Posted on 01/18/2025 9:03:35 AM PST by Mean Daddy
Reading an article about how prepper packages are a waste of money. What suggestions do Freeper preppers have? Example: where does one find bulk, dried fruit? Use of mylar bags with grains & storage? Are you constantly rotating foods in/out? What lasts long in storage?
What things should people be thinking about but often overlooked?
Step 1: Move as far away from urban areas as you can.
If you don’t get that correct first you might as well save your money.
Twinkies are supposed to last forever- although i had a box i had forgotten about that was 3 years old, and they had turned to dust/crumbs somehow- but yeah, they shoudl be good for a few years-
Barrel of rainwater and a case of canned ravioli. And the slingshot purchased at a yard sale.
Download a crapton of mp3 and mp4. Life’s gonna be full of boredom and terror if you survive. Kind of like an antelope, only with a better brain and a longer lifespan.
Ping, Diana! I figure you can ping others to this thread. You might know who they are better than I do.
Get a good slingshot=- practice a lot- and buy the right ammo- steel bearings- pellet rifles are also great to have around and are powerful enough to dispatch deer these days- but certainly rabbits, birds like ducks, geese, and even common birds, squirrels, raccoons, rats, etc- all edible-
Stews made with game and rice or noodles, potatoes, etc go a long way- be sure to boil the bones too for the broth- bone broth alone can sustain a person for quite awhile if need be-
Connection is protection
Would be a bummer to one day need the food only to open the cans and discover the contents had been destroyed by insects that were within the grain/legumes at the time the buckets were factory sealed.
Get a ukulele. Learn to play it. Hours of enjoyment lay ahead for you!
The last two disasters certainly didn’t work for preppers...whether all your “preparedness” gets washed down a river or burned to a crisp.
See my profile page. I have links to my personal cloud with a ton of prepper info and links to prior prepping threads here on FR. — https://freerepublic.com/~pollard/
We did the whole enchilada back in 2012 or so. 500 lbs of hard red winter wheat which we put in Mylar bags with oxygenizers and then sealed in 5 gallon buckets. We had flour, corn meal, rice sugar and 250 lbs of beans in buckets also. Mice and rats got into most of it. New Years Eve we sat in our RV on our rural property and watched our little herd of deer finish off the last of the wheat. 😆
Now all we keep are the #10 cans of freeze dried stuff. Do yourself a favor and just stock up on some freeze dried stuff in #10 cans.
“See my profile page. I have links to my personal cloud with a ton of prepper info and links to prior prepping threads here on FR.”
I second that... Pollard has a huge wealth of info there...
Have books on medicine and wild edibles and a musical instrument like a guitar or harmonica.
Bulk dried fruit is at Winco.
>>freeze dried stuff in #10 cans
Good points, Lizzie D.
I’ll add that having a FIREPROOF gun safe or large floor safe is a good idea - whether you’re prepping or not for cash money, ammo, important papers, etc.
My other advice: Have cash on hand (see safe, above) and learn basic survival skills.
An Oldie but a Goodie: Army Field Manual 21-76
https://ia800904.us.archive.org/3/items/Fm21-76SurvivalManual/FM21-76_SurvivalManual.pdf
The prepackage freeze dried kits are expensive. To save a lot of food cheaply, I chose to fill 5 gallon buckets, with mylar bags and oxygen absorbers. I have twenty buckets: flour, rice, dry whole milk, beans, peas, eggs and other stuff. (now I’m going to have to do an inventory). In this configuration the food will store for 20 years. Downside is the buckets take up a lot of room. I bought most of my stuff at Walmart. There are many sites to buy bulk online. Amazon being one.
Note: Bread flour is different than all purpose flour. I made a mistake on this one. I also got a cheap Amazon bread maker. Works pretty good.
I have can goods but the shelf life is two years and the stock has to be rotated. Key items are oils, sauces and spices to add taste. A diet of rice and beans can get boring fast. Don’t forget booze if you are so inclined.
I have a freezer full of cheap meat: hamburger, bacon, chicken and fish. When that runs out, I plan to restock it with hunting and fishing.
Since water is essential, lucky for us we back up to a catch basin. We (neighbor and I) bought a fairly expensive ($600) water filtering system. I had the filtered water tested and it came back pure. Just today we talked about getting a water pump.
My neighbor and I went half on a substantial generator and had it converted to run on propane. This solves the fuel storage problem.
My neighbor and I have substantial inventories rifles, shotguns and pistols. We have about 50k rounds.
I have a big first aid kit and save medications in a metal ammo can with silicone thingies.
If you are starting from scratch, it could seem like a daunting project. But if you treat it as a hobby, you can quickly build a substantial inventory in a year.
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