[cwink]

I am going to start stocking up on some food you know "Just In Case" I think I am going to start slowly and try to stock up for about 3 months. How much do you think I would need for 2 adults and a child.

I think I am going to start with the cases of canned vegtables, soups, and canned fruit along with dried goods like Jerky, Fruit and Ceral, crackers and Peanut butter and water and powdered milk.

I am planning on 3 meals a day this is what I think I might need minumum.

Breakfast
1 box of ceral per person per week (and enough powdered milk and water to accompany it)

Lunch
1 Can or package of dried fruit and 1 package of Jerky per day. Add in some Crackers and Peanut Butter also.

Dinner
2 Cans of vegtables and a package of Jerky a day for dinner.

Water
2 bottles of water per person per day.

Am I not planning for enough food/water on each given day? I am assuming that if need be I can also hunt small game to supplement the food above.

 

[SilentHitz]

You can go a lot longer without food than water...2 bottles a day may do if ya ain't moving, but not near enough if you have to hunt, work in the garden, ect. Gotta keep hydrated or you can run into all kinda health problems.

 

[z06]

I think it will take 4 16oz bottles of water for each adult a day and probably 2 for children. If your doin a lot of physical labor then you will need more.

By the way cvs pharmacy has a 24 pack of purified drinking water for $1.98 it has almost a 2 year experation date on it. So I bought a few extra cases of that just to put up.

 

[BuildingMyArk]

Don't forget extra water for your powdered milk! Congrats on getting started! You're doing a good thing for your family... What everyone SHOULD BE DOING!!!!

 

[1985 4runner]

Good idea to start. It is never too late.


I would also recommend more than 2 bottles of water a day. It's a start, but try to have a gallon per person per day. Think how hot it gets in the summer... 2 bottles is going to go quick.

Cheap food to get you started is Ramen noodles. Only need water to fix & will store a long time.

A real good guide to starting long term food storage is here:

http://www.grandpappy.info/hfood1yr.htm

 

[sidroski]

Thought I posted this, what do you store yours in? I've seen 5 gallon tanks that would fold up. How does bleach or iodine effect cooking?

 

[1985 4runner]

Thought I posted this, what do you store yours in? I've seen 5 gallon tanks that would fold up. How does bleach or iodine effect cooking?

If you're asking me- I store my water in multiple ways. I have a minimum of 18 cases of bottled water stored on top of my safe at all times. I store my other drinking/cooking water in barrels. I have 15gal (4x15=60 gallons) and 30gal (1 so far). I also use plastic juice bottles that I clean & rinse, currently I have about 50 gallons in those. I fill them up completely, with no air space left.

So, I have 140 gallons stored plus my cases of bottled water. Currently, I do not treat my water as I rotate it every six months. I don't think the small amount of bleach (8 drops per gallon) or iodine (2% solution 8 drops per liter) would affect cooking.

 

[cwink]

Well I had to go to Sam's yesterday to get the old tires rotated.. While waiting I walked around and picked up about 150.00 worth of items.. Figure its about 10 days supply.. Wife thought I was crazy when I brought up this idea to her a couple of days ago.. But when I said it is nice to have in case of not only US finacial disasters, but also natural disasters (See Japan Earthquake) but also in case of job loss, she was a little more understanding..

 

[BuildingMyArk]

Good for you!

 

[sidroski]

I watched a show on the outdoor network that said to turn your water off and have the 30-40 gallons in the hot water tank to use.
Anybody else planning on doing this?
Anyone seen a kit to test the water to see if it is drinkable? Boiling water would take up too much fuel.

 

[titleiiredneck]

Let me throw a few ideas your way, I have studied this and a few other aspects on survival. If single this may or may not apply to you.

You should have 1/2 gallon of water for a 4 person family for health, toothbrushing face hand washing ect.. You donot want to get a tooth ache ect.. while trying to survive.

Power, get a couple small solar panels, they donot power much but they can charge batteries and provide power "lights raido small tv" at night. Stick with led lights for the house and for flash lights less power use and last alot longer!

Google eviant t7, its a small protable lcd tv with a buit in reciver for new hd stations, i recive 38 channels on mine with a cheap antenna that it comes with and lasts for 2 hrs fully charged runs about 60 bucks shipped off ebay.

Energy, there are several ways to produce this, if you ave a free flowing well then a generator head/turbine helps About 400 if bought 100 if homemade, easily enough to produce 0.5kw. Pretty much you are limited to water wind or solar, the good thing is that they are quiet so no one knows


food, spend the cash and buy the pre made mre's, some have up to a 25 yr shelf life.

fuel, buy diesel vehicles and store off road diesel, rotate and it helps to circulate it some when stored, off road diesel is the red stuff and it is about 2.20 a gallon now. Run a fuel filter from the tank to your output to vehicle along with a water seperator and you will be good to go, again just dont go cheap as you get what you pay for!

Guns and ammo, Think of it like this, you will want to be light quiet and accurate. 22lr and 223 can be ideal. I personally chose 22lr .410 , 300 whisper and 223. .410 and 223 is defense "wife and I" and the 22lr .410 and whisper is for hunting small and large game. The reason I chose the whisper and 223 is for the fact that you can make whisper from 223 cases smr primers are cheap and it uses a small ammount of powder 8lbs easily loads about 1k plus rounds" Bullets are fairly cheap and it has good penetration and mass energy. You will want a 22lr bolt gun and some small parts and mabye a semi. Choose a 40 gr 22lr ammo without the hp and stay away from the cci mini mags and such and stick with match lead ammo for accuracy and reliability " think eley primers" and since the lead is waxed it is somewhat waterproof. Wolf match ammo is only around 50 bucks for 500 and quite accurate and you can find green tag for the same or cheaper if on sale. You will also want iron sights and possibly a backup scope with batteries since crap happens.


Just my 2 cents and i hope this helped!

 

[burton_fire6]

Like the other post said, MORE WATER FOR CONSUMPTION. We drink at MINIMUM of 80oz of water a day in the winter months, and more in the summer...even tho I am in the desert, its still a good rule of thumb...dehydration is a killer, and to be honest 90% of my call volume here is dehydration related.

 

[bls5]

you can also save a lot of money by buying supplies now rather than later. Prices are going up every day.the 6 dollar can of coffee that we opened last week cost 9.68 to replace tonight Wish I had bought more of the 6.00 coffee.

 

[sidroski]

Anyone know where you could get a small windmill? May even mount it on the roof (when SHTF, neighbors would have a fit, but F them, just don't want to show up on radar until I have too). Thinking hooking up a alternator to charge marine batteries. Most stuff you need you can find one that works on 12 volts or get an inverter if you really need 120 A/C.

 

[Brutus]

For water, you need to figure on *AT MINIMUM* a half gallon per person, per day. Personally, my belief goes more along the lines of a whole gallon per person per day.

Be careful in what foods you store. Stuff like peanut butter and Ramen noodles will go rancid on you if they're not well-sealed. It's the fat in them that goes bad.

Truly the best food to store for long-term is food that's designed to be stored long-term, like dehydrated stuff from Mountain House and other manufacturers.

 

[BuildingMyArk]

Anyone know where you could get a small windmill? May even mount it on the roof (when SHTF, neighbors would have a fit, but F them, just don't want to show up on radar until I have too). Thinking hooking up a alternator to charge marine batteries. Most stuff you need you can find one that works on 12 volts or get an inverter if you really need 120 A/C.

I've thought about this too. Do yall think that we have enough wind here on a regular basis to make a windmill worthwhile?

 

[wolfenstein]

Here is a good start:

http://www.survivalblog.com/

 

[powerstrokin06]

Northern Tool Supply cataloug has some interesting kits....
http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/NTESearch?storeId=6970&N=0&Ntk=All&Ntt=solar&Nty=1&D=solar&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Dx=mode+matchallpartial
http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200439926_200439926

These qualify for TAX CREDITS so you might as well get in while Obama is buying (with our money)..

Oh and ramen noodles are very high in soduim which translates into more water usage during the summer so things to think about.....