what to put up for the first 50 gallons?

i now have 50 unused paint cans and enough oxy. absorbers and mylar bags for said cans.

so i need to fill 50 gallons of food in one gallon increments.

the first are:

1 with 1000 rounds of CCI mini mag .22 ammo
2 with 500 rounds each 5.56 55 gr. mil. surplus



ok what next? a gallon of salt? a gallon of beans? i thought i might do 1 of different heirloom veggie seeds. well i also have enough O2 absorbers and mylar bags to do another 150 cans. the cans cost me $50.00 for a box of 34. so it's time to fill the first set of cans.

come on ya'll i have 47 cans left. got to fill them before
Phillip

 

I would say heirloom seds would be a definate for 1 or 2 then a few each with salt sugar, yeast, and flower and 2 or 3 filled with assorted seasonings. Then you could fill some with beans and some with rice. I would say 150 lbs of flour and 75-100 lbs of sugar would be pretty much a basic start and about the same on rice and beans so that should pretty much fill up the first batch of cans.

 

How about a few gallons of spices -- a couple tins can be assorted spices that are vacuum packed separately and combined into one can.

One gallon could be a surprise for the family -- say hard candy, smell-good thingies (?), and stuff for your girls.

 

Coffee beans packaged in small bags. Sulfur would be good to have on hand. Books of matches. Lamp wicks, candle wicks and mantles. Whole grains. Assorted nuts, bolts and screws. Powered milk. Herb seeds. Tire and tube patching supplies. Lard. Nuts the kind you eat. Interval size drink powders. And the list could go on. Not all of it is food but you can trade some of it for food.

 

One would also be good to fill (and rotate every year even if not out of date so it has max shelf life left) with an assortment of OTC (and perscription if applicable) medicins like asprin, ibeuprophen, Imodium, Tums, cold medicine, etc and maybe a bottle of penicilen G or oxitetrocycline and some rigs from a local farm supply store. A single shot of antibiotics when no Drs or pharmacies are around and you have an infection could well be more important than the sum of all your other preps combined.

 

i bought the cans at a hardware store. a local ACE franchisee. they were $1.75 each and since i buy a dozen or more at a time i get them for $1.61 (less 10%). so you could say i was bying in bulk allready. lol

if you want to buy cans SHOP AROUND Lowe's wanted allmost 4 bucks for theirs. so did homey depot.

 

I'd put away a bunch of seed for planing and as much ammo as I can get. I would get a bunch of black powder for my flint lock but buying a bunch of smokeless powder might not look good to the feds.

 

In addition to what others put (I especially like the idea of having a "suprise" treat can!)
Honey (never goes bad)
Batteries
BandAids
Coffee Beans
Soap
Nickles (not necessarily an end of the world commodity, but easily storable and valuable after inflation - Current Melt Value Of Coins - How Much Is Your Coin Worth?)
Sewing thread and Needles
Hand Sanitizer
Vinegar
Bleach
Bible
Pens, Pencils, Markers, and Paper
Playing cards and Dice
Hard Liquor
Tradeables (small quantity packages of the aforementioned products)

 

hate to tell you ... but ..... paint cans aren't food grade ..... they are manufactured using several different petro products thru the sheet metal cutting, rolling, forming and spot welding process ...... cans for food products are specially manufactured for the purpose using veggie soluble lubs .... the paint cans are ok for your ammo or other non-food items ......

 

Illini,They do make a 1 gallon can that is food grade quality.They look like a regular can, but the inside of them are gold colored and they do cost a little more.

 

For smaller items you can go to a dollar tree for your storage. They have 1 gallon bottles of water for...$1. Decent size opening and you get a top with it and water is included. Keep some for drinking and empty some for storage.

 

Personally, if you have nothing put away for LTS, I think starting with anything other than food staples is foolish.

We started with rice and beans and worked our way "up" from there.

I'm not sure I understand the reason for storing the ammo in a can...boxes are just fine unless you are going for burial, in which case sealed plastic carryalls will resist the ground water far better and leave you less chance of digging up a cache just to find it corroded beyond usefulness.

 

Dang, I was going to suggest some small candies for the littles. Didn't know it metal was bad for food.

 

Bag them inside the cans.

 

Consider what you are trying to store, High quality nutrition, not 500 lbs of carbs.

Proteins and fats are the most difficult to buy, and store but they are the only nutrition you "NEED", carbs are fine for short term energy. but for healing, long term health and recovery you need protein and for every 10 grams of protein you need about 2 grams of fat. If you must store carbs (hey we all love them) use simple highly concentrated forms. Sugar, honey, rice, un-milled wheat and oats store great are cheaper than processed forms and don't require much more work than unprocessed forms in a SHTF situation.

Legumes are low-moderate in protein content, most other veggies are practically void of fat or protein. Veggies are important for their vitamins, and can be preserved by dehydration and stored in your O2 free cans for LONG periods, possibly 10-15 years without too much loss. Sugar, honey and molasses will store almost indefinitely. White flour only about 2-3 years and when you go to use it the cooking is more complicated than any protein or fat. Nuts, dried fruits and fats can be stored for 10 years in you scenario. Understand that humidity and temperature have a role here, 33-60 degrees f and < 50% humidity is pretty good (possible in a root cellar for >80% of the country) and you can get these storage terms. For every 10 degrees increase in temp you cut the storage term in 1/2. Food improperly stored can be dangerous, but will always lose nutritional value. Ground flour, stored at 72F for 4 years will have about 75% of its nutritional value (fairly low when you put it in the can anyway).

If you are going to store 25 cans of flour, buy a small grist mill and store whole wheat red or winter.
This will keep for 10 - 20 years under the best conditions before losing an appreciable amount of nutritional value. Rice is cheap, easy to package and will store O2 free for 10+ years, is easier to refer into a dish and has several non-food uses. Salt is essential, as are spices, they contain vitamins and minerals and we actually can't live health without them. A can or two full of nothing but Chile Pepper powder, two more of various bagged and vacuumed spices and flavorings and you should be good until you seeds come in.

Heirloom seeds; at least on can of veggies and one can of herbs and one can of fruit seeds (melon, tomato, eggplant, and various gourds, etc).
I don't know how you could use these to store any dense proteins (they had eyes ) in bagged form, maybe dried and salted fish or meat?

thers a start, that should fill a few shelves and then you can get a pressure cooker and put up some jars of chicken and beef...

 

not considered "paint cans" when they are manufactured as food grade quality ... all kinds of food products are retailed in that packaging concept .... bulk sized high grade spices are commonly sold in that container .... but like you said .... much much more $$$$ than a paint can from the hardware store .... around triple the cost

 

Or , you can order some # 10 cans and seal your own..

 

I have been looking into this as well, not only for dry goods but some hard goods as well.
Ammo, tape glues all store well in O2 free temp stable environments. Do you have any sources for "canning supplies" you can share with us?
I looked into some hand operated canning machines and they seam to run $350+ and the cans don't come cheaply either. Anyone have recent info on a source or three?