There are times in your life when a person is truly blessed and their life enriched. Last evening was such an instant in time for my wife and I.
TheBoy brought Ms. H into our lives about 2 1/2 years ago, she has been a joy to be around and fun to get to know. Last evening they became husband and wife . . . . and she became our daughter. We are truly blessed beyond words.
When you start to talk about Prepping and food . . . . a lot of folks go just a bit “off the rails” in my opinion. They start talking about a pantry full of a year’s worth of food, root cellars, canning, drying meat, buckets of dehydrated food . . . . . it’s enough to overwhelm someone just starting to think what they would do in the event things go sideways in a really big way. My approach to the food issue?
Start with your tummy . . . . “What do you want to eat today?”
We’re “menu people”. We always have been. Each week’s shopping trip begins with a conversation around the dinner table about what we want to eat this week. That begets a menu which begets a shopping list.
The same is true for preparing for a trek or paddle . . . . what do you want to eat. And that’s the format I want to share for building a prepper’s food supply. We will start with a day, which can easily be expanded into a week and then “cookie-cutter’ed” into a month. Past a month?? Up to you really, just “cookie-cutter” your daily/monthly menus into a time period you wish to prepare for . . . . nothing tricky here folks, nothing tricky.
A couple day’s menu:
| | Sun | Mon | Tue |
| Breakfast | Coffee / Hot Choc | Coffee / Hot Choc | Coffee / Hot Choc |
| | Crystal Lite | Crystal Lite | Crystal Lite |
| | Eggs (2 per person) | Bagels (cinn. & blue berry) | Oatmeal |
| | Bacon (3 Slices per person) | Eggs (2 per person) | Dry Fruit |
| | Hashbrowns | ||
| | |||
| | |||
| Lunch | Coolaid/Crystal Lite | Coolaid/Crystal Lite | Coolaid/Crystal Lite |
| | Gorp | Gorp | Gorp |
| | Sausage (1/4 stick per person) | PBJ | Chicken Salad (chicken/ranch dressing/relish) |
| | Crackers | Bagels (1 per person) | Pita Bread |
| | Spread Cheese | Trail Mix | Candy |
| | |||
| Supper | Coolaid/Crystal Lite | Coolaid/Crystal Lite | Coolaid/Crystal Lite |
| | Beef Stew (8 oz per person) | Kylbosa | Chicken/Wild Rice |
| | Hashbrowns | Mashed Potatoes | Nut Roll |
| | Peas/Corn | Oreos | |
| | Granola Bars | ||
| |
This is a couple days of a week-long paddle a few years back. Paddles offer some nice alternatives to backpack treks – mainly you can carry more food and not be so weight conscious. I carry food in “food barrels” – usually two barrels will handle a crew of 8 for 7 days.
Weight becomes less of an issue because most portages are typically less than a mile with the majority of the paddle seeing the barrel ridding in the bottom of a canoe. I’ll “splurge” a bit on paddles because of this.
Backpack treks – weight is definitely an issue. My rule of thumb – 2 pounds of food per person per day, less water. A minimum of 96 ounces of water at the beginning of the day – 3 Nalgene’s worth add another 6 pounds max per day.
Prepping?? If you are “on the move” – the same travel considerations for a paddle or a trek come into play. How many days of travel are you planning on and how are your carrying your gear? If you are “sheltering in place” – a well-stocked pantry with a rotating food stock is simple to build and maintain.
I would suggest you begin with a week’s menu/supply and then expand to a month. Once there, work with your pantry, work out the kinks and then expand as you see fit. But a one month supply of food for your family is a minimum you want to plan for.
As you can see from the example above, each meal is detailed – number of eggs, pieces of bacon, bagels, snacks, drinks – detail, detail, detail. Remember, you only have to do this once. Build a spreadsheet, total quantities per week and use that to build a shopping list. Or, use one of the many menu planner websites that will accumulate the shopping list for you.
Some examples of food that can be used for “prepping” would include:
I like breakfast bars as part of breakfast. I am also fond of instant oatmeal packets on the trail or regular oatmeal if I have time. Notice the expiration date on this pack, it’s about 1-month from the date of purchase. Honestly, the bars are packaged in sealed foil wrappers, I would have not hesitation of stretching this out quite a bit. That said, expiration dates need to be part of your rotation.
Foil packets of tuna and chicken make easy snacks or meals. In this case though, the expiration date on the tuna is 2-years into the future making this a very flexible item in your prepper food kit.
Hamburger Helper is also quite flexible. The expiration date is about 1-year in the future. A broad range of game meat would work well with this packet as well as many canned meats.
What good prepper kit would be without SPAM?? Expiration date nearly 3-years into the future, this works well for many dishes. I find it’s best fried first, that helps firm up the slices. But for taste, I like it!
Pastas have very long self-lives – this package of macaroni has a “use by” date nearly 3-years into the future.
So there is your process. Begin with a day’s menu. Expand that to a week. And finally, expand it into a month. Use that period of time to prepare a pantry. Obviously this is a mix of long-term food and consumables – fresh fruit, meat, eggs, milk and the like. But, there are longer shelf-life foods that can easily be mixed in. Remember, you can consume your pantry over the storage life of the food, whether that food has a shelf life of 6 months or 3 years.
If you are willing to do this, you will have a “window” of time – a month or so – go survive the initial “incident” whether it is a severe storm or a meltdown of society. You will have bought yourself time to react.
Of course, we are all susceptible to the “we must get the hell outta Dodge” event. A 1-month pantry is easily transportable as well. (“bugging out” is a whole series of posts that will come in the future). Plan for this event as you are building your pantry.
Of course, there are “bucket” solutions. Buy a bunch of buckets filled with meals with a shelf-life of a decade, you are ready to roll. The biggest downside here – they are expensive. I am very fond of Mountain House Foods. These are the dehydrated packs I take on all my treks and paddles. Their quality is excellent, their price is in-line with alternatives. My only caution is to double their serving size. A packet is typically billed as a 2-person packet – not so much. When you are on the trail, your calorie count climbs and I can easily down a packet by myself. One packet equals one person.
You’ll note they have everything from single packets to “grab and go” buckets. Try some packets, do some weekend treks, work your kit. Then settle on what works for you. Their meals are typically rated for a 10-year shelf life. Plenty of time to replace them periodically by using your stores on your treks and paddles.
Obviously, the whole other part of food storage is raising and storing your own fruits and vegetables. We’ll touch on that later as well. This post is to get you to a 1-week and then 1-month pantry as soon as possible. You will be surprised how comforting this little cushion is.
Remember . . . . you have all the time in the world TODAY to prepare . . . .
. . . . do it!!
Ms. C: Hey dad, what ya doin’ next week?
Me: Nothing special, why??
Ms. C: Can you come talk to my class about Vietnam??
So this past Monday found me in front of no less than 7 middle school history classes working their way through the 60s and Vietnam. I brought along 50 or so slides (ok, scans of slides) of places like the base at Pleiku, Mang-Yang Pass between Pleiku and Ahn Khe, the “zoomie” flightline at Ahn Khe, roadside images and a round of shots of our tower after the last earnest sapper attack before I headed home. The favorite photo – “Boozer”, a little pup our barracks adopted . . . . glad that was the favorite photo.
Anyway, we arrived at our son’s wedding city late yesterday afternoon. And late last night met our daughter at the airport, drove to the home we’re staying at and settled in to recover from the day – wine for the ladies, some Wild Turkey for me.
Ms. C: Hey dad – I got something for you . . . .
And she brings out over 100 thank you notes from her class. Nice notes filed with “thank you for your service” to “thanks for sharing your emotional story”. Nice group of kids, some good questions and more than a “emotional” moment or two.
A intense looking 8th grader raises her hand and asks “so why did you volunteer for Vietnam Anyway?????” It was a strange question to bring up an “emotional” response . . . . yet there I was in front of a classroom of kids and I’m all choked up - hard/impossible to talk, watery eyes . . . . heavy sigh – where the hell is this coming from?!?!?!? Deep breaths . . . . . and after a moment or two it passes and I can talk again.
So I answer the “whys” of why I volunteered . . . . what else could I do? 4 months after Tet, I had family who proudly served during WWII, I believed we were doing the right thing, I’m a citizen, I have a responsibility as a citizen, as an American . . . . what else could I possible do??
So we talked about the 60s, the global context of Vietnam, how it affected me from age 13 when Kennedy was assassinated through the 1965 attack on the Ia Drang Valley, Tet, my enlistment 6 months earlier, my stay in Tawain, our May 1970 attack on the Ho Chi Minh Trail, Kent State, campus unrest, “road trips” between Pleiku and Ahn Khe, all the different aircraft types at Pleiku . . . . . to coming home and embracing Susie at the airport after a 2-year absence . . . . memories of long ago and far away . . . .
I pray that when these kids reach the fine old age of 63, they’ll have gentler memories . . . .
Me asking a class a question: So, when you think of a “veteran” . . . . what do you think of . . . .
Bouncy kid in the rear-left corner waving his hand: “Old guys!!!”
Heavy sigh . . . .
We’re off getting “The Boy” hitched! Posting will be a bit spotty . . . .
Lots of great folks on the side bar to keep any visitors busy . . .
An update on training with NLT’s SIRT Pistol.
The biggest thing the SIRT pistol brings to the table is the ability for the trigger to reset giving you the opportunity for multi-round engagements. I found the next step was to “upgrade” my indoor range in my office. You see the results below.
Range targets – be they an in-home practice range, or an actual full sized target used on a live fire range – should serve a purpose. Bull’s Eye style targets are fine, but defensive shooting involves so much more that holes on paper.
My indoor range began with three rows of resized IDPA targets. The bottom is 1:3, the middle is 1:6 and the top is 1:4. So, if I stand 7 foot away the bottom is 21ft., the middle is 42ft., and the top is 28ft.
The introduction of the SIRT pistol to my training brought to mind the expansion of this range to include human-threat targets, some hostage targets and some numbered shapes for “cognition drills”.
The human-threat targets were simply found by doing a Google search and then printing them to fit and 8.5” x 11” piece of paper. As you can see, their size matches fairly well with the 1:3 reduced IDPA target.
So I now have a range that I can use throughout the day for simple “draw and engage” drills or for “cognition drills” where I use an MP3 recorded drill – complete with timer tone – to push my skill set.
The SIRT Pistol training pushes the boundaries of “dry fire” training. Since the Glock 17 is one of my carry weapons, the “touch and feel” of the draw from concealment is virtually identical. Drills that expand to speed reloads and tactical reloads also feel like the real thing. I can easily mix focal-point-shooting drills with precision head shots. And the cost of a trigger press runs in the 1/1000th of a penny range rather than the $.60 range. I find this all to be a “win” situation.
The other great thing is that I find I probably do 10 to 20 drills throughout the day rather than just 2-3 times a month on the live fire range. Much more trigger time. And, this SIRT Pistol trigger time comes with a self-diagnostic every time I press the trigger . . . . am I getting a single dot or is the barrel moving as I press and am I getting a dash instead.
All good stuff! So, a couple weeks into beginning the real work with my new SIRT Pistols, I like them! You may want to consider adding one to your tool kit, especially if the price of ammunition remains high and the availability remains low, low, low!!!
Purify: a: to clear from material defilement or imperfection
b: to free from undesirable elements
It had been a busy/hectic/strenuous week. Four of us had traveled to Haiti to meet a new priest. He was to take over the 24 parishes we attempt to help support. This is done through monetary efforts to help pay teachers and provide some meals for the children at various village schools. It also includes an annual trip to a number of different villages to show our physical support, bring medical teams and to let these people know they have not been forgotten . . . that whole phrase . . . . “not been forgotten” . . . . is why we are on this visit. To show them, by our physical presence, by our physical embrace, by our sharing a meal and attending Mass together . . . . that we have not, and will not, forget them.
We chose to “become one” with the villagers we go to visit. They take great pride in providing food and shelter on our visits. And, while we bring our own drinking water (yes the Culligan Man really does exist in Haiti), they provide “washed” dishes, cups and glasses. It’s impossible to not be exposed to the local water sources and all the little critters that live within.
Which is exactly why three of the four of us, me included, are having a rather bad time of it sitting in the Miami airport waiting for our trip home. It’s not going to be a pleasant trip home. Finally, the good Lord must have found a soft spot for us and our situation . . . . our flight was canceled. After a night in a hotel spent mostly nursing fevers and bathroom visits requiring “both ends” to be taken care of, we were finally travel worthy the next day and returned home. A career in the military that included trips to Vietnam, Japan, the Philippines and various countries in Central America insured that I had experienced these “intestinal challenges” before – but they had been blissfully absent for a number of decades. It was a good reminder that while water is a life giving liquid; it can also cause real problems if it’s not treated properly.
So let’s talk about purifying your water. How are you going to be sure that the three quarts or more that you will need to drink every day will not have you doubled over vomiting or running into the wilderness with your trowel looking to attend to your bad case of diarrhea?
The critters hiding in your water consist of protozoans (small, single celled animals) and an assortment of bacteria and viruses. Any one of them can give you a very bad day.
When I use the word “purify” I mean that these creatures are either dead or removed from the water you drink. And there are four primary ways to make that happen – heat, filtration, chemical treatment or exposure to Ultra-Violet (UV) light. Each has advantages and disadvantages. Some work better when used in combination with other techniques. But all will get you where you need to be – with a supply of pure water.
HEAT
One of the items in my “Boogie Bag”/camping gear is a coffee pot (insides taken out) that acts as a container for my MSR Whisperlite gas stove. It’s a nice combination. And, should we choose to purify water by simply boiling it for coffee or hot chocolate, it does the task just fine.
By applying heat to water and maintaining a water temperature over 165F, the pathogens contained in the water are killed off within 30 minutes. If you take the temperature over 185F, that time is reduced to about 3 minutes. If your water is at a rolling boil, you can be assured that all the nasty little critters are dead. Most material suggests a rolling boil for 3 minutes, but the critters are long since dead once the boil begins.
There are disadvantages to this approach however – fuel and time. Fuel can quickly become a consideration. On week long treks or paddles I usually budget 2 quarts plus one pint of “white gas”. This is usually more than enough but if we also used the fuel to boil water to purify it, much more fuel would need to be carried.
Of course, wood can also be used. Unless you are in a long-term shelter condition and your wood is also used for cooking and warmth. While you can share the heat to purify water, it is time consuming and can go through fuel in a hurry.
Still . . . . all that said . . . . heating water is a proven way to insure your drinking water is pure.
Filtration
Micro-filters are small, lightweight, simple to use and effective. While there is any number of options, for the past 15 years or so I have used MSR’s MiniWorks ceramic filter.
The MiniWorks consists of a Pump Assembly that allows you to pump up to 1-liter per minute of purified water. An Intake Hose drops into the water allowing the pump to take in water through the Pre-Filter. In some areas, especially in water that is algae-rich, I suggest wrapping multiple layers of a coffee filter around the Pre-Filter to help keep out material that will clog the Ceramic Filter. The Pre-Filter Float allows you to adjust the depth that the Pre-Filter draws from. Typically you do not want to try and filter surface water since this holds some of the highest concentrations of critters. The heart of the filter is a Ceramic Filter with pores that are only 0.2 um (um = micro-meter = one millionth of a meter or 1 thousandth of a millimeter) in diameter. To give you some idea of how small this is, a hair is typically 100 um. Protozoans and Bacteria are typically .2mm to 4mm is size. This filter will filter out virtually all of these harmful critters. Where it falls short is in killing viruses – they are small enough to pass through a filter like this.
That said, few streams in the US are infected with viruses – your greatest danger are the larger critters and this filter will clean that water at the rate of 1 liter per minute.
Water seals at the intake end and the out flow end insure the two water systems do not mix. One big benefit of these filters is that they will screw directly on to a standard Nalgene bottle.
This goes a long way to insure the “dirty water” and “clean water” never meet.
The thinner the Ceramic Filter becomes, the poorer its filtering capability. Snapped onto the protective cap of the water filter is a Filter Gage. If the Ceramic Filter can pass through the gage opening, it is too thin and must be replaced.
I have used this particular filter for 15 years and it is, in my opinion, simply the best filter on the market today.
Chemical Treatment
One of the favorite treatment combinations is to use a chlorine tablet along with a second tablet to take away the taste.
This treatment will, indeed, purity your water – even without the above filter. You must be aware of the water temperature and the quantity to dose the water appropriately. My own personal preference is to use the MiniWorks filter and then augment with a chemical to kill off any viruses that may be in the water. My preferred product is something called Polar Pure.
In the bottle are Iodine crystals. Water is added to the bottle and it is allowed to sit for 30 minutes. You then pour two cap-fulls of this tincture into one liter of water, shake well and wait 30 minutes. This too will kill all the critters, including viruses. But, again, I prefer to use this as an adjunct to the MiniWorks filter. One problem with Polar Pure is that recently the FDA has decided that they can’t sell this product anymore because Iodine Crystals can be used in the production of Meth. Heavy Sigh! This single bottle can purify around 2,000 liters of water – I still have a ways to go! Keep an eye out for this product, if it comes back on the market – buy a couple bottles, it’s one of the best chemicals available for the treatment of water.
Ultra Violet – UV – Light
UV light is a relative newcomer to the treatment of water for backpackers. It has long been used as the final treatment of water from most water treatment plants. But a product that is battery operated and carried in a pack – that’s a fairly new development.
The big kid on the block for this product is SteriPen. While they have multiple iterations of their product, their mainstay is the SteriPen adventurer.
Simply fill your Nalgene with clear (take the chunks out) water, dip the “pen” into the water, it will turn on automatically. Stir it around gently for about 90 seconds and it will turn itself out. You water is now pure. Again, I would use this product in conjunction with the MiniWorks filter, but the literature and reviews of the product assure me that that is overkill.
And finally, a simple and virtually free purification system . . . the clear plastic water bottle.
This process has become very popular is third world countries as an alternative to building large, expensive and hard to maintain water treatment plants. The process is simple. Fill the bottles with clean (again, take the chunks out) water and lay them on a roof, on tinfoil – somewhere that they are exposed to sunshine all day long. After 8 hours, you have a bottle full of purified water. Obviously you will need a rotation system so you have drinking water while your next batch is purifying, but the simplicity and very, very low cost makes this an attractive alternative for many poor countries.
There you have it . . . . through the use of heat, filtration, chemicals and UV light, you can provide yourself with all the pure drinking water your need to keep yourself healthy and well hydrated.
You have all the time in the world NOW to prepare . . . . if you do not have a good water filter or a supply of chemicals or a SteriPen in your kit . . . . get one!
Pure water is simply a must in a survival situation . . . .
Me: So are ya peeing enough???
Ms. C. (daughter): DAD!! Really?? (she and her husband are tagging along on a BWCA trip as life guards for our scouts?
ME: Clear and copious kiddo . . . .
Ms. C: Don’t worry about it dad – K??
I must admit I enjoy “tweaking” my daughter a bit. She is a tough critter and she’s doing us a real favor by bringing her hubby along and lifeguarding our 
It’s mid-summer – the days are long, hot and draining. And everyone is shedding massive amounts of water quickly. They need to pay attention . . . . and so do you. Why?? Well, that’s the purpose of this post – to flesh out “all things water”.
We’re going to look at what’s living in the water – what can come along with each and every swallow. We’ll see how your body uses water and then how your body reacts once the demand for water far exceeds its availability.
It looks clean to me!!
One would think, looking out on a beautiful blue lake or a clear running stream 
There are more . . . . but hopefully this list is enough to have you take water purity serious. There are a number of ways you can purify your drinking water to make it safe . . . but that process if for another post. I simply want you to understand that while water is a basic requirement for your existence – if you fail to properly purify your water, it can also end your life.
So how much water do I need in a day?
A majority of your body’s weight is water. For children, the average is about 75%. For the typical adult male it’s in the neighborhood of 60% and for an 
The typical adult loses around 3 liters of water a day. This is primarily through urination, perspiration and your breathing cycle. This water must be replaced every day to maintain a proper level of hydration. And, remember – not all water comes from drinking – a lot is contained in the foods we eat as well.
Exertion increases our need for water since we are sweating more and water is being used faster within the body to carry off waste products from our muscles and other tissue as well as keeping us cool through perpiration. A typical person needs to drink about 500ml per hour during times of increased physical activity. Increase your intensity?? Then increase your water consumption as well.
Water within our bodies, water performs a number of different functions:
Water is essential to your wellbeing. Withhold it for 3 days or more – things will not end well.
How can I tell I’m not taking in enough water”
You body can give you any number of warning signs that you are becoming dehydrated:
Perhaps the best guard against dehydration is the observations of others. You may slide downhill so gradually that you simply don’t notice the changes in your body’s performance – your hiking or paddling partner may well notice first. Listen to them!
Why am I becoming dehydrated?
The primary culprits are over exertion and illness. If you are sweating a great deal, you need to be sure to counter that with an increase in how much you are drinking. It is a short distance from exhaustion to heat exhaustion to heat stroke. Pay attention, make sure you are urinating sufficiently and that it is clear, NOT a dark yellow.
Illness, particularly diarrhea and vomiting can take their toll quickly. While you may not feel like drinking – you simply must or you will spin out of control far quicker than you think is possible.
Water is a basic requirement of life. You must plan for it when you make your preparations – whether for a 3-day “get home” scenario or a long term “shelter in place” plan. You must have it available in abundance and it must be pure enough to drink without causing your harm. (we’ll talk about that in the near future).
It’s the second “Rule of 3” – “Three days without water” – and you’re in trouble.
You have all the time – NOW – to prepare, make sure you have all the pure water you need . . . .
. . . . your life depends on it.
