New prepper, food stash questions

[selfsufficient77]

Hi all! Thanks for providing this resource, and sorry in advance if these questions are redundant - I searched for threads regarding food stashes but I have some specific questions. Some background - I live in a rural area, closest town is 10 miles away (pop 7000). I am within 1 mile of two rivers, hunting right out my backyard. I'm on 5 acres, and the people around me are pretty self-sufficient, but like any backwoods community, there are some nutjobs. I have a bug-out location in mind, but want to focus on securing my own home first (prioritizing is daunting).

I want to hide the majority of my food (been canning for a while), to protect it from looters etc. I have access to under the house via a closet under the stairs that has a small trap door on the floor. The trap door is pretty concealed, and I could even camouflage it more, but the closet door is obvious. The attic is too hot. Should I just focus on concealing this location better, or find a new spot altogether? If so, any recommendations?

Second question - since I am in the beginning stages of prepping and don't have enough resources to spread out between my home and bug-out location yet, so, at what point should I start storing stuff up there? How much should I have at home vs the bug-out location? It is about 5 miles away, in the event of an EMP transportation would probably be on horseback, so weight would be an issue.

Thanks for your time.

 

[jimLE]

as for hiding the trap door goes..just put a rug of some kind over it.and maybe have 2 or 3 boxes of what ever on top of it.might even try building hidden room with hidden secret door(s).that is if you have the space for some thing like that.

 

[Gazrok]

One of the easiest ways to create hiding spots, in most modern homes, is to simply cut into the drywall, and use the spaces inside the walls. Easy to make shelves there, and the door could easily be a hinged picture, mirror, etc.

 

[jontte]

try to have atleast a few days worth of food+other at your BOL,you'll have some as a life line before you start hunting and gathering there,more so if you have to be hush hush until the storm settles.

 

[Gazrok]

One other tip.

Make a small food stash area that is OBVIOUS, and logical to find.
This is a decoy, to make them think nothing else is left.

The best way to hide something, is to make them stop looking in the first place.

 

[Brent S]

There is no perfect plan. You do the best you can with the resources you have. It sounds like the hiding space you have is great compared to most though. I applaud you for having the common sense to know that it's wise to have some food stored and concealed. You're allready ahead of 95% of the people out there.

 

[bsanders0317]

Awesome question man...this is what I have done (feedback always welcome) canning tends to be more fragile while transporting so I keep my canning preps at my bug out locations, as well as MRE'S long term shelf life items, as far as at my home I keep store bought canned goods. Or what you could do is just keep heavier items at you bug out location and store things like pastas in your home light and easy to move. Hope this helps. "Stay humble my friend."

 

[Maverick]

Awesome question man...this is what I have done (feedback always welcome) canning tends to be more fragile while transporting so I keep my canning preps at my bug out locations, as well as MRE'S long term shelf life items, as far as at my home I keep store bought canned goods. Or what you could do is just keep heavier items at you bug out location and store things like pastas in your home light and easy to move. Hope this helps. "Stay humble my friend."

Though I would be cautious about MREs generally speaking MREs in 'ideal conditions' last up to 5yrs (shorter than a can of corn) thus I personally don't consider MREs long term least not in comparison to freeze-dried goods such as Ausason Farms, Mountain House etc... that maintains freshness and nutritional value for 20/25yrs and that of can goods that can last in upwards of 5 to 10yrs

 

[Brent S]

Awesome question man...this is what I have done (feedback always welcome) canning tends to be more fragile while transporting so I keep my canning preps at my bug out locations, as well as MRE'S long term shelf life items, as far as at my home I keep store bought canned goods. Or what you could do is just keep heavier items at you bug out location and store things like pastas in your home light and easy to move. Hope this helps. "Stay humble my friend."

Very good thought on the weight issue. I'm not ready for pasture just yet, but hiking all day with a 150lb pack would kick my butt. I'm lucky enough to to be living full time in my bug out location, so am good with storage here. It's always good to have other options as well though.

 

[Brent S]

Though I would be cautious about MREs generally speaking MREs in 'ideal conditions' last up to 5yrs (shorter than a can of corn) thus I personally don't consider MREs long term least not in comparison to freeze-dried goods such as Ausason Farms, Mountain House etc... that maintains freshness and nutritional value for 20/25yrs and that of can goods that can last in upwards of 5 to 10yrs

Good point on mres. I have an emergency kit in the car, and it's only a year and a half old. I need to rotate it out as the car is the worst place you can store things with the temperature extremes.

 

[jimLE]

im glad that i decided to reread this thread.i got out my back up emergency foods and started marking them,with a fine tip black marker.by putting the expiration dates on them..this way i don't have to search for the date when i grab one..

 

[Brent S]

im glad that i decided to reread this thread.i got out my back up emergency foods and started marking them,with a fine tip black marker.by putting the expiration dates on them..this way i don't have to search for the date when i grab one..

Everything I buy gets a black sharpie date on it before putting it away. It's large enough to easily see and makes rotating easy.

 

[jimLE]

i used a marker on my food 4 patriots..but the ink rubbed off.so i had to use labels on them..i don't think i'll still be here in 2041.so i figured,why not?we already tried out one of them..and we got three more to try out.just to see if we like them or not.the one we tryed out,is liberty bell potato Cheddar soup. and we like it..

 

[Silent Bob]

Awesome question man...this is what I have done (feedback always welcome) canning tends to be more fragile while transporting so I keep my canning preps at my bug out locations, as well as MRE'S long term shelf life items, as far as at my home I keep store bought canned goods. Or what you could do is just keep heavier items at you bug out location and store things like pastas in your home light and easy to move. Hope this helps. "Stay humble my friend."

MRE's and LRRPs as you know were made for the military ops...in that line of work, not only was it expendable items that DOD never intended to be a money maker, but one of necessity both in transport to the AOR and also because if mission ops requirements. You know as well as I, that as far as the MRE's are concerned, we fields stripped them, threw the things we didn't like into the "trade box" or "donor box", but in the end the integrity of the seal of the primary packaging (eventually would cause the shelf life to be compromised). Also if you were on the tail end of the supply line "end user or shooter", the time that these lot cases stood at a marshalling area awaiting movement were exposed to all the elements (heat, being the determining factor here). As many of my lots are placed in a dark and cold place (temperature controlled 40 degree's, the shelf life according to Natick and Defense Supply TO's extend the shelf life further than manufacture tolerance. However, I do believe especially if your looking for light meals for patrol and bug out that these, combined with a freeze dried items (Mountain House packets) are great for these types of ops.

I would agree with Maverick on the shelf life of corn...he is right, but if fall into cost prohibitive because your a new prepper...there is nothing like the canned meat, veggies as your start.

I'd only recommend that a mix of MRE's, shelf stable rations (Mountain House, other manufactures, food from Big Box stores (10 size cans), the grocery store sales items and finally a good mix of home canned, frozen meat from a good hunt...all combined provide a realistic balance most of us.

Lastly, to comment on the initial thread. Besides storing at your BOL and primary home...consider storing at other locations, rented storage outside your local, but along your main route of travel and caching. Caching can be tricky, but it may save you and your family in the long run.

Good preps to you all.