Emergency food for earthquake kit?

Wow Chris, thanks for the input :thumbup:

Mmm...Spam...I miss it :) Haven't had it in a loooong time.
 
sunshine said:
We tried this combo on a 7 day river camping trip, and found the Cliff bars/ Spam (regular-small cans), and good quality canned nut's go well together, were not too heavy to pack, and no upset stomach/loss of energy, (unlike MRE's). We did not feel deprived or unhappy because of food issues, and had plenty of energy...no ill effects at all.

Best of luck,
Chris.
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Chris brings up a good point. For 72-96 hours you can get by with most "emergency" foods, but for anything extended beyond that, you really need to consider storing food that you normally eat. Stress alone can cause severe stomach issues. MRE's are the same for me...I don't mind them for short exercises, but if I eat them 2-3 times a day for a week or two, they can play havoc on your stomach. They aren't bad, but much different than what I normally eat everyday and for most people you will get plugged up after a few days with them...talk about uncomfortable feeling:o If you do want to go the expensive route and buy several cases of top-shelf Mountain House dehydrated food, make sure you start with some of their samplers and go a week or so trying the various meals. Some you will like, some you won't; however, you'll really see if they digest well and don't cause issues with your stomach. We usually eat a Mt. House meal or two when backpacking and I haven't gone long periods solely with them, so I can't comment on eating them for extended situations.

I think for most short-term emergency food, you can just double up on a lot of stuff you normally shop in the grocery store for and rotate it. Like I said, stress alone will play havoc on your body, you don't need to add a new diet for your body to adjust to as well.

ROCK6
 
I recall pictures of San Fran when the last large quake hit in 1989 (We're saving "Big" for 1906 and the next Big One.). Large, steel-reinforced concrete public structures collapsed. First floors of many apartments were just gone - smashed flat under the second floor. Fires raced through the piles of rubble.

That rasies the question of whether water in containers will survive and what shape food will be in - and if you can you get at it.

A locked outside storage bin of the type sold for gardening tools and supplies? You need something you can be sure to get in that will be acessable if the apartment building goes wump! and you survive.

The natural gas may be turned off - will be in many areas.

Public water and electricity may be disrupted - will be in some areas.

Open fires will be banned over wide areas and the local G will be very, very nasty to those who ignore that rule.

There was no big "civil unrest" last time, but offering to trade your extra food for the other guy's firearm and ammo may result in his having the food. Will it result in you having the firearms and ammo?

Plan for camping out in the yard next to what's left of your apartment building. Water, shelter, security, food, personal comfort and sanitation, first aid. If you didn't need it, look how lucky you will be compared to the others.

Just a matter of when.

Are you on solid ground or old fill where there used to be swamp? Was your building built to replace soemthing that went down in 1989? (If so, move.)

Lovely city. I would not visit there.
 
This is the THIRD story of an apartment building resting on a car parked at the curb.
 

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Thomas Linton said:
I recall pictures of San Fran when the last large quake hit in 1989 (We're saving "Big" for 1906 and the next Big One.). Large, steel-reinforced concrete public structures collapsed. First floors of many apartments were just gone - smashed flat under the second floor. Fires raced through the piles of rubble.

That rasies the question of whether water in containers will survive and what shape food will be in - and if you can you get at it.

A locked outside storage bin of the type sold for gardening tools and supplies? You need something you can be sure to get in that will be acessable if the apartment building goes wump! and you survive.

The natural gas may be turned off - will be in many areas.

Public water and electricity may be disrupted - will be in some areas.

Open fires will be banned over wide areas and the local G will be very, very nasty to those who ignore that rule.

There was no big "civil unrest" last time, but offering to trade your extra food for the other guy's firearm and ammo may result in his having the food. Will it result in you having the firearms and ammo?

Plan for camping out in the yard next to what's left of your apartment building. Water, shelter, security, food, personal comfort and sanitation, first aid. If you didn't need it, look how lucky you will be compared to the others.

Just a matter of when.

Are you on solid ground or old fill where there used to be swamp? Was your building built to replace soemthing that went down in 1989? (If so, move.)

Lovely city. I would not visit there.
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Excellent post, Thomas. You cover some interesting questions that many don't think about.
 
Thomas Linton said:
That rasies the question of whether water in containers will survive and what shape food will be in - and if you can you get at it.

A locked outside storage bin of the type sold for gardening tools and supplies? You need something you can be sure to get in that will be acessable if the apartment building goes wump! and you survive.
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I have often thought about this, and it will be a problem for me. Right now everything is stored in my apartment (2nd floor, parking area directly underneath, I know I know). I don't have anywhere to put an outside storage bin. I might ask my neighbor in the next building if I could store some supplies in his garage (separate from his apt building). This is just a problem of being young, and not yet owning a home.

Thomas Linton said:
Open fires will be banned over wide areas and the local G will be very, very nasty to those who ignore that rule.
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Forgot about that, with regards to needing to boil water.

Thomas Linton said:
Just a matter of when.

Are you on solid ground or old fill where there used to be swamp? Was your building built to replace soemthing that went down in 1989? (If so, move.)
Click to expand...

Definitely. As for the ground the building is on, I don't think I need to worry about liquefaction, but I need to double check. I would not like to live in the Sunset area of SF (used to be a dune) or somewhere south of market in Mission Bay. Though apparently the new UCSF hospitals that are going up there will use some kind of system to anchor themselves to the underlying bedrock.


Obviously, I realize there are greater concerns than food, but that's where I am with the prep. One of my largest concerns is leaving my GF at home if I am called back to San Francisco General to work disaster relief. We have our plans in place, but that doesn't mean I still don't worry about it.
 
I'd go backpacker food too. They're tasty, nutritious and lightweight. I live in an earthquake zone too and want to do the same thing. I want to make the kit portable, which means I do not want cans: too heavy for the quantity of food they contain. You'll need to boil water which means a small LPG stove with a tiny 0.5-1 litre pot would be ideal.
 
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