Food Storage: How much do you have right now?

It goes without saying that food is a top priority for survival from any perspective. No matter what happens, food will be needed. If you get hit by a tsunami, you’ll need food (and potable water!!!) and it may be ruined and scattered all over the area with the rest of your belongings except for what you managed to keep in a Bug out Bag or other Survival/Emergency Kit. If you’re snowed in during a storm, you better have supplies. If inflation sends food prices up 25% each passing year (or each passing WEEK! yes, can happen) trust me on this one, you will wish you had put aside that food stash you never got around to prepare. And if nothing ever happens… yes, you still need to eat, don’t you?

I recently came across this great video by Wendy Dewitt on food storage. It’s a bit long but worth every minute. It is a must watch video, people.

She also has an excellent guide available on line on her website.
http://allaboutfoodstorage.com/wp-content/uploads/EVERYTHING-UNDER-THE-SUN-2010-word.pdf
Wendy also has a DVD which I plan on buying ASAP.

Sensible Food Storage: Storing the Foods You Love to Eat



One last time, I know some of you guys don’t like youtube, please just click on it and watch it, you’ll thank me later.

Canning and food preservation can be as basic or as complex as you want to make it. If nothing else, learn to read the expiration dates and stock up a well balanced supply of store bought canned food. With little money you can put up a cache of sugar, flour, canned meat, oil and vegetables that will last for a very long time. Start small until you get the hang of it, but do start. Your ultimate objective is having six to twelve months of food, but don’t wait and at the very least get a month worth of food as soon as you can.
The sales found in supermarkets and dollar stores are sometimes ridiculous. You can make a significant purchase of supplies with a 50 Usd bill.

Before you even ask about canned food real expiration date:
In 1820, William Perry (Parry) took an expedition in search of the Northwest Passage, toward the North Pole. He took with him some canned meats. At the time, food canning was about a 10-year-old technology.
At least one can of meat was not used and wound up in a museum in England. In 1938, it was opened and found to be edible. It was fed to a cat which suffered no ill effects from eating the 118-year-old meat.
http://www.internet-grocer.net/how-long.htm

Food is still cheap and plentiful. That hasn’t always been the case. Don’t expect it to stay that way forever.

FerFAL

The Dogo Argentino

Dogo Argentino

   

  

Owning many dogs over the years, I had never heard of a Dogo until reading your book. On a whim I answered a Craigslist ad for adoption. I had a very elderly Wiemer and was looking to soften the family blow when he went down. After a long talk, with the woman describing the dog in detail, she then said there is just one catch, while the dog is fully trained, he is deaf. I told her thats ok, I would still like to meet him. Long story short we gave the dog a try even with the disability. I have to tell you, he is the most awesome creature I have ever owned. Smart, funny, extremely loving, incredibly loyal and I just dare anyone, deaf dog or not, to come into this house uninvited. Within 5 or 10 minutes he knows someone is on the premises through smell. The surprise for the intruder may be slightly delayed, but the none the less deadly. Thanks for the recommendation of an incredible animal. Oh, and the fee for adopting a AKC Canine Good Dog fully trained (sign language) Dogo? $100.00. If a hearing Dogo is 1/5 what this deaf dog is the breed is worth every penny a breeder asks.

-Anon

Congratulations and thanks for giving that Dogo a second chance!

Indeed, only Dogo Argentino owners know what its like to have one. People tend to think its hype, that people are just fans of whatever dog they own, or that its just too good to be true. You read on line about this or that dog being great for guard duty, protection or whatever, then most of them turn out to be pretty much the same, with huge variations in character depending on each specific dog. 

I was talking online with a guy not that long ago about dogs, and he said that if the Dogo Argentino was that great every police agency and military unit would use it instead of using Malinois and German Shepherds. I explained that its still a very new breed of dog when looking at the big picture, and besides, its not the easiest dog to train. Still, I find it outstanding for what I want, especially as a dog with unbelievable family protection instincts while still having a cool temper, loving but not needy and capable to tearing apart and dog or person you put in front of it.  I had an excellent German Shepherd once, fancy German bloodline (expensive!), an outstanding dog on its own right, but I still prefer the Dogo Argentino.

People that don’t know the breed or how it was created think its just a big white dog, another one of many.  Most people, including dog experts, cant even identify it most of the time and confuse it with something else.

If you have the space, time, previous big dog experience and personality so as to handle it, the Dogo Argentino is in my opinion the best dog you can have as a family protection/hunting/companion dog.

FerFAL

USA and Argentina Comparisons

Fox News about a civil war and what is happening in the US and Argentina. Found it interesting.

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2013/01/03/were-now-one-step-closer-to-america-coming-civil-war/?intcmp=obnetwork#ixzz2H35m4sbt

Have a happy new year!

K-

We're now one step closer to America's coming civil war

By Arthur Herman

Published January 03, 2013

FoxNews.com

The New Year has started with a monstrosity of a budget deal, one that proves that neither political party, Democrats or Republicans, is really serious about controlling the growth of big government.
But soap opera dramatics about fiscal "cliffs" and sequestration shouldn’t deflect from where President Obama is really taking this country. Consider this story from the Wall Street Journal a few days before Christmas:
“Thousands of people in several Argentine cities ransacked supermarkets for a second day in the latest challenge to President Chistina Kirchner, who is struggling to revive a weak economy...In the central city Rosario, two people were killed during the incidents and 137 people arrested.

Washington's Republicans and Democrats alike have become the toll collectors on the road to serfdom

-

“The violence puts Mrs. Kirchner in a difficult position as the poor are [her] core constituents...Her government spends billions of dollars a year to help low income families, including free health care...[Yet] Argentine activists who claim to represent the poor traditionally block access to supermarkets in the month of December to demand free food and other items...The latest events were some of the worst acts of looting and vandalism in years.... Local media showed dozens of men, women, and children hauling away televisions, refrigerators, and food.”
Some have said my warnings about a coming civil war between makers and takers are exaggerated. It’s true that Argentina’s politicians have been waging class warfare since Juan and Eva Peron–and they aren’t fazed when it turns bloody. Obama and the Democrats are relative newcomers to the game. But Argentina reveals who really suffers when those who create a nation’s wealth get mugged by those who spend it–as just happened this week in Washington.
It’s the poor and the middle class, the very ones big government says it’s trying to protect.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2013/01/03/were-now-one-step-closer-to-america-coming-civil-war/?intcmp=obnetwork#ixzz2HEuCGHgY

Survival in a Condominium?

Hi Ferfal,

I bought your book and then decided not to buy a home as a backup plan that was about 9 miles outside of Tehachapi, California, USA and 1 mile from the nearest neighbor.

I could consider a home in a gated community, in the town of Tehachapi.  The town has a hospital, about 13,000 people and is 40 miles from a town of 350,000 people.

But, I am starting to wonder how much different it would be from where I am now.  I live in Los Angeles now on the second floor of 3-story condominium building.  I thought about how you said order is restored first in the city and that's where the food and work are.  I would of course, get food, safes, gun, secure door, windows, security cam., etc.  Any thoughts?

Also, do you know how condominiums fared after the collapse?  I am worried about others not being able to pay their dues.

Thanks again,

Tim

Hi Tim, from a purely practical point of view, if you’re in a good condo on a somewhat safe neighborhood, and you add an alarm and a good security door, your home will be pretty safe. A condo can be safer and easier to secure than a place in the suburbs or an isolated home in the sticks. If you have security in your building even more so, it will be pretty safe in comparison to anything other than a closed gated community with good security. While you do want to avoid the big mayor cities like LA and New York, generally speaking, living outside a city isn’t that much about a practical choice, but more about quality of life regarding having more room and open green spaces, grass for the kids to play and such. 

As you correctly note, resources both during disasters and financial crisis are generally focused on mayor population areas where it benefits the most people. Granted, not the best place to be during a flu pandemic, war (where your location may be close to a strategic target, or be one itself!) or an earthquake, but in general the benefits are greater than the disadvantages from a purely practical perspective. Then again, most of us just don’t like living in big cities, and life’s just too short for not doing what we like. As said before, I find that living in the suburbs of a medium size town or small city presents the best compromise. 

For some time I found myself living in a condo in Buenos Aires. In spite of the huge crime problems in the city and the fact that I didn’t like living in it, I must admit it was the safest place I had been in while living in Argentina. There was a bank on the ground floor and a cop posted right in front of our door all day long. The windows that I had were secured with sturdy burglar bars, and I had the door replaced with a security armored one that locked on all 4 sides of the steel frame. Walls were brick and mortar construction. 

One of the biggest problems in a condo is the lack of space for storage and also the issue of waste disposal if the waste collection service stops or becomes inefficient. As you note, your neighbors can be a problem as well. While some can be an asset, others may be slackers or downright criminals. You just never know who’s moving into the building next. A nicer middle class or higher end type of building does help, but keep in mind that even those can deteriorate along with the rest of society.

 Your planning should also include a bug out location outside the city you already reside in, and its not a bad idea to pre-position some of your supplies there.

Other tan that, don’t beat yourself too much about it!

FerFAL

USA Collapse: How Bad Will it Be?

Today while reading a thread in a survival forum someone explained his view on how different a collapse in USA would be compared to the one that took place in Argentina in 2001. He said that while the collapse in Argentina was like changing a tire on a Ford Falcon, what will happen in US will be like changing them all on a 18-wheeler.

Changing a tire on a Falcon is a light way of putting it. Our economy collapsed, our currency lost 70% of its value overnight and the president resigned while anarchy spread all over the country. Over a decade later the place is still a mess, it simply never got back on its feet. Just last week, looting spread across 40 major cities in Argentina. My family and friends over there spend three days, including Christmas, without power or water, while roasted at 120F. We didn’t change the tire on a Ford Falcon. The Falcon went over the cliff and blew up. You could say there’s only a wreckage left of what was once a nice, shiny Ford Falcon. 

Unfortunately for you guys in USA its more similar than any of us could have expected. Seems that right after getting an Obama doble tap, you’ll get hit with Hillary Clinton in 2016.  The shit storm your’re about to go through will test everyone’s determination and true preparedness levels. Its now and in these coming years that people will get to see for themselves what works and what doesn’t. Many such accounts have already been posted here the last couple years.

If USA fully collapses, the dollar becomes pretty much worthless and you one day wake up in Bolivia, in that case and from an individual perspective, you’ll go through what we did in Argentina. You’ll start bartering for a living like thousands did in Argentina. When you realize the problems concerning bartering you’ll try making money to survive on whatever new currency replaces the US  dollar. Will it get that bad? Lets hope not. But if it does, then the life challenges you’ll be facing on a personal level aren’t in anyway unique. A lot of people have had to go through that.

You know what a common saying for most Argentines? “ It’s the same thing everywhere you go. Anywhere you go around the world these days there’s crime, there’s inflation, problems, etc”. That’s how Argentines go into denial, convincing themselves that their shitty reality isn’t unique to them. Those of us that know better want to scream “No, its not! A lot of people around the world live MUCH better than you do!”. I’ve done that myself, but its of no use, people prefer to stay in denial. Denial is a powerful survival mechanism so as to not go nuts. It’s the way in which your psyche tells itself that what you are going through is ok, its normal. Saying that if USA goes to hell everyone else goes along with it is the same thing. Just like any other Empire or world power in history, if one day USA becomes a shadow of what it once was, it will slowly fade away as its doing now in many ways. Maybe there’s still time to reverse things, maybe its too late, I don’t know, but if it continues this way, other than a few iconic moments and incidents, its a slow decaying process. There’s going to be other places where quality of life is better, and eventually another country or group of countries may rise above it to take its place. 

There’s thousands of people preparing for whats coming using the novel Patriots and Doomsday Preppers as guidelines. You know how useful that is for what the future holds for you in USA as of today? Zip, nada, nothing. Rather the contrary, instead of helping, people will make the wrong decisions which will at the very least cost them money they can no longer afford to lose. Look south across the border to see what crime and violence in USA may look like one day. Add to that a government that is not only tending toward socialist authoritarianism, but effective at it too.

FerFAL