Dollar Tree Survival: What’s Worth Buying (And What’s Trash) | Episode 582
Every prepper loves to argue gear. Expensive gear. Fancy gear. Tactical gear.
But when weather hits and shelves start thinning out, a lot of the most useful stuff people grab doesn’t come from boutique survival stores — it comes from places like Dollar Tree.
This episode is a straight, no-nonsense breakdown of what’s actually worth buying there, what works in real life, and what you should absolutely never waste your money on.
Electrolytes, Drink Mixes, and Cheap Hydration Wins
Let’s start with one of the best buys: drink mixes and electrolytes.
I make my own electrolytes — quarter teaspoon of table salt, quarter teaspoon of light salt for potassium — but straight salty water kind of sucks. Flavor helps, and Dollar Tree has cheap packets that do the job.
Store brand electrolyte packets are usually around five bucks elsewhere. Dollar Tree? About a buck and a quarter. Good flavors, no nonsense. They don’t need to be fancy. They just need to get fluids into you.
I’ve been drinking more water and electrolytes at work lately instead of Coke, partly because I’m taking iron pills and caffeine messes with absorption. It saves money, cuts caffeine, and keeps hydration solid. That alone makes these packets worth stocking.
Allergy Meds, Band-Aids, and Medical Basics
Dollar Tree allergy pills actually work. We’ve used them. If an allergy pill doesn’t work, you know immediately — and these did.
That’s not something I’d say for every supplement in the world, but for allergy meds? Totally acceptable. That said, if you can plan ahead, Amazon year-supply bottles are still the better deal.
Band-Aids are another situational win. You don’t always need premium adhesion. Sometimes you just need to cover a small cut so it’s not open to bacteria. Especially with kids, cheap band-aids are fine for minor stuff.
They also carry:
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Isopropyl alcohol
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Hydrogen peroxide
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Cotton balls
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Vaseline (small tubs, but useful)
All of that belongs in a first aid kit or backup stash.
Feminine Products and Personal Care
Emergency feminine products from Dollar Tree work. They’re not luxury, but they do the job — and in preparedness, function beats comfort.
Toothbrushes are fine as backups. Toothpaste is okay if you need it right now, but the unit price usually isn’t great. Bulk buying elsewhere still wins.
Still, if you’re already there and you’re low? Grab it.
Batteries: Garbage, But Sometimes Useful Garbage
Dollar Tree batteries are bad. No debate. They’re trash in high-drain devices.
But here’s the thing: not everything is high drain.
TV remotes? They work fine. You’ll get months out of them. And because they’re so cheap, you can slowly build a backup stash just by grabbing a pack here and there.
We even use them as emergency backups in our propane on-demand water heater. It takes four AA batteries. No batteries means no hot water. Rechargeables are the primary solution — but if something goes sideways, Dollar Tree batteries will still get us through showers and dishes for a while.
In an emergency, “good enough” is still good enough.
Food, Snacks, and Bug-Out Bag Items
Dollar Tree snacks are solid:
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Granola bars
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Protein bars
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Instant coffee
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Coffee packets
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Drink mixes
They also carry instant espresso powder sometimes — and if you see it, grab it. That stuff is legit and fantastic for preps.
Small jars of instant coffee are great for pantries. Packets are better for bug-out bags. Cheap energy drinks and drink mixes are easy morale wins.
Tools, Electronics, and Stuff You Should Never Buy
This is where people screw up.
Do not buy:
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Tools
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Knives
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Electronics
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Headphones
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Power strips
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Surge protectors
It’s all junk. Unsafe junk in some cases.
Trash bags, on the other hand, are useful. Survival trash bags can collect water, act as ground sheets, improvised ponchos, condensation traps — tons of uses.
Duct tape and electrical tape are fine.
Notebooks, pens, pencils? Totally fine.
School supplies and basic learning materials? Acceptable.
But tools and electronics? Hard pass.
And for the love of God, don’t buy the Dollar Tree steak.
The Real Takeaway
Dollar Tree isn’t a survival store — but it is a supply store if you know what you’re doing.
Use it for:
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Hydration support
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Medical basics
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Cheap backups
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Snacks and morale
Avoid it for:
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Tools
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Electronics
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Anything you’d trust your safety to
Preparedness isn’t about buying expensive gear. It’s about knowing what works, what doesn’t, and building layers that make sense.
This is James from SurvivalPunk.com.
DIY to survive.
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