- Joined
- Aug 30, 2007
- Messages
- 5,483
I have a lot of long-term stored food in the house, mostly freezedried stuff and canned goods for when the SHTF, but there's just something about a small supply of hardtack thats fun to make and use. I don't even know why. To be honest, it tastes like crap. ...well, it doesn't really have any taste at all. In fact, unless you're currently in the Civil War, due to misuse of a time machine or reenactment, it's pretty much the most worthless shit on the planet. Yet, I still make it for camping trips and SHTF times.
Now, before you misunderstand my use of the phrase SHTF, don't think that I'm talking about nuclear war, social collapse, or the zombie epidemic I pray for nightly whilst watching my favorite G. A. R. movie. I'm referring more to real, more common scenerios which I've actually experienced and has taught me that you don't have to get caught in a nuclear winter to "test out your gear". I'm talking about long-term power outages, natural disaster, homelessness, dumbass camping ideas, etc.
To give a good example, when I lived just outside Memphis in the not-too-distant past, there was a terrible storm that came through with straight-line winds at hurricane velocity. It knocked down trees, fences, houses, buildings, power lines, and trashed vehicles, farming equipment and countless driveway basketball goals. Since this wasn't one of the big disasters according to the government and people who keep up with that kind of stuff, it wasn't big news and no help was coming. Even everyone who lived there thought, "this is going to be a quick fix. No big deal. The city will have us back up and running in no time." Inside downtown Memphis, no power was up for anywhere between a few days to a week. For those of us outside in city in small communities and farmlands, it was much more serious. Downtown and the suburbs had it pretty easy because their roads were relatively clear and clearing the few downed trees was quick work. In areas further East, all roads were trashed and no company vehicles could get to us to fix all the power and fuel problems. Plus, roads were only part of the problem. Even when the roads could be traveled, there were so many problems with the power lines, boxes, etc., that there just weren't enough people to fix it. At the time, I wasn't quite as mindful of how easy it is to be thrust into situations like the one which was about to take place, so I wasn't real big on preparation. I was just your average young American dummy with no thoughts of what I'm supposed to do if suddenly grocery stores no longer exist and the city turns into a miniature version of Barder Town. In my head, I thought I was prepared enough with all my survival training and gear that it wouldn't be an issue.
Gas stations that could be gotten to were quickly emptied of their gas. All stores were raided for milk, water, food, etc. I had it pretty good as far as transportation was concerned, owning several motorcycles, ATV's, and at the time I had a badass doomsday truck. It didn't do me a ton of good though since everything I would want to get to was already snatched by people either in similar vehicles, or lugging their bounty on foot. The places that did still have goods were closed and unmanned, and I'm not the type to steal so I wasn't going to chalk it up to necessary EOTW looting. Also, even though the city got their juice back within a few days, suppliers were still having trouble getting products to stores and gas to gas stations due to the roads outside the city being completely FUBAR for longer. When fuel trucks and food trucks would make it through, due to the amount of people outside the city that could get in still being screwed and everyone still running on generators, you had to be Johnny on the spot just to get a jug of water or a gallon of gas. There were all kinds of fights, crime, and problems at these places, so trying to get this stuff was somewhat risky.
At home, I had already taken the measures of figuring out which foods would keep longer without the fridge/freezer, and what needed to be eaten first. I was smart enought to fill up every jug I had with water, although luckily water never ended up being an issue. I tell you what, when I looked at that stockpile of canned foods and stuff, I thought I wouldn't have any problems at all. It wasn't like I had to go anywhere. I had a fireplace, a grill, and plenty of food. I was just disappointed that I would be missing all my shows. (This was before everyone had DVR) I was pretty set. Turns out, most of the cold-storage stuff I thought would keep longer went bad within a couple of days, and instead of it only being days before roads could be easily traveled and power was up, it turned out to be weeks. You really don't know how fast you go through canned food and ramen until it's your only option and you have an entire family of people eating it. Plus, I was a softy and the neighbors didn't really have anything so we gave them a bunch of our food. I hate to sound stingy, but that turned out to be a really stupid move. That's when I found out how fast you can blow through stored food, especially if you're not properly rationing it, thinking that "it will all be back to normal tomorrow". Turns out, what I thought would easily last a couple of weeks really only lasted maybe one week.
Needless to say, nowadays, I'm much more prepared in the food area, among other things, thanks to this and many other situations where SHittingTF was a lot more realistic and common than I would have though.
Anyways, back to this hardtack. Anybody else make this crap and actually eat it? What do you think about it? Do you like it? What other kinds of camping/SHTF foods do you like to store. Let's have a discussion.
GO!!!!!!!
Now, before you misunderstand my use of the phrase SHTF, don't think that I'm talking about nuclear war, social collapse, or the zombie epidemic I pray for nightly whilst watching my favorite G. A. R. movie. I'm referring more to real, more common scenerios which I've actually experienced and has taught me that you don't have to get caught in a nuclear winter to "test out your gear". I'm talking about long-term power outages, natural disaster, homelessness, dumbass camping ideas, etc.
To give a good example, when I lived just outside Memphis in the not-too-distant past, there was a terrible storm that came through with straight-line winds at hurricane velocity. It knocked down trees, fences, houses, buildings, power lines, and trashed vehicles, farming equipment and countless driveway basketball goals. Since this wasn't one of the big disasters according to the government and people who keep up with that kind of stuff, it wasn't big news and no help was coming. Even everyone who lived there thought, "this is going to be a quick fix. No big deal. The city will have us back up and running in no time." Inside downtown Memphis, no power was up for anywhere between a few days to a week. For those of us outside in city in small communities and farmlands, it was much more serious. Downtown and the suburbs had it pretty easy because their roads were relatively clear and clearing the few downed trees was quick work. In areas further East, all roads were trashed and no company vehicles could get to us to fix all the power and fuel problems. Plus, roads were only part of the problem. Even when the roads could be traveled, there were so many problems with the power lines, boxes, etc., that there just weren't enough people to fix it. At the time, I wasn't quite as mindful of how easy it is to be thrust into situations like the one which was about to take place, so I wasn't real big on preparation. I was just your average young American dummy with no thoughts of what I'm supposed to do if suddenly grocery stores no longer exist and the city turns into a miniature version of Barder Town. In my head, I thought I was prepared enough with all my survival training and gear that it wouldn't be an issue.
Gas stations that could be gotten to were quickly emptied of their gas. All stores were raided for milk, water, food, etc. I had it pretty good as far as transportation was concerned, owning several motorcycles, ATV's, and at the time I had a badass doomsday truck. It didn't do me a ton of good though since everything I would want to get to was already snatched by people either in similar vehicles, or lugging their bounty on foot. The places that did still have goods were closed and unmanned, and I'm not the type to steal so I wasn't going to chalk it up to necessary EOTW looting. Also, even though the city got their juice back within a few days, suppliers were still having trouble getting products to stores and gas to gas stations due to the roads outside the city being completely FUBAR for longer. When fuel trucks and food trucks would make it through, due to the amount of people outside the city that could get in still being screwed and everyone still running on generators, you had to be Johnny on the spot just to get a jug of water or a gallon of gas. There were all kinds of fights, crime, and problems at these places, so trying to get this stuff was somewhat risky.
At home, I had already taken the measures of figuring out which foods would keep longer without the fridge/freezer, and what needed to be eaten first. I was smart enought to fill up every jug I had with water, although luckily water never ended up being an issue. I tell you what, when I looked at that stockpile of canned foods and stuff, I thought I wouldn't have any problems at all. It wasn't like I had to go anywhere. I had a fireplace, a grill, and plenty of food. I was just disappointed that I would be missing all my shows. (This was before everyone had DVR) I was pretty set. Turns out, most of the cold-storage stuff I thought would keep longer went bad within a couple of days, and instead of it only being days before roads could be easily traveled and power was up, it turned out to be weeks. You really don't know how fast you go through canned food and ramen until it's your only option and you have an entire family of people eating it. Plus, I was a softy and the neighbors didn't really have anything so we gave them a bunch of our food. I hate to sound stingy, but that turned out to be a really stupid move. That's when I found out how fast you can blow through stored food, especially if you're not properly rationing it, thinking that "it will all be back to normal tomorrow". Turns out, what I thought would easily last a couple of weeks really only lasted maybe one week.
Needless to say, nowadays, I'm much more prepared in the food area, among other things, thanks to this and many other situations where SHittingTF was a lot more realistic and common than I would have though.
Anyways, back to this hardtack. Anybody else make this crap and actually eat it? What do you think about it? Do you like it? What other kinds of camping/SHTF foods do you like to store. Let's have a discussion.
GO!!!!!!!
