The Prepper Thread

Seems odd, I thought quite a few of them were destroyed in filing in practical effects.

Mountain House is the Chick Fil A of survival/camping food.
Only goes on deals like once a year though and unless I missed it not at all since Covid happened.
It lasts 30 years but only if you forget about it.
It's good enough to mix in at home dinner meals

Oldbased said:

Mountain House is the Chick Fil A of survival/camping food.
Only goes on deals like once a year though and unless I missed it not at all since Covid happened.
It lasts 30 years but only if you forget about it.
It's good enough to mix in at home dinner meals

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One thing with Mountain House is that it's loaded with salt (like, a lot) but is probably the best commercial offering you can get. They do contract for the military and make MCW rations too which are packaged down a bit more. They're extremely hard to come by though since they only make it out into the wild on overstock sales. One of the best things about Mountain House, though, is that they are heavy on the meats and protein in their meals. If you compare to something like My Patriot Supply, you're basically getting grain-based meals with no meat or protein. I think MPS is a good option for bulk backup but for long term storage and preps, I'd diversify with some freeze dried meat to mix into the meals and a scattering of Mountain Houses (either the pouches or 10 lb. buckets). Nutrient Survival is another one I'd consider as their whole thing is nutation-based rather than simply 'stay alive'. No first hand experience with these but itching to try some.

I'm a pretty hardcore backpacker and have been screwing around with these types of meals for a few decades. I typically don't take Mountain Houses with me anymore due to the salt and packaging bulk but they're decent meals. Good To-Go is another one I'd stay away from (taste like shit and is expensive) as well as Backpacker Pantry (never that impressed). I would check out Trailtopia which has been great for both cost and taste. I don't know the shelf life off-hand but think it's lower than Mountain House or similar.

I think people getting into this are thinking instant TEOTWAWKI levels of chaos so the freeze dried food makes sense. It's not cheap but it's easy and there's a low cost to entry compared to homesteading, freedom gardens, hunting, and/or maintaining a cistern or well. Re: your questions, are you looking for some type of ala cart service? If so, I don't know of anyone that does that (tailor made kits based on customer request). Places like MPS do sell those SHTF 30 day kits which might be what you're looking for? As for duration, I think it's highly subjective. IIRC it's typical within Mormon families to keep 6 months of food on hand for each member of their family. I don't think this is long term stores but enough in a pantry to live off if the world suddenly went dark and the supply chains broke down. No idea if this is accurate but something I seem to recall reading once and the idea seems reasonable to me. It is a significant investment of resources and is therefore more of a lifestyle choice than a purchase.

Guurn said:

Looking at the prices for prepper food it's kind of stupid other than the 30 year shelf life. We usually have about 2 weeks of food easily on the shelves. I've got two questions, isn't there a place for a do it yourself prepper pack and how long is practical. Looking at the prepper stuff, other than the high end stuff, we are talking about sustenance stuff. Basically oatmeal, pasta, and rice with flavoring. Dried meats and vegetables supplements this. Water is easy if you are a camper but unless you have a well, and unless it is the dead of winter in the north, and you have to go out for that.

How long is practical? Is there a place that gives recommendations for DIY food kits.

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So the quick and dirty is like this -

You buy a bunch of five gallon buckets at your local Home Depot whatever and gasketed lids (gotta be gasketed, the little rubber seal) and then order yourself oxygen absorbers and food grade mylar bags from eBay or Amazon. For a five gallon bucket you want to add up to around 2000cc worth of absorbers. You put the bag in the bucket, fill the bag, add the absorber, seal the bag with a hot iron, put the lid on, rubber mallet it into place and forget about it.

This is your "holy fuck we're fucking fucked" long term food storage backbone kind of thing. This isn't the canned goods you have more than you need that you rotate properly. Things that will last longer than you will when properly stored include sugar, salt, dried beans and white rice. You can get minimum ten years out of wheat berries (flour doesn't last as long), pasta and a few other things. You can bank on soy sauce, baking soda, corn starch and honey all outlasting you if you can store them properly.

Guurn said:

Looking at the prices for prepper food it's kind of stupid other than the 30 year shelf life. We usually have about 2 weeks of food easily on the shelves. I've got two questions, isn't there a place for a do it yourself prepper pack and how long is practical. Looking at the prepper stuff, other than the high end stuff, we are talking about sustenance stuff. Basically oatmeal, pasta, and rice with flavoring. Dried meats and vegetables supplements this. Water is easy if you are a camper but unless you have a well, and unless it is the dead of winter in the north, and you have to go out for that.

How long is practical? Is there a place that gives recommendations for DIY food kits.

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The easiest place to start is just buying more of what you’re eating now. Stock your pantry with one month of your staples, and expand from there. Aim for 5-6 months of canned meats and vegetables, dry beans and rice, instant potatoes, pasta, sauces, and seasonings. Apples last ~8 weeks in the fridge, onions and garlic last months on the counter. Fill your freezer with meat, vegetables, and butter. Always keep it organized so you can rotate first in first out. After that, start looking at long term freeze dried foods.

If you don’t already have one, get a vacuum food sealer.

Anyone have any book recommendations for traditional homemaking stuff? Wife is starting to get interested and I, being the good husband I am, like to encourage her urges in that direction! Thinking older books for like:

Housekeeping
Cooking
Homesteading
Canning

We're gunna be running a couple cattle next year its looking like, so anything related to that would be helpful/useful as well. Picked up a book on butchering which I plan on doing myself with the beef (God help me). Fully processed deer before, but this seems like a whole other beast. Basically trying to speedrun learning how to be real humans rather than pod-people.