Posted: 3/17/2011 12:57:39 PM EDT
| In your opinion how long should one be prepared for? 3, 6 or 12 months? |
| Short answer would be "Life, however long or short". Not meaning to be glib or a wiseass but that's my take on it. Start with a short-term goal of the most likely scenarios (I started with "no supermarket deliveries for a month", progressed to "no income at all for a year" and have gone from there). Once you feel relatively secure with a defined short-term goal, expand to whatever your imagination and budget allow. |
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Quoted:
Even 3 months of preps would put you WAY ahead of the curve. Most people don't keep enough food stocked to last them three weeks days, let alone a full month or more. fixed it for you... 
start with a month, then go to 3 months then 6 months and so on. In my opinion if you try and do a year to start with you will become over whelmed very quickly. To answer your question atleast a year. |
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This is very AO-dependent.
If you live in a high-rise apartment in a major city and you plan on staying there. You better have a shit-ton of food stashed away. You won't be able to grow your own without room for a large garden. If you live in a high-rise apartment in a major city and you do plan on bugging out, you will need enough food to last you from the furthest point in the year from harvest season for your produce of choice. In this case you would need a year's worth of food as a minimum. If you live in a rural area, and you don't have a garden operation going, you will need the same amount of food as a person living in town who plans on bugging out, Enough to last until you can plant and harvest a season's worth of produce. Assuming you can manage to figure out how to make a garden/hunting/raising livestock work. If you live in a rural area and you do have a garden going, chances are you are already putting up food to supplement you through the year from season to season. In this case you should take note of how much you eat and stock accordingly. Continue to save up seeds and be ready to continue your planting without the help of near-by seed distributors. |
| I do have 1 pear, 5 apple, 5 plum, 2 peach trees, have large garden 50ft x 150ft and I raise chickens and turkeys for eggs and meat. So depending on what disaster i think i may be able to potentially be ok for longer than my stored goods would last me. Am i correct at assuming this? |
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does anyone have an excel spreadsheet (inventory like) set up that has columns for: item, usage rate (daily/monthly), purchased; and amount to reach 1mnth, 3 mnths, 6 mnths, 12 months. google....food calculator it will be in there some where.....number of persons.....length of time.....you will be shocked how much food it takes..... 
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Quoted:
I do have 1 pear, 5 apple, 5 plum, 2 peach trees, have large garden 50ft x 150ft and I raise chickens and turkeys for eggs and meat. So depending on what disaster i think i may be able to potentially be ok for longer than my stored goods would last me. Am i correct at assuming this? barring looters....yes |
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Everyone hopefully has a few weeks of food stored.
You need to remember to get what you eat now, what I mean is, if you or your family hates peas, don't get peas.....unless you are going to trade them for something else that you want or need. The seeds that you should have stored are important...don't have just enough for a garden that you pick here and there out of... like many do now, you need to make sure that you have enough for every meal that you plan on eating, everyday. an example of a garden and the plants in it...This would be for just me...1 person...you will lose some of your crops to critters...have plenty planted 1) Tomato plants various types around 12-15 plants 2) Peppers (red,green,yellow,orange) 4-6 of each that you like 3) Potato's several hills 20-30 4) Green Beans about 50 plants 5) Sweet Corn..hundreds of plants 6) pumkin 3-4 hills 7) Various Melons 10-15 hills 8) Onion lots of this LOTS 9) Cucumbers several plants 10) Squash several hills 11) Peas 12) Dill and other items needed for canning This is by no means a complete garden, the key to remember is you need enough food to live on until it gets to the growing season again so that you can plant your garden, then you need enough to eat until it is ready to harvest. If the SHTF in say may and you have no garden, you need to have enough to get by until the following year say around july aug time frame...some items grow faster than others and are ready sooner than some , so you would start to get your stores supplimented from your garden. Don't forget to get an assload of canning supplies, jars and lids,lids,lids are very important...plus a good quality canner. This doesn't really tell you how much to store up, but gives you a guideline to think about for your food storage and preps. there's a lot more than just beans and rice to have aquired and learn how to use, just for your simple everyday life if things get shitty. |
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I try for six months.
Since I have no BO land and live in a small city, if I'm entirely unable to resupply for 6 months, I will be pretty much screwed regardless. ETA - Also, I've never seen a food calculator that didn't make me do a massive 
For example, the mormon one here says that I will need 40 lbs of sugar and 5 lbs of salt to make it a year. Right. ETA2 - Upon further inspection, there isn't a single thing on that list of stuff I "need" that I have in my apartment besides Honey, Peanut Butter, Jam and Salt ... let alone stuff I eat enough of to make it into a yearly budget. The "storing what you eat" mindset is incredibly hard if you're eating quality food, unless you're growing it yourself. There are ways to try and get around it, freezers, dehydrators and all that, but freshness is something that is basically impossible to replace. |
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first thing i'm doing if things go down is hunt.
get and can wild game before the sheep know whats going on. there will be so much wasted when they get hungry. if you are going to hunt, make sure you share with friends, so nothing goes to waste. i dont even like to hunt anymore, but i know how and will do it. i think i have 6 months worth of food here. |
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Most the food calculators are figured with caloric intake......and done by folks a lot more learned than me.
they are a bit wild for a single person....but when you start to think about more than one....it makes a lot more sense. one thing is....you better know how to cook....not just warm. also....you better have something to cook with......fuel....fire....pots...pans....etc just remember...a hungry person can smell food for miles...... |
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Depends I only have three family members so saving up to a year is easy compared to a family of 5 or a family with infants requiring differant diet needs.......
We probably could skate for 3 months easily.....then tighten down and make 3 more hard at our current point. We have a small garden and plenty of small game to stretch things out a bit......but winter eventually comes even to the south..... I figure if things go south there would still be a bit of time to hit the grocery store/ convenient store or pharmacy on the way home and clean house on canned goods bottled water as a quick supplement to the preps...... |
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Quoted:
Short answer would be "Life, however long or short". Not meaning to be glib or a wiseass but that's my take on it. Start with a short-term goal of the most likely scenarios (I started with "no supermarket deliveries for a month", progressed to "no income at all for a year" and have gone from there). Once you feel relatively secure with a defined short-term goal, expand to whatever your imagination and budget allow. This is my answer as well. I am planning to live the rest of my life. Not by stocking up that much food. No one is going to survive totally alone. I am planning to survive SHTF and then to live and live well after its over. Community will have to be part of it. |
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If you're camping and a bear comes after you and the other campers, how fast do you have to run to get away from the bear?
Faster than the other campers. There's a point where enough people have succumbed to the effects of the disaster (and you have not) that it probably won't matter if you're any more prepared. The world will have changed dramatically. Unless you plan to be very far out of the way and very off the grid. |
| There is no way in hell anyone can prepare to sustain themselves for a considerable length of time. My preparations are sort of a "bridge" until I can sustain myself more permanently. I currently have 12 months of preps on hand for my entire family, that I rotate through frequently to ensure at any given time, I can "start" the 12 month clock. However, the preps are finite. I do have preps to sustain myself for the long haul like my garden and water purification, however if a sustained SHTF happens, where infrastructure is down for longer than a year, I'm estimating the world will be a pretty shitty place to live in, and I may call it quits at that point. |
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Quoted:
There is no way in hell anyone can prepare to sustain themselves for a considerable length of time. My preparations are sort of a "bridge" until I can sustain myself more permanently. I currently have 12 months of preps on hand for my entire family, that I rotate through frequently to ensure at any given time, I can "start" the 12 month clock. However, the preps are finite. I do have preps to sustain myself for the long haul like my garden and water purification, however if a sustained SHTF happens, where infrastructure is down for longer than a year, I'm estimating the world will be a pretty shitty place to live in, and I may call it quits at that point. I have always told my sister that preps are time. Time to think. Time to make changes. Time to make mistakes. Time to adapt to a new economy. |
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Quoted:
first thing i'm doing if things go down is hunt. get and can wild game before the sheep know whats going on. there will be so much wasted when they get hungry. if you are going to hunt, make sure you share with friends, so nothing goes to waste. i dont even like to hunt anymore, but i know how and will do it. i think i have 6 months worth of food here. Better yet, have a means to reserve the meat so it doesnt go to waste. I dont plan on hunting as part of my food stock. Too unpredictable and there wont be anything left in a month. That said, the 3 does that live behind my house will be canned immediately if TSHTF. I have the jars, lids, canners etc. As for a garden focus on veggies etc that you can store with no additional work needed. THink root cellar/ cold storage. Potatoes, squash, root veggies etc. |
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We try to look at prepping as a process.
What we have done, and continue to refresh and reevaluate, is collect enough of the B,B, and B and other staples to allow our group to survive and thrive for a year. This is considered "Phase 1" of the process. By thriving, also I mean evaluating and unerstanding the changes taking place around us. Phase 2 is a transition process, a time when we hope to move from dependency on products from "before" to being able to become self-sustaining in every way possible... That would be Phase 3. Our group has found that P-2 is the toughest to plan for. You can collect all the "stuff" needed for this phase just like phase 1, but allowing for the time it will take for people to make the switch from P-2 to P-3 in their minds and hearts is going to be a huge challenge. We think that planning this way, and working with these goals and plans in mind will help everyone in the group understand that we are working to be able to make it through out to the other end of the SHTF, and if that end requires that we are self-sustaining, then all can see the ability forming to do that. It gives comfort to everyone in the group to know this. Naturally, we all hope and pray that things never go past a brief Phase 1 event, but planning beyond that and getting people to understand the changes they may face can, for some folks, be big a challenge. We meet regularly and work on this plan because people learn and things change. If you write something in stone that ain't gonna work, you are inflexible, and I don't think the future is going to be tolerant of inflexibility, or the inability to adapt. |
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To me, prepping is more of a way of life than amassing a big pile of stuff.
I grow or raise about 80% of my own food. More importantly, I know how to do it without mechanized tools, without modern fertilizers or pesticides, and without importing lots of livestock feed. I don't grow grain crops other than corn, so I have stashed lots of wheat, rice, and other grains, but other than that, all my stored food is stuff I've grown myself. I have canners, jars, and reuseable canning jar lids, and the means to cook without my modern stove. I also have some root cellar space and a fair amount of experience with salting, smoking, fermentation, and dehydration, so I don't suppose I will ever have a food preservation issue. Basically, I don't need the grocery store anymore. If it all goes fucko bazoo tomorrow, I would barely notice. |
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Well, start with the gov recommended 3 days self sufficient with no utilities at all. That means you have food, water, clothing, meds and anything needed to prepare that food for 3 days for everyone in your household.
From there you build depending on your situation and plans. My preps in louisiana were different from my preps up here in the north and different from what my grandparents had on their farm in PA. Different situations, different needs, different plans. In terms of the eventual goal, I agree that the ideal is having a basic plan and provisions to build from for an indefinite departure from modern civilization. In practice this means about a year's worth of food and water (and all the other necessities) along with provisions for getting more in the future. Generally speaking that means some method of growing sufficient food, which is not NEARLY as straight forward as it sounds. There's a huge difference between a backyard garden and a garden you can live off of. Supplies are the least of it, the real kicker is knowledge and some experience. My long term plan includes working with a couple of the local farmers or relocating and working with farms elsewhere. I have skills and knowledge to trade and have some experience on a working farm. Of course, most likely situations don't go that far, but it's something to consider. Right now I have about 3 months worth of supplies, I'm a lot lower than I'd like, but in certain areas I've got what I need for indefinite use and my garden plans are expanding this year so hopefully by fall I'll be a bit further ahead just from that. |
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Quoted: for me.....min 12 months Ditto. Twelve months would be the minimum.
But as the previous posters have mentioned, do it in stages. I like the idea of doing short-term and longterm prepping at the same time. Do the foods you eat every day, try to work on getting 3-6 month supply of them on hand. At the same time buy long term dry preps like rice, beans, wheat,corn, salt, sugar and whatever else fits your plans. Over time, I would have 3-5 years of rice, beans wheat,corn, salt, sugar,Etc... |
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Quoted:
I am honeslty doubtful our food supply is good for 2-months. It's been something we have been working on but we have a lot of work to do there. My biggest worry is financial preps so that has been a much higher priority for us then buying extra food.
You're not alone Q.B.. Finances were top priority here as well. In fact, this past month or so, we (family of 3 plus dog) have been rotating our stores through consumption. We've been striving for a 6 month supply, but are now down to 5. Not a "typical" SHTF scenario but one for the wallet none the less. 
We're over the top and will be restocking in the upcoming weeks. With spring around the corner.... Seeds! Time to get a few things started!!
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There are other things you can 'stock', ESP when you are thinking 6+ months.
Skills that you can barter for food. Items that others can't stock. For example, a doc can buy thousands of generic antibiotics for very little $. Add a few other basic drugs. Easy to store and very tradable. Think beyond rice and beans for long term. |
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There are other things you can 'stock', ESP when you are thinking 6+ months. Skills that you can barter for food. Items that others can't stock. For example, a doc can buy thousands of generic antibiotics for very little $. Add a few other basic drugs. Easy to store and very tradable. Think beyond rice and beans for long term. Yes but you need to be able to find/ have people that you could trade with for food, if food is scarce and few stocked up...sorry I would take care of me and mine first...so you could be SOL...just my .02. |
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Quoted:
To me, prepping is more of a way of life than amassing a big pile of stuff. I grow or raise about 80% of my own food. More importantly, I know how to do it without mechanized tools, without modern fertilizers or pesticides, and without importing lots of livestock feed. I don't grow grain crops other than corn, so I have stashed lots of wheat, rice, and other grains, but other than that, all my stored food is stuff I've grown myself. I have canners, jars, and reuseable canning jar lids, and the means to cook without my modern stove. I also have some root cellar space and a fair amount of experience with salting, smoking, fermentation, and dehydration, so I don't suppose I will ever have a food preservation issue. Basically, I don't need the grocery store anymore. If it all goes fucko bazoo tomorrow, I would barely notice. Not quite there, but that's the goal. |
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There is no way in hell anyone can prepare to sustain themselves for a considerable length of time. My preparations are sort of a "bridge" until I can sustain myself more permanently. I currently have 12 months of preps on hand for my entire family, that I rotate through frequently to ensure at any given time, I can "start" the 12 month clock. However, the preps are finite. I do have preps to sustain myself for the long haul like my garden and water purification, however if a sustained SHTF happens, where infrastructure is down for longer than a year, I'm estimating the world will be a pretty shitty place to live in, and I may call it quits at that point. I have always told my sister that preps are time. Time to think. Time to make changes. Time to make mistakes. Time to adapt to a new economy. Exactly. You'll learn what works, what doesn't. Give the government, or whatever leadership is in place to restore order and maybe some normalcy. Who knows. I think being flexible in prepartions is important, but to think one could live off Mountain House, Ramen and Twinkies for more than a year is ridiculous. Seriously, I just dont think I would want to exisit in a "Mad Max" world. |
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Most preps should focus on 72hr minimum; preferably two weeks and include options for staying and leaving.
In most situations this will give you enough time to receive "official" help. For long term your talking about cataclysmic events, (which I don't bother with myself); or long-term “bad times” such as an extended period of economic trouble or breakdown of services (which is were I focus my efforts). In this situation, the more the better. |
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Quoted:
To me, prepping is more of a way of life than amassing a big pile of stuff. I grow or raise about 80% of my own food. More importantly, I know how to do it without mechanized tools, without modern fertilizers or pesticides, and without importing lots of livestock feed. I don't grow grain crops other than corn, so I have stashed lots of wheat, rice, and other grains, but other than that, all my stored food is stuff I've grown myself. I have canners, jars, and reuseable canning jar lids, and the means to cook without my modern stove. I also have some root cellar space and a fair amount of experience with salting, smoking, fermentation, and dehydration, so I don't suppose I will ever have a food preservation issue. Basically, I don't need the grocery store anymore. If it all goes fucko bazoo tomorrow, I would barely notice. Thats awesome and my ultimate goal - for me, getting to that point isn't even about survivalist - its about FREEDOM - True independence. |