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Well, good to be back. Nothing better than being at home (or within 10 minutes of it) with all my gear and goodies. Unleash the North Koreans and let the Chinese do their thing…I’m ready.

Speaking of ready .. (and, really, arent we always speaking of being ready?)..a little gifty for the Commander showed up the other day: an OD Tactical Tailor backpack. (laughs merrily) I am soooooo looking forward to beating the crap out of this thing.

Hey, in other news…a huge greasy and beefy ‘w00t’ to my local SuperWalMart for carrying the packaged ground beef in the MRE type pouch. Me and K. were wandering through the S.WalMart and found this stuff on the shelf. Picked up a 10 oz. package of the ‘italian seasonings’ variety. I am looking forward to trying it out. Expiration date? March 2005! Thats pretty much a solid year! How utterly coo is that? If this stuff tastes any good I am going to be laying in a bunch. Storing meat in a convenient, room-temperature, shelf-stable, lightweight form is a major pain in the ass and this might just make it easier….if this stuff is any good. I’ll let you know.

Observations from long roadtrip:
CamelBak’s are always worth bringing. Makes drinking n’ driving alot easier than you’d think.
Newer GPS’s with street level maps are the way to go. Big time.

Other than that, since the trip went smoothly, there was no need to field test the ‘just in case’ gear.

Ammo cans on sale locally. .30 cal for $3, .50 cal for $4. Bought 20 of each. Never have too many of these things and they are highly useful. (Theyre great for making snowblocks to make igloos in the yard.)

Also got to visit with a Mormon family along the way. Pulled up and saw the shelves of canning jars and #10 cans in their garage and thought ‘Oh yeah, my kinda people.’ Reminds me that I need to network a local Mormon or two and see if I cant get to use their cannery some time. Maybe if I volunteer some time and/or cash. Be nice to fix my own #10 cans o’ goodies.

Posting has been infrequent lately because Ive been so bloody busy. Hopefully with expanded internet access at the bunker I’ll be able to post (and get pics up) more often. But dont hold your breath.

6 thoughts on “”

  1. I’ve wondered why you haven’t mentioned anything about pressure canning. It’s a lot of work, but it’s a handy way to preserve food for long-term storage.

    I never thought of using an ammo can to make snow blocks. I’ll have to remember that the next time it snows here.

  2. Don’t forget that you can extend the life of MRE-type pouches for a very long time by keeping them in the freezer. Just in case you run across a windfall quantity. They’ll stay frozen through most power outages, and if there’s a very serious, long-term one, they’ll still be good for several years.

  4. I have a very nice pressure canner, actually, which can double as an autoclave. Canning meats at home is, of course, an option, but then you have heavy, fragile jars to deal with. Not something you can really toss in a pack and hit the road with. For static positions, such as ‘bugging in’ its a good option, but I want hi-speed, lo-drag for most things since I want to be able to beat feet on a moments notice.

    Im trying to grow all the ingredients to make my own salsa this year, which, if successful, will wind up being canned for later consumption.

  5. What’s the brand, and price, of this MRE style beef? Also, I tried the Zataran’s “ready to eat” Red Beans and Rice last night and it was very, very good. I’m going to buy a friggin’ case of the things. My current “bug out” stash consists mostly of rice, dried beans and peas, and canned beef and fish. Along with salt (several pounds), and the recent addition of dry, powdered milk. Of course there is the gold bullion to buy whatever else I might need.

    The dry milk is very good. I bought the store brand, came in a jug which makes 8 quarts (2 gallons). Strangely enough it cost $4.59, which is just about a dollar less than two gallons of fresh milk would cost. Is that always the case? For some reason I thought powdered milk would be cheaper. Still, the tast was excellent. A little sweeter than regular fat free milk. Went great with my cereal. I think I am going to switch over to dry milk for everyday use. I throw away so many half full, half gallon jugs of milk ’cause I don’t drink it fast enough.

    I bought 20 MREs off of ebay last night. They were the commercial kind and not military. I didn’t know that there was such a thing until I read a post by . Any suggestions as to what the best kind of MRE is, where to find the best prices, and where to find the wholesale? I would be looking to buy in bulk of course. If that is the best option.

    And finally, firearms. I need a good, general purpose rifle and pistol. Two of each actually. Any suggestions?

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