Category: Food Storage & Cooking

Letter Re: Preparedness for Less Than a Worst Case, From an Eastern Urbanite’s Perspective

Jim, I found the following in a letter posted on your blog: “Barring TEOTWAWKI, it seems to me that we are infinitely more likely to face moderately scary scenarios, like Hurricane Katrina and necessary urban evacuation, some urban 1970s-style civil disturbance but nothing like Mogadishu, high-intensity individual criminal acts, a low-order terrorist event nearby and the accompanying panic, or some other situation shy of the worst case scenario.” Do people realize that New Orleans wasn’t far from becoming Mogadishu-like after Hurricane Katrina? Certainly if the water hadn’t flooded the streets it very well could have been much worse. The flood …


Storm After-Action Report and More Thoughts on Western Washington as a Retreat Locale, by Countrytek

Introduction I’m a life-long Western Washington resident – except for five years in Kansas & two in Berlin while in the U.S. Army. I’m the great-grandchild of Washington pioneers. I love this state – the ocean, mountains and fertile valleys – but what it has become — not so much. This past weekend, (November 30 – December 1, 2007), the Olympic Peninsula of Washington state was hit by an arctic front from the Gulf of Alaska, dropping 3-6″ of snow in our area. The weather folks told us not to worry, that it wouldn’t last long, because we had a …


Letter Re: Preparedness for Less Than a Worst Case, From an Eastern Urbanite’s Perspective

Hello Jim, I am very new reader of your blog and am just now starting to go through the archives. Based on what I’ve read so far, I commend you on putting together a useful, fact-intensive blog on “survivalism” (whatever that means), that isn’t geared towards loony, off-the-reservation, tinfoil hat-type readers, who believe that 9/11 was a plot masterminded by Halliburton. That said, one problem I suspect I will have with your blog is that you consistently seem to be preparing for an extreme, and more-or-less permanent, breakdown of society—or TEOTWAWKI, if you will. In one of your blog posts, …


Letter Re: Preparedness While on Business Travel–What to Pack

Jim, I’m a frequent flyer and I enjoyed the article by LP on what to consider bringing on business travel [“Preparedness While on Business Travel –What to Pack“]. Here are some additional ideas: Water – I carry an empty bicycle type water bottle through security and fill it at a drinking fountain before my flight. This keeps you hydrated during your flight and from having to use the water glasses in your hotel room. (FYI – they don’t really clean those glasses.) Food – I carry 4-6 Cliff [“sports energy” type candy] bars in my laptop bag and my checked …


The Pre-Test and the Ultimate Test

There may come a day when you have to put all of your training and preparations to use. That will be ultimate test of whether or not you have a true survival mindset. Do you think that you are ready for WTSHTF, physically and mentally? Assuming that you live in the suburbs, try a weekend “grid down” test with your family. This will test both your mental preparedness and how well you have prepared for the basics. Here is how it is done: Some Friday evening, unannounced, turn off your main circuit breaker and shut the valves the gas main …


Letter Re: Locations of Costco and Other “Big Box” Membership Stores

Jim, I often see references [in SurvivalBlog] to Costco [stores]. I have never seen one of their stores. Are they in Canada? I did a search, that was the only place within 50 miles of here that they have a store. – Sid, near Niagara Falls JWR Replies: There are now Costco stores throughout the United States and selected locations in Canada, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Taiwan, and the UK. Here is a locator web page for Costco stores. Another “big box” membership store chain with a very similar product selection are the Sam’s Club stores. Here is …


Letter Re: The Best Way to Stock Up on Food at the Eleventh Hour?

James, I currently live in a studio apartment, and my storage space is limited. I have already done my darndest to get creative on storage. For example my “coffee table” is actually eight cases of bottled water, topped with a slab of plywood, and then draped with a decorative print throw. And my bed is a “stylishly” extra tall four-poster, just for the sake of the storage space underneath. But I still lack the space needed for seeeeerious food storage. Because of some deep family commitments, I don’t plan to bug out, but instead “hunker down” in place. (I live …


Two Letters Re: Storage Foods for Vegetarians?

Mr. Rawles, Just a quick note which may be of interest to your recent correspondent who inquired about long-term storable vegetarian meal options… please pass this along and/or publish it, or not, as you see fit. There are indeed vegetarian MREs in the standard army-surplus offerings, but there have also been been some specialized vegetarian long-term shelf-stable rations developed under the names of (among others) “Meal, Alternative Regionally Customized” (MARC) and “Humanitarian Daily Rations” (HDR). The MARCs were designed to feed prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, and the HDRs were designed for emergency feeding in natural disasters; neither contain animal products …


Charity During Hard Times, by Grandpappy

Hard times usually result in an overwhelming number of people who: 1. Do not have a job of any kind, and 2. Have no steady income from any source, and 3. Are usually either homeless or are living with close relatives. During hard times these individuals need almost everything, including food, shelter, clothing, and basic medical care. During really hard times the large and growing number of homeless individuals greatly exceeds the carrying capacity of the local community in terms of voluntary charitable donations. There are just not enough homeless shelters and free food/soup kitchens that provide one meal per …


Three Letters Re: Storage Foods for Vegetarians?

James: I know there are a lot of dedicated vegetarians, including my own grandson, who would have great difficulty maintaining their ideal diet in extreme times. There is good chart available, listing plant food protein combinations I feel that many would have to become more realistic as the hard labor required to stay alive would preclude being picky about your vittles! You would need the extra calories/fat in meat at least to a modest extent to keep up strength and vitality. We eat vegetarian 2-to-3 times weekly just to learn about it and because we just plain love veggies but …


Letter Re: Show Caution When Dispensing Charity

Jim, I read the letter posted about showing caution when dispensing charity. I like the “give ’til it hurts” philosophy from “Patriots” a lot. I have had some training on handling displaced refugees/evacuees/displaced persons which I hope could benefit some readers. I would strongly suggest dividing charity into two distinct areas; charity to neighbors (fixed location) and charity to refugees (mobile). The main purpose of giving aid to refugees is to enable them to keep moving along. Give them water and (if you can spare it) food that they can prepare later when they stop for the night and anything …


Letter Re: Freeze Dried Versus Dehydrated Foods for Storage

Shalom Jim: I’ve been researching freeze-dried and dehydrated food as a long-term strategy. I would like to put up at least a years worth for a family of four. Yes, I know that you pretty much grow your own food, but I’ve got a couple of questions if you don’t mind. 1.) Are you storing up any freeze dried, or dehydrated, or not? 2.) If so, are you storing both or more of one or the other? Shabbat shalom, – Dr. Sidney Zweibel JWR Replies: Because of their lower cost, here at the ranch we store nearly all bulk grains/legumes/honey …


Letter Re: Some Steel Canning Possibilities

Mr. Rawles, Given the recent discussion about canning, it seems like sealed tin cans would make an effective Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) barrier. Why not can some inexpensive FRS radios, small transistor radios, and other electronic items in a standard soup-size can? Can some lithium batteries, and you’ll be all set. By the way, it would probably be a good idea to make sure that the lid and can have good electrical contact. Some cans might be lacquered/coated, so it might be wise to check the lid/can continuity with an Ohm meter. Regards, – JN-EMT JWR Replies: That is a great …


Letter Re: Storage Foods for Vegetarians?

Sir: The question of storage food for vegetarians came up and I don’t have a good answer! I have looked at several of the vendors you recommend and there does not seem to be any packages aimed at that market! I have heard about veggie MREs but have not seen them for sale. Safecastle has some nice long term storage packages put together but none seem to be aimed at this crowd. Thanks for your thoughts on this! – SD JWR Replies: I’m not aware of any storage food vendors that make vegetarian sampler, per se. As I recall, Mountain …


Letter Re: Freshness Tests for Storage Foods

Jim, Numerous web sites and books provide information about average food shelf life. However, this shelf life greatly depends for instance upon temperature (food generally stores proportionately longer at cooler temperatures), thus a properly stored food item could be good to consume well past its ‘expected’ expiration date. Sometimes discoloration (for instance) is not a show stopper. Do you or your readers know of some simple ‘freshness test’ to ensure that a given food product is good or not (or is that a stupid question)? I can start with what I gathered from the Internet: – Baking powder Freshness test: …