IF you HAD to prep

[Rparrny]

Living on Long Island...and I live 250 ft away from the bay...hurricanes, blizzards and power outages are part of life.
Things I have ready:
30 five gallon buckets filled with Honey, whole wheat to grind for flour, legumes of every sort, sugar, dehydrated and freeze dried vegetable and fruits.
Cans of dry milk, powered cheese, spices ect.
I can meat and poultry, jams, some veggies.
I make my own laundry soap concentrate in 5 gallon buckets and keep 5 gallons worth of quart mason jars filled with them as well as homemade fabric softener.
Batteries, lanterns, candles, a CB radio with 2 handheld units.
2 Solar ovens
2 Rocket stoves
Guns, ammo and the ability to load my own.
A sling shot so powerful it could kill a deer (or a man) with a rock easily.
4 Cords of wood and a woodburning stove that I can cook on.
Extra propane for the grill
A generator that I have used only once and the electric came back on 30 minutes after I turned it on.
Currency
At least 20 pounds of green coffee beans at any given time.
Paper products
First aid supplies
Herbal Medicines and the ability to make more
Heirloom seeds.
Soap and the ability to make more from scratch
County water (fine if the electric is out) and a private well that needs electric.
A three month supply of my meds

Yeah...I'm a prepper...

 

[rodentraiser]

Like with Addie, I don't have a lot of room to keep stuff. Also, when you're in an apartment, you can't always keep any barrels of water. And let's face it, if there was an emergency and you had to evacuate, you couldn't bring any of that stuff along anyway.

So I always had my car prepped. I lived out of my truck for 6 years and later on I lived out of my car for a couple of months till I could find a place to live again. I kept a propane stove and a couple gallons of water, some dry foods like boxed potatoes and canned goods, things like cooking utensils, matches, paper towels, garbage bags, some baby wipes, things like that in it. I also always kept a bed made up in the back with a pillow, extra blankets, clothes, towels, and an extra pair of shoes. A car is also handy if you're away from home and a disaster strikes and you can't get back home right away. That's what happened to me after the Loma Prieta earthquake.

Now I keep a couple 2 gallon jugs of water in my fridge and a flashlight hanging by a hook right next to my bed. While in California, I was always prepped for a large earthquake or a fire, plus rolling brownouts and blackouts and El Ninos. Of course now where I live, any natural disaster is going to be either a huge earthquake (third floor, brick building, not sure I'd survive anyway) or a huge tsunami (up to 13 ft high and I'm one block from the ocean). In the event of a disaster, there wouldn't be anywhere to go and the streets would be filled with traffic trying to get out. The only ways across the highway would be blocked by the highway collapsing, or an overpass collapsing, not to mention that to get anywhere in this area would mean crossing bridges.

You have to be realistic about these things.

But all that would be in the event of a major major disaster. Anything less like a semi-large earthquake or a major power outage wouldn't be enough to cause a problem for me or have me in any kind of survival mode.

 

[Cheryl J]

^ LIKE, girlfriend!

 

[Cooking Goddess]

I'm just asking, what would you personally prep for a war?

Live a good life and pray hard.

Well... I have about 700-800 or so bottles of wine in the cellar, so I suppose I'm well prepared for a wine shortage. ...

If I had 700 bottles of wine in my cellar, I'd consider myself well prepared for any event. I could just drink my way into oblivion and remain blissfully unaware of impending doom.

 

[cjmmytunes]

My problem would be getting essential medication that is perishable, so I can't stockpile it. So I would not plan on lasting very long in a war, to be honest.

I also have medication that is perishable, actually am thinking about getting some FRIO wallets to keep it cool when needed (power outages, long trips, etc).

 

[GotGarlic]

I also have medication that is perishable, actually am thinking about getting some FRIO wallets to keep it cool when needed (power outages, long trips, etc).

We have a generator for power outages and a cooler works for long trips. When I flew to Michigan last year, I wrapped some in a towel in my suitcase with a few freezer packs; that kept it cold enough. But it expires in 10 days, so in a very severe situation, getting resupplied would be the problem. So I'd stock up on wine, cheese, cured meats and crackers and be happy till the end [emoji2]

 

[roadfix]

Seriously, there are many other scenarios that seem far more likely. For example, losing one's job, or experiencing a health event, or getting hit by a natural disaster. Along with retirement, death, and taxes, those are the kind of things I try to prepare for.

Agree. These are more realistic events and I'm sure most of us are prepared for...

 

[PrincessFiona60]

Please remember this is a food forum (Menu Planning) and even global politics has no place in it. We can discuss WAR in general.

 

[Addie]

Well, Since the store shelves would be empty, I would head for the checkout areas. Candy bars there along with something to read.

But I do understand the original question. During WWII, England went on rations that affected the whole country. The U.S. did also, but not as severe at England. Here anyone who had even a small plot of land had a Victory Garden. If you grew tomatoes and your neighbor grew celery, you swapped with each other and both homes had salad that night. Here in the U.S. we fed each other. After the war, England stayed on rationing. Here for us the prices were frozen by President Truman. But the food was available to the general public. Our problem was in giving the factories enough time to change over to peace time. We had the land and the population to make that change quickly. And we didn't have to put our efforts into building homes to replace the buildings that had been bombed. Our housing problem was in building homes fast enough for the Vets returning home.

All those farms here that were feeding the men overseas could now put all their efforts into feeding the general public.

But in the event that something like that time should happen again, would you be prepared to evacuate in a hurry and still be able to feed yourself as well as your family? We have "Emergency Evacuation Route" signs on all our secondary streets on only one side. They are all leading us north. For us, it is in the direction of where a lot of the food for the farmers markets comes from. So we would have food. Unfortunately, I think the farmers would want to sell us their wares. And being human, we most likely would march into his gardens and take what we wanted.

But where would all the folks who went that route sleep? On the ground wrapped up in a blanket? Where ever it might be, at least we would sleep with a full tummy that first night.

 

[Bigjim68]

I know there was a thread several years ago about food hoarding/ prepping. I'm semi a lot newer here and if this is inappropriate the mods can remove. I am curious because I just got done reading The Bronze Horseman and it was about WWII. I was so interested in the sections of rationing and what the involved were going through, I just wonder, if you knew you had to prep. What would you do?

I lived through WW II and am familiar with rationing. We made out by raising chickens and growing and canning a large garden. Some things we did without. Sugar and coffee were in short supply. Mom made dresses and shirts from feed sacks. No designer jeans for us. Not a big deal as every kid in the school wore the same clothes.

If I were prepping today, it would be dried foods including meats, and most of all cooking and heating fuel. Which is often overlooked.

 

[Bigjim68]

Well, Since the store shelves would be empty, I would head for the checkout areas. Candy bars there along with something to read.

But I do understand the original question. During WWII, England went on rations that affected the whole country. The U.S. did also, but not as severe at England. Here anyone who had even a small plot of land had a Victory Garden. If you grew tomatoes and your neighbor grew celery, you swapped with each other and both homes had salad that night. Here in the U.S. we fed each other. After the war, England stayed on rationing. Here for us the prices were frozen by President Truman. But the food was available to the general public. Our problem was in giving the factories enough time to change over to peace time. We had the land and the population to make that change quickly. And we didn't have to put our efforts into building homes to replace the buildings that had been bombed. Our housing problem was in building homes fast enough for the Vets returning home.

All those farms here that were feeding the men overseas could now put all their efforts into feeding the general public.

But in the event that something like that time should happen again, would you be prepared to evacuate in a hurry and still be able to feed yourself as well as your family? We have "Emergency Evacuation Route" signs on all our secondary streets on only one side. They are all leading us north. For us, it is in the direction of where a lot of the food for the farmers markets comes from. So we would have food. Unfortunately, I think the farmers would want to sell us their wares. And being human, we most likely would march into his gardens and take what we wanted.

But where would all the folks who went that route sleep? On the ground wrapped up in a blanket? Where ever it might be, at least we would sleep with a full tummy that first night.

One advantage that we had in WW II that is totally missing today is the fact that at the beginning of WW II we had 15 years experience of just getting by. Especially in the midwest. My dad went from travelling the west looking for work to a for the duration $250/week semi permanent job. Today after 60 years of prosperity that is gone. Kids today would opt for a cell phone over a weeks worth of food.

 

[Addie]

I lived through WW II and am familiar with rationing. We made out by raising chickens and growing and canning a large garden. Some things we did without. Sugar and coffee were in short supply. Mom made dresses and shirts from feed sacks. No designer jeans for us. Not a big deal as every kid in the school wore the same clothes.

If I were prepping today, it would be dried foods including meats, and most of all cooking and heating fuel. Which is often overlooked.

There is a commercial selling dried food for "just in case". Considering that in order to utilize this food, you would need hot water, camp out near some woods and bring a good supply of matches or other means of starting a fire. Collect some dried wood including some kindling, and hoping you know how to build a fire for cooking, then you should be able to survive. So now you will be able to feed yourself and your family and keep warm at the same time. The only other thing you should know about is how to build a lean-to. And try to find a place to camp along side of a brook or small river. You are going to need some water for that dried food and for drinking.

 

[Bigjim68]

There is a commercial selling dried food for "just in case". Considering that in order to utilize this food, you would need hot water, camp out near some woods and bring a good supply of matches or other means of starting a fire. Collect some dried wood including some kindling, and hoping you know how to build a fire for cooking, then you should be able to survive. So now you will be able to feed yourself and your family and keep warm at the same time. The only other thing you should know about is how to build a lean-to. And try to find a place to camp along side of a brook or small river. You are going to need some water for that dried food and for drinking.

All the skills you mention were taught in Scouts when I grew up. Maybe still are.

I still have my boy scout flint and can still start a fire with a pile of dead grass and the flint.

 

[rodentraiser]

There is a commercial selling dried food for "just in case". Considering that in order to utilize this food, you would need hot water, camp out near some woods and bring a good supply of matches or other means of starting a fire. Collect some dried wood including some kindling, and hoping you know how to build a fire for cooking, then you should be able to survive. So now you will be able to feed yourself and your family and keep warm at the same time. The only other thing you should know about is how to build a lean-to. And try to find a place to camp along side of a brook or small river. You are going to need some water for that dried food and for drinking.

You better have a water filter for that water. I understand there isn't a stream or river anywhere in the US anymore that doesn't have Giardia in it. You could boil the water first, but that would run your available fuel down faster.

 

[Addie]

All the skills you mention were taught in Scouts when I grew up. Maybe still are.

I still have my boy scout flint and can still start a fire with a pile of dead grass and the flint.

And they are all the skills I taught my Girl Scouts. We also taught them how to use a size 10 can for frying bacon and other foods with a tuna can and a spiral of cardboard and melted paraffin wax for fuel. By the time they were ready to go home ten days later, all of them thought they were ready to become Mrs. Daniel Boone. The following year some of our repeat scouts took the new ones under their wings and taught the new kids to cooking camp style. They also taught them how to build a safe fire and they sat around the camp fire toasting marshmallows for S'Mores.

On one of the hikes, the kids found an old fridge grate. They brought it back to camp, gathered some big rocks, placed the great across and built a BBQ for themselves. They had to wash it first. But I wasn't too worried about them getting sick. The fire sterilized the grate. And they did remove all the dirt.

 

[Kaneohegirlinaz]

Having spent the majority of my life on a tiny speck of an island, smack dab in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, susceptible to ANYTHING!
Ya neva know what's going to hit ya!
With all of the different branches of the US Military, stationed on one small mass of Earth, surrounded by nothing but thousands and thousands of miles of water, at the mercy of Dock Workers, Hurricane force storms, conflicts of all sorts and NO WHERE to go (we don't have basements), I mean where are you going to go? It's 180 miles around (Oahu), that's it!

Prepping?
Done it my entire life, long before some genius created a TV reality program about it!
You're always on alert.

It was very difficult to own a fire arm in Hawaii; I thanked God everyday that my husband was in Law Enforcement!
And now we live in Cowboy Country, where everybody's got a loaded gun rack in their car/truck/ATV and even carry openly.
It's every man for them selves here!

Today, I am a hoarder, I admit it!
I have enough of everything to last us, oh, probably a year I suppose.

Since moving here to the 'mainland', we've always had a bank of storage cabinets the entire length of our garage, that I keep all of my stuff in.

 

[Bigjim68]

And they are all the skills I taught my Girl Scouts. We also taught them how to use a size 10 can for frying bacon and other foods with a tuna can and a spiral of cardboard and melted paraffin wax for fuel. By the time they were ready to go home ten days later, all of them thought they were ready to become Mrs. Daniel Boone. The following year some of our repeat scouts took the new ones under their wings and taught the new kids to cooking camp style. They also taught them how to build a safe fire and they sat around the camp fire toasting marshmallows for S'Mores.

On one of the hikes, the kids found an old fridge grate. They brought it back to camp, gathered some big rocks, placed the great across and built a BBQ for themselves. They had to wash it first. But I wasn't too worried about them getting sick. The fire sterilized the grate. And they did remove all the dirt.

I remember making those homemade Sterno's. They worked well.

 

[blissful]

Kaneohegirlinaz

Nice pantry cabinets!

I was thinking about the title to this thread, If I HAD to prep. I've never HAD to prep, I was brought up this way, so I've always been more prepared than most people around me. The thing to be aware of, is to never get too cocky about it, have humility because just when you aren't expecting it, something happens that you AREN'T prepared for.

 

[Steve Kroll]

If I had 700 bottles of wine in my cellar, I'd consider myself well prepared for any event. I could just drink my way into oblivion and remain blissfully unaware of impending doom.

In the event of a war in the 21st century, that may be all we have time to do.

 

[Merlot]

Thank you for all the replies! I was nervous about posting this new thread. Everyone's stories and suggestions are so interesting. Being from WV and knowing our skills, I think we would make loads of moonshine. We certainly know how and it could be a good trade and used for lots of stuff!