# What else?



## Dana (Oct 10, 2008)

So beans and rice provide a pretty balanced, but bland diet. Canned meats, veggies, and fruits will last a while and give you at least some change. What else can you larder for SHTF situations that is long lasting? What else do you guys have stored away?


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## Jack (Oct 10, 2008)

i have 20 large tins of coffee (beans) 10lb each that should be great trade items to the caffeine freaks looking for a fix.

i have a heap of seeds in nitrogen packed tins for fresh vege's and fruits but they'll take a few months to a few years to come online.

i have some pickles and chutneys stored as i know they keep to add some flavour as well as curry powder and dried spices etc

25 kilos of iodised salt 4 of pepper etc and 100 kilos of plain salt for salting things and preserving meats.

i have 50 kilo of brown sugar and 200 of regular all stashed awy

but most of my first years tucker is on the hoof / foot /paw variety and growing wild variety

i do have a LOT of packs of rolled oats this can be used lots of way and even made into flour, its high in protein minerals and carbs. 

Corn meal as well but not as much

cheers

jack


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## JeepHammer (Oct 10, 2008)

In the beginning, I listened to those 'DoomsDay' guys, and stored Flour and Bibles.

Great, I get to sit in my 'Bunker' and eat wall paper paste and burn bibles for heat & light....
Makes for a pretty boring life!
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Now I advocate a 'Well Stocked Pantry'.
What ever you use now, just buy a little extra more than you consume until your pantry is stocked up with what you consume now...

If you consume it now, then you will ROTATE your stock, an nothing gets real old...

I know guys that have had MRE's and other stuff for 10 years or more, and I KNOW that stuff has to be just turned to mush my now...

If you like a brand of Pork & beans, then buy it by the case next time you go to the store...
Do that for two or three weeks, then start buying it by the can after that again, and buy a case of something else....
Have some in reserve!

Get two or three cases on the shelf, then move on to your favorite canned corn, do the same.

You are only out the extra money for ONE CASE at any given week, 
You save money in the long run since you don't have to make so many trips to the store for little items,
And you should have a 6 day to 6 week supply at any given time.

If you believe the government is going to come in and help you out from natural disaster, like earth quake, hurricane or tornado, then expect a 3 to 6 day response time for resupply.

If you believe you will be on your own for an extended period of time, then stock pile a 6 week supply of 'Store Bought' canned food and supplies.
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Personally, I have about a 6 week supply of everything, including water,

And the home canned produce & meat in the basement will go about 8 to 12 months.
That's just the nature of home canned garden and livestock butcher around here.

In 6 weeks you should have found a way to supplement your stores with trade, scavenging, hunting, or what ever.

I do keep some staples in long term storage which would be essential in along term situation...

Sugar. 
Nitrate, so as long as you keep it from moisture, it will store virtually forever.

Salt.
Sodium Chloride, again, as long as it is kept reasonably dry, it will store virtually forever.

Canning Jars and lids.
Very hard to break a ring, but lids need to be replace with every use, and jars do break while in service or being cleaned/stored.

Extra parts for my pressure canner...
Extra lid gaskets, extra gauges, extra weights, ect.
Replacment parts market could dry up in a heartbeat, so get that stuff while you can...

Don't forget things like Preserves Filtering Screens, extra Paraffine blocks, stuff like that!
Sucks when you have a big crop of something like blackberries and can't put them up because you don't have Paraffine for the tops of the jars!
And yes, I use paraffine instead of wax. Paraffine recycles time after time, and it doesn't degrade over time like wax does.

Lots of extra freezer bags! 
And vacuum bags if you do vacuum sealing...
Zip lock freezer bags are just DANDY for sealing things up and they come in so handy for so much stuff! 
Everything from keeping track of small parts to using as makeshift canteens!

*FUEL.*

No matter what your 'Fuel' is, store it!

*Solar STILLS* and *Solar COOKERS* are an excellent way to purify water, make alcohol (for a solvent, cleaner, of course!) cook your food, dry meat grains/meat for preservation, and generally get things done without depleting your fuel reserves.

*Solar* panels, both *PV* to produce electricity, and *Thermal* to produce hot water are a good idea and cut way back on the amount of electricity or fuel you will consume.
It doesn't matter how much energy you consume, as long as you make it yourself!

*Solar PV *arrays routed through an inverter will produce 110 volt current that will run power tools, home appliances, and generally make your life more pleasant in the event of natural or man made disaster.
..........

*Wood* is cheap, had a fairly long 'Shelf Life' (usually about 5 years), but you need a wood stove and good chimney to use it.
Wood is fairly efficient at heating & cooking, and can produce some light.

*Propane* stores virtually indefinitely.
A big fat propane tank thats kept full is a joy to own!
If you think an above ground tank will make you a 'Target' for thieves or vandals, get an under ground tank or store it in smaller tanks in the garage (NEVER store propane in the house!)
Most propane suppliers will 'Lend' you a tank if you buy from them, but underground tanks are more difficult.

The big deal with propane is it will power refrigerators/freezers and readdily make light.
It also powers generators that can produce electricity.
And the obvious, cooking and heating in the home...

Gasoline, while it packs a lot of energy for the amount of volume it takes up during storage,
It doesn't store very well, loosing potency very quickly over time, and it's often very dangerous to use.
Gasoline appliances need to be refilled, and the accidents usually happen during the refueling stage of things.
Gasoline appliance combustion doesn't happen very efficiency, so you will get a lot of fumes and vapors all the time.

Kerosene has some of the bad points of gasoline, but not to the extremes of gasoline.
Kerosene burns cleaner, so you don't get near the fumes and odors, and it's safer to handle, but still will burn things down if you don't know EXACTLY what you are doing and take the proper safety precautions!
Refilling kerosene appliances is still where most of the danger lies and should be a primary concern.

One should consider SOALR ovens for cooking.
This takes NO fuel out of your reserves,
They are very small and portable to post mounted and immovable.
They are SLOW COOKERS, so you can prepare your food, put it in and go about your business without worrying the dish(s) will be over cooked.

*Solar STILLS* and *Solar COOKERS* are an excellent way to purify water, make alcohol (for a solvent, cleaner, of course!) cook your food, dry meat grains/meat for preservation, and generally get things done without depleting your fuel reserves.

If you have livestock, consider a *Methane* capture tank.
Animals produce waste, and that waste is full of methane.
No reason not to use it for heating, cooking, lighting, ect.
It will be low pressure application, so you may have to 'Tinker' with making some of your on hardware, but I believe that would be well worth the effort if you had very many head of livestock.


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## Jerseyzuks (Oct 13, 2008)

Dana said:


> So beans and rice provide a pretty balanced, but bland diet.


Not if you are doing it right!

My family eats rice and beans at least once a week, and leftovers are quickly scarfed up for breakfast burritos and bean tacos.


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## slurp (Oct 14, 2008)

Jerkey is awesome, I would keep corn also


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## TechAdmin (Oct 1, 2008)

Vacuumed sealed rice, wheat, flour and sugar are musts to me.

Peanut butter, honey, lots of various nuts.


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## Fetthunter (Oct 14, 2008)

We stockpile all sorts of foods that we eat anyway, especially the ones with a long shelf life like rice, peanut butter, etc.

We also stockpile 1200 and 2400 calorie emergency food bars to get us through the first few days of an emergency when things will be most hectic, and cooking may be impractical/impossible. Once things have (hopefully) settled down some, we'll fall back on our stockpiled food supplies and go from there.


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## Denny (Oct 14, 2008)

With modern packaging, almost anything is storable.


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## Smithy (Oct 15, 2008)

I agree with the well-stocked pantry idea, keeping heavy on items with very long shelf lives. I also think a short-term supply of "right now food", like MRE's, is a good idea... but I wouldn't plan on living off them for more than a week or two, if at all possible... though the upside is a decreased need for TP for a few days, as most MRE's stop up most people I know.


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