A reminder...

[miguel]

I just read this quote from an article about the situation in Libya. It should be a reminder to anyone who is -- and a call to action for anyone who isn't -- keeping a little cache of provisions for a hard time of any sort:

"All we want is food and fresh water for our children but it is impossible to find." source: Libya: civil war breaks out as Gaddafi mounts rearguard fight - Telegraph

If all you can afford to put away each week or each month is a can of corn, a gallon of water and a box of macaroni and cheese, do it!

 

[HighStrung]

You know, it's something that most of us think about, yet many people fail to do. I just don't understand how people still living in excess can fail to plan for the future. Even if its nothing more than you mentioned, it's still something. Good post and reps to you.

 

[crawfish]

I am wanting to start a small cache for my family I have 5 kids and me and wife we dont have alot of room or money so need a bare bones method thxs for any help I'm knew to the ingo but am learning thxs for the knowledge its better than money and riches my goal is to be prepared and aware and my children to learn modest living and a want for life and freedom this is a great site and glad to be a part of it you guys aspire me to be greater than i have been and give me a new prospective on just being on this planet

 

[E5RANGER375]

rice and beans baby! rice and beans. & ramen noodles. put them in 5 gallon buckets with lids that seal. even if you have no mylar bags, it will keep for a long time!! and its peace of mind.

even college kids can afford that stuff!!! also save all your 2-litters, wash them and swish bleach and rinse and then store water in them. they are VERY nice and durable containers to stock up water in for drinking or cooking when SHTF!!! for you college kids, save your whiskey bottles

 

[trillobite]

A water heater is good for several gallons, as long as the drain valve isn't clogged by build-up.

 

[Bill B]

I am wanting to start a small cache for my family I have 5 kids and me and wife we dont have alot of room or money so need a bare bones method thxs for any help I'm knew to the ingo but am learning thxs for the knowledge its better than money and riches my goal is to be prepared and aware and my children to learn modest living and a want for life and freedom this is a great site and glad to be a part of it you guys aspire me to be greater than i have been and give me a new prospective on just being on this planet

Whatever you use, buy two instead of one.
Keep your eyes open for sales. A local chain recently had canned veggies on sale for 25 cents a can with a limit of six. My wife bought six, I bought six, the daughter bought six. The next day we did the same. That is how we built up our supply of veggies.
I wouldn't want to try to build a year supply like that, but our 30 supply is pretty well taken care of.

 

[miguel]

I am wanting to start a small cache for my family I have 5 kids and me and wife we dont have alot of room or money so need a bare bones method thxs for any help I'm knew to the ingo but am learning thxs for the knowledge its better than money and riches my goal is to be prepared and aware and my children to learn modest living and a want for life and freedom this is a great site and glad to be a part of it you guys aspire me to be greater than i have been and give me a new prospective on just being on this planet

Welcome aboard, brother! I have kids too, so I know what it's like facing this situation.

Once I had decided I was going to start a food cache, the first thing I did, and this may sound silly, was to call each kid over one at a time and ask, "If you were stuck in the house for a week and couldn't leave, what would you hope we had in the house to eat?" Whatever they told me, I wrote down. If they didn't mention something like a favorite soup, snack or drink, I'd ask, "What about <item>...?" and they'd say yeah or nay to it.

My thought on that was, if I was going to be stuck in a crisis with kids for any amount of time, I wanted them to have foods I knew they'd eat and would bring them some comfort. Of course I also accounted for proper nutrition where they didn't, but I've read half the battle in a food crisis would be psychological, and I wanted them to not have to go from one diet to pork and beans 24x7 for a couple of weeks...bad for the troops' morale.

Most all of this food it is canned or dried. Even my youngest knows, "We have to get stuff that doesn't need a refrigerator!" An exception is Jello, which will be fine as long as I have a refrigerator or can get some ice. (note to self: has anyone ever tried to make Jello in a cooler using only ice? If not, there's a fun survival task to work on with the kids!)

All of them like Mountain House ice cream! Less than $2 for a batch of it at Walmart. Eating it made them curious about the whole freeze dried food thing and now they are interested in trying the chili or lasagna, etc. Again, maybe I've read too much corporate literature to advance my career lately, but getting people in your family to buy into what you're doing is huge. Make it fun or a game, "Let's try this!" rather than, "When the North Koreans storm our block, we will have to eat this until they overrun us..."

Bottom line, start simple and make an inventory. Personally, my inventory sheet includes:

• inventory id (control number for database...yes, I'm a geek!)
• date in - date I bought it
• expiration date - date it goes bad
• "pantry" date - this is the expiration date, minus 120 days, this allows me to put emergency food about to expire into the regular pantry before it goes bad: waste not, want not!
• food type - meal, snack, vegetable, fruit, drink mix, etc.
• quantity - # of cans, boxes, packages or bags
• weight - in ounces
• notes - brand, flavor, other comment or dependency ("bag of chili needs tomato paste" kind of thing)

Sometimes I buy $5 worth of stuff. Other times I've gone and dropped a C-note.

We are doing good on food so far, now I really want to focus on water. We have some, but I want much more, plus the means to filter and purify it. That's Job 1 right now for me.

Hope this helps!

 

[ThrottleJockey]

Pasta is cheap, so is spag. sauce. Pop bottles will work for water, but keep in mind BPA Bottles: Plastic or Poison? | Backcountry Beacon. Also stock chlorine crystals in the form of pool chlorine, it's cheap and can be mixed in proportions to make bleach for purifying water. DON'T stock liquid bleach as it is only good for about 6 months before turning to salts and water(not edible salts either). Chlorine Bleach Shelf Life
Perma Pak How to make chlorine from pool shock

 

[Garb]

"When the North Koreans storm our block, we will have to eat this until they overrun us..."

I would've liked this option better when I was little haha. As for your inventory, that is a great idea, I might have to try that. I am the most unorganized person I know, and I can lose safety glasses that are on my face.