Why NOT to have food storage, but if you’re wrong…

(Survival Manual/ Prepper Articles/  Why NOT to have food storage, but  if you’re wrong…)

 A.  Top 12 Reasons Not to have Food Storage
9 April 2011, Country Survival.com, by Country Survival
Pasted from: http://www.countrysurvival.com/top-12-reasons-not-to-have-food-storage/

Most people do not have a year’s supply of food storage. I hear it all the time….my neighbors will help me, the Church will provide for me, the government will give me food. Sorry, but you can not put your family’s temporal salvation in the hands of other people. No one else is going to store food for you. You have to do it yourself.

Here are the Top 12 Excuses I Hear for not having a food storage:

12. My neighbors have a TWO year supply!
I seriously doubt it. As a emergency preparedness coordinator in a previous stake, I created an extensive emergency preparedness survey. The results were that 94% of our stake did NOT have a year supply, and 82% had no food storage at all. If your idea is to beg for food from someone else, well, that’s a really bad plan.

11. I’m moving in with my parents (or my children).
Really? There’s a bright idea. Guess what, they don’t have food storage either.

10. I’ve paid tithing for 20 years, the church should be able to give me some food.
Unfortunately, this is not the case. Tithing is “fire insurance”, not “food insurance.” In fact, the church storehouses and welfare farms would feed less than 5% of the members of the Church. The prophets have been telling you to have a food storage for over 75 years. Have you followed the prophet’s commandment?

9. I have a gun!
I have seen on several forums and websites that people say that don’t store food because they have a gun and they know where the nearest Mormon is located. Guess what! You idiot, most Mormons have guns too. If you don’t already have self-defense options as part of your year supply, you should.

8. We pay taxes; If something does happen, the government will take care of us.
Some might even say, “they have to help us; our taxes pay their salary; if we die, they will have to take a pay cut.” Government aid worked out so well for people in Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina, right? With most all states in a severe budget crisis, and the federal government with a $14 TRILLION debt, the government will not be able to help. In fact, the government has been urging people to store food, water, medicine, etc. Check out http://www.ready.gov

7. Wide-spread national catastrophe will never happen.
You might think that nothing happened with Y2K, but every prophecy given by the Lord will be fulfilled, and probably when you least expect it.
[Re. photo at left: Why think or plan ahead? Now you want others to risk their lives and assets to cover your “malfeasance”? If you don’t  take personal responsibility to look after yourself by preparing for the chance of an emergency – ones that are common to mankind, then you may earn the Darwin Award for allowing you and yours to be eliminated from the gene pool. Mr. Larry.]

6. I have a 2 year supply of wheat; that should be sufficient.
You need much more than just wheat. Unless you are eating that wheat on a daily basis and your body is accustomed to it, it will literally tear up your digestive system. You need to store other food items to go along with the wheat.

5. It takes up too much space!
This is utter nonsense. It doesn’t matter where you live, you can find space if you want to. I put a full year supply of food storage for 2 adults and 4 children in the closet under my stairs. I was able to store over 650 of the #10 cans with easy access to any of it at any given time..

4. It doesn’t taste good and you can’t make adequate meals.
Having a food storage means that you have to cook rather than go out to a restaurant or visiting the frozen food isle of the grocery store. Find the right recipes, and you can make your food storage into a delicious and nutritious meal.

3. I’ll store up gold and silver to trade for food.
So, are you planning on eating those gold and silver coins? If you were starving, and you had a choice between a bag of gold coins and your neighbor’s cat, which would you choose? When people are starving, they are not going to trade away their valuable food for gold or silver. If they do, you will be buying the most expensive bowl of soup you ever ate.

2. I can’t afford food storage.
The average food storage for an adult can cost as little as a dollar a day. We live in the wealthiest society in the history of the world. If you do not have food storage, it is because you have your priorities reversed. If you choose to purchase expensive cars, an extra large house, LCD televisions, computers, vacations, etc. before getting food storage, then you need to re-evaluate your priorities. Are those items more important than food storage?

1. A year supply??? I thought I only needed 72 hours!
The recovery period for emergencies and natural disasters is much more than 72 hours. I lived in Houston when Hurricane Ike hit in 2008. Yes, a 72-hour kit helped…for the first 72 hours! Then we were left with the damage to recover from. There was no electricity for 3 weeks! Many places didn’t have running water (or sewage) for several days. Most all grocery stores were closed; the ones that could be open did not have anything to sell. Large pine trees blockaded roads and downed power lines. There was no cell phone reception; the towers were knocked down or destroyed.

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B.   SHTF – T Minus 2 Hours
Survival Cache, by contributing author Captain Bart
Pasted from: http://survivalcache.com/shtf-t-minus-2-hours/

If you have a limited time before the SHTF, What do you do? What are your priorities? Recently we saw this first hand with Hurricane Irene (see article). The actions of the unprepared raises good questions for all of us.

By Captain Bart, a contributing author to SurvivalCache.com

There was a science fiction short story (also an Outer Limits episode) called “Inconstant Moon” by Larry Niven based on the actions of an astronomer who noticed the light changes on the moon and deduced the sun had gone nova. Then he realized that it was ONLY a massive flare and survival MIGHT be possible. The story was of his attitude and preparations during the night.

In “ALAS, BABYLON” the hero is given approximately 24 hours to prepare from nothing. It is interesting in what he gets both right and wrong. In both these stories, SHTF was also TEOTWAWKI. In the case of Hurricane Irene it was the SHTF but not TEOTWAWKI.

So, to repeat the question, if you have limited time before the SHTF, what action would you take? It depends in large measure on what form the SHTF event takes. I heard a story of an older lady (70 something I think) who felt the earthquake in Japan. As soon as the quake stopped, she got on her bicycle and rode for the hills. She didn’t go back home for anything or take anything, she just rode and she survived the tsunami that claimed her town and most of the town’s people. The quake gave zero warning and the tsunami gave warning of only a few minutes. In Texas, hurricanes give hours to days and wild fires give minutes to hours. A terrorist strike or earthquake might give no warning while a Carrington Event might give hours to minutes.

For the sake of this article, we will assume a SHTF that is not necessarily TEOTWAWKI. Further we will assume that you have 2 hours notice. This actually happened when I was a growing up. A hurricane made up about 90 miles off the coast of Galveston and came ashore as a strong Category 1. Under the wrong conditions, it could have been a Category 3 or 4. Remember Hurricane Andrew was a weak Category 2 storm at 2200 before hitting Florida as a strong Category 4 at 0200 hours the next morning.

SHTF Approaches
Like you do every morning, you’ve just checked your local news sources and you’ve discovered that in 2 hours, maybe a little more, there is going to be a major event.

SHTF – T Minus 2:00
First things first. Start topping off your water supply. Bathtubs, sinks, buckets, storage bottles, everything should be full. Double check the inventory for the supply cache/pantry for any holes. These may have to be filled before the event or you will do without. Turn all refrigerators and freezers to maximum cold settings. Set house temperature to extreme cold (summer) or high heat (winter) to precondition the house for the season. Call in any pharmacy refills you can get for 1 hour pickup. If you are going to GOOD (Get Out of Dodge) double check the BOB (Bug Out Bag) for completeness.

SHTF – T Minus 1:45
If you have help at your house then you can start for the stores now. Your help will finish the top offs and inventory. Make sure you have your credit cards and debit cards. Once your help has finished here, they can notify those important to you of the issues. This is a notification only. No arguments or recriminations. Just the warning and move on. When that is done, your helpers can jump to SHTF – 0:30 list (See below).

SHTF – T Minus 1:30
Going to the grocery store is probably a waste of time unless you absolutely MUST have something from there. If you must fill any holes in your prep supplies think about a sporting goods store or Sam’s Club. You are less likely to run into panicking mobs there than at the grocery store. Remember paper products may be worth their weight in gold if you already have your food stuff squared away. Plates, cups and napkins are nice; toilette paper and tissue may be indispensable. Sun burn and insect bite treatments may be useful as will analgesics and antihistamines. If you have pets, increase your stock of pet supplies. Also batteries will go fast, get more. Get cash from ATM if possible. In fact, unless the power is already down, get cash from the ATM period. Charge all your supplies to maximize your cash availability. Get aluminum foil if you need it. Pick up long term storage items (zip lock bags, mason jars, etc.) if needed. If available get more fuel for your cooking and lighting systems. If you have no firearms, now would be your last chance for arms and/or ammunition for quite a while.

SHTF – T Minus 0:45
Go to pharmacy and get any refills you can pick up. Go inside and restock any OTC (Over the Counter) medicines you might need (think Imodium, antacids, analgesics, vitamins, sleep aids, masks, etc.) . Get insect repellant, burn cream, sunscreen, and chap stick type items if not already purchased.

SHTF – T Minus 0:30
Place BOBs (Bug Out Bags) near doors in case of fire and an immediate evacuation is needed. Preposition supplies and weapons in proper locations for use. Searching through your gun safe for your shotgun in the dark while looters are kicking in your front door is a bad plan.

SHTF – T Minus 0:10
It is now close enough to the SHTF that no further outside work should be attempted. Set up a security watch in the house and wait. Use an emergency radio to keep track of news if power is lost in the house.

SHTF – T Minus 0:00
Now that the event has arrived, maintain a solid fire watch for at least an hour after all flames are extinguished. It would really be annoying to survive a SHTF event only to be burned out by your lighting or heating prep. After an hour, the risk that anything will re-ignite diminishes greatly. If you are using wood or gas stoves or heaters, maintain a watch during any operation time, including night time heating. Remember Carbon Monoxide is a poison and it kills.

SHTF + 1:00
Turn on one of your radios and see if there is any broadcast station still on the air. Attempt to find news and status. Try cell phones, land lines, TV, text messaging and computer/internet links. Some of these are very low power and might still be up. Plan your future actions based on your assessment of the situation.

This is just a rough outline of what might be done. It assumes that there is no long distance travel involved. Obviously if the store you need is an hour away, you don’t go. For events that give days notice, it should never be necessary to go out within two hours of the event, but we are not always in command of our priorities. During Hurricane Ike, my mother-in-law called for help from a nearby town. I ended up driving through tropical storm weather over a rather large bridge to bring her to our place to ride out the storm. Without my 4 wheel drive Suburban the trip would not have been possible. Black Swans can always happen and last minute ‘monkey wrenches’ will need dealing with but if we prepare for the most likely, the unexpected can usually be dealt with successfully.

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C.  After TSHTF – Uncommon places to find supplies
18 November 2012, Modern Survival Online, by Rourke
Pasted from: http://modernsurvivalonline.com/repost-after-tshtf-uncommon-places-to-find-supplies/

In a significant TSHTF incident—there may be a need to obtain additional supplies. This need may come from having to replenish your stocks over time. Also—you may be caught away from your cache or traveling—and need to access these valuable items.

Once the “event” occurs, grocery stores will be completely out of food within hours. If there is power—lines will form and gas stations will be out of fuel quickly. The most obvious sources for certain items will already be picked thru. There are a couple of places that may get overlooked. These are Office Buildings and Manufacturing/Industrial Facilities.

1. Office Buildings—Take a look as you drive around your area and thru your town. There are lots of office buildings of varying sizes. If TEOTWAWKI has occurred—there are certain supplies that are common in offices that many will not think of. Here are a few examples:
– Food via vending machines, employee refrigerators, and desk drawers.
– Water via office supply rooms, employee offices, and possibly large plastic water jugs for office pure water dispensers.
– First Aid supplies via office first aid kits. Some prescriptions may be available in employee desk drawers.
– Incidentals such as pens, pencils, paper may be available as well. Cups and paper plates, napkins as well as coffee and coffee filters most likely can be found.

2. Manufacturing/Industrial Facilities—Often overlooked, many manufacturing and industrial facilities are a gold mine packed with supplies. Many of these businesses are located on the outskirts of towns in large warehouses—away from neighborhoods. Here are some of the items that can bee found at manufacturing and industrial facilities:
– Fuels such as gas, kerosene, and propane are often stored. Propane is commonly used by fork trucks—so check the shipping/receiving departments. Gas is utilized in a variety of tools such as gas powered water pumps as well as generators.
– Batteries are often in large quantities for us in flashlights and some small tools.
– Generators were just mentioned and could be a great find. Often used for powering tools in locations where power outlets are not available.
– Tools of course should be available and in great supply.
– Food, water and first aid supplies should be available much like in office buildings. Many manufacturing facilities have larger well stocked first aid kits—and often in multiple locations depending on the size of the building.
– Vehicles may also be available as company cars/trucks are sometimes found at these facilities. Finding the keys would be the challenge however I would check the shipping office first.
– Communication Equipment may also be found. Quite often the maintenance departments use walkie-talkie’s to communicate. You may find these radio’s sitting on their chargers in the maintenance shop.

Note: I am in no way suggestions theft is ok with this posting. What I am talking about is in a true life-threatening situation where it is justified to obtain supplies by pretty much any means possible