You don’t need a $300 kit to prep smart—here’s how to assemble a safe, legal stockpile for a fraction of the price

We compare $300 antibiotic kits with DIY, legal alternatives and show how to build a smarter, cheaper medical cache without cutting corners. We share scripts that work with doctors, telehealth options, and the must-have items that beat hype and handle real problems.

• true cost comparison of bundled kits versus generics
• what kit pricing includes and why it’s expensive
• barriers to future-use antibiotic prescriptions
• how to ask doctors for standby meds ethically
• telehealth routes and consult price ranges
• building a DIY cache for $100–$150
• why to avoid animal “fish” antibiotics
• adding chronic meds and 90-day supplies
• storage, labeling, and dosing guidance
• resources: Jase, Contingency, My GoToDoc, GoodRx

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Chapters

• 0:00 Why This Follow-Up Matters
• 0:58 Sticker Shock: Kit Prices vs Retail
• 2:36 What You Actually Get in Kits
• 4:00 The Real Barrier: Prescriptions
• 6:05 Costing Out DIY Equivalents
• 8:22 Convincing Doctors, The Right Way
• 10:31 Telehealth Routes and Pricing

Transcript

SPEAKER_01: 0:17

To the Common Sense Practical Prepper Podcast, where prepping doesn't have to be complicated or expensive. Coming to you from a well-defended off-grid compound high in the mountains. Coming to you from his Florida room in Richmond, Virginia. Neither off-grid nor well-defended, unless you count as chickens and cats, here is your host, Keith.

SPEAKER_00: 0:40

Hey everybody, this is Keith, and welcome back to the Common Sense Practical Prepper Podcast, October 13th, 2025. And this podcast is meant to be a follow-up for last night's podcast when I talked about your medical cachet and some of the options that you have out there. So last night I actually dug into the prices of these kits, like the Jace case, and I was actually floored by the cost compared to what these meds might cost separately. So with the Jace case, 270 to 290 for a single antibiotic case. I would be remiss if I did not pass along these costs and perhaps ways to maybe save a little money. So many of these meds like amoxicillin, doxy, and other generics cost between$4 and$10,$15 at places like Walmart. So here's the rub convincing your doctor to prescribe a full series of antibiotics or everything that you need for an SHTF situation. So remember, I'm the guy who avoids doctors like the plague, no pun intended, I don't ask for directions, and I leave half-used meds lying around. So I'll break down some of these kits and how pricey they are, and maybe how you can build your own kit for a fraction of the cost and ways to secure those legally. I'll never advocate for doctor shopping or anything like that. These are legal ways to obtain those prescriptions. Now, folks outside the United States, I am not familiar with how you secure your prescriptions or even if this is an option. People down under, give me an email, drop me a line, let me know what you do if you are able to get a course of antibiotics like this for your medical kit. The price tags. The JACE Medical Jace case in 2025,$289.95. Just make it$300. Five antibiotics, amoxicillin, doxy, rethromycin, CIPRO, covers about 50 infections. It comes in a durable case, a dosing guide, telehealth consultation with a licensed physician. Well, let's hope there are licensed physicians, and then shipping to a U.S. pharmacy where you go pick it up. Contingency's medical ready pack between$200 and$250 offers similar antibiotics, plus a year-long consult with a doc. A lot of folks like the Jace case because it's simplicity, there's not much of a weight, and it's very convenient. Contingency is very reliable and a little more budget friendly. So the high cost for these two cases, for these two particular companies, comes from the convenience factor, I guess you could say. The doctor's fee, pre-selected doses, 20 to 30 pills per med, one or two treatment courses, and their guaranteed legal prescriptions. Now, Jace claims that the retail for these meds are between$630 and$750, which is true if you're paying out of pocket cash with no insurance, no discounts. They're much less expensive. The real issue is that the doctors rarely prescribe future use antibiotics, and this is due to the CDC and other guidelines aimed at reducing antibiotic resistance. Companies like JSON Contingency use telehealth to get around that, but you're paying for that service. So let's explore a couple less expensive approaches. Generic meds, low cost alternatives. Amoxicillin, 20 to 30 tablets,$4 to$10 at Walmart, with Good RX, the app at CVS, between$4.50 and$10. Doxycycline, 14 to 30 capsules,$5 to$10 at Walmart,$8 to$15 at other places. ZPAC,$6 tablets,$10 at Walmart,$15 at CVS. CIPRO,$20 tablets,$10 at Walmart,$10 at CVS. So you see where I'm going with this. So a total for a JAS case equivalent stockpile is between$30 and$50 for one course and between$100 and$150 for two to three courses, well under the$300 for the Jace case. And what I mean by courses, if the doctor says take these pills one a day for the next 30 days, 30 pills is the course. So if they give you 60 for this particular prescription, it would be two courses. So now my leftover steroid cream that I spoke about last night, the hired of cortisone derivative, about$10 retail. So obviously I'm adding that to my kit for rashes, insect bites, anything along that line. The challenge is getting your doctor to prescribe these medications, these antibiotics for preparedness. I looked on Reddit, on one of these subreddits, and one of the doctors just refused outright. And somebody else was able to get their doctor to write the prescription. So doctors hesitate to prescribe antibiotics for future use because of overuse and it contributes to super bugs. Medical guidelines are very strict, but there's always legal ways to obtain these prescriptions affordably. Here's number one. Instead, say I'm planning for a long off-grid trip, not a lie. Can I get antibiotics for potential infections like travelers' diarrhea or wounds? Or my family has a history of UTIs, can I get a standby script? Folks report that this works about half the time. Look, Doc, I need some meds because when the zombie apocalypse comes, I need to have a full course of antibiotics. This is what I'm thinking. So follow along with me, Doc. I'm thinking if I or a family member gets bit by a zombie, I've done my research and I'm pretty sure that within the first 15 to 20 minutes after a bite from a zombie, if I'm able to administer ZPAC or some CIPRO, I'm confident with zero medical training, I am confident that there is a very small chance that I or my family member will not turn into a zombie. So what do you say you get out that little script pad and you start writing a bunch of stuff I can't read? And there we go. Don't do that. Number two, use telehealth services. Avoid the markup from Jace and the others and use a platform like My GoToDoc, which offers consults that cost between$90 and$150 and sends prescriptions to a low-cost mail order pharmacy like Cost Plus Drugs, allowing you to build this kit for between$100 and$200. And there's other telehealth companies out there. Push Health charges between$25 and$50 per consult. And one user commented on Reddit that they were able to get a year's supply of Doxy Sight Clean for about$60. And again, individual results will vary. Leverage your routine visits. During your next checkup, and I know I once a year, whether I like it or not, I go, tell the doc, look, I'm focused on self-reliance. Can we discuss backup antibiotics for emergencies? An open-minded doc might agree. Meds for chronic conditions. And this is fairly simple, probably a lot easier than the first three I just mentioned. If you need ongoing meds like blood pressure or high cholesterol, request a 90-day prescription or a 90-day mail order prescription through services like Express Scripts and a few others. They're very cost effective. And in this case, a 90-day supply would be stockpile friendly. So for budget-friendly kits, contingencies$199 pack, there's some alternatives. Avoid fish biotics at all costs. I did a little bit of research on those, and I can't find really anything endearing about those. So I'm going to look into my go-to doc. Next time I go see my doc, whenever that might be, when I'm, I guess I'm missing a limb. When I go see my doc, I'm going to ask her about a standby script for a couple different antibiotics. So to wrap this all up, folks, you can build a robust SHTF medical stockpile for between$100 and$150 using telehealth, Good RX, and other apps that are out there. So you can always check out Jace Case or Contingency. So that's jace medical.com or contingencymedical.com or check out my go-to doc and see what they have to say. And again, folks, for my listeners outside the United States, I would love to hear what options you have if you have any. I might be surprised. The folks down in Australia might be like, oh, this is easy. The docs will write this, the docs will write that, or maybe it's quite the opposite. They treat the stuff like gold and they just don't write prescriptions in advance. So again, folks, I wanted to get on here as quickly as I could after I did some research last night and early this morning to provide a little context. There are less expensive options out there, but it might take a little more work to get it taken care of. But I will update you on go to doc.com and see what they have to say. And I put a link in my Twitter account earlier today. Local prepper is on YouTube. Check him out. He has a great beard, by the way. It's funny how great minds think alike. I noticed I was looking at his channel on YouTube, and I noticed like a week ago, he did a case-by-case comparison between Jace Case and the competition. It's interesting on the result. So go check out Local Prepper on YouTube. He's also on the Twitter, so you can find him there. All right, folks, again, thanks for hanging out. And as always, be careful out there. Take care of one another. And until next time.

SPEAKER_01: 11:20

Thanks for listening to the Common Sense Practical Prepper Podcast. Be sure to subscribe so you don't miss an episode. While you're at it, help spread the word by leaving a rating and review.