Preps

[bowdrill]

Do you all know how long your preps will last and if so how have you calculate Ed this
And has any body lived totally off there preps for a while ?

Bd

[Paul]

Preps life span is down to selection and storage more than anything else.

Dry foodstuff i.e. flour, rice, pasta can last years IF it is correctly stored.

Cans the same BUT some contents contain natural acids which can "eat" the can from the inside out.

Jar fanatics come unstuck for the same reason, the acidic contents can literally eat the metal tops.
It's no good relying on Kilm jars either. Again choice of contents is important as the seals are "rubber".

Having said all that, Use by dates are only compulsory because of some obscure law so don't get too swayed by their information.

For long term storage facts and figures you could do worse than download the LDS manual.
it's "comprehensive" to say the least.

[BeardyMan]

Yup, had to live on our preps once before. Out of work and the wife was pregnant at the time. Thankfully had the stores, so the little money we did have coming in went on fresh fruit / vegetables etc for the missus.

Took ages to build the stores back up again afterwards.

[Scythe13]

Good post BD.

I've done a quick calculation thread on here somewhere, and that has my basic calculations on it.

For just me and the wife, we have about 6 months of food (using FULL 2500-3000cals a day), and a flowing stream just across the road from us (literally across the road). So for water, we have LOADS.

We have planned for up to 6 people coming along, and with that, we can make the food last for 3 months, when used at 2500-2000cals. It's not loads, but it's growing, slowly and steadily. Want to have about 6 months of food, for 6 people. When we hit that, we'll change tact and go for farming systems.

[bigpaul]

we reckon we've got about 9 months worth, based on our normal consumption, probably last longer cos we reckon we can trim the portion sizes a bit! plus what we normally grow in the garden, so maybe 12 months worth, supplement that post SHTF with a bit of trapping, shooting and foraging.

[Straight Shooter]

i am prepping for 8 adults 7 children.....s13 put a post up how to calculate.... i got a shock....at the moment 3 to 4 months... thought i had enough for 8 to 9 months........check it out people

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i am in the throws of revamping my stores rota data sheets.... i will put this problem to bed double quick

[Highlander]

I think that most people would want to cut down a little once they are into their stored goods,..out of worry if nothing else,...I think with tinned goods you could measure the time the stores would last by taking one tin per meal, its not so important as to how much you eat, its more to do with eating the right things,.. in most cases, we eat far more than our bodies need

[Skean Dhude]

I was out of work for a while and we lived on my stores for nearly two years just buying bread and milk as required with the odd supermarket special.