Shed a good choice for emergency food storage?

We are about to move into a new house, which happens to come with a neat about 8' by 6' shed next to it. We are debating now if this shed should be our primary emergency and storage place.

We are planning on doing a lot of canning and such, plus have a pretty big stash of rice, beans, pasta and flour sacks. My concern is following. The shed is of course not climate controlled and therefor it will be too hot inside during the summer to store the jars and such.
We live in an earth quake zone and also within 25 miles of a huge dam...so there's the danger of flooding.
I am just thinking that in case of an earth quake it might be easier to access the shed afterward to get to things, and we don't have the space inside the house to store huge buckets and sacks.

So do you guys it would be worth it, to get a little ac unit to put into the shed and have all our emergency food and prep stored there? Or do you maybe have a different idea altogether?

Also my concern with using jars is about them breaking in a possible earth quake. So I would have to find a way to have them as securely as possible stored to avoid breakage. Any ideas?

I'd appreciate any thoughts.

What are you preparing for? Earthquake or End of the world.

What's up with you? Have you a fear that something is going to happen?

Anything that effects your house will effect your shed and being a weaker and less durable structure than your house I do not see the point of you stocking up unless you are planning for a time when food will be scarce.

You would have to know why food would be scarce...due to shut down off production, plague like viruses or mass disaster like huge quakes and flooding.

I would suggest that you make your home your castle. Go out and but a 4ft wide by 5ft tall giant safe and store it somewhere at ground level. The safe which can be bought second hand will only cost you around $2500 and is lockable. I bought my one online in the UK 13 months ago. Store you needs in there including first aid items and bottles of water and canned foods (baked beans, . The size of the safe is easily big enough for what you need and you can buy one that is flood and fire resistant. Yes i weighs a lot but if you are that concerned it should be no problem. Reinforce your windows and doors on your house (i suggest a security front door).

Anything else is just pointless unless you know what you are preparing for.

I built an outdoor pantry between the house and a shed. Dims 3ft wide 12 ft deep.
I insulated the roof and ends with 4" of insulating styrofoam. Outside temperature has been 114 degrees and inside less than 80.

This was made as a temporary storage for emergency foods n stuff while I'm building the root cellar 10ft deep...have it dug but out of money to complete it now...dims 12' x 20' hole ..for 10x 16 cellar... Here in Arizona this will keep a temp of less than 70 year round.

reply to post by Serafina


Its a start, not sure about the air conditioning....there will be no climate control..in a SHTF sit... IMO

Besides that, I like it, but...I must say again IMO mmine is built to be hidden and very sturdy, so no one could find it and if they did, would have a very hard time getting in...but hey yours is different...no big deal, just depends on how you think things may go, I hope I'm wrong.

A root cellar is the way to go.

reply to post by craig732


Go to Google Books, type in "root cellar", set it for Public Domain Only, click on books, look in upper right corner for "PDF", click on PDF... and download.

You'll see. Then start punching in other survival type terms...

A house is a lot more secure than a shed. Depending on the material, a few good hits with an axe should be enough to get everything inside.

I use my shed for storing non perishables like propane tanks and T.P.
I do keep a couple cases of MRE's out there as well as a .50 Cal ammo can full of assorted ammo, Extra cloths for the family, first aid supply's and a water filter
My thinking is if the house burns down I will still have some backups.

the best Idea for food storage outside the house, as others have said, is a root cellar.

A shed is too easily accessible for everyone around you. If people see you stashing supplies then they will know where to go in a SHTF situation. Then you will have to waste energy/ammo trying to keep them away.

Do you need to live in an earthquake zone ? I'm not being funny here but is it not viable to move to safer area ?
I understand if work / family commitments stop you, but this would be my first idea.
I'm really not trying to flame you here.
Survival to me equates to risks and living in an earthquake zone, I feel you are just adding to any potential problems you may face.

As others have stated, in MOST circumstances, a root cellar is your best bet. However, not everyone has that advantage. If you live in Southern Florida, or Lousianna, a root cellar doesnt really make much sense. Also, in some areas, they bury these things called pipes and wiring in yards to provide things like electricity. Might not want to dig into that.

I'm going to guess that since you are thinking shed, and in a earthquake zone, you dont have a basement, that would solve alot of problems real quick.

There is a company out there that makes an above ground "root cellar", also, old timers actually were able to store food stuffs year round in above ground brick buildings.

I think a shed could work, not ideal, but better than nothing. I would advise very good ventilation, keep it dark inside, light outside to keep the sun from baking it, and keep your produce in sand.

As far as jars and earthquakes. This isnt rocket science. Keep your canning jars low to the ground, and in something padded. The whole, dont put all of your eggs in one basket idea comes into play. Dont put all of your canned beens in the same area, break everything up and have it marked clearly on the lid for easy, quick removal.

Also, if this area is prone to multiple types of natural disasters, look into drying/dehydrating foods. No glass to break if you have it dry and air tight, easier to keep in a shed as well as you wont need the space requirements of jars.

For the sacks of flour/rice etc... Again, keep the light away from it, and remember to ROTATE these type of items. Bring a sack into the kitchen, use it, and replenish your shed storage.

Originally posted by colec156
Do you need to live in an earthquake zone ? I'm not being funny here but is it not viable to move to safer area ?
I understand if work / family commitments stop you, but this would be my first idea.
I'm really not trying to flame you here.
Survival to me equates to risks and living in an earthquake zone, I feel you are just adding to any potential problems you may face.

The problem with moving out of the earthquake zone is in the destination. Which do you choose?:Flood zone, tornado zone, hurricane zone, drought zone.....Most places have some natural disaster threat. which is more acceptable?

There's always something that can get you, so the idea is to mitigate to a point that you feel sceure knowing you may have judged incorrectly. I agree with the root cellar approach--if you can do it, but otherwise in-house stoprage is preferable to a separate shed. If you can "hide" your storage, so much the better. A fake wall might work in some circumstances.

I purchased a 250 gallon storage tank, full of diesel, and a diesel generator and a diesel truck, for fuel and transportation. Even if these two are completely full, statistically unlikely, it wouldn't last all that long--maybe a few months, so you have to undertstand that your preparations are temporary at best and would help for a disruption, but wouldn't help in a complete disaster. I also have a hot tub that holds 500 gallons of brominated water and a year's worth of food. But I don't kid myself that this makes me self-sufficient at all. It just gives me a little leeway.

If you REALLY want to protect yourself, move to the modwest on a small farm, get a couple of horses, grow their food and be prepared to harness them up. I think you cpould set yourself up to live an 18th century lifestyle pretty easily, but modern goodies are going to dry up in a hurry.

If you DO have a shed, fill it up with Charmin and beer. You can use them for currency.

a family member of mine had dried food
sacks in a shed behind the house and
lost about 80% of it due to rats, roaches
and insects. These will contaminate
your stash. These will be your first
predators.

If your shed has a raised floor that will help keep things dry in the case of flood. A solid roof with good shingles will keep out the moisture and a gable design like this will prevent the wind blowing the roof off.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/e968778ad228.gif[/atsimg]

reply to post by boondock-saint


Well, dry goods in a sack are doomed. You need food grade buckets, silica anti moisture packets and Nitrogen to remove O2.