JavaScript is disabled
Our website requires JavaScript to function properly. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser settings before proceeding.
I was buying a new slip on knee brace last week because my knee has been acting up. It dawned on me that we should have crutches and a cane. which we now have. I lectured the wife about how she should have a few pairs of thick sturdy frame glasses cause her "cute" wire frame ones seem to break if you look through them wrong.

All good ideas! We keep a wide variety of ace bandages, self activated hot and cold packs and the canes, crutches and walking sticks. Oh yeah, we also have an old fashioned hot water bottle!
 
Yeah. I was considering buying basics first (flour, sugar, beans etc) in cans and buckets then going after pouches and #10 cans. Think I may have to go back to work!

You can get used food grade 5 gallon buckets off of Craigslist, various sellers for a few $. Or just swing by the bakery section of your grocerers and ask, they may give you some.

We traded friends for some food grade buckets with lids they bought off of the Craigslist, saved us some time & helped some friends. Those buckets had sauces originally, so we just put some bleach water in them and then left them out in the rain.

5 gallon Mylar bags from Winco, near the bulk food bins. Forget exactly what they cost ?$15 for a 10 pack.

Oxygen absorbers from the LDS home store.

Food grade moisture absorber packets in bulk off of Amazon. Like those little silicone packets you find in all kinds of shipped goods.

Large bags of staples from Cash and Carry grocers. Least expensive we've seen, unless you have access to wholesale price - maybe someone in your family? But Cash and Carry seems pretty close to wholesale.

Rice, Oats, Sugar, Salt etc from them. 25 & 50lb bags.

Remember - don't put oxygen absorbers in your bulk packed sugar/salt. Doesn't need it anyways, but if you do it'll turn into a brick.

Seal the Mylar bag, flatten it over a 2x4 use a clothes iron. (Fellow forum member has a thread & pictures up here). Edit, found user @Koda thread here - Food Prep, long term storage, Pt2: 5 gal buckets



So for example:
$15 50lb bag of rice. (1)
$3.50 bucket with lid. (2)
$.75 Mylar 5g bag. (2)
$1 worth O2 packs. (2)
$.25 worth moisture absorber packs. (2)

= $25

Same for the beans of your choice. = $35-$40.

You now have 4 buckets. 2 bean, 2 rice.

$65, and food for 4 which can be stretched out to 2 months with care, or 1 month without.

Tip: if you have a vacuum packer (ie foodsaver brand), vaccuum pack any unused O2 absorber packets immediately. If you do not have one, at least throw the unused ones in a canning jar. We have the adapter for canning jars for our foodsaver, so we dry can a bunch of stuff anyways - including O2 absorbers and moisture absorbers.

Edit, adding: you should also have enough potable water put up. Particularly if you are putting up dry goods! How & how much is incredibly variable, and there are numerous ways to do it.
 
Last Edited:
You can get used food grade 5 gallon buckets off of Craigslist, various sellers for a few $. Or just swing by the bakery section of your grocerers and ask, they may give you some.

We traded friends for some food grade buckets with lids they bought off of the Craigslist, saved us some time & helped some friends. Those buckets had sauces originally, so we just put some bleach water in them and then left them out in the rain.

5 gallon Mylar bags from Winco, near the bulk food bins. Forget exactly what they cost ?$15 for a 10 pack.

Oxygen absorbers from the LDS home store.

Food grade moisture absorber packets in bulk off of Amazon. Like those little silicone packets you find in all kinds of shipped goods.

Large bags of staples from Cash and Carry grocers. Least expensive we've seen, unless you have access to wholesale price - maybe someone in your family? But Cash and Carry seems pretty close to wholesale.

Rice, Oats, Sugar, Salt etc from them. 25 & 50lb bags.

Remember - don't put oxygen absorbers in your bulk packed sugar/salt. Doesn't need it anyways, but if you do it'll turn into a brick.

Seal the Mylar bag, flatten it over a 2x4 use a clothes iron. (Fellow forum member has a thread & pictures up here). Edit, found user @Koda thread here - Food Prep, long term storage, Pt2: 5 gal buckets



So for example:
$15 50lb bag of rice. (1)
$3.50 bucket with lid. (2)
$.75 Mylar 5g bag. (2)
$1 worth O2 packs. (2)
$.25 worth moisture absorber packs. (2)

= $25

Same for the beans of your choice. = $35-$40.

You now have 4 buckets. 2 bean, 2 rice.

$65, and food for 4 which can be stretched out to 2 months with care, or 1 month without.

Tip: if you have a vacuum packer (ie foodsaver brand), vaccuum pack any unused O2 absorber packets immediately. If you do not have one, at least throw the unused ones in a canning jar. We have the adapter for canning jars for our foodsaver, so we dry can a bunch of stuff anyways - including O2 absorbers and moisture absorbers.

Edit, adding: you should also have enough potable water put up. Particularly if you are putting up dry goods! How & how much is incredibly variable, and there are numerous ways to do it.
Thank you. All very informative. Have a Foodsaver and Cash & Carry is 100 yds away. Copied that off.
 
View attachment 368660 View attachment 368661 View attachment 368658 Still making the move to new location A bit will be completely in in two more weeks. The renters are finally out so I started making repairs and improvements along with generally assessing what was left behind and how the property is secured (fencing). Removed and repositioned some cattle panels to create a small pasture area that may eventually hold goats. Also did a bunch of mowing and clearing including clearing out the garden area. Pretty late to start now but we have a pretty long season so I might get some plants in. I really am starting to fall in love with this place. One more thing, met the neighbor this morning. Really cool old guy that I really think would definitely be an asset/ally if there were a need to dig in.
 
Last Edited:
You can get used food grade 5 gallon buckets off of Craigslist, various sellers for a few $. Or just swing by the bakery section of your grocerers and ask, they may give you some.

We traded friends for some food grade buckets with lids they bought off of the Craigslist, saved us some time & helped some friends. Those buckets had sauces originally, so we just put some bleach water in them and then left them out in the rain.

5 gallon Mylar bags from Winco, near the bulk food bins. Forget exactly what they cost ?$15 for a 10 pack.

Oxygen absorbers from the LDS home store.

Food grade moisture absorber packets in bulk off of Amazon. Like those little silicone packets you find in all kinds of shipped goods.

Large bags of staples from Cash and Carry grocers. Least expensive we've seen, unless you have access to wholesale price - maybe someone in your family? But Cash and Carry seems pretty close to wholesale.

Rice, Oats, Sugar, Salt etc from them. 25 & 50lb bags.

Remember - don't put oxygen absorbers in your bulk packed sugar/salt. Doesn't need it anyways, but if you do it'll turn into a brick.

Seal the Mylar bag, flatten it over a 2x4 use a clothes iron. (Fellow forum member has a thread & pictures up here). Edit, found user @Koda thread here - Food Prep, long term storage, Pt2: 5 gal buckets



So for example:
$15 50lb bag of rice. (1)
$3.50 bucket with lid. (2)
$.75 Mylar 5g bag. (2)
$1 worth O2 packs. (2)
$.25 worth moisture absorber packs. (2)

= $25

Same for the beans of your choice. = $35-$40.

You now have 4 buckets. 2 bean, 2 rice.

$65, and food for 4 which can be stretched out to 2 months with care, or 1 month without.

Tip: if you have a vacuum packer (ie foodsaver brand), vaccuum pack any unused O2 absorber packets immediately. If you do not have one, at least throw the unused ones in a canning jar. We have the adapter for canning jars for our foodsaver, so we dry can a bunch of stuff anyways - including O2 absorbers and moisture absorbers.

Edit, adding: you should also have enough potable water put up. Particularly if you are putting up dry goods! How & how much is incredibly variable, and there are numerous ways to do it.
Questions:
Is one rice better/longer lived than another?
Beans also?
Oats - Bob's Red Mill has 25# bags - beats cans of it
Whats the diff between the oxygen absorbers and the food grade ones? Food grade go into the bag w the foodstuffs? Not the salt/sugar. Flour OK?

I have a Foodsaver. Can I use that on the mylar? Can I vacuum pack in the FS bags long term?
Found 5 gal bucket on CL in Salem - $1ea Think they're clean but will bleach em anyway. Picking them up Saturday
Have an ongoing baggie w desiccants already. Hate throwing those suckers away

Thanks in advance
 
Questions:
Is one rice better/longer lived than another?
Beans also?
Oats - Bob's Red Mill has 25# bags - beats cans of it
Whats the diff between the oxygen absorbers and the food grade ones? Food grade go into the bag w the foodstuffs? Not the salt/sugar. Flour OK?

I have a Foodsaver. Can I use that on the mylar? Can I vacuum pack in the FS bags long term?
Found 5 gal bucket on CL in Salem - $1ea Think they're clean but will bleach em anyway. Picking them up Saturday
Have an ongoing baggie w desiccants already. Hate throwing those suckers away

Thanks in advance

No idea on which rice or bean may store longer actually. I'd imagine 20 years or so, with the O2 absorbers.

Now as for which may be healthier? Brown rice, probably, but doesn't matter as we don't enjoy eating brown rice. We do enjoy eating white rice & enjoy it a lot, so that's what we put up. Same for beans, we put up what we enjoy eating normally.

The foodsaver won't work on the mylar.

Don't see why you couldn't long term store in FS bags, just use care when moving them about, or put them in your buckets. That's how we store some Oats, as we eat them a bunch, but not enough to have an open big bag. Rice, we eat enough to have an open 50lb bag around which gets used relatively quickly.

No idea if there's a difference between food grade and non food grade O2 absorbers, but given the choice, why risk contaminating your food stores?
 
Last Edited:
Replaced a CV joint boot on our two seater; not that difficult other than rolling around on the shop floor like a beached whale..

Day 5 of 10 on a very-large oak-wood project; should be 12 cords of firewood when all "said and done".

The wear and tare on body and equipment with green oak is enormous, but splitting oak when dry does too much damage when it pops.

;)
 
I have heard that brown rice is harder on your system to digest than white rice.

Brown rice is "whole grain" and better for nutrition. Also fiber. The "brown" is the "husk" and is removed to make white rice. So it is kind of like eating white bread vs. whole wheat bread - the latter is much better for you.

But brown rice has more oil in it so is at more risk for going rancid over time. I've never had that happen, but I usually use it up within a few years. I think it will store longer than predicted if you store it correctly - low oxygen, etc.

Wild rice is the best for nutrition, but very expensive comparatively and most people have to mix it with 'regular' rice for the taste to be palatable. I usually mix it about 5-10% wild rice to regular rice. You also have to cook the wild rice separately most of the time or the flavor will overwhelm the rice dish. Just the same, it is good to have some wild rice around to make some very good rice dishes - just a little goes a long ways though and try it out before storing it in quantity.

IMO (your taste buds may differ), Basmati rice is the most flavorful with the best texture, and many people will agree (Indians prefer it) but it is about 2X per pound (still quite affordable).

Buy a little saffron and make some saffron 'tea' to go with rice - saffron is expensive, but just a little touch of it crushed and then dissolved in hot water will go a long ways. Also, lemon is a good flavoring to add too.

I no longer buy dried beans - I get lentils, split peas and rice.
 
Brown rice is "whole grain" and better for nutrition. Also fiber. The "brown" is the "husk" and is removed to make white rice. So it is kind of like eating white bread vs. whole wheat bread - the latter is much better for you.

But brown rice has more oil in it so is at more risk for going rancid over time. I've never had that happen, but I usually use it up within a few years. I think it will store longer than predicted if you store it correctly - low oxygen, etc.

Wild rice is the best for nutrition, but very expensive comparatively and most people have to mix it with 'regular' rice for the taste to be palatable. I usually mix it about 5-10% wild rice to regular rice. You also have to cook the wild rice separately most of the time or the flavor will overwhelm the rice dish. Just the same, it is good to have some wild rice around to make some very good rice dishes - just a little goes a long ways though and try it out before storing it in quantity.

IMO (your taste buds may differ), Basmati rice is the most flavorful with the best texture, and many people will agree (Indians prefer it) but it is about 2X per pound (still quite affordable).

Buy a little saffron and make some saffron 'tea' to go with rice - saffron is expensive, but just a little touch of it crushed and then dissolved in hot water will go a long ways. Also, lemon is a good flavoring to add too.

I no longer buy dried beans - I get lentils, split peas and rice.
I'm a white rice guy but eat the wild stuff too at times so will get both but agree about mixing them. Always thought that brown rice tasted like chewing on wool. Wife loved it so i put up with it. I'm sure it is better for me but at this stage I get to choose.

Probably would buy beans in 5-10# bags so a spread of flavors is doable.

Thinking about it I'm thinking of planning for a 30-90 event. That'll allow me to plan a little better on what would work in the long term.
 
Brown rice, by its nature, being a whole grain, is more chewy. Sometimes I prefer it. White rice, especially ground white rice (like 'Cream of Rice' cereal) is more smooth than other grains. I like different textures and flavors mixed together. Everybody's tastes are different - it is good to have some variety.

I have a number of different 'hot cereal' mixtures, ground corn, wheat and rice and I mix them together.

One thing about rice, it is supposed to be very hypoallergenic.

Another thing is that you should wash it multiple times before cooking it. It often comes with a bit of arsenic in it. That comes from the plant absorbing it from the ground (the ground naturally has arsenic in it and a lot of foods have some arsenic in them). Brown rice has more than white rice. Rinse the rice in warm water multiple times, then boil it for a short time with more water than when you cook it, then drain that water off. This removes most of the arsenic. Then cook it with twice the volume of water to rice volume.

The amount of arsenic is very low - it won't kill you - but over time, you can accumulate it in your tissues and it increases your risk of problems.
 
Lead Acid Batteries -Desulfating, Over the years have made myself find all the ways of breathing new life into them and using them to the very last of their output, even 3AAA's can run for weeks with a Joule thief, do You know what that is? I do.
The neighbors have big battery banks From Used thrown away batteries for the most part. Wind Generators, converters, inverters , it all adds up to having Power or not.
 
I was buying a new slip on knee brace last week because my knee has been acting up. It dawned on me that we should have crutches and a cane. which we now have. I lectured the wife about how she should have a few pairs of thick sturdy frame glasses cause her "cute" wire frame ones seem to break if you look through them wrong.
We have both broke our ankles in the past 4 years, so we have two sizes of crutches and two sizes of boots.
 
Finished up the garden today and dug the first potatoes that came up as volunteers early this spring. Yum!

Does the Preparedness Forum have a gardening Q&A thread? I am not very good at searching stuff. If there isn't such a thread I would be willing to start one, as growing one's own food is very important.

Thanks!
 

Upcoming Events

Tillamook Gun & Knife Show
Tillamook, OR
"The Original" Kalispell Gun Show
Kalispell, MT
Kids Firearm Safety 2 Class
Springfield, OR
Teen Rifle 1 Class
Springfield, OR

New Resource Reviews

New Classified Ads

Back Top