California_Dreaming

I've heard of using dryer lint for tinder for starting fires; but doesn't it need to be from cotton only?

Pam, Great list. Awesome insight. Some alternates: 7. Instead of stocking up on BBQ starter fluid. Try a charcoal chimney starter; it only takes two sheets of newspaper to light the charcoal and newspaper is not a volatile flammable being stored in the garage or house. Also it’s cheaper then starter fluid. To store the charcoal briquettes, find someone with a pool and ask for their left over chlorine plastic buckets. They are water tight and a 32# bucket will store a 20 pound bag of charcoal. Just rinse it out several time before putting in the charcoal. 6. Yes I do store propane for my Colman stove. 7# container rather then the little 1 pound cylinder. Much more affordable. 20. If you can afford it buy a fireplace insert. When “damped down” it only takes 3 logs to burn all night. The most efficient insert that I have had at putting out heat is a “Country” insert. 29. Give a man a fish and he eats for a day, teach him to fish and he’ll sit around in a boat and drink beer all day. (a little humor) 40. Try a Red Cross emergency radio/flashlight. They are solar and hand crank and will even charge a cell phone.

In response to L-M’s question; am I a buyer at $33 per ounce? I stopped buying silver at about $30 per ounce. Nothing special about that price; I just needed to concentrate on bringing my food storage up to date. I am a chart follower and a technical analysis type person. The chart L-M posted a couple of posts ago is very interesting. Look at the high point of just under $50 per ounce in early 2011, and then follow out looking at the “lower highs” and the “lower lows”. This shows that silver is in a down trend. How low will it go? I love this answer…”It will go as low as it goes before reversing direction.” First look for a “higher low”, if it is followed by a “higher high”, the trend may have reversed; I usually wait for additional confirmation. That means that I never get in at the absolute bottom or out at the absolute top. As someone said “You can have the bottom 15% and the top 15%, I’ll take my 70% out of the middle.” Will silver go higher, I believe it will. Is that because silver will go up in value? I do believe that we will have high inflation in the future. Rising prices is not inflation. Rising prices are the result of inflation which is devaluation of the currency…more money chasing the same amount of goods. We have more money chasing goods because the country continues to print money (or create electronic debits) which devalues the currency. In the long run, I do not believe gold and silver are investments in that sense of the word. They are a “storehouse of value”. Look at what a silver dollar bought in the 1950’s and look at what a silver dollar will buy today. If you take out technological advances such as television sets and refrigerators, the trade value of silver and gold has remained pretty constant. Do I believe that we have high inflation coming-yes, hyper inflation like in Zimbabwe and the Weimar Republic, I don’t know. What I do know is that congress will keep printing so that they can keep their jobs. If $33 per ounce ($37 for an American Silver Eagle) looks expensive, look at “Junk Silver” (pre 1965 dimes, quarters, haves and dollars). Most dealers are selling these in ¼ bags ($250 face dollars) about $6,000. Maybe you can find a coin dealer which will sell to you in smaller quantities. Here in California all bullion transactions under $1500 has sales tax added on, that boosts the cost about 8%. Good Luck

One newsletter that I read about commodities stated that silver is being manipulated by the big investment banks. Several of them took huge short positions and now are trying to sell off those shorts without causing a rise in price which would hurt them with the remaining shorts that they haven’t sold. It means that they would need to purchase silver to cover their short contracts; but if they can manipulate the price up and down slightly they can cover the shorts without causing a spike in prices. I don’t know how long they have to go to liquidate all of their shorts. Silver is being consumed for industrial purposes faster then it can be mined, therefore the shortage is getting more critical. When both the shortage becomes critical and the banks have liquidated their short positions, and the Fed keeps printing, then the silver price will skyrocket.

This is a P.S. to my previous post. I do not know the answer to this question. I noticed that some of the photos show "Homer" buckets. Is that a good idea or should they be "food grade" plastic buckets. Can the plants absorb chemicals from "non food grade" buckets?

In addition to the web site posted in the first post, check out "youtube" with the search word "global buckets". Some of the videos show automatic watering systems using a simple float valve hooked up to your garden hose.

As I read through this thread, several thoughts come to mind. 1) When buying food for storage, some talk about buying case lots…a good idea for saving. Some things like wheat, beans and rice have very long shelf life. Some things like flour, powdered milk and dried potatoes are shorter. Some items like canned soup and canned vegetables have short shelf life up to 1 or 2 years. When purchasing the items with a shorter shelf life your food storage expiration dates should be “laddered” or spaced out. You don’t want all your chicken noodle soup or tomato sauce to expire at the same time. It might be easier to think when you use “one”; buy “two”. That way you will automatically create your “ladder” of expiration dates. Lately, this has become apparent to me as I am on a quest to increase my food storage not just for me, but for my children and grand children. Those expiration dates mean several things; “Sell By”; “Use By”; or “Best By”. They are usually the manufacturers date for the best quality. As long as the can is not bulging, it probably is OK. My rules are open it, smell it, is there anything green and fuzzy growing? “When in doubt, throw it out.” When considering one year storage, don’t forget the non food items, like toothpaste, soap, laundry detergent and what I consider the most important of the non food item…toilet paper. 2) Someone said “I’ll store wheat when I can afford a grain mill”. First purchase a manual food mill. Inexpensive ones go for around $50-$75; then later you can purchase a power grinder. Then the manual grinder will serve as a back up if you do not have electricity. 3) What’s the matter with weevils in the wheat? They are just unsightly. I remember back in my navy days aboard a ship, when someone was in trouble and assigned “extra duty”, it was their job to sift the weevils out of the flour. I don’t think the flour sifters really sifted out the weevils, just ground them up. 4) I live in “The Peoples Republic of California” and like many, don’t have a basement. I did add a walk in pantry in which I keep the canned food from my garden and lots of #10 cans. This has overflowed into the closet of my home office and the guest room’s closet (only the grand children stay there) so they don’t need a closet. Recently a friend was over with her 85 year old mother, and my friend was showing her mother around the recent remodel. Upon seeing the pantry, the 86 year old commented “If we have a depression, I know where I’m coming”. That concerned me very much and since that time I keep my food storage out of sight. 5) Don’t have enough money to start your food storage. Look around the house for things that you don’t use. Then list them on Ebay. Last week I made $290. A “Win-Win” situation, money for food storage and an empty space to put it in.

I realize the need for salt in our diets. I also realize the need for storing canning salt. Thinking about the need to protect the salt from the elements (such as flood and such), I bought cans from the cannery and canned salt on my home canning machine. I canned 6 #10 cans of table salt a year ago and this week I opened up one can and the inside of the can was corroded. I do like to store food and such in smaller cans with #10 being the largest(it makes it easier to lift), therefore the large buckets are out of the question. Does anyone have experience storing salt?

I have looked at the shelf life of dry dog food. Most is about 1 year; and that's in the 50#bag it's sold in. I repackage it in #10 cans using O2 absorbers. I bought my own manual canner for canning the things that can not be canned at the cannery. I have no data, but I figure the shelf life to be at least 2 years.

If you have insurance coverage, the insurance company limits you to a 30 day supply; but you can refill the prescriptions every 25-26 days. I have been doing this for a while now and have accumulated a four month advance supply at no extra cost. Be sure you use them in the order received to avoid out of date medicines.

As far as hand crank radios/flashlight/cell phone charger look on Amazon. I own and have used the American Red Cross FR150. During recent power outage it came in very handy. The link is: Amazon.com: American Red Cross FR150 Microlink Solar-Powered, Self-Powered AM/FM/Weatherband Portable Radio with Flashlight and Cell Phone Charger (Red): Electronics . There are other radios that look the same and are less expensive, see which one works for you. By converting over to all hand crank items, I have eliminated the need for packing heavy batteries, which will eventually run out. (then what?)

Without electricity, how could we read this blog in the dark?

I have pondered this question also. I do have a motorhome. The argument in favor of using the motorhome for evacuation is that the motorhome has an 800 mile range (yes I do keep the tank full) and can carry the family and a lot of supplies. We can also tow a car (four wheel drive) in which we could pile on more supplies or extend our range when the fuel in the motorhome runs out. And the motorhome can be used for shelter when reaching the destination. The argument against is that it would make for a very large obvious target if the evacuation scenario could possibly turn violent. (In a motorhome you would look “rich”) If we need to transfer to the car, we would be leaving supplies behind in the motorhome, but we would be leaving supplies behind at home, if we had to bug out in the car. The motorhome is not equipped with snow chains and would not be a viable alternative in winter. Being able to carry more supplies would require longer loading time. (You would need to have a secondary “bug out bag” consisting of the additional essential group of supplies to be carried in the motorhome.) I haven’t decided yet.

Reminds me of that old movie “THE TIME MACHINE” a guy goes into the future where the world has degraded into the Stone Age. He returns to the present and then returns to the future, and after he has gone, his friends notice the book shelf has three books missing. The movie ends with, “I wonder what three books he took with him?” I would not have things that would run out like gas and batteries. What happens when the batteries have died and the gas has run out? Are you proficient in making “moonshine” and then modify the machines to run on alcohol and how much better to have a hand crank combination flashlight/radio. (Mine is hand crank and/or solar powered.) I would instead concentrate on “Beans, Bullets and Band-Aids. 1.)The beans (i.e. food storage to feed my family and for bartering and charity) 2.)The bullets and weapons to protect my family from people who did not plan ahead and think that I should supply them. 3.)The Band-aids because I’m a “Klutz”. The remaining two categories would be for continued feeding of my family. 1.Seeds and tools to continue growing food as my storage runs thin. 2.And last, canning and preserving supplies to restock my storage (jars, lids, water bath canner, and a pressure canner). (Sugar and salt would come from food storage)

Vacuum sealing in mason jars is great. I do it myself. Especially for things that are not available to be caned in #10 cans, and/or, after I open a #10 can, I use the vacuum jars to store the remainder of the product. There are advantages and disadvantages. The biggest disadvantage is that they are breakable. I suggest that you make some type of restraining system, such as a simple board across the front of the shelf to keep them from falling off the shelf. (Most important in earth quake country). Also try ½ gallon mason jars. Some misconceptions are that vacuum sealing removes the oxygen. It does not. Vacuum sealing reduces the amount of air in the jar. The remaining air is still 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, (the remaining approx 1% is comprises of Argon, CO2, Neon, Helium, Krypton, and Xenon). Most O2 absorbers are made of iron filings that attract the O2 and moisture and combine them to make rust, which encapsulates the O2 and the moisture. When combining vacuum sealing and an O2 absorber, the O2 absorber does not “work” as hard and if, after opening a vacuum sealed jar, the O2 absorber is still pliable it can be resealed in the jar for short term use. You can see that if the O2 is removed, you have created a nitrogen pack for your foods. When you have purchased your food in bulk, either from a supplier or from the cannery, it is possible that it may contain bugs or the eggs of bugs (that are so small we can’t even see them). When using the O2 absorber, and removing the oxygen, it is still possible for the eggs to hatch and then die off, so that when you open a can you might see a bug or two (not harmful) I have read, but can not confirm that if you take your #10 cans and place them in the freezer for 48 hours it will freeze and “explode” the eggs or otherwise destroy them while leaving the can & contents intact. (I wouldn’t do it with glass jars). I can not do this totally when I get home but accomplish it over a period of weeks. It seems logical and I freeze flour, milk, pasta, potato flakes and other powdery things. I have not done it with wheat. I should probably do a test and see if the wheat grains explode when frozen.