quote:

Originally posted by Ryanp225:
Good call on the coffee. My band will need the caffeine.

I mean what savages survive TEOTWAWKI without a good cup of coffee!

quote:

Originally posted by dave7378:

quote:

Originally posted by Censored:
Not a food prepper, but we have 3 grocery stores,2 drug stores, and 3 gas stations nearby. Can take by force if necessary

This is not a statement but a question. Are you advocating taking(iow, stealing) from others, "by force if necessary" rather than preparing now while you have the time and resources?

I'm guessing that the post was made in jest. More than a few store owners are armed and organized such as the Korean merchants during the Rodney King riots in Los Angelas.

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:
I prep for hurricanes and a couple weeks of interruption from it.

The criminal class in Houston looks at hurricanes as an opportunity for short-term anarchy. My neighbors and I look out for one another.

Damn. That's a good wake up type reminder. I need to break down and get that mini-14 I've been thinking about getting for the last 30 years. And some MREs. Where does one buy MREs ?

The only "special" set aside emergency food is one container of mountain house.

In reality if things are real bad I have an elderly father and other family with small children I'm likely to give all my food to anyway.

I’m a preppie. Last items on the check list are body armor, night vision, and suppressors.

Biggest issue will be SWMBO has a large heart, and will not be able to tell neighbors “no”. We’ll see what happens when SHTF.

Check out “The Dark Secrets of SHTF Survival: The Brutal Truth About Violence, Death, & Mayhem You Must Know to Survive” if you’d like some perspective on this issue...

https://www.amazon.com/gp/prod...06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

quote:

Originally posted by vinnybass:

quote:

Originally posted by RNshooter:
Darthfuster-

I wish I lived closer to you. I like your plan and would join up, if I was your neighbor

I may have to work on the neighbors. We live in the city but our street is pretty tight. I could see a small group of us cooperating and making each other pretty comfortable. As well as making looters pretty Uncomfortable (looking at some of you others in this thread lol).

Bruce

I'm near Durango HS. Are we neighbors?

Vinny-

Not quite (I am E and S of you) but closer than the rest of the forum, I'm sure.

If someone blows the Hoover Dam I will invite you to the Utah bug out house.

Bruce

quote:

Originally posted by RHINOWSO:
Realistically if you need to fend for yourself for over 3 months in most of America, shit is going to be very very bad for lots of people.

Absolutely. The lucky ones may be the ones to go first. I'm not worried about myself but for my family if that were to happen. I consider myself to be a prepper and have taken many years to build up food, water resources, medicine, defense, training, items to barter, etc and I still don't think it would be enough in a true SHTF scenario. Temporary disasters, no problem. Long term, hope I never have to find out. One of the most important things I have learned is OPSEC. Don't let anyone outside of the circle know what you are doing or what you have. They will be the first ones to knock on your door.

quote:

Originally posted by OKCGene:
My short response:

Get a Pressure Canner. Get Mason Jars. Learn. Do.

You can and should can Meats. Not just fruits jellies and vegetables. Meats are easy to pressure can and will have a pretty darn good shelf life. Any kind of meat is fine.

You can and should pressure can Water. Canned Water in the glass Mason Jars is sterile, clean, and lasts forever. Far better than plastic bottles and jugs. Mason Jars come in upto a 1/2 gallon size.

Get all of the glass Mason Jars you can get. New ones are great. So are used ones, look at garage sales, Craigslist, estate sales, etc. Old and used, makes no difference, all glass jars get cleaned and sterilized before use.

Get educated first. The University of Georgia has the National Food Preservation For Home Storage. This is from the USDA. Don’t follow grandmas or aunties old recipes, probably not safe by today’s standards.

Here’s the LINK go here and learn. Download what you wish for reference.

Good luck to y’all.

Yep

quote:

Originally posted by darthfuster:
This has all been made easier with the freeze dryer.

Absolutely. Perhaps the best purchase I've ever made. Spendy? Yup. But I'll thank the good Lord I bought it when some nutjob knocks out the grid and we're all fooked. Now...if they'd just make the new oil-less pumps available. They keep pushing back the available date.

I have well over a years worth of main courses, veggies, and fruit stored up.

quote:

Originally posted by jimb888:

Bring it on.

Yessir. I'm not quite as ready as you, but I feel confident that I'd do just fine for a good long time if needed.

The one big item that I'd like to implement this year is an off-grid solar system. I've been procrastinating, however. My theory is that the most likely scenario is an EMP. Should that happen, I'm back to where I am now as the system would fry instantly. I suppose I could wrap it all in a grounded copper mesh, but....

Thanks for mentioning the manual safe. Currently my cash, gold, and silver are in an electronic safe and I've been meaning to pick up another but have just forgotten.

One thing that I might suggest to other preppers is seeds. If you have even a semi-green thumb, start gardening and preserving. I've stockpiled and rotated many different varieties of heirloom seeds for veggies and spices (although I have pounds of the major spices vacuum sealed for SHTF).

I kind of see this all as a bit of a hobby, even though it is the way I and many of us grew up. My parents were depression era, and knew what it took. It's just how I was raised. Gardening, canning, raising your own meat, eggs, etc.... Not only is it a fun hobby, but it will save your life (such as it is), and it is so much better for you.

I'm not deluded enough to think I'm prepared for a long term TEOTWAKI event. Though, I'd just rely on prior military experience and a professional level tolerance for being miserable!

I do have decent short to mid term preps though. I could do a "Katrina" type event in the home for sure. Need to step up my "bug out" game though. Have the gear and food, but it is not organized for quick packing. Also just got a wall tent with a wood stove that is 4 season capable and I can load it on the truck in its hitch mounted rack in 5 minutes.

I too have a home freeze dryer because my Mom is nuts about them and upgraded to the latest model and gifted me her old one. I just intentionally cook big meals on occasion and freeze dry the leftovers.

I probably have 6mo worth of food for the family, but only 3 days of water. I'm in the PAC NW though, water is everywhere and a few drops of bleach will purify. I need to store more water though, a small generator would be nice, and organize stuff for a bug-out.

MREs are generally speaking a crappy prep. They are bulky, heavy, expensive and only have a 5-ish year shelf life. They are great for something near their designed role, to be eaten easily on the move with no prep needed. For me (outside military ops), that means in the bug out/get home bag role.

Freeze dry food is horrible for that role as it will dehydrate you if you eat it dry and otherwise needs water and prep time. It is excellent long term as it is light wight, tastes great and can have up to a 25+ year shelf life. Downside is it is expensive if bought retail. Dehydrated staples like beans, rice, wheat etc. are cheap and long-term storage. They need more effort to make taste good and much more prep time. Gardening and canning and home dehydrating is the old-school way that is effective and inexpensive, but time consuming.

Simply buying extra canned and dehydrated goods each trip to the grocery store or Costco and building up a reserve, then eating in it "first in, first out" style is the least time-consuming way and very cost effective.

quote:

Originally posted by deepocean:

quote:

Originally posted by darthfuster:

This has all been made easier with the freeze dryer.

Do you use the upgraded pump or the standard pump? Did you buy the biggest home one? They keep coming down in price and improving things.

I have the standard oil pump. It is a little messy and a little hassle, but I can't justify another $1500!

I have a medium, but like my post above mentions, it was a gift. If I was buying one, it would be a large for sure. It is the most cost-effective and efficient. For the same processing time and only a little more energy, you get 60% more food!

Pro-tip; Home Depot (online) sells them, typically less than even the Harvest Right sale prices and you'll also save $200 on shipping costs with a local pick up. The prices on HD can fluctuate and also be different based on color.

quote:

Originally posted by deepocean:

quote:

Originally posted by darthfuster:

This has all been made easier with the freeze dryer.

Do you use the upgraded pump or the standard pump? Did you buy the biggest home one? They keep coming down in price and improving things.

We use the standard pump. I found an oil source that is super cheap and makes the pump run pretty quiet. I was going to get the oilless pump because the pump oil we were told to get was very expensive and changing it was a mess. But I set up a system to drain, filter and re-fill that is clean and no trouble at all. Plus as I mentioned, I found a source that is very cheap. We got the middle size since the big one was.....well....big. It only offer one more tray than the middle one which fit our space better.

Anyway, we rotated all of our MREs and canned storage out because the freeze dried food is lighter and stores longer. It is a game changer. I winced at the start up cost. But considering how costly freeze dried food is, We can do our own for a fraction and every batch is cheaper than the previous. We honestly plan to continue drying indefinitely. The way I see it, there has never been a time when food was easier to acquire and as inexpensive than it is now. So we store for when that changes. It's so simple and work free it almost feels like cheating.

RNshooter, You are welcome to come. We'll fill your belly and put you to work for as long as you can stand it. Bring your AR

Where I am, .22 ammo easily converts to food. Squirrels, raccoons, etc. There's also fish for a while in the stream.

If things get really bad, I could "find" a deer that someone else hit with their car Of course, I think at that point state fish and game won't be asking about tags.

I live by the Great Lakes. I have a few fishing poles in the garage and plenty of ammo. I’m good.

When things go bad in a society/country, animals are the first things to go, both domestic and wild. Unless you're truly out in the middle of nowhere, feeding yourself off the land will be an issue in short order.

quote:

Originally posted by Strambo:
I'm not deluded enough to think I'm prepared for a long term TEOTWAKI event. Though, I'd just rely on....a professional level tolerance for being miserable!

I'm screwed after 2-3 weeks. Not nearly prepared enough. At the same time I live in the suburbs of DC. I'd never be able to stay in/defend my house. I am fucked either way. Anything over one month I would be forced to leave my house with minimal supplies and have to find/barter/steal/grow my own.

I'm a ten-year-event prepper. I want to prepare for anything likely to occur on a ten-year horizon. That includes economic downturns, weather disasters, water and power outages, and supply chain disruptions. The world isn't likely to collapse any time soon, but some or all of these events will likely happen in the course of a decade.

quote:

Originally posted by chongosuerte:
I expect most of the country could go several weeks without a morsel and be better off.

Water, on the other hand, would be a problem.

I see your point but a very small percentage are prepared for indefinite fasting/lowered calorie existence. For the rest it would be extremely painful or downright fatal.

Sardines last a loong time. And a 1/4c Olive oil has 477 calories.

quote:

Originally posted by deepocean:

quote:

Originally posted by darthfuster:

We use the standard pump. I found an oil source that is super cheap and makes the pump run pretty quiet. I was going to get the oilless pump because the pump oil we were told to get was very expensive and changing it was a mess. But I set up a system to drain, filter and re-fill that is clean and no trouble at all. Plus as I mentioned, I found a source that is very cheap.

Is it possible to get this information from you offline? So far I've avoided buying one because of two things: 1) the oil issue, and 2) the need to use mylar bags because the dry pack canneries have closed. If the oil issue could be solved, it could allow us to preserve allergy-safe foods which could literally be a life saver for one of our children.

Sure. Shoot me an email trg21reticle at yahoo.

I've probably got a few weeks of canned goods. Need to work on water.