3 ms·
Not sure if we're saying the same thing here, but my policy is to stock a large quantity of things we actually use, and keep topping up our supplies as we use t
by donw 10y ago
Not sure if we're saying the same thing here, but my policy is to stock a large quantity of things we actually use, and keep topping up our supplies as we use them.
Saves us both time and money to have a bunch of staple goods at home that get restocked every six months or so. And in an emergency, hey, we've got a bunch of the same kind of food that we eat anyway, and have more than enough to share with our neighbors.
Outside of a supply of bottled water that gets rotated, we don't really have anything purchased purely for emergencies. Plenty of backpacking gear, but that gets used on the weekends, and we know that all of it works well.
One thing I did start doing was leaving my backpack loaded and ready-to-go near the door. Our biggest threat in Japan is earthquakes, and if we have to evacuate, having the same kit that I would carry for a three-day backpacking trip would make things a lot more pleasant.
- hga 10y agoA lot of this depends on how you normally eat. How much is fresh or thereabouts food, vs. stuff from cans, white rice, beans etc.? If too much of the former, and you don't have a list of stuff you normally use in backpacking trips, then you'll either have to try some ahead of time, or store it anyway assuming you'll be hungry enough if the emergency comes, which I've read can be a terrible mistake. Ditto bugout bag contents in case you have to evacuate, as you note. The stuff I store for emergencies right now is "purely" for them, but it's all stuff I like (white rice, indica and japonica, which my normal input of is limited, then there's there is no MRE desert that isn't at least good, and most are very good to excellent, and, oh, even some of the Humanitarian Daily Ration entrées are just plain good even if a bit old: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humanitarian_daily_ration https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humanitarian_daily_ration and you can occasionally find extras. Companies that pack this stuff for the government, especially MREs, will produce more in a lot than needed, to make sure their yield for the order is high enough, knowing they'll easily sell the extra to civilians, and civilian demand is I suspect getting high enough that they're now making more than a little extra). Purely in scare quotes in that while they're still palatable, I'll buy fresher product and eat the older stuff so it won't go to waste. Ditto the Mountain House freeze dried stuff, it was easy enough to find a set that were at minimum "good", and if I haven't used them in some years I'll replace and eat the older items. I also do things like maintain a minimum of a year of various specialized dry goods, like allergen free shampoo and soap, and replenish every April and October when the weather is moderate here in the US. This way if one of these products becomes unavailable (or in the case of one soap product, contaminated with perfume, at least two lots), or if there's an emergency, I'll have a minimum of six months to procure replacements, and in the latter case I won't have to be scurrying around with everyone else to find the necessities of life, and as we've both noted, can share with neighbors.
- hga 10y agoOops: I also do things like maintain a minimum of a year A minimum of 6 months, a maximum of 1 year when I replenish every April and October.