# How long would your home's food supply last if you had to rely on it? (Article)



## TG (Jul 28, 2014)

An article and a poll directed at an average city dweller 

How long would your home's food supply last if you had to rely on it? : TreeHugger

The comments at the end of this article are worth reading too lol


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## kevincali (Nov 15, 2012)

I have about a years worth. Mainly beans, rice, and corn. 

But that's a trick question for me as I have a couple fruit trees and will be putting in a garden again this year since I built the planter lined with mesh (gopher control).


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## Prepared One (Nov 5, 2014)

Currently, I can go 6 months. My plan is for a year. I am looking at sustainability but I live in the burbs of a large city so I am thinking long term may not work for me after 6 months or a year if I am lucky. I am thinking the gangs and mobs will force me out sooner rather then later.


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## haydukeprepper (Apr 28, 2013)

6-7 months. The TP will run out before the food!


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## AquaHull (Jun 10, 2012)

Scan time


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## Hawaii Volcano Squad (Sep 25, 2013)

Fishing & Pig hunting will be required!


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## Tennessee (Feb 1, 2014)

Over a year for just me and my wife. But if the rest of the family shows up it all depends on what they can bring. I also have a garden spot so it will depend on the time of year and how much I can plant. To be totally self-sustaining not there yet, but I do have a plan.


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## Big Country1 (Feb 10, 2014)

I know we could survive for atleast 10 months on the preps we have at home. About a year at the BOL. I dont like putting all my eggs in one basket. I feel the sheeple will make it out of the city purdy quickly, and come looking in the more rural parts for food. So i feel 6 moths at home is plenty. IMO

Now imma read the article....


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## Chipper (Dec 22, 2012)

Depends on how good the hunting/fishing is.


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## Ripon (Dec 22, 2012)

Storing enough food is only a piece of the puzzle. I store enough to get thru three seasons of no growth. Being able to replenish food sources is key.


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## phrogman (Apr 17, 2014)

I'm thinking I have a couple of months to figure out how I'm going to get more food.


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## SAR-1L (Mar 13, 2013)

Honestly if cautious a week or two at best. 2014 really just kicked the hell out of me going from a contractor to
now working a standard 40 hpw type job that pays a lot less to get by. Having enough to make it today and tomorrow
is hard enough, so the future really isn't in the play book at the moment.

I think the stability though and the change is for the better. Once things get better, I believe that
we will have more stocked up. Additionally kinda hard to store much food in a one bedroom apt.

However I have a strange set of skills and knowledge for food procurement, such as grinding earth worms
into a powder, then making them into a broth. Harvesting and frying Yucca plants. When to harvest local bird nest with eggs
which could bring some protein. Things all the big game hunters would pass up looking for large game.

Additionally I learned how to tether arrows for shooting fish in a river. I don't think it is legal where I am at, so I don't do it,
but as a child we used to walk through the river shallows and shoot catfish.

Aim small, miss small.


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## Diver (Nov 22, 2014)

The guy sounds like someone who is considering prepping but can't figure out whether he wants to do it or not, and has a storage problem as well due to being in the city. He definitely hasn't thought about water. He could put away six weeks of food, but it won't do him any good if the water is cut off, and he can't store six weeks of water in a city apartment without the floor giving way. Hurricane Sandy, which he mentioned, affected most people for a week or two, but in some hard hit areas recovery is still underway.

As for myself, how long my stocks would last is entirely dependent on how many show up and whether we would be able to supplement the stocks during the event.


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## tinkerhell (Oct 8, 2014)

As of last weekend, 72hours for sure now that 
I've put together a formal 72hour kit. It feels good to have it. Onward and forward.


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## MaterielGeneral (Jan 27, 2015)

The comments were interesting. You could defiantly tell who the preppers were and who the sheep were.

I am working on getting a years worth of food. Some freeze dried and some canned and beans and rice. I have about two months worth right now.


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## Maine-Marine (Mar 7, 2014)

We would not be eating three meals a day.... more like brunch and a late dinner

We could make 2 loafs of bread a week for 1 year

Spaghetti once a week for a year
fruit twice a week for a year

a lot of rice and beans 

we could stretch a year pretty easy

I would like to have 3.5 years


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## MaterielGeneral (Jan 27, 2015)

Maine-Marine said:


> We would not be eating three meals a day.... more like brunch and a late dinner


Similar plans here. Depending on the HTF situation, we might go one meal a day and supplement with vitamins.


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## Maine-Marine (Mar 7, 2014)

phrogman said:


> I'm thinking I have a couple of months to figure out how I'm going to get more food.


Now I am going to put on my JERK hat...

WHAT do you have to figure out? ? ?

You get more food by taking yourself down to the store while they are having a sale and buying basics...Rice, Beans, etc

Why wait months... What have you been doing the last three years... even a little extra every week would see you in good shape after awhile..

cancel you cable for 1 year, eat out less, stop smoking, etc


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## Salt-N-Pepper (Aug 18, 2014)

Hawaii Volcano Squad said:


> Fishing & Pig hunting will be required!


Those damned feral pigs are tearing up the island, anyway, they need to go...


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## Salt-N-Pepper (Aug 18, 2014)

Maine-Marine said:


> You get more food by taking yourself down to the store while they are having a sale and buying basics...Rice, Beans, etc
> 
> Why wait months... What have you been doing the last three years... even a little extra every week would see you in good shape after awhile..
> 
> cancel you cable for 1 year, eat out less, stop smoking, etc


THIS! Exactly.

NOW is the time you have to make a difference, so get it done. Start today.


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## Salt-N-Pepper (Aug 18, 2014)

Maine-Marine said:


> I would like to have 3.5 years


Why 3.5 years? That's an interestingly specific number, just curious why not either 3 or 4?


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## Moonshinedave (Mar 28, 2013)

I don't know exactly how long mine would last, I know it would be quite a while. Keep in mind, that if one knows there is no more running out to the store, then they will automatically start rationing their supplies.


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## 8301 (Nov 29, 2014)

A solid 6 months @ 2000 calories per day. Living in a rural area local livestock, deer and rabbits to supplement what I already have not to mention the farmer growing corn and wheat across the road so I can probably do 9+ months. Have a seed bank so the idea would be to survive off stored provisions until I have time to grow a crop. Since I have a fair amount of canning supplies as long as the crop grows well we should be ok for quite a while.

Hopefully we'll never need these supplies but I look at it as being insurance in uncertain times.


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## Maine-Marine (Mar 7, 2014)

Salt-N-Pepper said:


> Why 3.5 years? That's an interestingly specific number, just curious why not either 3 or 4?


I will be here for the first 3.5 years of the last 7 years of Daniel's prophecy... I will not be here the last 3.5 years...

that is why I want 3.5 years...


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## Salt-N-Pepper (Aug 18, 2014)

Maine-Marine said:


> I will be here for the first 3.5 years of the last 7 years of Daniel's prophecy... I will not be here the last 3.5 years...
> 
> that is why I want 3.5 years...


OK, that is quite understandable since that's what you believe... but... that's also leaving yourself no margin of error (theft, unnoticed spoilage, helping others, "stuff happens", etc.)

Part of being prepared is being able to deal with when you are thrown a curve ball... just something to think about, IMHO...


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## Moonshinedave (Mar 28, 2013)

Salt-N-Pepper said:


> OK, that is quite understandable since that's what you believe... but... that's also leaving yourself no margin of error (theft, unnoticed spoilage, helping others, "stuff happens", etc.)
> 
> Part of being prepared is being able to deal with when you are thrown a curve ball... just something to think about, IMHO...


I believe I'd have to say, if you have 3 1/2 years worth of food, and by then you haven't found a way to start replenishing your supplies, then the world's in a pretty messed up state, and I am sure there won't be very many people around by then. Three and a half years ought to give anyone enough time to start surviving in other ways than just depending on their stockpile. If not then everybody's screwed IMO.


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## Salt-N-Pepper (Aug 18, 2014)

Moonshinedave said:


> I believe I'd have to say, if you have 3 1/2 years worth of food, and by then you haven't found a way to start replenishing your supplies, then the world's in a pretty messed up state, and I am sure there won't be very many people around by then. Three and a half years ought to give anyone enough time to start surviving in other ways than just depending on their stockpile. If not then everybody's screwed IMO.


Well, he's talking about end times here... the world WOULD be in a pretty messed up state so he has a pretty specific goal in mind.

I personally don't believe any of that but I do understand why somebody who does would want to be able to last that amount of time... if that's what he believes, then that's cool... I hope he reaches his goal, we all have our own goals & I hope we all reach them... I just think margins of error are good.


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## just mike (Jun 25, 2014)

12 to 15 months as of now, trying to add more, next up is a Big Berkey for safe water. I also need more storage for fuel, and recently added 27 watts of solar with Li-on batteries to keep communication and other electronics charged.


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## RNprepper (Apr 5, 2014)

At least a year's worth, BUT sustainability is the key. I figure the storage buys me a year's worth of grace to get the sustainability part going full steam. Developing a system for sustainable desert harvesting, gardening, and livestock is the key, especially since my group size will probably expand.


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## Maine-Marine (Mar 7, 2014)

Salt-N-Pepper said:


> OK, that is quite understandable since that's what you believe... but... that's also leaving yourself no margin of error (theft, unnoticed spoilage, helping others, "stuff happens", etc.)
> 
> Part of being prepared is being able to deal with when you are thrown a curve ball... just something to think about, IMHO...


No Margin of Error....LOL.. I am shooting for 3.5 years worth of food and you are critical of my choice that I have no room for error... LOL

Stuff happens no matter what... The day the SHTF I could get killed by a airplane that falls out of the sky...

having 3.5 years worth of food I think is a good start......


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## just mike (Jun 25, 2014)

Reviewing my food and such I found a BIG hole in my preps this morning and it should be cheap to fix. SALT, I have none put back. With meat preservation a priority I think salt is a must-salt fish, salt pork etc. Any thoughts on this from others? I am thinking a five gallon bucket would go a long way.


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## RNprepper (Apr 5, 2014)

just mike said:


> Reviewing my food and such I found a BIG hole in my preps this morning and it should be cheap to fix. SALT, I have none put back. With meat preservation a priority I think salt is a must-salt fish, salt pork etc. Any thoughts on this from others? I am thinking a five gallon bucket would go a long way.


And be prepared with a way to package up small amounts for barter - to everyone else who forgot about salt!


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## Maine-Marine (Mar 7, 2014)

RNprepper said:


> And be prepared with a way to package up small amounts for barter - to everyone else who forgot about salt!


I have salt in mylar... that way it does not get hard


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## RNprepper (Apr 5, 2014)

Another prep to have would be a non electronic scale, able to accurately weigh out salt, wheat, corn, silver, etc.


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## Moonshinedave (Mar 28, 2013)

just mike said:


> Reviewing my food and such I found a BIG hole in my preps this morning and it should be cheap to fix. SALT, I have none put back. With meat preservation a priority I think salt is a must-salt fish, salt pork etc. Any thoughts on this from others? I am thinking a five gallon bucket would go a long way.


I have salt in storage, but not enough, I think it will be the simple things that most of us will forget. Salt and spices are good examples.


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## Salt-N-Pepper (Aug 18, 2014)

Moonshinedave said:


> I have salt in storage, but not enough, I think it will be the simple things that most of us will forget. Salt and spices are good examples.


My wife will roll here eyes when she reads this... I pick up a pound of salt or two a month, and she's like "REALLY?"


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## Makwa (Dec 19, 2014)

Salt........... I always have about 400-500 pounds of salt on hand and I keep it in Rubbermaid garbage cans with liners. This is because I have to salt quite a few bear hides every year. You can buy regular iodized table salt for cheap in 50 pound bags and then mylar bag it in 5 gallon pales. The dinky store containers are a big time rip off. 

The one thing I have trouble finding in bulk is sea salt......... which I love.......... just seems to be in the small shaft you consumer sizes.

As for food, we keep enough for two years. Even if we have a bad year for the garden and suffer complete or partial failure of some things, we are fine. Would take two bad years to start causing us any grief. Meat is never an issue, we raise livestock and hunt. Every year I take the left over frozen meat and make meat sauce, sausage or just chunk it and can it............. then it is good to go for another year or so.

I built a big pantry 4 years ago and we have lots of storage and a system for rotating. There is just the two of us and there won't be any freeloaders.


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## RNprepper (Apr 5, 2014)

You can also buy 50# blocks of white salt in feed stores for about $7. Cheap back up salt. Easy to handle and store. No broken bags. Chip off a bit at a time. I think I will pick up another one next time I'm at the feed store.


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## TacticalCanuck (Aug 5, 2014)

At 2 solid meals a day with a light nibble I could take a family of four out to 5 months right now before the worry would start. Not bad for a years prepping.


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## 8301 (Nov 29, 2014)

TacticalCanuck said:


> At 2 solid meals a day with a light nibble I could take a family of four out to 5 months right now before the worry would start. Not bad for a years prepping.


Way to go!!!.... In my opinion the way to go is to try to have enough to allow time to possibly plant a garden using heirloom seeds. When I got to 3 months supply (with lots of canning supplies) (took several years to get to that point) I figured,,, well,,, if things go bad from early March until mid June we will at least have some chance to grow more to sustain ourselves. Now that I'm easily over 6 months of stockpiled foods I figure I'm good if things go bad from December to mid June (mid June so things have time to grow and we get very dry in August).

I buy a $35 heirloom seed kit every other year and store it double sealed in the refrigerator and plant some of the oldest seed kit every 3rd year. This means I've usually got two seed kits put away for safety and variety and a small garden to practice my canning on. While not a sexy prep grabbing another case of canning jars when I see them is one of my habits. To save money and practice my gardening and canning I use canned jams ect. for Christmas presents. That way I know I'm giving a present that will be used since I make 1st class jams.


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## alterego (Jan 27, 2013)

Reading the commentaries from the readers it is a reinforcement to my mindset that society will completely break down and you will need to utilize force to protect you and yours.

The respondents can not even contemplate the idea of the system break down.


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## littleblackdevil (Jun 29, 2013)

Some of the comments are hilarious. People are just so sure that the normalcy they experience in their daily lives is never going to change. If it does take a turn for the worse there will always be someone there to help them. Its sad really.


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## paraquack (Mar 1, 2013)

Most likely, not long enough. Hope I can a garden going down here.


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## sideKahr (Oct 15, 2014)

"Food? No, officer, I don't have any stored food. Yes, I'm aware of the hoarding laws, but like I said, we just have our weekly rations, like everybody else."


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## TacticalCanuck (Aug 5, 2014)

FoolAmI said:


> Way to go!!!.... In my opinion the way to go is to try to have enough to allow time to possibly plant a garden using heirloom seeds. When I got to 3 months supply (with lots of canning supplies) (took several years to get to that point) I figured,,, well,,, if things go bad from early March until mid June we will at least have some chance to grow more to sustain ourselves. Now that I'm easily over 6 months of stockpiled foods I figure I'm good if things go bad from December to mid June (mid June so things have time to grow and we get very dry in August).
> 
> I buy a $35 heirloom seed kit every other year and store it double sealed in the refrigerator and plant some of the oldest seed kit every 3rd year. This means I've usually got two seed kits put away for safety and variety and a small garden to practice my canning on. While not a sexy prep grabbing another case of canning jars when I see them is one of my habits. To save money and practice my gardening and canning I use canned jams ect. for Christmas presents. That way I know I'm giving a present that will be used since I make 1st class jams.


These are the types of longer term things im starting to think about. This is food for thought - thanks!


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## Piratesailor (Nov 9, 2012)

Maine-Marine said:


> We would not be eating three meals a day.... more like brunch and a late dinner
> 
> We could make 2 loafs of bread a week for 1 year
> 
> ...


exactly. Meal would change in type and frequency. We would not eat like we do now but we sure wouldn't starve and our bellies would be full. Supplementing with some fish we have a very good store of food that would last quite some time. I keep a spreadsheet with what we have on stock and serving sizes, etc. Keep it to be able to make rough order of magnitude decisions about how much we have or don't have and more specifically of what type of food.


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## Moonshinedave (Mar 28, 2013)

How long will my store of food last? Just a little bit longer after my trek to Sams today.


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## paraquack (Mar 1, 2013)

sideKahr said:


> "Food? No, officer, I don't have any stored food. Yes, I'm aware of the hoarding laws, but like I said, we just have our weekly rations, like everybody else."


Food? No officer, I don't have any stored food. I thought you were bringing us this weeks ration.


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## sparkyprep (Jul 5, 2013)

Cows make more cows. Pigs make more pigs. Deer make more deer. Fish make more fish. Heirloom fruits and vegetables make more fruits and vegetables. I have about 6 months of grains, dried beans, rice, grits. Overall, my food supply for my family and I will last indefinitely.


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## Diver (Nov 22, 2014)

Makwa said:


> Salt........... I always have about 400-500 pounds of salt on hand and I keep it in Rubbermaid garbage cans with liners. This is because I have to salt quite a few bear hides every year. You can buy regular iodized table salt for cheap in 50 pound bags and then mylar bag it in 5 gallon pales. The dinky store containers are a big time rip off.
> 
> The one thing I have trouble finding in bulk is sea salt......... which I love.......... just seems to be in the small shaft you consumer sizes.
> 
> ...


Sea salt is often used in water softeners. I get it in 50 lb bags.


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## Diver (Nov 22, 2014)

alterego said:


> Reading the commentaries from the readers it is a reinforcement to my mindset that society will completely break down and you will need to utilize force to protect you and yours.
> 
> The respondents can not even contemplate the idea of the system break down.


What about the answers causes you to say such a thing?


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## alterego (Jan 27, 2013)

We just put 314 lbs of cow in the freezer. We have a portion of a pig in their. Live cows chickens ducks turkey cows wild deer turkey and squirrel. I would believe we have 3 months of can goods only along with rice beans etc. I have 60 bushels of this year's soy beans in the barn and 100 bushels of oats. And a hundred bushel of ground feed for the animals. 

When I get really hungry I will go all north Korean and eat the dogs and cat. Then the neighbors. 

Especially the blond thick ass mom east of our place. I would definitely


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## alterego (Jan 27, 2013)

Diver said:


> What about the answers causes you to say such a thing?


Direct copies of posts from the readers.

But for those you can just keep money in the bank. Why would you store food?

Bingo. Food is "perishable". Money is a "permanent store of value". That's why money exists. It's no fun bartering in pounds of grain any more.

I guess my big question is, how am I going to cook rice-let alone something like dry beans-if there's been a disaster so bad that I'm housebound for six weeks? I have a backpacker stove, but I'm not about to keep six weeks' worth of white gas in my basement.


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## 8301 (Nov 29, 2014)

Try a wood stove, also an alcohol stove is pretty easy to keep a few gallon cans of fuel for, Charcoal grill with some extra charcoal???? I keep all of these and the ability to make a solar stove.

Fuel storage area outside in a small cheap tool shed in on my want list.


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## Diver (Nov 22, 2014)

Double post. Sorry.


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## Slippy (Nov 14, 2013)

alterego said:


> ...
> When I get really hungry I will go all north Korean and eat the dogs and cat. Then the neighbors.
> 
> Especially the blond thick ass mom east of our place. I would definitely


Alterego once again gets a nomination for post of the day.


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## Diver (Nov 22, 2014)

alterego said:


> Direct copies of posts from the readers.
> 
> But for those you can just keep money in the bank. Why would you store food?
> 
> ...


The question isn't about money. It isn't about fuel. It isn't even how much food do you wish you had. You can't infer anything about people's thinking based on this thread. You certainly can't infer that people are suffering normalcy bias as you suggested earlier.


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## whoppo (Nov 9, 2012)

I'm pretty sure we could do a year... maybe 18 months as long as the well doesn't run dry.

After that we start eating neighbors.


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## Makwa (Dec 19, 2014)

alterego said:


> Direct copies of posts from the readers.
> 
> But for those you can just keep money in the bank. Why would you store food?
> 
> ...


People rely on electricity too much in their day to day life. An electric kitchen range leaves you stranded just in a short power outage. We switched to a gas (propane) kitchen range years ago, as well as our hot water is propane. We heat with wood. I have a 500 gallon propane tank and a bunch of 100 pounders. Our kitchen range can run for years on what we have for propane storage. When it is winter and we have the wood heater going we use it and conserve on the propane.......... why run both? In a SHTF situation we would turn off the propane hot water and just heat water on the wood stove.

We had the power go out on Christmas day two years ago for 18 hours. If we were married to the grid it would have been a real bummer, but with a propane range we just carried on and had Christmas dinner. The blizzard raged outside and we could have cared less. After dinner we sat by the wood heater drinking some wine and wondering what the commoners were doing.


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## CrossbowJoe (Dec 21, 2014)

Currently I'm prepared for a short term hold out. _2-3 months_, but that also includes water, sanitation/hygiene, a few other basics, and personal protection.


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## Hawaii Volcano Squad (Sep 25, 2013)

My 30 day prepper test indicated it is not a matter of how long you could survive on stored food items, but how long until you go crazy on that SHTF food with no fresh vegetables & fruit. Two or three weeks max before you get desperate for a piece of lettuce or a tomato.


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