Storing food long term

So like I mentioned yesterday I have decided to, slowly, start storing some foods and other items for long term as a safety net.  I have taken some pics and will show you step by step how I did it.  Instead of making one 5 gal bucket full of rice and 1 full of beans, ect.  I didn't think that made any sense so I ordered 20-1 gal bags + oxygen absorbers which measure 10"X16". They also produce 6 gal bags 20"X30" if you do decide to make full buckets of one item. So why mylar and oxygen absorbers? Why not just throw the ingredients into a bucket and throw a lid on it? Well if you want to store things for the long haul you need to keep out light and air.  A bucket alone does not completely keep air out, by sealing it in a mylar bag and adding an oxygen absorber then sucking the air out and sealing it you will extend the life of the items greatly.  Then putting those into a 5 gal bucket protects the mylar from weather, and rough handling it also makes it easier to store and stack.

 I made multiple packages to put into 5 gal buckets so they are more user friendly and you can just take out 1 bag use it up then go to another bag instead of opening a whole bucket full of one item and having it exposed. For this first bucket I bought 4 lbs of pinto beans ($4.80), 2 lbs dry macaroni noodles ($1.84) and 15lbs of medium grain rice ($12.99). The bucket and lid, from home depot  ($5.26) and the 20 mylar bags along with the 20 oxygen absorbers from www.mylarpro.com ($16.87).  So the investment for our first long term bucket is $29.11......not to bad for items that will have a longer shelf life than me!

So lets get started:

Here are all the items for the first bucket.

4lbs of beans only makes half a bag

2lbs of macaroni is just under 1/2 a bag

I used 6lbs of rice in 2 bags which made it 1/2 full and put the last 3 lbs in another bag

This is what I used to seal the bags. The iron set to wool setting with no steam, a piece of wood I had in the garage(to keep it off the counter) wrapped with a towel, and my shop vac with the small tip on it. you can use your home vacuum cleaner and use the crevice tool to suck out air in the bags.

Don't forget to put your oxygen absorbers in the bag before you seal it. One 300cc absorber is plenty. Make sure you seal up any unused oxygen absorbers so they don't continue to "work". I took out the 5 I needed then I resealed the package with the iron so they would be sealed again, I also put them in an extra mylar bag and sealed it, so when I need them next time they I will know they are still good. I ironed about 3/4 of the bag before I used the vacuum so it would be easier to seal the last bit. Sealing the last corner while you are holding the vacuum is defiantly an art form. I got better after I did the first two or three.

Here is the first bag.

I finished all 5 bags and then I printed out labels with the Item, weight, date packed, and cooking directions.  Then I printed out a label for the bucket with the contents, weights, and date packed.

The five bags fit in perfectly with about 2" of room to spare.

And here is our first finished bucket.

 

 

I have been looking around and have found a source that gives their estimates on how long items will last stored this way.

Indefinite Storage Life Items:

 Salt, Raw Honey, White Sugar

30 Year Items:

 Hard Grains (Whole), -Buckwheat, -Corn, Dry, -Flax, -Kamut, -Millet

 -Durum wheat, -Hard red wheat, -Hard white wheat, -Soft wheat

 -Special bake wheat, -Spelt, -Triticale, Oats (whole or rolled)

 Rice, Beans, -Adzuki Beans.,-Blackeye Beans, -Black Turtle Beans

 -Garbanzo Beans, -Great Northern, -Kidney Beans, -Lentils

 -Lima Beans, -Mung Beans, -Pink Beans, -Pinto Beans

 -Small Red Beans, -Soy Beans, Macaroni, Powdered Milk

 Potato Flakes, Dried Apple Slices. Dehydrated Vegetables

10 - 15 Year Items:

 Garden Seed or Sprouting Seed (Do not use O2 absorbers or desiccant also do not store hybrid seeds only store open polinated heirloom seeds)

 Textured Vegetable Protein (TVP)

 Dehydrated Dairy Products. -Cheese Powder. -Cocoa Powder

 -Powder Eggs, -Butter/Margarine Powder, -Whey Powder

8 – 10 Year Items:

 Soft Grains (Whole), -Barley, -Hulled or Pearled Oat

 -Groats, -Quinoa, -Rye,

 Brown Rice, Shortening

3 - 5 Year Items:

 Peanut Butter Powder

 Coffee (Possibly Longer. Minor flavor loss in the first 2 weeks)

1 - 2 year Items:

 Flours and Other Products Made From Cracked/Ground Seed

 

So do you or are you thinking of storing food? How much do you think you should store? Let us know what you think.





Is it Prepping or Common Sense?

So I have been thinking about it a lot lately, Should I start storing food and supplies or not.  The more I think about it and the more I read and watch the news the more I say YES.

Now do I think a huge asteroid is going to fly out of the sky and take out 1/4 of the earth.......NO.  Do I think North Korea is going to shoot a nuclear weapon in the atmosphere and cause a EMP blackout that would take out all items containing microchips......NO. Do I think there is going to be an economical collapse where the Dept of Homeland Security is going to use its 2 Billion bullets, over 7000 AR15s, and 2700 Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles against us........ UH........ WELL.............no?  But it is curious on why the DHS is purchasing all of this.......Its not for the Military ,we have ours..... its not for the Military Reserve units, they have theirs....its not for the National Guard units, they have theirs too.  So why would the DHS need all this? I have no clue they are not a military organization.

Ok now that I have all of that off my chest, back to my question.  Is it prepping or is it common sense?  Now I credit my father, the Boy Scouts, and the US Army for teaching me how to live in the woods, make fire, build a crude shelter, and purify water.  What about my kids, what about my wife, what about my family?  Now I have 3 external framed backpacks that I use when I go hiking and inside all of them I keep what I think is common sense items.  Fire starter, whistle, compass,  crude fishing kit, first aid kit, 550 cord, gerber, knife, ect. (if you want a full list let me know)  the reason I put all of this in each one of our packs is if something happens and we get split up, fall off a cliff or what ever each one of us should have the items we need to survive a couple of days until help arrives.(how many news stories have you seen on the news about lost hikers/campers)

So I would think I need to apply these same principals to my home.  Now I know I am in the Army and you are probably saying "you are in the safest place possible" and you would probably be right, but have you ever gone shopping on a military payday? The shelves are BARE!!! That got me thinking what would happen if the lights went out for a week due to a storm? what would happen if a fuel depot blew up like the propane tank place did a while back? Now I am sure that the military base would help us out that live and work here..... but I have stood in line for HOURS just to do an on base Easter egg hunt! How much worse would it be if EVERYONE wanted the same items at once.


So I have decided to start storing some food items, not 20-30 years worth but enough to survive on for a decent amount of time if we need to.  Did you know that if you put rice, beans, noodles, hard whole grains, powdered milk, or potato flakes in a mylar bag and add an oxygen absorber packet in, then seal the bag the food last almost indefinitely!!! So if we store a couple of 5 gal buckets of those items along with a few extra can goods each payday if something does end up happening then it is there to use. (I will do another blog on how to store food in mylar bags).  If you end up coming upon hard times and cannot afford food due to not being able to work you at least have a good amount of sustainable food until things get better.  Water is also another item you should keep on hand, if the power is out the faucet wont work, and you know how fast Walmart will run out.  Although I cannot do it here you can also collect rainwater in a SEALED container then boil it if you need it. I have seen 275 Gal water tanks on Craigslist for less than $99

 

So if you end up storing some food, water and wood/charcoal you should be able to handle any situation that comes up for a while till things get better.

 

What about personal security, well its up to you.  Do you think that if other people know that you have all the provisions to keep on going for weeks/months when Walmart and Kroger doesn't that they will just say, "man they where smart, I guess I will just go back home and starve"?  I don't think so.........look back at all the looting during the New Orleans flooding, the Boston Marathon, and hurricane sandy.  You just cant trust people anymore, it is more every man for himself than the community sticks together of yesteryear.

 

So I would say Prepping IS common sense.  I do have some great resources if you are interested in Mylar bags, prepping websites, and what to do in case of a disaster. Just shoot me a comment, message, or email.

 

So what do you think? Is prepping common sense or is it a waste of time? Comment below and let me know



Our new toy

So Germany has a regulation for US Troops against bringing privately owned weapons into Germany. Don't get me wrong you can bring them over if you want to go through a dog and pony show and ALOT of red tape.

AE Regulation 190-6 says:
"It is prohibited to bring firearms into the Federal Republic of Germany until they are properly registered with U.S. Forces and German authorities. This cannot be done prior to being stationed here and completing the German Firearms requirements."

so if you do decide to get your FBI background check and approval from your first O-5 in your chain of command you can fill out the paperwork and then you:
 "Obtain a German Hunting License (Jagdschein) by attending and passing a local U.S. Forces Rod and Gun Club sponsored German Hunting Course, or obtain a Sport Shooter's Permit (Waffenbesitzkarte). The Jagdschein establishes need for rifles and shotguns and up to two pistols."
Once you complete all of this you can have a "authorized licensed gun dealer" mail them to you in Germany. Then after you register them with your local German town and with the MPs you are good to go. WHEW!!


This all seems like a lot to mess with if you just want something to protect your family with.  So after a little reading a research I figured out you do not need any special authorization or requirements for this.........

Yep that is our new toy/home security, its a PSE discovery 2 compound bow.  I chose this model at the Archery store because it can be used by all of us in the house.  It does not have a cam lock, it has a constant 30lb draw strength so it can be fired from any draw length up to 30".  Which for those who are clueless like we were, Jonah at age 10, kim and I can all 3 shoot this with out it having to be re adjusted to each individual person.  For me it pulls real easy I can fully extend my arm and have a proper draw with no issues. 

Here is Jonah with the professional at the Bow shop teaching him proper techniques.  He did very well. Although with the constant weight on the string he fired about 5-6 times and got tired.

If you look back at the first pick we also bought 2 FLU FLU twister arrows. These are urban backyard arrows.  The extra large fluffy flights on them slow the arrow down considerably when fired.  The sales clerk said to put a couple of rocks in a milk jug and have someone throw it in the air and try to shoot it with the FLU FLU arrows.  If you tried that with a normal arrow and missed there is no telling how far that arrow would go.

 

So what personal protection items do you prefer if you cant take a firearm?

Shipping Unaccompanied Baggage

So today is the day we send our Unaccompanied Baggage and military gear.  We have decided to ship the UB 60 days early then our HHG will go 30 days before we leave.  We have ended up getting a donor couch for free and we have a king size bed we don't want any more, so those along with our clothes in our suitcases is how we will live for the last 30 days.  We have decided not to ship our car till the week we leave but have money in our savings account to buy a hooptie when we get there.

So even though we are able to ship 1025lbs for the three of us this is all we are shipping. After our tour in Korea we kind of got an idea of what we needed for this trip.  Although I did go through a lot of blogs to make sure we weren't missing anything.



We are also sending our 3 bikes with our UB, If you have a bike I HIGHLY suggest that you ship it in your UB shipment.  It makes a huge difference to be able to hop on your bike to get out and about until you get a car.  In the background you can see all my military gear that is going as well.  I prepack all of my expensive gear and lock them in tac boxes and duck tape the outsides so the corners cannot be pulled up to get gear out.  I also make a mark or sign my signature over where the tape ends so if anyone tries to remove the tape the marks don't line up.

So the things we suggest to ship in your UB are:

• TV and DVD player
• camping style chairs
• bikes and helmets
• some type of table to eat on (we use the fold up ones)
• a fan
• enough blankets for everyone
• pillows, sheets, and towels
• shower curtain and small rug
• weather appropriate clothes that wont fit in your luggage
• coffee pot
• laundry baskets and a few hangers
• air mattress and pump
• small lamp
• pots, pans, cooking utensils (the stuff from ACS usually isn't enough)
• paper plates, cups, bowls and eating utensils
• tool kit (hammer, a few nails, screwdrivers, a few screws, allen wrenches, level, tape measure, box cutter, adjustable wrench, pliers)
• backpacks (to use while you explore, or to bring things back when you are on your bike)

So this is what we have packed, have we missed anything? What are some of your favorite things to send in your UB?