while I've always had a hurricane pantry good for a couple of weeks, I started "long term" storage this last year...like most,I purchased inexpensive staples like rice, pinto beans, powdered milk, potato buds, cocoa, tea, salt, sugar, pasta, and decided on vacuum food sealer bags rather than mylar bags and buckets... I reshelved my regularly eaten goods on an open shelf as it helps me in visual inventory to rotate stock....if I had seen the Wendy DeWitt video on YouTube (1hr 27min) first, I would have chosen to vacuum can in glass jars....after opening, the jars can be resealed with the original lids, not so easy to do with the plastic bags.. while it would take up a little more room, I think smaller portion size in glass jars would be more practical (store in cardboard boxed the jars are packed in in a dark place)... and probably cheaper in the long run...the rectangular vacuum food saver packs do not stack efficiently in a round bucket... if you have access to an LDS cannery, that is the best option.... I think my next purchase is a solar oven like the SOS Sport, and possibly invest in a pressure canner to put away some meat...a jar vacuum sealer is on the shopping list for sure, and will replace the bags in the future, and possibly repack those already sealed... there are a couple of vids where automotive hand vacuum pumps can be used to seal jars in case of power outage...