Category: Food Storage & Cooking

Letter Re: Suddenly Homeless on the Potomac–Some Preparedness Lessons Learned

Jim & Company, I thought that I would communicate an interesting story for your web blog. As I write this, I’m holed up in campground/RV park near the District of Columbia (DC) Metropolitan area. How I got here was totally unexpected. My roommate is female, a former army buddy and suffers from chronic depression—maybe bi polar disorder. We maintained a platonic cohabitation for two months until she swore a Temporary Peace Order against me because she felt “threatened”. In the liberal pest hole of Maryland, that’s all it takes. No battery, assault or actual threats—I just yelled at her to …


Letter Re: Hope and Preparedness–A Budget Prepper’s Observations

James, The sheeple‘s fear is now electric. You can feel it bristle on your skin whenever you are in a public space. It is on the lips and in the hearts of any news-watching human. What about our retirement fund? How will we afford our regular bills? How will we feed and clothe the kids? There is a little warm spot inside me. The part of me that feels confident in our preparations. Tucked in every nook of our tiny, modest house, an ATM, a grocery store, pharmacy, garden supply plus clothing, shoe, sporting goods stores and all around trading …


Letter Re: Advice on Storage Food–Quantities, Shelf Lives, and Sources

Mr. Rawles; I’m chagrined to say that I found your blog rather late in the game–just two weeks ago, when a friend at church mentioned it. (We had been talking about the banking panic.) Your blog was a real eye-opener. So now I’m just plain overwhelmed and definitely feeling “behind the power curve.” I have a lot of catching up to do. How can I get smart on preparedness in a great hurry, especially about [storing] food? Will food from the grocery supermarket do? Do I need special containers? One of those vacuum sealing things? What about mice? I’m a …


Letter Re: The Icelanders’ Tangibles Shopping Spree

James, Check out this article that I found on Bloomberg.com Icelandic Shoppers Splurge as Currency Woes Reduce Food Imports. It looks like Iceland is in deep Schumer – running out of food. This reminds me of your warnings regarding Hawaii and Alaska – though the same problem can happen in the lower 48 on a grander scale, since we no longer produce enough food. It is time to move my family back to Montana! Best to you and yours.- Stewart R. P.S.: Back in 1999 I bought several Wiggy’s brand sleeping bags. Those bags are wonderful. JWR Replies: We can …



Prepping: A Labor of Love, by Sparky

My preparedness journey began when my mother in law was dying, and we had to get out of the house for a while. At a flea market, on the bottom shelf, was a book titled “Making the Best of Basics”. The cover caught my attention, and before we went home that night, I had read and re-read the book. I am a union electrician, subject to layoffs, and my husband is a self-employed painter. The idea that I needed to prepare came easy for me. I thought I had done well, always buying extra for the pantry. But water? Oops. …


Letter Re: Water Storage and Crash Course Advice

Jim, First off let me say I continue to enjoy everything you post on SurvivalBlog. I believe that, given, recent events, my extended family is coming around and is wanting to finally start getting prepared (let us hope its not too late). Second, in reference to the WaterBOB that someone cited recently: what preferred method of treatment do you recommend in storing the water in the mentioned device for long term? Third, what ‘crash course’ advice can you offer for those who may be too little too late in getting prepared for WTSHTF? Or for those recently converted who want …


Letter Re: Getting Started with Home Canning

James, I am acquiring the equipment necessary to pressure can (in jars) meat and produce. A bumper crop from a home garden or a freshly killed animal will be lost quickly if not frozen, dried or canned. I don’t want to make jerky stews, casseroles or burgers, so I’m going to add canning skills to my quiver. After doing some reading, I’ve discovered that nearly anything can be canned! I’ve found people canning burger patties, meatballs, butter, cheese, and bacon in additional to all the normal things you’d expect to see in jars. There are tons of books out there …


Letter Re: Becoming a Food Warrior

James: I appreciate your web site. It suits me right to the ground. I’d like to be an occasional contributor. Congratulations on your fastidious maintenance of this meaningful site. Just like farming isn’t it. Guerrilla food shopping (part one) I’m no conventional warrior, I couldn’t force myself to take a life, but I am a survivalist. Not to put too fine a point on this: I am a food warrior. As I write this, one of our battles is escalating food prices, isn’t it? What can we do as individuals to protect ourselves? Plenty! We aren’t hostages you know. Not …


Sustainable Food Preservation, by Jen W.

A number of preparedness books and web sites talk about preserved food as part of an emergency food storage plan. There can be immense satisfaction in seeing the rows and rows of gleaming canning jars, full of autumn’s bounty. I’ve done it for years, and thoroughly enjoyed the fruits of my kitchen labor. But what happens when Mason jar lids (which are supposed to be used only once in canning) are no longer readily available? Unless you have the more expensive European canning jars, with the reusable rubber gasket, you may be out of luck. Or when you can’t spare …


From Our Correspondent in Argentina: What to Expect

SurvivalBlog’s correspondent in Argentina received the following e-mail: FerFAL: I greatly value your experience in Argentina. Since you have traveled in the U.S., I would like to know what you think will be the impact of our relative lack of corruption, at least at local levels, to what we may face in our coming economic crisis. Perhaps a separate post on the subject, if you have time? Here was his reply: This is where things get more into the “guesstimating” territory. Nothing is for sure and all we have is certain situations being more probable than others. Inflation That is …


Letter Re: Advice for City Folks on a Budget?

Dear Mr. Rawles, I read the two letters that were posted on September 27, “Advice for City Folks on a Budget”. What struck me was how similar Mike H.’s situation is to mine. I too have a wife similar to the Mike H’s. At first my wife thought I was out of my tree when I began preparing years ago. After the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, she came to believe that what I was doing was prudent, but somewhat overkill. Now that we have entered this period in history, she’s starting to pay attention, and has become a participant. I …


Letter Re: Some Practical Notes on Third World Living

Jim, As this is not a competition entry, it has not been reviewed by an outside set of eyes yet, and I’m sure its kind of disorganized, but this is some info about third world life, as I can see it here, after things stabilize. My wife is from Peru. She was born during the Peruvian hyperinflation and transition to its next fiat currency, the Nuevo Sol. (Yeah, we’re young whippersnappers) She recently started to help out in getting ready. What helped her was comparing the current economic climate here to Peru. This allowed her to correlate things that occur …


What Will You Do When Your Stored Food Runs Out?, by Woodsman

What Will You Do When Your Stored Food Runs Out?, by Woodsman Among the multitude of preparations conducted by would-be survivalists, gardening is often minimized in value compared to the physical purchases of beans, bullets, and band-aids. However, in any long-term TEOTWAWKI event, gardening would probably become nearly the sole means of subsistence for your family and as such, it is critical that you make the efforts now to learn the ins and outs of how to produce a year’s worth of fruit and vegetables from your own land. Prior to moving to our retreat, my family lived in a …


Letter Re: Advice for an Unprepared Greenhorn

Jim, I’d like to add one piece of advice to the “Greenhorn” reader who hasn’t gotten started, but knows he must. After getting the basics you listed, he should start on a food preparedness action plan to feed his family in a crisis. The blueprint for all that is in the great preparedness course you created. I know it’s not cheap, but the mistakes it helps you avoid will more than offset the cost, even for someone on a tight budget. And for that reader who wrote in to share his story, it’s free. Just send me his address, Jim, …