Store Today, Survive Tomorrow™
The FDIC is not the only group that has its hands full. Today, the Dutch Bank DSB Bank was put into “curatorship” following a full-blown bank run by its clients. This is really just another way of saying that it was taken over, or nationalized.
Yet another reason to practice emergency preparedness and long term food storage. Store food and water. Gasoline and a generator are also good ideas.
Here is a link to the original article:
Dutch DSB Bank Nationalized After Bank Run By Clients
Your Long Term Food Storage May Fit Nicely Under the Stairs
Once you have your Mountain House Freeze Dried Food, dehydrated food, buckets of staples, canned goods, what do you do with it? Where do you store it?
One obvious place is to store it under the stairs. If you have a two story house or a basement, you can put some or all of your food under the stairs. Mountain House Food, and other types of food storage that are packed in #10 cans, will be packed in cases. Six cans to a case. So, you can stack the cases under the stairs.
Closets are another obvious place. Obviously, if one closet is not big enough, you will have to split the cases between several areas in your house.
If you have a basement, you could put a false wall up, and have your food storage behind it.
How about in a storage shed? Well, only if it is insulated or if the temperature is fairly constant year-round. And I don’t mean if it’s a constant 80 degrees. That is definitely too warm for a storage area.
Some people have garages packed full of stuff, so they rent a storage unit. If you are one of these people, you must not make the mistake of renting a storage unit and putting your food storage in that. In a major emergency, you may not be able to get to the storage unit, and then where would you be? Also, there is a chance that someone would break in and take your food. People who are hungry will do almost anything.
If you have a bug-out-place, or land out in the country, that you are planning on going to if things break down, you could store your food there. But, you will have to be reading the signs correctly before a major event and realize you need to get out of the area and to your land, or it will all be for naught.
You could also split your food storage between two different places. If you store the majority of your food cache somewhere else, then make sure you have 72 hour kits for each member of your family. They should be in each vehicle and in your house, ready to be picked up at a moment’s notice.
These are just some ideas. Everyone’s situation will be different. The ideal food storage area is in a basement where the temperature is constant year-round and the moisture is low. Keeping your food storage at a constant temperature, perhaps 40 to 50 degrees, will ensure that you get the maximum life out if it. In the case of freeze dried foods, doing so will give you the maximum life possible.
72 Hour 2 Person Getaway Kit from Nitro-Pak Preparedness Center
Okay, I get it. You don’t think you need to do anything because nothing ever happens where you live. Then, tell me if this accurately describes your situation:
I understand all your reasons. Believe me, I do. Why then do the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) both recommend that you have at least 3 days of food and water for every member of your family? What do they know that you don’t know?
DHS and FEMA know in a major disaster, they won’t be able to help everyone. So, at the very least you should have 3 days of food and water for your family. You should have at least one 72 hour supply in each of your vehicles and in your home, along with some basic preparedness supplies.
I’m not suggesting you go overboard. You don’t have to buy a year supply, a 6 month supply, or even a 3 month supply of emergency survival food. Only 3 days of food and water for each member of your family. That’s not much. I know it’s confusing with all the preparedness stuff that is out there, but you really should do something. Starting with a 72 hour kit for each person is a great way to get going. Imagine the peace of mind you’ll have when you know your family can make it on their own for at least three days.
When you shop for a 72 hour kit, be sure to check what kind of food is in it. If it just has a 3 day supply of emergency food bars, you might want to consider adding a Mountain House 72 Hour Emergency Meal Kit by Mountain House Foods. Yes, you have to have water to reconstitute it, but 3 days of freeze dried food is going to taste a lot better than 3 days of emergency food bars. The food bars have their place. But if you have access to water, freeze dried food will make a 72 hour ordeal a lot more enjoyable.
If you don’t want to buy one of the commercially prepared 72 hour kits, you can make your own. Search the posts on this blog. Grab our free report. You’ll find the information you need to put your kits together.
But I know you’re right. It will never happen to you…until it does.
Emergency Drinking Water Sources Are Hiding In Your Own Home
Let’s talk about the sources of emergency water that are hiding in your own home. This will be broken down into two sections.
When You Know You Will Be Running Out of Water
When you know that you will be losing water soon, for whatever reason, you need to act fast. It may be rather obvious, but you need to immediately fill your bathtub, your sinks, your pots and pans, any and all containers in your home that will hold water.
If you are on city water, then you should shut off your water main. This will prevent contaminated water from coming back into your house and contaminating the water in your water heater. If you don’t know where the water main is for your home, you can just go to the water heater and shut off the cold and hot water valves to/from your water heater. The building code in the U.S. requires a valve on the cold water supply to the water heater. However, your water heater may have shutoff valves on both the cold and hot water lines to/from the water heater. Shut one or both off.
When You Find Out You Have No Water
If you find out your water supply has been shut off, there are emergency sources of water hiding in your home.
The bathtub is an obvious source of water, but it will only be filled when you are getting ready to take a bath. Bathtubs hold around 50 gallons of water, and that’s substantial. Let’s look at other sources.
The water heater is a great source of emergency drinking water. All water heaters have a drain valve at the bottom. If the main water goes off, you can turn the pilot off on the water heater, and that will prevent the water from heating. Then open the valve on the bottom of the tank and drain water as you need it. 40 gallons is a common size of water heater, so most homes will have this amount of water available to them. Where else can we look?
The toilet is another source of emergency water. But not the toilet bowl. I’m talking about the tank. You can take a cup and scoop the water out. I would boil the toilet tank water just to be safe. Remember, if you have one of those toilet bowl cleaner dispensers in your tank, then you are out of luck on this one.
If you live in a multilevel house, with or without a basement, you can go to the lowest level in the house and drain the water system from that point. If the water won’t drain. Just go to the highest point in the house and open a faucet. Just remember to shut the faucet when you are done. You don’t want your house to get flooded from the top down when the water supply comes back on.
Some of your food storage items already have water in them. I’m not talking about Mountain House Freeze Dried Food, or dehydrated food items, or buckets of staples. I’m talking about how some store-bought canned goods such as tuna, vegetables, and the like are packed in water.
What about the water in the aquarium? I don’t think so.
If it happens to be raining when the water goes off, you can always collect rainwater and use that.
Next time the water is shut off to your home, use these tips as a starting point, and go from there.
Happy drinking!
8 Signs of Terrorism – A New Video by “The Cell”
A new video has been released on The Cell website, which is The Center for Empowered Living and Learning. The video was unveiled by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Colorado Governor Bill Ritter.
Narrated by John Elway, the video lists the eight signs of terrorism and briefly explains each one. Here are the signs:
The video is well produced and the website is professionally designed. I don’t know if it will actually help. I think that by showing people how to recognize the eight signs of terrorism, it might be training people to spy on their fellow citizens. However, that may be a cynical attitude.
You may find the video of value and certainly should view it. I don’t want to discourage you from doing so.
Here is the address:
Can't decide if Freeze Dried Food is right for you?
Subscribe