Food for survival

[AStone]

A few niceties can help greatly in this regard, as I am sure many who have been in even a moderately miserable and protracted predicament will agree.

One of my most poignant experiences in that regard happened after 7 days in the Weminuche "Wilderness" (500K acres) of S. CO a few years ago.

Six of us backpacked in for those 7 days. Up East Ute Creek on the Rio Grande headwaters to Rio Grande Pyramid (13,288'), over to Rock Lake, then back over the divide to the trailhead.

Second day in, we realized that in six people, NO ONE had packed oil.

We had carbs galore.
Oatmeal, rice, pasta, trail mix, cookies, honey...you name it.

We had protein as beans, rice, meat, canned chicken, jerky.

But we had no oil, no butter, no fat.
None. Nothing. Nada.

By day 3 we were wishing.
By day 5 we were craving.
By day 7 we were crashing.

The first thing we did when we got out,
before buying gas, was to find a hamburger stand
where we gorged ourselves with greasy hamburgers & fries with extra mayo.

That experience, more than any in my life, convinced me to listen to my body for nutrition needs.

If I crave fat, I eat fat.
If I crave meat, I eat meat.
If I crave sugar, I eat sugar.

Nem

 

[LAK]

Ah yes; oil. I left that out. Olive oil is my favorite, as well as coconut oil, grapeseed etc. The cold-pressed organic variety is best.

I also left out herbs and spices etc. Salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, ground ginger, dried garlic, basil, sage, thyme, rosemary, parsley etc. I am very partial to Coleman's English mustard too.

Something else I forgot was mung beans. These small pea-like beans are very high in calcium and iron. Find them at (East) Indian shops and better supermarkets.
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http://ussliberty.org
http://ssunitedstates.org

 

[Manedwolf]

You can sometimes get the peanut butter packs for MREs separately. Long shelf life, very portable to stuff in pockets and pouches...and peanut butter is a very very good high-protein, decent calorie survival food that meets needs for salt and fats, too.

As long as you have water! And don't ever, ever, EVER try "shelf-stable bread", unless you want to eat a sponge that smells like cleaning solvent.

I also get instant "healthy cereal drink" foil packets at an Asian grocery that have a very long shelf life. Add them to hot water, they make a tasty sort of drinkable, thick oatmeal that contains black sesame, mung beans, yams, all sorts of nutritious stuff.

 

[Thin Black Line]

Nema,

You brought up a good point. And, yes, olive oil is also preferred on my
list.

Americans' fat/oil/meat intake though is way too high to start with.
However, if you go from 150% to 0% in a day, you're gonna hurt!
Better to step down gradually. You do not need meat/fat/oil at every
meal.

 

[gc67]

I think that beans/rice/pasta are great because of their shelf life, but one thing to keep in mind is they all take a fair amount of water to cook. Water may be something that you really have to ration depending on your location/situation. For things like beans, it is a good idea to do some canning and keep a bunch of canned beans that are ready to eat. You can rotate them out and can new ones every 3 months or so

 

[Cosmoline]

And don't ever, ever, EVER try "shelf-stable bread", unless you want to eat a sponge that smells like cleaning solvent

The best bet is a genuine pilot bread or a scandinavian crispbread. I've had wheels of knackbrod last many years even after being opened. They're an absolutely excellent source of fiber and carbs in a survival kit. They can also be used to construct a makeshift shelter.

 

[Dave R]

Ask some Mormons. Our church recommends each member have a years' supply of stored food, and has lots of info and recommendations.

IMHO, the best combination of low cost, long shelf life, and nutrition is canned wheat. You can also "can" it yourself pretty easily. Eat it as a hot cereal, or get a hand mill to grind it and make bread. Practice before TSHTF, of course...

Being from Houston, the rice capital of North America, I also have a fond spot in my heart for storing canned rice. MMMmmmm. Cooked rice with a dab of butter and salt. I could eat it for months...

More data here. http://www.providentliving.org/channel/1,11677,1706-1,00.html

Including a handy "how much to store" calculator.

 

[AStone]

I think that beans/rice/pasta are great because of their shelf life...

I tend to agree.

However, as a guy with an undergrad in entomology (bugs), keep in mind that those stored grains are susceptible to insect pests. After buying your grain (rice, wheat, beans, corn grits...), watch it carefully for a few months. Look for grains that are stuck together. Of course, look for larvae (catepillars) or adult insects in the storage container. First sign of trouble, deal with it.

If you let stored grain insects reproduce in your stores, you'll wind up with a sh***y mess of insects, and very little grain.

That will ruin your day.

Nem

 

[baz]

Nematocyst-870

But we had no oil, no butter, no fat.
None. Nothing. Nada.

In survival epics, the gun weilding survivalist (to keep this on topic) always stumbles across a bear and kills it for the fat.

Fat is the first thing I take into consideration when putting aside food for any long term disruption in civil order. I have a good supply of lard tucked away. I don't see it on the shelves at the local Kroger's (it is not exactly PC among the heart healthy crowd), but they sell tubs of it at the local Dollar General. I also take the fat content of certain foods into account that I put aside: peanut butter, "bark" candy (doubles as a "comfort" food), canned meats like Treat or Spam, etc.

All the dry goods people put aside for periods of extended food shortage will taste a lot better cooked in, or with, a little lard. While most people get too much fat in the diet today, most people are also too sedentary. In vision of SHTF or TEOTWAWKI people will probably need higher caloric diets than they need now, and will need that fat for the calorie content.

 

[AStone]

Good points, Baz. I agree.

I'm glad this thread has popped up, and another one on shelters has recently been rebirthed.

There are a few others floating around on THR that have been either neglected or closed (most often for legit reasons, because they had little to do with firearms).

I'm almost finished with my remodeling project from hell ( :banghead: ), and will soon be able to get back around to my preparations for SHTF/TEOTWAWKI type events. Good incentives & advice in these threads towards that end.

Nem

 

[odysseus]

And don't ever, ever, EVER try "shelf-stable bread", unless you want to eat a sponge that smells like cleaning solvent.

Yes I have eaten the MRE shelf-stable bread with the jalepeno "cheese" spread on it. You gotta be real hungry, and after you eat some and swill some water, your stomach knows the of the crime you hath committed.

 

[ctdonath]

"Honey, I can't find a can opener for this can of spam. And this plastic bag of bread is moldy. I'm hungry."

That is probably the scariest thing I've ever read on THR. Think about it. 250,000,000 people saying essentially that at about the same time ... and the dread that gradually sets in when they realize that's the best they've got for a long time.

This country is so close to outright starvation it's scary.

 

[Dave R]

This country is so close to outright starvation it's scary.

True enough. But those who have actually tried eating dandlions, and cattail tubers, and know how to shoot a squirrel, have a few more options than those who haven't, or don't.

 

[Manedwolf]

Yes I have eaten the MRE shelf-stable bread with the jalepeno "cheese" spread on it. You gotta be real hungry, and after you eat some and swill some water, your stomach knows the of the crime you hath committed.

Of course, there are worse fates. A roomate in college who was ROTC was out of money, but had some MRE accessories from training left over. So they ate four packages of the crackers.

The result, next day, was a lot of profanity and a pained lament of "I CAN'T GO TO THE BATHROOM!"...

Apparently have that effect..

 

[Manedwolf]

True enough. But those who have actually tried eating dandlions, and cattail tubers, and know how to shoot a squirrel, have a few more options than those who haven't, or don't.

Until several million residents of nearby urban and suburban sprawls show up in mass exoduses of vehicles full of hungry people...

Unless you're literally in the middle of nowhere, your problem isn't what you can find to eat, it would be the quickly-desparate and utterly helpless hordes of humanity.

Most would be helpless. No prepared food means no concept of what to do at all. Others would become jackals, and try to take from those who had prepared. If you're in range of any large population area, you'd be a target within a week or two, and would have to defend 24/7 and likely expend a lot of ammunition.

Scary thought.

If everything got that bad all of a sudden, if you're in the middle of nowhere, you're better off. If you're in a coastal city, I've always thought your best bet, if you had a strong back, would be to try to sign onto a departing freighter as crew, because cities, lacking any internal food supply, would turn into hellholes veryvery quickly.

 

[ctdonath]

Cattail tubers. Gack. Edible, yes. Nutritious, yes. Better than a sharp stick in the eye, not sure.
Dandelion greens are sorta like spinach. While you're at it, the flowers can be made into wine and the roots into something like coffee.
Boiled milkweed buds are pretty tasty, esp. with butter.

 

[Shotgun12]

.... Also, anticipate the possibility that chicken will be in VERY short supply soon; take a look at the numbers of birds being killed overseas.

Might be a good time to "short" Tyson stock ....

Ah yes; oil. I left that out. Olive oil is my favorite, as well as coconut oil, grapeseed etc. The cold-pressed organic variety is best.

IIRC, oils don't usually have the shelf-life that Lard (or Crisco) does .... I've heard they tend to go "rancid" quicker than the other stuff. (not sure if this applies to all oils)

It might help to contact your local botanist and ask what local plants are edible.

You might try and find one of these handy little manuals. It has all sorts of info, including sections that identify different types of plants, and wildlife that are edible, have medicinal use, and those to be avoided. (with color photos)
Other subjects include; weather, medical treatment, water & food, shelter, clothing etc. .... tons of good stuff.

If you let stored grain insects reproduce in your stores, you'll wind up with a sh***y mess of insects, and very little grain.

You'll still have plenty of grain - but with just a little added "protein". It helps if you freeze any type of grain, for a week or so, before storage. Then package in air-tight containers, and if possible .... store it inside the freezer, if you have the room. That should kill off any "weevils" that tend to invade stores of wheat, corn, rice or products that are made of grain (not sure if they like beans). If you do end up with some of the little critters, (dead or alive) once you open the container, you can either winnow 'em out, or if/when you soak the grain (like rice), they'll float to the surface, to be skimmed, or drained off.
When it comes to corn & wheat, in particular, it's best to store it in its "whole" form - and mill it as you use it, as opposed to milling into flour, or meal - as it will store better (retains its taste & nutritional value longer). In this case, you'd want to "winnow", or air clean it in advance, to remove any bugs & dust, since you'll probably be "dry milling" it .... if so, wouldn't want it wet.
As you can tell .... most of this info is geared towards "buggin' in" - which is what I'd be doing.
I'm sure most people (at least the ones that prepare) will have other less - "bland" food items - canned stuff, that can be mixed with the rice, pasta etc. to "stretch" the supplies. Don't forget the seasonings .... salt - lots of it (it's dirt cheap), I have a good supply of things like dried minced garlic & jalapenos among other things.

One thing that I believe some folks tend to neglect, is a source for "clean" water. Whether you're bugin' in, or out .... get a good water filter (or two). Last thing you'll want to have to contend with, on top of everything else .... is a nasty case of dysentery. Check out both Katadyn or Berkey's products.
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[itgoesboom]

There's lots of good info here in this thread.

My wife and I have put aside lots of food for ourselves, and we are now setting ourselves up to be able to take in two more people if things get bad. Our goal is 6 months for 4 adults and 1 infant. We are getting pretty close to that goal, but it sure hasn't been easy.

Rice and beans are obvious. Pasta is in the plans too. Oatmeal is good, especially for those of us that have gluten allergies (like me). Vitamins are a must. Canned beans, soups, stews, fruits and veggis, are all in there too.

In addition, lots of spices, brown sugar, sugar, flour, maple syrup, peanut butter and honey are on the list as well.

If the bird flu really started to hit, in the first few days I would take all the meat in the freezer and make jerky out of it (got one batch marinating right now in fact). I would end up with somewhere around 20+lbs of jerky right now.

Having a couple different ways of cooking the food would be a good idea too. Propane BBQ would work, as would a camp stove. We have the BBQ, plus a small cartridge camp stove, and a larger dual fuel camp stove, it uses coleman fuel or unleaded gas.

I know I sure don't want to be at Wal-Mart the day that it's announced that a H2H transmission of H5N1 has occured in the USA.

I.G.B.

 

[Davo]

Ive heard the goverment is advising to have a 6 week supply of food on hand. Funny thing is those that think of guys like us as "paranoid" will now seek our aid.

 

[itgoesboom]

Ive heard the goverment is advising to have a 6 week supply of food on hand. Funny thing is those that think of guys like us as "paranoid" will now seek our aid.

Probably be a little too late for them. A lifeboat built for 5 will sink under the weight of 15.

Besides, they have access to the exact same information that we have access to, they just aren't choosing to act on it.

I.G.B.

 

[Thin Black Line]

Look for grains that are stuck together. Of course, look for larvae (catepillars) or adult insects in the storage container. First sign of trouble, deal with it.

(TBL shrugs shoulders as he begins boiling water) Yeah, just pick them
out and cook the food. Nobody will notice....

Yes I have eaten the MRE shelf-stable bread with the jalepeno "cheese" spread on it. You gotta be real hungry, and after you eat some and swill some water, your stomach knows the of the crime you hath committed.

The Jale cheese and tobasco are in the MREs in case you're constipated.
Then again, it might be the bread that caused the stoppage to being
with

 

[Optical Serenity]

Excellent thread.

Right now I keep the following in my Maxpedition Jumbo Fatboy (man purse)...mind you, this is a shoulder carried bag, not a B.O.B.:

-Two tea bags
-waterproof match holder filled with 16 packets of Splenda, at 0.035oz each, that is approximately 0.56oz of Splenda.
-Tuna packet, 7.06oz, good for two years
-water purification tablets
-Cliff bar

I also have two P-38 can openers (in case one breaks or I need to give away one), plenty of fire starter materials, a collapsable cup, several coffee water filters, and several zip lock mini bags, several hand warmers for heat production alternative.

 

[AStone]

OS, I agree that this is an excellent thread.

Given that I live in a much more northerly latitude than you, with a large elevation gradients to my east and west, my BOB has a bit more in it than yours (even while I understand and honor your minimalist strategy).

* 2 L water
* Pur water filter
* Lots of carbos, both simple & complex
* that can of tuna + 2
* cooking oil (which can be imbibbed without cooking to meet lipid requirements)
* minimal first aid kit
* extra fleece layers
* rain gear
* closed cell foam to sleep on
* guns: 9mm pistol; 12 ga riot gun with sling
* other items, depending on season, including small tent

It's cold and wet up here all year round, let alone in January.

YMMV

Nem

 

[Jeff White]

NineseveN has a new Survival and Preparedness forum.

http://www.neardeathexperiments.com

This will be on topic there.

Jeff