Checking the Prpper Supplies
Going a bit stir crazy being inside so much or is it that my wife is home more. Anyway I decided it might be a good idea to check on my SHTF supplies and make a few observations. The supplies are likely 5 to 7 years old now.
The ammo and guns should all be good but it would be fun hurt to test some of each.
Unless there's some big external reason, we'll shelter in place at home.
The old tootsie rolls are still tasty. I had cheap access so I stored a few.
Krustez buttermilk pancake mix isn't worth storing longer than the recommended shelf life.
Unless you know what to do with the four basics (flour, salt, honey and ???), stick with the professionally prepared freeze dried survival food kits. Yes they are expensive but require less room to store (freeing up space or other things and will be easily to take if bugging out), will store for a longer period.
Don't store more than a year's or so worth of canned goods unless you can commit to using it up an replenish it.
Will need to reconsider cleaning products and quantities. A dozen or so bars of soap seems insufficient for the long. Thinking of researching how to make liquid soap, hand sanitizer, etc., making some and then storing the ingredients and recipes. Seems more flexible if there are multiple purposes for some ingredients.
Would recommend drying food over canning.
Comments?
The ammo and guns should all be good but it would be fun hurt to test some of each.
Unless there's some big external reason, we'll shelter in place at home.
The old tootsie rolls are still tasty. I had cheap access so I stored a few.
Krustez buttermilk pancake mix isn't worth storing longer than the recommended shelf life.
Unless you know what to do with the four basics (flour, salt, honey and ???), stick with the professionally prepared freeze dried survival food kits. Yes they are expensive but require less room to store (freeing up space or other things and will be easily to take if bugging out), will store for a longer period.
Don't store more than a year's or so worth of canned goods unless you can commit to using it up an replenish it.
Will need to reconsider cleaning products and quantities. A dozen or so bars of soap seems insufficient for the long. Thinking of researching how to make liquid soap, hand sanitizer, etc., making some and then storing the ingredients and recipes. Seems more flexible if there are multiple purposes for some ingredients.
Would recommend drying food over canning.
Comments?
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Ms. WT used to make and sell soaps and lotions at craft shows. She’s stopped and now we have shelves full of homemade soaps, shampoos and lotions. We will never run out of that!
Soap is extremely simple to make. Every “preppier” should know how.0 -
Might want to check out the old “Foxfire “ series of books . Virtual how to manuals of all things homemade like our grandparents and great grandparents made , farmed used living in the country 100 years ago
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A few of the local distillers and breweries in the Detroit area were giving away high proof alcohol to the public but switched over to providing it to hospitals and first providers before I could obtain a gallon or so.
My attempt faied The popular recipe for hand sanitizer calls for aloe vera but that is hard to find for an individual now. Experimented this morning by mixing 70% rubbing alcohol and sugar free jello mix. Regular jello likely would have left your hands sticky. My concoction failed to jell as hoped. Now just have some colored alcohol. A few drops at a time will still work. Any ideas.
There shouldn't be a nationwide shortage of alcohol in North America. Corn prices are low and the ethanol plants would like another use for their product other than mixing it with gasoline especially with the extremely low price for oil.
I'll have to search for the "Foxfire" books for ideas.
Jim0 -
Found my stash of ingredients for making laundry soap (20 mule team borax, bars of fels naptha and washing soda). Won't need to make any in the near future but will look for a couple more bars of the Fels Naptha to balance things needed. 0 -
Try adding glycerine ...victorj19 said:A few of the local distillers and breweries in the Detroit area were giving away high proof alcohol to the public but switched over to providing it to hospitals and first providers before I could obtain a gallon or so.
My attempt faied The popular recipe for hand sanitizer calls for aloe vera but that is hard to find for an individual now. Experimented this morning by mixing 70% rubbing alcohol and sugar free jello mix. Regular jello likely would have left your hands sticky. My concoction failed to jell as hoped. Now just have some colored alcohol. A few drops at a time will still work. Any ideas.
There shouldn't be a nationwide shortage of alcohol in North America. Corn prices are low and the ethanol plants would like another use for their product other than mixing it with gasoline especially with the extremely low price for oil.
I'll have to search for the "Foxfire" books for ideas.
Jim
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victorj19 said:Experimented this morning by mixing 70% rubbing alcohol and sugar free jello mix. Regular jello likely would have left your hands sticky. My concoction failed to jell as hoped. Now just have some colored alcohol. A few drops at a time will still work. Any ideas.
It doesn’t need to gel. Just put it in a spray bottle and spray it on...0 -
The best survival foods are grains. You can get a five gallon bucket of nitrogen-charged wheat, and one of corn. And get a hand cranked grain grinder. You might get tired of eating corn bread but it beats starving.
And you could mix that up with some five gallon buckets of black beans, and lentils. Protein, complex carbs and fiber.
These foods will keep for about 20 years.
Right now, this stuff is probably all sold out.0 -
Canned goods are OK for long after the date, unless damaged or swollen they are safe to eat. The best by date is for for freshness but when hungry, a green bean is gonna taste just fine. To keep flour, rice, beans and what not fresh store in buckets with oxygen absorbing packs. They will keep it fresh for a long time. 0 -
Yes you want the oxygen absorbing packs. They suck up all the oxygen and leave inert gases including nitrogen.
These oxygen absorbing packs were invented by a genius. They are little cloth bags containing iron shavings. Put them in the bucket and they get rusty. They oxidize, which absorbs all the oxygen.
You want the whole grains they keep much much longer than flour. Also, while brown rice is a wonderful food and easy to fix, it will keep only 18 months. Corn, wheat, beans will keep for decades.0 -
Allen, what makes Brown Rice only last for 18 months. I've got a bunch stored in 5 gal contractor buckets. Tons of dried pinto beans in the same. Several 5 gal. buckets of vacuum sealed beef sticks. Tons of canned goodes, Etc.
Looks like us "Old Folk with preexisting medical conditions," will not have to worry about long term food stuffs though.
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Fox fire books are very good reading!!! and good info for life. 0 -
"It will probably surprise you to learn that while most varieties of rice can be stored indefinitely, uncooked brown rice only has a shelf life of six to eight months in the pantry. This is because of the higher oil content in the bran (the outer shell), which has been polished off on white rice. Storing uncooked brown rice in the refrigerator will slightly increase the shelf life of the rice to around a year, and keeping the rice in the freezer will increase the shelf life to about a year and a half."
It is weird. Brown rice is the "staff of life" and is one of the most nutritious foods. Just doesn't keep very long.
Ironically white rice will keep for years. But, all the good stuff has been milled off of the white rice so it is not very good for you in the first place, just a bunch of starch.
Better to stick with corn, hard red winter wheat, red beans, black beans, lentils etc. Use the oxygen absorber packs and these grains will last for decades.
When this "crisis" hit 2 weeks ago I did buy 5 pounds of brown rice and will make sure to eat it all in the next year.0 -
https://pleasanthillgrain.com/food
I just went and checked one of my good online suppliers. None to my surprise, most of the stock is sold out.0
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