[TxBorderCop]

New to the Forums here. Been lurking for awhile. I have a couple of questions, if you don't mind?

1. Food - do most of y'all just do dry goods/canning and such? Does anyone here use those meals in a box (or bucket like the Wise Foods)?
2. What's the best vacuum sealer to use? We have an Excalibur dehydrator and I want to put the jerky/dried veggies into vacuum storage bags.
3. Are most of y'all bugging out or bugging in? I plan on bugging in - where I am at is very rural and in the mountains so I won't see too many city folks bugging out to where we live.
4. Ammo - is there ever enough? I have roughly 50k if ammo - from .22LR to .300 Win Mag, most in .45ACP, 9mm, .40S&W, .22LR, 5.56 and 6.8SPC.
5. What does your spouse think of your prepping? Mine is ok with it to a point, since we live in the mountains, losing power is a common occurrence, so prepped food is ok with her, the ammo she tolerates.

Whew, enough of that.

Thanks for all the info y'all. Much appreciated.

 

[joec]

I stock up on things like dried beans, rice, pasta/noodles, canned meats (those I will eat) and canned goods such as vegetables. Now with that you have about a 4 to 10 year self life if kept cool and dry. I also keep foods such as long terms foods like Wise, Mountain House, Go Foods (mostly their drinks) as well as some MRE. I personally like some of the freeze dried foods and have tasted samples of everything I've bought. I don't can however but have thought about it however at my wife and my age we only would probably need no more than 20 years of food if we lived in the world of Mad Max however we don't so we keep a combination of short and long terms enough for about a year. I do keep seeds though from the plants I grow normally every year for our current needs.

As for my wife she has had a CC license as long as I have. We both have had them they first became required, so guns and ammo not a problem. Besides she also reloads as well as I do.

 

[preppermama]

New to the Forums here. Been lurking for awhile. I have a couple of questions, if you don't mind?

2. What's the best vacuum sealer to use? We have an Excalibur dehydrator and I want to put the jerky/dried veggies into vacuum storage bags.

I tested out several vacuum sealers. I would recommend you AVOID the most recent release by Food Saver, this model: Amazon.com: FoodSaver V3835 Vacuum Food Sealer with SmartSeal Technology, Silver/Black: Home & Kitchen

I found that it did not completely suck all the air out and it is so automated that it's difficult to get it to seal quite right. Also the bag sensors are a HUGE pain in the a$$ and cause you to waste a few inches of bag every time you use it!

So I took it back to the store and exchanged it for this: FoodSaver V3240 Vertical Vacuum Sealer, White: Amazon.com: Home & Kitchen

I've had it for 3 months now and have had overall a pretty good experience with it. I have had seal failures on about 10% of the bags I seal, but it happens. Not a big deal.

 

[preppermama]

And BTW there is a $10 off a FoodSaver coupon stuck to the side of some cases of Ball Canning Jars. FYI

 

[TxBorderCop]

And BTW there is a $10 off a FoodSaver coupon stuck to the side of some cases of Ball Canning Jars. FYI

Cool - thanks!!!

 

[mikes69baja]

I dont use a vacuum sealer. I have had good luck using mylar bags with oxygen eaters. I store all my dry foods that way. I also can what ever i harvest from my garden.

 

[joec]

I dont use a vacuum sealer. I have had good luck using mylar bags with oxygen eaters. I store all my dry foods that way. I also can what ever i harvest from my garden.

That is how I do it too as I tried the vacuum sealers a few years back for my freezer and found them very lacking in general.

 

[preppermama]

I love my Food Saver, but I use both methods. I vacuum seal my food, then seal it in buckets.