Self Reliant/Survivalist ping list
I’d like a ping, please.
Two things to consider if you are thinking survival, that most people don’t consider are first of all, your timetable, and second of all, your windows.
For timetable, think about a calendar. Your survival needs vary dramatically if your situation lasts only for an hour, or a day, or a week, a month, or many months. A 55-gallon drum full of nitrogen packed grits will probably not be too useful except for a long term situation. A handgun with a full magazine is just generally a good thing to have.
Your windows are likewise important, and can work both ways. If you buy canned goods now, then your window for their use is before they expire. Your window for other things, such as gasoline, is limited to getting more before you run out.
We make sure we properly store what we have in a pantry that is cool and dry and kept very very clean . Case lots are marked with purchase date and expiration date. We have racks for canned goods that roll the oldest can to the front for use first priority.
Use food saver vacuum bag system to pack family size portions to keep all from going bad at once of dry goods like pastas, rice, pintos etc ......
We have a RAIS wood stove we use for heating that has a baking chamber above the firebox. We can make breads or a dutch oven for making stews etc . About a years supply of basics is on hand with canned goods, meat, fish and fowl from hunting and fishing and canned goods and frozen veggies from the gardens .
Our two trucks are diesel cummins dodges and I have a FJ80 with a cummins in it as well. Each of the trucks have 150 gal bed tanks with aftermarket 55 gal aero tanks . The Landcruiser FJ80 has a 34 OEM and 38 gal Old man Emu aux tank. All are kept full so if we stopped having to drive to and from work tomorrow we have fuel for short trips for a year or more IMO.
My next purchase is a KLR650D aka diesel motorcycle. USMC has been using em for a while and they work fine for utility purposes. We have two KLR650 mo-gas bikes and they are fine but our “bulk” sources of fuel are diesel in the trucks bed tanks.
Point being this is not something we have just started doing.....this is a lifestyle we have practiced for decades due our desire to be self reliant of all about us turns to crap due a lay off, illness etc ......
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Cooking oil is an important staple that should not be over looked. Crisco is fine. But if you are looking for long term storage go with Refined Coconut oil. Two years or more and has a smoke of 450F. It is healthy contrary to what you might have heard.
Also..... cash; books; playing cards; spare spectacles (I always keep the pair I wore prior to my last update).
There’s a good article about food storage at http://freezedryguy.com/. He makes the point that people have actually starved to death from “food fatigue”, meaning they literally lose their appetite from eating the same thing for weeks at a time.
Part of my food storage plan is to include a lot of dried herbs and spices. There’s red rice, spanish rice, italian rice, mystery rice, even! Seasonings can make all the difference in the world.
Start now bookmarking preparedness sites. As you have time, search through them and print out useful info for “how to” directions that you will need in an emergency.
Consider other rooms than a tiny kitchen when storing foodstuffs. Under beds, under furniture, behind the couch, under bottom drawers.
For those of you who don’t have access to firewood or a place to store it, consider a makeshift solar oven.
Despite what the articles says, tuna straight from the can isn’t bad at all.
Don’t underestimate the Mexican flu. The 1918 Pandemic was mild in the spring, dormant in the summer and a fierce kill in the fall.
LOL!!!
Something that isn’t approached in many of these articles is, what if you’re not in your home?
Having a year’s supply of food in your basement is one thing - but if you’re forced out of your home and “relocated” to a community center by the government; or if you are wise and head for the hills BEFORE they come get you - what good will all that stockpile do you? 55 gallons of drinking water is terrific, but you can’t carry it with you.
Some alternative suggestions for cache’s or ‘bug out’ places should be discussed too, I think.
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