How Much is enough

Discussion in 'General Survival and Preparedness' started by fedorthedog, Dec 26, 2011.


  1. fedorthedog

    fedorthedog Monkey+++

    I have reached a point were I am slowing way down on my stored preps. I went with a one year food supply for one more person than is in my house. ( I used the LDS spread sheet calculator with some additions)

    2 years seed supply.

    3000 round for the primary rifles and 1000 rounds for the primary handguns 1000 rounds per 22.

    Misc first aid, cleaning and personnel hygiene about 1 years worth, books reference material antibiotics ect.

    So what are peoples thoughts on what is enough.

    And yes I have good land, water, birds, and livestock already.
     
  2. Falcon15

    Falcon15 Falco Peregrinus

    Now the trick is rotating the preps as you go. You use the oldest items from your preps, then replace with new.

    Enough is where your comfort zone is. For my family it is 3 years stored food, 5 years non-hybrid seeds, 5000 rounds for primary rifles and handguns and about 3000 rounds of non-owned firearms ammunition. Reloading items, I have enough to reload each of my primary weapons 1000 rounds. Sundry medical supplies and daily use items about a years worth.
     
    Sapper John likes this.
  3. BTPost

    BTPost Stumpy Old Fart,Deadman Walking, Snow Monkey Moderator

    As Falcon15 says, it is what is comfortable for you, and yours.... You have more than many but not as much as some... Your in the Liberal side of the state. but there are Monkeys and other Good folks all around you....OpSec says you need to get to know the Monkeys around you, and look for others of like mind, but be careful how you do your vetting of outsiders... .... YMMV....
     
    Clyde, Sapper John, Nadja and 2 others like this.
  4. fedorthedog

    fedorthedog Monkey+++

    I didnt address that issue but I am surrounded by like minded people. We had a very bad flood here in 07. People came out of the woodwork to help. I am surrounded by the self sufficient, and ended up in a leadership position helping run the flood response. That led to a formation of an emergency response group that is now in place. We have community wide comms, emergency patrol and notification set up ect. I have quietly worked up shooting and tact skills with some of the younger men and given shooting classes to the women that were interested. (Im an a range-master)

    Being outside of a city allowed us to do things unencumbered by government.

    As for monkeys as long as they know which end of the cow gives milk,we can find a place for them.
     
  5. Nadja

    Nadja RIP 3-11-2013 Forum Leader

    When your out of money, or room to store anything else, then it is enough.
     
    hank2222 and bountyhunter like this.
  6. chelloveck

    chelloveck Diabolus Causidicus

    When you are out of room to store anything else

    When your out of money, or room to store anything else, then that is a "make do" situation.....it is never enough.

    When the store rooom is full to the brim....plant fruit trees and nut trees and perennial food plants (artichokes, rhubarb etc).....they are the perpetual self replenishing food store that is impractical for looters to take away with them (they may strip the tree bare of fruit...but there will always be another crop the following year....windfall fruit will become food for livestock, which in turn will become food for you. You don't even have to plant them on your own land...do some guerilla gardening!

    Food Plants - Perennial Permaculture Research Institute

    Perennial Ideas | Cultivating abundance within ecological limits

    Perennial Foods - Perennial Herbs, Vegetables, Fruits and Legumes

    Perennial vegetables: Plant once and eat always - Telegraph
     
  7. STANGF150

    STANGF150 Knowledge Seeker

    Oh Lawd, We Is Doomed!! I Hit The LIKE Button on sumthing Chello Said!!! o_O



    An Fed, when yer outta room & have to build more storage space, then & only then you MIGHT have enough. But prolly not LoL
     
    weegrannymush and chelloveck like this.
  8. WestPointMAG

    WestPointMAG Monkey++

    You know there are some thing that do not take up any room to store like skills.
     
    tulianr and chelloveck like this.
  9. Pax Mentis

    Pax Mentis Philosopher King |RIP 11-4-2017

    Like Falcon, we also chose to go with 3 years of food...and a "generous" 3 years at that. We also have large socks of things like salt for trade goods, and extra basics for "get off down the road with you bags"...

    Ammo-wise, I admit to being just a little crazy and keep in the neighborhood of 1500-2000 rds per person of MBR ammo and 1000 of handgun per person. As far as .22, I really couldn't say what the total is, but there is a lot of it...even compared to the other calibers...I consider it also a trade item and the primary small game killer.

    We are the BOL for a dozen folks other than ourselves and the vast majority of the ammo (and pretty much everything else except basic foodstuffs and equipment for the homestead) have been supplied by the others.
     
    Sapper John, STANGF150 and BTPost like this.
  10. weegrannymush

    weegrannymush Monkey+

    IMHO, you can never have "enough". My fear, hidden in the deepest recess of my heart and mind and only now coming to the surface, is what happens when everything has been consumed....I know from experience just how quickly two or three years will pass. In fact, at one point, when I first started Prepping, I had about five or six months' supplies and we hit a bad patch and had to use up our stores. The six months flew by in a flash and there I was with nary a bean in sight...I am exaggerating, of course, but still it was so scary to see the supplies dwindling away. Well, I was able to start Prepping again but in a SHTF situation there would be no replacements available, certainly not in any great quantities. SO, I am trying to focus my mind on a plan: concurrent with storing supplies I am going to try to be developing some kind of ONGOING support which will be in operation AFTER everything is used up. Unfortunately, while I can have a summer garden and store food from that, I do live in a very short season area. (Last frost approx. June 1 and first killing frost this year was Sept. 15.)

    Does anyone know of any books on Amazon which give such a plan? I think I will be very limited in what I can do.....I'm too old to plant an orchard, e.g., but I am sure somewhere, someone has made detailed plans for this kind of thing. If anybody knows the answers, it will be my fellow Simians!

    The ideas already posted, are great and I will be studying the links. However, it would be helpful to have a book specifically referring to an ongoing plan. As usual, I am being long-winded and verbose (I think it has something to do with being a Brit, we are not only a nation of gardeners and shopkeepers, we are a nation of yakkers!) Wish I could learn to be succinct like most of you Monkeys (although there are one or two who can give me a run for my money, haha).
     
  11. STANGF150

    STANGF150 Knowledge Seeker

    WeeGranny, my best guess of an idea is a Greenhouse, especially if you can get sum help to make it. On YouTube & other places on the net theres ways & ideas how to build one while not cheap but inexpensively. Sorry I'm not more creative on ideas, but I had to go in to werk for a wee little bit this morning & deal with Upper Management & the Auditors since we took inventory Tuesday. My wittle brain hurts now.
     
  12. ghrit

    ghrit Bad company Administrator Founding Member

    Gran, there's a thread on here someplace from a couple years ago where a member built a cold frame arrangement on the side of the house (or shed, I misremember.) Might be worth poking around. Complete with pix. Fancy it ain't but evidently worked.
     
  13. chelloveck

    chelloveck Diabolus Causidicus

    Don't worry Stang

    Don't worry Stang......the malady isn't terminal. I and some of the things that I express may seem eccentric on the other side of the world....but I exist on a relatively congruent orbit over on my side of the world.

    I like many of the things that you and other monkeys on your side of the world have to say...and have learned a lot from the perpsectives of my American cousins to the point that someday I may book a passage on a tramp steamer and rediscover the world of Amerigo Vespucci.

    My prescription for a case of chelloitis is several fingers of JD and you'll be back to normal.
     
  14. fedorthedog

    fedorthedog Monkey+++

    I tried to be brief in the original post I guess I should have gone ahead with the novel. I base one years food supply on a know established garden. Our potato yield last fall was 350 lbs. I can easily triple that. (growing season June 1 to mid Sept) We have two 10 x 20 green houses and can expand the garden up to three acres. I have chickens ducks and goats. I have loading equipment and enough powder and primers for at least 5000 round. I plan to load to low end pressures to conserve powder. The people I shoot wont notice. I have lead and bullet molds as well as gas checks. We have 500 jars and two canners as well as a juice press extra lids and reusable lids. 3 bow and arrows, snares, have a design for a simple distiller from a pressure cooker for drinking water and ethanol, A year round creek runs thru my property and there is a spring behind the house that was used for water by the original home stead. We have soap and cleaning supplies as well as identified medical providers in the area (4 Rn's and a vet) I have 10 planted fruit trees beginning to yield and access to old tree's that are producing. Oh I forgot deer and elk behind the house to harvest as soon as the ejesta hits the spinning blade, And a John Deere tractor and tiller. I think that it in a nut shell what else do you guys see as a need.
     
    craneje and larryinalabama like this.
  15. BTPost

    BTPost Stumpy Old Fart,Deadman Walking, Snow Monkey Moderator

    Backup power is awful handy out on the farm....
     
  16. ghrit

    ghrit Bad company Administrator Founding Member

    Fuel storage unless you like green and yellow lawn ornaments.
     
    craneje likes this.
  17. hot diggity

    hot diggity Monkey+++ Site Supporter+++

    I've run through 1000 rounds of .22 in a weekend taking kids to the range. Can't reload it, so now is the time to buy it. You can get 5k in their original packages inside a .50 cal ammo can. 10k per family member would allow for
    small game hunting, and training for a couple generations if used sparingly. Setting some aside for barter probably isn't a bad idea either. Lots of .22 ammo doesn't take up much space.

    HD
     
  18. enough

    enough Monkey++

    <----- heh ... there is never enough. :)
     
    rjdawley1957 and hedger like this.
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