Have 3 days food and water

[davidw221]

keep three days of food and water for survival the Homeland security suggest this for all americans

 

[WhitleyStu]

I feel much better having six months...

 

[Royal-1]

I'll go with the 6 months +

Just a bet, Homeland Security is silent about arms & how much ammo you should have on hand.

 

[melensdad]

keep three days of food and water for survival the Homeland security suggest this for all americans

I have 3 days worth in the car. Much more in the house. Seems to me that the Dept of Homeland Security wants us to have "just enough" to get by until they can come rescue us, but they don't want us to have "too much" because in order to exercise power they need us to be dependent upon them. If we don't need them to provide for us then we have the power.

 

[rhino]

Yeah, three days is a joke.

The problem is, a significant part of the population probably does not have even that much since they are either too lazy, too stupid, or too stubborn to care to even prepare for short term problems. "That can't happen here," after all. They'll always be able to go to Walmart and get what they need since it's just across town, right?

 

[Richard]

Yea everyone (not just preppers) should have aleast a couple of weeks of food & water in their pantry, several months would be better but let's be honest, it's not that big of a priority for most people.

 

[karlsgunbunker]

3 Days!
I'm working on 3 years.
3 days is for a very Minor Emergency.

I know most people aren't even prepared for a minor disruption of their sheltered existance.

 

[WhitleyStu]

Both my wife and I are always amazed when we drive by the grocery store prior to a snow strom and see how crowded it is. What if these people had to survive for more than a day or two? 99.9% of people are not ready for anything that would last for more than a matter of 48-72 hours.

 

[Blue Tile Spook]

Not that they are necessarily trying to emulate the European way of life, but I have seen many "women's magazines" in my varied doctors' offices that promote grocery shopping every day for fresh fruit, vegetables, bread and the like. The articles generally discouraged having a pantry of stored goods or the storing of fresh vegetables because it encouraged negative consumerism, a.k.a. buying more at one time than you can consume in the same day.

While the idea might be generally good for using the freshest ingredients daily to consume the most vitamins and minerals, it leaves nearly nothing for the short-term or the long-term emergencies. As Rhino mentioned earlier in this thread, many people that I encounter have the attitude of, "China-mart is right down the road, I'll just drive down there and get what I need before they run out." Ain't gonna happen.

 

[jclark]

water heater

If you have a tank style water heater you have 30 to 50 gallons of clean drinking water......should last a bit

 

[Bigum1969]

I'm thinking about adding some MREs to all of my vehicles.

Three days is not enough for your house.

 

[Richard]

MRE's in vehicles is a good idea but remember to regularly rotate them out by eating them, because the hot/cold/hot/cold/hot/cold swings experienced inside an automobile will make them go bad awhole lot faster.

 

[buck119]

I agree, mres are great for the car. only 3 days worth of food and water in the house wouldn't cut it. I'm always looking for sales/deals on storable food...probably have 4 months worth of both in the house now. 3 days worth in the car as well as another 3 days worth in the bug out bag. I also know (and practice regularly) methods of food/water procurement in the wild. As the old adage goes: A full head equals a light pack.

 

[techres]

3 days worth in both bug out bags (one in each car). With three kids though, that amounts to less than I would like but space is an issue. At home, we are at about a month and a half's worth and growing (that is the same as nearly 6 months for you single guys). Having a wife and three kids makes this more of a logistics nightmare.

Water storage is the real game. Watertank, yes. Toilet retention tank, yes. If quick on the emergency - cold water into the tubs and then into every container you have, yes. But storing water long term without problems is tricky.

I am aiming for 6 months for the family (that's 2.5 years for the single guys) and wife is on board (thank God for her close Mormon friend). We plan to add dry foods, but again, water is the trick. If you do not have potable water all that dried food is useless...


In any event, we are getting there.

 

[Richard]

3 days worth in both bug out bags (one in each car). With three kids though, that amounts to less than I would like but space is an issue. At home, we are at about a month and a half's worth and growing (that is the same as nearly 6 months for you single guys). Having a wife and three kids makes this more of a logistics nightmare.

Water storage is the real game. Watertank, yes. Toilet retention tank, yes. If quick on the emergency - cold water into the tubs and then into every container you have, yes. But storing water long term without problems is tricky.

I am aiming for 6 months for the family (that's 2.5 years for the single guys) and wife is on board (thank God for her close Mormon friend). We plan to add dry foods, but again, water is the trick. If you do not have potable water all that dried food is useless...


In any event, we are getting there.

Well said Techres!

 

[karlsgunbunker]

MRE's are way to Temp sensitive for storage in a car.
For the car kit, Mainstay, or ER type ration bars would be a better choice.

Emergency Food Rations

 

[techres]

MRE's are way to Temp sensitive for storage in a car.
For the car kit, Mainstay, or ER type ration bars would be a better choice.

Emergency Food Rations

I use the same thing in my cars. Buy a kit with water and the brick, stick it all in your bug out bag. Stick bag in trunk. Voila!

 

[Dr Falken]

Well don't forget the pooches and other pets...Dog food has gotten expensive and I'm not talking Ol' Roy either.

I think the reason Katrina was so bad was because so many people where on the edge living paycheck to paycheck. If Katrina occured on a Thursday or the end of the month, no money to go get things. Like it was said earlier, 99% of the people don't have more than a few days of food. I need to organize my food better, but I think at this moment I could go half a year, I want to get to a year or so in staples suplemented by gardening and hunting. I've got some stuff stocked that I'm not too sure I like eating. I'd like to get to the point of a rotating larder, where most of the stuff is the things I'm eating regularly so I'm buying on the sales in bulk for ecomomies of scale and preparedness.

 

[CulpeperMM]

we try to keep 3 to 6 months of food stored in cool dry place. having that much water is a little harder.

 

[haldir]

Never really kept food in the vehicle... may have to think about that. I rarely get too far from home though. We would probably last a couple weeks eating what we have in upstairs cupboards. Then we would have to move to the basement. I am sure we could go more than six months. How much over I haven't ever really tried to figure.