Urban Survival Question: Part One:?

It must be nice to have so few problems in life you have to dream up and prepare for " what if scenarios" to occupy yourself.

But if I were to hazard a guess I would guess that this is just a fantasy question in order to have a social interaction with others.

Am I correct, or do you actually do these things?

Not knocking you because I believe everyone is on here for the social aspect of it. You could get precise correct answers by looking it up. But this forum is like talking to friends, asking and answering others opinions, arguing and debating.

Sort of odd. I just realized I answered your question merely to interact with others. I don't have a clue as to the correct answer to your question.

Newell, I might regret this, but check out www.survivalblog.com

You're on the right track with the Co2/mylar bag method. Canned food has a limited shelf life (but I like to use it because its easier to rotate into your daily "normal life" foods).

Its best to think in time increments about this: what do I do in the first three days? The first month? Six months? What is the most likely threat? The least likely?

I clearly remember the LA riots: albeit through TV. Here in Detroit there was a similar incident (Malice Green/Budsen/Nevers look it up if you aren't familiar) soon afterwards; and tensions in the city were VERY high for a long time. If the verdict had gone differently, it may have made LA look like a Sunday picnic.

Nobody here will now admit it, but the power outage in 2003 could have gone very badly: what if it lasted for another 3 days? What if it had happened in the middle of winter when your snot freezes on your face?

No, general preparedness is NOT paranoia, its simply good planning.

the dry ice treatment won't kill the bugs as the cold blast is too short in duration. Insects in a dormant state and insect eggs can withstand very cold conditions for quite a long time. If the whole thing isn't below freezing for at least 24 hours you can't even be sure you are knocking out the living active bugs.

I've also heard the dry ice treatment described as a way of suffocating the bugs with C02...again it will have zero impact on insect eggs and on insects in a dormant state.

what makes a big difference is total lack of moisture.

I would recommend you skip the dry ice part. Move to a smaller container, package it, and place the container in your freezer for a week. Take it out. If anything survived it is likely to hatch or reactivate in the near future thanks to the warming. Refreeze it in a month or so.

Also consider using Diatomaceous Earth which is really the fossilized remains of an ancient type of algae that had spikey little shells. Some people seem to think the bugs eat the stuff as they eat the grain and it cuts up their insides. What actually happens is that all arthropods have a waxy lipid on their exoskeleton and the D.E. interacts with that and dehydrates them.

So you put in a scoop of D.E. and then roll the bucket of grain around to spread the D.E. around inside (it's like dust, very fine grained stuff)

Another benefit of smaller packages is you will run a smaller risk of recontaminating it once it is opened to eat during a disaster. Think about it, if SHTF enough that you have to dig into your stored grain, how long will it take you to consume 5 gallons of grain? You may eat through only half before it goes bad due to bugs or mold or whatever. 1 gallon containers means you will be more likely to re-open it and consume it before it gets infested.

Test your methods by opening up and consuming 10% of your stores when it is 1 year old and then again when it is 2 years old. This is a good way to judge how effective your techniques are as well as to practice how you are going to cook the stuff you DO have.

actually the best way is probably to consume your stores after 3 years. Consume and replace with an equal amount. Obviously if you put 5 gallons of grain in storage once a month after 20 years you won't have any room left to LIVE!

Finally, a little bit of extra protein won't hurt.

If you keep a two week supply of food and water on hand you should get through any disaster scenario just fine. Since you are planning to "ride out the storm" at home, you don't have to worry about having an easily transportable supply. The supplies you are stocking up on should not expire in two weeks, so all you have to do is eat the same things you normally do, and rotate the stock. For emergency purposes, you may want to consider adding energy bars, beef jerky, canned fruits and vegetables, and maybe some vitamin supplements to your stockpile.

A lightweight stove such as those used by hikers and campers would be a good idea too, if you don't already have them. Make sure that you lay in a good supply of fuel for it. I would keep a personal water filter and or some water purification tablets handy as well.

If the situation is not resolved in two weeks, you may want to consider moving on. In that case a few of these should get you to civilization:

http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/CAMP242-1.html

A major earthquake is more likely than a nuclear attack, but fortunately, most of the preparation is the same: Keep a supply of water, first aid supplies, blankets, and non-perishable food at all times. A grill with several bags of charcoal will let you cook and keep warm as needed (not as big of an issue in LA as, say Buffalo.) For sanitary use, you can use a bucket with trash bags as liners and a few big bags of kitty litter to scoop in after each use. Weapons and ammo to protect yourself from looting mobs will come in handy, but you've got that in spades.

One day every year, go through your supplies and replace anything that is losing its usefulness, such as nearly-expired food or medicine, or moth-eaten clothes or blankets. The other 364 days of the year, you really don't have to spend any energy thinking about it, unless it's your hobby. If it's a hobby that reinforces negative beliefs about your fellow-human beings, or if you find yourself half-hoping for a disaster as a way of changing your life, I'd suggest you get a new hobby. Fast.

Actually, I believe Nagasaki is in hilly terrain. I have never been there so I can not comment on if it is similar to LA, but a bomb blast in hilly terrain will still tend to mess things up.

Anyway, your procedure does look pretty sound. One comment I will make is that when you are using dry ice, you are not freezing the creatures in the food items, you are actually asphyxiating them with CO2.

The only part that concerns me is your sealing method. I can not quite picture in my mind how you are sealing the mylar bag without destroying the work you are doing with the dry ice. When you are sealing, just keep in mind that CO2 is more dense than air, so as the dry ice evaporates, it fills the bucket/bag with CO2, just like you were filling it with water. You want to keep as much of the gas in there as possible, so when you are sealing it, you want to move the bag as little as possible to ensure the CO2 doesn't spill out.

That being said, personally I'd opt for canned foods like another fellow said, but to each their own. In a SHTF scenario, I would have concerns about cooking whole grains. I would make sure you have a grain mill to grind it into flour in case you do not have a way to cook things.

Other than that, your methodology is pretty sound.

Hi Newell! I wouldn't bother and go through all that. I remember my mom storing dried beans for years in our pantry! She kept them in big glass jars with screw on lids. I would just prepare as needed,that way you don't run the risk of spoilage and food poisoning! You could also have the guys come back and dig your hole out,where the guns are,and make it into a "bomb shelter" That was the craze in the 60s! Everyone had one! A lot of them ended up being nice rec rooms! :)

I will just simply hope and pray that nothing goes wrong with yours and Daniel`s computers. What would you guys do in case of a bomb that wiped out the electrical grid. I think an electrical back-up system whether solar or wind would need to be in place asap.

PS If you were my age you would have two LA riots to add to your emotional baggage.

location if anything happened is critical! you would be in the heart of the storm probably if anything happens west of the Ms. river! you would need much less ammo in theory if you lived in a less populated area. rotate your foodstocks as one guy mentioned. i would lean toward canned goods also. stay away from grains so much cause they will get bugs in them eventually. remember too that you may want to relocate after the fact-bagged foods may not survive a blast or collapsed building.

Canned food is the way to go.

Consider this. There is probably a greater likelihood of a natural disaster stricking LA than an atom bomb. An earthquake for example.

I bought 2 cheap Rubbermaid plastic 18 gallon bins and loaded them with canned foods and a few other items like a can opener, swiss army knife, sternos and cigarette lighters. This easily works-out to a 2 week supply of food for me. If I ration it, I can probably go an entire month.

The nice thing about canned foods is that they are sealed tight and will keep out germs, mold, biological agents, etc..

As far as your tastes in food are concerned. When you are really really hungry, you will eat just about anything. What you describe is simply too complicated. As they say, "Keep It Simple Stupid".