Survival storage tips

Survival storage tips

Finally, you’ve had enough of the worrying and procrastination – you’re going to put together emergency food storage for you and your family. Don’t know where to start? Look no further!

1)      Start a spreadsheet. You need to know what you have and what you need. Remember the major food groups and include every one. Of course, things like dairy need to be in powdered form. It sounds gross, but technology these days gets it pretty close to the real thing.

2)      Know the shelf life of all your food. If you want to be extra safe and take it easy on yourself, you can actually order meal plans that have a guaranteed long shelf life. If you want to do it the old fashioned way, however, that’s a different story. Know the basics of shelf life – a bag of flour (unopened) will last 5 years, white rice will last 30 years, and pancake mix will last 8 years. Freeze dried fruits and vegetables will usually last 20 years or more. Apple and banana chips will last about 5 years.

3)      Know where you’re going to store all of your emergency food. You can either spread your food around the house, in tiny niches where they can go unnoticed until they’re needed, or all in one place, like a shed or garage. What you really need to pay attention to is that everything is packed properly. If you have a hole in the pre-packed bag, throw it out. Everything you have should be sealed so no air can get in or out. Without this, storing your food is useless.

4)      Label everything! If you have something prepackaged, it’ll be already done for you. However, if you’re packaging it yourself, include a label. If you’re fighting to find the beans and you keep coming up with rice, you’ll get frustrated or panicked. It’s also helpful to include the date it was packaged and when you expect it to expire. If you really want to go all out, also include the amount.

5)      Don’t just think food – what are you going to need to prepare your food? Have extra measuring cups, pots and pans, a little camping oven or stove, can openers, knives, forks, spoons, etc. Chances are you can’t get everything you’ll ever need, but you can get really close.

6)      Water is even more important that food. Have extra water storage somewhere around the house – at least three days, but anything more is always good. Store it properly – a tainted water source can cause all sorts of problems no one will have time to deal with in a time of emergency. It’s also good to have a water filtration system somewhere – whether it’s purifying tablets, water bottle filters, or a full system complete with a pump or a hose. It’ll be an absolute disaster if you don’t have access to water at all times.

7)      The last and final tip is important: never stop preparing! You may think you have everything, but usually you don’t! Keep adding items to your emergency storage as you think of them. The more you have, the more options you can choose from. 

If you haven’t planned yet, it’s never too late to start, (well unless the disaster is already here).