| Most of the stockpiling suggestions here are commonsense preparations for any sort of unexpected emergency. So don't blow all your money on a fancy gas mask being bid up on eBay. There are more useful things to get, and even die-hard survivalists rank gas masks low on their priority list.
Higher up:
- FOOD
- STORABLE FOOD: If you loose electricity, the food in your refrigerator won't last long. Canned food is fine, but it actually does go bad after one or two years. If you want to just stick something in a closet and forget about it, freeze dried food can stay good for one to two decades (although the selection isn't overly appetizing).
- CANNED FOODS: Canned foods have a relatively short shelf-life of a year or two, although Hormel Corned Beef is said to have an indefinite shelf-life. You can see a list of shelf-lives for many products at Y2K kitchen, a site devoted to the last time everyone was talking about these issues.
- MREs (Meals Ready To Eat): MREs are used in the military to give soldiers warm meals without too much preparation. Nothing to add, just heat and eat (or just eat). You can buy them at Army surplus stores like LoadUp, but the best supply we’ve found is at TheEpicenter.com, which offers such entrees as pasta with vegetables in Alfredo Sauce and Beef Teriyaki. The shelf-life of MREs varies depending on the storage temperature; you can keep them at 120 degrees for about a month, but at 50 degrees they'll last around eight years.
- Freeze Dried Foods: Freeze Dried food is a meal that has had all the water sucked out. Add water and once again it's food. Freeze Dried foods have a shelf-life of at least 10 years, although some are supposed to last as long as 20.
- Dehydrated Foods: Dehydrated foods have a little moisture in them, but it is reduced so that they will last 5 to 8 years. Dehydrated foods aren't complete meals, but staple goods like cheese and eggs, so you'll need to prepare them. Google has a good directory of sites selling freeze-dried food.
- Food Storage: If you want to make and store your own food the most popular choice is the Pump'N'Seal, which can be used to vacuum seal food in jars or Ziplock bags. TheEpicenter.com also offers oxygen absorbers that will keep down the oxygen content in a food container. Items like uncooked beans and spaghetti can last for 8 to 10 years in an airtight container. For more information you can read a summary at Bowman’s Brigade.
- WATER
- It's always a good idea to have spare water around: even if you don't get hit by a disaster, your plumbing may break down some day. Fill up a few soda bottles with water, or buy a 55-gallon drum if you prefer. You can find storage drums at places like SouthSummit.com If you have water of suspect quality you can boil it or put a little bleach in it (a couple of drops per quart or get a water distilling kit, which boils water into steam which condenses and then drips into a container, leaving the impurities behind.
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TM
