What have you done this week to prep? PART II

[kaveman]

Still keeping up with the food preps. Two trips this week and just dropped $140 today and brought home nearly 500,000 calories which is astonishing. A large portion of that was in cooking oils but it's something I've wanted to store and haven't had much of. I'm packed with beans and rice and pasta and focusing on making that sort of stuff palatable so digging into seasonings and anything that adds taste as well as nutrition. Bought several cases of dried tomato in oil with onion, garlic and capers. A jar of that was $0/.50 and right at 1000 cal. Also found a nice chipotle oil dressing that's a great dipping sauce or flavoring for rice/beans,.....and it's 0.75/bottle and also crowds 1000 cal.

Some portable water filters and some back-packable calories for the hiking gear,....it's been a good week.

 

[Old Bear]

Picked up an upright freezer today for our kitchen. This gives me an upright, a small chest and a large chest. This will give me enough protein storage for 2-3 months. Currently have enough dry and canned goods for 4 months if used wisely.
We have been selling off guns, autos, tools and other items to build us cash reserve in case of banking interruptions.
Next Tuesday, I have an electrician coming to install a standby/disconnect switch on my utility service pole. This will allow me to disconnect from the grid and back feed my generator from the garage. The generator is big enough to power my well, furnace and selected 100 volt accessories.
All of our medications are set up for refills by mail every 90 days. Our 90 day supply is scheduled to be delivered on 10/27/2020.
Need to pick up a couple more fuel cans, but other than that, we could hunker down until the first of the year if need be.

 

[turnerdye1]

Got ground beef for 1.99 per pound with no limit at the local grocery store/deli. Bought 25 pounds and my wife canned it. First time doing beef but it looks pretty good and appears to look like the videos. I believe we actually canned 20 pounds and it yielded 16 pint jars.

 

[Slapstick]

Just placed an order for pet supplies, food, treats, litter, toys and meds. They should be good until at least April maybe a bit longer.

 

[teddy12b]

I've been going through and inventorying ammo. Working on reloading all the components I've got laying around into some training ammo. I'm saving my factory ammo as my "good stuff".

I've been going through every rifle I've got and doing a very detailed inspection and propper cleaning. They aren't so clean they'd pass a drill sergeants inspection, but they're not too far off. In doing this I found one loose gas key on a bolt carrier group. It was retorqued, and staked. That was something I'm glad I caught because it's on a go-to rifle. Otherwise, confirming zero's and making sure everything is dialed in.

 

[Leadeye]

Topped off the propane tank.

 

[d.kaufman]

Picked up a second deep freezer this weekend. Small one (7.5 cu/ft) to accommodate the 1/2 cow I'll be picking up in 2 weeks.
My big deep freezer is packed and the half cow at $2.75 lb, processed, was good enough for me to be a buyer.

My gut is telling me there's going to be another run on the stores real soon. Hope I'm wrong but if not, I'll be set

 

[Airtevron1]

Ordered a wood buring stove, hand water pump to follow.

 

[indyjohn]

By Labor Day I should be back to ok on 9mm. After that I'll convert the press to .223 to bring that count back up to "newsworthy" numbers.

Correction: Realized I am light on .45 ACP, so that caliber went in after 9mm was done. Now just waiting for a chance to proof the new recipe.

 

[diveski11]

Might seem lame but I bought tiny packets of condiments and S/P for bug out and emergency food kits. A retired military friend made a comment on FB about those making a huge difference in MREs on the run.

 

[churchmouse]

Might seem lame but I bought tiny packets of condiments and S/P for bug out and emergency food kits. A retired military friend made a comment on FB about those making a huge difference in MREs on the run.

We have a huge stash of this stuff including Taco Bell sauce packs.

 

[indyjohn]

We have a huge stash of this stuff including Taco Bell sauce packs.

Very important! Comfort is essential to survival.

 

[Thor]

We have a rather substantial stack of seasonings stored up. If you're going to be eating rodent and dandelion stew it will help if it is properly seasoned.

 

[churchmouse]

We have a rather substantial stack of seasonings stored up. If you're going to be eating rodent and dandelion stew it will help if it is properly seasoned.

This brings to mind the stew's my people used to make back in the day. If you shot it of found it with no fly's/maggots you ate it.
Might be why I lost my taste for game meats.

 

[kaveman]

This week was a duplicate of last week,......brought home another full carload of storable food. A lot of rice and dried split pea, a LOT of cooking oil(ten cents on the dollar in tins, couldn't resist)and ten more bottles of the chipotle sauce. I try to get my condiments in glass bottles,.....plastic and especially the little convenience packs don't store well.

Also ordered up a bunch of AA LED flashlights and a few hundred Alkaline cells. Have lots of rechargeable stuff already but wanted he simple battery lights also.

Last Friday I drove to Chicago and picked up a truckload of buckets and sealed lids. And Monday was a trip into MI for a generator. Had a pair of corded chainsaws arrive first of this week and needed the power for when I can't reach an outlet.

*edit to add*

I would not have believed that a plug-in chainsaw was anything more than a toy if it weren't for y'tube review vids. Watched a bunch of reviews on the Oregon 18" 15amp CS1500. Torquey little thing, self-sharpening which is kinda cool, no gas or fuel system to go bad. No endless pulling trying to get the thing to fire,.....and they're cheap! Guys doing the reviews were all agog at what an electric chainsaw could do for $150. So looked on ebay,.....

Found someone selling them for $80 with a discount for two or more. Had two shipped to the house for $160 all-in. Seriously, a replacement bar and chain is $60 so why not just buy more saws? I needed one primarily for my cabin out in California where I'm never more than 20' from a generator since I carry one in my truck 24/7/365. Seemed a decent way to go.

So I needed a generator here at home. Picked up a 'used' generic 4kw that had been run maybe one tank of gas. Brought it home Monday, drained a cup of old gas out and filled with fresh. Checked (clean and full) oil and started first pull. Should be set and will start stacking some wood later this week. Did I mention I picked up a small wood burning stove last week?

This is just a two minute video commercial but there are many good reviews that compare the saw to similar sized gas saws.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWlPDxzFi6M

 

[dudley0]

We have a rather substantial stack of seasonings stored up. If you're going to be eating rodent and dandelion stew it will help if it is properly seasoned.

I have Frank's hot sauce for this reason. I really do put that **** on everything.

It helps the MREs as well. Not so hot it gives me heartburn, but enough kick to liven things up a bit.

 

[Snapdragon]

Went to Aldi to pick up some hot dogs for our dogs (they take pills, and a slice of hot dog is the best way to get them down). The only thing they had was a pack of 24 (I think), which was fine because I'll freeze them in ziploc bags of 4 each. The rest of the hot dogs and all of the brats were gone. Lots of empty shelf space. Don't know if it was just a freak thing, or if it's the beginning of another shortage.

 

[Ballstater98]

Went to Aldi to pick up some hot dogs for our dogs (they take pills, and a slice of hot dog is the best way to get them down). The only thing they had was a pack of 24 (I think), which was fine because I'll freeze them in ziploc bags of 4 each. The rest of the hot dogs and all of the brats were gone. Lots of empty shelf space. Don't know if it was just a freak thing, or if it's the beginning of another shortage.

But did you grab TP?

 

[Snapdragon]

But did you grab TP?

Nope, got plenty. Subscribe and save at Amazon, but will probably start getting it from Costco since we joined a month ago.

 

[KittySlayer]

Backpacking to test my gear and ability to hike distances with it. Found out my small, cheap ferro rod sucks and need to carry the good one. Still able to build a fire with a single match. Bivy bag and new quilt worked great.