from Walmart

WalMart 12 day (one person) food bucket

Nice find, but bad reviews (content is not as advertised).

Somehow I think one could do better filling his/her own bucket,but it is way better than nothing.

I thought about that, but one will need to spend a lot upfront (dehydrator, vacuum sealer, oxygen absorbent, etc) + a lot of time for research and tedious work. Spending just $40 looks much more attractive.

kinda sorta on topic...just in case some new members are not familiar with Mrs Wendy DeWitt...the video is a must see (it is about 1 1/2hrs long)if you are thinking about long term food storage, pdf file is a breakdown of her system

http://allaboutfoodstorage.com/wp-content/uploads/EVERYTHING-UNDER-THE-SUN-2010-word.pdf

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

There exist cheaper buckets, where you get a whole month of 2,000 calories a day, not a mere 12 days; The price of that bucket is TWICE that of competition;

84.99 https://www.costco.com/330-Total-Serving...t.11649759.html

year supply works out to $63+tax for a month http://beprepared.com/year-supply-of-basics.html

look at the ingredients, count the calories, then compare the price; you don't need a vacuum sealer or dehydrator or or any special equipment to store whiterice/oatmeal/macaroni for a year
add some cans of refried beans, salsa, chili, meat ... which also don't require any special storage packaging
just keep it in your pantry, inspect pantry regularly for insect infestation, and eat some regularly its cheaper than this bucket

If you want to go longer term, buy some screw-on-buckets, or save some 2-liter soda-bottles, and do some dry-ice fumigation -- store whiterice/beans/wheat ... store away from light+heat and you're good for 30 years, DIY, without special equipment, without special order just by shopping at any grocery store

Also, a lot of research isn't required, food preservation is of interest to everybody, there are lots of resources to be leveraged:)
Wendy DeWitt seems do a good job of communicating some of these preservation techniques but she doesn't provide references; I like references, they promote beliveability so if you want some more references see

Emergency Food: Gimmick that Preys on Fears?
Dry bean/rice storage

CO2 and Nitrogen
Dry Ice
wheat
insect-treatments
packing with oxygen absorbers
oxygen absorbers and long term food storage
Food Storage FAQ's
PRUDENT FOOD STORAGE: Questions & Answers Alan T. Hagan
faqv4 mirror

Long-Term Food Storage, by Robert Wayne Atkins, P.E. - Grandpappy
Shelf Life of Canned and Dry Foods by Robert Wayne Atkins, P.E. - Grandpappy
One-Year Emergency Food Supply by Robert Wayne Atkins, P.E. - Grandpappy

Yeah for four people that's 3 days which is more preps than probably 90% of people have. The reviews pretty universally say that the bags are flimsy and leak.

I saw it at walmart just before this thread was created and I have to say it has gotten me kind of interested in getting into long term storage (20+ year type storage) of about 1-2 months worth of food and water for 4 people. Going to have to start looking into this.

While we are on Costo /Walmart /Sam's Club

What about something like these?

http://www.costco.com/181-Total-Servings...t.11748471.html

(20 pounds Oats, mylar Bag, 6 gallon bucket with Gamma lid priced at 32.99)

similar, cornmeal 35 pounds 44.99, 40 pounds hard white winter wheat 44.99, Etc.

I like the setup- Good buckets, great lids, Mylar- no idea about brand or quality or pricing.

Brand appears to be THRIVE, or SHELF RELIANCE.

No buying buckets, lids, mylar, supplies, or do it yourself...

Thoughts, comments?

In the UK we don't have such products available from the Supermarkets, but that doesn't really present a problem.

I can get 20Kg grains in food grade buckets direct from the farm online shop and delivered directly. Even 100 Kg or 5x20kg Buckets can be a pain/expense to handle if going down to the supermarket to pick up.

http://www.browfarmonlinestore.co.uk/product-category/milling-gains/

They don't come in Mylar bags but this is easy to do your self using Mylar bags oxygen absorbers etc available from

http://www.fresherpack.co.uk/products/11...old_up_to_20kg/

Smaller individual mylar bags can be created i.e. 2 or 4 kg individual bags of milling grains for bread for 1 weeks use during an emergency. I personally like to also vacuum seal 1 or 2 kg bags of quality Basmati/Arborio/pudding rice or other grains such as barley/steel cut oats/Scotch Broth mixes, dried pulses and beans etc, before sealing in individual Mylar bags together to customize individual buckets for 1 to 2 weeks use. This means I don't have to open all the buckets at the same time and break the mylar seals.

Sealing Mylar isn't really a mystery and will probably outlast the commercial buckets

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_ux2gg0X-s

Edit ... Oh and none of it is contaminated with GMO.