Early Retirement Extreme Forums

This video shows how simple it is to use the resealable buckets and mylar.

part 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wf6JsR1z ... re=related

part 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzTEvzr0 ... ure=relmfu
I also read recently that if you live in an earthquake zone you should only store food in cans because jars would break. I never thought about it but it makes sense.

Yes but not intentionally for disasters...though being in Hurricane Alley (Florida) its a wise idea.
I end up with a good food store only because I buy things in quantity when they are on steep sale.
My Grandfather had a grocery store and the average cycle was a steep sale roughly every 12 weeks on most staple type items (can goods included) so I usually have around 12 weeks worth around.
For a disaster though you want things you can eat without needing heating or cooking...like canned pasta...and that are more calorie dense....pasta, baked beans, etc.
Three cans of Chef Boy ar Dee pasta is about 1600 calories (a days requirement)....takes 25 cans of green beans to get the same.
And make sure they are pull top cans....does you no good if you can't find the can opener in the rubble.

The Mormons have good information about long-term food storage and storage materials: https://www.lds.org/topics/food-storage ... lang=eng#1
We don't have nearly enough food stored up, but what we do have is kept in empty plastic 28-pound cat litter containers.
Even though we don't eat processed food regularly, we tend to keep it for emergencies. (Twinkies, anyone?) This is because we live in earthquake country. Most staples, like pasta and rice, require cooking. If a bad earthquake were to hit and damage the gas lines, it would be suicide to light up a gas stove or barbeque.
We don't keep very much water on hand, but it's my goal to start slowly stocking up one-gallon jugs. There's a swimming pool in my condo complex, and this thread is a good reminder to research whether that would be a viable water source in an emergency situation.
Back to cat litter for a moment - I've heard that it's good to have around for hygiene purposes in case the water goes out during emergencies.

Of course kitty litter (especially the moisture absorbing kind) is good for persoal hygiene at least as long as you have somewhere to put it after use and keep it from "piling" up.
Not sure all the clay its made of would be good for a garden if you went the compost route.
Now as for squatting over the litter box and using my feet to cover the result......

@FrugalZen: Thanks for the lovely imagery.

Not sure if this helps, but Costco has been selling sealed plastic buckets with freeze dried food supplies. I believe one bucket contains food for 30 days. The benefits are: compact, does not require refrigeration, seems sturdy in case of earthquake. The biggest problem is the water you need to reconstitute the product. I also don't know if you actually want to eat the stuff if it approaches expiration. Freeze dried strawberries for a month anyone? Cans might be better because they don't need water, are not breakable, store for a long time and are usable during the normal course of your household (in normal times).
With boiling, I think most fresh water sources can be made potable You could always filter through a sheet if it is muddy I suppose. If using a barbecue is dangerous, such as in California after an earthquake, you could use a solar powered pot. I saw one while visiting Tibet. It is rather chilly there, but the sun really shines. They use simple reflectors to concentrate the solar heat on the kettle with water. This would be very low tech and requires no open flame.
You also have to consider heat and cold, depending on where you live.
Finally, if things are that dire that you are needing to think about food and water for months, you probably need weapons to protect your food and water supplies from other people. We are talking about an emergency greater than 9/11.

If they're anything like the common MRE, then the following holds.
1) Longevity is a function of storage temperature. The colder the better.

2) As the food gets older, it simply loses nutritional value, texture, color, etc. but it doesn't become inedible. (Proceed at own risk.)
Google will tell you lots more.

AS far as water in an emergency is concerned, you can deal with dirty or microbe laden water easily. Chemical pollutants are more tricky. If you can gather water using a backpacking filter, or run it through cloth strainers, you can put it in clear 2L pop bottles and use solar power. This is a technique generated and disseminated to 3rd world countries for safer water to drink. I read about it originally from a non-profit water group...much cheaper than many alternatives.
http://modernsurvivalblog.com/health/ho ... -sunlight/

I agree with the food storage idea but another good idea might be using a solar oven. It will work in just about any weather and you can build it yourself for next to nothing. Did I mention it free cooking irregardless if the economy collapses, hurricanes or whatever.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZWIpKRuur0

I will bump that topic.

Do you have any issues with freshness when you stored buckwheat groats or millet groats in your inventory?
What kind of inventory do you use? Please post pictures (eve from google images)

ffj wrote:Check this out: https://www.youtube.com/user/jastownsendandson

There are a lot of videos on food storage circa 18 century. Plus a lot of other interesting videos to boot. I learned how to preserve eggs up to two years the other day which was interesting.

well, I mean more like:
Do you use silica gel packets to protect your 10kg of rice in a plastic box?
Or how do you treat such amount of e.g. rice?

For storage, use self-sealed mylar bags with a desiccant and keep them in plastic containers with a good seal. For open products, use a gamma seal and stick a couple of desiccants to the underside of the lid.

jennypenny wrote:For storage, use self-sealed mylar bags with a desiccant and keep them in plastic containers with a good seal. For open products, use a gamma seal and stick a couple of desiccants to the underside of the lid.

Can you explain how do you obtain cheap silica gel packets? Do you make your own? How?

New question:
What about storing bulk supplement powders?
Like creatine, vitamin C or something else?

Make your own. MUCH cheaper. Buy silica by the pound. You can get it on amazon or in gun shops. You can also get it at craft stores, so if you can get one of those 40-50% off coupons, it's pretty cheap. You can make them out of coffee filters or tea bags (used are fine once dried out). If you want a larger amount, put it in a small plastic container like for yogurt or sour cream, poke several large holes in the lid, and cover the inside of the lid with a coffee filter. When you want to reuse the gel, put it in the oven on keep warm for 4-5 hours to dry it out. Be careful opening the bag and assembling the packets. The stuff can really get all over. I do it in an old pan to catch the spillage.

jennypenny wrote:Make your own. MUCH cheaper. Buy silica by the pound. You can get it on amazon or in gun shops. You can also get it at craft stores, so if you can get one of those 40-50% off coupons, it's pretty cheap. You can make them out of coffee filters or tea bags (used are fine once dried out). If you want a larger amount, put it in a small plastic container like for yogurt or sour cream, poke several large holes in the lid, and cover the inside of the lid with a coffee filter. When you want to reuse the gel, put it in the oven on keep warm for 4-5 hours to dry it out. Be careful opening the bag and assembling the packets. The stuff can really get all over. I do it in an old pan to catch the spillage.

Could you show me your coffe filters?
I would appreciate google images (due to land-specific solutions).

@Stahlmann - The shape doesn't matter. All you need to do is to make bag and close it up so the silica doesn't spill out.

FWIW, I don't use desiccants, but I also only store a couple of months worth of food (in gamma seal buckets) and these get opened constantly.
http://earlyretirementextreme.com/wiki/ ... _and_sales

I have been reading about historical disasters (mostly massive volcano eruptions, e.g. 1815-6) and I see the reasoning for storing 6+ months of food. But it seems to me it makes sense to buy regular pack sizes and keep it in the packs it comes in, which are generally sealed.

Maybe this depends where you live. We don't have the "bulk bin" thing here in the UK that you have at Whole Foods etc in the US.

jacob wrote:@Stahlmann - The shape doesn't matter. All you need to do is to make bag and close it up so the silica doesn't spill out.

FWIW, I don't use desiccants, but I also only store a couple of months worth of food (in gamma seal buckets) and these get opened constantly.
http://earlyretirementextreme.com/wiki/ ... _and_sales

what is special about gamma seal buckets?
this lid in my country is quite expensive (probably due to import from USA/other country).

It's airtight and leakproof. So far also insect proof. Highly reusable. There are probably similar solutions that will do the same thing. In the US, the lid is about $7-8. The bucket is separate and costs $3-4. Both are available from Home Depot or similar so pretty easy to obtain.

I'm lazy and have just been ordering #10 cans from the Mormons. They are very friendly, basically free S&H too.

https://store.lds.org/webapp/wcs/stores ... _N_image_0