So what did you put away this week?

I've got some gasoline stored, away from the house! I think all famables should be stored by themselfs away from everything else. It's easier if you have some land. If I was in a neighborhood I would not store it in my home.

 

Your in Alaska, in Arizona don't store flamables near your home. That 120 degree heat is all it takes.

 

Not so much put away but I got a 3600 calorie package of both Mainstay and Datrex bars for the family to try out and decide which they like better. Once the decision is made, 3+ for each BOB. Desert tonight is Mainstay, tomorrow is Datrex.

 

It's a great idea to store flamables in a hole covered up. Just letting people know their is a real danger of storing plasic gasoline container in a home or close by and the temperture does play a role. Any leak and the fumes become a hazard also. I would love to have 5,000 gallons in a proper tank stored in a barn some where, not near my home. One reason to have a farm, you can store alot of stuff away from your home, amd no neighbors to see it , or complain.

 

Let us know what the verdict is. I've been considering getting some Datrex bars but was wanting to hear how they tasted first.

 

If you have the money to put away food always buy something you like to eat!

 

Been workin' like a dog with lots of OT.
MOAR worthless FRN's stitched into the mattress.
At least the gubbermint still takes 'em.

 

buy silver with excess frns. fiat money sucks. I use it for very short term buys of real goods and necessary bills.

 

FRN's are for "useful idiots" who don't know any better.

 

Hilti-gun, (pistol version)about a thousand rounds for it, and a three pound portable propane tank, for my hunting blind.

Edit: just had the tank filled, it is a 12 pound tank and 2.2 gallons (9 1/4 pounds of propane)

 

We ended up trying both and the winner by an overwhelming majority were the Datrex bars.

Datrex - Pros:

• Individually wrapped inside the 3600 cal pack, you don't have to eat everything all at once and it's easier to "share" if needed.
• Bars are 200 cal each
• Bars are physically smaller than Mainstay
• Bars are not quite as crumbly as the mainstay
• As previously reported by others in other threads, a slight coconut flavor but not overpowering at all

Datrex - Cons:

• Dry (but no more than any other compressed food product)
• Two of the kids reported a slightly bitter aftertaste
• It leaves a...residue or coating on the roof of the mouth

Mainstay - Pros:

• For this test and this family...none

Mainstay - Cons:

• Bars are not individually wrapped
• Larger "bars" which are more like pucks which is bad since;
• They are much more crumbly than the Datrex bars.
• 400 calories per bar
• Very dry, much drier than the Datrex bars
• Anyone who says they have a "pleasant hint of lemon" flavor needs their mouth checked. These things tasted like stale toothpaste (no, the seal was not broken). They were awful. Each of my kids ate ~100 calories of the Datrex bar and didn't complain about finishing it. All three of them spit out what was left or simply didn't finish the ~100 calories of Mainstay.

My son actually said that if the Mainstay bars were the only thing left, he'd pass and hold out for something else.

I kind of wish I'd bought the smaller containers (1200 or 2400 calories) since the Mainstay is truly wasted money at this point. I put it in a ziploc bag but unless something really bad happens, I don't see ANY of us eating them. The Datrex, although individually wrapped, aren't sealed for long-term in their individual containers. I'll have to end up sending those with my son on his next camping trip so that he can eat one or two as "snacks" just so they don't go completely to waste. If they are still around the next time I crack open a bag of oxygen absorbers I'll re-seal them in mylar, otherwise it may be me eating them as snacks or instead of lunch for a couple of days. At least I can gag those down.

One other potential problem with the Datrex bars which has been brought up before. Because of the shape of the packaging, they are more prone to having the corners worn through and breaking the vacuum seal. That was the case for me when I got it in the mail. I wasn't too worried because they were only a couple of months old but be aware, that can happen. I may end up re-sealing them "flat" in a new mylar bag for the BOBs so I don't have to worry about it in the future.

 

Keep the mainstay, just don't buy more. Post SHTF you will be surprised what is prized as edible. For me, Long Pork is not a consideration, but most anything else is fair game.

 

I have close to two year's worth of food put away already, as well as a full year's worth of feed for our critters. I'm interested in the Datrex bars for vehicle and BOB.

 

Agreed. That was not just the primary, but really the only reason for this test. We're putting away "real" food that we eat on a regular basis and will ultimately, always, live out of the pantry which will be rotated and continually refreshed. Until it can't be that is.

The Datrex will go into the cars and bags. Ultimately I would like to have MREs (which we've eaten and know we like), cached in a couple locations and buried deep enough to help preserve them (ideally I would like ~60-65 degrees) but that's a deep freakin' hole in damned near impenetrable red clay! That would be to extend the duration of self sustenance but would not replace real food.

Ultimately, if I have to bug out, it really only should be for the short term and/or due to a localized event. If I can't stay here long term (as I really don't have anywhere else to go right now that isn't hours away by car), some Datrex bars and MREs really aren't going to make much difference in the long run.

I would agree. I need to get them vacuum packed again though. People will eat bugs, dog, plants that they've turned their noses up at before, you name it in a crisis where there's truly nothing else. I know my son would actually eat it again and do it with a smile if he'd had nothing for 2 days and came upon them in a time of need. He was just being his typical pre-teen self.

*ETA*
And yes, long pig is a no go. Period, end of discussion. I actually would die of starvation first before knowingly eating it, and might just prune the helix of the person who fed it to me without telling me. I know it's easy to say when my belly is full from homemade chili for lunch but no, I won't change my mind.

 

Went to the gun show today 250 rounds of 00 buck shot, 12 guage and some tools to update my inventory. Paid $4.00 eacg for some vise grips, craftsman racthets, pruners. couple of pair of channel locks, bought 25 tools for $100.00. Most of them brand name tools. My son bought more reloading stuff, soon he'll have everything he needs for that area. It was a good father and son day.

 

36 canned quart jars of spaghetti sauce

 

Tuesday went into town and did some shopping. 4lbs of ground elk, just over a pound of applewood smoked bacon, new shoes, new shirt, 2 'baby loafs' of Tillamook cheese(total of 4lbs), 12pack of generic SnoBalls, I think 3 have already 'disappeared' from the box, 2 gallons of vinegar, 2lbs of baking soda, and various other items I don't remember right now. Schwan's is coming tomorrow with 5 pizzas and 2 ice creams I believe. And I'm working on next month's grocery list. Wanna stock up on more meat, mainly chicken and bacon. Our inside cats LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE chicken. Oh we gotta buy 2 turkeys next month too. One to roast in the oven, another to have a friend deep fry(that's how they cook their turkey). It tasted pretty good when I had some leftovers at their place last year.

Update: One of the Tillamook baby loafs that has been unopened in the fridge since Tuesday now has got mold growing on it inside the wrapper. So will have to exchange it on Monday. Bah! Tillamook I always thought was quality brand...