# Tell if I have enough food.



## teenprepper1 (Jan 13, 2013)

How many cans of food would a family of 3 need? And any ideas on the best and cheapest food ideas? I mean like freeze dried? Also any suggestions on good items to add to our BOB's? We have all the basics. We are unsure about water? We have purification methods but water is heavy as hell. Should we still carry some water? we have like 5 bottles in each bag since it is heavy.  thanks so much (sorry for cursing )


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## dirtgrrl (Jun 5, 2011)

Hon, your questions are way too vague to answer well. I suggest that you cruise through all the many, many threads on this website, searching by subject.

The amount of food you'll need depends on who the people are, if you're moving or staying put, and for how long. Will you be on foot or driving? Cheap food is no good if you don't want to eat it. Always be sure you have water purification, shelter (even if it's just a space blanket), and a way to make fire. First aid and sanitation supplies like soap are important too. You should have a way to carry the water you do purify, preferably in several smaller containers rather than one big one. If you are bugging out on foot and have to limit what you can carry, it's better to have pure water, shelter, first aid and fire than a lot of food. Food can foraged along the way. You can go days without food, but dehydration, dysentery, hypothermia, and infection will kill you quickly. 

Also socks. Take care of your feet and be sure you have good shoes and at least one extra pair of socks. Wash or at least air out between daily changes.

Do not even consider any kind of firearm or weapon unless you really know what you're doing with them. They will be more dangerous than helpful to you. 

These are not the glamorous things that people think about when prepping, but these are the things that will keep you alive.


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## Padre (Oct 7, 2011)

teenprepper1 said:


> How many cans of food would a family of 3 need? And any ideas on the best and cheapest food ideas? I mean like freeze dried? Also any suggestions on good items to add to our BOB's? We have all the basics. We are unsure about water? We have purification methods but water is heavy as hell. Should we still carry some water? we have like 5 bottles in each bag since it is heavy.  thanks so much (sorry for cursing )


For how long? If you can save up $100 you can buy a bucket of Wise meals. Usually about 60 meals or 1 meal per person for 20 days (and 2 meals for 10 days). That is a AWESOME prep if your are prepping on a teens budget. If you don't have the ability to save up that much, or while you are saving, think about beans, peanut butter, instant oatmeal, jerky. You want to look for foods high in calories, fat, and protein. Also think vitamins. One way to prep is to "STEAL" food from your kitchen to put it away for emergencies. If your parents miss the food they probably replace it without much thought--repeat.

Water, pack a few canteens, which you should dump and refill regularly, but depend on a filter (and your ability to make a filter) because as you say water is too heavy to carry much of... That being said getting a few water cans and hiding them filled with water is a great way for a kid to store at least a little water. Also consider investing ($19) in a water bob, which is a quick way to store 100 gallons in your tub just before the water goes out.


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## hiwall (Jun 15, 2012)

Walmart has 20 lb bags of rice for $10. Rice goes a long way and lasts a very long time. An empty water bottle full of rice is not too heavy and can be in each BOB.


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## Geek999 (Jul 9, 2013)

It sounds like you are asking in the context of a Bug Out scenario, but you haven't actually said that's the case. If you are then the questions become how many people and how far ar you going? Do you have a vehicle (car, bicycle) or are you walking?

You are correct that water is heavy. You will need to replenish supply whether you are at home or bugging out. Purification is a topic that you can find existing threads on. My favorite method is a very small amount of rum. A very small amount of alcohol will kill germs and this method has been used at least back to the colonial era here in the US. It's probably not the best way to go for a teenager however.

You can find excellent filters from Katydyn or Berkey, but you'll need to spend a bit of money, use water purification tablets, or simply boil the water.

For food, MREs are a choice for a short duration but you'll want something else for longer duration and ultimately, the bulk will get to the point you need resupply.

It would help to know if we are discussing a Bug Out, how many people and their condition, vehicles if any, camping experience of the group, distance to be covered, terrain, and climate.


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## lazydaisy67 (Nov 24, 2011)

Think in terms of the meals you eat now. If a can of beans is a side dish for a meal now, how many times do you want to eat beans in a week? If you eat one can of beans a week for a year, you'd have to store 52 cans of beans. Same with all your other veggies. You'd be very quickly looking at HUGE amounts of canned goods hidden in your bedroom if that's the only place you have to put things.


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## Caribou (Aug 18, 2012)

The LDS Preparedness Manual will answer many of your questions and is an excellent place to start your study. It will also answer questions that you have yet to think of.

https://www.ldsavow.com/PrepManual.html


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## BillS (May 30, 2011)

If you're bugging out, where do you plan on going? Or do you just live in a big city and have to leave when it gets bad?

A good item for your bugout bag is a $5 bag of trail mix from Wal-Mart. Based on the serving size and the number of servings per bag I think it has 5,000 calories. Calorie dense foods that are already cooked are the best. Pre-cooked bacon would be good too. Or beef jerky.


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## Tacitus (Dec 30, 2012)

dirtgrrl said:


> Do not even consider any kind of firearm or weapon unless you really know what you're doing with them. They will be more dangerous than helpful to you.
> 
> These are not the glamorous things that people think about when prepping, but these are the things that will keep you alive.


I agree. I have always hesitated to say this out loud here for fear of being misunderstood. But, I have often thought that *I know when someone is serious about prepping when they stop talking about buying guns and start talking about buying food.*

I'm not saying firearms aren't important. They are. But firearms always seem to be the first point of focus when anyone thinks about "prepping" for the first time. Firearms are the low hanging fruit. They can be fun. They can be glamorous. And the media uses the image of the gun toting crazy as being representative of all preppers. But when people move on from firearms to the mundane, like food and water, that is when I know they are really preppers, and not merely gun enthusiasts.


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## Tacitus (Dec 30, 2012)

teenprepper1 said:


> How many cans of food would a family of 3 need?


LDS Preparedness Manual (linked by Caribou) has a "Recommended 30-Day Emergency Food Supply for One Adult" (Handbook 2, p.65). I typed it into a spreadsheet, converted all the amounts to ounces, multiplied by the number of months and the number of people. For example, if you want 2 weeks for a family of 3, multiply the amounts by 1/2 (half a month) and 3.

I think their numbers are conservative (more than strictly needed), but others might disagree.



teenprepper1 said:


> And any ideas on the best and cheapest food ideas? I mean like freeze dried?


If you are just talking about food you can carry for a couple days, then I would just take a balanced approach: some canned goods, some freeze dried pouches, some energy/survival bars, maybe some MREs. I'm bugging in, so bulk grains and legumes will supplement my ready to eat foods (canned and freeze dried). Freeze dried foods can be very expensive, but they are light and easy, good factors for bugging out. If you have a vehicle, weight is not as much a factor. If you have to walk far, you may want to stick with water purifiers and freeze dried.


teenprepper1 said:


> Also any suggestions on good items to add to our BOB's? We have all the basics. We are unsure about water? We have purification methods but water is heavy as hell. Should we still carry some water? we have like 5 bottles in each bag since it is heavy.  thanks so much (sorry for cursing )


Regarding water: I would say water for the first couple days (unless you have a vehicle, in which case I would pack much more), and water purification for the long haul (especially if you have to walk). My BOB (which is actually a GHB, I hope) has a small amount of water, and purification means if I travel more than a 24 hour walk away.

Water is the first item in the hierarchy of needs. After that, just go down the list:

Water
Food
Clothing (travel/hiking, weather appropriate, changes of clothing)
Shelter (tent/tarp, sleeping bag/blanket)
Sanitation (TP, wet wipes)
Medical (first aid kit, foot powder, bug repellant, sun screen)
Tools (fire starters, multi-tool/can opener, axe?, shovel?...)
Maps (local laminated maps)
Lighting (flashlights -- non-LED if you are worried about EMP)
Communication (handheld radios)
Financial (extra cash)
Security (blades, firearms...if allowed in your area)


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## FatTire (Mar 20, 2012)

Its fun to focus on stuff. putting together kit and kewl 'survival' stuff is neat. However, the most important survival tool is your mind. The list of skills that could be beneficial is endless. My advice is to start with three days of water, food, shelter and clothing, add to that slowly, but keep your main focus on building and practicing skills that you think you may need, as well as universal skills everyone should have. Get some instruction in some form of martial are that you can enjoy, I highly reccomend something practical and that implements sparring against a fully resisting opponant. Get and stay in good physicall condition. That bag of goodies does you no good if you cant lug it around.

Learn to plant a garden, can, dehydrate, and preserve food. learn to sharpen a knife and build a shelter. Get books on edibble and medicinal plants in your area, find someone to teach you about them. Aquire as many skills as you can, you neednt be a master, but the more skills you have, the better off you will be.


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## Padre (Oct 7, 2011)

FatTire said:


> Learn to...


I know it seems daunting, I was a 15year old prepper once before they called preppers, preppers.

Perhaps to summerize:

1) Learn Skills, these are usually FREE, and the most important prep.
2) Start small, one day, then three, then a week, then a month.
3) Guessing that you a a boy...guns are fun. Respect them, learn how to use them, have fun with them, become expert with them, but TRY not to make it all about the gun (or knife). Fact is that unless want to eat two legged game or rob people a gun will likely not feed you. (Although I must confess that I probably had 20 or 30 knives before the time I was 12)


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## readytogo (Apr 6, 2013)

teenprepper1 said:


> How many cans of food would a family of 3 need? And any ideas on the best and cheapest food ideas? I mean like freeze dried? Also any suggestions on good items to add to our BOB's? We have all the basics. We are unsure about water? We have purification methods but water is heavy as hell. Should we still carry some water? we have like 5 bottles in each bag since it is heavy.  thanks so much (sorry for cursing )


Maybe this can help you some.
http://www.family-survival-planning.com/home-food-storage.html


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## weedygarden (Apr 27, 2011)

*Lots of unknown information to be answer well*



teenprepper1 said:


> How many cans of food would a family of 3 need? And any ideas on the best and cheapest food ideas? I mean like freeze dried? Also any suggestions on good items to add to our BOB's? We have all the basics. We are unsure about water? We have purification methods but water is heavy as hell. Should we still carry some water? we have like 5 bottles in each bag since it is heavy.  thanks so much (sorry for cursing )


1. Do you have a bug out location that you can cache some of your preps at? Water would be a good thing to have there because it is heavy. Some people have Camelbaks www.camelbak.com, water packs that you wear like a backpack, but under your backpack. I have a waist pack that holds water bottles. If you plan on finding water, include some packets of powder to help with flavor. Options include Emergen-C, koolaid (yes), Tang, lemonade powder (Country Time or Crystal Light), tea bags, instant coffee, hot cocoa packets. If you are working hard and sweating, the electrolytes from some of these will help with energy.

2.How many cans of food is not so easy to answer. It depends upon what you get. Many cans will tell you on the can, but if you are walking or hiking, you will want more than the recommendations. Having foods that do not require cooking will be handy like granola type bars. If you have light weight stoves, you can heat things like stew or chili. Another thing is that cans can be heavy, so if you can get foods in plastic or other packaging it might be easier. There are powdered soup mixes that you might make as a group.

3. If you eat ramen noodles, they would be an easy, cheap addition to your BOBs. Not the best food nutritionally, but an easy, lightweight, quick cook prep. If you do not like the Ramen noodles or if you are allergic to gluten, there is the rice noodle version of these that are good. We find a brand called Thai Kitchen in our store. They are around 90 cents here, give or take.

4. Depending on how far you are going, riding bikes might be an option. In Vietnam, people loaded their bikes down and walked them, basically using them to move goods. Bikes can go where cars and many vehicles cannot go and will not require gas or be affected by an EMP. Many people have them already.

If you decide to use bikes, you can find many designs for panniers, baskets, and packs to help hold stuff. You might be able to find some of them on Craigslist, thrift shops, or garage sales. A bike cart that pulls behind could hold more stuff. A bike cart has a limited weight that it can hold, so it they could hold bulkier things like sleeping bags, etc.


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