Survival Food

Planning for full societal collapse is unreasonable. All of those scenarios are going to require a different set of plans and you just won't be able to make them all without giving yourself a neurosis. I think its fully reasonable to be sufficient for you and yours, plus a couple extras (maybe a kid's friend is over when a storm hits, or the out-laws are visiting) for a couple weeks. That would give you plenty of breathing room to start new plans as your situation dictates. Because you'll have a good idea after two/three days whats going to be the likely outcomes. The advice to eat what you store and store what you eat is going to be key. extra stress from a picky eater is not something you will need. Got a celiac or nut allergy in the house? that puts most of the survival food in the bin from the beginning. So why stock up on it, if one of your kids can't eat it? Besides, everyone is generally healthier the more they cook for themselves, a decent sized pressure cooker is like a time machine, makes everything more efficient, and is highly useful.

A good spice rack, some clever thinking and you can keep everyone happy for quite a long time. spices can also pad out blander foods, and make smaller portions seem less so. Salt and coffee are pretty important too.

In my mind, having everyone stay calm and comfortable for a few days while you assess the larger situation then allows you to help your family to more smoothly transition to the full on "we are on our own for now" Also knowing which neighbor is likely to need help, and which one will be able to provide some help is going to do far more than any amount of planning. We are a tribal species, and most of us have a true tribe of what, four people? how many of those will need looking after? Better to have that tribe group 10-20 where 5-6 are providers rather than doing it all on your own. And even if you know that the single 25 year old guy who lives down the block is likely to load his scrambler and head for the hills, at least you know he could take a message a few miles on his way.
 
I've always tried to maintain a 30-day supply of food. Achieving the same with water is the sum of several parts: bottled water, various water containers (3-, 5- and 7-gallon) and one of the bathtub inserts (forget the name) that we could fill while there's still running water from the tap. I noticed recently that we were past the expiration or "best by" dates on some food items, so they got used for meals ASAP with no apparent issues. I am a fan of the canned baby potatoes and Hormel canned chunk turkey, and the wife uses the little canned hams in omelets, so it's not as though it all has to be expensive survival food. Those are just a few examples of items that will store for years. Dinty Moore beef stew is another favorite of ours, and rumor has it that the stuff lasts practically forever.

For those concerned about lack of water for food preparation, keep that in mind when buying canned soup. Sure, the kinds that include water cost a bit more and take up more space, but . . . well, they don't require any water to cook them.
 
David Stifle said:
I'm glad I started this, as there's some very good input here. I can certainly store 30 days of drygoods and canned goods plus water at my house. I have a small place in the country, well water, set well away from population centers, where we would probably go in the event of trouble. I have a gen, various calibers of firearms/ammo for hunting both large and small game, plus some gasoline and diesel in store. I am still interested in the freeze dried food, though. It is supposed to last up to 25 years and I could store it in my unheated garage. Laurence, good point on the meds!
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Chief,
Everything I've ever read says that canned food that isn't dented or rusted "Bad" lasts indefinitely! Like way more than 25 years. I'm 57 so I don't thing I have more than one or maybe one and a half 25 year blocks I have to worry about. LOL
 
If it did go bad, the botulism should take you pretty quickly. but really, better to be cycling your stuff in and out, rather than risk loosing a bunch of stuff because you had a bad batch or other problem.
 
Sardines best food in the world. On sale in Costco from next week. $3 off.
They are not only yummy but good for muscles bones brain heart/ cholesterol.
My kids go crazy for that stuff and me too. 30 days on that sounds like a vacation.
Get the one stored in olive oil for the extra calories. Taste much better and smell less too than the watery kind.

Of course also got stock of rice and all kinds of beans and lentils. Indian stores have a huge variety.

Water is plenty in these 5 gallon Containers stacked on one of the garage walls. With a bit of added chlorine that will stay drinkable for a few years.
There are a few tricks on how to reuse and waste less but don't want to write a whole book here.

Got tons of mountain house meals and dried organic milk. They never expire since we use up the old ones when we vacation in less fortunate parts of the world.
Also got these yucky survival food bricks which they store on boats and maybe aeroplanes. Fits in a bag and has lots of nutrition per weight if we have to go mobile.

Some extra Gasoline is there as well but one day I have to check how much fuel the insurance company actually tolerates.

Got gas cookers and other stuff as well.

Electricity isn't an issue with our solar cells which cover 90percent of what we need during non emergency times.
Still got to figure out how to wire them since PGE shuts them down in a power outage as to not endanger their repair crews.
Also some battery bank would be advantageous since there isn't any sun during the night :-p

Baby wipes are great to wipe the behind area. If you can't take showers too often (conserving water) and sweat a lot (no ac) the backside gets pretty problematic if you only use plain paper. Moist tissues clean better and have less friction.
 
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Jens, you should be able to go for one of the power-wall options within the next year or so. From the sounds of it, the Tesla guys have gotten better cycle life out of the battery, and they are less maintenance and hassle than an equivalent bank of lead-acid deep cycles. There are a couple options, one is for regular folks, and one for those who have critical power needs, like at home oxygen machines and the like. but the fact that those batteries will be economically competitive is a great thing. I do believe that you should be able to isolate your system and still use the wall, Or make a buck or two back my letting the power guys use the battery to cycle in during high demand times. Of course that means when the outage hits, you just hit the switch, and sure you might be short a charge for a day or so, but some smart usage, and you'll keep the fridge and freezer running without too much worry. just depends on who owns which part I guess. But I was under the impression that the Cali govt was letting people go off grid when needed, and not restricting that. Of course local bylaws or power company policy may dictate that.
 
The solar option is a good one for self sufficiency (energy-wise). Have not looked at it from a practical point of view for a while and maybe it's time to re-visit that technology. Battery storage was always the problem. If you couldn't store power off grid, you were very limited in terms of use.

I find it interesting that if the power company turned off my house electricity, I could in fact make do pretty well although it would be inconvenient.
 
I haven't actually tried any freeze dri meals yet , but I gotta say that looking at them and having the means to cook them I'd say that they would still be better then no food in any situation .
 
22-rimfire said:
The solar option is a good one for self sufficiency (energy-wise). Have not looked at it from a practical point of view for a while and maybe it's time to re-visit that technology. Battery storage was always the problem. If you couldn't store power off grid, you were very limited in terms of use.

I find it interesting that if the power company turned off my house electricity, I could in fact make do pretty well although it would be inconvenient.
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Following the Japanese tsunami of 2011 they were selling retrofits for houses to reverse the flow from your electric vehicle to your house. There was enough juice there to power critical systems for a few days if memory serves.

I imagine it won't be long before you can charge your electric car using solar panels thus turning your vehicle into a large mobile battery bank.
 
Jens Schultz brought up another one that's important.

I keep about one gallon of chorine bleach, "Household Clorox" That way I can filter and sanitize any black water or standing water I come across.

We take so much for granted when we open the tap for drinkable water here in the USA.
 
Considering the state of the economy and that the Federal Reserve Chair appears to have had a stroke during a speech it may be a good time to consider economic preps. What will you trade if you need something and your money is worthless?

Gold, silver, gas, guns and ammo, toilet paper, smokes if you can preserve them, liquor, warm clothes/bedding, and trade/mechanic/metalwork/homestead skills.
 
Mountain House; Is a favortite on a lot of Backpacking/BackCountry hunting sites.
http://www.mountainhouse.com/M/category/entrees.html

I have an assortment of their Pouch Entree's & # 10 Cans. The pouches are rated to keep 7 yrs. The Cans 25

You'll also need a way to Boil water.
I have 2 of these http://www.cascadedesigns.com/msr/stoves/simple-cooking/whisperlite/product
Plus a 2 Burner Coleman

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The Whisper lites can use the same fuel as the Coleman & liquid works better in the cold & at Altitude than canisters

get a water filter/purifier, for family/household use I've got a British berkfeld big berkie
bigberkey4x2_LRG__19818.1285534773.1280.1280.jpg
 
Here's a good info source, if you are thinking going semi or fully off Grid
http://www.sma-america.com/home-systems/solar-system-off-grid.html

It's simple to install a second Breaker box isolated from the power Company. Then run secondary lines to critical systems, IE: refer & freezer to keep food safe.

And you really don't need power 24/7, a decent freezer will protect your food for 2 /3 days between cool down cycles.
 
You don't even need secondary wiring to those critical functions as long as the breakers are originally set up in a normal fashion. When the power goes out, kick the breaker that lets power into the house from public lines, and plug in and crank up the generator and turn whatever breakers to "on" that you need and rotate as needed depending on which part of the house you are in.

The generator hook up is something I had done by an electrician along with a couple additional outlets in the garage after we had a couple tornadoes within a mile or a few miles of my house. This is a very good thing that is not expensive to have done or do. As I recall, the power went out.... I figured this would be a while before it was restored. Checked the neighborhood for damage and perhaps offering assistance if someone needed it, then headed to Walmart for 5-gallon gas cans. I bought 4 new ones that day and filled them up with gasoline for the generator. To make a long story short, the power was back on when I got home. So much for preparedness. I used the gasoline for lawn mowers, and dumped some into my vehicles after a month or so. Best not to tell insurance companies about gasoline storage which was previously mentioned.

A 5500 watt generator will power a 220 volt well pump. Puts a strain, but it works.
 
Before feeding power directly into your home you need an electrician to OK it. I think the part you need is called a "transfer switch" but then I am no electrician.

You don't want to be the turkey whose electricity feeds back into the grid creating a lethal hazard for linemen trying to fix the grid. Neither do you want to be the guy whose house catches fire when the mains go back online and the grid overloads your generator.

Those big berkie water filters are solid. :thumbup:
 
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Chignecto Woodsman said:
Considering the state of the economy and that the Federal Reserve Chair appears to have had a stroke during a speech it may be a good time to consider economic preps. What will you trade if you need something and your money is worthless?

Gold, silver, gas, guns and ammo, toilet paper, smokes if you can preserve them, liquor, warm clothes/bedding, and trade/mechanic/metalwork/homestead skills.
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I've been thinking about trade goods myself. I think one of the most viable would be whiskey and cigs. If the shtf no one's going to care anymore about PC'ness, and smoking and booze should be premium trade goods. I know I wouldn't want to trade ammo or essentials. What do you guys think?
 
sideways said:
Before feeding power directly into your home you need an electrician to OK it. I think the part you need is called a "transfer switch" but then I am no electrician.

You don't want to be the turkey whose electricity feeds back into the grid creating a lethal hazard for linemen trying to fix the grid. Neither do you want to be the guy whose house catches fire when the mains go back online and the grid overloads your generator.
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They sell kits for this purpose. The most expensive part of the whole deal from a parts point of view was the extension cord with proper plug for my generator. Heavy wire is expensive these days.

Do get an electrician (licensed) to do the work. You don't really want to burn your house down trying to save $50 or $100.

The other facet to this is that you are bringing 220w power into your house and splitting it into 110w for most uses just like regular power. If you decide to plug your generator into a wall outlet (which technically works) you are limited to the breaker strength of that circuit (usually 15 or 20 amps). You can also burn your house down.... so don't do it except in an absolute emergency and I would tend to want to just run extension cords around in that case. I keep a fair number available and always buy "good ones".

I am very big on the generator thing for emergencies. It is the one thing that most working people can afford to do that is significant in impact. It typically requires gasoline other than the largest ones that run on natural gas or diesel. The back generators for such things as police department buildings are almost always diesel powered.

The one bad thing about actually being prepared from an electricity point of view is that your house will become a beacon of "life" during a longer term emergency and could attract "flies".
 
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Sheeee-it

I'd trade some time with the generator for a bit of good old fashioned manual labor. :)

Heating
Water storage / pumping
Cooking
Electric
Sanitation

Things too important to leave to the gubment or commercial systems.

Bonus points for having cold storage in the form of a root cellar / storm shelter.
 
With a drilled well, you can use bailers to lift water out assuming the depth to water isn't too great. It may not be fun, but at least you have a continuous source of clean water. Most domestic drilled wells are 6" diameter, so a 4" diameter bailer about 3 feet long can lift a lot of water pretty quickly. They're heavy too which is why most people use 2" bailers for environmental sampling.

+1 to the root cellar!

I just started reading the followup book to "One Second After" by William Forstchen. It was published in the last week or so. There will be a third book reportedly in a couple months. The first book scared the pants off me. Not many books will do that. You actually seem to experience things almost as if you were living it.
 
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