# Panic buying...



## SurviveNthrive (May 20, 2010)

If you've witnessed panic buying before a hurricaine, storm, after a quake or whatever, can you remember what items you saw people frantically buying?

I appreciate help with this as there might be something I forgot that clears the shelves quickly. 

Thanks!


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## goshengirl (Dec 18, 2010)

Water and batteries. 
I'm afraid that's not much of a list, but that's all that jumps out at me from my days in New Orleans/hurricane preparation (decades ago).


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## ZoomZoom (Dec 18, 2009)

I'll add bread, peanut butter, fresh fruit and junk food. Canned soups and veggies may go quickly as well.


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## popandnan (Dec 22, 2010)

*panic buying*

Being from Ms, we were right in the midst of KATRINA and all of the confusion, destruction, terror, and finally the rebuilding of so much that was lost. If my memory serves me right, people were buying distilled water, batteries, canned soup, pb, bread and crackers. Lots of cookies and Lil Debbie cakes, too. Anything that needed refrigeration was of no use cuz most of us were with out electricty for weeks. That is when I first saw the need of prepping and being self-reliant.


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## The_Blob (Dec 24, 2008)

everything probably has been covered already but it seems to me that *toilet paper* flies off the shelves pretty fast... 

maybe canned fuel, socks, disposable flashlights, gallon ziploc bags, alcohol? :dunno:

trash bags & duct tape :nuts:


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## lexsurivor (Jul 5, 2010)

Here when an ice storm comes Rock Salt flys off the shelf.


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## tsherry (Dec 23, 2010)

SurviveNthrive said:


> If you've witnessed panic buying before a hurricaine, storm, after a quake or whatever, can you remember what items you saw people frantically buying?
> 
> I appreciate help with this as there might be something I forgot that clears the shelves quickly.
> 
> Thanks!


This was actually during the early stages, not 'before' the event:

At the grocery: Batteries and flashlights, milk ('regular' and dry), water, beer, bread/buns/muffins, meat of all kinds, fruit, candy and energy bars, sanitary supplies, canned soups and open-and-eat foods. Milk products were gone almost immediately.

At the sporting goods store: Generators and inverters; Coleman fuel, lanterns, stoves and heaters; propane lanterns, heaters and fuel; sleeping bags, flashlights and batteries, tarps. Down the line a long way, shotguns and shells.

At the hardware store: Flashlights and batteries, oil lamps and oil, kerosene lamps and fuel, generators, inverters, propane, charcoal and barbeques.

What didn't go right away: Water filters, season-appropriate outdoor clothing, boots, tools, dried foods, bulk foods.

This seemed to illustrate that people were under the (mostly correct) impression that the event was a temporary thing.

The event in question was an ice storm, shut down power for more than a hundred thousand people, some tens of thousands for 10-14 days...some hundreds of people were without power for a month.


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## The_Blob (Dec 24, 2008)

tsherry said:


> This was actually during the early stages, not 'before' the event:
> 
> At the grocery: Batteries and flashlights, milk ('regular' and dry), water, beer, bread/buns/muffins, meat of all kinds, fruit, candy and energy bars, sanitary supplies, canned soups and open-and-eat foods. Milk products were gone almost immediately.
> 
> ...


cereal goes pretty quick around here before/during early stages of a blizzard (not that they get too severe here IMO)


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## mdprepper (Jan 22, 2010)

This past winter when we were hit with the big snow storms, the junk food aisle was bare. Soda, chips, snack cakes and bread, milk, toilet paper. The liquor stores were doing a brisk business too.


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## Bigdog57 (Oct 9, 2008)

What floors me, is after the 'storm' has passed, and especially once the Hurricane Season ends, the folks who were so quick to do their last-moment stocking will then sell or give everything away - "Oh, we don't need that stuff anymore!"
Next season, they are at it again....... :scratch

On the other hand, you can get some killer deals on un-used generators and plywood after the 'season' ends.......


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## nj_m715 (Oct 31, 2008)

I love run on snow shovels around here. Where the hell did the old one go? Sure they can break, but my shovel is 10-15 years old.


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## HardenedPrepper (Dec 15, 2010)

Nobody mentioned COFFEE, how about life jackets, rubber raft, rain gear, goggles...


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## BizzyB (Dec 10, 2010)

In the mid-Atlantic, it's "Bread -- Milk -- Toilet paper". It's one part truth, one part regional inside joke, one part cultural imperative. It was even the theme of a lottery scratch-off game, once. Around here it is considered a civic DUTY to go buy these things (and whatever other perishables float your boat) in the hours right before a storm.


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## JayJay (Nov 23, 2010)

paper plates, paper bowls, paper cups, plastic spoons and forks??
:scratch won't have water for luxury of washing dishes...
They're in my prepping supplies.:congrat:


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## Frugal_Farmers (Dec 13, 2010)

After living through several hurricanes in Florida, we witnessed the run on the stores as the storm is approaching. Here goes: water, batteries, propane, milk, bread, cereal, canned meat, canned veggies, snacks, etc...

If you really want to get a good idea of what flys off the shelves first, go to any campground's camp store. Thos are the items we typical see flying off the shelf.

We did our energy blackout test on Tuesday and refined our list even further.


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## SurviveNthrive (May 20, 2010)

I heard about plywood in Florida and other places.

I also heard that post hurricaine season you can get slightly used sheets of plywood cheap!


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## popandnan (Dec 22, 2010)

*panic buying*

One thing I forgot to mention that left the shelves in a hurry was BLEACH.


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## JayJay (Nov 23, 2010)

I'm sure every house has water stored...with pool shock (calcium hypochloride only) you'll never have to buy bleach again.


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## ajsmith (Feb 1, 2010)

I watched a documentary on wal-mart and they said right before a hurricane hits all the stores in the region affected will have a run on pop tarts...take it for what it is......


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## 41south (Dec 4, 2010)

I witnessed NUTTY panic buying here in 95 we had a small snow coming, it was unreal, I had stopped at a store to just pick up some ice cream (for a pregnant wife) of all things. The store was playing what had to be a tape of the local weatherman, snow and ice forecast. I saw two women fighting over the last loaf of bread, we in Southeast TN, it aint like it's gonna stay froze for a month, but they were hooking I mean swinging, hair pulling and other more personal areas.

I laughed, picked the bread up myself and took it with me, but I learned from it, be ahead of the hordes if TSHTF. My theory is if TSHTF, we will be getting things the unprepped haven't thought about yet, while they kill each other at stores for bread and milk, we can be at farm stores getting large bags of salt, wheat, corn, powdered calf milk, and fertilizer possibly for free if things are real whacked out.


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## nj_m715 (Oct 31, 2008)

Pop tarts are poorman's MRE's. They might last just as long since they're in mylar. I have a few boxes here. Sure it's junk, but it'll fill you up while on the move and hold you over until you can cook a real meal. They're a close cousin to the value granola bars. Sports power bars have more nutrients, but cost 2-3 times as much.


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## JayJay (Nov 23, 2010)

nj_m715 said:


> Pop tarts are poorman's MRE's. They might last just as long since they're in mylar. I have a few boxes here. Sure it's junk, but it'll fill you up while on the move and hold you over until you can cook a real meal. They're a close cousin to the value granola bars. Sports power bars have more nutrients, but cost 2-3 times as much.


And poptarts were in the $1 aisle and I now have 3 boxes in my BOB.:2thumb:


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## sailaway (Mar 12, 2009)

Condums!:2thumb: around here the birth rate seems to go up 9 months after an event.


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## The_Blob (Dec 24, 2008)

when the world ends & you have to repopulate the planet, I will be SO glad you packed those condoms :lolsmash:


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## TimB (Nov 11, 2008)

While my son was in HS and a couple years after he graduated, he worked for a Publix grocery store. He said that the first things they ran out of (usually when snow was forecast) actually was milk and bread. :nuts: They had plenty of everything else on the shelves. I always laughed and said people were going to live off milk and bread if they got snowed in.  I have noticed the last few years on the news that when a winter storm warning comes out, the focus has shifted from grocery stores to Home Depot or Lowes running out of generators, shovels, and salt. 


Tim


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## ditzyjan56 (Oct 3, 2009)

While the east coast was to be hit with 1-2 feet of snow, here in WV where I live we were to get 6" to 12"+. I did my shopping before Christmas and stocked up on milk, eggs and such. I can't seem to keep milk in the house, I bought 5 gallons, that was Thursday the 24. When I called my daughter and told her to get her groceries before the storm hit, she said she would get her groceries later she was too busy. So being her fathers child lol. she waited until yesterday when the snow started flying. When she got to the store there was no milk, bread, water, eggs, and very little of anything else. By the time she left the store there was already 4 inches of snow on the ground. She came to my house and went shopping for what she needed. Luckily she knows mom will have it. By the time she left there was another 2 inches on the ground and she was leery about going home ( long [email protected]@ hill to go down) but she did make it home. She called me and said next time I told her something she would listen. 

My daughter knows I prep and agrees with me on the idea of why I prep but now I figure I need to do some more talking to her after this snow storm passes. Obviously she still doesn't get it. She still wants to wait till the last minute to get ready for a short term disaster. While I am stocked for a long term disaster i still live 5 miles away and there will be times she will not be able to get to my house. She has 3 children, 6, 18 mo and 4 mo.

Not exactly glad of the storm but at least she will think about prepping more seriously.


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## nj_m715 (Oct 31, 2008)

I don't need condoms, I'm married. Condoms are for people who are sexually active 

We did venture out as the storm was starting, but only to grab up a few after christmas sale items. We already had everything we need.


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## sailaway (Mar 12, 2009)

nj_m715 said:


> Pop tarts are poorman's MRE's. They might last just as long since they're in mylar. I have a few boxes here. Sure it's junk, but it'll fill you up while on the move and hold you over until you can cook a real meal. They're a close cousin to the value granola bars. Sports power bars have more nutrients, but cost 2-3 times as much.


The problem with Pop Tarts is I would eat them all!


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## Tirediron (Jul 12, 2010)

ditzyjan56 said:


> While the east coast was to be hit with 1-2 feet of snow, here in WV where I live we were to get 6" to 12"+. I did my shopping before Christmas and stocked up on milk, eggs and such. I can't seem to keep milk in the house, I bought 5 gallons, that was Thursday the 24. When I called my daughter and told her to get her groceries before the storm hit, she said she would get her groceries later she was too busy. So being her fathers child lol. she waited until yesterday when the snow started flying. When she got to the store there was no milk, bread, water, eggs, and very little of anything else. By the time she left the store there was already 4 inches of snow on the ground. She came to my house and went shopping for what she needed. Luckily she knows mom will have it. By the time she left there was another 2 inches on the ground and she was leery about going home ( long [email protected]@ hill to go down) but she did make it home. She called me and said next time I told her something she would listen.
> 
> My daughter knows I prep and agrees with me on the idea of why I prep but now I figure I need to do some more talking to her after this snow storm passes. Obviously she still doesn't get it. She still wants to wait till the last minute to get ready for a short term disaster. While I am stocked for a long term disaster i still live 5 miles away and there will be times she will not be able to get to my house. She has 3 children, 6, 18 mo and 4 mo.
> 
> Not exactly glad of the storm but at least she will think about prepping more seriously.


I was gonna say you have to stop bailing her out , you know tough love, but then I say the age of her children. but seriously you will have to remove the training wheels some time:flower:


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## tsrwivey (Dec 31, 2010)

Other than things already mentioned, the WalMart I go to was out of those blue water storage containers. That was when we were under threat of snow. Gotta love east Texas.


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## CVORNurse (Oct 19, 2008)

tsrwivey said:


> Other than things already mentioned, the WalMart I go to was out of those blue water storage containers. That was when we were under threat of snow. Gotta love east Texas.


My walmart only keeps 1 or 2 on the shelf at a time. So it only takes me or a like minded individual to run them out anyway. No chance in heck when there is actually a predicted storm coming our way.


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## mrghostwalker (Sep 17, 2009)

The big storm in the east caused the power to be out in our area for several hours. (I have a generator so I wasn't too uncomfortable) A few days later I was at Home Depot picking up parts for a project and I noticed that they were out of generators. Maybe people just need a wake-up call.


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## horseman09 (Mar 2, 2010)

mrghostwalker said:


> Maybe people just need a wake-up call.


Ya think? I am forever amazed how many people insist on having their head up their a$$.

Some sheeple will have their epiphany/wake up then their belly is empty or the predators are raping their women. Too late then. It's called the normalcy syndrome.


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## BadgeBunny (Nov 2, 2010)

There was a really, really bad ice storm here back in 2007. I just happened to be living on a 400+ acre property about 10-15 miles from the closest grocery store, gas station, liquor store (Hey! Everyone has their own set of priorities ... ).

I couldn't get the car out of the shop for a week. But that was okay because we couldn't get the road cleared to get off the property for a week. (Nothing like having a half-mile long drive on private property.) By the time I got into town I was amazed at just how unprepared people living in a pretty rural community (who, btw, pride themselves on being self-sufficient) were. 

Most of the stores in town were still closed (no power). The ones that were open only took cash. There were people freaking out at the gas station because their debit cards and credit cards were not working and they didn't have any cash. The shelves were bare ... I mean completely bare.

I would like to tell you that I was prepared because I had thought that far ahead. Actually though, the more true statement is I was prepared because I was lazy. I HATED driving into town with a passion so I had stocked that cabin to the gills so I wouldn't have to get out.

The only reason I went to town that day was out of curiosity. I took one look, made a u-turn at the end of town and went right back home. Didn't come out again until the other folks that lived out there told me things were back to normal -- about 2 weeks or so. They were all flabbergasted that I didn't need anything from town.

Oh yeah ... the coolest thing about that storm ... for several nights after the storm blew through I could lay in bed at night and listen to tree limbs snapping under the weight of the ice. It sounded like I was in the middle of an artillery field. Oddly restful to feel that isolated. I kinda miss it sometimes.


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## Immolatus (Feb 20, 2011)

BizzyB said:


> In the mid-Atlantic, it's "Bread -- Milk -- Toilet paper". It's one part truth, one part regional inside joke, one part cultural imperative. It was even the theme of a lottery scratch-off game, once. Around here it is considered a civic DUTY to go buy these things (and whatever other perishables float your boat) in the hours right before a storm.


Since Im new here, and guess always will be, I'm always reading through all of the old posts for knowledge. Saw this and had to laugh. I didnt realize it was so specific to our area.


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## ar15bob (Feb 23, 2011)

We moved from the city ,we installed a coal stove and gen set,been preping for about three years,my dad who recently movedin with us thought we were nuts didnt need the genset,and could heat with oil wellthat was then untill the the power went out and the price of oil went to 3.60 a gallon since then he has changed his frame of mind, now supports our preps ,not so crazy are we. Keep moving forward


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## BasecampUSA (Dec 26, 2010)

BadgeBunny said:


> Oh yeah ... the coolest thing about that storm ... for several nights after the storm blew through I could lay in bed at night and listen to tree limbs snapping under the weight of the ice. It sounded like I was in the middle of an artillery field. Oddly restful to feel that isolated. I kinda miss it sometimes.


We had that same thing up here 1997 in New England, BB... 
North American ice storm of 1998 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

*All the time you could hear the trees snapping one after the other, it was terrifying!*

We were without power for 3 weeks, but we have a 4.5kw diesel generator - so we didn't suffer much, as we heat with wood and solar anyway. But I felt sorry for all those other poor people that weren't prepared.

Generators were sold out in 2 days, they were pulling generators from shelves in other states to send up here. Groceries were in short supply and since there was no power, the gas stations were closed too.

You would think that people would learn, -but no... used generators were in every newpaper ad and yard sale by the next spring. As if it wouldn't ever happen again.


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## Berta (Apr 8, 2011)

People make a run for milk, bread and eggs.... disaster french toast.


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## Woody (Nov 11, 2008)

Same here in central NC, Bread, milk and eggs. I make it a point to go to the grocery store the day before a storm is predicted. I call it my panic buying trip. I never end up buying anything because the lines are long and shelves are getting striped clean but it is fun to see folks with two grocery carts of PERISHABLES.


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## Centraltn (Feb 21, 2011)

Don't forget to lay in a supply of canned foods that are one dish meals and can be eaten cold if necessary.. things like Beef stew, chile, ravioli chicken stew etc etc and something to eat them out of as well as a can openner. Batteries(prefferably rechargables and ofcorse a solar charger), solar rechargable flashlites/lanterns.. Portable radio and enough batteries to run it.


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## Clarice (Aug 19, 2010)

Looks as if most of the items were covered by others. Water, batteries, duct tape, gasoline, femine hygiene, toilet paper, disposable diapers, baby food, powdered milk.


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## ComputerGuy (Dec 10, 2010)

Centraltn said:


> Don't forget to lay in a supply of canned foods that are one dish meals and can be eaten cold if necessary.. things like Beef stew, chile, ravioli chicken stew etc etc and something to eat them out of as well as a can openner. Batteries(prefferably rechargables and ofcorse a solar charger), solar rechargable flashlites/lanterns.. Portable radio and enough batteries to run it.


Check!! :2thumb:


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## Kai22 (Apr 30, 2011)

BizzyB said:


> In the mid-Atlantic, it's "Bread -- Milk -- Toilet paper". It's one part truth, one part regional inside joke, one part cultural imperative. It was even the theme of a lottery scratch-off game, once. Around here it is considered a civic DUTY to go buy these things (and whatever other perishables float your boat) in the hours right before a storm.


This is exactly what flies off the shelves at our local grocery store right before a storm, as well. Haha, civic duty - exactly!


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## Davo45 (Apr 29, 2011)

mdprepper said:


> This past winter when we were hit with the big snow storms, the junk food aisle was bare. Soda, chips, snack cakes and bread, milk, toilet paper. The liquor stores were doing a brisk business too.


At the local convenience store they ran out of junk food, candy and beer before they ran out of milk, bread, soup and bottled water. They sold out of propane pretty fast too.


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