Category: Food Storage & Cooking

Letter Re: Salt Storage Advice

Sir, How would you recommend that I store the many salt blocks I have been stocking up on  (cattle type – various kinds of salt and mineral blocks)?   I was out in the shop today and did a brief walk through and noticed a bunch of moisture (water/liquid) developing around the blocks. Some of them are noticeably deteriorating. A few are on card board, others are stacked on back of a parked trailer. Am I setting myself up for disaster? Will these salt blocks eventually corrode the metals nearby? Where is the best place to store them?    I have a …


Prepping on $10 a Week, by S.W. Michigan Fred

Have you seen the latest reality television show, “Doomsday Preppers”, from National Geographic?  I made a mistake a few years ago – after 20 years of successfully resisting the cries and moans of my children, I gave in and allowed cable television to be installed in my house. Should have known better, but as they say, that’s a whole ‘nother subject.  Now, every week, National Geographic brings us “Doomsday Preppers,” Animal Planet serves up “Meet The Preppers,” Discovery beams in another episode of “Doomsday Bunkers” and the new pay-to-view internet network GBTV fires off a round of “American Preppers.”  Can …


Fire: Your Partner in Survival, by D.P.

Eons ago when people lived in caves, one of their most important tools was fire.  Its ability to keep them warm, cook food, provide light, and scare away predators was of the utmost importance.  I’m not going to go so far as to say that a societal upheaval will mean returning to a stone age existence, but when the systems that keep our everyday life humming along go down, fire will once again have a huge impact on our ability to survive. This fact was brought home to my wife and me two winters ago, when a February blizzard knocked …


Survival Basics: The Tropics, by G.S.

Sometime in the not so distant future our lives will be turned upside down by yet another natural or manmade emergency. Start now by doing your research and figure out which type of emergency is most likely to affect your life. Then get ready! Once the stores close their doors and the gas stations are no longer pumping gas, it’s too late! Hope for the best, prepare for the worst. Remember that the survival basics are similar even if the emergency or climatic conditions are different. I’m going to talk about survival in the Tropics. I was born and raised …


A Different View of Alaska as a Retreat Locale, by G.T.

SurvivalBlog’s Editor James Wesley Rawles (JWR), lays out his arguments against choosing Alaska as a Retreat Locale in this static web page. While I fully agree with him that Alaska is probably not a viable retreat destination for most people, for a variety of reasons it is precisely the area that my family has selected. We have a particular advantage here in that I’m a second generation backwoodsman and prospector, and I and my three sons have been prospecting in Alaska for 16 years, so we understand the various regions of Alaska and their strengths and weaknesses from a survival …


A Lesson From a Loaf of Bread, by C.R.

I’ll start with a little about myself. I am a 21 year old disabled Iraqi campaign vet. I spent four years in the U.S. Army. I joined when I was 17 and started my terminal leave a couple of months before I was 21. I was stationed at Fort Hood in Texas. I was there during the November 5, 2009 shootings. I couldn’t believe the absolute chaos that caused and how unprepared we were for a situation like that, and that was just on a small scale that really only affected Fort Hood. As a whole if that had been …


Letter Re: Sugar and Salt Storage

JWR: As many of you out there are doing, food storage will be key to survive the future. Mylar bags with food grade buckets are a great way of storing your food and I applaud the recent article "Sugar and Salt Storage. I would like to add my own little experience so that others may possibly benefit from it. Instead of using one 2×4 across the top of the bucket, use two. Gather the top of the mylar bag, then sandwich it between the two 2x4s, using C-clamps if needed. Then fold it over for sealing, using the extra surface …


Letter Re: A Poor Man’s Guide to Prepping and Food Storage

Hello Captain, I just read “A Poor Man’s Guide to Prepping and Food Storage,” by T.P. He mentions getting free meat by way of road kill and says “It helps to be able to tell how long an animal has been dead.”   I can help. Having been a bricklayer in the Southwest and the Northwest for 35 years, I have worked with and become friends with many native Americans. Years ago one of my pals told me that he ate road kill all the time. When I asked how he knew if it was fresh or not he replied: …


No Cost Preparedness, by B. George

Sure, it’d be nice to prepare for the rest of our lives on Bill Gates’ budget. (I would keep a fully-staffed Pizza Hut underground in my retreat group.)  But you can do a lot with what you’ve got. Plus, even the rich need to do important things that cost nothing. Rich or poor, this is for everyone. (If you’re reading this, be reminded you’re relatively rich simply because you have internet access) You know the list is going to start with cleaning, but don’t scroll too fast. SCOUR Clean your house. If your spouse is not on board with prepping, …


Letter Re: Sugar and Salt Storage

James, In response to the article “Re: Sugar and Salt Storage” you mentioned: “You can either buy mylar liners with zip-lock tops, or plain bags, and heat seal them. (The latter method takes a special tool that is fairly expensive.)” Mylar bags can be heat sealed rather effectively, quickly, and easily using only an electric clothes iron and a scrap piece of 2×4.   Leave enough room in the mylar bag to allow the bag to extend out the top of the 5 gallon bucket.  Lay the 2×4 on the bucket edge, and using a hot clothes iron, slowly heat …


A Poor Man’s Guide to Prepping and Food Storage, by T.P.

I started not to write this piece- not because I feel any shame about my approach to survival and prepping, but largely because I will be misunderstood or dismissed- as I have been whenever I try to enlighten friends and co-workers of the needh to have a survival plan. But I feel it may help others who are not wealthy enough to buy thousands of dollars worth of MREs or hundreds of pounds of hard red wheat and a grinder… and frankly, because I do not welcome the competition for my supply of food and supplies. Many years ago I …


Middle of the Road Family Embraces the Prepper Mindset by C.L.

So how does one start down this journey of becoming a prepper?  For me and eventually our family, it was a gradual transition, which included the convergence of medical, physical and political convictions.  This was not a planned journey but rather one, which we have come to embrace as our only path to survival. We are a typical family in one sense and atypical in another.  We have led a typical life of work, play and trying to get ahead.  Where our life has veered from this typical course is the support we must provide to one of our children …


Letter Re: Sugar and Salt Storage

Dear SurvivalBlog Editor: I’m running out of storage room for my food storage.  Would sugar or salt stored in mylar bags and food grade bucket with a gasket lid deteriorate if stored in a hot, humid environment, (such as garage)?  Thank you for any advice you could offer. Take care, – Stephanie K. JWR Replies: The beauty of salt and sugar is that they are “self-storing” and can have extremely long useful storage lives (potentially centuries) if they are protected from moisture. Just a bit of humid air and inadequate packaging will turn either of them into solid bricks, fairly …


Two Letters Re: A First-Timer’s Cider Making

Good Day Sir, I would like to add a few comments to that excellent primer on cider making. First, If you skip all of the picking and crushing to buy the fresh unpasteurized sweet cider, be aware that some places (companies and regular people) add potassium sorbate to the final product. This inhibits the growth of bacteria. On top of that, it keeps yeast from growing. The best way to overcome this is to starter. Add your yeast to a small container (with airlock) a cup of water and a half a cup of sugar. Let this ferment for a …


Letter Re: Celiac Disease: The Gluten-Free Prepping Challenge

We are a family of survivalists and almost all of us are gluten free, some out of necessity and some by choice.  Here are some thoughts and resources for gluten free food.   Later this year, there is a Gluten Free Expo convention in Sandy, Utah starting October 12.  If you can’t attend, check out the vendors page (there are many) to identify other resources for gluten free food.   Augason Farms has #10 cans of food that are certified gluten free, including oats.   It’s a great company and easy to talk to them on the phone.  If you want …