Food Storage?

[stumphugger]

The C rations we got on the fireline, came in little cardboard boxes. There were cigarettes, toilet paper, and cans of various mystery food.
A P-38 (can opener) was also included. I traded the cigarettes for "tropical" chocolate. That was in the 1980s. There seems to not be a barfing emoticon.

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[wannabefree]

Take a look at this site: http://providentliving.org/channel/0,11 ... -1,00.html

Regardless of your religious or political thinking, you will find the most sane guidance on food storage there, from a people who understand the value of preparation.

[Pottercounty]

I usually have a couple cases of the Ramin noodle soups put up but, I'm not going to live in a Robert Heinlein novel. If it comes, it comes. I have plenty of Ammo & weapons to hunt with and a ton of fishing equipment. I have 224 acres to roam on in the middle of the Allegany Mts. Have natural gas on my property and a good home. Did I mention..lots of weapons?....lol...

[CAJUN LADY]

Take a look at this site: http://providentliving.org/channel/0,11 ... -1,00.html

Regardless of your religious or political thinking, you will find the most sane guidance on food storage there, from a people who understand the value of preparation.

In 1985 when I lived in Pocatello, ID, my neighbors on both sides were Mormons. Both had their basements stockpiled with food reserves. I thought it was pretty smart and cool. They gave me some books to show me how to make ready-mixes in large quantities.

We keep a good supply of food on hand, especially dry goods. My kids "go shopping" in my pantry when they come visit.

[eamarquardt]

I would stock MRE's, you can find them on your local army surplus store, they have unlimited shelf life ( I had one from 1961, the cigarretes were so stale it was funny).

MREs did not exist in 1961. Prior to MREs there were C-Rats and MCIs..........

Cheers,

Gus

I don't know how it was called back then,but the food came in a green can (with the US Army label on the side) with a small key to peel the lid, inside there were three smaller cans, containing spam, crackers, powdered milk and three cigarrettes and a little match book...I still remember the 1961 date on the side.

You just described an MCI. The ones I ate (in the 70's) were many years old by the time they were issued to us.

Cheers,

Gus

[Weirdnerd]

I ate that in 1989.....was very good eating at 15,000 feet in the Andes.

[john warren]

cases of hostess twinkies,,,those things last for ever.

[eamarquardt]

cases of hostess twinkies,,,those things last for ever.

Apparently you haven't seen "Zombieland".

Cheers,

Gus

[d30gaijin]

You like links, Here's another one for ya http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?t=42747

Big Dan,

Thanks for the link. That's an interesting discussion you started and some excellent input from others.

I appreciate your concern for water, thankfully I have 20 thousand gallons sitting in my backyard pool that can be filtered for drinking water.

Best,
Don

[d30gaijin]

I've got a decent supply of .22 rounds... I figure if supplies go short, I'm not going to be overly concerned about fighting my way through a grocery store as those will only last so long anyway. I'll take out bunnies, birds, squirrels, coons, possum, or whatever happens to come my way when I'm that hungry. I've also got a decent collection of fishing poles, nets, jugs, line & hooks that I can use to my advantage. I've been reading up on and planning to test out some old technology too... wood gasification interests me and knowing how to use it will help when/if that time were to come. I've got a few kerosene lamps hanging around but I'm sure kerosene supplies will run short too so I'll need to stick with using daylight to my advantage.

I only keep about 2 weeks worth of food around but about 2 months worth of baby food.

I've not actually sat down and organized or planned around any of this but its stuff thats here should I need it.

Wimperdink,

Ammo I have lots of. I am stocking propane for camp stoves and lanterns but know that has the potential to eventually run out and be unavailable in a long term situation.

Wood gasification is an interesting vintage technology. I recall reading an article about it a while back. It was used during WWII in Europe to fuel automobiles due to the lack of petrol. The gasification plants were rather cumbersome but worked, although not much in terms of mileage. Still, given the advances in technology between then and now I would think much more efficient small scale gasification plants could be built today.

Don

[d30gaijin]

I would stock MRE's, you can find them on your local army surplus store, they have unlimited shelf life ( I had one from 1961, the cigarretes were so stale it was funny) and at 5,000 calories each, you can never go wrong, just find the flavors you like and stock some.

jokes aside, I went to a couple of survival courses ( as a Flight attendant) where we needed to set up a base camp, with nothing, and we spend 99% of the time trying to find food, so your premise to stock for "unforeseens" is very sound, also, I would recommend to stock beans and grains, dried food lasts for a long time ( I have seen grain stored in pre columbian tombs, about 1500 to 2500 years old that was edible and sprouted when planted) and beans have a huge nutritive value.

Good points. After stocking freeze dried foods (Mountain House meals) I am now concentrating on stocking beans, grains and other items such as dehydrated onions (to add flavor), veggies, etc. My main concern is to buy food storage items with long shelf life, which is why MRE's are out for me. Beans are the magical fruit, the more you eat the more you toot... oops! Sorry about that... but you are correct. Beans have many great properties that make them a must for long term food storage, not to mention that most folks like beans because you can do so much with them.

Don

[d30gaijin]

[quote="S. Heisley"]Since I can't digest most grains or any ready-made foods that are "contaminated" with those grains, I keep an "imperfect" 3 month supply of food. However, it needs to be better organized. While still stocked, in the last couple years, I've neglected it a little. This summer or next fall, I hope to re-organize and improve on it.

There are many local "weeds" and weed-type plants that can be eaten in an emergency; so, I also have the book, Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants, to help me find those plants. Some easy plants to recognize and find are dandelions, clover, and cattails. However, be certain that you can recognize them and others that you want to eat because not knowing what to do or guessing wrong could poison you. A good field guide book can help save your life. If you don't have a book or are in doubt, build a cage and catch a critter such as a rat. Feed the food to this caged animal first. If the animal is still alive 24 hours after eating it, you will probably be safe eating it too.

If you have children, be certain that the foods that you are stocking include foods that children will eat. Please remember that children taste food differently than adults as their tasting ability has not yet matured. Children have been known to starve to death simply because the food available tasted vile to them and they would not eat it.

Even with extensive preparation, please recognize that the type of disaster that hits your area may render your supply unusable. Floods, fires, and tsunamis are examples of what might cause your food supply to become unusable or unreachable.

In truth, the best preparation any of us can do is to study up ahead of time and have a few different plans ready to put into action, depending upon the disaster that might hit. The very best “supplyâ€

[d30gaijin]

I usually have a couple cases of the Ramin noodle soups put up but, I'm not going to live in a Robert Heinlein novel. If it comes, it comes. I have plenty of Ammo & weapons to hunt with and a ton of fishing equipment. I have 224 acres to roam on in the middle of the Allegany Mts. Have natural gas on my property and a good home. Did I mention..lots of weapons?....lol...

Tim,

I appreciate your input but most of us here, I will guess, don't live on 224 acres anywhere. Robert Heinlein novels not withstanding, I started this thread with the thought in mind for people like me who may live in a subdivision within city limits who are concerned with maintainingg and supporting their family and home in a crisis, typically thought of as a natural disaster and not a, "OMG! The vicious hordes are loose black helicopter Government take-over conspiracy thing."

If Ramin noodle soups work for you I salute you, but it won't work for the remainder of us.

Lots of ammo and weapons is a good thing.

Don

[d30gaijin]

I would stock MRE's, you can find them on your local army surplus store, they have unlimited shelf life ( I had one from 1961, the cigarretes were so stale it was funny).

MREs did not exist in 1961. Prior to MREs there were C-Rats and MCIs..........

Cheers,

Gus

I think he probably meant to say MCI. As far as I know they have never provided cigarettes in any MRE, ever... but I could be wrong on that. I base that on personal experience being a (then) smoker in the Army Reserves from 1982 to 1996 (6 years active... 1966-1972 prior to my 17 years in the reserves).

Don

[d30gaijin]

cases of hostess twinkies,,,those things last for ever.

True Dude! And a total sugar rush to go with!!!

Don