What did you do today to prep?

[OrPackrat]

Tossed the scope on the 300bo for fun, the scope is really for my 50bmg that's still being built...

Picked this up very recently, the picture with just the lower in it (I always like to have a spare lower on hand in case I find a deal on an upper)

Not seen, what was for a friend, couple boxes 44mag, 357, and 2 boxes of 45acp...

On order coming of anti-monkey butt and got some high powered LED headlamps that have duel modes for up close soft light for reading maps and light up the mountainside multibeams each power modes with their own buttons...

Another can of 50bmg on order, may hold a case of 1000rds of 223 when it gets in depending on price (my shop has 100k arriving any day now). At some point, an M&P AR should be coming in as well...

 

[cigars]

Canned beef back in stock at Costco (Tigard). $9.69 for. 4 pack.

 

[Dr Prepper]

Canned beef back in stock at Costco (Tigard). $9.69 for. 4 pack.

View attachment 898920

Suddenly meat loaf looks appealing..

 

[cigars]

Suddenly meat loaf looks appealing..

It's actually not bad and fairly low in sodium. It's been out of stock for quite some time.

 

[nammac]

UPS showed up with these today:

Which is good, cause I was gittin' busy with reloading 9mm/.38 Supers...

 

[The Heretic]

Installed a ring sight on a PS90 and got it kind of sighted in. Nice sight - fiber and tritium and LED. Kind of a German post reticle with a green dot in the middle.

 

[Dr Prepper]

Installed a ring sight on a PS90 and got it kind of sighted in. Nice sight - fiber and tritium and LED. Kind of a German post reticle with a green dot in the middle.

Nice I'm jealous, I've always liked those 5.7 variants.. Neat little compact radness cool enough for stargate

 

[The Heretic]

Nice I'm jealous, I've always liked those 5.7 variants.. Neat little compact radness cool enough for stargate

Yup - I like bullpups and these are fun/easy to shoot.

 

[Gbirk]

Started a garden today.

 

[OrPackrat]

Grabbed this, this evening after work, told myself I would not go with a 380 and didn't for years....

My Fiancé in a sense, went back on what I was allowed to carry on our wedding day (it's her day and it's planned out), my G2C is not small enough and while I am allowed the NAA mini revolver, I wanted something more....

So I got this, this evening, 200rds fmj, and I'm so glad I held onto a box of 380 JHP over the years plus 2 extra extended mags.

Ankle holster coming, this should fit well with the slacks...

 

[The Heretic]

As part of moving food storage from the house to the shop, I moved some buckets of food that I had stored in the guest bedroom, out to the shop. Before putting them in the shelves, I opened them up to see what was in them and label them, also to make sure there was nothing inside that would freeze and cause problems as the shop is not heated, and barely insulated.

Took out a couple of items in one that would freeze, then in the third bucket I found it full of canned food. These were buckets that had been in the house since I moved here in 2012. Most of the cans said "use before 2013". Some were older than that. A number of the cans had swollen and some were leaking. It was a mess and there was a dark liquid in the bottom of the bucket. So of course I will throw most of it out.

There were cans of tuna, one of these I saved and I am going to open it to see what condition the tuna is in. The cans were not swollen or leaking, but some had a little corrosion on them. Some other cans - like soup cans - were heavily corroded. There were some cans of salmon - the kind that was a stack of cans held together by plastic wrap, like you buy at Costco. Those looked good too. I will open one of those to see what the contents look like.

I won't try to taste any of it though - I am just curious.

It is obvious that canned food does have its limits. I think the one can that was the major culprit was some canned milk; it was at the top of the bucket, was discolored and swollen and looked to be leaking maybe. The rest of the cans it that weren't swollen (others were) it was hard to tell for sure, because they were below the can that was swollen and maybe leaking.

Interesting "science experiment". I obviously need to do a better job of rotating the food - I have some cans in my pantry that are having problems too and I am cleaning that out also.

As I alluded to in the thread on ammo, I am something of a hoarder - when I see food on sale, I buy it. I need to stop doing that until I can get an inventory of my food, and do a better job of rotating it.

I did count up how much Mountain House meals I have - it appears I have somewhere around 60 days worth of meals for 3 adults, if you go by the count of servings listed on the boxes containing the meal packets, but I also have MH FD food in cans. The FD food is a "last resort" food source in case I have to bug out from my BOL on foot - it is lightweight and stores well. Most of it came from Costco over the years - bought when they had it on sale for about $50 for a box, 25 to 32 servings per box.

Of course, I have other food, a lot of shelf stable food, like 10# and 20# bags of rice, lentils, split peas, dried powdered whole milk (Nido - much of it is dated 2013, some older? - I should use one to see if it is still good), powdered eggs, powdered potatoes, cream of rice, grits, and such.

I have learned that mustard doesn't store very well - it goes bad after a couple of years, really bad if stored longer. Rice seems to be fine, although I can't speak to its nutritional value (who has a lab to test that in their house? ).

I need to get more buckets and some barrels.

 

[Longwalkhome]

Not really for prep but just because its easier to carry than water when I hike i bought some lifestraws today. Costco had a 4 pack for $50 and I bought some. Made in Korea which is better than China to me.

Around me there is plenty of water but not clean to drink.

 

[Soli]

I won't try to taste any of it though...

Good call. Obviously.

My wife just said "My dad's been gone 10 years this month. Amazing." Just as I read about your salmon. Which made me laugh, remembering a tale from her family.

Both my wife's parents were born before 1920, both lived their formative years during the depression. They didn't waste. Anything. When my wife was a kid one of the dinner dishes was salmon patties, made with canned salmon. One day her mom noticed a bulging can, and went to throw it away. Her dad objected, "it's perfectly fine." An argument ensued. She refused to use it, he insisted it was FINE! So to prove it he fed it to the family cat.

Cat got sick, actually puked it up. As a kid my wife was in tears. Cat didn't die, so it all worked out. Though he never lived it down.

 

[The Heretic]

My parents were of the same generation - grew up during the Great Depression, but did ok as my father's family lived on a farm (moved here from OK), and my maternal grandfather was a jack of all trades, including hunting/fishing and having a garden. Sometimes had to eat the same thing over and over again because that was all they had (apparently this is why my dad hated carrots), but it was fresh food that they raised themselves, or canned themselves. I do recall some of the canned food was not so good - most of it was pickles or fruit, and jams/jellies. Stored in the basement.

I am not reluctant to throw out food if I doubt it even a little. Today it isn't hard to get food if you have the cash, and I do. I just wound up throwing out hundreds of pounds of food because my freezer went bad. New freezer coming tomorrow. Going to take more precautions for frozen food (store it in styrofoam boxes with gel packs inside the freezer to make it last longer if freezer goes bad and not so much food, again, doing a better job of rotating it). Old freezer will be stood up on end and become an ammo storage locker.

 

[hellotyler]

A lot of food, even canned food, goes bad surprisingly fast. Shelf life of much of the stuff you can find in the stores is a couple years ? Much of it would probably still be edible I assume ? Maybe freeze dried would be better ? I'm currently looking into the longest lasting kinds of food you can store....

According to the USDA: "High-acid canned foods (e.g. tomatoes and fruits) will keep their best quality for 12 to 18 months. Whereas, low-acid canned foods (e.g. meats and vegetables) will keep for two to five years."

Due to corrosion and rusting, canned foods do not last forever. To find out more about how long certain types of canned foods last, head here.

Yeah, it looks like freeze dried lasts longest.

DEHYDRATED VS. FREEZE-DRIED

Many people think freeze-dried products and dehydrated products are the same thing. While they're both good for long-term storage and emergency kits, their "life sustaining shelf life" is different, as is their preservation process.

• Moisture: Freeze-drying removes about 98 percent of the moisture in food, while dehydration removes about 90 percent.
• Shelf life: The moisture content has an effect on shelf life, with freeze-dried foods lasting between 25 and 30 years, and dehydrated products lasting about 15 to 20 years.
• Nutrition: Freeze-dried food retains most of the original vitamins and minerals of fresh produce, while the dehydration process can easily break down those nutrients.

 

[The Heretic]

I think my intention with the canned food I put in the bucket almost ten years ago was not to store it long term, I think it was just convenient to put it in the bucket when I moved - I was in a hurry and had helpers, so it probably was put there and forgotten. When I moved stuff was boxed up/etc. and then placed at my new residence. Much of it remains boxed up. I got busy with a new job and a new place to live that required a LOT more maintenance than I anticipated, so a lot of things got neglected. I am having to deal with that now - fortunately, being retired, I now have the time to address these issues.

 

[Longwalkhome]

I did buy a major item yesterday in prep but you would have to know my addiction to caffeine to understand why I wanted this and wasn't going to risk a shortage of it in the future. I bought cases of RedBull. My friends say I am full of bull and don't need to buy this but its going to be my coffee alternative in a pinch. Normally wouldn't drink it but a power drink might come in handy at times.

 

[Camelfilter]

I think my intention with the canned food I put in the bucket almost ten years ago was not to store it long term, I think it was just convenient to put it in the bucket when I moved - I was in a hurry and had helpers, so it probably was put there and forgotten. When I moved stuff was boxed up/etc. and then placed at my new residence. Much of it remains boxed up. I got busy with a new job and a new place to live that required a LOT more maintenance than I anticipated, so a lot of things got neglected. I am having to deal with that now - fortunately, being retired, I now have the time to address these issues.

Happens. We try to donate foods reaching BB dating which we more than likely won't use. Helps us avoid having to throw out food, something we absolutely abhor, but do on occasion.

As towards food storage, it is generally better to store foods in a controlled environment. As in an insulated house/shop, where there are less likely to be wide temperature swings at either extreme (not too hot, not too cold).

An over simplified example being swings of say 50-90 are far better for foods storage than swings of say mid thirties to over 100. A constant 70-80 even better.

 

[Longwalkhome]

Old food was is insurance you bought but didn't need. I threw out a few cases of MRE as they were very old and showing signs of age. They were bought for just in case just like you pay for insurance and while some will see this as waste I don't. It was food I would have had to eat in portable containers I could move with. Eat em up and you just buy more but I didn't really like the food, its emergency food and I never had an emergency.

Its all replaced with mountain house now and I like eating it and I saved the condiment packages out of the MREs...just in case.

 

[Camelfilter]

I did buy a major item yesterday in prep but you would have to know my addiction to caffeine to understand why I wanted this and wasn't going to risk a shortage of it in the future. I bought cases of RedBull. My friends say I am full of bull and don't need to buy this but its going to be my coffee alternative in a pinch. Normally wouldn't drink it but a power drink might come in handy at times.

Never tried it, nor any other. Used to do caffeine pills way back in the day on occasion tho. Mehhh.

We simply store coffee, and a little tea.

Currently have over a years worth of coffee, at our current rather high consumption rate. Figure if there were some calamity where we wouldn't be working as current, said coffee could & would stretch far longer. As our consumption drops markedly when "off" as is.

We brew 1/2 decaffeinated. Can drink a bunch through out the day & night without getting overly jittery & still get reasonable restful sleep after shift. Off days/nights just morning cups & afternoon cups.

Best value to flavor, and what we stock, Costco Kirkland Brand & Costco Chase & Sanborn Decaf canned ground 3lb #10 cans. Last Costco run caffeinated was $10.70, decaffeinated $10.

Edit: empty #10 cans are handy to have/repurpose. Spare lids as well, keep those for our #10 canned long term foods which either didn't come with lids, or the lids have become damaged over time/moves/shipping.

Costco Kirkland brand decaf is back in stock at our area warehouse. Had been out roundabout a year. Chase & Sanborn was there substitute, tastes fine. Probably the manufacturer of Kirkland brand. Dunno?

Best by dating exceeds our consumption rate. However we have used that same coffee several years beyond its BB dating (found in our less used camp kitchen). Sealed cans. Didn't smell as "fresh" as when opening an in-dated can, however tasted & smelled perfectly fine brewed.