# How Much Food And Water Do You Store?



## HarleyRider (Mar 1, 2010)

I have been reading quite a few articles across the internet and the consensus is that almost 98% of the population of this country have stored food and water that will last less than 1 week. Most of the people have no storage of food and water at all. Emergency Management in Louisiana is very strongly recommending that their residents stock at least two weeks worth of food and water, while most other Emergency Management sites I have found have no mention of food storage at all. That's pretty scary.


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## longtime (Nov 22, 2009)

All the water I need, collect and treat rain water for normal use now ( I assume it will keep raining). 

Combination of grain, dehydrated, FD and "normal" food to last over 2 years for my wife, myself and family members that are expected to show up. 

We also grow the normal fruit and veg. along with wheat for extended needs. We do not can the extras, but have in the past and do have the supplies if needed. We also only make a half hearted effort at the wheat, maybe 100 # year. Both can be ramped up very guickly if needed and if man power is available (non-prepper free loading family).

We do all this and I really don't believe the end is near. It's a sickness, I save money, keep spare parts for cars, buy insurrance ect. I really can't understand people with no backup (like most of my family).


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## HarleyRider (Mar 1, 2010)

I have water and food enough to last my wife and I for one year. Our garden supplements our food stores. I have enough gasoline to power my generator for several weeks and plan to extend that once I move to my retirement location. I still have a LONG way to go to get to the point I will feel comfortable, but that will be accomplished when I get settled in Tennessee.


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## longtime (Nov 22, 2009)

Where are you retiring?

The reason I ask is, Kansas and east you can own the mineral rights to your land and a lot of places have natural gas. We have our own gas well at a cost of about $2,000 in 1998. If you are moving it's something else to consider.


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## longtime (Nov 22, 2009)

Sorry missed Tennesse


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## longtime (Nov 22, 2009)

http://www.tennessee.gov/environment/tdg/maps/pdf/OIL_GAS.pdf


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## HarleyRider (Mar 1, 2010)

Thanks. longtime, for the info. I'll be moving southeast of Knoxville. Early next year, my wife and I will be driving up there and purchasing a little 3 bedroom 2 bath on 11+ acres. About 3/4 of the property is wooded, and there is a spring-fed pond on site. I CAN'T WAIT!!!! :melikey:


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## HarleyRider (Mar 1, 2010)

By the way, I used to live in Wichita, Kansas until a tornado made my house and I part company. It went one way and I went another. No injuries, though but the house was reduced to kindling.


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## Vertigo (Aug 6, 2009)

Water will be rainwater, treated with bleach.
Food will be poultry in the back garden plus all the wheat, corn and rice we can eat. 

V.


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## Vertigo (Aug 6, 2009)

longtime said:


> Where are you retiring?
> 
> The reason I ask is, Kansas and east you can own the mineral rights to your land and a lot of places have natural gas. We have our own gas well at a cost of about $2,000 in 1998. If you are moving it's something else to consider.


Is this common throughout the US to be able to mine your own gas if it is on your property? (assuming of course there actually is gas under your property) Seems pretty unbelievable (and unreasonably cool) from where I'm standing/living...

V.


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## longtime (Nov 22, 2009)

HarleyRider said:


> By the way, I used to live in Wichita, Kansas until a tornado made my house and I part company. It went one way and I went another. No injuries, though but the house was reduced to kindling.


Seen many but never had one hit. 
We did have a 100 mph straight line wind that broke 18" walnut trees in half. However they protected the house and shop from the wind, no damage.

If you do look for gas, you need to check drilling restrictions. We need at least 250' from well and property line.


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## HarleyRider (Mar 1, 2010)

If your deed includes mineral rights it is perfectly OK to mine your own oil or gas if there is any on your property.


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## longtime (Nov 22, 2009)

Vertigo said:


> Is this common throughout the US to be able to mine your own gas if it is on your property? (assuming of course there actually is gas under your property) Seems pretty unbelievable (and unreasonably cool) from where I'm standing/living...
> 
> V.


In the US, all mineral rights for the eastern US are typically combined with the surface. However most of the western US had the mineral rights separated before the land was homesteaded. Meaning Kansas and east if you own the land you most likely own all minerals below the surface (Unless a previous owner sold the rights). If you own the land west of Kansas it is likely someone else owns them.

We own the minerals with our Kansas home, but do not own the minerals with our Colorado home (The saying out there is, if you find gold while digging your basement cover it back up and dig a new hold)

Right now in Texas, gas companies are buying gas rights from home owners for up to $25,000 and acre plus royalties.


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## OldCootHillbilly (Jul 9, 2010)

Were buildin up a 3 month supply right now, then were goin fer 6 months, 9 months then a year. I might take it ta two years to.

Keepin gas, propane an kerosene on hand an buildin up that supply to.

We got a well on the property were gettin ready ta overhaul an a nearby creek so water isn't an issue really.

Most of America won't prepare, there lookin fer somebody else to take care of em. Sad situation an a wicked wake up call comin someday.

We can a fair amount a stuff, plus the dry goods were storin. Chickens comin on line next year.


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## nj_m715 (Oct 31, 2008)

WOW, this thread is bouncing all over the place. My house has city water, But I have have a shallow well and rain collection that I use for the garden and washing cars. I just added the rain collection info to my blog. I have a harbor freight 110v well pump that I can run with an invertor or I can switch to an old school hand pump with the turn of a valve. I live near a lake and river. I have a berkey water filter and chlorine for a back up, so I don't store any drinking water (exept for the bottles that I can't get my wife to stop buying) I tell water is free, it falls from the sky. Why the h*ell would you pay for it? She never listens to me:gaah:

I'm been working on food slowly. I should have maybe 6 months or so right now. I've mostly got some pasta, rice and wheat. I have a little canned meat. It's expensive and doesn't taste as good as fresh. I'm thinking about adding a couple egg hens or rabbit. I'd prefer hens, but I live in a twin house and my yard is small so rabbits might be a better fit for me. I think it would be easier to eat eggs compaired to eating animals that I raised from birth. I get attached to my pets. Don't get me wrong really not a softy, I've hunted deer and rabbits. I've cooked a few fish and crabs, but I didn't have watch them grow up.


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## Emerald (Jun 14, 2010)

I feel like I need to get much more! 
I have about 4 to 6 months worth of food at the moment, but the garden is starting to work up to full steam.
But water wise- probably only about 1 weeks worth, but I do have the filters for cleaning water and there is a river and lake near by. Not to mention that I have two small ornamental ponds with about 400 gallons that could be used for my animals at the moment.
Am planning on a few water barrels for rain collecting.


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## UncleJoe (Jan 11, 2009)

Water isn't an issue for us. We have a shallow well that can be hand pumped or even drawn with a rope and bucket.

Food- 50 or so chickens and 20 goats.
Commercially and home canned or dried produce- about a years worth.
Coffee and Tea- 1 year
Sugar- 1 year
Honey- 6 months
Sea Salt- about 1 month. This is to be remedied sometime this month.
Iodized salt- 2 years.

Seeds- 3 years if I couldn't get any more but I grow mostly heirloom and save new seed every year. 

Fuel- Diesel- about a year if used sparingly
Gas- about 3 months
Kerosene for lamps- 10 gal.
Wood- 2 years


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## OldFashionedMama (Jun 18, 2009)

*about to bring shame to my prepper parents*....We really don't and cant store much right now. Our financial situation is rapidly improving, and I hope within the next year to start building a real supply. Right now we might last a few weeks with what we have. I do some canning, so maybe we could live off pickles and jam for several months LOL! Right now my energy is focused on observation and learning, and also getting my basement in a condition that is suitable to store food (we've got moisture issues).


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## gypsysue (Mar 27, 2010)

The majority of our long-term plan is for on-going food production. We produce most of our own food now through growing, raising, foraging, hunting, and fishing. We process our own food from start to finish. 

So...some of the "how long" might depend on the time of the year! If something happened in, say, the spring and we couldn't plant, we could still get by at least a few months on what we have put back.

Water is all around us, and we have anywhere from 50 to 80 gallons stored in the house at any given time, with the water system we have.


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## UncleJoe (Jan 11, 2009)

OldFashionedMama said:


> (we've got moisture issues).


Not trying to downplay you're moisture issues so please don't take it as such. :kiss:

WE have water issues. Our foundation is 3' thick hand laid stone. The water table is about 18'. In the fall and spring, when we get the majority of our rain, we have a spring that runs from the NE corner to the south wall of the cellar. We have everything set up on 2 pallets which puts it about 6" off the floor. Yes we learned the hard way. We can usually figure on a 1.5" to 2" stream running through during a prolonged rain event. Last summer we had a storm that dropped 5" of rain in 2 hours. There was a 4" river running through. In the spring and fall I fire up the wood furnace (which is on bricks) to dry things out. In the summer we just open up the outside doors for a couple days and turn on a fan to circulate air till things dry out.

Point is; even as wet as things can get down there, we have most of our stores there in 5 gallon buckets. Everything just needs to be well sealed. We haven't lost anything to water damage in 7 years.


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## nj_m715 (Oct 31, 2008)

Good point I didn't think to mention fuel.
I am shamefully low right by I just had surgery and I plan to correct the situation as soon as I can.
I have an old mercedes, an '89 f250 and Geo Tracker. My wife has a '95 Mercedes. They all run on waste vetetable oil. 

I have dual fuel Tarm Gasifier oil burner/wood boiler and 97% EFU natural gas boiler in the basement. The Tarm can burn home heating oil or in 5 minutes it can converted to also burn WVO. I can heat the house with gas, HHO, WVO or wood. I can get hot showers from my solar heater or from the boiler. I have a couple torpedo heaters. One of them can burn wvo too. 

I have a few oil lamps and I have 100' of hot rod header wrap for wicks. 

I have a couple cords of wood and should have no problem to continue to get some after SHTF. There's not much competition for wood around here. I have the ability to store plenty of wvo. Should the SFTF I should be able to find plenty of wvo behind any dinner. It should be easy to get because the collection company is probably not coming for it anyway. (I don't like to talk too much about things that big brother might not like or might be interested in such as security, weapons, fuel, ammo etc.) Maybe I'm paranoid, but if you can read this then anyone else can read this too. 

I have a couple hundred watts of solar and a diy solar water heater (seasonal of course). I thinking real hard about investing in a large 10kw or so solar array. I have a lister-petter that I plan to build into a 12v genset when I recover a little more. 

If anyone is interested in my energy set up I have a lot of it on my blog and I've adding a little more since I've been layed up.


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## nj_m715 (Oct 31, 2008)

Once again took the words out of my mouth. I was going to say that the buckets have gaskets to keep out moisture. I'm been slowy getting up a shelf or two. I make the bottom shelf high enough for buckets to fit under and the pasta, canned goods spices etc go on the shelves. Don't forget tp and maybe some paper plates, plastic forks.


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## UncleJoe (Jan 11, 2009)

nj_m715 said:


> Don't forget tp


2 rubbermaid totes with about 80 rolls and a few mothballs in the attic.


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## OldFashionedMama (Jun 18, 2009)

UncleJoe said:


> Not trying to downplay you're moisture issues so please don't take it as such. :kiss:
> 
> WE have water issues. Our foundation is 3' thick hand laid stone. The water table is about 18'. In the fall and spring, when we get the majority of our rain, we have a spring that runs from the NE corner to the south wall of the cellar. We have everything set up on 2 pallets which puts it about 6" off the floor. Yes we learned the hard way. We can usually figure on a 1.5" to 2" stream running through during a prolonged rain event. Last summer we had a storm that dropped 5" of rain in 2 hours. There was a 4" river running through. In the spring and fall I fire up the wood furnace (which is on bricks) to dry things out. In the summer we just open up the outside doors for a couple days and turn on a fan to circulate air till things dry out.
> 
> Point is; even as wet as things can get down there, we have most of our stores there in 5 gallon buckets. Everything just needs to be well sealed. We haven't lost anything to water damage in 7 years.


That's how our old century house was. There was an old sisturn well that would push water back into the basement during heavy rains, and that water often smelled like sewage. Water poured in the sides of the walls...a real mess. The problem here at our new place is the downspouts. They are connected to underground pipes, but those pipes don't work anymore so the water is backing up. I just need to disconnect them and get those plastic extenders to re-route the water away from the house and HOPEFULLY that's the end of the problem. I've also noticed water seeping into the root cellar, although where that water is coming from is a mystery, and it only happens during extremely heavy rain or snowmelt. As long as I keep the dehumidifier running and scrub the walls and floors regularly, things are okay. The first year we lived here I didn't really pay attention until one day we went downstairs to find several boxes of books, papers, toys, furniture, and other items completely ruined by mold.


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## gypsysue (Mar 27, 2010)

Not everything we store is in 5-gallon buckets. Canning jars get rusty lids when stored in a moist place, such as a damp basement, so other storage places have to be found or made. 

Our root cellar is too damp for metal (canning jar lids), so we store them on shelves in a closet in a back bedroom as well as other places in the house. However, the cool, damp root cellar keeps potatoes and carrots in exellent shape clear through the next summer.

My parents had a stone basement in Wisconsin, and they used fans to keep the air circulating, which helped. When they had to put in a new furnace they got one with a built-in dehumidifier. That pretty much took care of the problem. They also had a pit with a sump pump (is that spelled right?) to keep the seasonal basement flooding in check.


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## OldFashionedMama (Jun 18, 2009)

gypsysue said:


> Not everything we store is in 5-gallon buckets. Canning jars get rusty lids when stored in a moist place, such as a damp basement, so other storage places have to be found or made.
> 
> Our root cellar is too damp for metal (canning jar lids), so we store them on shelves in a closet in a back bedroom as well as other places in the house. However, the cool, damp root cellar keeps potatoes and carrots in exellent shape clear through the next summer.
> 
> My parents had a stone basement in Wisconsin, and they used fans to keep the air circulating, which helped. When they had to put in a new furnace they got one with a built-in dehumidifier. That pretty much took care of the problem. They also had a pit with a sump pump (is that spelled right?) to keep the seasonal basement flooding in check.


We have a sump pump here. We were told tales by the neighbors about when this place flooded years ago. Why it flooded is strange because the neighborhood is at the top of a hill, but the once-finished basement was destroyed in the flood. In the haste to get the ruined drywall removed, they left the studs. I'm sure glad they did because there's nothing wrong with them, and we are going to remodel down there soon. However, the backyard will pond during heavy rains. We've done a few things to reduce it, but during times of days-long steady rains, it floods and the water inches its way closer to the house. The sump pump does its job, but there's always that possibility it could happen again. We should probably have flood insurance ...


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## ZoomZoom (Dec 18, 2009)

For basement flooding issues, the resolution for my house was to separate some drain pipes. At one time, the roof downspouts shared the same drain line as some floor drains. Well, if the pipe got overwhelmed, the water would back-up through the floor drains. Separating the drain lines fixed that. The other option was a compression type back-flow preventor that's installed in the floor drains.

Water isn't an issue for me. For day-to-day use, we have city water. I also have a well that I can quickly switch to. I have a creek running through the back yard which is my tertiary source.

For food, I don't have it counted out for exact duration. We're a family of 4 and I'd guess we probably have at least a years worth without rationing. There's a full cow and pig in the freezer(s), another large freezer filled with veggies and such and all pantries/shelves are loaded. The BOL is also set for a long duration.


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## NaeKid (Oct 17, 2008)

When I moved into my house, I also had some flooding issues. Turned out that the down-spouts for the rain-gutters would pour their water onto sidewalk blocks and then would flow "downhill" to a basement window and then into the basement. My fix was to remove the concrete sidewalk blocks and replace them with sod (lawn). Since then, no water has been found in my basement.


As for the amount of water stored. I have a few gallons of drinking water stored and a few gallons of grey-water stored, maybe two weeks worth of drinking water. My drinking water is supplemented with juices of many types (like Gatoraid) that are in sealed containers. I probably have around a month's supply of juices and energy drinks as well.


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## Emerald (Jun 14, 2010)

I forgot about "gray water" I have 4 of those big old liquid laundry soap containers that hold almost 3 gallons of water and I keep them filled with a touch of bleach in the basement as each one is a perfect "flush" They don't make them that size any longer as they have started making the laundry soaps more concentrated. they are easy to carry and to fill so we kept them and use them probably about 4 to 6 times a year when the power goes out.
I make my own laundry soap now with that universal combo- washing soda, borax and fels naphta! Works better than any of the pre made stuff.


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## Thdaoub (Jul 30, 2010)

Hope you enjoy yourself in the store!


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## Rourke (Jul 23, 2010)

3 months of food - woking on more. It's a start.

Water purification systems along with rain barrels.

Still planning......

Rourke


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