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Preparing for the Unexpected — Food, Water, Shelter

Talyn

Talyn

SAINT
Founding Member
The Boy Scout motto is “Be Prepared.”

Needs are often dictated by circumstances we didn’t anticipate and can’t control. However, our basic needs haven’t changed throughout the centuries. Water, food, and shelter are at the top of the list. Following those are medical supplies, clothing, and tools — defensive tools and tools for planting, building, and maintaining.

Preparing for the Unexpected

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Good article, Talyn. I used to have an old Boy Scout handbook like the one in your picture. It has gotten away from me over the years.

Storing food, etc., gets to be kind of a pain because you have to keep rotating it, and you have to have a place to put it. Water is the same way.
 
somorris said:
Good article, Talyn. I used to have an old Boy Scout handbook like the one in your picture. It has gotten away from me over the years.

Storing food, etc., gets to be kind of a pain because you have to keep rotating it, and you have to have a place to put it. Water is the same way.
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I own a well and I have a stockpile of water purification pills and devices in the event I have to wind up mobile. I don't worry too much about food. I am surrounded by woods. And a river.
 
Bassbob said:
I own a well and I have a stockpile of water purification pills and devices in the event I have to wind up mobile. I don't worry too much about food. I am surrounded by woods. And a river.
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I am surrounded by a bunch of other people, many of whom have never worked a day in their lives! Not a good situation, but it is what it is. Unfortunately, circumstances have evolved to the point that we are, for all practical purposes, stuck here. :(
 
We call it a well stocked pantry. Both of our parents lived through the bad years in very rural areas following the worst part of the depression. They were adamant it could all happen again, but worse since people are not as, spiritual and concerned for others as they were then. So we learned from thier lifestyle.
 
You can buy good quality survival rations which come packed in 5 gallon buckets and will feed 1 or 2, albeit sparingly, for a month. They last like 20 years, and really are not bad emergency rations. We keep a couple buckets around and have tried the meals, not like grandma made but I have had worse meals. Much worse...

My dad always said , you get hungry enough you will eat the bunghole out of a live rattler. They certainly are better than that.
 
Sld1959 said:
You can buy good quality survival rations which come packed in 5 gallon buckets and will feed 1 or 2, albeit sparingly, for a month. They last like 20 years, and really are not bad emergency rations. We keep a couple buckets around and have tried the meals, not like grandma made but I have had worse meals. Much worse...

My dad always said , you get hungry enough you will eat the bunghole out of a live rattler. They certainly are better than that.
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My problem is space. I don't have any. I considered stocking up on some stuff and during the scamdemic, eh, I mean pandemic, we did stock up on certain things mainly because of the lack of availability. Guinness Extra Stout and caffeine free Diet Coke springs to mind.

If I had more room I would stock up a little on rations, but I can literally walk out my back door, wade across a river full of fish and head into a thick woodline that goes on for miles and miles. And should that prove untenable as long as I have half a tank of gasoline I have access hundreds of acres of private land, most of which is forest. I'm not good at a whole lot of things, but put me in a forest and I can damn sure feed myself and my kin.
 
Food rations don't have to be big package items. I have 5 or 6 pounds of dried beans, 10 lb. bag of rice, large box of oats. Takes less then 1/2 of a shelf for storage and with the few other items I have stored, I could feed my family for about a month. I also have the benefit of being close to a river and woods around for fishing and hunting. I also keep a bag of charcoal and a bag of sand in the shed for a water filter if I need to make it, very basic and easy to do. Learning to survive should be taught to all kids, but these days someone would have to teach most of the young parents.
 
SSmith said:
Food rations don't have to be big package items. I have 5 or 6 pounds of dried beans, 10 lb. bag of rice, large box of oats. Takes less then 1/2 of a shelf for storage and with the few other items I have stored, I could feed my family for about a month. I also have the benefit of being close to a river and woods around for fishing and hunting. I also keep a bag of charcoal and a bag of sand in the shed for a water filter if I need to make it, very basic and easy to do. Learning to survive should be taught to all kids, but these days someone would have to teach most of the young parents.
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My back yard literally ends at the river bank. Crappie and catfish anytime I want it.
 
There was a time in America.When we all knew our neighbors and we looked out for each others.I believe that in most of America.That time has passed. We know little of our neighbors and they know little of us.It seems thats the way everyone wants it.I would not count on anyone,for anything.I would not "NEVER" discuss any plans I had to survive with anyone. It would be my goal to protect my home and family.Thats it.Im not getting buddy,buddy with people who would not spit on me if I was on fire.I call it "The Alamo Complex" I believe my choice of where to live.Has given me an advantage over urban America.I moved here for a reason.Lets hope & pray it does not come to that
 
Bloodknight said:
There was a time in America.When we all knew our neighbors and we looked out for each others.I believe that in most of America.That time has passed. We know little of our neighbors and they know little of us.It seems thats the way everyone wants it.I would not count on anyone,for anything.I would not "NEVER" discuss any plans I had to survive with anyone. It would be my goal to protect my home and family.Thats it.Im not getting buddy,buddy with people who would not spit on me if I was on fire.I call it "The Alamo Complex" I believe my choice of where to live.Has given me an advantage over urban America.I moved here for a reason.Lets hope & pray it does not come to that
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That's mostly in the cities. My little street has about 40 occupied houses and we all know each other, we have cameras out the ying yang and no one comes in the neighborhood without us seeing them. We take care of all the old folks and everyone else.

Seems to be a lot like that down in Donna Texas too.
 
Bloodknight said:
There was a time in America.When we all knew our neighbors and we looked out for each others.I believe that in most of America.That time has passed. We know little of our neighbors and they know little of us.It seems thats the way everyone wants it.I would not count on anyone,for anything.I would not "NEVER" discuss any plans I had to survive with anyone. It would be my goal to protect my home and family.Thats it.Im not getting buddy,buddy with people who would not spit on me if I was on fire.I call it "The Alamo Complex" I believe my choice of where to live.Has given me an advantage over urban America.I moved here for a reason.Lets hope & pray it does not come to that
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14 houses on my street.
10 of them are from India-Pakistan- Middle east. They will walk across the street if you are on the same side of the sidewalk as them approaching each other …
I’ll leave it at that
Modern Suburbia.
My kids school is 72% foreign by school published demographic info.

8 yrs ago it was on 12% …
 
Bassbob said:
My problem is space. I don't have any. I considered stocking up on some stuff and during the scamdemic, eh, I mean pandemic, we did stock up on certain things mainly because of the lack of availability. Guinness Extra Stout and caffeine free Diet Coke springs to mind.

If I had more room I would stock up a little on rations, but I can literally walk out my back door, wade across a river full of fish and head into a thick woodline that goes on for miles and miles. And should that prove untenable as long as I have half a tank of gasoline I have access hundreds of acres of private land, most of which is forest. I'm not good at a whole lot of things, but put me in a forest and I can damn sure feed myself and my kin.
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I understand completely, I am the same way. But I always force myself to remember what my dad said about growing up even in a very rural game rich area at the tail end of the depression.

1. Farm, plant your own garden to help sustain yourself. In a bad time EVERYONE living becomes a hunter, good or bad at it they are out there practically every day. This pushes game and fish out of areas and kills off population density. This gets worse the closer you get to denser human population. The days you came home empty handed and went to bed with empty stomachs out numbered good days.

They learned to harvest and can and dtore all numbers of crops to help sustain through winter. Storage areas got creative. Under beds, in crawl spaces and good old fashioned root cellars outside were invaluable. The food print was miniscule, a hatch way up top lead to a large storage under ground.

2. These days are not like back then. People are more self centered. When his belly is pinched, the neighbor you trust becomes a predator like anyone else.
 
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