realistically, how much food should you have stored?

[chad]

i know the smart ass answer will be "how long do you want to eat?"

it's a serious question though.

for a family of 4, i probably have 2 years stashed away. i've gotten to the point were i'm starting to wonder if i need to start focusing on year three, or just be content with what i've got and move on to property upgrades.

what threshold do you guys feel safe with?

[undgrd]

If we (as a country) find ourselves in a position where 2 years of food isn't enough, there is no amount that will fix the problem.

IMO we've gone Mad Max if I NEED more than 6 months worth.

[beefsteak]

How many bottles of tabasco sauce is 2 years worth at your house, Chad?

[mightymanx]

I would concentrate on food production next, you have enough for to years of bad harvest.

[mamboni]

i know the smart ass answer will be "how long do you want to eat?"

it's a serious question though.

for a family of 4, i probably have 2 years stashed away. i've gotten to the point were i'm starting to wonder if i need to start focusing on year three, or just be content with what i've got and move on to property upgrades.

what threshold do you guys feel safe with?

Two years of food stored? If that isn't enough, you'll have to worry more about getting killed and eaten than starving. You're going to stick out, being the only man with flesh on his bones and gold rocks and canned spam in his basement, while the rest of us are just skin and bones, oozing skin sores, with bad breath and a bad attitude.

What are your google earth coordinates, Chad?

[Heimdhal]

I agree, 2 years would be my max, and even then, that would be a far max.


After 6 months to 1 year (of total food storage) I would strongly focus on food PRODUCTION. In fact, I would focus on that first and use the stored food (like freeze dried, etc) to suppliment between crops or if crops fail. Even in a town home I am able to grow a half decent amount of food to use in conjunction with my preps. Thats always been the plan.

We already garden as it is, granted most is herbs. So my main area of focus is having enough food stored to last through 1 or 2 growing seasons if all I had to eat were my preps or to suppliment with what I'm already growing AND my preps until the larger crops start coming in.

Start prepping heirloom seeds and start getting into high density gardening or eveny hyrdo/aqua-ponics.

Dont think of it as storing all the food you think youll need for the end, but prep to simply help you through the rough times.

[chad]

yeah, that's what i was thinking. i think i'm going to bag off on nay more food + put in a pump well, expand the gardening operations, and buy a boatload of fruit trees.

[hoarder]

Ditto on the food production. Beans and rice are so cheap in terms of cost per meal and so easy to store long term, everyone should have a few 50 pound bags of each squirreled away.

[Neuro]

A six month supply could probably be stretched out to a year if had too, probably 2 years with a smaller garden/small game hunting/fishing.

Some potential dangers with too much supplies:
1) Reduced mobility, can't bring it all with you so you stay despite a better possible strategy is to leave.
2) You become complacent and doesn't develop concurrent strategies for long term survival. Iow if it is risky to go out and get food after 6 mths, it may very well be even more risky to go out and get food after 2 years, but those that started it earlier, and survived, have developed superior skills, compared to those sitting in their basement munching dehydrated chili con carne...
3) You become a target for thieves and government thugs.

[hoarder]

WTSHTF, much violence may occur due to food shortages. For this reason I think it's a good idea for people to have their rice and beans to trade for fuel, toilet paper or whatever they need. There is no doubt you would re-coup your investment, but profit would not be my motive.
A reduction in violence and good relations with neighbors in my immediate area will be worth more than the beans and rice cost.

[Neuro]

WTSHTF, much violence may occur due to food shortages. For this reason I think it's a good idea for people to have their rice and beans to trade for fuel, toilet paper or whatever they need. There is no doubt you would re-coup your investment, but profit would not be my motive.
A reduction in violence and good relations with neighbors in my immediate area will be worth more than the beans and rice cost.
Good point! Having good friends, who are not starving to death, nearby in a time of extreme stress is going to be very valuable. Even though they may not be well prepared for what's coming, they may become invaluable as times go. Everyone is not blessed with foresight, especially not at this time, but others may compliment your particular skill set.

[Shami-Amourae]

Well that depends. Do you have a way to cook that food off the grid? Do you have enough water storage to go with it. I have 1/2 a year of fuel, 1 year of water, and 2 years of food so I theoretically have 1/2 year of survival preps for the most part. Of course you could find more supplies post-SHTF, but also consider the other things.

I also have a solar oven on top of my butane fuel supplies, so my idea is I bug-in during SHTF and use my butane. When my butane runs out it probably will be safer to go outside and cook with my solar oven.

[hoarder]

Well that depends. Do you have a way to cook that food off the grid? Do you have enough water storage to go with it.The way I see it, everyone will be hungry. Someone will have water and someone will have a full propane tank and a gas stove. People who don't have sense to prep will have these resources, but no one will have rice and beans but you.

[Shami-Amourae]

I agree, but the problem is where I live people don't even own candles. It's bad. Really bad.

[Sparky]

Short answer: months, not years.

Long answer: It depends on: 1) How much prepping interferes with your lifestyle now, and 2) whether you feel the need to prepare for worst case, which I'll call ill-defined prolonged total chaos.

If preparing for the future means cutting into your budget so that you must endure a poor lifestyle now, or living in a cramped home tripping over boxes and buckets of preps, or causing family tension, or worrying about your stash being plundered or your stored food rotting, then you are over-prepping. The reason to prep is to avoid misery in the future. If prepping guarantees misery in the present in order to avoid the possibility of misery in the future, it's a bad tradeoff. Better to have a satisfying lifestyle now with 3 months prep than be miserable with 3 years prep.

Having said that, I personally am not concerned about prepping for worst case, because then I'll never feel prepared. I also think the Mad Max scenario is a very low (though non-zero) probability, whereas some intermediate scenario, like temporary or intermittent interruptions in the availability of stuff (food, water, supplies, currency exchange, convertibility of paper assets) is a much higher probability. A scenario where things get so bad that food becomes unavailable for years is so extreme that it would liklely involve some other wild card that could blow away all your planning. An example might be a widespread nuclear event. Are your two years of food safe from nuclear radiation? Short of that, do you think humanity will cease production, or that there will be an endless social breakdown? Do you want to survive that? Do you ever wonder how people survived a thousand years ago, with far fewer resources and knowledge to work with than we will have if TSHTF?

I'm not dissing anyone planning for a longer time frame. I admire the diligence, and the respect for the vulnerability that lies ahead. I might even coming looking for you if I run out of food, so please don't shoot me! I just think you have to be in the right mindset and the right situation to do that and not interfere with living your life today. For instance, people like Ponce or TnAndy back at GIM seem to thrive on making preparations for the future; they take enjoyment and derive great satisfaction today in preparing for tomorrow, without making people around them miserable. If you can do that, then sure, go ahead.

[Twisted Titan]

I m going to Costco for some 50 lb bags of Rice today

[solid]

This is a good discussion to have, and each one of us, our situation is different. Personally, I just don't have the space to store years worth of food. However, I am mobile. My plan is to have about a year's worth of some very basics, such as rice and beans. Then have at least 3 months of other foods to eat comfortably. That gives me 3 months to improvise, and get to an area where I could sustain myself long term if needed, such as a game rich area. The US is quite big, and there's still a lot of areas that remote enough to do that. Or, even internationally, if I had too.

If I did have the space, and planned on sitting tight in one area. I would set a goal of having 1 year's worth of food for each family member. Again, each one of us has a different situation. Sparky's advise is very good. Prepping should enhance our life currently, either for peace of mind, or just because we enjoy it. If it starts making life less enjoyable than we may be prepping too much.

[chad]

part of the reason i prepped so much food is that i live at the bug out location, not going anywhere.

[palani]

Store wheat seed. When it comes to shtf germinate, in a week you will have all the food you can handle in the form of wheat grass juice. A 50 lb bag should last 4-5 years.

Need solids? Oatmeal.

[Neuro]

Store wheat seed. When it comes to shtf germinate, in a week you will have all the food you can handle in the form of wheat grass juice. A 50 lb bag should last 4-5 years.

Need solids? Oatmeal. Yes oats are one of the most nutritionally dense and complete foods you can have. I guess the wheat grass contains most of the vit C and other vitamins and minerals you need. Raisins (carb's) and nuts (fat and proteins) are also very nutritionally dense foods, that don't need any preparation, and lasts a long time too. You can probably walk across the US, with what you can carry in a back pack...

[solid]

You can probably walk across the US, with what you can carry in a back pack...

That would be quite an achievement. I wonder if anyone's ever done that. I bet the botanist fellow from that prepper's show could. A firearm for small game, and a good book on edible plants, could go a long way.

[osoab]

This is a good discussion to have, and each one of us, our situation is different. Personally, I just don't have the space to store years worth of food. However, I am mobile. My plan is to have about a year's worth of some very basics, such as rice and beans. Then have at least 3 months of other foods to eat comfortably. That gives me 3 months to improvise, and get to an area where I could sustain myself long term if needed, such as a game rich area. The US is quite big, and there's still a lot of areas that remote enough to do that. Or, even internationally, if I had too.

If I did have the space, and planned on sitting tight in one area. I would set a goal of having 1 year's worth of food for each family member. Again, each one of us has a different situation. Sparky's advise is very good. Prepping should enhance our life currently, either for peace of mind, or just because we enjoy it. If it starts making life less enjoyable than we may be prepping too much.

Do you have any cast nets for your boat?

[solid]

Do you have any cast nets for your boat?

No. Now that's a real good idea, thanks!! Surprisingly, I have never thought of that. I've got fishing gear, and a crab trap. A couple of nets would not take up much space at all.

Added to the list of 'needs'. :)

[Heimdhal]

Solid, I think you underestimate your position. You have the worlds ultimate RV, because you can literaly go anywhere.

I would scout around for some good remote, habitable island within sailing distance (wink, wink) and see if its not worthy as a "base camp" to sail off to, the ultimate bug out. You can easily store a years worth of food on a boat of your size even with all the gear and other supplies. Suppliment with any fish you might be able to get and salt cure them for easy, long term storage. When you hit stormy season, anchor up and tie down at the base camp.

See, I solved all your problems right there. Except human contact and long term planning :P

[solid]

See, I solved all your problems right there. Except human contact and long term planning :P

Thanks Heim. I'm a bit odd, different than a lot of folks here, but crazy is crazy. :) I'm glad my different crazy is welcome here.

I suppose my setup isn't too bad, but I do have a ways to go for a big sailing adventure. I could go now, if needed, but it would be a tough trip. I'll keep plugging away, getting the boat 'more ready', as time goes by. I suppose a year's worth of food I could store onboard. In fact, thinking about it, I probably have about 6 months, as we speak. If I catch fish, I could extend that.

If I had a wife, and little ones to look after, my goal would be a years worth for each one of them. For the folks on land preparing, I am a bit envious of their amount of space. :) Cheers.

[big country]

If you do get cast nets learn to throw them while youtube is still online. They aren't as easy to throw as experienced folks make them look. I learned by watching youtube videos and then practicing a LOT throwing on top of mullet schools in FL while on vacations. I got decent at it but I still don't get perfectly open circles.

A couple of hints depending on the technique you use.

1st) if you use the technique where you hold on of the weights in your teeth (the method I use) to help hold the net open DONT FORGET to open your mouth as you throw. 5LBs+ of weight yanking on your teeth hurts like hell!
2nd) You have to get used to doing like 4 things all at the same time. Twist your waist, swing both arms and open your hands to release (at slightly different times) and open yout mouth to let the weight out.