Prepper Christmas gifts to make since money is very tight this year

Let's hear it.

I hand-loomed a bunch of warm hats and slipper socks last year.

Prepper gift idea #1

A lot of people give gift cards each year of various denominations. Instead of doing that, let's say you have a friend or relative that wants to start a garden, but doesn't really know how to do it. You could give them a gift certificate of five chores and five heirloom seeds. You would print out how to raise those five crops, including the tips you have learned, potential trouble areas with disease or insects, and how to best preserve the bounty. You might include recipes for those five crops too.

The chores could be:
1) I will show you how to test your soil with my test kit
2) I will help you put in the right soil ammenities to balance it out.
3) I'll teach you how to double dig your garden
4) I'll build one square foot garden box with you with you helping.
5) I'll show you how to use your urine to fertilize your soil
6) I'll show you how to pinch off broccoli heads to get more side shoots to triple your yield.

Etc.

Thread Retitled:

" How to Make Your Family and Friends Hate You and Forget Your Birthday Next Year "

Prepper gift idea #2

A lot of young couples quickly have infants and feel the stress from adapting not only to each other but to a new little person to care for. That means that their ability to court one another is very limited.

Give 5 coupons in a gift certificate for a homemade meal at your home. After the meal is over, you'll watch their little one for 2-3 three hours so they can have some alone time. This costs you almost nothing, and chances are you'll enjoy both helping them with their baby as well as their deepening friendship.

Since many young people don't know how to cook, you also print out the recipes for the meal and how to prepare them. The meals are intentionally flavorful as well as frugal.

Prepper Gift Idea #69 : Coupons for Free Panic Sex
=-)

Prepper gift idea #3 An Everything Nice stove

[link to worldstove.com]

The everything nice stove is a special rocket stove that doesn't create dangerous fumes when burned indoors. That means in an emergency, it can be used as both a heat source and can be cooked upon. They can be made from discarded tin cans as long as you have some basic tools.

They make excellent gifts for campers, hunters, and fishermen. Likewise they're great for an emergency kit. You could make 20 of these if you started now, to supply to several of your friends.

They allow someone to use a small amount of deadwood or wood pellets to create heat, not by burning the wood, but by wood gas generation. That is then burned and creates valuable charcoal. That charcoal can then be used for many things in an emergency as well as being a valuable soil additive.

Instructions and more information can be specifically found here:
[link to worldstove.com]

is this guy serious?

Prepper gift idea #4

A lot of people enjoy drinking better coffee, but they can't afford it. You purchase some fair trade coffee from some place like East Timor which is a Christian country that raises coffee, or there are special coffees that are sold to benefit Honduran orphanages, or whatever specialty coffee you enjoy.

You include both the instructions to make iced coffee, which produces more value by being more flavorful, less acidic, and more caffeinated.

You could even find an inexpensive French press which lots of people don't own.

If they're the tentative sort, you offer to demonstrate how to make things like the iced coffee or the French press so they see how simple it is.

Many people, especially young people, would drink Starbucks every day, but can't afford it anymore. These kinds of coffee can be made at home much more economically.

You could buy them green coffee beans and show them how you roast them.

Prepper gift idea #5

One of the most valuable ways to encourage logic and strategic thinking in a young person is learning how to play chess. When I was younger, I made my own chess set. As I recall it was in an old issue of Mother Earth News. I had been fascinated by carving a set, but didn't have time. By making them as a young teenager, I learned the names of the types of metal fasteners. Some people make one set out of zinc and another of brass to differentiate between the two.

Here's a link:
[link to macgyverisms.wonderhowto.com]

Making one of these makes a very fine gift for a lot of young men. I'd make a different set for a young lady. If you know how to play chess, you could couple this with some lessons once a week for so many weeks.

Prepper gift idea #6 Making biscotti

Biscotti, for those living under a rock who have never tried it, is a delicious hard cookie that goes very well with coffee. It's really more of a panforte which is a special kind of medieval survival bread eaten during the Crusades as well as colonists to the New World, and later Mormons on their long odyssey to Salt Lake.

[link to allrecipes.com]


You could make these up easily and give them as gifts and they would be welcomed by almost anyone. I would include the recipe as well as a very brief discussion of how this kind of bread can easily be made as well as very good for survival. It opens the conversation about preparedness.

Prepper gift idea #7 Making Spingerle

Springerles are a wonderful anise flavored Bavarian cookie that has a very long shelf life. It will get as hard as a brick if kept, just like hardtack, so if kept that long they are dunked in coffee or tea. I doubt they last more than a week because they are delicious.

[link to whatscookingamerica.net]

The only caveat is there is a traditional design of the Springerle appearance which is pressed on by a special rolling pin.

It looks like this:
[link to www.fantes.com]

It produces a beautiful cookie as well as tasting great. Again, I would include the recipe as well a recipe for hardtack and discussing how that was used for survival by trappers and hunters in previous generations.

Prepper Gift # 420: All-Purpose Doom Kit

Contains:

1. A personal faraday cage (giant roll of tinfoil to wrap yourself with) (Keeps out those that are listening and transmitting)

2. A Bible (for begging that fate save your ass from whatever kind of shit hits the fan)

3. Earthquake Detection Kit (4 stickers to put on each side of your home, around 5 ft up......If they visibly drop below ground level, you know to leave your house)

4. Biological Detector (A Live rhesus monkey in a cage...if he starts hemmoraghing blood through his orafices, it is time to put on your surgical mask)

5. Nibiru Detector (a 4" square cotton cloth.....place on your front porch. If Nibiru pulls the moon out of orbit and causes a global tidal wave....the cloth will feel wet to the touch)

Prepper gift idea #8 Knife, scissors, or tool sharpening

If you're a prepper, you long ago purchased a good sharpening set like the Spyderco Triangle Sharpmaker:
[link to www.spyderco.com]

Most of your friends, either preppers or non-preppers, have not bothered to learn how to sharpen their tools yet. I've noticed that the main impediment is usually a fear of buggering up a knife. That's understandable, but if you have that skill, then you can offer to do this for the person receiving that gift, but only if you can teach them how to do it.

With that specific set, it is very simple and idiot-proof. You merely pass the blades through on the flat and on the edges of the ceramic rods of different grits. The kit includes brass rods to prevent cutting yourself as well. I have successfully taught younger children to do this safely, so really anyone with care can do it as well.

A lot of people have lots of dull scissors. That specific set does an excellent job on them. Once you start, I'll bet you end up sharpening more than 20 items.

That's a major help for them, while also offering a chance to discuss this art as well as prepping in general.

christmas don't buy into that shit tell my family not to bother still buy the kids but fuck all the other bullshit not into fairy tales and make believe if I can't share all yr round then I am lost to society and yeah corporate assholes see past your over commercialised crap if it ain't essential to life I don't buy into it

Prepper gift #9 Homemade aged beef steaks

People can't afford to eat beef steaks anymore. They sure can't afford an expensive well aged beef steak. That's a lost art and unless you are wealthy, you can't afford to purchase them from the butcher shop. You sure can't afford to eat an expensive steak at a fine restaurant.

Most people don't realize that anyone can take an inexpensive cut of beef, or cut their own beef steaks that come in a large portion, age them in a dedicated refrigerator at 35-37 deg F, with some sea salt, and make an exceptionally tasty steak.

If you have a spare fridge you're using in your garage for beer, you could instead age some beef for your family when it gets closer to Christmas time. It takes about 21 days for a rib roast.

If you were to also gift them with some hardwood charcoal, instead of that awful artificially made charcoal, that would make a very fine gift.

Aging removes the excess moisture from beef by it being absorbed into the salt. It also breaks down the connective tissue. You will end up cutting that rind off, then you could cut up the steaks for them.

I do metalcraft and gave all handmade gifts one year....friends got silhouette knockdown targets , Monogram steak brands, and hammered steel roses,etc....

Not exactly prepper gifts....well you could use the steak brand to mark trespassers captured on your retreat....

Prepper gift idea #10 Making kombucha

Kombucha is a popular fermented green or black tea that is consumed by the under 40 crowd. It has many health benefits since it's full of probiotic bacteria, and while fermented, it has less alcohol than a soda in it.

Here's a great video explaining how to make it.


You need to use organic tea to get the bacteria to take hold better.

This makes a great gift alone, but teaching someone how to make it and gifting them with the bacteria culture, means you enable them to save money and do it themselves.

Prepper gift idea #11 A perfume and massage oil kit

A lot of women have no extra money for skin care or to make themselves feel feminine. Money is way too tight and that's the last thing they can afford to splurge on.

But there are inexpensive ways to take care of the skin or to make themselves feel prettier. The top massage oils contain jojoba or almond oil. These are excellent emollients but they are often packaged in expensive bottles with scents added. All of that results in a lot of markup.

You can purchase both jojoba or almond oil in bulk, then separate these into colored bottles that you purchase at a craft store. Then one can purchase some essential oils and add scents to them.

Some of the best general essential oils are Bergamot, Lemon, Orange, Ylang-ylang, Sandlewood, and Grapefruit. It's easy to look up some recipes for either making a blend or simply packaging that together so they can make a small test batch to create their own unique mixture.

Tuberose makes a very sweet floral scent that many people enjoy. Many folks like Jasmine too.

In addition, if you get an inexpensive vodka and some distilled water, they can make their own perfume. Again, there are locations on the Internet as well as books with a suggestion of the number of drops and the precise amount in milliliters of fluids.

All of that is vastly less expensive but excellent ingredients to produce a superior product. It is not uncommon for someone to begin to use those to make their own potpourri blends or add these to homemade soaps as well once they begin this kind of art/craft.

Prepper gift idea #12 A homemade first aid kit

I've found two things make excellent first aid kits, a plastic tackle box or a camera case. The tackle box folds out and is made with lots of compartments. A camera bag is the perfect size for larger equipment like a blood pressure cuff, a stethoscope, a reflex hammer, a penlight (for inspecting the eyes, a magnifying glass, etc.

Here's a general list of items that you might place in a first aid kit:
[link to www.home-storage-solutions-101.com]

Here's one that's made to be very portable. One could put that in a designated fanny pack.

Prepper gift idea #13 Firestarters

If you know someone who camps or hunts a lot, then they also make a lot of campfires. This is a perfect gift that can be made by a ten year old on up with minimal supervision. The only cost is for the wax, for everything else is a throw away item by most folks.


It's practical, and while purists might sneer at it, I can tell you that in an emergency with wet cold hands that you don't want to mess with starting a fire. Likewise, if you were camping but leaving late, then you arrive in the dark, and starting a fire quickly is a real blessing.

Letting your children make useful things makes them feel good about the gift as well as demonstrating to them frugality.

Hello OP-ie. Your thread is nice and has a good idea. Me, personally, I would be touched if some from my family would make me such a gift! Really I would appreciate most.

But looking to the people around me, I think for them would be a great disrespect, because they really doesn't feel, nor understand anything that has relation with prepping for harsh situation, like for a real survival situation. Because most never experienced, never faced something dramatically in which be faced with the alternative of death in case that they are not prepared. Because of that, most of the young people will not understand and therefore, not appreciate such gifts.

But believe you me, people that were subjected with death or life situation that required from the people either have a good survival skill, or some good equipment etc, those people know by themselves how much the prepping is. Usually you will see those people dressed correctly, with very good quality items, but you will not see those buying fancy and expensive clothes for them, because they know what make you live, or die.

So, regardless how good our intentions may be, in instilling prepping and preparedness to those around us, I think will be useless unless a big and tragic event make those people aware about the prepping necessity. Usually they will give you "that" look: what is this crazy guy want from me... or will mock on you, or as another reader was saying humorously "they will forget your birthday day".

This represent my 2 cents on the issue, this shouldn't be in any way, shape or form a deterrent for you, so follow your idea and drive, if this is your desire. Maybe us, we are wrong and you are right, never knows until you try, OP-ie!

Sure. You have to do make a gift that would please the receiver and not yourself. I would bet though that many of the gifts would be welcome by many of the people in my part of the USA, because I live in a rural area.

A lot of people live in urban areas and are so disconnected from the Earth that they wouldn't like many of these gifts. Obviously, why bother unless it's a meaningful gift for them.

Having worked with people at Church of all ages and likes and dislikes, I would bet that many folks would like something like this especially if poor. Yes, who wouldn't like an expensive gift? But who has the money for such things? If they do, then this topic is hardly for them, right?

Prepper gift #14 A gift for budding naturalists

When I was young, you know a million years ago, we all had to make a leaf collection. Our teacher wasn't too good with children, didn't make a case for the importance of it, and so it was a pain in ass.

Years later, since I liked Nature anyway, I bought a Audubon Society Field Guide to the Eastern United States, and intentionally set out to identify as many trees while combing through the woods.

I did that, because my friends and I enjoyed reading about folks like Lewis and Clark and Daniel Boone. It stuck with me, and the more I learned about the shape, the bark, the flowers, the nuts, the change in the leaves color over the season, then the easier it was to remember what certain types of wood were good for. That helps in making tools, more complex items, harvesting from the trees, etc.

For about $14 US, you can still buy this essential manual of trees. They also have them for rocks, flowers, insects, reptiles, etc.

If you know a young child or an adolescent who is interested in such things, then not only can you buy them a book (for that alone won't do much more than gather dust), you can offer to take them out to your local park or a place of their choice, to gather some leaves and show them how to identify them.

I can tell you that if you then show them the grains of that wood, how to make a spear, or pin down a snake's head with a stick, or make a trap, that you will wake a very ancient passion in them.

Will this work for the electronic game crowd? Probably not. Their mind has been turned to mush. It will though work with a lot of 10-11 year olds when they enter the "little professor" stage. It also will work with a lot of children who are interested in hunting or carpentry too.

Prepping is not about bugging out from zombies. Prepping is about realizing the connection we have with the Earth, doing ancestral skills, and discovering what it means to be a man or a woman in light of that as stewards of God's kingdom. Even if you don't believe that, and only believe in seeing the connection with Nature, then it is very valuable.

Give someone something useful, not just something to entertain them for a week.

Meals in a jar
Baby food jar candles and potpourri
Crochet shawls hats scarfs
Sleeping bag and small pillow
A book and maps

Thank you so much OP...

I like all the suggestions you gave...and I have a "little professor" who will really enjoy a lot of the tips/projects you gave...

I can't wait to show him how to sharpen a knife, I remember my dad teaching me how to do that years ago :)

The first aid kit idea was top notch...

agree with everyone not to exchange gifts - just have big meals, etc.

My niece made the entire family para cord survival bracelets two christmas's ago. Great gift!

Being a prepper is not what you possess.

Since most of us live in a capitalist world (and I am unabashedly capitalist but not wealthy), then when people begin to wake up, but then get distracted and think, "What do I need to survive better." That translates into gear and supplies.

A prepper is a person who considers a little further what they can create as stewards of the Earth. Not only are we supposed to take care of the planet because we were charged by God, but also since creation is an aspect of God, then we enjoy creating.

Being a creator is about either growing plants or raising animals or making things. I'll bet you that the vast majority of the time in constructing the things, therein lies the joy, the act of creation is a major aspect of happiness. It isn't the possession of the thing.

The other aspect of the joy of creation is in giving the thing we created away. The creator wants to bring pleasure to another by the creative things they created.

Christmas if spiritual, is a time when we recognize the Creator for sending us Jesus. It's feeling that profound gladness for such a sacrificial act of grace.

Since we feel that, we want to make others feel profound gladness too. We don't want to keep it bottled up inside because we are misers who want it only for ourselves.

It's not that the giving of gifts is bad, it is that that exchanging of gifts is about things and possession. The joy is creating something and in gifting it to another to increase their gladness.

Since a lot of us can create things through craft and art, for that is human nature i.e. to create, then it is very simple to pass that on.

I would bet that all of you can create something. Since Christmas has become more of a pagan holiday or a holiday devoid of spirituality, you can reject it for there is Free Will. I won't criticize you.

You still love and care for others. Why not spend some time and effort, if they person would like it, and discover that person's passions, and then gift them with something that connects with their passions? If it's within your capability and costs very little of your money, are they not worth it to commit resources and time to that endeavor?

If a prepper/homestead, then being more aware than others about the gift of creation and creating, then how difficult is it to pass along ancestral skills? But please only do it in a way that bring joy to the receiver.