Food Prep

Have you ever really thought of how much food you would need to sustain your family for a year? Below is a guide for a 4 person family. This list can be adjusted to fit you families needs. All of the items listed below are measured in pounds unless otherwise stated.


GRAIN
Wheat 450
Flour 74
Corn Meal74
Oats 74
Rice 150
Pasta 74

LEGUMES
Dry Beans 90
Lima Beans 12
Soy Beans 30
Split Peas 12
Lentils 12
Dry Soup Mix 12

OIL & FAT
Shortening 12
Vegetable Oil 6g
Mayonnaise 6qts
Salad Dressing 4qts
Peanut Butter 12 pounds

COOKING ESSENTIALS:
Baking Powder 4
Baking Soda 4
Yeast 2
Salt 16
Vinegar 2g

DAIRY
Dry Milk 120
Cans Evaporated Milk 120
Other Dairy 90

SUGARS
Honey 8
Sugar 120
Brown Sugar 8
Molasses 4
Corn Syrup 8
Jam & Jelly 8
Tang Type Fortified Fruit Drink 18

FRUIT

Dried Apples 120
Applesauce 120
Banana Chips 90
Fruit Mixture 105
Juice 120

VEGETABLES
Corn 90
Peas 90
Green Beans 90
Carrots 90
Potatoes 120
Onions 15
Tomatoes 60

Most of these things can be done in your own home, you may consider even building a cold room in your basement if you have one.

72 Hour Kit

Do you have a 72 hour kit, if not you should have one! A 72 hour kit is one of the most important kits you can have in your home, office truck or RV. Imagine yourself caught at home or at the office with no power, no water. Now what do you do? For most people the first thing is complete and utter panic, sure you can handle it for a few hours but then what, you get pretty hungry and thirsty after that. Depending on the time of the year, you could melt snow to drink.You might have food in the freezer but no way to cook it. What happens if you don't get snow where you live, if you don't have a 72 hour kit your up a pretty good creek without the proverbial paddle.
A 72 hour kit is just that, it is a kit that will sustain you and your family for 72 hours if needed. I will list things that you should have in your kit. Keep in mind that when something is listed, you must consider your family size and adjust it accordingly.

1. Water 2gal per person (pretty obvious I know)
2. Food-Things such as prepared soups, pork and beans canned fruit or even MRE's (don't forget a can opener)
3. First-Aid Kit
4. Your normal medications (do not put them in the kit, Just keep them in one place that you can get you easily)
5. Clothing
1. 2) Shirts, 1) Pair of sweats, 3) Undergarments, 3) Socks, 1) Towel, 1) Washcloth, and  1) Jacket per person
6. Light-Flash lights, candles or oil lamps (extra batteries, Lighters and oil)
7. Blankets
8. Hygiene Products-Toothbrush. feminine hygiene products, combs, brushes, deodorant, bar soap and travel size shampoo. (diapers and wipes if necessary)
9. Games ( card games work the best, they take up less room)

This is the list that we use at our house, you can add to, or take away from depending on your families needs. Bear in mind, that if you have small children, your kits should be gone through and the clothes rotated out as they may not fit them when you need them.
I would highly suggest that EACH person have their own kit containing their things that can be easily carried. Back packs are great for kids to use. Store each pack under the child's bed or in the bottom of the closet for easy access.
I would welcome any and all comments or suggestions, we can all learn from each other!

3 Things No Matter What

When caught out in the elements, what is the biggest cause of death when it comes to exposure? Think about this for a few minutes before you read on. We all know you can survive for some time without food and even less time without water. There is one thing that is nearly essential to have both of these safely. Now for the answer to the question. the single biggest killer via exposure is the cold. Even if you are not caught out in the middle of winter you can develop hypothermia. Hypothermia begins to set in when the body's core temperature falls to 95 degrees or below, at 90 degrees or below hypothermia can become life threatening. If you are an outdoors man of any kind you should always carry some sort of fire ignition source. There are so many different things on the market for making fire from flint and steel to just a plain old lighter. I have made fire from many different methods but by far the easiest is just a plain old store bought cheap lighter. Can these get wet, well sure they can. Will they run out of gas to fuel them, absolutely. You might be asking yourself, why fire. to me the biggest reason for a fire if you get caught in a survival situation is peace of mind. Fire does so many things, keeps you warm, give you light, cooks your food and purifies your water.
Picture yourself, like me, out for a day of spring fishing. I normally go to a secluded part of the local river and either wade or walk the river bank and fish for the whole day. I travel as light as possible carrying what I need in a backpack that isn't packed to the gills so to speak. Inside of my pack no matter where I am going are at LEAST 3 things. A knife, a lighter and a water bottle. My knife is always sharp, it isn't anything that is high priced, it is a plain fishing fillet knife. A plain bic style lighter that I keep in a watertight zip lock bag. The last thing that is always, no matter what in my bag is my metal reusable water bottle.

Since this is my first blog post, I will not go into depth on more things, I would like you to get a sense of who I am and why these things are important to me.