Store It Foods

Whenever you go camping, hunting or hiking, you will always need a first aid kit to bring on your trip.  You never know when an accident may happen, so you should always be prepared.  First aid is important since it could take hours before you can get to nearest hospital or get rescued.

You can choose from many emergency survival kits.  They usually come in their own special bags, so you just have to grab them and put them in your car.  They usually have the basic supplies like bandages, burn creams and medicines.  Some may include a signal mirror, emergency blanket, whistle, waterproof matches and other stuff.  You can be sure that you can easily handle small emergencies with your kit.

Emergency survival kits are great tools for securing your family in any emergency situation. Having one on hand provides a feeling of peace of mind and security. Many people actually keep more than one on hand, like having one at home and one in the car. Keeping an emergency survival kit in the car should be mandatory, especially if you are always on the road or you live in a remote area that is prone to severe weather conditions.

Even in any outdoor activities such as hiking or camping in the woods, an emergency survival kit should be included in the backpack as several emergency situations could happen along the way. There are emergency survival kits can be carried in a backpack or shoulder bag. Examples of the contents include water pouches, batteries, food bars, first aid kit, warm clothes, flashlight, and waterproof matches.

The worries about a possible Swine Flu Pandemic may be overblown.  On the other hand, maybe they’re not.

How well are you prepared?  If the government  says you must stay home in order to prevent spread of the disease, how capable are you going to be of doing that?  Quarantine was very much a part of the famous influenza pandemic of 1918-1919, and it could be of the next one.

Once again, this fall’s flu season may not be even remotely like the one of 90 years ago, but it might be wise to check out your food storage  If for safety reasons you are either forced or choose to stay indoors away from points of possible contagion, for how long could you do that?  Do you have enough food and water to last a day or two, or perhaps a week or two, or perhaps even longer?

It may be time to consider the possibilities.

When you think emergency preparedness, don’t simply think of disaster situations.  Some of those materials could have every day applications as well.

Squeeze and shake flashlights and their like are obvious examples.  You never know when a reliable, fully charged flashlight might come in handy.  So too are less apparent choices.

Consider that tiny little package containing an emergency poncho.  One placed in your car or truck’s glove compartment might just prove very handy one rainy night, when you are forced to change a flat tire or attend to some other minor mechanical difficulty.  A similarly placed crank radio might prove useful to catch the sports scores or news highlights while sitting around the campfire during a fishing trip or some other such outing.  A wet wipe carried in purse or pocket could very provide great assistance in cleaning chocolate or ice cream off your toddler’s grimy little fingers when soap and water is not handy.

Take a look to see what in is really in your emergency survival kit.  A little thought, and you may realize that this particular product should remain in your kit, but that it could also be of use elsewhere.

Those packages of water you placed into your 72 hour kit do have a fairly good shelf life.  If they are, indeed, designed for emergency usage they are probably expected to last you at least five years.  The same can be true for emergency rations. 

Naturally, that stock does need to be rotated eventually.  But does that apply to anything else in your kit?  Well, the answer to that question can certainly be, “yes”.

Consider, for instance, the change of clothes that you may have included.  If it is winter, summer clothes might not be so appropriate, and vice versa.  If you’ve gained or lost 30 pounds or so, you might want to switch clothes for that reason as well.  If your child’s kit was prepared when he or she was six, and that was four or five years ago, then most of those clothes just won’t fit, and the toys and reading material is unlikely to be age appropriate.

In other words, it would be wise to check your kits periodically to determine if there is anything within them that you either need or want to replace.

In April of 1815 an Indonesian volcano experienced a series of eruptions.  These, however, were no ordinary eruptions.  Mount Tambora is known now as the volcano that produced the “year without summer” because of the effect on North American and European weather.

Significant amounts of ash were thrown into the air, and finer ash particles remained in the stratosphere for several years.  As might be expected, world climate was affected, with the most significant effects being felt in 1816. 

In New England and southern Canada frosts killed crops. Snow falls were recorded throughout the months of June, July and August.  European nations also suffered.  Here is how Wikipedia describes it.

“This pattern of climate anomaly has been blamed for the severity of typhus epidemic in southeast Europe and the eastern Mediterranean between 1816 and 1819. Much livestock died in New England during the winter of 1816–1817. Cool temperatures and heavy rains resulted in failed harvests in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Families in Wales traveled long distances as refugees, begging for food. Famine was prevalent in north and southwest Ireland, following the failure of wheat, oat and potato harvests. The crisis was severe in Germany, where food prices rose sharply. Due to the unknown cause of the problems, demonstrations in front of grain markets and bakeries, followed by riots, arson and looting, took place in many European cities. It was the worst famine of the 19th century.”

And all of this was due to one volcano!

Could something similar happen again?  The likelihood of an eruption of that magnitude is unlikely, but it was also unlikely in 1815. Yet, it happened.

The lesson is that there is not much that we can do to prevent such happenings, or even to forsee them.  We are reminded, however,  that a long term food storage program is worth considering for a multitude of reasons — including unexpected, world wide, volcano induced, crop failures.

What have you got sitting in your car or truck for emergency lighting?  Most people have a flashlight or maybe even two tucked away in a tool box, under a seat or in a glove box.  It may not have been used for some time, but it does provide peace of mind, knowing that when needed it is there.

Unfortunately, it does happen that those flashlights may be there, but they may not be there in a working condition.  Standard batteries can fail with age.  They don’t like extreme cold or extreme heat, and once they’re dead, they’re dead.

Of course, you’re not likely to discover that fact until you need a light — such as a dark, rainy night when you’re stopped on a highway with the need to change a flat tire.

There is a simple solution.  Substitute that battery powered flashlight with one of the newer crank, squeeze or shake lights.  That way they’ll be ready to use whenever you need them as there are no batteries to fail.

Emergency preparedness is receiving a lot of attention these days, and with good reason.  Government officials and other experts are certainly stressing the need to prepare for emergencies.  It is no wonder so many people are wisely and actively engaged in food storage programs, making sure every family member has access to a 72 hour kit, preparing for power outages, and doing their best to get ready to cope with storms, floods and all sorts of other natural disasters.

An important question needs to be posed, however.  Are you ready to act upon those preparations?

For instance, consider that brand new chain saw you’ve placed in the garage in case you need it for clean-up purposes after some sort of a severe storm.  You may know how to gas it up and turn it on, but do you know how to safely remove a tree that may end up leaning upon your house? How about felling a tree?  Do you know how to make certain that it falls exactly where you want it to fall?

Perhaps you’ve purchased a gas generator to help in the event of power failures.  Where is a safe place to store the gas for it?  How much gas should be stored?  Is the generator itself securely locked down?  Unfortunately, a generator can provide a tempting target for thieves during an emergency.

Speaking of emergencies, how about those emergency survival kits, the 72 hour kits.  Have you personalized them?  Have you made important medications a part of them?  Have you checked with your doctor or pharmacist to make sure you know how long those medications can safely be stored?

Do you know how to use some of those other components?  How do you put together that emergency shovel?  Do you know how to pitch the tent that’s in the backpack?  If you’ve got a fire starter, how does it work?

You may have stored some important documents on a flash drive.  That’s a great idea.  Have you made certain, though, that it is password protected?  Does it need to be password protected?  Do you need to worry about identity theft should that flash drive somehow fall into the wrong hands?  Do you know how to implement password protection?

If you have started a food storage program, are you actually storing foods that you are actually going to eat? In other words, do you like the food you are storing?  Have you avoided foods to which family members are allergic?  Do you know how to cook using all of those delicacies that you have so carefully dehydrated?  If you are planning on grinding wheat to produce flour, do you have the wheat?  Do you have the grinder?  If you have a grinder, do you know how to use it?  You’re expecting to bake your own bread, but have you actually baked bread before?

We could go on and on.  The point being made, of course, is that it is wise to be prepared, but it is even wiser to be prepared to know how to use what you have prepared.  During the emergency itself is really not the best time to start the learning process.

So how do you start the learning?  Well, there are probably all sorts of sources available to you.  You may know a fellow at church who is well versed in emergency preparations.  Someone you work with may be a true outdoorsman who is handy with chain saws and many similar tools.  A neighbour down the street may be a good friend who has been canning for years, or may bake bread on a regular basis.  They’ll probably be quite willing to share some of their expertise with you.

You may also want to consult with somebody from your community’s emergency measures organization.  As well, there are lots of guides and guidance on-line.  There are also likely to be lots of tips and “how to’s” in the manuals that came with your grain mill, chain saw or gasoline generator.  What’s at the local library?  What can you find at the book store?

You’ll need to analyze your own situation.  You are aware of how much you already know.  You likely have some idea as to who the local experts might be.

Just take the time to do it.  Be prepared to be prepared.

There’s nothing more important than keeping your family safe and secure in any given situation. It’s why we lock the doors when we leave the house. It’s why we agonize over choosing the right baby sitter. The bottom line is that responsible parents take every step to be prepared and responsible in issues that concern the safety of their children. That’s why every parent should designate a time to discuss your family’s plan should any kind of disaster strike.

During this time, let everyone in the family know where the flashlights, first aid kit, and other emergency gear are located. It’s a simple fact that emergency preparedness is the best way to keep harm from befalling your family if the unexpected happens. That’s also why every fridge should have a reserve of frozen water, and every pantry should have plenty of canned food and dehydrated snacks. In a major disaster, this supply of food can truly be a life saver.

The story is told of a young buisiness woman who moved to a small community, and having just moved was unfamiliar with many of the services available there.  Anticipating a major social event, for which she would like to rent a limo, she did some checking and was dismayed to find that there wasn’t very much available.

It then dawned on her that funeral homes often had limousines, and she wondered if there were any rental possibilities there.  The first home she phoned told her that, yes, they had a limo, and, yes, they would be willing to make it available if there was no business need for the vehicle.

Much relieved, she then asked if she could rent it for the day of June 15th, a date two or three months in the future.  During the awkward pause that followed, she suddenly realized what she had just asked.

Just as the funeral home could not know whether or not there would be a need for funeral services and the consequent requirement of a limousine for the bereaved family, we cannot be sure just when (if ever) that emergency might arise for which we are preparing. 

Nevertheless, it is wise to be prepared, and if, for instance, we have established a food storage program there is no rule that says we cannot take food from that program and use it in day-to-day situations.   In fact, that is exactly what should be done.  It is wise to “rotate” that food.