What Does One Need?
What is the first thing that one needs when one wants to survive the type of situation that I discussed last week? I have had other survivilists and even advisors tell me many different things. Ammo is a big favorite and usually enough to fight WW III single handedly. Others say silver, gold and barter items. Still others say fishing and hunting equipment. While all of these things are needed, they are not the first thing I would worry about. FOOD & WATER!! That is always the first priority. How much? What kind? Those and many other question come up and are very hard to answer on a general basis. Each of us has their own idea of what scenario will come about and how it will play out. We also each have a different method of handling our scenario. We all need to take a look at our own situation and make some intelligent choices. It is not a difficult as it may seem.
First: you should have a two week supply of highly portable food for each person in your party. This is just in case you would HAVE to leave your area for a while or to make an extended trip to your retreat. Your retreat may only be two hours away in normal times but take a week or more to get there if there is rioting or other disturbances. One question I get a lot is; "Should I buy MREs or other freeze dried ready to eat meals? Only if you want to. They are light, easy to carry, quick to fix and do not taste as much like cardboard as they used to. I have two days worth of MREs for myself and my wife. The rest of our two week supply we make and package ourselves. There is jerkey, dehydrated fruit and vegetables and things that we purchase and repackage for one meal convenience. These are things like powdered milk, powdered potatoes, juice mixes, coffee, tea, etc. In my own case, these foods are kept in backpacks and then stored in our camper. There is other heavier food in the camper also, but these packs are for just in case we do not even have time to hook up the pop-up. I call this our getaway food and it is in the packs with some other items which I will discuss at a later date.
Next we need to concentrate on our long range supply. My suggestion is that you always have a two year supply on hand. While many survivalists suggest wheat, wheat and more wheat, to the tune of buckets or even barrels of the stuff, I do not agree. I have read in some survival information that you should have a five year food supply consisting of wheat. Can you imagine eating wheat seven days a week, three meals a day for five years? My idea is to supply yourself with food that you can somewhat enjoy eating. Here again jerking, dehydrating and then vacuum sealing meals is a good way to get some of it. If you intend to stay in your present location, you can put up much canned goods and heavier items. Should I decide that I have to move, I can haul all of my food in my camping trailer. If all you have to get to your new home is a family sedan, you are going to use more compact food products. This is one place you could add MREs or something similar.
Having water or a good water supply is even more important than food. Those of you who live in the country as I do, probably pump your water from a well using electricity. What do you do if all power goes out. You could use a generator to make electricity or better yet, you could have a hand pump on hand to install, should the need arise. As for myself, I am putting in a second well to water my gardens and will have a hand pump for it. It will be a shallow well so only a small pump is needed. As this is almost groundwater, I will probably need to purify it for drinking and cooking. This brings me to another point, always keep some water purification tablets in that backpack of food. While you are out and about there is no telling where you will have to get your drinking water from. For city dwellers, keep as much water stored as possible where you live. Two or five gallon buckets of large barrels are all excellent if you have the storage space. No matter how little space you have, storing some water is important. Add a little chlorine to any water you store. Probably a tablespoon to five gallons would be enough. This will keep the water more pure.
As I stated at the beginning of today's note, much of this depends on the individual. For any of you wh have any questions, leave them at the end of this article along with your email address and I will do my best to answer them. More next week.
First: you should have a two week supply of highly portable food for each person in your party. This is just in case you would HAVE to leave your area for a while or to make an extended trip to your retreat. Your retreat may only be two hours away in normal times but take a week or more to get there if there is rioting or other disturbances. One question I get a lot is; "Should I buy MREs or other freeze dried ready to eat meals? Only if you want to. They are light, easy to carry, quick to fix and do not taste as much like cardboard as they used to. I have two days worth of MREs for myself and my wife. The rest of our two week supply we make and package ourselves. There is jerkey, dehydrated fruit and vegetables and things that we purchase and repackage for one meal convenience. These are things like powdered milk, powdered potatoes, juice mixes, coffee, tea, etc. In my own case, these foods are kept in backpacks and then stored in our camper. There is other heavier food in the camper also, but these packs are for just in case we do not even have time to hook up the pop-up. I call this our getaway food and it is in the packs with some other items which I will discuss at a later date.
Next we need to concentrate on our long range supply. My suggestion is that you always have a two year supply on hand. While many survivalists suggest wheat, wheat and more wheat, to the tune of buckets or even barrels of the stuff, I do not agree. I have read in some survival information that you should have a five year food supply consisting of wheat. Can you imagine eating wheat seven days a week, three meals a day for five years? My idea is to supply yourself with food that you can somewhat enjoy eating. Here again jerking, dehydrating and then vacuum sealing meals is a good way to get some of it. If you intend to stay in your present location, you can put up much canned goods and heavier items. Should I decide that I have to move, I can haul all of my food in my camping trailer. If all you have to get to your new home is a family sedan, you are going to use more compact food products. This is one place you could add MREs or something similar.
Having water or a good water supply is even more important than food. Those of you who live in the country as I do, probably pump your water from a well using electricity. What do you do if all power goes out. You could use a generator to make electricity or better yet, you could have a hand pump on hand to install, should the need arise. As for myself, I am putting in a second well to water my gardens and will have a hand pump for it. It will be a shallow well so only a small pump is needed. As this is almost groundwater, I will probably need to purify it for drinking and cooking. This brings me to another point, always keep some water purification tablets in that backpack of food. While you are out and about there is no telling where you will have to get your drinking water from. For city dwellers, keep as much water stored as possible where you live. Two or five gallon buckets of large barrels are all excellent if you have the storage space. No matter how little space you have, storing some water is important. Add a little chlorine to any water you store. Probably a tablespoon to five gallons would be enough. This will keep the water more pure.
As I stated at the beginning of today's note, much of this depends on the individual. For any of you wh have any questions, leave them at the end of this article along with your email address and I will do my best to answer them. More next week.
posted by Knifeman | 7:58 PM
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