Share Your Prep

[Caneman]

I have been "prepping" since January of this year, usually getting dry goods or canned goods at the store once per week and accumulating...

my latest prep is to start storing grains in 5gal buckets in sealed mylar bags with oxygen absorbers... wheat, rice, beans, corn, and oats are supposed to last 10+ years this way...

i am starting a new 5 gallon bucket today to store hard red winter wheat... you can soak it, boil it, or grind it up to make different types of meals or breads, i also got a grain grinder coming in next week...

what prep do you want to share with us?

[aa1911]

I buy whole wheat (food grade) at the feed store in 50# sacks. We have a local farmer who sells good once used square food buckets (4gal I think?), two will hold 50 lbs.

got a hand grinder to process it also.

put some rice up, really need to get on the ball and get more put away. Crisco shortening is great, lasts well over 5 years and can be used/rotated for baked goods.

I don't have a lot but I've got enough to last realistically a month or so, assuming there will be additional guests that show up and the need for 3-4000+ calories a day.

Did quite a bit starting about 2 years ago, kinda slacked off this year, need to add to the stash some more. I honestly don't believe there will be any apocolypse or anything serious or long term but going hungry isn't fun and being prepared is smart. You don't have to go overboard but having a few months of food on hand is a necessity for anyone I think.

Lots of folks living week to week out of the grocery store, if SHTF, they're gonna be hurting pretty bad.

Bought a bunch of bic lighters this week, want to put a bunch of those up. They last pretty much forever.

[carver]

I just add to what I've got as money allows. I use the Food Saver system to vacume pack my dry goods, rice, beans, flour, corn meal, dehydrated foods, backing powder, sugar, salt. What ever comes to mind! I use the 5gal buckets from Lowes, they are food grade, and my stuff is sealed anyway. Store in the house for now, got about 15 gal. Several Crisco Shorting cans, some canned meats, boxed/packaged dinners. I also have put back some meat with this system for the freezer. Not a lot because if the power goes out, you eat it quick, or loose it. I have about 150 gals of water on hand, pluss the pond. I also have several live traps for squirrels, rabbits, racoons, possums, or anything else I can catch in them, that I might eat! I bought a couple of rolls of copper wire to use as traps for small game as well. Still adding to everything, such as shovels, axes, hoes, and hatchets. Anything I can think of that would be usefull somewhere down the road.

[aa1911]

forgot, buying frozen veggies and drying them has been an addiction of mine; frozen ones are pretty cheap and are ready for dehydrating out of the package.

I vaccuum seal 'em and keep them stored out of the light in burlap rice sacks. They reconstitute very quickly to make soups or whatever. I use them quite a bit for hunting season.

Other grains are good for variety too; Quinoa is an excellent one. Dried beans are great but they don't last as long as most grains do. But they're super cheap, keep about 25-30lbs of dried beans on hand.

[carver]

Originally Posted by aa1911

forgot, buying frozen veggies and drying them has been an addiction of mine; frozen ones are pretty cheap and are ready for dehydrating out of the package.

I vaccuum seal 'em and keep them stored out of the light in burlap rice sacks. They reconstitute very quickly to make soups or whatever. I use them quite a bit for hunting season.

Other grains are good for variety too; Quinoa is an excellent one. Dried beans are great but they don't last as long as most grains do. But they're super cheap, keep about 25-30lbs of dried beans on hand.

For real long term storage use mylar bags, and 02 absoebers, we're talking 20 years now. The vacum sealed bags of whatever are good for a few years. The reason they won't go longer is because the plastic in the bags will start to leak! If you have the money, and want to store up 20 years of food, then go for it! I tend to think that if I can get thru the first year, I'll have vegies growing in a garden. But if that fails, then another year of food should get you up, and running. If not, then we got bigger problems than just food!

[aa1911]

yep, I bought a bunch of different sized mylar bags off the internet, Amazon.com had some good deals. Bought O2 absorbers also. The veggies I've got vaccuumed with O2 absorbers, plan on using most of them for hunting season this year. But long term, the mylar is about the only decent thing for sure. Mylar bag inside of a hard container with O2 absorbers and dessicant packs will protect the stuff for a loooong time!

I also add diatomacious earth (DE) to my grain, it's edible (and good for you) and kills any bugs/larvae.

[wv hillbilly]

sorry, i dont see the need to prep

[firefighter1635]

Wife takes care of the food, i've been buying up alot of ammo in the last several months.

[time2shoot]

Use nitregen gass instead. just stick the hose in the bucket. turn it on. It's heavier than O2.
so it will push out all the O2. then close the bag. should last even longer.

[aa1911]

I've heard of the nitro gas but is it easy to get, is it pricey? it's supposed to be very effective, don't know much about it though.

We've got a little aerosol can of that stuff for sealing a wine bottle back up after you open a bottle but don't finish (that's why it's still sitting on the bar, never had a problem finishing a bottle of wine!), same idea I guess.

[Caneman]

decided im going to make a solar oven, you are supposed to cook up to 350 degrees even in winter so long as the sun is out:

[aa1911]

Just ordered a 55 gallon drum of methanol, does that count?

It's to feed my Toyota's but I'm sure it's got plenty of other uses.

Going to be stocking up on some food for hunting season this coming week...

[Caneman]

^^^ absolutely! I have 5gal and 2.5gal of gas in the garage...

[carver]

Everything runs on either gas, or electricity! The car, the tractor (diesel), the tiller, the lawn mower, the weed eater, and the chain saw! No gas for the car, oh well, I'm not going anywhere anyway! No fuel for the tractor means I can't bush hog, oh well! No gas for the tiller, then it's time to break out the shovels, and hoes! Won't need the weed eater at all. The chain saw would come in handy, but with the noise it makes, I might as well advertize my where abouts! I do own a one man crosscut saw, so I'm good!

[aa1911]

I've got a few gas cans around that I keep full but it all adds up to only about 15 gallons or so, not very much. That will get my Sequoia about 200 miles max. my truck, about 300 or so.

SHTF, doubtful I will be driving at all just due to fuel alone. Had a buddy who made his own biodiesel though, about $.55 /gallon, that would be a reasonable option possibly.

I have my mountain bike and a good pair of boots to get me around!

[Caneman]

making biodiesel looks like a good idea... only prob i found is that you need some sort of reliable supply of used cooking oil like from a restauraunt...

[howlnmad]

I 'm not much into prepping. I plan on looting.

[carver]

Originally Posted by aa1911

I've got a few gas cans around that I keep full but it all adds up to only about 15 gallons or so, not very much. That will get my Sequoia about 200 miles max. my truck, about 300 or so.

SHTF, doubtful I will be driving at all just due to fuel alone. Had a buddy who made his own biodiesel though, about $.55 /gallon, that would be a reasonable option possibly.

I have my mountain bike and a good pair of boots to get me around!

Once upon a time you could store gas, not any more. The stuff at the pump these days won't keep more than 2, or 3, months. Considering the amount of fossel fuel it takes to make methanol, I really think that the reason it's in our gas today is so we can't store it. I had 4 5gal cans containers that I kept gas in for everything around here. Even with pro-long in the can it still went bad. I now only buy what I need for the next week or so. I don't think you would find enough cooking oil in a SHTF situation to produce bio diesel. I would like to have some mules. I can plow with them, ride them, or use them as pack animals.

[aa1911]

Ethanol is what's in our gas (unfortunately) and it's hard as hell on engines. The drought this year might have congress sign off to eliminate ethanol from our fuel for one year, I hope that happens.

I bought Methanol though, much different type of alcohol than ethanol; reason is I have alcohol/water injection units on my fleet of Toyotas, it has all pros and no cons other than an initial setup cost of about $400. It cleans the engine, provides about a 15% increase in power and fuel economy and helps suppress detonation under boost (truck has a blower on it running about 8psi of squeeze).

Went from 275 miles on a tank of fuel to 330+ so it more than pays for itself in saved gas. I've been buying it in 10 gallon batches but it's almost $10/gal now so I got the barrel for $210 total, or $3.81/gal. I hate running out, have to drive almost an hour to get the stuff. Now I have about a 2 year supply! woo hoo!

[76Highboy]

Originally Posted by howlnmad

I 'm not much into prepping. I plan on looting.

That is funny. Lets see,,, you have food, I have gun. Now I have food and gun.

[howlnmad]

Originally Posted by 76Highboy

That is funny. Lets see,,, you have food, I have gun. Now I have food and gun.

Right. See, no need to prep.

[aa1911]

shoot and loot baby!

[Caneman]

got some 1 gallon mylar bags yesterday so i can store smaller portions and not have to break open a 5 gallon bag...

[76Highboy]

Originally Posted by howlnmad

Right. See, no need to prep.

I don't know, I put a little extra polish cleaner in with my brass tumbler today. You know, I wanna look good taking what I can. I'm just saying.

[hobby_mesa]

We've got stores of supplies...also have experience in disaster zones where it was necessary to train the wife as backup to face looters. Now there's 4 dogs and my wife and I both shoot...go ahead and try to loot, I can always use the extra guns and ammo I'll pick up when you're dead. Last time I missed a target was in the 1960s when I was a young lad lol.