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So, how many days

Posted: Sun Mar 08, 2020 8:54 pm
by Bob
of food do you really have available?

I decided to do a little math. (Partly because I forgot, partly because Corona check, etc...)

So I did the calorie math for the following:
1 30 lb Pinto beean bucket
1 30 lb rice bucket
1 15 lb Oatmeal bucket
2 combo 12/10/5 lb buckets of the above

plus my spaghetti/chef boy stocks. Drumroll........206,661 Calories. Or 103 man-days at 2k calories. Assuming sufficient water to cook all of that, I'm feeling pretty ok. Considering girlfriend, think 2 months overall.

And that is by no means all I have. But those are some of the major items. I didn't go into soup, beef stew, peanut butter, condiments, pop tarts, and all of that. Also have sugar, flower, honey, molasses, hot sauces, etc. I've probably got an easy three weeks before it hits rice and beans time.

This does make me think I'll extend in a few supplemental areas: Dried Milk, Bucketted sugar etc, and some other things. Also a couple of newer buckets just for new.

Re: So, how many days

Posted: Sun Mar 08, 2020 11:39 pm
by bdc
Can not say because I don't know how many grasshoppers will show up - remember the grasshopper and the ant
fable?

Prior to the panic shopping that started a week ago, I would estimate that I put aside another $1000 in canned food in the preceding month on sales because I realized that mooching relatives would show up. Example. A sister and significant other live 1 mile away. Years ago, when I offered to set her up, her response was that if there was ever a problem, she would show up at my doorstep.

In the last year alone, I had baked about a 2 month supply of hardtack - having given a presentation in the French language of how to make it. And, that was just supplementing my own going supply.

I figure that people who will be sick need easy to prepare foods like soups and mashed vegetables. I also picked up 8-10 cases of canned stew as I figured I would push off the cases of sardines on the relatives and eat what I enjoy.

Re: So, how many days

Posted: Mon Mar 09, 2020 12:59 am
by aerynsun
Food will not be a big problem -except for that which comes from China.

There are some foods that will be plentiful and come down in price because it can not get to China like, beef, poultry and pork. Refrigeration containers are stuck outside of Chinese ports. If it is made in the USA it should be OK!

Re: So, how many days

Posted: Mon Mar 09, 2020 7:56 am
by Bob
I was not referring to actual Corona - but general preparedness. Not worried about food from China etc. But if for any reason you HAD to be in; Blizzard, Disease, Zombies...how many days do you have on hand. Most of US is <3 days. Sporty people might be a week. Most prepares, IMO, have more bullets than calories available. (See Glock Talk).

BDC - $1000 of canned goods, at .79c per can, at say 250 Cals per can = 158 Man-days out of cans. So...
- 4 Months for you
- 1 mo and 1 week if those two show.

I know you have more....It is interesting how fast the days drop every person you add!

Re: So, how many days

Posted: Mon Mar 09, 2020 8:23 am
by Bmyers
We have more than three weeks, but less than year. We have 300lbs of rice, figuring there is four of us that we will need to feed. Depending on the time of year, we will also have a small garden to supplement with. We are trying to figure out what we could grow at the farm, which wouldn't take daily maintenance, but once a week type maintenance. We are looking at potatoes, so we are going to do some experimenting with that and we have been doing some research to see if they could make it with minimal maintenance and not be ate by all the wild critters.

Re: So, how many days

Posted: Mon Mar 09, 2020 9:24 am
by tom mac
I always use to target for 30 days...
Problem is the family keeps getting bigger and so do my shelf's to hold same.
But if need be, it's now good for 60 days for us, between dry stocks and canned

As to potatoes... I always like the hay bale method of growing... tested a small plot and it worked fine.
http://www.mainegardenideas.com/how-to- ... bales.html

Re: So, how many days

Posted: Mon Mar 09, 2020 4:45 pm
by Bmyers
Interesting, we are thinking about grow bags to start with.

Re: So, how many days

Posted: Mon Mar 09, 2020 8:50 pm
by Bob
Bmyers wrote: Mon Mar 09, 2020 8:23 am We have more than three weeks, but less than year. We have 300lbs of rice, figuring there is four of us that we will need to feed.
300 lbs roughly is 177,000 calories, /4 for four people, and divided by 2000 cal per day is: 22 Days per person.

Sugar, dried milk, hot sauce, etc would really help that go a distance. And of course, enough water....

Re: So, how many days

Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2020 1:19 am
by bdc
Americans are consuming far more calories each day than is recommended (daily intake should be around 2,000 calories for women and 2,500 for men).May 10, 2017.

I was just motivated to research normal caloric intake per American adult. So, those are the numbers.

When I read about food waste in the American diet (about 30%), I get concerned when commercial survival food companies allow no waste in their calculation of how much of their food is really needed for a human who wastes some food and who may have to have a higher caloric intake going from a sedentary life style to an active life style.

300 pounds of rice is commendable. I guess that I have only about 30 pounds of rice. Why? Because I put the weight into homemade hardtack which has more calories per pound. Moreover, it will not require cooking, clean up and give off cooking odors in a survival situation.

Re: So, how many days

Posted: Wed Mar 11, 2020 8:45 am
by maypo59
Last time I ran my excel calculator, we were just under 4 million calories stored.. Sister is in about the same boat at her house..