# Storage advise



## cm4ever (Oct 26, 2012)

I found this storage bucket online (at a store I can get them a couple hours from here when they are not sold out). I am a new prepper and I'm just starting to acumulate supplies, but I'm wanting to get it right and not waste lots of food because I didn't plan right. LOL

So, what do you think of these? They look almost too good, and sometimes it makes me worry.

http://www.millersgrainhouse.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=83_38

Thanks for any advise you can give.

CM4ever


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## goshengirl (Dec 18, 2010)

Those are expensive to me. I would get the food-grade buckets from Tractor Supply (about $4 each), then head to Home Depot for lids - the plain lid is under $2, the gamma lid is about $6.50 (at least, in my area).

For which lid to choose, I try to assess how will I use whatever it is that's going into the bucket. Let's take rice as an example. If it's going to be a frequent use rice bucket, then I'll go with a gamma lid, which is a screw lid that is easy to get into but still keeps bugs, etc. out. I have this in my basement for my bulk purchase rice that I periodically get into to replenish the container of rice I keep in the kitchen pantry. However, I need to also stock up on rice that I'm going to pack into mylar bags with oxygen absorbers, and once they're packed, they won't be touched until an emergency or twenty years has passed, whichever comes first. For those buckets, a regular lid (not so easy to get into, but much cheaper) is what I'll use.

Hope that helps. Welcome to the forum!


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## weedygarden (Apr 27, 2011)

*Very expensive!*



cm4ever said:


> I found this storage bucket online (at a store I can get them a couple hours from here when they are not sold out). I am a new prepper and I'm just starting to acumulate supplies, but I'm wanting to get it right and not waste lots of food because I didn't plan right. LOL
> 
> So, what do you think of these? They look almost too good, and sometimes it makes me worry.
> 
> ...


You can put together food safe buckets and lids for much cheaper than that.


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## cm4ever (Oct 26, 2012)

*See..ya'll are helpful..*

Thanks...

I'll be avoiding thier stuff then. I'm new to this and just getting my feet wet.

CM4ever


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## kejmack (May 17, 2011)

You can get food grade storage buckets free from bakeries. I don't know where you live, but in Texas, HEB and Krogers have them. You can also find food grade buckets at Lowes Hardware or Tractor Supply for $5. 

You might also try putting an ad on Craigslist. I got a ton of free Mason jars and a few 5 gallon buckets that way. 

Part of the "fun" of prepping is seeing what you can get for free so you can brag about it to your other prepping friends. We always let everyone know when we make a "score".


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## UncleJoe (Jan 11, 2009)

I got all mine free from a Chinese restaurant. They get soy sauce in 5 gallon buckets and saved them for me. I say save*d* because I was getting so many I had to start saying no. 
Start asking around. Most places that use them are more than happy to give them away to cut down on their trash stream.


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## cm4ever (Oct 26, 2012)

Well, my fiancee went to sams club to finish his hearing check, and asked the bakery if they had some. They did. Not the ones with rubber seals on them, but they did. 

BTW...for reference, sams club sends theirs back for a credit (sort of recycling) so us getting those was a one time thing.

Currently we are working on other bug out issues before we start stocking too much.

I bought my house from the city for a song, but my back yard has a privacy fence, and on the other side is the projects. I don't mean the yucky houses that people think are the projects, but the goverment houses that people get to live in when they are on welfare and don't have housing projects....(complete with the one a month fight in the parking lot between the women where usually at least once every few months you hear "hold my weave, I"m going to kick her a$$", and that's with food avaliable).

SO, our house is a horrible bug-in house. The capita of people who don't plan per guns and nosey neighbors make it impossible. We were going to go to a friends house, but her house is nice and would make a HUGE target if SHTF. Currently we are in discussion of trying to buy a few acres of land in the mountains of SC/NC not far from the house that we would not really develop as far as you could see (ya know..make it look like some hunter's piece of land to hunt on) but have stashes of food and possibly a underground living space that is pretty hidden. The question is this. 

Can you put a underground shelter in the country without a permit so it isn't traceable? We don't have kids...we have furbabies, and I know that people say they won't make it (and I believe it...) but in the chance we can pull this off....I would like every living creature I know and love to make it. So...ideas?

I know storage of food will be tricky, cause we won't be there every day to check for rodents...so metal will be best in the long run. Funny enough...this was what I was thinking...if we can get a wooded area that is wooded enough or with some planting dense enough..we could almost make a "treehouse" type storage for food that would keep it off the ground. Or we could make several pits with trap doors to hide it. Anyway..rambling...

If you have any thoughts, or would just like to laugh at a new prepper, go for it. LOL

CM4ever.


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## Lake Windsong (Nov 27, 2009)

cm4ever said:


> Thanks...
> 
> I'll be avoiding thier stuff then. I'm new to this and just getting my feet wet.
> 
> CM4ever


Shop around, ask questions here. We are all in different stages of prepping and all have different priorities. But we were all beginners at one time.


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## GrinnanBarrett (Aug 31, 2012)

Shop around for your buckets. Lowes will throw down a sale on their food grade white buckets 6 gallon size quite often. I would recommend Gamma seal lids Even Cheaper than Dirt has them. Check around for them. For Mylar Bags look on line if you do not have a local dealer. Stick with long term companies like Emergency Essentials. Also get the heaviest gage of bag you can. Be sure you get oxygen absorbers also. Usually same people will have both bags and absorbers. 

You can also use a bottle of nitrogen to purge the oxygen from the bag if you wish and can afford. 

If you use used buckets be sure to know what they had in them. You don't want your rice to taste like pickles. GB


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## karlsgunbunker (Jan 31, 2012)

Firehouse Subs in Indianapolis sell pickle buckets for $2ea, but they smell like pickles of course.

If you are buying a lot of buckets try U.S. Plastics.
http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/default.aspx?catid=752&parentcatid=687

They have volume discounts and IIRC shipping wasn't too bad.

Another good link.
http://freckleface.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/gammaseals.html


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## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

As far as your furkins, prep for them the way you'd prep for yourself. My DH and I have 6 cats and one daughter, Roo. The furkins all have different dietary needs as they are all in different stages of life. I have 3 months of their regular food and starting on 3 months of a cheaper food. This includes canned and dry. Litter is also included in their preps. When we had a dog I stored food, poop bags and toys.


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