30 Things To Include In Your Camping & Wilderness Survival Pack

This is a great starter list for packing a camping or hiking bag. Many of the items cross over to a survival bug-out bag as well.

Top 30 Essential Tips For Your Camping & Wilderness Survival

Source: GroomNStyle | 30 Things To Include In Your Survival Pack


DIY – Make your own Survival Garden – Patriot Direct

When designing a survival garden, it’s essential to understand what seeds to get and what to skip — and it’s just as important to

Great article for understanding the proper balance of plants you will need to grow to survive. One must take into account calories and nutritional values that you would need to sustain yourself.

Source: DIY – Make your own Survival Garden – Patriot Direct


Do you know what basics you need to survive an Apocalypse?

Do you know what you need in an Apocalypse? Emergency Survival Checklist
This infographic shows you what to have handy:

What You

Tags: apocalypse, survival, survival guide, emergency


Why Prepare?

There are real benefits to being prepared.

  • Being prepared can reduce fear, anxiety, and losses that accompany disasters. Communities, families, and individuals should know what to do in the event of a fi and where to seek shelter during a tornado. They should be ready to evacuate their homes and take refuge in public shelters and know how to care for their basic medical needs.
  • People also can reduce the impact of disasters (flood proofing, elevating a home or moving a home out of harm’s way, and securing items that could shake loose in an earthquake) and sometimes avoid the danger completely.

The need to prepare is real.

  • Disasters disrupt hundreds of thousands of lives every year. Each disaster has lasting effects, both to people and property.
  • If a disaster occurs in your community, local government and disaster-relief organizations will try to help you, but you need to be ready as well. Local responders may not be able to reach you immediately, or they may need to focus their efforts elsewhere.
  • You should know how to respond to severe weather or any disaster that could occur in your area—hurricanes, earthquakes, extreme cold, flooding, or terrorism.
  • You should also be ready to be self-suffi cient for at least three days. This may mean providing for your own shelter, first aid, food, water, and sanitation.

Using this guide makes preparation practical. > Are You Ready? Why Prepare.


What’s The Difference Between Freeze Dried & Dehydrated Foods?

 
Freeze dry fresh foods for longer storageFreeze dried foods are flash frozen and then dried.
Freeze drying removes the water, not the flavor. So freeze dried foods retain virtually all their fresh food taste, vitamins and nutritional content.  Weighs less than fresh. Freeze dried foods have 98% of their water removed. This significantly reduces the food’s weight, making it easier to handle and less costly to transport. For example, 3kg of chicken weighs only 1kg after freeze drying, and rapidly rehydrates back to its original weight. Freeze drying is generally more expensive then dehydrating. To create freeze dried food, the food item is first flash frozen and then low level heat is applied inside a vacuum chamber. Doing this dehydrates the food item and results in a dried product. After that the food item is packed for long-term storage. Freeze drying retains the color, texture, shape, flavor, and nutrition of the food item.
 
 
Dehydrated Foods are top-quality foods, that have been picked at their ripeness, cleansed and trimmed to leave only the best parts.These choice foods are then dehydrated, where 98% of their moisture is removed. This is done by a highly sophisticated drying process. They are then packed in heavy-duty enameled cans, and sealed with a special inert atmosphere to ensure the longest possible storage life.

 

Because their bulk and weight have been greatly reduced, dehydrated foods are more compact and convenient for storing and require very little space. They offer quick mobility in the event of an evacuation alert. For example, one case of regular canned food weighs approximately 24 pounds. The same item of dehydrated foods would weigh from 36 to 45 ounces, and would be packed in just one #10 can. Dehydrated foods have approximately double the yield of regular canned foods even though their cost is much lower.

Most of us already eat dehydrated foods daily. Foods like pasta, cereal, beans, cake and baking mixes, as well as many fast foods. In dehydrating foods, water is slowly removed by cooking it out of the food item, without cooking the food itself.


You can see how the Freeze drying process works:

Freeze drying is a process which is suitable for a wide variety of industrial products. These include agrochemicals, pharmaceutical intermediates, biological products, foods and flavorings.

The purpose of freeze drying is to remove a solvent (usually water) from dissolved or dispersed solids. It is an excellent method for preserving materials that are unstable in the presence of water. In addition, freeze drying can be used to separate and recover volatile substances and to purify materials.

The freeze drying process is particularly suitable for products which are sensitive to heat, subject to oxidation, or shear sensitive.

Once freeze dried, food products have the following benefits:
  • Appearance – Freeze dried foods maintain their original shape and texture, unlike air dried foods which shrink and shrivel due to high temperature processing. Just add water and in minutes the food rehydrates to its original form.
  • Taste – Tastes as good as fresh. Freeze drying removes the water, not the flavor. So freeze dried foods retain virtually all their fresh food taste, vitamins and nutritional content.
  • Weight – Weighs less than fresh. Freeze dried foods have 98% of their water removed. This significantly reduces the food’s weight, making it easier to handle and less costly to transport. For example, 3kg of chicken weighs only 1kg after freeze drying, and rapidly rehydrates back to its original weight.
  • longest possible storage life – Freeze dried foods can be stored for months or years at room temperature without deterioration or spoilage.
  • Low Storage Costs – Because it can be stored at room temperature, freeze dried food does not require costly cold or chilled storage facilities, making it much cheaper to store.

More long term food storage…

 
 

On A Budget: Prepping For 5 Bucks

Unless you have deep pockets, and most people don’t, you are going to have to purchase and store your prepping supplies a little at a time.  When your at the store buying clothes for your kids, pick up a pack of batteries.  When you are out picking up dinner at the grocery store, don’t forget to grab a couple of cans of soup.  You get the picture.

How to stretch your prepping dollars

With all this in mind, here is a list of items that you can start buying when your out and about to add to your prepping supplies that will cost you right around 5 bucks.  You would be surprised at how much stuff you can amass when you think to pick up a few extra things a few times a week.

Add in some Aldi coupon codes and your entire grocery bill will shrink, allowing you to save money or get extra supplies.

(Note:  This list comes from other posts and articles of read over time with a couple of items I have added from my own experience.  If you have got any suggestions, please leave a comment and share your knowledge. )

(Note:  I’m aware that the dollar has been devalued such that some items on this list may now far exceed the 5 dollar limit.  Adjust quantities accordingly.)

  • Five packages of instant potatoes
  • A case of ramen noodles (20 pkgs)
  • Five cans of sardines
  • Five gallons of purified water
  • Case of bottled water
  • Four cans of canned fruit
  • 2 jars of mandarin oranges
  • Five pounds of rice
  • Three pounds of spaghetti
  • Two cans of spaghetti sauce
  • Three bags of egg noodles
  • 8 packages of gravy mix
  • Four cans of whole or sliced new potatoes
  • Three cans of g veggies
  • Two cans of Yams
  • Six cans of pork and beans
  • One 40 ounce can of Dinty Moore Beef Stew
  • Two 12 ounce cans of chicken, tuna or roast beef
  • One 1lb canned ham
  • Three cans of refried beans
  • Three 12 oz cans of raviolis or spaghetti O’s.
  • Two 12.5 ounce cans of Salmon
  • Five pounds of Oatmeal
  • Four packages Dinty Moore heat and eat meals
  • 5 packages of corn bread mix
  • Four pounds of Sugar
  • Five pound of Flour
  • 1.5 quarts of cooking oil
  • Three one pound bags of dry beans
  • 2 cans of apple juice
  • 1 jar of peanut butter
  • Two boxes of yeast
  • Two bags of generic breakfast cereal
  • 10 8 oz cans of tomato paste/tomato sauce
  • Four cans of soup
  • 4 cans of Chunky soup
  • 8-10 pounds of Iodized salt
  • Two bottles of garlic powder or other spices
  • Two boxes of kool aid
  • A can of coffee
  • 2 bottles of powdered coffee creamer
  • One manual can opener
  • Two bottles of camp fuel stove
  • 100 rounds of .22lr ammo
  • 25 rounds of 12 ga birdshot or small game loads
  • 20 rounds of Monarch 7.62×39 ammo
  • Spool of 12lb test monofilament fishing line
  • 2 packages of hooks and some sinkers or corks.
  • Artificial lure
  • Two packages of soft plastic worms
  • Three Bic Lighters or two big boxes of matches
  • A package of tea lights
  • 50 ft of para cord
  • Roll of duct tape
  • Box of nails or other fasteners
  • Two D-batteries, four AA or AAA batteries or two 9v batteries
  • Travel toothbrush and tooth paste
  • Bag of disposable razors
  • Eight bars of ivory soap (it floats)
  • Box or tampons or bag of pads for the ladies
  • Gallons of bleach
  • Needles and thread
  • Ball of yarn
  • 2 bottles 1000 count 500 mg generic Tylenol (acetometaphin)
  • 2 bottles 500 count 200 mg generic advil (ibuprofen)
  • 2 boxes 24 cound 25 mg generic Benadryl (diphenhydramine HCI)
  • 4 bottles 500 count 325 mg aspirin
  • 2 boxes of generic sudafed
  • 4 bottles of alcohol
  • a box of bandages (4×4)
Whether it’s $5 or $500 you have to spend per month, just start prepping a little bit at a time and it will add up. When I started I used my camping gear as my base and built from there. No matter how much you have to spend you CAN survive if you put your mind to it.
Knowledge is free. Be sure to bookmark our site and follow us on Facebook for future articles, and if you have some time check out some of our past survival blog articles.
 

Homemade 72 Hour Emergency Food Supply Kits

You never know when some sort of disaster might happen, but you can be ready. Please note that this is only a 72 hour supply, so I like to put in some comfort foods, this is in no way similar to my longer term food storage, which is geared to a longer survival period.

MATERIALS:
One gallon plastic food container per kit (it is very hard to fit all the food into the container so I planned on using 1 gallon zip lock bags) Also added a couple of Oxygen Absorbers in each container for good measure.

Food items on the menu:

3 Day Food Supply for One

  • Day 1
Breakfast          2 Granola bars, 1 can juice
Lunch               1 pkg Lipton soup, 1 pkg crackers
Dinner              2 pkg beef sticks, 1 fruit roll
Snack               9 pieces of candy
 
 
  • Day 2
Breakfast          1 hot chocolate mix, 1 fruit roll
Lunch               2 pkg beef sticks, 1 pudding cup
Dinner              1 canned soup, 1 pkg crackers
Snack               9 pieces of candy
 
 
  • Day 3
Breakfast          1 fruit roll, I Capri Sun pouch
Lunch               1 pkg Ramen Noodles, 1 pkg crackers
Dinner              2 granola bars, 1 pkg nuts, 1 hot choco
Snack               9 pieces of candy, 1pkg cookies
 
 
 
  • EXTRA ITEMS TO KEEP WITH YOUR CONTAINER
 
Water- 2 liters per day
Small can opener
Plastic utensils
Garbage bag
 
 
  • ONE YEAR ROTATION

Shove the food into the container as best you can and store with your backpack or 72 hour kit.

 

Choosing a survival food kit.

Some food items last longer than others. Related: Shelf life of food.

Tip:  If you use mints keep them in a separate baggie or they will make your crackers taste like mint.  GOOD TO KNOW!

This “menu” is purely an example.  You can put in your jar what ever you want. Food preferences and choices are and should be up to the individual making the kit.  I realize lot of you might disagree with the food choices I have used, but it is my choice, you pack yours the way you want, with MREs and long-term food storage items.