boots, and Brooks Bros button downs!

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  24. Gluten free pasta (especially right now as it's difficult to find), Trader Joe's coffee, Trader Joe's gluten free waffles (we live an hour away from the closest one) and Cadbury drinking chocolate. The last item I order in a case quantity as it's MUCH cheaper that way. And even though it has an expiration date/best by on it, I've yet to have any go bad.

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