does everyone have enough food and water for an emergency?

i have enough water for a week (cat included), but my earthquake food expired, the little i had.

i've been experimenting with canned soups, which i find most filling, and nutricious. tomato and rice, lentil, and cheddar cheese (i'm usually vegan, but this is just in case food) are my favorites so far.

i always have an extra bag of cat food in my fridge, i could share with my cat, if i really had to, there's no byproducts in it.

Write the purchase dates on top of the soup cans with a sharpie then just rotate out the stock (eat it) and replace as needed.

Some Brewer's Yeast tablets will also help keep you in B vitamins and amino acids for your protein fix.

good ideas! thanks!

Also make up a travel friendly pack with travel friendly items including food incase they make you leave your humble abode. I've seen water treatment drops and filtering bottles with filter straw included starting to show up at regular department stores in the camping/sporting goods sections.

I'd highly recommend a backpack as a sling or shoulder bag gets uncomfortable real quick once a good bit of weight is added. Get one that has a sternum strap and lumbar waist strap. I picked up a second hand Eagle Creek pack at an Army Surplus store. The guy let it go for only 20 bucks; I simply couldn't pass it up.

It's always best to dig in and stay at home since you can obviously store more items and have more comfort there, but it's not always an option. I read of one guy and his wife that stayed during Katrina even after orders to vacate came through.
Takes a lot of stealth and being properly prepared BEFORE something happens.

He said after several weeks, he surprised a National Guard crew scanning through the neighborhood. They were using night vision and said the blue light coming from a dim blue LED light he was using was invisible to them through it. It's just gaining little tidbits of info like that you pick up from people who's actually been there done that in those types of situations and have a preparedness mindset that are priceless to learn from. Had he been using a 3 million candlepower bat signal of a flashlight, he would've been found out weeks ago. A couple of his neighbors up the street had got killed and it wasn't because of the flood waters. Mobs of displaced people always have assholes in the crowd. Don't let them know you're even there - Anne Frank it.

Also said he was not a fan of the Red Cross after Katrina for some reason. I know if you show up at their shelters, they will confiscate some items from you like knives and won't take in your pets.

Local radio is also usually full of BS in regards to getting people to do what you want them to. Said the mayor and others were really playing politics in regards to saving their own asses in that event.

He said the "real" news about the situation could be more reliable from distant AM stations. You WILL want a radio. To test this theory, shut off the main breaker to your place and then sit there with your supplies for about 5 hours. See how bored you get.


I've drifted here but there's just a lot of facets to getting yourself prepared for an emergency situation that goes way beyond food and water. Plan well.

I've currently got 80 cans of baked beans and 6 buckets of powdered milk in my bomb shelter, and one 8 seater canoe in case we have a flood.

i was also disappointed w. the red cross when i had interaction w.them after having to leave my home when it was ruined by fire

i agree cherry bomb it is hard to keep an eye on food and not let it go bad
i know i dont have nearly enough put aside but its expensive to do especially when 1/2 ends up to go to waste

i have three portable radios, one with a flashlight and siren (in case i'm not able to get out after a quake.)

i always have pot rolled up, with my medicine. i've got a big, heavy flashlight by my bed that i need to get a new bulb for.

i have cash, at least a twenty, and extra cigarrettes for bartering.

last summer there were a few power blackouts, i had batteries in my cd player, and read a book, so i didn't get too bored, and went to sleep early. the next night there was a roof party on the corner. and people were outside from the boredom and overwhelming heat.

i hate to think about having to leave my apt., my cat is so heavy, i can't carry her very far.

[quote=*cherry bomb*;1049851] Covered there.

Avoid shelters with the pot. As far as lights, you don't need big and heavy these days. They make LED lights that fit in the palm of your hand that would really surprise you with the output they give.
I have a 1xAA battery light that'll shine about 30 feet out.

However, if yours is a D cell sized Maglite, get one of their upgrade bulbs for it. Will last much longer than the incandescent bulb and your battery life will jump from 5-6 hours with incan to about 20 hours with LED.

Careful who and where you're bartering. You might wind up with all your stuff took or worse. It's best to try and not rely on bartering if at all possible.

Break the 20 into fives and ones. Try to add more cash if possible and get a roll of quarters.

You were prepared, good to know. I had a blackout no too long ago as well. People down the street parked their car in their front yard, opened the front door and used the headlights to illuminate what they could of the living room instead of having a simple flashlight around.
These are the types of people you'll want to avoid if shit really comes down and panic starts to set in.. Five people who want/need stuff vs. you who has it is not a good scenario.

If you would have to walk, get a Radio Flyer wagon and pet carrier or even a dolley you could strap the carrier to and a backpack.

What would be really idea is to get a pet carrier made for bicycles along with a bicycle and use that. If you need to leave, a bicycle will always trump walking.

you have to spread some reputation around before giving it to thisbites again.

Thought process:

1) this is the most absurdly paranoid thing I've ever read

2) hmm...does she* have a point? maybe I should stock up?

Not that I'm going to because I'm always living in different places, but I like the idea of this thread. It's the end of the world as we know it. I hope you've all taken down your net curtains, in the case of nuclear war. Gov't advice, don't you know.


*I say she, hope you're not a he cherry bomb. I tend to assume everyone on KR is a she unless they do something to make me think otherwise.

Better to be "absurdly paranoid" than to sit around with your dick in your hand when the grocery aisles have been swept clean. You can see that kind of behavior at work over a snow storm. Now factor in a large earthquake.

We may be modern and all that iPod jazz but that certainly doesn't mean there isn't times when people sit through power outages for 2-3 weeks at a time. Happens quite often.

If we woke up tomorrow and had a solar flare reach us, you can depend on up to a year or more to have only half of the power grid restored.
We're a lot more vulnerable than we give credit for and we all saw that most of the action F.E.M.A. was able to provide during Katrina was finger-pointing.

i love this ^
also, i think it was great advice about breaking your $ up into ones and whatnot instead of tens or whatever, i took that advice so thank you

y/w.

It's an absolute necessity. Some places may not have proper change to give out and none of them without power will be taking debit/credit cards that most use instead of having a bit of cash around.