Have we discussed this?

I have a couple of years worth of food, antibiotics, medical supplies, ammo, guns, shelter, keyhole gardens, an actual real group of like minded people, training, generators, fuel, you name it. I am canning and gardening, well, everything.

To be clear I have a real life. We go on vacations and all that. Not a doomsday guy, just have been at it a long time and am trying to decide at what point do you say (apart from rotation of food, perishable supplies) that you have almost any reasonable prep item you can have?

Waiting for your responses,

Jim

Right there with you. I've been living the lifestyle for over 20 years and had a good income for most of that time. All the "toys" and all the REALLY important stuff too.....Right now most of my "survival money" goes into training of various types.

Several reasons-1. Unless you're dead, "They" can't take it away from you 2. It's FUN- really, learning new things, shooting stuff, blowing stuff up, making QSO's, working a TOMS mannequin....fun stuff,..... 3. You meet lots of good and right thinking folks-which increases your ultimate survivability 4. You can, and should, do it with friends and family. Very rewarding to have a world class Tac Med Instructor pull you aside and say--- "How old is that boy of yours? Really? He threw that tourniquet on like a pro, I'll have him on my team any day"

Kudos to you. You went to Lonestar?

Yes, twice now. Caleb is a friend. I had the "wife and two kids" in tow with me if that helps place me.....First year, three buddies, one with his wife and four kids all went with us.....Generally, people take notice just because there are so many of us and we always have our kids with us.....Kids will learn what you teach them, teach them well and early.....

That is awesome. I am FB friends with Caleb but haven't attended a class yet. I plan to go in 2016.

You won't regret it. Great training. Great folks. TOO cheap!

Shit, that's easy.

When your wife says so

Mine wants to keep adding....

Mine too

 

Yes sir, I have thousands of lbs. of beans, rice, salt, sugar, wheat, corn, etc in buckets.... That is actually the reason I posted this. I am doing ten more buckets this month and started thinking that after this I will probably just stop.

My reply to that
What about the grand kids?

How is your health?
I went to a prepper oriented Dr that did intensive lab tests and showed where 2 of my kid's had celiac disease and the rest of the family where pre diabetic!
So my preps of beans, rice, salt, sugar, wheat, corn, etc are now barter goods and we are having to start over.

Been wanting to pick up a few of Caleb's monthly classes but they seem to be canceled by the time I have my schedule arraigned to attend.  That's my luck anyway.

DFM

I think that you know that you have enough when others might seem a bit anxious about world events and you remain calm and don't feel the need to go out and buy any last minute preparations.
I have been at it for long enough that I am to the point of just rotating food inventories and making sure that everything is in good working condition and not worn out or non-functional and enjoying life. I downsized houses last year, and that alone gave me the opportunity to re-organize my gear and make sure that food items were getting rotated and clear out the things that I don't need or don't use. I was fairly organized before the move although I seem to have tucked away some magazines for my HK's that haven't turned up yet, hopefully I will find those before I end up buying more to replace the ones that I thought I had.
Rotated my water supplies last week and now I am in the process of changing out and reorganizing my go bag, really no earth shaking changes except for a new bag and re-evaluating what I will carry in the go bag. I've been shooting at the gun club regularly and have noticed that my accuracy has improved quite a bit over the last few years, both with handguns and rifles. It is almost the time of year where I have additional free time to reload so that is probably next on the to-do list in the very near future, one hobby feeds the other.

I used to stock a lot more food but the wife was starting to think I was a touch mental so I quit, now I just have my freeze dried and buckets, just a normal 2-3 week supply of canned food.

My health is normal for a 48 year old man. I'm a few lbs overweight from an office job (about 20 lbs). No major health issues aside from bad knees and feet  acquired in the Marine Corps....

I have a solid month, with another month or two in shorter term supplies depending on how the shopping turns out. My risk evaluation leans more towards dumping the funds into retirement and short term problems rather than years of needing beans and rice.

I have both. My retirement is looking great I'm done in 16 months at age 50

I have a philosophy to never say the word...

"RETIREMENT"

Too many folks I know who 'retire' got sick and/or died.


That said, I haven't gone to 'work' since abt 2000.  

I wonder how long I have left?

How are you guys dealing with fats?

I mean I've got a few cans of FD shortening and butter.

It just doesn't store. I'm sure some raise livestock and can render fat.

Without refridgeration even that is questionable.

Seems like a hole in everyone's preparedness......

I'm 48 as well and in good shape 5'9'' 160 lbs and active I was blown away by what the Dr told me was coming health wise.
I advise everyone to get a DETAILED checkup with staying healthy in mind and not needing medications to survive. He even checked DNA for mutations that don't allow me process vitamins so we would know what to stock up on.
We are now raising chickens and turkeys and will be adding goats soon. We are also installing a large aquaponics greenhouse to provide fresh greens all winter.

I have been adding cases of butter, ghee, and bulk coconut oil to my preps.
No holes in the fat department here

which is all relatively short term storage items

 

I am eating 6 year old coconut oil tastes great.
I am eating 3 year old canned butter and Ghee and tastes great.
And that was stored at room temp up to 85 degrees.
I am building a solar powered walkin cooler for better longer term storage and starting goats this winter to make my own butter after my preps run out.

Genuinely curious, as I can't get coconut oil to last more than 2-3 years before tasting off.

 

I have had good luck with this but I expect a bucket to become feed for critters one of theses days.
" />

It is an issue. I do a little of everything and keep about ten gallons of oil. Rendering is the only long term option if things get really bad long term.

Awesome quote tree^^^^^^^

I was afraid you guys were going to say coconut oil.
I pressured the wife to buy some due to the supposed shelf life.
It has an off taste to me from the get. Weird too because I like coconut.
I rotate my stock, except for the 25+ year stuff....I waste ALOT of oils.
There's just not enough mouths in the house.
Solar and wind just doesn't work here.....an old fashioned ice house would, but that would be a project for after.

I just threw away a case of butter in quart jars. (after reclaiming the jars). First world shame.

Tried to repurpose the coconut oil....stained the sheets.

I wonder when coconut oil goes bad to the point of not being healthy?
If it's just a matter of it tasting bad I can deal with that and if its nutritional value is still there why not.

Edit for double post. Thunder storm caused a dog to jump in my lap while posting and I must of hit the button twice.

I wished I knew. Right up 'till the botulism? That's why I don't donate stuff.
Double post dog.

When 75lbs hits the lap while sitting on a barstool my phone skill deteriorate.

To answer the OP, I don't know when a good stopping place is.

Basically I like to store things we use regularly, and have very little waste.  We try to keep track of expiration dates, etc, and rotate, give away to family food that doesn't get used.  This is an ongoing process and probably won't ever end.

On the other hand, there is a fun part of prepping.  Buying and trying new goodies that might be useful in a survival situation is great fun - prepping is always a good excuse to buy stuff for this.  

I could foresee a time when I stopped buying long-term food storage, but I'm constantly learning and trying to get more skills, so that part of "prepping" would never stop.  I just picked up a welder and have started to learn to stick weld.  Once I get good enough, I'll start in on the project list.  I've got a long project list.  We'll hopefully be back on property in a year.  Living on property, to a certain extent, forces you to be self sufficient.

We freeze olive oil in the converted refrigerator [to extend the cold time if we lose solar power]  and my SO will take a bottle and use it for salads, etc, and it's fine.

Bottles are typically 5 years old.

She takes a big knife and fishes out a chunk and uses it.


Also, doesn't Crisco last forever?

I have this battle in my mind all the time as well. I'm eating 4 to 5 year old canned goods because we didn't go through the stock as fast as we thought we would. I have come to the conclusion that rice and beans is were its at for long term storage. My other thought is how long can I expect to stay in my home in a bad long term situation and what can I carry if I have to leave by vehicle or foot? Once the cool aspect of prepping wore off and I got down to the real nuts and bolts of it my plans changed from end of the world to having enough for a sever weather event with some long term food stocks and the reality I would be displaced like most individuals would. Unless you have a few acres of land and a small army to defend the place there is a good chance that your going to have to leave once the low life's start banding together and taking from the prepared.

Probably, but who uses that crap

 

We've "repurposed" coconut oil in a similar manner, but never had it stain the sheets.  

I'm not sure Crisco is actually a food.......

Enough "Stuff" to keep you relatively comfortable for 3months without leaving the house/camp. Six months would be ideal.

This is where I'm at now. Just buy long-term stuff from Honeyville. I'll worry about it in 2035.

I don't really see ever having enough...

CASH!!!!

Shortening will oxidize and taste off/rancid.   I keep it for biscuits in somewhat regular use and toward the end of a can it's off.

Canning for fresh veggies, meats, and stews.

Mylar bags w/ o2 absorbers for dry foods. Iron shut.

OP has so much food that he will have lots of enemies if he ever needs to start eating it.

I'd say prepping is like life- you won't get answers for most of your questions until it's too late to do anything about them.

Shortening stores 5 years in a sealed container according to LDS

I opened a seven year old can of crisco and used it-no rancidity detected

No, I'm not going to melt crisco and have it over my salad, but it is quite useful in baked goods and pastries. Shortening is used to make some damn fine biscuits. You will be glad you have it if you need it.  

I figured I would comment on the original post, since it has kind of drifted. How much is enough is a personal decision. I'm trying to balance  my preps  with the practicality of where I live and room I have to store. I dwell in suburbia and have no illusions of surviving a long term TEOTWAWKI, here. I haven't done any food inventories lately but I have somewhere between six months and a year of calories. I also have the ability to keep certain electronic items running as long as my batteries hold out. In my opinion that should get me through 99% of any scenario that we might face in a given lifetime.  I think three months would get anyone through probably 95% plus , and a mere month's supplies would get a person through probably 90% plus.  Pandemic is one thing that concerns me with these shorter term stores, as it could require three-four months of total isolation to allow the waves of illness to come and go. Less food than that and a person may have to risk exposure to procure food. Regardless of the event, people will try to normalize things as much as possible a few weeks after an event, and this includes reinstating commerce. Our food store should help us through the rough patch, and also subsidize the limited supplies available, but there will still be commerce of some form. Some food will eventually make it to the shelves, just probably not as diverse and plentiful.
 
If you have over two year's worth, I'd say you're covered for 99.99%. No facts there, just a number I'm pulling out of my butt. Perhaps some math guy can come by and give us better statistics. How often does a super volcano hit?  Global Nuclear conflict is another risk, and with the recent events in Iran I could say a detonation or two is likely in the next decade in that region. But the people that have their finger on the button of the big stores tend to be a little more stable than the religious zealots of smaller states.

Bottom line,  Follow your heart,  if the spirit leads you to store more long term foods that do not require rotation then do it. They are cheap enough. But if you have enough to make it through two growing seasons and that is not enough you are definitely talking a civilization ending event.

How much is enough? I will never be done.
If it was just my wife and I we are good for a very long time but I wake up some times worrying about my kids family and close friends.
I don't want to turn any one away. enough for 20 for 2 years is my "Enough". I'm not there yet.
I bugged out years ago to a small town close to my BOL/Retirement home which we designed for 20 in comfort solar and year round food production and hunting.
Economic collapse is my 1st pandemic 2ndish and so on.
I have worked very hard in life and I don't want my retirement endangered in anyway and always want to be a safe haven for the family without them becoming a burden.

What is this 'vacation' thing you speak of?