Your right, I forgot about the weight. I'll look for some 5gallon ones.

Isn't storing a 6 months to 1 year supply of food considered hoarding and isn't it illegal in the US?

>>Isn't storing a 6 months to 1 year supply of food considered hoarding and isn't it illegal in the US?<<

Good grief, whatever gave you that idea?

I was so surprised at this question that I actually suspected you might be a troll, but I checked your past messages, and they seem thoughtful enough, so I have to assume you're sincere.

DESPITE what you may hear in the media, "hoarding" is taking more than your share/more than you need WHEN THERE'S A SHORTAGE. It has absolutely nothing to do with storing for bad times when there's not a shortage and anyone can procure as much as they like.

Ask yourself this simple question- if you do NOT store food or water (because you think it might be "hoarding"), how can that act possibly help anyone else?

If you DO store food and/or water, the worst that can happen, from the perspective of others, is that you are one less drain on resources ("common", or theirs) if a scarcity does occur in the future. To some degree, that's certainly to the benefit of others.

My personal opinion is that some degree of preparedness should be viewed as a civic duty- possibly on a par with voting. No penalties if you don't, but not much sympathy either. After all, people who do NOT prepare are implicity depending on others to rescue/take care of/feed them if things go wrong. Where's the virtue in that?

The word "hoarding" may well be used in a shortage in an attempt to justify outright theft of the property of others, but, as far as I know, there are no laws in the US preventing one from storing any amount of food and water. If there were, several religious groups (Latter-Day Saints and Seventh-Day Adventists come to mind) would have a real problem with that.

If it's illegal then this is the first I have heard of it. Are you a US citizen? Where did you get this information? I just ask because I can't imagine this being illegal in the US (cept in California...of course) although I have no evidence that it is or isn't. I have a 3 month supply of Mainstay rations in the closet. I find it to be humorously absurd for me to think that this could be illegal. <img src="/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

3 months supply of mainstay? You're a braver man than I. I'm not sure if I'd rather have a three month supply of vintage Korean War K-rations or those.

The poster who first mentioned laws regarding hoarding is not a "troll". If you look up the implications of some of the FEMA executive orders that Clinton signed into law you'll see what he's talking about. It's also common for states, themselves, to have laws against hoarding.

Now, is some FEMA soldier going to come into my house and take my stores of beans and rice? ....from my cold dead hands. <img src="/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />

Anything legal can be made illegal, overnight.

Sounds like another reason to not advertise if and how well you've prepared. This is true both before and after an Event... if your neighbors don't see you standing in the bread line occasionally, they'll start to wonder.

Not yet, at least not that I'm aware of. Anybody know any different, and don't mention it to the H.S. folks, they don't need any MORE screwed up ideas <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />.

The earth moves in a number of ways simultaneously.

The earth turns, of course, once per day. This rotation is actually slowing as the earth gradually becomes tidally locked with respect to the sun (much as the moon only shows one face to the Earth). This gradual process will take billions of years.

The earth also revolves around the sun (once per year) in a very slightly eliptical orbit. This rotation will also (eventually) slow and the earth will spiral into ever-closer orbits. Again, gradual, and would take billions of years or more. In fact, the sun will expand and engulf the earth five billion years from now, long before the earth has lost any noticable altitude.

Our magnetic poles do reverse from time to time. This appears to coincide with major climate changes on earth, lasting thousands of years. If this does happen, we'll have plenty of warning, and plenty of time to react.

Weird factoid: the earth is closer to the sun during what we in the northern hemisphere consider winter. It's the fact that the earth rotates slightly tilted that gives us seasons: during summer our hemisphere tilts towards the sun, getting longer days with more direct sunlight. Where'd the tilt come from? Not sure, probably an asteroid impact early in our history.

OK, here's where your 26,000 year cycle comes into play: the earth actually wobbles (like a spinning top) in a regular circular motion. it's very slight, and achingly slow, but someday we'll have a different northern star because the earth will be pointing in a slightly different direction. That's your cycle. The thing is, it's GRADUAL. It's already been going on for billions of years, and will continue to do so. It's going on right now. It's called "precession" or "precession of the equinnoxes". Absolutely no danger. It's only the accident of our north pole happening to point at a star that even made precession noticable to ancient astronomers.

If anything did suddenly make a noticable change to our axis of rotation, all the food on earth wouldn't save you-- the angular momentum of the Earth is gigantic. Any changes would likely kill most complex life on our surface and make the world permanently (ie for thousands of years) uninhabitable for any survivors.

One astronomical disaster that is worth looking at, in my opinion, is an intrasolar collison. An asteroid or comet would do unbelievable damage (depending on how big it is and how it impacts, could be a massive disaster, or the end of civilization, or the end of humanity altogether). One scenario, for example, triggers earthquakes / volcanic eruptions, drowns major oceanside population centers in unbelievable tsunamis, drenches the world in months of (initially salty) rain, starts a new Ice Age, disrupts the ionosphere (interfereing with radio) and otherwise ruins our day.

Frankly, tornados, hurricanes, train/plane/automobile crashes, heat wave-induced power interruptions, forest fires, terrorism and earthquakes are far more likely. I'd be fully prepared for these menaces before I lost sleep over anything more exotic.

Actually, the earth is moving away from the Sun, but really, really slowly.

(Yeah, it's a minor nit, but I noticed and it's late and I'm bored and...)

<img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Hmmm - Hoarding in Wartime I think was an illegal, if not morally condemned, activity in WWII.

I found this website about pharmecuticals and some mention of hoarding
http://www.ncsl.org/programs/health/Rxemerg.htm
It mentions the hoarding of drugs which could be connected to illegal activities.

I have found lots of Depression articles of people hoarding gold, and then again in the 80's doing the same thing. No real mention of the legality of the hoarding, but several references to money laundering.

I did find a site called Findlaw.com and did a search
http://lawcrawler.findlaw.com/scripts/lc...ubmit=Search%21
interesting that Lawyers can be accused of Hoarding information.

The hoarding of supplies, whether food, drugs or other supplies does not seem, in my small search on the internet, be illegal by it's self, but in an indication or pointer to a real illegal activity, such as black market drug sales, money laundering and terrosrist activities.

Because of the Patriot Act, it is my opinon, that if a government offical believes you are hoarding supplies, you can be investigated for terrorist connections and activities.

puts a whole new spin on taking care of your family, doesn't it?

Rena