I keep hearing about companies which sell packaged dehydrated foods with very long shelf lives which would be good to have on hand in the case of an earthquake or hurricane, terror attack, etc. There's THIS one, called Wise Food Choice.......And THIS one, which I'm hearing even more about, called Food Insurance.......
The problem with these options and others is that they all need WATER to rehydrate the food. Food Insurance says "One cup per meal", which could be quite a lot of water along with whatever water you've put aside for your drinking during tough times.
Anybody got any input? I'm curious and I can't imagine others aren't, either. Thanks for any help.
z
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27 comments:
Yeah, let Glenn sell you some gold while you're at it.
Don't be a sucker.
Freeze dried mac n' cheese tastes lousy, anyway.
I heard that we should freeze water in Ziplocs...
That way if the power goes out, it keeps frozen food cold, and is another ready source of water.
Also, someone, I think Saty, that it is a good idea to cook food ahead of time, and freeze it.
Again, it acts like ice, and is ready to eat and fully cooked.
Of course it should be something that can be eaten cold, like maybe sandwich stuff.
I am probably with Ducky and would look to avoid the MRE type of stuff.
After all, in CA, how long is the power gonna be out? Even the Northridge quake did not really affect the grid for long.
Hot water heaters are great "emergency" water supplies.
You need water for everything. When I subscribed to a drinking water service, I always had four or five 5 gallon jugs of water available if we had an emergency. It is always a good idea to keep two or three of those things around, and there are places that sell them.
In the year 2000 we had an ice storm in Atlanta that caused a power outage at our house for 3 days. Fortunately, we still had water for cooking and flushing. We may not be so lucky next time.
I have never been a fan of the typical disaster oriented person to keep storage food around. However, after Katrina and Irene, it is worth considering.
How come no one here is talking about how the House GOP defeated a bill to help those in states with weather related emergencies? Fox News is not talking about it i'll bet.
MRE's. They don't require water. Also simple canned goods... Pork and beans, spagetti-Os, etc.
Bob offers excellent advice about always keeping water on hand, 10 gallons or more. You can buy empty reusable plastic cans and fill them yourself.
Don't forget to stock up on lead...
Ducky, what's Glenn Beck have to do with gold?
Dave, thanks...the water in Ziplocs is a really good idea. REALLY good.
You're right about the power and, probably, water.
The trouble is they do say anybody in this country ought to have food/water for at least a week...
Hey, you freezing MEXICAN WATER? (Sorry, I couldn't resist :-)
Speedy, you can drink that stuff? If I could figure out how to OPEN the thing!
What's an MRE?? Where can you get them? Seems to me the less water needed to eat the stuff, the better.
SF, by the way...I do keep stuff like that around and then find myself EATING the stuff! I NEVER EVER would buy and eat things like Spaghettios, but if it's HERE......... :-) LIke "for medicinal purposes" :-)
the point being it's FATTENING!
"Hot water heaters are great "emergency" water supplies."
SpeedyG, Yes, and having a water filter is a good back up btw.
Ducky, if you're really hungry how it tastes doesn't really matter does it? We're talking about emergency supplies, not a four star restaurant!
"What's an MRE??"
Meals ready to Eat. Most of these ads we get as spam are appealing to your base fears of unrest, civil war, civil disobedience and anarchy.
If the Iranians / ChiComs should launch an EMt attack against the power grid, defense grids, GPS satellites...we'd be defenseless.
They want you to be prepared knowing that food supplies as well as power might be unavailable for a long time. As such...we'd all be targets for looting and criminals who'd target innocent people for basic necessities. Food, water, money and your vehicles.
So..we're really not talking about your typical FEMA managed emergencies here.
They're talking about the complete breakdown of law and order and civilized society. One only need to look at the aftermath of Katrina to see what lawlessness might look like if some were denied these basics. It'd be every man for himself.
Armageddon....imagine that. The need to survive such catastrophes...man made or not.
Keep in mind that those who wish to take from you what belongs to you...will surely be armed. They won't be polite let alone civilized.
In addition to essentials....Mossberg auto's will be necessary too. I saw this first hand after Hurricane Andrew wiped out south Florida. Roving bands of armed thugs looking for booty. And the National Guard with....unloaded M16's...standing guard!
Better to get to know your neighbors...form a neighborhood watch...and seek a common goal of survival, defense and keeping the mutts at bay with weapons.
Love, tolerance, kumbaya and understanding will not work. Force has to be met with force.
Go ahead...laugh. Better to be prepared. But if you live in the 4 most unfree states...be prepared to be savaged.
Impertinent said: ""If the Iranians / ChiComs should launch an EMt attack "
With respect, the attack to be feared is an EMP (Electro-Magnetic Pulse) attack. This would wipe out everything electical and electronic, including power grids, computers, radios, medical equipment, and emergency generators. The effects would be lethal.
A realistic book about this is the book by William Forstchen,"One Second After" .
My technical and marketing careers have mostly been in wireless (radio) communications. The book is a realistic look at what can happen.
"the attack to be feared is an EMP (Electro-Magnetic Pulse"
Ahhh.... yes sir. Thank you. Fat, old fingers and fading eyeballs will do that to you!
Yet...I made the point, I think?
How many of us are willing, ready and able to do without warmth, power, food, shelter and...American Idol?
Will Michael moore or Rosie O'Donut recant ...apologize? Will Al Queda come to our aid?
Will China send a fleet of ships to help us? Will Uganda, Kenya, Somalia...or the Saudi's?
Will Mexico guard our borders against blood thirsty fast & furious drug kingpins
in El Paso, Houston, or Brownsville. Tuscon or Nogalis?
Thanks Bob.
Ducky....same old packaged, freeze dried garbage.
Your mac n cheese.....is poison.
Bob....
"we had an ice storm in Atlanta that caused a power outage at our house for 3 days."
No doubt that was a bitch to endure. My question to you and anyone else who has tried to live on a grill, candles and flashlight is:
Spend some money on a reliable, alternative POWER SOURCE! Get a standby Generator powered by propane or natural gas.
Screw solar panels....get a Generac 25kw generator that kicks in 30 seconds after you lose power vis an auto transfer power switch.
Gawd...there are enough alternatives that depend on your desire to be free of the grid.
I've got the arms and I'm in an area where I can live off the land.
A carry over of some of the values that my parents taught me by teaching me to hunt and prepare the game.
....and then some of the enhanced training in the military.
Us boys in our family were handling various weaponry from the age of 10. We were hunting and fishing at that age too.
I believe I'll be long gone by the time that the times are so bad that I'll have to rely on some freeze dried foods....
Z, not even Mexican folk drink the water down south...
I've heard about MRE's that the heating element can come in handy when it is cold...
Hmm, haven't heard much about this. I think I'd just go for canned, non-perishable stuff.
I thought emergency food stopped at baked beans and spam. LOL so many options.
MRIs
Carol-CS
MREs-
time for me to get off of this !: - )
Speedy, you can drink that stuff?
So long as you drain the sediment out of the tank annually and don't mind the fact that immediately following a power outage, it's still "hot". Imagine drinking the water that comes out of your "hot" water faucet.
What you do is turn off the main water supply valve to you house, and then open up the highest "hot" water valve in your residence (to act as a vent). You can then open the hot water-sediment drain valve in the heater tank (mine's in my basement) and put a pan under it, draining out as many gallons as needed (the tanks usually hold 30 or 40 gallons of fresh "potable" water).
If you don't want to go to the trouble of openning a hot water valve higher in the house and gaining access to all the water stored in the pipes, you can just lift the safety valve directly on the top of your tank... but you'll probably get some spillage from the water in the pipes that may be located "higher" in your residence.
Nothing wrong with MRE's that a bit of seasoning won't cure. Seasoning, being dried, doesn't require refrigeration. Even Tabasco will keep for a good period of time without being cold after it is opened.
Home canned goods keep for several years without spoiling and require little to no water to heat up . Green beans are already cooked and in water, same with pinto's that you may can as well. We keep a good supply of home canned goods on hand. The freezer is well stocked but if the power is out for an extended time, it's gone. Yes, we do freeze water rather than storing it in jugs in the pantry. Food from the freezer can be transfered from freezer to coolers along with jugs of water and both will remain cold for a good while even after the freezer has lost it's ability to keep thing frozen or cold.
People have forgotten how to cure meat and the days of the smoke house are long gone. Cured ham , beef and such will last for years if handled properly. I still remember how to cure ham and other meats and will certainly be able to survive on the meat that I can kill and cure.
When TSHTF... I have guns to go stockpiler hunting with :P
Tick, that's a good idea about having a cooler around to take freezer stuff out of and store in there.........
Speedy, thanks for the water info
Peanut butter doesn't require hydration.
I also keep tuna on hand.
I don't worry much about power outages. We have a power inverter (transforms 12V into 110V). Keep a battery pack or good car battery on hand to run the inverter.
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