Save Money on Preparedness Items Now
Happy hurricane season guys. Along with hurricane season comes an annual emergency preparedness tax free holiday that you may not know about in many coastal states, meaning that a lot of supplies related to general preparedness become tax exempt for sales tax for the next week or two depending on where you live. Even if you don’t live in these states, a lot of these items are on steep sale nation wide. For us in Florida, that means a lot of savings on preparedness items from June 1st to June 14th. It’s like black friday for the prepared citizen. This is a little deviation from our usual videos, but I want to start getting into topics of practical preparedness on this channel. I really don’t like the fearmongering genre, that isn’t our channel, but preparedness to me is all about being capable and well rounded.
Why now is a good time to stockpile Preparedness Essentials
I know what you’re thinking, for most of this stuff it comes out to pennies. However, oftentimes the tax savings are bundled by vendor sale prices, as retailers drop prices to incentivise purchasing, so there are some wild deals to be had on preparedness items during these periods. And since prepardness is adjacent to gun culture, I thought I’d make a video on on my favorite items.
Top Preparedness Items on Sale for the 2024 Hurricane Season
So without further ado I want to discuss some of the top sales to be looking out this week. The links to everything features in this video will be in the description, and I’ll be updating our blog post attached in the description with more deals as I find them over the next 2 weeks not covered in this video. Comment below with your deals and I’ll add them to the list.
Gas Generators under $3,000
Let’s start with the biggest ticket item, generators. In Florida, generators are going to be tax free up to a $3,000 purchase. Pair that with many of the sales, there’s some serious savings if you were waiting to buy a big ticket generator.
Get on Amazon from $149
Gas generators range the gambit from small to large. I’ve seen them on amazon for as cheap as $149 and way up to that $3,000 threshold.
Solar Generators / Power Stations under $3,000
This also includes solar generators and power stations. I picked up this bluetti power station, which can be hooked in with a solar panel, for $198, on sale from $350. Now this is far from the top tier and largest power station money can buy. Speaking from experience, these are really nice for short term power outages, which are fairly common during huricane season, as they can power household lamps and fans for several hours. I’ll do a full review of this device in the future when I have more experience with it, but this is great to have during power outages and on camping trips.
Bluetti Power Station
With a 600W AC inverter, 268Wh LiFePO4 battery pack, and 9 outlets, this power station will keep your essential devices powered on the go or during a home power outage.
Standard Bulk Batteries ($50 or less)
While on the topic of electricity, this is definitely the right time to be stocking up on batteries. AA, AAA, 9 volt, C cell, etc. Amazon basics are typically the cheapest when buying in bulk. They’re extra discounted this week, but moreso with it being tax free, its a good time to stock up.
At some places, Battery organizers are on sale as well and included in the tax holiday, so I picked up this one from home depot. These are awesome in terms of preparedness since you aren’t having to grab a bunch of loose batteries, just grab the case and go.
Amazon Basics Batteries
Extremely affordable, available in bulk quantities. Amazon basics are our “Go-To” battery for powering electronics.
(Not Included, but still worth it) Ryobi Days at Home Depot
These are not included in the tax holiday, but home depot right now has a deal where if you buy a battery pack for $99 you get a free power tool. If you watch this channel much you know that I love Ryobi power tools since the batteries are cross compatible and you can use them as a backup power supply in a pinch. So for these reasons I have a stockpile of Ryobi tools and batteries as a backup to my power station. I ended up getting this angle grinder, the two batteries, and a charger for $99.
Fire Extinguishers (Under $70)
And while at Home depot, I also picked up this two pack of fire extinguishers for $20, also tax free. I already had one for the house, but now I can have put a spare one in another cabinet and I can have one in the car. Note that I still need to velcro it down.
Tarps and Tie Downs (Under $100)
Other hurricane neccessities for protecting property are on sale and tax free also, things like tarps even camo tarps, which you might use for various outdoors activities. Unfortunately camo netting is not discounted, I checked.
Camo Tarp
Tarps can be extremely helpful in hurricanes. Amazon has tarps in cool patterns that can be useful for recreational outdoor activities in addition to Hurricane emergency preparedness
Portable Self Powered Flashlights (under $40)
Hand crank and solar powered flashlights are on sale. Unfortunately regular flashlights are not, so if you were hoping to get that Surefire tax free, unfortunately it isn’t a great time for that.
Two Way Radios (under $50)
Two way radios are on sale and included in the tax holiday, so items like these baofang two way radios you can get on amazone are tax free this weekend. These are nice because they have the kenwood style inputs, so you can use them with push to talk headsets. I’ll do a future video on comms setups.
Baofang 2 Way Radios
In open areas, the distance can be up to 3 miles. If in a city or town, the walkie-talkie can go 0.7-1.2 miles in most cases.
Radios with Weather Band Capability (under $50)
Moreover, radios with emergency channel capability, like NOAA radios are also included. This therefore includes certain hamm radio models that have the ability to listen in on NOAA stations. In my opinion, these have way more utility than just a standard weather radio, as you have all the utiltiy of a hamm radio, but you can listen in on NOAA weather channels with the tap of a button. At only $30 it sits under the price threshold and it has an easy user interface and great range. Again, the ability to attach kenwood style push to talk devices allows you to operate the radio hands free, which can be extremely helpful for communicating in the aftermath of a hurricane.
UVK5 Radio with NOAA Bands
My Go-to radio for emergency preparedness.
Coolers and Ice Packs (under $60)
Coolers upto $60 and ice packs are also included in this deal, so I stocked up on mini ice packs and bought myself an on sale coleman cooler for $35.
Coleman Rolling Cooler
With coupon, I got mine for about $35.
Conclusion
If you find a good deal, comment on this post and I’ll add it to our blog post. Thanks for watching and be safe this hurricane season.
