I've been stacking up on degrees, experience and knowledge for the past 25 odd years. I bet they are much more valuable than any cellar full of canned foods.

Originally posted by Sri Oracle
I walked 15 blocks home from a carpentry gig today...

I harvested 5 pints of wild raspberries along the sidewalk on the way home.

Of Course you washed 'em...
because of all them dogs 'rinsing' those little patches of green foilage.

but there is something to be said of building a tolerence by ingesting small amounts of pissy 'toxins'...
hope you enjoy your bounty !

It's sterile in the bladder. As soon as it leaves the body, it starts getting nasty.
That is where that stink comes from. I wouldn't risk it bro.

While I was planting 13 rows 40 feet long of tomatoes of several varieties for differing reasons, (among many many other plants I started months ago) The guy that did my comp. work came by, rock and roll blaring Tillers and trimmers buzzing, nails being put on the new chicken house roof, and me splattered in good rich soil Ive been working for 10 years, I welcomed him into the back yard as the cherry bossums rained down on us I walked with him to the gardens and made a deal with him, I said listen, I dont have enough money to pay you all in cash but would you be willing to trade for fresh, non GMO, non hybridized, plants and or vegetables and fruits?
I have sank all I am and have into food production for myself and my community. I even grow a row or two for the local food harvest, to supplement low income families. I sell very little and limited to a select few, mostly politicians and emergency services people, and all of my family and extended relatives.
The hardest part is getting help. I am on my own pretty much and am always glad when someone shows up to lend a hand, pull a weed (God only knows I so blessed in that arena) Plant something, till or mow, So when thinking about stocking up, that is like teach a man to fish and he will eat for a life time thinking...
Teach a man to grow, and nothing you buy in walmart or even your local garden centers, that is a conspiracy I became aware of many years ago. The seeds are hybridized and meant to keep you coming back for more.
We can do this my friends and that will be the ultimate way to deny ignorance.

One more thing, finding people 'willing' to do the work, as a nation we have grown soft and dependent, it was easy it is still easy, but stock up on people of like minds that you trust and that are willing and able to contribute when the time comes. That beer drinking buddy is great now, but if he is useless in a NWO scenario, time to drop him and find the people that are viable and intelligent. Weird but true, people are lazy, but they underestimate far too may of us, weather here in america or abroad.
Many of our ali nations will be getting hit soon too, this is world wide.

[edit on 22-4-2008 by antar]

FYI - Twinkies are not storable. I had one mold in it's wrapper once. Ew.

Most canned goods and things only have the shelf life of about a year. Raw honey keeps forever, as does seaweed (nori) that you can get at your local asian market. The honey has enzymes that keep a digestive system healthy and sugar for energy. It can be food or medicine on open wounds. (Although toddlers and babies should never eat honey)

The seaweed is super nutritious. I also buy bags of rice crackers wrapped in the seaweed and have developed a taste for the stuff. They are cheap in bulk and I eat them so often that I haven't really tested how long they will store.

Lentils are your friend. Learn to cook indian food and you'll know how to make whole balanced meals out of practically nothing (but lentils, water, and seasonings.)

I just bought a sprouter for wheatgrass and clover, and I've started a garden this year in a friend's yard. I'm saving heirloom seeds. And I'm learning all kinds of practical skills like knitting and foraging.

I've stockpiled all that I can stockpile (small house) and I have to manage rotating the goods, so I have a dozen or so #10 cans of freeze dried foods with a 30 year shelf life... and I would say at least a few months of regular food supplies if we ration our portions and food preps if a catastrophe happens.

Right now I'm concentrating on my container garden and trying to keep a something in production at all times. I'm also in the process of investigating small solar kits for backup power.

As to what to stockpile:

Rice, Flour, Beans/lentils, Noodles, Powdered Potatoes and Milk, Salt, Sugar, Honey and a variety of just add water mixes including drink mixes.

I pretty much have everything I need all the time due to my lifestyle and where I live. It's not so much farming here as being skilled in hunting and fishing and understanding local edible plants. We have a distinct advantage as moose is considered the only meat you can live on exclusively and not suffer for lack of nutrition.

For a city person needs would be quite different I think. Even though I'm in Anchorage its just for work and a huge wilderness is walking distance away. Hunting here is so easy its embarrassing almost and the Salmon; they call it combat fishing here. Without the normal limits one could fill a truck with salmon in a day when the runs are hot and heavy.

When I go out to an area where a breakdown could mean days or weeks I pack some stuff with me in my vehicle.

Rope and twine.
Plastic sheets.
Stick matches in watertight containers.
Steel wool and a flint and steel.
Fishing line and hooks and lures.
Wool blankets.
Shovel.
Axe.
Wood saw (chainsaws are useless when the gas runs out).
Candles.
Hunting knife and pocket knife.
Hand crank flashlights and AM Radio.
Maps of the area (major importance)
Compass.
Sidearm for Bears and Rifle with a few extra boxes of ammo.

With those things I can survive for years. People should ignore those survival TV programs where they struggle just to start a fire or catch a fish. They never cease to amuse me as they don't appear to have a clue. Ignore the weekend survivalists with there magnesium alloy equipment as they could get a person dead. They learn some skills but a few classes is not the same as a lifestyle.

I grew up in a home where we only bought in the store that which we could not grow or hunt ourselves. Other than restaurants I never had the displeasure of the canned crap on store shelves until my Father died and we moved to a city. The certainty of my abilities from that I consider a tool.

If someone is serious and they don't know how to fish or hunt, learn. Do what many have done and plant a small garden to learn the basics. If you think going vegetarian will sustain you and yours, think again. Animal protein is the difference between survival and death. This will not be "Survivor" where the crew picks you up at the end of the week.

Spend a week with just a simple survival kit in a real environment. You can learn without risk the things you won't have time to learn when push comes to shove. There will be no phones, no police, no electricity, no gas, no grocery stores, no indoor running water and survival will take every waking moment and ounce of energy.

A person needs to learn to eat what is available and forget personal distastes. If you can have only one food source to survive for a few day a tub of animal fat would be the best, so like I say forget what you consider good food.

Edited to say I forgot a couple of important items. A pot for boiling water and cooking. Stainless steel or cast iron. SALT! It will be more valuable than gold.

[edit on 4/22/2008 by Blaine91555]

I've got a week's worth of meals in tinned form, and that'll be what i take with me if the shtf.

I do recognise that i'm gambling with my life here - a week's worth of food isn't an awful lot.

I'm counting on my timing - if i go into the wilderness and use the time on what i have available, meanwhile making mental notes as i go along as to viable locations for finding food (farmland, vegetable gardens, watering holes) in the hopes of sustaining myself after i ran out of my initial food supply, i'd have about 4 days at best in which to practice my techniques properly - sneaking about, making traps, learning to fish, aiming a bow and so forth (i already know how to make a decent camoflage for a small one-man shelter).

Naturally, i won't be limited merely to my own abilities, as i will be using my sneaking skills to snoop about in places i shouldn't be - perhaps hording vegetables or stealing the odd chicken, or even a weapon would be sweet if i get real lucky and stumble into someone's secret arms cache when they aren't looking.

I'm not bothered about gettin' caught, so long as the guy i'm stealing from doesn't try to buttrape me (marselles wallace style) i won't make things hard on the guy.

There are two types of stockpiling - the stockpiles of resources, and the stockpiles of Ability.

The day i figure out how to lockpick a door will be the day that i become happy with my own skills at self-Preservation.

Of course, i could just use my already prepared knowledge of how to blend in with the crowd in order to take advantage of the hoarders...

Guns, gun parts, ammo, top of the line med kits with real RX not just asprin, gear, tools, and solar sheets aka solar chargers. Water is on a well with a few backup hand pumps. Food is next on my list.....lots of food and ammo..LOTS...also have a gasoline tank 2000 gallons..all of which I can use even if things go fine.

Stockpiling? Ha!

Can't even afford anything to eat for right now. :-/

Yes as a matter of fact... I am stockpiling just a few minor things that may come in handy in the near future, and if I don't use them then... knock on wood... I might need to someday. So here is my list and reasoning, incomplete as always.

On an immediate level:

1. Ammo: .22LR
-------------------------
It's dirty cheap and lightweight for the capability and highly useful. For what you would spend on a box of 9mm or .223's you get a couple thousand rounds of 'ole .22. Works in 75% of my immediate grab-and-go firearms. And yes, I'm sure the self defense crowd will balk at the idea, but hey, it's better than nothing.

2. Foodstuffs:
-------------------------
Beans, rice and canned goods et al... just because.


3. Knowledge:
-------------------------
It's also dirt cheap... maybe even free for the taking for some, and well... it's better than none at all.


If all else fails, well then comes ingenuity and logic which are always needed.

Use what you have available.
[oh, water... well, hehheh I have one that has a hand pump if needed]

The Bosstones said it best....
I've never had to knock on wood, and I'm glad I haven't yet... because I'm sure it isn't good, that's the impression that I get.



Regards,
T Minus

[edited since I lost my train of thought]

[edit on 23-4-2008 by telemetry]