Category: Food Storage & Cooking

JWR’s View: Storage Space Planning for Your Stuff

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As a survivalist since age 14–and now 58–I’ve reached the stage of life where I’ve accumulated a deep larder and a lot of stuff. Just writing can’t help but remind me of the classic George Carlin stand-up comedy routine on “A Place For Your Stuff.” (Be forewarned of Carlin’s foul language.) But seriously, every well-prepared family has mountains of stuff. Storage space planning presents three major challenges: 1.) Where to fit it all. 2.) How to keep it safe from deterioration. 3.) Keeping it organized, so you can quickly find, retrieve, and replenish it. I will attempt to address all three …


Letter: A Recent Test of Stored 2008-Vintage MREs

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Dear Editor: I am always interested in the viability of stored supplies, and am amazed at how quickly expiration dates are reached when one becomes a prepper. I’m the fellow that sent in the report of long-frozen yeast some months ago, and recently conducted a taste-test of an MRE purchased in August, 2008. I thought our brother and sister readers may be interested in my findings. The MRE was packaged by the MRE Star company, out of Hollywood, Florida. It was purchased in a case lot from a Brigade Quartermaster “brick & mortar” store in August, 2008. Though I have …


JWR’s Recommendations of the Week:

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Here are JWR’s Recommendations of the Week for various media and tools of interest to SurvivalBlog readers. This week the focus is on MagPul PMAG magazines. (See the Gear & Grub section.) Books: Nation of Cowards: Essays on the Ethics of Gun Control. o  o  o Complete Works O. Henry Authorized Edition 12 Volume Set   Movies & Television: The Korean War – 60th Anniversary Commemorative Documentary Collection o  o  o The second season of the very cleverly-crafted parallel universe television series Counterpart began airing last month on Starz, and will wrap up on Sunday, February 17, 2019. Most of …


Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread, by C.J.

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Bread has been called the staff of life. Throughout history has become a staple to diets across the world. There are literally thousands of bread recipes to be found in cookbooks, online, and in grandma’s little recipe file. Most recipes are actually very similar with the only difference perhaps being a little more or less flour, salt, leavening, or other agent. The one thing in common with most rising breads is the process. Adding ingredients, kneading for a given length of time, allowing to rise then baking. Hoping to find at the end, a perfectly risen mass of wonderful bread …


Family Preparations for Nuclear War

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Today, I’m addressing a subject that I suppose should have had more emphasis earlier in SurvivalBlog: The risk of nuclear war, and how families can plan and prepare to survive it. The Risk The risk of nuclear war is now actually greater than during the bad old Cold War. Back then, there were just a handful of nuclear powers that were divided into two or three camps. But today, there are umpteen factions and even terrorist groups with potential access to nukes. Face the facts: We live in a dangerous world. Someday, one or more of hose nukes is going …


Family Earthquake Preparedness: Are You Ready?

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The recent strong earthquake near Anchorage, Alaska underscores the importance of family earthquake readiness. Thankfully, we live in a country with modern building standards. This is not in the case of many Third World nations, where unreinforced masonry construction is the norm. In the Third World, folks tend to be very stingy with reinforcing bar (“rebar”). So its seems that every time there is a large earthquake in those regions, there are building collapses, with large loss of life. By far, the safest houses for earthquakes are of wood frame construction. This is because such structures can flex and sway, …


Common “Weeds” as Food and Medicine- Part 3, by M.C.

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We are taking a look at common weeds that can be used as food and medicine. If things go very wrong, such as in an EOTWAWKI or SHTF scenario, you may find yourself without access to doctors and hospitals and may have to take care of yourself and your family. You may want to print this and save it for such a time, when things are stressful and you may not remember the information here. Warning: Never eat a wild plant unless you are 100 percent positive of its identification. Get yourself a good field guide, like Edible Wild Plants …


Common “Weeds” as Food and Medicine- Part 2, by M.C.

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We are taking a look at common weeds that can be used as food and medicine. If things go very wrong, such as in an EOTWAWKI or SHTF scenario, you may find yourself without access to doctors and hospitals and may have to take care of yourself and your family. You may want to print this and save it for such a time, when things are stressful and you may not remember the information here. Warning: Never eat a wild plant unless you are 100 percent positive of its identification. Get yourself a good field guide, like Edible Wild Plants …


Common “Weeds” as Food and Medicine- Part 1, by M.C.

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[DISCLAIMER: This is information about wild food. The editors of SurvivalBlog and the author make no claims as to the correctness, safety, or usability of the data. The information contained herein is intended to be an educational tool for gathering and using wild plants. All data is to be used at your own risk.] If things go very wrong, such as in an EOTWAWKI or SHTF scenario, you may find yourself without access to doctors and hospitals and may have to take care of yourself and your family. Being the family physician or Dr. Mom/Dad, you might have to provide herbal …


Kershaw Kitchen Knives, by Pat Cascio

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Survival means different things to different people. Many only think of survival in terms of surviving out in the wilderness. That isn’t the only type of survival. Today, we are looking at a set of kitchen knives from Kershaw Knives and how they will help you survive your daily kitchen chores. Ernest Emerson- The Real Deal One of the most famous tactical knife designers in the world is Ernest Emerson. When many hear his name, they immediately think of his line of custom or factory-made tactical knives. They do so with good reason; this is what made Emerson famous. However, …


Dietary Change To Fit A Post Collapse World- Part 2, By J.L. Augusta

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In part 1 of this article, we took a look at the carb-based diet logistics in a post collapse world and outlined some of the health and practical concerns. Additionally, I introduced the Keto diet. The Keto diet focuses on consuming 75-80% or more of your calorie needs from fat sources, 15-20% of you caloric needs from protein, and 5% of your caloric needs from carbohydrates. The human body uses two types of consumable (food) energy. Sugars/carbohydrates turn into glucose and fats, which turn into ketones. Since most individuals have never really been on a Ketogenic diet (except when they …


Dietary Change To Fit A Post Collapse World- Part 1, By JLA

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In most first-world nations, the diet most individuals partake in consists of a high carbohydrate, moderate to low protein, and low fat regimen. This diet type is inefficient for a post-collapse world. Tribal groups who have had to live in a more limited and primitive manner had a diet that consisted of a high fat, moderate protein, and low carbohydrate regimen, also known today as a Ketogenic diet or Paleo diet. This article will go into the negative aspects of continuing a high carbohydrate diet and the positive aspects of transitioning into a high fat diet before the collapse occurs. …


Should We Brace for Severe Winters Ahead?

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You may have missed a few brief mentions of an emerging threat in the mainstream news: The face of the sun has gone mostly blank in the past few years, with an extremely low number of sunspots. There have only been sunspots visible on the the sun for 133 days in the past year. The last three solar cycles have become progressively weaker. There is now a legitimate concern that because there have been several very weak solar cycles in succession, that we could tip over into another Grand Solar Minimum (GSM). This potentially developing GSM could be something similar …


The Family Stockpiles: Everything in Its Place and a Place for Everything

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I’ve been a prepper now for more than 40 years. The good news is that there hasn’t been a major nationwide crisis, and that means that I’ve only had to break out my gear for localized/minor emergencies and family crises. And the food that we’ve gardened and bought in bulk has meant that we’ve enjoyed substantially lower food costs. (Not to mention less processed food additives.) But the bad news is that I own a home that is now almost too well stocked. First, some background on our situation: The Rawles Ranch is comfortably remote. It is nearly a 20 …


Guest Post: Dehydrating Raspberries, by Patrice Lewis

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If there’s one dependable crop we get year after year, it’s raspberries.   Raspberries are Younger Daughter’s favorite fruit, and in years past picking them was more or less her province. In her absence this summer, the task has fallen to Don and me. And since it’s been blazing hot in the daytime and there are too many mosquitoes in the late evening when it’s cooler, I’ve been going out around 5:30 a.m. to pick berries.