What’s Your Most Overlooked Prep Item?

GarnetDusk

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May 6, 2025
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What’s Your Most Overlooked Prep Item?

Reading glasses. It’s one of those things folks tend to forget until they’re fumbling with a map or small print on a medicine bottle. I stash several pairs in different kits and vehicles now, just in case. Curious if others have an item like this they tend to overlook or didn’t realize they’d need until a real-world situation. What’s the one thing you forgot about that you’d never want to go without again?
 
Bandaids and ointment always seem to get overlooked in my kits, especially the good waterproof ones. You’d think I’d have learned the first time I got a gnarly blister from working in the garden and nothing but a wad of paper towel to cover it! Another is an extra set of shoelaces. Lost or broken laces can make even a walk to the mailbox a misery if you’re not prepared, let alone in a real emergency. Funny how the little things end up being what you miss most when they’re not there.

I’m also a stickler for small notepads and pencils. Phones are great until batteries run out or there’s no reception, but being able to
 
Extra shoelaces—yes! I never thought of that until a pair snapped while I was in the middle of the woods, miles from home. Another item I always forget is a decent pair of tweezers. With all the gardening and wildcrafting I do, I'm forever pulling splinters or little thorns out. Anyone else keep herbal salves around for cuts and bites, or is that just me?