New to prepping

[Peanut]

Here is a short list of companies with whom I've done business. Through the years I’ve learned who makes all the stuff preppers buy. Whenever possible I buy directly from the producers and manufacturers, at times you can get great prices on production closeouts or excess production runs.

Food Storage Gear

Sorbent Systems – Manufacturer, Mylar bags. L.A. They produce 70% of the foil bags at the grocery store. They also manufacture quality mylar bags for long term food storage. For the past 20 years their products have been retailed by LDS centers and just about anyone else on the net dealing with food storage. They also make a great sealer for their bags. http://www.sorbentsystems.com

US Plastic Corporation – Manufacturer, anything from food grade buckets, containers, water tight lids to… Oklahoma http://www.usplastic.com

Desiccare – Manufacturer, Oxygen and Moisture Absorbers. near Meridian MS Desiccare, Inc.Desiccare, Inc.

General food and survival supplies

Walton Feed, Inc. Montpelier, ID 83254 (their portal is now rainy day foods) Biggest and oldest dehydrated food manufacturer. Most other suppliers on the net buy from Walton Feed and even use their stock numbers. A no frills website, just a spread sheet.
Rainy Day Foods - Food Storage - Wheat - Dehydrated & Freeze Dried Foods - Emergency Supplies

Survivor Industries – Manufacturer, Mainstay Emergency Rations.
SOS Food Lab Products – the #1 choice for Emergency Food Bars They stand up to exposure far better than MRE’s.

Pleasant Hill Grain
Grain Mills, Bosch Mixers, Wheat Flour Grinders, Nutrimills, and much more Great grain and meat grinder’s, lots of goodies. LDS, The Mormon church requires all families to have a year’s supply of food and have done so for decades. They are the experts. Until last year you could drive to a LDS distribution center in Nashville and buy almost anything. The prepper demand became so high that center stopped selling to none LDS. You can still order from Pleasant Hill.

Short list of other similar suppliers
Nitro-pak - http://www.nitro-pak.com/ Foods
Mountain House - Freeze Dried Food - Mountain House Foods
Disaster Necessities - Disaster Necessities: Emergency Preparedness, Survival Supplies & Food Storage The Whole gambit.

Old fashioned hardware on the internet.

Lehman’s Hardware Ohio, a bit pricey though.
http://www.lehmans.com
Gempler’s
http://www.gemplers.com

Upholstery & Leather Stitching
Ansaldi & Sons Upholstery – industrial needles and threads of all types. Get yourself an Osborne No. 413 Automatic Awl, a must. Can be purchased from many places including amazon.

Home - Ansaldi Furniture Hardware Quality Furniture Hardware Since 1957

Rough Country Outfitters Supply

Everything needed for outfitting in rough country. Medical kits, camping, travel with horse and mule. Portable Stoves, Great Medical Kits, rigged for travel!
Outfitters Supply | Tack, Saddles, Horse Packing Gear, Trail Riding Equipment | TrailMax

Stoves/Cooking I used to drive by both these places monthly and often shopped at the company stores.

US Stove Company, South Pittsburg TN. US Stove Company | Wood Stoves | Gas Stoves | Furnaces | Outdoor Living

“Lodge Cast Iron Cookware”, I called a couple of years ago and they still sell “seconds” at the factory. Home Just across the TN state line.

Rope and Rigging

Knot & Rope Supply
Best Selection of Cut-to-Length Rope - Knot & Rope Supply

Trapping, Pre-made Snares by the dozen, Fishing

Memphis Net & Twine – Fishing nets made to order
Fishing & Sports Nets | Memphis Net & Twine

Kaatz Bros – Snares made to order. Great guys, any request considered and advice freely given.
Kaatz Bros. Lures - Trapping Supplies, Animal Traps, Lures, Baits, Urines, and Videos

Snare Shop – Snares made to order, special preps not a problem.
The Snare Shop - Snares, Lures, Hunting, Fishing, Archery

Note on trapping: It’d take 2 pack animals to carry 75 traps and assorted gear. 75 snares and gear would fit in 2 five gallon buckets and weigh less than 25 pounds. Dealer’s choice!

Information

Where there is no Doctor

Free download - Complete medical book supplied to villages and communities in the third world. Written for non professionals to use. 600+ pages Books and Resources - Hesperian Health Guides

Mother Earth News 40 years of back issues and articles on homesteading and living off the grid. MOTHER EARTH NEWS | The Original Guide to Living Wisely

----------------------------------------------------------------------

They say necessity is the father of invention. More appropriate to the topic would be - Lack of funds drives the resourcefulness of those who would be self reliant. You’d be amazed how simple many seemingly complex items actually are. Take oxygen absorbers for instance. Something most people would consider a complex “purchase item”.

They are basically perforated paper containing fine iron shavings. In the presence of oxygen iron begins to “rust” forming iron oxide. It literally absorbs oxygen over time from the air around it.

Waste not want not… used absorbers, iron oxide, used in paint, medicine, welding and of course the military can adapt anything… thermite…

Edit to add.. I've used this list over 10 years. The links are still good, checked those. But some things about how they do business may have changed, just be aware...

 

[Weedygarden]

delete!

 

[Alaskajohn]

Why???
Ramen noodles are light weight, low cost & easy to prepare. The season pack has to much salt in it, but you can use only a little.
I do not see the problem.

Don’t ask me, I don’t get the pushback either. Some have pointed out that they can go rancid after a few years, but this is why you rotate. Still, they are an easy, low cost, easy to store food source.

 

[Peanut]

I store spaghetti and other noodles, even a few boxes of Ramen as part of my 6-month pantry food rotation. Variety is a very good thing when the grocery stores close. But for long term I only store whole grains.

So I have no problem with Ramen at all.

 

[Aerindel]

Don’t ask me, I don’t get the pushback either. Some have pointed out that they can go rancid after a few years, but this is why you rotate. Still, they are an easy, low cost, easy to store food source.

I'm not sure its a few years, I think more like a few months.

But other than that, sure, they are tasty, but I view them like potato chips. A greasy, salty, snack thats not that great for you but hard to resist.

 

[Hardcalibres]

I'm not sure its a few years, I think more like a few months.

But other than that, sure, they are tasty, but I view them like potato chips. A greasy, salty, snack thats not that great for you but hard to resist.

I look at ramen/instant noodles as just being like spaghetti - they are just the carbs for my meal - it is up to me to add what is needed to make them into a meal.

If you look around in the asian specialty stores, you can find ramen noodles that have the condiments/stock powder separately packed and have noodle fat content down around 1%. Those types will last a few years and will more go stale than rancid. They can be stored in mylar with O2 absorbers just like spaghetti can, but they are a bit more fragile - so be careful not to smash the contents.

Here is a typical noodle meal I make:

Eggs and vegetables from the garden, game meat ground/pan fried and broken up, stock powder from the noodle packet and ramen noodles. Asian people have a range of noodle dishes that use "egg gravy". With 1% fat noodles, it is cheap, very fast, nutritionally balanced, uses very little heat energy to prepare and fills you up.

 

[Breck]

It's actually the other way around. Most food lasts a lot longer than people think.

WITHOUT mylar, rice and wheat have at least a 10 year shelf life. (except brown rice, which because of its oil content, should not be stored more the six months)

With mylar, 25-30 years.

Beans are shorter, 5 years without mylar, 10 with.

Flour is about 2 years in original packaging, up to 5 with mylar.

You also need to know, the mylar is just a barrier. What really extends shelf life, is the use of oxygen absorbers by eliminating the main reason dry foods loose nutrition, oxidization. They also eliminate any pests, fungus and most bacteria growth (being dry does the rest)

Plastic is permeable to oxygen (and other gases) metal is not, this is why mylar is used. Even a plastic bucket with o2 absorbers, will be full of oxygen again in less than a year.

One of the best sources for general food prepping info is the LDS survival manual.

https://thesurvivalmom.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/LDS-Preparedness-Manual.pdf
Vacuum sealers only buy you a little time, they are best for preventing freezer burn of meats, they are not a system for long term storage of bulk grains and you won't see any of them sold that way. O2 absorbers and metal containers (either canned or mylared) are the industry standard.

This is why I say when you are just starting out, and storing relatively small amounts, there is no need to worry about mylar and 02 absorbers, what we commonly call LTS storage (long term storage)

Its only when you start storing bulk quantities, hundreds of pounds, of those foods, that you need to start worrying about how to keep their nutrition 10-30 years out.

You should also note, dry goods, kept dry NEVER become inedible. What does happen is that nutrition decreases. Calories stay the same, but vitamin content and taste are reduced. Beans will become hard and won't soften when cooked and eventually the only thing you can do with them is grind them up.

Thank you very much

 

[Home2Stay]

For reliable and renewable food sources plant (cross-pollinating) fruit trees, berry bushes, and a garden of non-hybrid plants so you can replant from your own seeds. Wood lot or at least woodpiles. Keep canning supplies in addition to canned food (preferably home grown) to be able to can food from your freezer and frig if power goes out; have drying trays to back up the electric dehydrator and other non-electric tools. Have a water filter like Berkee ready to go as well as rain barrels and maybe a pipe in well that allows hand pumping. All sustainable and even fun. Then one can add multiples of what you eat now, bought over time and rotated, as well as the LDS supplies in cans. Chickens are great too - with a rooster and some hens from a breed that go broody there’s fresh protein always. I know this isn’t exactly what you asked but I’d rather have my preps as my home lifestyle than fret over a finite number of cans, etc. Everyone does it differently but you get the basic idea. I did not have to go to a store during the pandemic - I already got weekly milk deliveries, lucky me. Good luck.

 

[Breck]

Store what you eat and eat what you store. Look at what you are currently eating and expand that a little.... Most shelf stable foods have a shelf life of about 2 years, if you manage your food storage on a First In First Out (FIFO) control system you should be able to get by on every day store foods.

I have found that many of the "long term food solutions" are very expensive, and if you don't eat them you will never know if you are going to be able to eat them in an emergency. Here is a chart comparing cost per 1000 calories that I made a long time ago, but the idea hasn't changed much:
View attachment 70532

I am going to assume that you have a family of 4... if that is the case here is my list for you, it is only an estimate:

View attachment 70530

Well this is might be more than you asked for but I hope it helps..

Urban

Thanks, Urban. Is this information coming from a calculator that is available online? I would need for 3 (2 adults, 1 child), but more is better in this case.

 

[Breck]

For reliable and renewable food sources plant (cross-pollinating) fruit trees, berry bushes, and a garden of non-hybrid plants so you can replant from your own seeds. Wood lot or at least woodpiles. Keep canning supplies in addition to canned food (preferably home grown) to be able to can food from your freezer and frig if power goes out; have drying trays to back up the electric dehydrator and other non-electric tools. Have a water filter like Berkee ready to go as well as rain barrels and maybe a pipe in well that allows hand pumping. All sustainable and even fun. Then one can add multiples of what you eat now, bought over time and rotated, as well as the LDS supplies in cans. Chickens are great too - with a rooster and some hens from a breed that go broody there’s fresh protein always. I know this isn’t exactly what you asked but I’d rather have my preps as my home lifestyle than fret over a finite number of cans, etc. Everyone does it differently but you get the basic idea. I did not have to go to a store during the pandemic - I already got weekly milk deliveries, lucky me. Good luck.

Thank you, Home2Stay. I have never canned but am interested in learning about it and supplies. There must be a plenty of information online about it. Do you recommend a particular resource for learning and obtaining supplies?

 

[UrbanHunter]

Thanks, Urban. Is this information coming from a calculator that is available online? I would need for 3 (2 adults, 1 child), but more is better in this case.

No, it is from a spreadsheet that I made about 20 years ago, it is based on some software that used to be circulated in basic by a church organization. I tie a copy of it to my food inventory.

Here is what a year's supply would look like for a family of 3, just cut it by 4 for a 3 Month supply, cut it in half for a six month supply.

Let me know if I can help you in anyway.

Urban

 

[UrbanHunter]

Hey @Breck for canning there are a number of methods, Ball makes a starter took kit (I encourage this as it is very inexpensive), they also print the Ball Blue Book (which we use a lot).

There are 3 different canning approaches, hot water bath, steamer caner, and pressure canner; the pressure canner is the most versatile (and most expensive) but we still use a mix of mostly steamer and pressure canners. Meats usually require pressure....

High quality jars and lids are required to do good work, we prefer the Ball wide mouth, but we have both regular and wide mouth.

I would buy the Ball Book and then start to figure out where to go from there.
Make a manageable list of what you need based on what you want to do..... Canning is a lot of work but it can be very rewarding.....

 

[Breck]

Hey @Breck for canning there are a number of methods, Ball makes a starter took kit (I encourage this as it is very inexpensive), they also print the Ball Blue Book (which we use a lot).

There are 3 different canning approaches, hot water bath, steamer caner, and pressure canner; the pressure canner is the most versatile (and most expensive) but we still use a mix of mostly steamer and pressure canners. Meats usually require pressure....

High quality jars and lids are required to do good work, we prefer the Ball wide mouth, but we have both regular and wide mouth.

I would buy the Ball Book and then start to figure out where to go from there.
Make a manageable list of what you need based on what you want to do..... Canning is a lot of work but it can be very rewarding.....

Thank you!!

 

[Breck]

No, it is from a spreadsheet that I made about 20 years ago, it is based on some software that used to be circulated in basic by a church organization. I tie a copy of it to my food inventory.

Here is what a year's supply would look like for a family of 3, just cut it by 4 for a 3 Month supply, cut it in half for a six month supply.

View attachment 70721

Let me know if I can help you in anyway.

Urban

Thank you. My goal is a decent food storage plan for 3 (2 adults and one child) for at least 6 months that will not be as expensive as My Patriot Supply, which is $600/adult/6 months, and that is on the low end in terms of long-term food supply packages from what I've seen.
Am I correct in understanding that the list you provided uses a method in which you integrate stored food that lasts 1-2 years into your regular consumption while you continually add to that storage, ensuring continual 6-month out supply?
Anyway, I have more research to do on this forum and online, but I just have some questions on "Specific List" items if you don't mind:

-Baking Supplies - 11.0 lbs. - Can you be more specific on items needed?

-Cheese - 12.5 lbs. - How would you preserve it and how long could it last?

-Butter/Margarine - 15.6 lbs. - How would you preserve it and how long could it last?

-Fruit - Preserved -31.3 lbs - Can you be more specific on preserved and how long?

-Meat - Preserved, Canned or Frozen- 93.9 lbs. - How long can you preserve it in can, freezer or another method?

-Potatoes - Preserved - 26.1 lbs. - How do you preserve them and for how long?

-Vegetables - Preserved - 93.0 lbs. - How do you preserve them and for how long?

-Water - 1376.6 Gals -Ddo you recommend a particular filter system that works with tap water? with river/rain water?

Thank you again!

 

[Caribou]

I have a Katadyn water filter though most go with the Berkey. The larger the better. You can also just buy the filters, a spigot, and two 5 gallon buckets.

You will find that there are many opinions and that means that some will differ, choose the answers that suit you. Be aware that the answer to your question has filled many books, and you are just getting posts.

I date (month and year) everything that goes into my storage. That tells me how long the food has been there and about how long I have left before I'm likely to run out. I assign a certain area for each item and try to keep it full. When I was trying to get my basic load of each item I would look for sales and then, if I could afford it I'd buy up to a years worth. When I was increasing my storage goals, say from 6 months to 9 months, I would increase the assigned space for each item as it came on sale. You've already heard FIFO, it is a lifestyle around here.

My opinion is that canned goods are edible if the can is in good shape. Canned goods over 100 years old have been tested and found to be edible and nutritious. I lost most of my links but here is one.
https://www.delish.com/food/news/a39005/64-year-old-lard-edible/Some items last way longer than you will. I define that as forever. A short list of forever foods would include salt, sugar, honey, white rice, vinegar, wheat berries, dry corn. Wheat out of the pyramids has sprouted and the honey is still good. I have eaten canned salmon that I put up 20 years before I opened it.

 

[UrbanHunter]

Thank you. My goal is a decent food storage plan for 3 (2 adults and one child) for at least 6 months that will not be as expensive as My Patriot Supply, which is $600/adult/6 months, and that is on the low end in terms of long-term food supply packages from what I've seen.
Am I correct in understanding that the list you provided uses a method in which you integrate stored food that lasts 1-2 years into your regular consumption while you continually add to that storage, ensuring continual 6-month out supply?
Anyway, I have more research to do on this forum and online, but I just have some questions on "Specific List" items if you don't mind:
Thank you again!

First, my printout for you was for a year's supply, so you only need half for your 6 month target (I would strongly encourage you to target 3 months instead, go slow and learn what works for you).

Okay, this is an extrapolation for Short/Mid-term storage of food based on a First In First Out (FIFO) inventory control using what you normally would be eating, so storage is a mix of canned, frozen, or dried foods with some very short term fresh. (our frozen foods last up to 2 years, in fact most of the store bought and home canned foods are good between 1 and 2 years easy.....

If you have a six month's food supply, then you should not have anything older than 8 months, because you ate the old stuff first!

I have my whole food inventory broken down into those "Food Groups" and I use it as a tool to know what types of food I need to buy (find my holes).
-Baking Supplies - 11.0 lbs. - Can you be more specific on items needed?
(look below)
-Cheese - 12.5 lbs. - How would you preserve it and how long could it last?
(we have a mix of Frozen, and dried)
-Butter/Margarine - 15.6 lbs. - How would you preserve it and how long could it last?
(I keep 16 pounds in my freezer)
-Fruit - Preserved -31.3 lbs - Can you be more specific on preserved and how long?
(I like canned peaches, pears, grapefruit, we have frozen berries.... Jam, jelly, don't make it hard)
-Meat - Preserved, Canned or Frozen- 93.9 lbs. - How long can you preserve it in can, freezer or another method?
(I seal-a-meal and freeze chicken, beef, venison... I have canned Tuna, Beef, Pork, SPAM; I count Beef Ravioli as a meat
-Potatoes - Preserved - 26.1 lbs. - How do you preserve them and for how long?
we keep frozen hash browns, french fries, Canned potatoes (whole and sliced), dried (sliced & diced), potato flakes,
-Vegetables - Preserved - 93.0 lbs. - How do you preserve them and for how long?
frozen (spinach, green beans, peas....) canned green beans, peas, carrots... Dried carrots)

My families' baking supplies have what we normally use to bake with so it includes the following items (oils, eggs, butter, and flour are someplace else), this is just the other stuff you need to bake with, (for 6 months you are looking for 5 1/2 pounds of stuff like this):

Baking Powder

Baking Soda

Bananas, squash, pumpkin (Frozen or canned)

Butterscotch Chips

Chocolate Chips - Semi Sweet

Corn Starch - Dried

Dough Enhancer

Lemon Extract

Orange Extract

Puff Pastry (prep farm)

Toll House White Morsels

Vanilla Extract

Yeast (frozen)

I'm not addressing your whole question, but I will talk water:

You say you have 3 in your family, I would strongly encourage you to figure out how to store 21 gallons of water, date it and rotate it... This is a 1 week supply of drinking and cooking water for your family, in case of emergencies like the boil your water events.....

I have several water filters; like you would use for backpacking and I have a ceramic filter system for longer term use.
If you have a water source close to you and a filter system good for 1000 gallons you have a good start.

My backpacking Sawyer water filter is rated for up to 100,000 gallons ($22) and I just use that when I travel.... A number of the folks here use Berkey Water Filtration systems on a regular basis, they are a bit pricey but people swear by them.

!!!! I would not encourage you to spend a lot of money, take your time and think things out, use what you have!!!!!

Where are you going to put your water (it's heavy), what are you going to store it in? Are you already buying water (I buy distilled water for medical devices) and can you reuse the container? (Milk jugs are not great for this)

I know I've dropped a lot on you, don't over think it, work slow and think things out and it will fall into place....

 

[UrbanHunter]

There were times when we shopped the sales to build up our food supplies, we planned and shopped as a family. We usually sat aside an extra $20-$100 per month to add to our stores until we felt that we had met our food storage targets.

Today, when I get home from the grocery store I date (month/year) each item and put it on the shelf behind the old item, that way I always pull the old one down first. (when we can(like right now we are canning tomato sauce) we put the fresh flat under what's left of last year's). We keep an inventory and the wife makes Menu's from the inventory (it includes the dates) so she knows what we need to eat (don't want to throw anything out)...

Our monthly shopping bill is the same as everyone else's cause we only have to buy what we have used..... But, if I had to, I could eat for a long time without resupply.....
*****************************

There is 1 really big problem with this type of method, it needs you to eat at home to be effective.... That is the only way that the food stay's fresh and your supply stay's up to date... If you eat out every night, then this is the wrong solution for you, because even if you have the food you won't know how to cook it.

We had monthly family events where we cooked something from the "experimental" or a long term food storage item just to be sure we like it - before buying a bucket of anything..... some were great but expensive, others were expensive crap.....

 

[Aerindel]

It is good to note. There are many important skills to prepping, but the knowing how to cook is one of the cornerstone skills.

 

[SheepDog]

I never waste any canned food. The neighbor down the road a bit was purging his stock room because he isn't going to can anymore. His wife is not well and he is diabetic so he is buying "prepper food" instead of canning his own. I got all the canned goods and the jars. A lot of it looked bad - color change and old dates - so I added them to the compost. After 6 months it was all dirt again.

 

[poltiregist]

All good advice about stocking up on what you would normally eat , I agree . But if someone wants to stock for the apocalypse for cheap, go buy a hand operated grain grinder for about $ 40.00 and 7 - 50 lb. bags of livestock corn for about $70.00 and you could feed a family of three for a year for a total with tax about $ 150.00 . No doubt though nobody wants to live on nothing but corn for a year , but just pointing out the math as that 350 lb. of corn when cooked would swell up about 5 times its original size creating about 1, 750 lbs. of food . For someone wanting to enter prepping with a jump start it is simply a cheap entrance . ---- I have my food stocks as well as food producing survival livestock , but also have my grain grinder and bags of livestock corn on standby .

 

[Aerindel]

All good advice about stocking up on what you would normally eat , I agree . But if someone wants to stock for the apocalypse for cheap, go buy a hand operated grain grinder for about $ 40.00 and 7 - 50 lb. bags of livestock corn for about $70.00 and you could feed a family of three for a year for a total with tax about $ 150.00 . No doubt though nobody wants to live on nothing but corn for a year , but just pointing out the math as that 350 lb. of corn when cooked would swell up about 5 times its original size creating about 1, 750 lbs. of food . For someone wanting to enter prepping with a jump start it is simply a cheap entrance . ---- I have my food stocks as well as food producing survival livestock , but also have my grain grinder and bags of livestock corn on standby .

This.....is not actually how it works. 50lbs of corn is still 50lbs of corn in terms of food value when hydrated and cooked, just like 50lbs of rice still only has the calories of 50lbs of rice after its been soaked and cooked.

Nor could you actually live on it for a year. No one food provides enough nutrition to live on solely that food for a year. This goes EXTRA for corn. Corn is actually one of the least digestible foods for humans. This is why traditionally they did things like soak it in lye to break it down enough to be edible.

The closest you can get to 'one food' is combined rice and beans....but that is only close. You would still need other food or you would suffer fatal malnutrition in a matter of months.

 

[Breck]

I have a Katadyn water filter though most go with the Berkey. The larger the better. You can also just buy the filters, a spigot, and two 5 gallon buckets.

You will find that there are many opinions and that means that some will differ, choose the answers that suit you. Be aware that the answer to your question has filled many books, and you are just getting posts.

I date (month and year) everything that goes into my storage. That tells me how long the food has been there and about how long I have left before I'm likely to run out. I assign a certain area for each item and try to keep it full. When I was trying to get my basic load of each item I would look for sales and then, if I could afford it I'd buy up to a years worth. When I was increasing my storage goals, say from 6 months to 9 months, I would increase the assigned space for each item as it came on sale. You've already heard FIFO, it is a lifestyle around here.

My opinion is that canned goods are edible if the can is in good shape. Canned goods over 100 years old have been tested and found to be edible and nutritious. I lost most of my links but here is one.
https://www.delish.com/food/news/a39005/64-year-old-lard-edible/Some items last way longer than you will. I define that as forever. A short list of forever foods would include salt, sugar, honey, white rice, vinegar, wheat berries, dry corn. Wheat out of the pyramids has sprouted and the honey is still good. I have eaten canned salmon that I put up 20 years before I opened it.

That's amazing, thank you!

 

[Breck]

First, my printout for you was for a year's supply, so you only need half for your 6 month target (I would strongly encourage you to target 3 months instead, go slow and learn what works for you).

Okay, this is an extrapolation for Short/Mid-term storage of food based on a First In First Out (FIFO) inventory control using what you normally would be eating, so storage is a mix of canned, frozen, or dried foods with some very short term fresh. (our frozen foods last up to 2 years, in fact most of the store bought and home canned foods are good between 1 and 2 years easy.....

If you have a six month's food supply, then you should not have anything older than 8 months, because you ate the old stuff first!

I have my whole food inventory broken down into those "Food Groups" and I use it as a tool to know what types of food I need to buy (find my holes).
-Baking Supplies - 11.0 lbs. - Can you be more specific on items needed?
(look below)
-Cheese - 12.5 lbs. - How would you preserve it and how long could it last?
(we have a mix of Frozen, and dried)
-Butter/Margarine - 15.6 lbs. - How would you preserve it and how long could it last?
(I keep 16 pounds in my freezer)
-Fruit - Preserved -31.3 lbs - Can you be more specific on preserved and how long?
(I like canned peaches, pears, grapefruit, we have frozen berries.... Jam, jelly, don't make it hard)
-Meat - Preserved, Canned or Frozen- 93.9 lbs. - How long can you preserve it in can, freezer or another method?
(I seal-a-meal and freeze chicken, beef, venison... I have canned Tuna, Beef, Pork, SPAM; I count Beef Ravioli as a meat
-Potatoes - Preserved - 26.1 lbs. - How do you preserve them and for how long?
we keep frozen hash browns, french fries, Canned potatoes (whole and sliced), dried (sliced & diced), potato flakes,
-Vegetables - Preserved - 93.0 lbs. - How do you preserve them and for how long?
frozen (spinach, green beans, peas....) canned green beans, peas, carrots... Dried carrots)

My families' baking supplies have what we normally use to bake with so it includes the following items (oils, eggs, butter, and flour are someplace else), this is just the other stuff you need to bake with, (for 6 months you are looking for 5 1/2 pounds of stuff like this):

Baking Powder

Baking Soda

Bananas, squash, pumpkin (Frozen or canned)

Butterscotch Chips

Chocolate Chips - Semi Sweet

Corn Starch - Dried

Dough Enhancer

Lemon Extract

Orange Extract

Puff Pastry (prep farm)

Toll House White Morsels

Vanilla Extract

Yeast (frozen)

I'm not addressing your whole question, but I will talk water:

You say you have 3 in your family, I would strongly encourage you to figure out how to store 21 gallons of water, date it and rotate it... This is a 1 week supply of drinking and cooking water for your family, in case of emergencies like the boil your water events.....

I have several water filters; like you would use for backpacking and I have a ceramic filter system for longer term use.
If you have a water source close to you and a filter system good for 1000 gallons you have a good start.

My backpacking Sawyer water filter is rated for up to 100,000 gallons ($22) and I just use that when I travel.... A number of the folks here use Berkey Water Filtration systems on a regular basis, they are a bit pricey but people swear by them.

!!!! I would not encourage you to spend a lot of money, take your time and think things out, use what you have!!!!!

Where are you going to put your water (it's heavy), what are you going to store it in? Are you already buying water (I buy distilled water for medical devices) and can you reuse the container? (Milk jugs are not great for this)

I know I've dropped a lot on you, don't over think it, work slow and think things out and it will fall into place....

Thank you for all of this. I will work slowly starting with a 3 month supply.

 

[Aerindel]

You will find that there are many opinions and that means that some will differ, choose the answers that suit you. Be aware that the answer to your question has filled many books, and you are just getting posts.

This is worth repeating. It may seem daunting to a newbie. But fundamentally the knowledge you need to effectively preps is enormous. You are internalizing into your household, the knowledge that normally you would count on a thousand people to do for you.

To be an advanced prepper, you are becoming your own 'butcher, baker and candlestick maker'

You are becoming your own grocery store general manager, your own water treatment plant manager, your own power plant director, your own fire department, your own police station, your own hospital.

You are doing the OPPOSITE of what generally happens in civilization, instead of specializing, you are becoming a generalist. Really, once you move into more advanced prepping, you should be reading ALL THE TIME to try and catch up on all this.

 

[Caribou]

Thank you for all of this. I will work slowly starting with a 3 month supply.

Excellent! Start with small goals, when those are met increase slowly. That way you have many successes. If you start with a huge goal you never have a success to celebrate. Keeping your attitude is very important.

 

[viking]

We found that some of the prepared all in one meals often contained soy protein, we found through studies that unfermented soy products are extremely high in phytoestrogens which the human body doesn't know the difference between that and human estrogen, so we stay away form those and buy individual freeze dried or dehydrated foods and make our own meals, sad to say but the prices of the good stuff has gone up by up to four times the price since we first started, but occasionally Augason Farms still has some fare prices at Wal-Mart stores, we used to buy freeze dried and dehydrated foods from Emergency Essentials but their prices are now out of our league. Always test things out, that's what we did and somethings are great but some we'd never want to eat again. Freeze dried and dehydrated foods have come a long way since the days when REI had them for backpacking and we heard of the astronauts having that for food out in space. The important thing is, doing something is far better than worrying about not having enough, small steps ad up to climbing a mountain.

 

[Neb]

...
your own fire department,...

You are doing the OPPOSITE of what generally happens in civilization, instead of specializing, you are becoming a generalist. Really, once you move into more advanced prepping, you should be reading ALL THE TIME to try and catch up on all this.

An old fire engine.

A steam boiler and steam pump on wheels.

I can only speculate the firemen used to keep it fired 24x7 so it was always up to steam when needed.

Imagine running down the street with a boiler...

Ditto what @Aerindel said.

It only when we have a community that people can start to become secialists.

Ben

 

[Weedygarden]

I don't know if there is a better thread to post this in. If so, I can ask admins to move it. Or maybe double post it? This is not 3 months worth or even 6 months worth. But it is comprehensive in what a person or family can store for supposedly less than $300. I'll bet that it is more than that now.

https://seasonedcitizenprepper.com/feed-a-family-of-4-for-1-year-for-less-than-300/
These are live links that lead to the purchase of each item. The ones I have checked took me to Amazon.
The Ultimate Survival Food List (2021 Update)
April 1, 2021 by Seasoned Citizen Prepper

You’re ready to crank up the food storage, and build out your year supply. Fantastic! Building up a well-fortified pantry is an important undertaking.
It’s important to remember however, that stocking up on emergency food supplies is a 2-fronted battle:

1. Stocking up on things that you will actually eat, and
2. Learning how to actually cook and eat the things that you stockpile.

In other words, don’t just stock up on 100 pounds of rice or dry beans if you don’t really know how to cook rice or beans. And at the same, you should learn how to actually cook and prepare rice and beans in some tasty ways that you like.
For many of us, #2 is probably a harder task. Compared to generations gone before, most of us are really far removed from cooking, especially cooking with the kind of raw, bulk ingredients that typically store really well. For that reason, I recommend collecting a handful of easy to prepare survival recipes, so that a “bucket o’ beans” isn’t just some weird thing in the pantry that we’ll figure out when we absolutely have to (bad idea).

 

[Weedygarden]

In This Guide: (click to open)

1. The Complete Survival Food Storage List for 1 Year
   • Quick and Easy Meals (see items 1-5 above)
   • Grains and Starches (see items 6-11 above)
   • Proteins (see items 12-25 above)
   • Soups (see items 26-32 above)
   • Fruits (see items 33-35 above)
   • Vegetables (see items 36-46 above)
   • Sauces, Oils, and Condiments (see items 47-59 above)
   • Shelf Stable Dairy (see items 60-65 above)
   • Should Snacks and Luxuries (see items 66-78 above)
   • Juices and Other Beverages (see items 79-83 above)
   • Bulk Staples (see items 84-88 above)
   • Freeze Dried Emergency Foods (see items 89-91 above)
   • Baking Ingredients (see items 92-108 above)
   • Vitamins and Supplements
   • Animal and Pet Food Storage
2. Criteria for Choosing Your Emergency Food Supplies
   • Survival Food Should Be Easy To Prepare
   • It Needs To Have a Long Shelf Life
   • It Should Be Affordable
   • Long Term Food Storage Should Be As Nutritionally Dense As Possible
   • Think About The Overall “Storability” of Your Food Storage
3. Survival Food Storage and Preservation Supplies
   • Food Storage Buckets
   • Gamma Seal Lids
   • Mylar Food Storage Bags
   • Dried Long Term Food Storage Containers
   • Pressure Canners
   • Food Dehydrators
   • Vacuum Sealers
   • Wheat Grinders and Grain Mills
4. Frequently Asked Questions
   • What plans should I make for water on my survival food list?
   • How much rice should I have on my food storage list?
   • How do you store survival food for a disaster?
   • How do I stock up on food storage without breaking the bank?
   • What are the best canned foods to store for survival?
5. Ready to Get Going?

The Complete Survival Food Storage List for 1 Year
This guide provides you with our complete survival food list, our recommendations on supplies for creating and preserving your own long term foods, criteria to look for when you’re building your food storage, and answers to the most frequently asked questions.
To begin, here is the complete long term food storage list to compile your 1 year supply:

1. Waffle/Pancake Mixes
2. Stovetop Meals and Stuffing
3. Macaroni and Cheese
4. Potatoes Au Gratin
5. Canned Spaghetti, Ravioli and similar products (think Chef Boyardee)
6. Bulk Pastas and Noodles – spaghetti, macaroni, fettuccine, linguini
7. Couscous
8. Bulk Instant Potatoes
9. Cereals: In particular, think about stuff like shredded wheat (some decent nutritional value)
10. Oatmeal
11. Instant Rice Mixes
12. Canned Beans – You can get these much cheaper in dry bulk, but they will require a lengthy cooking process. We recommend having at least a small supply of canned beans that are ready to open and eat right awayBlack Beans
    • Refried Beans
    • Pinto Beans
    • Garbanzo Beans (also called chickpeas)
    • Baked Beans
    • White Beans
    • Kidney Beans
    • Butter Beans
13. Peanut Butterand Other Nut Butters.
    • Almond Butter
    • Cashew Butter
    • Sunbutter (from sunflower seeds)
    • Dehydrated Peanut Butter (even longer shelf life)
14. Protein Bars
15. Protein Powder and Shake Mixes
16. Canned Beef
17. Canned Turkey
18. Canned Chicken
19. Tuna
20. Salmon
21. Spam
22. Vienna Sausages
23. Hot Dogs and Cured Sausages
24. Dehydrated eggs

 

[Weedygarden]

There are many more, 108, so if you are interested, you can click on the link of the URL. 108 Survival Foods for the Year Supply [2021 Food Storage List]