As per the rules of the forum, we are not to discus the how nor the why of a monetary, governmental or some other total collapse.

There's a lot of discussions on what to do in the event of a natural or man-made disaster. A lot of that can be applied here. In this scenario, power and water will not be restored and trucks are not coming in with food.

I have or am rebuilding a two-month supply. I am able to have a three-month supply of some things. We live on a small lot so gardening will not yield much.

I like what Kathryn Schulz wrote in her article "How to Stay Safe When the Big One Comes."

My own theory about earthquake preparedness is that the perfect is the enemy of the good: don’t choose to stock nothing because you can’t stock everything. Got money and space to spare? Great: fill a shelf with water and nonperishable foods. Throw in duct tape and a tool kit. Throw in a hand-cranked radio, a water purifier, iodine. Don’t have much money or space? Make a small kit with whatever you can fit and afford. Everything you have, you’ll use; everything you can do for yourself frees up emergency resources for those in even greater need.

I agree. Do everything you can with the money and space you have. What if there are no emergency resources?

What can be done beyond natural disaster preparedness?

Jeanette Isabelle

Whatever the catalyst, survival for any period of time comes down to the same things: shelter, water, food. And depending on your situation: meds and medical skills.

You'll either shelter-in-place or evacuate somewhere (transportation).

Something you can do for no or low-cost these days is to acquire knowledge. So I'd put that on the to-do list, especially in regard to first-aid. Other useful knowledge would include food preservation (canning, dehydration).

In regard to transportation, I'd have a bicycle for backup. Power outage means no functioning gas station (unless they have a generator). Great little-used bikes can be found cheap at garage sales. Or Craigslist.

I'd also have a bicycle trailer to haul cargo. Used child trailers can be found cheap or their are cargo trailers (less common) or you could build your own.

How's your supply of water? Seems few people have near enough water for drinking, let alone sanitation. A rain barrel, or two, could give you a supply for flushing toilets, etc. They are not as expensive as I had expected.

Once you have a few months of supplies (very difficult in regard to water storage) then I recommend focusing on normal life and preparing for things like old age (retirement savings).

And, of course, continue daily wise preparedness habits -- such as keeping car gas tanks above half-full.



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I don't understand how the knowledge of canning could be helpful. I can't can food if I don't have food to can.

That knowledge is not helpful for now either. Let me explain. The space used to store canning supplies can be better utilized to store food.

Jeanette Isabelle

Don't store canning supplies. Go to the local farmer's market and use the canning supplies to store emergency food. Can what you will eat and let use keep the rotation current. You may not be able to can food as cheaply as store bought cans but the quality can be much better. I have never found a store bought sweet pickle that is better than our recipe.

Where am to put them when not in use?

Jeanette Isabelle

a good place to start is the Wendy DeWitt Video... she is the pro from Dover for LDS food storage... the video is long, but well worth it, and changed the way I put away some long term staples in addition to the rotated short term supplies... if you vacuum pack in glass canning jars, you have the jars if high value meat protein is available at a later date... you do, in fact need a bit of basic equipment pressure canning equipment... for smoked meat or biltong not so much... LDS maintains that you can store 1 year of long term storage under your bed...I'm single, so the smaller quart jars are my best answer...YMMV





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOLuIApyNPc

If you are not getting the stuff to can from the garden, can in smaller batches. A batch was about 12 jars or less depending on the size of the pressure cooker and jar size. We were canning vegetables, pickles, and kraut as the particular raw material got ripe in the garden. This meant that we were doing multiple batches of each item. We had a set of shelves in the basement. IIRC they were floor to ceiling, 48" wide, & 12-18" deep. I don't remember where we kept the empties but you could put them back on the shelf with the full jars. Occasionally move them so the empties are together. When you have a batch worth, can some more of whatever you are lowest on. This way, you only have a batch or so of jars and the pressure cooker to store. If you don't use the pressure cooker for other things, you could also keep the empty jars in the cooker.

ADDED PS

We currently are only doing an occasional batch of pickles sized to match the recipe and get the cucumbers from the farmer's market. We are keeping empties on the shelf above the full jars. If we start keeping a garden again, we will probably just run multiple batches and put the empties where we can on the same set of shelves.

Let me see if I have this right. The equipments takes up space and it is more expensive than canned items at Sam's Club. Let me add that if I drop a can, it normally does not burst. If I drop a jar, it breaks. This is not a good position to be in during a disaster situation.

Jeanette Isabelle

Jeanette

some simple positive thoughts.

1. Do NOT give up on growing stuff. If you try to live on canned goods for 3 months, you will find yourself wanting to KILL for any fresh vegetable. Get a few pots. Grow a few tomatoes, and some simple vegetables with green leaves. You can cut up the fresh leaves and throw them in a can of heated chili. It's a lifesaver. Trust me.

2. Vitamin pills, and especially Vitamin C.

3. suntan lotion - you could be outside a lot

4. lots of crackers and tuna fish. Simple meal, but super fast. and sometimes fast is good.

5. think about some containers of lemon juice. we're back to that "fresh vege" thing. I find that people really crave Vitamin C (lemons, tomatoes, strawberries) after they have been on canned goods for a couple of weeks. Even one teaspoon of lemon juice every day - will taste like Heaven.

Good luck!!
Pete

In that case I would prefer protectiv clothing instead.
Like people living in Sahara, don´t think they use suntan lotions. Instead they have loose fitting clothing to protect them from the sun.