I am not yet prepared, but I am preparing.

I recently read FM 21-76 and determined that it would be a good addition to my survival stash.

Thanks to everyone who has contributed meaningfully to this thread. I have liberally stolen your suggestions in drafting my plan.

Plagarist - I'm gonna sick an Intellectual Property lawyer on you, or worse yet let your fellow counselor, AL, lecture you on IP, plagarism and ethics..... :D

Rmember in CA, you need to buy a used diesel vehicle - must have 7500 mi on the odo and have been titled previously in CA or any non-CARB state.

RL and others:

An extremely excellent manual to purchase whenever possible is "SIX WAYS IN & TWELVE WAYS OUT". Written by former and present SERE Instructors who are in the Special Ops community they have written a book that exceeds all expectations on surviving either in the woods or at home.

A second manual that is often called the "motherload" is AFR 64-4 Volume 1. Although very large and heavy at approximately 600+ pages it provides numerous ways to tell direction and location along with detailed instructions on fire building and "walking out".

But hey who needs a manual when we have this thread! Excellent info and allot of knowledge flowing here.:lifter

Keep it going!

You could always just buy the entire set of the "Foxfire Books" 23 volumes IIRC - backwoods living.

web cams
 

One thing for security purposes I haven't seen on here. For less the an $100.00 you can buy security web cams. Even wireless ones. I have two one in the house one showing the front of the house. They are easily hidden. I have them set to record up to a week at a time. They record to the web page you set up. So if thieves steal your computer you still have the video. Best feature you can view them anywhere you are as long as you have a web connection. The kits provide free software to set up a web page. Just type in your password and you can see your house while on vacation. Even will alarm you when set off. Got mine at best buy. Search the web there are thousands of packages out there. Stay away from the monthly fee ones. There are plenty for free.

ROGUISH LAWYER!!!!!!!!! Web cams are simple and easy to setup!!! LOL:munchin



Kgoerz: You'll have to search the site for RL's thread to know why this is funny if you weren't on the site for that debacle. LOL

Does anyone else have anything to add on preparedness food or food prep?

We have put up a lot of posts since we moved to this topic, but not too many actually dealing with food acquisition, storage, preparation, cooking, etc. under austere conditions.

If we are done with food, we can move on to sanitation, but I think that we have some more that could be done on the emergency food discussion.

Thoughts?

TR

I was thinking about food acquisition and remembered setting snares in Survival School. They seem like a good idea in an area where there is a lot of small game, but if I remember correctly, you need to set something like 15 or more in order to hope for one to catch something.

For storing, what about drying? I'm thinking along the lines of making beef jerky like they made years ago, not that store-bought kind. I heard it would last a long time like that.

TR,
One additional on Food ---
We have always kept a one (1) year food supply on hand for the family – mostly bulk food (Plastic pails – Cans, nitrogen sealed) – They are good for about 5 – 7 years if stored at 60 / 70 degrees. So far we have not used them, but have rotated stock . For those item we have not used, When they are near expiration date, I donate them to a local foodbank. I could not find our supplier, but below is an example from a different company .
http://emergency-food-storage-supply.com/


I am curious about civilian MRE type meals (especially entrees – that’s where the calories are). I have purchased several “sample packs” and most are good – Much better than the “C” rations I remember.
What is your opinion about bulk purchase of Civilian MRE’s for long term storage ??

http://www7.mailordercentral.com/lon....asp?dept=1025

SnT

I am not exactly a mountain man, but I agree that snares are much more effective, pound for pound, than guns and ammo. They are cheap, and lightweight, and are normally not thought of until well after guns. You can buy excellent ones premade, or make them yourself from wire. Traps are somewhat heavier, but are more durable and will catch heavier game.

I would think that 15-25 snares properly placed in an area with plenty of game would provide meat on a regular basis.

IMHO, the only reasons to jerk meat are if you have more than you can eat before it spoils or you need to travel with it. If that is happening with small game snares, you need to reduce the number of snares. If you get a deer, elk or bison, that should be a good technique for preservation if you do not have refrigeration. Pickling, canning, etc, should also work.

HTH.

TR

I completely forgot about canning and pickling!!

What about one of those food sealers? I saw at the Bass Pro Shop near me that they have them with a wide variety of bag sizes.

Seems that would work with dry goods (rice, beans, etc). Only have to make sure that vermin doesn't get to it and the bags stay sealed.

I'm at a loss about long term storage of food without a way to freeze it.

TR and others,

I don't mean to hijack this thread but I was wondering the same thing about the "food-savers". I don't have the "luxury" of using MRE's as I am deathly allergic to the contents. I could probably make my own pseudo MRE's if those machines do a good job, couldn't I?

Food savers (vaccuum packers) are only for dry goods.

While you can can food with them (especially things that do not seal well in bags, like spaghetti), they are not for anything that cannot be stored at room temp.

You vacuum pack a bag of perishable food, like chicken, ham, beans, etc., in a few days, you will have a bag of very nasty anaerobic bacteria to eat.

The bags are sealed, but are not vermin proof, as noted. Rats will make short order of them and their contents.

HTH.

TR

Okay - after seeing TR's post #315, I went back and reviewed for posts about the current topic "food and cooking". Unfortunately this has been one of our weakest subjects. The only substantive comments have been from Mugwump (#297) with the Nuclear War Survival Skills link and TR's comments (#300) about stoves and food. The subject has also been touched on lightly in posts both here and in other threads. We need to add some more meat (no pun intended) to this topic before moving on to the next subject.

Historically starvation (aggravated by the lack of sanitation [next subject] and the breakdown of medical services) has been the major cause of death in the aftermath of disaster or civil disturbance/war, especially where large percentages of the population have been displaced, or normal food production and distribution chains have been disrupted for extended periods of time. We tend to take food for granted and make assumptions about acquiring/storing it based on American societal experiences dealing with short-term supply disruptions, e.g. hurricanes, blizzards, or other natural disasters where resources from outside the affected area can be mobilized to provide relief relatively quickly. Unfortunately, in a true emergency involving significant portions of the country/world the majority of these assumptions may prove unrealistic or even fatal for the unprepared.

Consider that the average household shops for groceries three to five times a month and may visit convenience stores for incidentals to supplement the basics several times a week. The average grocery store only maintains a three to five day supply of high demand consumables. Vendors deliver perishables e.g. bread, milk, meats, and produce several times a week. Semi-trucks usually arrive at least weekly with the nonperishables. Stop these deliveries, food runs out, and people get hungry. A preparedness expert was once quoted as saying that the savage is only three missed meals away. Recent experience in New Orleans suggests that his assessment might have been optimistic.

Long-term disruptions of the food supply (on the order of nuclear war or – God forbid - pandemic) require a completely different approach if survival is to even be possible. With this preamble in mind, over the next week I will make several contributions to this thread. My goal is not to tell you what or how but to discuss why and provide some food for thought. :munchin FWIW - Peregrino

Peregrino:

I agree. This is a very weak subject for me. Trying to keep any sort of fresh food for a long period of time without any sort of refrigeration has me scratching my head.