Best Prepper and Survival Items at The Dollar Tree

Dollar Tree is one of the most popular discount retailers in the United States. It carries groceries and most household essentials and is famous for offering all of these for just one dollar. Dollar Tree is also a good place for preppers to pick up various items, especially for small kits and bug-out bags.

The Best Prepper and Survival Items at Dollar Tree are:

• Shelf-Stable Foods
• Kitchen Supplies
• Cleaning Supplies
• Personal Care Items
• Medical Products
• Household Items

This article will cover the specific items from each of these categories. I’ll also discuss some things that you need to remember when shopping at Dollar Tree to make sure that you get the most from your money.

Shelf-Stable Food

The first thing that preppers can pick up at Dollar Tree is shelf-stable food. They sell a lot of generic brands, but also sell several name brands that you would find at Walmart or Target. You can find canned soups and vegetables, along with canned fruits and jars of preserves.

Dollar Tree also has different types of dried food, including many varieties of Ramen. It isn’t the most nutritious stuff but many people like it. They also have different kinds of dry pasta and pasta sauces. When shopping there, you need to remember that since everything is a dollar, that also includes things that are a little less than a dollar at other places.

A perfect example of this is the Hunt’s Garlic and Herb pasta sauce. It is a dollar at Dollar Tree but is 96 cents at a certain big box store. This isn’t a big price difference but is something to think about if you are buying in bulk.

They also have dried beans and rice that you can put into mylar bags along with bottled water.

Related: Best Prepper and Survival Items at Walmart

Kitchen Supplies

The Dollar Tree is also a good place for preppers to pick up different kinds of kitchen supplies. They have a good selection of things like spatulas, ladles, and pans. If you buy that kind of stuff, I would recommend staying away from things with moving parts, like their can openers. I wouldn’t be too worried about picking up a wooden spoon or metal spatula since those are kinda hard to mess up.

They also have disposable aluminum pans that can be used for potluck-style meals. They’re also good for projects where you need something you can throw away afterward. I wish that I had one when I used paint stripper to remove the coating from one of my knives. Hanging the pans in your garden can help scare away animals.

You can find aluminum foil there as well, which has numerous uses when cooking. It works well to cover pans or rusty grill grates and to wrap up food when cooking. One of my favorite things to cook using that method is campfire dinners.

Dollar Tree also has different kinds of disposable plates. I like paper plates since you can burn them if you need to. This makes them a decent fuel source and easy to get rid of if the trash isn’t running. In addition, having disposable plates will allow you to save your water storage since you won’t need as much for cleaning dishes.

They also have a good selection of ziplock bags and trash bags. When picking up trash bags, make sure you know how many you are getting. Some boxes only have 5 bags in them, so they may not be as good of a deal as they seem. 

You can also find paper towels and toilet paper. A lot of what they have probably won’t be “the good stuff” but it will work fine if you can’t find anything else. Places like Dollar Tree may have items like this a little longer than other places after people start panic buying. The reason is that people will panic buy where they normally shop and the customer base of Dollar Tree is much smaller than that of large retailers.

Related: Best Prepper and Survival Items at Tractor Supply

Cleaning Supplies

The Dollar Tree is also a good place to pick up cleaning supplies. They have a good selection of dish soap, including some from name brands.

They also carry bleach, which is good for cleaning and disinfecting surfaces and clothes. However, I wouldn’t recommend it for disinfecting water since the only varieties that I saw were scented. 

You can also find other types of cleaning supplies for counters, sinks, and toilets. They also have sanitizing wipes, which I like since they are name brand and in a small package. This makes them good to stick in a bag, kit, or vehicle.

Dollar Tree also has a good selection of rubber gloves to protect your hands from chemicals along with cleaning sponges and scouring pads.

They also have both generic and name-brand laundry detergent. The smaller bottles are good if you are traveling or to keep in an emergency kit.

Personal Care Items

The Dollar Tree is also a good place for preppers to pick up various types of personal care items. They have a good selection of hand soap, and they also have hand sanitizer. The hand sanitizer at my store cost between 3 and 5 dollars, so not everything at the Dollar Tree is actually a dollar. However, the vast majority of items still are.

They also have deodorant and other items, like feminine hygiene products.

You can also find bar soap, and items like this make great barter items. Tissue is another good item to keep on hand for personal comfort and for trading.

Dental care items like toothbrushes, toothpaste, and mouthwash are good items to pick up there as well. Many of them are from name-brands and are the perfect size to put into bug-out bags or kits.

Medical Products

The Dollar Tree is also a good place for preppers to pick up various medical products. They have a variety of medications, including name brands like Advil. The big thing to realize when buying medications from there is that you get very little in a bottle or box. While they may only be a dollar, you may only be getting 6 or 8 pills.

I personally, would stick with name brands and use the small packages to keep in bags or kits. They also have different types of medical ointments like triple-antibiotic, anti-itch, and hemorrhoid cream.

You can also find antiseptics, like hydrogen peroxide and isopropyl alcohol. Just know that you can probably find hydrogen peroxide for a little less than a dollar at other places and the alcohol is only 50 percent. 

They also have a decent selection of bandages and athletic tapes.

Household Items

The Dollar Tree is also a good place for preppers to pick up different household items. The first of these is organizational aids. Like the hand sanitizer, many of these items are more than a dollar but they’ll help you keep your preps organized. You can also find different types of plastic tubs as well.

They also have a good selection of candles in various sizes, including votive candles, ones in jars, and tall candles.

You can also find different types of battery-operated lights. I haven’t bought one at Dollar Tree but the “light switch” style lights are good to keep in cabinets and their flashlights would be good to keep in a drawer as a backup.

They also have a couple of different types of solar lights. They have regular pathway lights as well as mini spotlights. These lights don’t produce a ton of light, but would be useful as night lights or to keep on countertops during a power outage.

Dollar Tree also has gloves that you can use while gardening or doing other light work. One of my favorite finds was their tarps and plastic sheeting. Both of these are a good size for covering windows without having to cut larger tarps or sheeting down to size.

They also have tools, but to be honest, those terrify me. If you want cheap tools, then Harbor Freight would be my go-to spot.

You can also find zip ties along with cheap paracord and rope. My favorite thing about the paracord is the spool that it comes with. The cord itself will probably be able to handle light jobs and then you can reuse the spool with the “real” 550 cord.

Dollar Tree also has different types of superglue, Loctite, and different kinds of tape, including duct tape, packing tape, and painter’s tape.

They are also a good place to pick up office supplies, like pencils, pens, and sharpies. They also have crayons and coloring books to keep kids occupied along with a small selection of toys. Giving a kid a new toy to play with during an emergency could make it less scary for them and easier for you as well.