Three more buckets...

[ElevenBravo]

In the low budget survivalist motto... get what you can and do what you can.

I just bought 3 more buckets to fill with food. I want to try to buy 3 empty buckets each week, and the objective is to fill them will assorted stuff...

Ive got one getting started with Ivory soap, 3 others already filled with food and these 3 new ones... more food.

Ive skipped the entire freeze dried & dehydrated supplies due to lack of funds. Even though it will take up more space and weight a LOT more, I feel my chump change investment will go a LOT further with canned foods from the store.

I am also doing bread mixes and pasta, etc.. etc.. Stuff I can eat out of the can cold and hot... and stuff I can cook in the dutch oven and/or pot either/both over firewood (See my Fire Wood & Cast Iron series).

Want to add, but pricey: Nido milk mix and Ova eggs.... both of these I SUPER STRONGLY reccomend.

For personal personal hygine, Im buying dirt cheap T.P. and storing that in contractor trash bags... These bags are SUPER STRONG and thick... and can support multiple support missions.

So... when I get a few more for a decent starter stash... Ill do a video.

GL & HTH someone...
EB

[ElevenBravo]

The idea is to have the stash in buckets, which can easily be moved around in the house.

They can be accessed easily.

They are air & water tight (to a limit) so bugs will stay out.

They can easily be used in a natural disaster... Flood, ice storm, power outtage, you name it...

BONUS: Gotta get the hell out fast? Sling these on my BOT (New term: Bug Out Trailer and buzz down the road.

My thoughts on this anyway...

Ive gone over all the options... second pantry shelves, etc.. I am sold on the bucket brigade for me and my family.

Oh... Maybe even buckets for ammo??? Naw... Ill keep that in cans... easier to identify and wont be so heavy.

Im getting 10% off with my Military ID (since Im retired), just spent $16 for three buckets and lids today.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_356492-1152-50640_4294729350__?productId=3694238&Ns=p_product_qty_sales_dollar|1&pl=1&currentURL=%3FNs%3Dp_product_qty_sales_dollar%7C1&facetInfo=

http://www.lowes.com/pd_356493-1152-50000_4294729350__?productId=3382566&Ns=p_product_qty_sales_dollar|1&pl=1&currentURL=%3FNs%3Dp_product_qty_sales_dollar%7C1&facetInfo=

Every time I go, they have plenty.

I fooled with some cheaper buckets, but the lids are sooo cheap when I use a lid lifter the lid fractures!! The ones Im getting are VERY heavy duty!!

Cant find it on there website, but I got the lid lifter for $2 at Lowes too...
http://www.amazon.com/GAM-Bucket-Lid-Lifter-PT02556/dp/B0026LL70I

To EASILY seal the lids, I use a cheap rubber mallet... WORKS GREAT!
http://www.harborfreight.com/1-12-lb-rubber-mallet-69076.html

So, so far... Im happy as hell and excited to see the stash grow!!



EB

[Evolver]

T.P. ...
Justa did a break down on it and in a nut shell if you buy it in Industrial jumbo(big) rolls you could see a savings of 50% or greater depending on the the brand of choice. BTW... don't try cheep coffee filters as a TP replacement. :o

[bacpacker]

The Coffee filters do make for decent pre filters for water though.

[Stormfeather]

T.P. ...
Justa did a break down on it and in a nut shell if you buy it in Industrial jumbo(big) rolls you could see a savings of 50% or greater depending on the the brand of choice. BTW... don't try cheep coffee filters as a TP replacement. :o

I know theres a good story here. . . just waiting to hear it!

[ElevenBravo]

Im buying 4 rolls of two ply for $1 each, buying two packs a week and throwing them in a contractor trash bag for storage.

Dont worry, I dont think a coffee filter is up to the task I would assign it anyways... :-)

EB

[Gunfixr]

I wanna hear the coffee filter story too.
Yup, coffee filters are great pre-filters for your water system. If you're running something that needs new filters every 200 gallons or so, these can almost double that, since what makes it need replacement is being clogged. The less junk going in, the slower it clogs.
Just be careful about putting food in a non foodgrade bucket.
Ivory soap bars can be used to clean almost anything, and was, way back when it was about the only soap you could buy. Then, if you weren't using Ivory, you were making your own.
Storing canned foods does work, it's just real heavy of you have to move it. It is definitely cheaper, and a good way to get started. Eventually, you'll want to branch out some, once you get a good base built up. They will last a lot longer than the dates, provided you're not keeping them in the attic or out in the yard.

[ElevenBravo]

GFix, yup! The buckets are food grade, even has a sticker to declare it! :-)

When I was in the field doing my 11B fun cannon fodder stuff, I always had a bar of Ivory... Ive been known to bath in a creek and wash my underware and sox while I was there! Shampoo? WTF is that? I GOT IVORY! And it dont attract bugs near as bad as the good smelling stuff (Dial, et all). (You know you smell like a goat when the bugs finally leave you the freck alone!! But by then you got red arm pits and gaulded balls)



EB

[FL-Jeeper]

I've gone the bucket route myself but I sprung for the dehydrated meal bags, a few #10 cans of eggs and powdered drink mixes. I included rice, dried beans & H2O. (Yep, I treated & capped a couple 5 gallon buckets full of water too)

I also made a single "go bucket" that has a full assortment/little bit of everything.

I know the dehydrated foods are pricey but they weigh next to nothing and last dang near forever, if properly stored. Of course the trade off is that you have to have plenty of water to prepare it.

[Willie51]

EB, Most Wally Worlds are back to stocking Mountain House FD in the bags located in the camping sections (at least here they are). And Walmart has the best price that I've seen anywhere on them. What we do is buy 3 or 4 every time we go shopping there....kinda like "dollar cost averaging" and is less painful. After a while, the next thing you know, you'll have a 5 gal. bucket full (about 7 to 10 days worth for 2 people). The wife has breakfast, lunch, dinners, and desserts in each bucket and then makes a label and tapes to each bucket. These are not our primary food storage, but these stored in the buckets are great for "grab and go" in a BO situation, or bartering or just helping others when the time comes.

[ElevenBravo]

51, thanks for your input... Our WW *used* to carry MH, but they discontinued it... However I do have a Sportsmans Warehouse, the price is a little better than our Gander Mtn, so I hope to fetch a few from now and then.

My idea/concept:

1) Actively bugging out: MH meals are easy to fix and eat
2) Settling In: While developing your camp site, the canned foods are ready for meals
3) Fixed: After being fixed in place, garden and game should be priority, with canned foods for backup on
daze that no production can be had with either game hunting or garden harvest.

EB

[Willie51]

EB, I just got this email today. EE has a very good sale going on right now on MH food packets. Probably as good a Wallyworld. Don't know if you're in the position to take advantage this month, but I figured I would pass it along.

http://beprepared.com/food-storage/mountain-house.html?container_type=31&sc=EMAIL&oc=INEM1450&pc=INEM1450

[David Armstrong]

EB, I just got this email today. EE has a very good sale going on right now on MH food packets. Probably as good a Wallyworld. Don't know if you're in the position to take advantage this month, but I figured I would pass it along.

http://beprepared.com/food-storage/mountain-house.html?container_type=31&sc=EMAIL&oc=INEM1450&pc=INEM1450
I have found EE to regularly be one of the better sources for food as long as you shop the sales. Different products pushed each month, so ordering regularly will get a well-rounded selection and a good averaged pricing program.

[ElevenBravo]

I can buy individual MRE pieces from them too... I get there catalogs.

BTW... I *just* bought 3 more buckets... today I went to family dollar store and got $20 worth of meds & first aid stuff, one bucket... soon to be more... is dedicated for that type of stuff. Ill have one that will host nothing but bars of Ivory soap.... So its not just food, its the life chain being stored in the "Bucket Brigade"!!

I had a few packs of MH, one bucket stores those.. and more as $$$ permits, I have a local Sportsmans Warehouse, which has ALL the MH packs, I can buy 1 or 2 a week and toss in there until it is full, and start working on another bucket... all the while the health & hygine, first aid & meds, beans - oats - rice, canned goods and canned meats buckets got a toss in now and again.

I think Ill see how many cans of white gas I can get in one... I *think* two cans, and I should be able to top it off with 2 1lb propane cans too.... Ill report back on that!

Another concept of the Bucket Brigade is... once your goods are depleted from the buckets, the BUCKETS are now tools for a great number of task! Water storage, chitting in, keep stuff dry... on and on...

EB