Prepping; food for thought.

[armedandsafe]

Strain the incoming water through a cloth strainer, if possible. Run the water coming out ot the drum through a charcoal filter (can be made from BBQ brickettes.) Chlorinate the water at one ounce of bleach per gallon. Let sit for 24 hours covered with cloth. Aerate by pouring it from one container to another 4 times. Now it is potable, again.

Pops

[jack404]

Originally Posted by Curtis R

i have been doing some figuring and thinking about how to get things done to survive.
i live in apartments on the second floor. was pondering a rain barrel but 55gal of water wieghs 458.7 lbs wich might buckle my deck. but still think its a good idea for non pottable water for bathing and such.

i'll try to find the pic from when i was working after katrina a 4 storey building the folks rigged a busted down pipe to run to a barrel on the balcony below and each one had a drum connected by pipe stuck in the barrel

old dock/seamans workers in a retirement home ( or such ) who would not leave

bugger cop took one guys shotgun ! so i was told , hope he got it back eh ,

just 4-5 folks all in their 80s , sticking together like good mates do .

and only thing they where short on was tobacco , and how i came to find out ( i'm a smoker and bought a stash with me) one of the divers working with us was billited near them and asked me if i could spare some so i tossed em a couple bails and took off back to the dock

[Curtis R]

good info i love this forum. ok now with the least amount of snickering possable-how do you jerk meat-basics and without a oven

[Zhurh]

Get a Garden Master dehydrator (best bang for the buck). Pick up a cheap grinder at yard sale, new around 100-150 bucks. Buy a Super Shooter (looks like cauking gun but shoots meat out in strips). Buy some Uncle Abes Jerky Mix from Sausage Maker in Buffalo N.Y. ( I get it on sale for $21 a 5 lb tub that does 160 lbs of meat, but I make it 1.75 what they advise and it tastes way better). Most hunters already have these supplies but not a bad investment.

WE do 5-6 caribou every winter in jerky and I have been using Uncle Abes for over 25 years. Also do moose meat but mostly caribou. Got to clean meat well, no silver skin or fat. All red meat is best but it is good stuff. I just sent 12 lb of my jerky to my nephew in Afghanistan, used 37 lb of very clean moose meat from last season; so you see how much it drys out to.

If you try my method, you'll like it more than making it any other way I do believe. Ever since I found Uncle Abes and started using ground red meat through super shooter and dehydrator; I've never went back to any other way of making jerky and I've made quite a bunch of it over the years. Best dry meat you'll ever eat.

We also make strips from salmon we get in our nets outta the Yukon. If you have access to fresh caught salmon, try making strips & drying fish; it's also good stuff.

[Curtis R]

thanks for that great info but i was thinking along the lines of not being able to shop or having power. primitive type cooking at the best.

[ozo]

You can make 'camp jerky' with an open fire, and it takes
some dedication on your part.
You can also use salt to cure it and air dry, but is
risky to get the bacteria out.
Jerky is simply 'dried meat'.....not cooked.
I used an old refrigerator to smoke meat and fish for years...
cut a hole in the bottom where the compressor was removed,
used a cast iron skillet with charcoal to smoke it....
did the same thing with a 55gal drum, but the fridge was
much easier 'cause it already had the racks in it, and easy
to get to.

Here is a pdf link just for some simple tips.....

http://www.askthemeatman.com/pdf%20f...y%20safely.pdf

Curtis, you have power now, so get a jump start....

[ozo]

Brother Zhurh....
tell me more about the ground meat...
I have never done that, only cut strips.....

[ozo]

This it Z...?

http://www.pleasanthillgrain.com/jer...ooter_lem.aspx

[carver]

Curtis, I have two dehydrators, one has a fan, and is faster, the other has no fan, and uses no electricity. Either can be bought at Wal Mart for under 50 bucks! This site will give all the information you will ever need for dehydrating meats. http://www.motherearthnews.com/Real-...ehydrator.aspx

[ozo]

Although the dehydrator without the fan and electric
heat most likely will not get the temperature you need to rid
the bacteria from meat.
It would require preparation for meat like a salt cure and also
a long time to dry, thus allowing for contamination.
Altho it works for vegies, etc....

[carver]

I've done beef jerky in mine, no problems so far. I do use only very lean meat, and the marinade I use is on the salty side. However, the unit with no fan takes a lot longer to get the job done!

[Zhurh]

Indians here make dry meat. They don't add much to make tasty; prefer natural taste. Build 12X16 shack with plywood bottom and screened in uppers. Run small smoke stove to keep bugs out, air dry; they've done it that way for generations.

[carver]

Reminds me of my granddad's smoke house!

[25yretcoastie]

Has anyone tried any of the freeze dryed surval food?

[Curtis R]

i have been looking at those also mre and t-rats...like the t-rats idea better but havent counted anything out.

[Zhurh]

You all have to remember that living off the grid, without access to stores & supplies, and pretty much outta society is alot harder than most people have envisioned. I mean how many of ya have taken a year off and did it at anytime during your lifetime? I haven't either, but living isolated along the Yukon puts more more in that direction than any other time in my life when I lived within 50 miles of a grocery store. I'm 200 miles from the nearest store, 400 miles from a sams club.

I have friends who live 75 miles down river from me in the real deal bush life style. Small cabin, outhouse, no running water, small generator when they can afford the fuel, big garden, meat & fish cache, smoker, steam bath, and they travel by small boat or dogteam or 4 wheeler. Every year they tell me it's getting worse, harder to survive, life is tougher, how they sometimes wish they lived somewhere with normal utilities. Somewhere that the bear weren't forever breaking down their cabin door (sometimes with them inside asleep) attempting to get the good food the White People eat, ect ect. It's just that most people who haven't done it, really don't understand how tough it really gets.

What I'm trying to say is, learn the process of making dry meat, say with an elec dehydrator; you'll figure so much more out that way. Then if ya have to, make dry meat in a screened in enclosure. The smoke is to keep the bugs from layin eggs and ruining the meat & fish. The taste comes from spices & salt you use in brine. You don't want to cook the meat, need cool smoke. You basically air dry the meat within the screened in area. It is important to run heat high for a couple hours to kill bacteria, but that is just another safeguard. I don't think you get that in cool smoke house.

[carver]

Never spent a year at it, but I have spent weeks at it. I've gone hungry many times while out camping, and living off the land. And I've ate some things that most folks wouldn't think of eating. I like your question though. All of us should try at least a 3 day weekend. Take nothing with you but a rifle, or shotgun, a knife, ax, a canteen, some method for fire, and water purification tablets. Build a shelter, start, and maintain a fire. Shoot, or trap, something to eat. If you know what you are doing, gather some of the wild plants to eat, but be sure you know what you are doing here. The wrong plant can kill you! The suvivor shows, like Les Bear, and Bear Grills, only spend 5 days out, and then are rescued, or rescue themselves. You can't die of hunger in 5 days, and even a small amount of water will get you thru that short a peroid of time.

[Jerryboy]

Originally Posted by carver

Never spent a year at it, but I have spent weeks at it. I've gone hungry many times while out camping, and living off the land. And I've ate some things that most folks wouldn't think of eating. I like your question though. All of us should try at least a 3 day weekend. Take nothing with you but a rifle, or shotgun, a knife, ax, a canteen, some method for fire, and water purification tablets. Build a shelter, start, and maintain a fire. Shoot, or trap, something to eat. If you know what you are doing, gather some of the wild plants to eat, but be sure you know what you are doing here. The wrong plant can kill you! The suvivor shows, like Les Bear, and Bear Grills, only spend 5 days out, and then are rescued, or rescue themselves. You can't die of hunger in 5 days, and even a small amount of water will get you thru that short a peroid of time.

as will drinking your own piss

[carver]

Only if it's clear! And it won't be clear after the first day without water!

[Curtis R]

thats why i have been asking you guys all these questions. i want my wife and i to be prepared, short and long hauls,i am just getting started and have this valuable source of information to gleen from.there is so much more i need to know and will be keeping this threed alive for a while as long as our hosts and mods will allow it.

[Curtis R]

oh and whats the least fps for a pellet gun to be useful

[carver]

.22 short CB's run around 750fps, so I would think that an air rifle that produces at least that much speed would do the trick. Remember, speed kills!

[25yretcoastie]

The thought of the freeze dried food buckets is only to hold u over til you can get set up. I have lived in Alaska also and for where you are thats all well and good. But down here in the swamps of Florida water will not be a problem, dry air for drying meat will be. For grown crops a lot of things grow well here but as anywhere it does take time for them to be ready for harvest.

[carver]

Originally Posted by Curtis R

i have been doing some figuring and thinking about how to get things done to survive.
i live in apartments on the second floor. was pondering a rain barrel but 55gal of water wieghs 458.7 lbs wich might buckle my deck. but still think its a good idea for non pottable water for bathing and such.

Go get yourself an old, but in good shape, oak shipping pallet. Put the 55gal drum on it, and fill it up. The pallet will spread the weight of the water, and drum.

[carver]

Originally Posted by Zhurh

WE have a generator and lived off it for 2 months 3 years back when the Yukon washed everything away at ice out. I'm on slow dial up, but could have a sat internet but too expensive for all I need the net. Ya know the internet is that last thing you'll need if everything goes to hell anyway. A generator is a luxury too, you won't have enough fuel to live with all the comforts you are now accustomed to. I have good friends that live downriver 50 miles from their nearest neighbor, man they have it tough too.

I have a generator too, but mine is for those times that the electricity is out for an extended time. It's good for about 8 hours with 5gal of gas. That's about $18 for 8 hours at todays prices. Use it to run the freezer, and fridge only. Lighting is supplied by kerosene lanterns, heat is form a gas heater, and I have a wood burning heater for back up that I can cook on.