This article was written by Anna Hunt and originally published at Offgrid Outpost.com.
Editor’s Comment: Sometimes it is astounding to think how vulnerable and prone to collapse society has become. In many ways, there is every chance that civilization could have become vibrant and largely self-sustaining. But that isn’t the direction that the larger system took at all. Instead, it chose a disposable economy, with planned obsolescence and extreme dependence.
Individuals, however, can still make that choice. It is possible to enjoy the fruits of modern life, while preparing your family for survival conditions that could strip society down to the bare basics. If you invest in your own pipeline to food, water, fuel, knowledge of nature, DIY skills and the like, you can become highly immune to unstable market conditions and the collapse of civilization.
10 Must Have Barter Skills to Survive in a Collapsed Economy
by Anna Hunt
Most people living in the United States and many other industrialized countries consider bartering as an antiquated method for exchanging goods and services. We have all become very accustomed to fiat currency, credits cards and digital transactions, so bartering just seems strange. But it wasn’t so long ago that bartering was commonly used and worked very effectively.
If a major disaster or economic collapse immobilizes the existing banking system, ATMs will run out of cash very quickly, and your credit cards may stop working. Communities will definitely go on, but the way society functions may be quite different. People who have useful skills and items with which they can barter or trade are likely to benefit, perhaps even thrive.
Below are some ideas of which valuable skills to develop to increase your ability to survive and have something to trade if you find yourself in a barter-friendly world. Being able to share your skills and knowledge with other people also carries a high barter value.
1. Growing Food
Knowing how to grow your own food is essential for survival. In case of a short-term disaster, a few buckets of emergency storable food may be sufficient, but if you find yourself in a situation where food is limited over a longer term, knowing how to garden is a must.
The best way to start gardening is to begin with small projects, like an indoor herb garden, a few containers or a couple raised beds. You may be surprised just how many low-cost resources are available to help you along the way. Some of my favorites have been Easy Container Gardening and Gardening: A Beginner’s Guide.
Just get your feet wet and start learning. Over time, your garden will expand as does your skill-set, and you may become interested in learning other gardening skills, such as building a low-cost greenhouse or permaculture design, which will make your knowledge even more trade worthy.
2. Harvesting and Storing Seeds
Knowing how to properly harvest, store and sow seeds is one of the fundamentals of successful gardening. Seeds (and of course the food you can grow) can become excellent items for barter. Check out the video below to get you thinking about how to harvest and save the seeds from your garden.
3. Food Processing and Preservation
Food is a necessity with a very short lifespan, so during any disaster or societal disruption, the majority of people will need food. Learning specific skills involving food processing and preservation can help you take advantage of seasonal abundance so you can enjoy/sell/barter food products during off seasons and winter months. Furthermore, knowledge about food preservation methods that use minimal to no electricity, such as smoking, salt curing, pickling and dehydration, are likely to hold high value in a post economic collapse economy. Even without societal disruption, creating preserved food products can become a great way to earn an income.
4. Cooking and Food Preparation
Knowing how to prepare food without abundant electricity, such as on a wood-burning stove or fire, is an important skill if faced with a natural disaster. We are so accustomed to using electricity driven appliances, we forget that there are methods for cooking food in sun ovens or in outdoor fire pits, which can be just as effective.
5. Plant Gathering
Knowledge about edible plants is not only a great hobby for avid hikers and backpackers but can be a valuable survival skill. You may be surprised by just how many plants around your neighborhood can be eaten or have beneficial medicinal properties. Learning how to identify these plants is a skill that you can perfect with a detailed guide book. Such a book is also a good resource to add to your survival library.
6. Hunting and Fishing
In our modern lifestyle, all foods are already packaged and perfectly displayed at your local grocer’s counter. But having the proper training and gear to hunt and fish, as well as clean what you catch, can be priceless. Having tools such as bows, slingshots, knives and spears, and knowing how to use them, would give you the ability to barter during any event that may hinder modern civilization.
7. Raising Animals
Other important skills when it comes to food include knowing how to raise and take care of small farm animals. If people don’t have access to a steady supply of food, they will once again turn to small local “food producers” – you! – for their favorite foods. Check out Your Farm in the City to get started.
8. Handy Work
You don’t need the skills of a home builder, electrician or master wood worker to become a valuable asset to people in your community by offering handy work and helping with small construction projects around the home. In addition to learning how to fix common household problems, such as a broken toilet, you can learn specific survival skills such as how to construct a water collection system, how to build a sun dehydrator, etc.
9. Tool Collection
Tool collection isn’t really a skill, but tools are great barter items. Garden tools and supplies, as well as other tools, such as axes, hammers, saw blades, etc., are valuable assets. They can become real money if you find yourself is a post-disaster situation. Garage sales are great places to look for bargains on tools, allowing you to stock up. When the time comes, you will have what you need to be more self-sustainable, and you can loan or trade items in exchange for products and services.
10. Water Collection, Purification and Storage
Every household can benefit from a good quality water filter, both for the home and for the bug-out bag. But even with a good water filter, obtaining clean water may not be a simple task if you do not have conventional water delivery service.
When clean water is more difficult to come by, especially if your home or community are faced with no municipal water delivery or no electricity to pump well water, water collection, purification and proper storage will become important. In addition to understanding what makes for effective water collection and storage, you can stock up on supplies to build water collection systems. Even a stockpile of small items, such as water purification tablets, may prove invaluable.
This article was written by Anna Hunt and originally published at Offgrid Outpost, published here under a Creative Commons license with attribution. It may be re-posted freely with proper attribution and this copyright statement. Please contact [email protected] for more info. Like Offgrid Outpost on Facebook. Follow Offgrid Outpost on Twitter.
Anna Hunt is co-owner of OffgridOutpost.com, an online store offering GMO-free healthy storable food and emergency kits. She is also the staff writer for WakingTimes.com. Anna is a certified Hatha yoga instructor and founder of Atenas Yoga Center. She enjoys raising her children and being a voice for optimal human health and wellness. Visit her essential oils store here. Visit Offgrid Outpost on Facebook.
1st
11. The ability and tools to actually protect all you have.
Really Mac? That’s all you got today? That’s as lame as lame gets.
Jacknife, see post below that say…
13) mouth shut.
This applies to you in a different way.
Mkthx.
Billy, have you been spending enough quality time with your boyfriend/cousin? You seem a little cranky today.
12) ears and eyes open.
13) mouth shut.
Americans are a race of slobs, obese, transgendered, addicted to all sorts of prescribed medications, OTC medicines and synthetic vitamins, extremely gullible and unable to think for themselves (trained not to think critically).
These undesirables are the offspring of failed generations that were allowed to keep breeding due to non-stringent sterilization regulations carried out by the states involved in eugenics during the early decades of the 20th Century – and worst of all, the chances that their descendants’ DNA carrying a more complex sequence of these failed genes are 100% guaranteed.
BANG
14. git yer ass to the store, right NOW, and start buying stuff that’s on SALE…buy 5 or 10 or 50 at a time when things are CHEAP, until u got some of everything. don’t just go out and buy everything you might need all at once. every week i shop the sale ads and pick up stuff at great prices….you’re gonna need LOTS of food to tide you over until you learn how to garden, hunt, prepare food, procure water….buy BOOKs on these subjects at yard sales right now for CHEAP….and STUDY THEM…and have CANNED FOOD, so you won’t need to drink as much water…even if you can GET it, there are downsides to drinking….water-bourne illnesses will be much more than people realize. good luck, muhfugguhs, it’s gonna be EPIC!
10th,without water it is all 1-9 to no avail.
I think the number one skill of survival is common sense. You should be able to use common sense to be prepared for a lot of things. You should have common sense to lay low and defend your preparations or a looter will be using them. You should have the common sense to know like minded people and neighbors who you can work with to ensure mutual survival if the unthinkable happens. Help those that can be helped but you should have the common sense to never feed the parasite’s because in a short time they will talk and you will be overrun and game over. Surviving in a worse class event is going to be a nasty thing, get your head right and thank god every time you see the sun come up. May you always be safe, have food in your belly and your loved ones close by says the old swamp rat.
common sense for those that have sense.
If the world gets so bad your garden will be targeted.
There will be very little to hunt and fish.
Anyone cooking will be targeted because of the smell.
This article was clearly written by a Woman, since most of these skills are the Gatherer side of the equation. Kitchen duty, chick work, sorting, cooking. These skills should be directed towards the Working Women who live in the cities, which are basically useless from the gatherer equation. They have no idea how to cook, of for you, that’s why they always want the guy to take them out to dinner. Most do not even buy groceries, just get pick up to-go on their way home from work when they pick up their dry cleaning. How are these women going to survive when the grid crashes? I have met a lot of woman like this I just described.
I think men need to have a least 2 women in their home. One to cook and clean and do all the gathering skills, tend to the garden. And the other hottie to boink.
Its gonna get really interesting.
~WWTI…
Since you believe city women are such “losers,” why don’t you spend your day at work, then cook, clean, pick up the kids, bathe them, feed them, spend an hour or two a day learning survival skills, and then primp and fluff your little lacy nighty so your wife (I’m giving you the benefit of the doubt) doesn’t take a second husband.
My husband enjoyed his from-scratch meals today and his from-scratch banana spice cake with from-scratch cream cheese frosting for dessert, yet we still amazingly made time today for “us.” And yes, I have spent years being a “working woman,” but my husband, who is a former Marine, NEVER disparages me or any woman and says that helping out your wife/woman, the woman who bears your children, is the difference between “males” and real men.
I don’t understand why you are so offended. He said “Most Women” which I believe is probably true. You are obviously not “Most Women” and he was not talking about you. I can count on one hand or of the hundreds of people I know in the city where I live that could do even one of the things on this list. Modern life is going to work, collecting a pay check and buying every product and service you need to survive. When the money cannot buy it any longer, almost all of these people will die or become thieves trying to take it from others.
Women are surely closer to their natural instincts than men. They seem to be the more productive gender nowadays doing everything. Multiple women like this, married to one very strong male, like the one described above, is the recipe for security, stability and wealth. Thus, why polygamy is illegal… Think about it.
That list is pretty lame… Anyone that has read this site for awhile should be far beyond those steps.
That artlicle should have an 11: If you have not already got most of the 1-10 handled then consider a will, a guardian for your children and have arrangements for how you wish to have your remains disposed.
Must be a really slow day that such a weak article has to be reposted from another site to just generate some traffic.
Thanks Mac for another interesting, thought-provoking article. It sure got the comments going! But I was hoping for a paragraph on the need for basic First Aid– germ fighting, bone-setting, stopping a bleedout, etc…. That skill is and will be very important too.
FOOD-CLOTHING-SHELTER-WATER (The rest needed you’ll have nearly a month to forage for, learn how to trap/catch/spear/shoot/etc). It is really that simplistic when stripped to ‘the core’). For those who are trained to do so, heading into the wild with a good knife is all they need to survive using much less effort than most would assume.
Borodino, Amazon (and others) sell a pocket-sized book called the SAS SURVIVAL MANUAL by John “Lofty” Wiseman, an ex-SAS commando from The UK. Nearly 400 pages of absolutely priceless info including what you have mentioned and virtually every other aspect of ‘surviving’ the impossible (at all times). The Navy SEAL manual(s) are (perhaps) the better when it comes to in-depth subjects not covered by most survival books, yet without military training it is difficult to ‘assimilate’ correctly …and out there is not where you wish to make any errors, no matter how small.
For less than $10 bucks it is self-explanatory, easy to read and do and has saved ‘countless’ (1,000’s at least) lives over the years. There is very little in the book that most military commandos are not already very aware of, and imho everyone should have this manual ‘handy’.
Above and beyond that, I assume the majority already have the tiny bottles (or large ones), of the usual stuff such as Iodine, Potassium Iodide tablets (radiation use only), Tincture of Iodides, Compound Benzoin Tincture USP (cold sores, cankers), Merthiolate, iodide-cream (harder than hell to find), several size needles and sutures (or ‘closures’), various and sundry ‘surgical strings and anchors’, BENADRYL (can’t ever have too much antihistamines!), at least one large bottle (via a doctor), of wide-spectrum antibiotics to curb most infections. I was advised and given CIPRO, MACROBID, and two others (for the widest ‘spectrum’ possible). The same for pain killers (heavy duty as well as lighter and less mind-fogging ones), combat bandages (quick-clotting agents for shrap or bullet wounds), chest pads (breathable and non-breathable for chest wounds (gunshot usually) which allow gas to escape (or not) …nothing hurts quite like a ‘deflated’ lung due to gunshot! Depends on which you need and each application is different (yet one of each in a sterile wrap runs $20 bucks or more), so quite often they are not to be found in many med-bags).
Boiled pine needles are an excellent source of vitamin C, BUT DO allow boiling water to cool a bit before immersing the needles (or you’ll destroy the “C” in seconds). Pine pitch is a natural antiseptic as is garlic (which was used extensively to save 1,000’s from infection death during WW-2) …and burns like the hinges of hell). Povidone Iodine is simply hard to beat for prepping an area prior to ‘minor surg’. (Or major if you are so inclined, or haven’t a choice).
Pine pitch is a great way to catch small birds. Put it on a low branch, close to the tree trunk and as far out as practical. They land and get stuck. You only wish to eat the breast meat, yet if you can catch several you’ve got quite the stew or however you chose to cook it (thoroughly of course).
Bullets are completely sterile (extreme heat) upon entry and unless they are endangering the body it is usually best to leave them be. (I’ve been lugging around a couple since 1983 with no ill-effects, but I can tell you days before it rains that it is coming). lol…
There are so many ways to obtain drinkable water I won’t even try here. I will state that a Sawyer Filter (with bag and straw) lasts nearly forever and is easily ‘flushed out’ returning it to as new condition (even the filters). Using two ‘in tandem’ doubles the safety and they will filter out particles down to 1 micron. (It is hard to go wrong with a Sawyer, no matter which one you chose to purchase). There is little need to order one with a hose that fits (tiny neoprene-like hose that a standard straw fits nice and tightly over). For variety I suppose? The ones that come with a water ‘bag’ are not very durable, meaning the bags are not durable. They easily tear or are punctured, so a ‘bladder’ or canteen is still the weapon of choice for storage and durability.
Do you reload? Are you aware there is now a kit available for the reloading of rim-fire .22’s? They work excellently, yet are time consuming as compared to the standard methods of reloading.
You can make your own ‘primers’ (in a pinch), using ‘caps’, ‘party snap-pops’ (the stuff inside them that is), or ‘strike-anywhere matchheads (ground up VERY carefully then gingerly packed into the ‘spent’ primer). *Ask me how I know to be very careful someday). heheh…
Life Straws are decidedly cheaper, and deliver ‘up to’ 10,000 gallons. They are not usually ‘refreshable’ nor do they come with a ‘flushout plunger’ – yet you can drink pond water safely with one (and 10,000 gallons, at one gallon per day, is a lot of water)! Perhaps the newer Life Straws are now ‘cleanable’ – – but not to my knowledge. (I’m a died-in-the-wool-Sawyer-fan).
If all else fails, most any source of water is safe to drink that has been distilled, including urine or seawater.
Small bird drink twice daily (morning and evening). They will fly straight and low to their water source, so just follow them. When they are returning from drinking, they ‘flit’ from one branch to another, but always in a straight line, so just go where they are coming from. Water birds and birds of prey do not drink on a regular basis, so they are useless for finding water.
Bees are rarely more than 4 miles (at the most) from their water source.
May you NEVVA have to use the info above!
Correction: Please change the first word to SURVIVAL-SKILLS (and NOT ‘Food’). If you have a half-decent set-of-survival-skills along with the other three, you have all you need (with just a good knife) to head into the wilderness and survive whatever is thrown at you (within reason). Water is of primary importance, and DO NOT WAIT until you run out before seeking out more of the same. That ‘mistake’ has taken countless souls from this earth. (yet in most all of the events those who ended up dehydrated with ‘black-tongue’ followed by coma were often surrounded with water sources but lacked the knowledge, or so it is assumed in each event). *Lack of water clouds the mind and destroys ‘critical thinking’ – replacing it with near-insane thoughts of all types, none of them favorable to survival.
I am a female who is not defined by your commentary’s claim. I am the main survivalist for my household and I believe that your commentary is clearly defining your character – which I do not believe will last long in real-life. However, take comfort that you have the comfort of anonymity over the internet.
Incidentally, I learned to cook as a child because of self-preservation – thanks to my father’s lack of culinary skills. I also know how to budget, shop, cook, clean and sew.
Furthermore, this survivalist has one advantage that I doubt that you have: an INTJ personality – a small percentage of people have this advantage.
Good luck in your future prepping, because I am a survivalist.
I too am an (I/E)NTJ; I border introvert/extrovert as the situation requires. I am the main “prepper” in my family of males and the reason we moved from an urban to a rural environment. I have to agree with WhoWTFKnows, and most women in urban environments are flippin’ useless, but so are the mean for that matter. When an urban man cannot hammer a nail in the wall to hang a picture correctly, is not uncommon! I’m curious, though, why you think our personality is an asset for survival skills.
Infection , Virus, no electric, roving mobs, it going to be like the wild west. You;ll need hand tools saws ,picks, axes,pruners, drill, shovels, seed vault, post hole diggers, nails, hammers, out house, plus comforts fresh water ,wash tub, guns & ammo, coffee, sugar, salt, flour, stored gas, flash lights rechargeable batteries, solar panels, car batteries, cb radio, short wave, lasers. Plus others that some basic. Good luck. P.S big balls.
I like this article.
Water is a challenge in the desert. I was thinking about a documentary I saw about a decade past. An African village had water that had a pump charged by a child’s ride. The kids jump on and spin this pastime usually found in parks.
It would be nice to have something like that. Then again, water rights and government interference usually spoils everyone’s fun and threatens survival instead of supporting it.
___
i love that idea, B…anyone know where we can SEE that apparatus?
That child’s ride, a “spinner’, simply pumps in a circle (instead of like the ‘up/down’ of a hand pump. Both do precisely the same thing and only need a fresh ’round of rubber’ every now and then to maintain a good ‘seal’ to prevent ‘losing’ the water lift back down a pipe with a bad ‘foot-valve’.
Think ‘windmill’ and you’ve got it!
B from A – have you ever heard of a Sand-Point? It is just several short pipes (each end threaded), so using a pounder ‘threaded on’ to protect the threads, you just keep driving it into the sand and you WILL KNOW when you have hit water (if ever). What I am referencing requires a battery and vehicle to keep up the power to the pump (but the pump has a limited ‘lift’ capacity depending on its power (of course).
The vehicle is to ‘jack’ up the sand point for reuse should you need to move, or fail to find water. (Bummer, but at least you get your Sand-Point back)!
Prickly pear cactus is great for water after all the thorns and barbs are removed. Lots of water and the entire plant is edible. If you open a cactus and see nothing but white, creamy stuff – leave it be as it will cause all hell to break loose in your stomach and intestines, and can kill in large enough amounts. In fact, this goes for ALL white, milky and watery substances – steer clear of them!
Kud-zoo or is it Cud-zoo? No matter. It is completely edible and a great source of water. Leaves, vines and roots are all edible (and they grow four feet a day, more or less). Raw is okay but cooking it is a plus (on the taste side). Cook the roots under the embers of a fire (about four inches down), wrapped or not wrapped is fine. Clean off, or scrape off and enjoy. Cook unhusked corn-on-the-cob the same way. Under the coals/embers of a ‘calmed down fire’ (flame-less is best), and let the heat from the embers cook it inside the husk until down (about one hour is about right).
Number 10 should be number #1 we can only live 3 days without drinking something.
Good advice about learning those skills.
But I doubt anyone will be bartering them when the SHTF. Those skills will be needed to provide just for your own family. There will be no “surplus” to trade for those skills.
When the supply chains break nothing gets delivered anymore and only those who can provide their own food and shelter will survive. Those with excess land will probably have willing slaves to work it for food and shelter. Billions that have nothing will be liquidated.
It’s not fair but there are way too many people on this earth that can’t begin to support themselves. They will die. A college education won’t mean anything in a Mad Max world. Those with piles of saved scrap that flatlanders call “junk” will be set up to fix their own breakdowns. Too bad flatlander. Call the handyman in your I-phone…snort.
Is it time to break out the assless chaps and the sand rail yet?
JRS
Your in rare form brother , LMAO!
Please , no assless chaps .
Since we already do/have all of the above and a lot more, I’d have to agree with JRS….you’ll be doing good just to provide for you own family…..and hang on to the ability to do that from all the people that have said to you “I’m coming to your house when it hits the fan”.
If things ever get so bad that most folks need these tools and skills, then most folks are simply going to die….because they won’t have the time/food/etc to get the years of learning curve required.
But make no mistake: Until they die off, THEY are going to be your biggest threat to survival….because they are going to expect you to provide since you have some means, and then they will fight you for it if you aren’t charitable enough.
Andy,
I plan to destroy and just walk away , if things get that bad.
Dont think it will go that bad ever , But who knows?
Hopeing for divine intervention …..
If you do not have the skills now.
You never will ……..
DID YOU ALL SEE HOW GAS IS GOING TO BE JACKED UP HERE SOON ?
That is going to mean higher food prices……..
WARM UP
10 skills for a collapse economy, if your a politician.
1. Must be able to lie without conscience.
2. Must be able to cheat because your thought yourself to be privileged.
3. Be able to steal from others openly or overtly
4. Be able to blame other’s without hesitation.
5. Fabricate a story to cover your guilt.
6. Misdirect your intentions no matter the costs.
7. Discredit others to your level of competence or less when taken to task.
8. Be able to confuse the facts with medical or contrived extenuating circumstances.
9. Take no responsibility for your actions.
10. Be able to run for your life.
The biggest threat are those who know you or know about you. When their children are hungry they will do anything and everything imaginable to obtain food. Im more concerned about local unprepared sheeple than the government agents or UN blue helmets. Many of those sheeple who haven’t prepped do have guns and lots of toys. They are much younger than me. They likely run faster , hear and see better and possibly be better shots than I am. Only advantage is I am meaner and have already decided to do the necessary things. I will take a hard line when push comes to shove. And I have went over a lot of what ifs? I don’t have just one or two avenues of defence.
You are spot on. But, I believe the next threat after stupid sheeple will be dog packs. There are 80 million dogs in the u.s. and most will let them run instead of making lunch meat. Something to think about when you’re walking around after shtf with only 6 shots in your revolver!
molon labe
Sounds like a lot of ‘free’ meat running around wild.
Free and rabid ….not worth taking the chance is it?
Showing my age here,
My brother used to live close to where some of the Bonanza shows were filmed(the scenes with trees). That was a ranch and they used to organize hunts to kill wild dogs that were killing cattle. That is why we need 30 round magazines. Domesticated dogs gone wild aren’t afraid of humans and will tear you to pieces. Those hunters knew it and would never leave the truck they were in. Private property so it was legal to shoot from the vehicle.
I own 5 dogs, and they will rip anything that runs, to
pieces, if I don’t stop them.
Dogs will be a problem after the stupid humans are gone.
Yes, Feral Dog packs will be on the run killing. Watch the movie Cujo. Rabid and viscious. You need to dispatch them right away. Shotgun is a great tool. 00 Buck and slugs.
-WWTI…
already have a problem with coyotes , dont need more .
This will sound really cruel.
Gut shoot one with a .22. they go back to the
pack and you will get a year or two of peace.
Dog packs are a little harder
warfare, because you don’t see all of them,
but they communicate. Sounds like something
I can’t say on this site about dealing with
human tribal animals.
Send them a message.
If your definition of SHTF includes a breakdown of government and the food distribution system, you won’t be growing anything or raising any animals without 600 hungry zombies stealing it. (Unless you live in the middle of no where and that implies you are doing most of these things now anyway). You really need to make it through the big die off – then you can start this grow and gather. I have never figured out how to get a pair of cows or pigs to the other side of the die off – short of extreme remoteness or a Viking style long house where you sleep with your animals.
Yes that’s one thing Ive been studying on. how to get even a nucleus of breeding stock past the die off. domesticated animals will be easy pickings. And you gotta let them out to graze sometime. All I can think of is brand my cattle and goats ear notch the pigs. and encourage others to do the same. If I catch someone with a branded or marked animal that’s not theirs. no matter what they hang.
Hi All,
As for item #3, one thing I have never gotten a good
grasp of, is how to preserve meat when you are
in a temperate climate.
I live in a temperate place. Most my neighbors
are putting on parkas when it gets below 60F(15.5C).
How do you naturally preserve meat when all the
books demand that you need temps below 40F(4.4C)?
We do make jerky, but that requires
lots of electricity and how do you make jerky out of
Plate cuts( beef belly) of meat?
I keep in mind I have a lot of cattle, goats, chickens and pigs as neighbors and if the SHTF they aren’t going anywhere.
But I hate to waste meat, I could trade with, if
I could preserve it.
Sounds like at least you’ll be able to grow year around And if your livestock doesn’t get stolen, you won’t need to be storing a winters worth of feed for them. Advantage for you. There are many ways to preserve meats. Salting, brining, canning, smoking, dehydrate or make jerky. It can be done. Just have to survive till after things calm down.
Rellik, eve watch Live Free or Die? They are salting the heck out of beef and pork in one episode but the claim is it keeps it preserved for a couple months, if I recall.
Smoking meat is another option but in my experience with salmon, it turned green IN THE FRIDGE after 6 weeks! WTF?
I’m going with red beans, brown rice and similar stuff packed for long term storage.
It’s every bit as hot here as south Florida, so keeping meat products is problematic (for long term).
Luckily we have streams with big freshwater prawns nearby. They’ll be the go to treat.
Got coconuts galore, avocados, fruit, etc., the list is endless. Not worried about food, just looters.
About that emp subject..remember how much wiring is in the average car. It can be put to use in many ways.
Water softener salt is dirt cheap and they say its pure. For salting beef. Or eventual trading.
I question your brown rice choice. I love brown rice, but it will turn rancid. If you can dry/smoke Salmon right ( Smelt is even better), it will last forever.
Red beans and white rice with hot dogs is typical New Orleans Parish prison food( don’t ask why I know, but all charges were dropped)
EMP on your car is a no brainer. It will keep working. The scared cop with a Glock is more of a scare than induced current on a wire to a glorified 8051 ASIC, My favorite chip was a 68340, but if you get a Spartan XC6SLX150 I could probably get you to Mars.
yeah, I know about the brown rice. Most of what I have is kept refrigerated and it will run out in time. Luckily it is grown here locally.
White rice stores better for sure but it has next to nothing in food value. I won’t touch it. Rather eat breadfruit.
PS, forgot to add I learned here (cookin’ Mom?, where are you?) about ‘canning’ brown rice. I’ve tried a few jars and they’re in dark storage going on 10 months or so..we shall see.
IIRC, heat on sheet pan 180* for 20 min., let cool a bit and jar it up.
Interesting story about Bonanza btw!
You can pressure can meat or you can make pemmican, look it up…
http://www.fao.org/docrep/003/x6932e/X6932E02.htm
Rellik hope this helps
Thanks for the URL!
Learn to cure…
Bacon used to be cured and did not require refrigeration but the crap that is labeled as bacon these days is just flavored pork bellies that pretends to be bacon. The stuff that is sold these days will spoil even when refrigerated. Salt, sugar and smoke can handle a lot of those nasty bacteria. It takes several weeks to cure bacon but the flavored pork bellies we now buy as bacon is processed in hours.
Learn to dehydrate meat. When you read rare books that are long out of print, such as “Scouting on two continents” by Major Frederick Russell Burnham, you find accounts of where they dried entire beef roast cuts so that they could preserve the meat for the long treks they did with ox wagons in southern africa (1890 timeframe). But searching from their clues, you can find recipes for “biltong”.
Ladies real men hold jobs and provide. It’s just that simple you don’t gotta be a marine to be a real man. Mostly niggers and queers run from man responsibility. To preserve meat you keep it alive till use. Small animals like chickens or rabbits can be served to the family in one meal. Old guy your right on about hungry children will be dangerous. Children will react like little savages and adapt to their new situation to survive without concern for anyone’s life. Used to have a dog and one day the wife though it was a good idea to give him a bloody bone he fucking turned Ito a savage tried to bite me for taking it. He was a good dog but I think the bloody bone gave him a momentary lapse of reason. Once it was taken from him he retuned to his coward self. I made sure he feared me. I have no doubt dogs will be dangerous and resort to their wolf pack roots. The tools to protect what you got need a person with the balls to use them against an attacker. Katrina showed me that most gun owners are pussies and will turn them in when the gestapo comes around saying nobody is gonna be armed and collects people’s guns. That was painful to witness how people will lay down when their rights and safety is at stake.
Meat can be salted and smoked. Where I grew up we had a smoke house where we salted and smoked our pork with hickory smoke. The smoked meat hung from rafters for months until completely eaten. That was the best pork I ever ate anywhere. Any kind of meat can be canned in canning jars. You should be able to find how to do these things on the computer. My dad always used bear grass to hang his meat said it wouldn’t spoil the meat where it went through it. A lot of the old ways of survival with no electricy are being lost says the old swamp rat.
I read somewhere that teenagers are very dangerous they travel in packs and are ruthless. When starving. I agree with the hide out until the non believers are gone. Then we have the canibles. And I bet they’ll be lots. It’s expensive but I fill 5 gallon gas cans with rice beans powdered milk lentils split peas.very portable strong waterpruff. I fill one gallon plastic gas cans with 22s. When empty they make water storage for rain water collection. Pressure cookers for no smell. And a pressure cooker sterilizes food and water fast. Clear glass bottles can be laid in the sun to sterilize water takes a while. Water the big problem . Funnel downspout water into car wash plastic drums. Or kiddie pools. Hang plastic sheet or just lay on ground . Funnel downspout into bathroom widow fill bathtub. Funnel into basement kiddie pool. Or into garage or living room .kiddie pool. If you have solar panels a dehumidifier makes about a gallon of water a day.
CHECK
Sgt.
A often over looked skill is trapping. In a survival time don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Have some leg hold traps, hog trap, hooks and line and gill nets on hand. Leg hold traps will catch many animals alive that can be put into a cage until you are ready to eat them. A hog trap will catch feral hogs which if not too large can be penned until you are ready to eat them. Excess fish can be put into a live box and hidden until you are hungry. Trapping requires a little skill and common sense so study up on trap sets and trapping will sure help keep you fed if you are not a picky eater says the old swamp rat.
Traps are a good idea. Most trappers around here have sold their gear since there is little money in it anymore. You can still pick up gear at public sales and flea markets.
A gig is another valuable tool. You can gig carp when they came to the riverbank in the spring to breed. Not the best of eating, but easy to get and some are three feet long or better around here.
You can also gig catfish and muskies at night from a boat if you have a light and are sneaky enough. So I hear…
I imagine they would make a pretty nasty spear type weapon in a pinch.
Gigs are a good tool for sure JRS. I use mine to harvest bull frogs which are delicious. Another good food source are turtles, big ones have a lot of meat on them and are delicious with a little seasoning. Big fish ells that sometimes get caught in a fish trap eat well says the old swamp rat.
The sheeple are wronger than two flat tires on a bicycle if they think the rest of us is just gonna carry em through this.
#1 Shooting stright
Everything is going as planed …NO ONE WILL SURVIVE…
WHEN THEY ACTIVATE THE NANO-DEATH DUST WE HAVE ALL BEEN EXPOSED TO.
SO….. I SUGGEST YA’LL ENJOY WHAT TIME YOU HAVE LEFT…..
One advantage after the SHTF, the local animals that currently plagues my garden attempts will be gone by the local hunters. The past several years of gardens have been destroyed by bears, raccoons and deer. The only animal I will have to worry about after the SHTF will be human.
I think that being a certified EMT or higher medical training would be an essential skill set to have as well.