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How much food & water?

2K views 23 replies 13 participants last post by  Palladin 
#1 ·
I was wondering about everyone's thoughts on how much food & water to store.

Worst I have seen here is seven days without electricity. That is major since everyone out here has wells so need electric for their pumps. Same goes for those on commercial water as once pressure is lost the water in those lines are considered contaminated.
Those I have a generator it could be it fails or can't get gas for it so can't 100% rely on it which is part of the reason I did a rain collection & storage system.

But I'm thinking 10 days of water stored is reasonable. But not minimum as posted on most forums. Enough water to flush the toilet also or take a navy shower every few days.

Food is another matter. I honestly believe you should should have atleast 30 days. Too many things can go wrong in the system to get food to the stores. And stuff does happen. Several years ago the rotor went out on my truck. I didn't have the funds to have it repaired for two weeks so was stuck at home. So for two weeks survived off my stores.

Interested in everyone's thoughts on the subject.
 
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#2 ·
I think you have a good foundation in place. Food can always be rationed to last a little longer if you see the need, so 30 days stretching to 45 is passable if you're not doing a lot of physical exertion. If you have the ability to produce your own food (garden/chickens/etc) then so much the better. Water doesn't ration as well. So having a nearby source or a rain catch system is a good idea.

Once we buy I definitley plan on having a hand pump attached to the well. Especially if drilling a new well, it just makes sense in my mind. We always had one next to the barn growing up, and it was great, especially in the winter, for feeding the horses/cows. I remember a few times having to use it when the power was out for a couple days.
 
#3 ·
I have roughly 15 days of water. Just like everything else, I try to store as much as I possibly can, space allowing. Of course, the best thing would be to have a well with an independent power supply or a large body of fresh, clean water nearby. I would think you want a minimum of a 90 day food supply if you are planning for any kind of SHTF event.
 
#4 ·
I figure I want a minimum of 10 gallons per day of water. Roughly 400 gallons of water in the barrels would give me 40 days of water. Advanced warning before loosing power & can fill other containers including a 100gal livestock tank & some 5gal jugs. There are cases of bottled water put up also. So I'd be at 50 -60 days of water & with the rain collection system figure should get some rain within 50-60 days so water to exceed that.
Food, I have about two months for the dogs & six months plus for us. And probably atleast three months of LP gas for cooking the food.
 
#5 ·
I tend to look at some things from a different angle. Here's a question - How long could your community "stand alone"? By that I mean 1) off the grid, 2) no "services", 3) No law enforcement, 4) no way to motivate / transportation, etc. In my case, I would give my community 30 to 45 days before the reality of their predicament set in. At that time the pandemonium would begin.

With that line of thinking, in my community, a family with 45 days of food and water is going to be much better off than 90% of their neighbors.

At the 45 day mark............. It will be time to put Phase 2 of your survival plan into effect.

Thanks,

Hobo
 
#6 ·
In a city, that breaking point will be a LOT closer then you would imagine. Once the realization occurs that everyone is on their own, society breaks down horribly. Being the family with a stockpile, and having anyone who knows it, increases risk dramatically. Especially when society has embraced the "I'm entitled to what he has" mentality.

There's not much that a law abiding person won't do in order to feed their children. And the criminal element will do anything just because they can. The average household may have 2-4weeks worth of food, a good deal of that is frozen or fresh and won't last more then a week or so without refrigeration. Once that happens, all bets are off.

If you think your neighborhood will last 30-45 days, my suggestion would be start looking at getting out of there before 20. Once desperation kicks in people are capable of some horrible things regardless of how nice they were prior to an event.
 
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#7 ·
When hurricane Hugo hit in 89 we went 23 days w/o power. I was somewhat prepared having just gotten out of the 'core. I live near a 60,000 acre lake so the water table is high. We have shallow wells that can be hand pumped. Grandparents house used gas for heating & cooking. The community used their home for water including hot showers when we used a generator to power the 110 volt shallow well pump. All of the younger folks learned what the older ones did in the storm of '73 (4+ weeks w/o power). I have no water reserves. I do have a 1K gal. propane tank for shtf. I have around 2 weeks food for 6.
 
#8 ·
Given your location Hawk, I'd try to prepare for at least 2 weeks w/o electricity. Hurricane Andrew gave us a direct hit in 92 here in La. We were w/o power for that long. Given I've seen pics of your water collection system, why you didn't segregate a couple of those barrels for potable water use? Running the water to those barrels thru a simple under the sink type sediment filter/a few drops of bleach to prevent algae, and final filtering thru a Berky type gravity filter; would give potable water for drinking/cooking/wash dishes/human consumption. Rationing of water should be started at the onset of the event because it could last longer than expected. Even if you boil your food that treated water can be consumed. Actually when you boil veggies, a lot of nutrients are boiled out into the water. Navy showers can use your water from the "other" barrels. Most people here fill their bathtubs prior a hurricane for a reserve. I've got a question is your sewage system on a field drain or are you on a supported gravity drain system? Reason I ask is that when the power goes out, the gravity system is out. Eventually those tanks in the system will fill and sewage will back up into the house. dozier
 
#9 ·
With the intention of about 5 gallons of water from the barrels going to flushing the toilet I decided a separate water filter system would work best for me. Its a 5gal bucket with ceramic filter that drains into a 5gal bucket. A large aluminum colander that I can use cloth to pre filter the water into the bucket.

My septic tank has two gravel drain fields.

Not sure about going two weeks with no electricity as I would rather leave the solar system hooked up. LOL
 
#10 ·
Realistically, I would say one month food and water to cover all likely scenarios. Anything beyond that would be pushing into the realm of "hope you have a backup plan cause it's gonna be a while".

I've been gathering enough food to last a year per the website I order supplies from(probably more like 1/2 in reality) but only have 2-3 cases of bottled water. They frown greatly upon water collection on base so I can't set up anything along that route. Will have to definitely ration out the water I will have until I can build up more stock.
 
#11 ·
It has been hypothesized that within 90 days half the population will be dead from dehydration, disease, and lack of necessary medication. As terrible as it is to consider this it must be pointed out that if you can survive the first six months, competition for resources becomes much less.

Of course, it should also be pointed out that the only people that will have survived six months will be those with preparations, and those who have killed and have stolen from those with preparations.
 
#14 ·
Now, I do have some dehydrated stuff but everything I have sampled I have found all lacking in taste. And that is why I got started in canning with mason jars. You can spice it up as you want before canning.[/QUOTE]


DH food will become much more tastefull by adding your preferred spices. DH food processors hesitate to add much in the line of spices due to the different likes/dislikes of people. So those spice additions have to be made after/during rehydration. I'm a spice junkie, and have on hand as many different spices as a decent size grocery store. By taking a simple staple such as steamed rice, a pat of butter, and four different spices on four different days; you take away having the same old thing everyday. Bad thing about spices is that some seem to loose potency once opened. You will find yourself having to add more to get the same flavor. Iv'e no doubts you canned tastes better, it's already been tailored to your liking. Also much cheaper to make when ingredients are seasonally available. dozier
 
#17 ·
Water is not such a big deal to obtain where I live, but I do keep a couple hundred gallons at the ready. That would be if something like a flu pandemic was underway and it wasn't safe to go out. Water use would go way down if we stopped flushing toilets, etc, so I see backup sanitary systems both for waste and washing as being very important. Food supplies: I try to keep as much as possible in several formats (dry, canned, precooked, quick cook, slow cook, etc), but not so much that it'll go bad before it can be used in daily living. This means a lot of rotation of supplies but it works out pretty well. Vitamin supplements are vital in case they have aged out of the food stored (vitamin C goes all too quickly). I don't much believe in storing food items that we don't use all the time. My weakness is that I don't store things like whole kernel wheat, maybe some day....
 
#18 ·
I have about 4 months worth of dried food for the wife and I, we live 100 yards from a river so water is not going to be a problem even in the winter. My toilets will still work with river water and I have propane for boiling water to drink. We have about 4 weeks of canned and frozen food stuff before getting into the dried stuff. In the winter keeping things frozen will not be a problem without power, but I have a generator to keep us comfortable with lights and heat.
 
#19 ·
Mormons probably have it right in stating to have enough food for one season which is three months. But I believe that is based on a growing season. If you only have one growing season per year to me that means you need a year of food stores. If you have two growing seasons that would mean six months. Where I live, depending on what is grown, can have three growing seasons.

But then too, how many people have a garden at all?
 
#23 ·
Being I already have a working pump (240VAC 11amps) I think a solar backup system would be in my interest here in Florida. My pump does 8gpm but figuring 7gpm & 15 minutes of pumping per day that would be over 100 gallons. Enough daily for me & help some neighbors.
 
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