I'm not some doomsday prepper, but I have a wife and two girls that depend on me for us to be feed and safe. While chances are luckily low that a horrible long-term event may happen, I need to get us better prepared.

I'm looking for suggestions on:
- where to buy more ammo (12 gauge/.45/.38)
- food with years of shelf life (enough to feed family of 4 for at least 3-6 months)
- non-powered water purification (pond behind the house)

I appreciate any other suggestions (generator with X amount of gallons of fuel with stabilizer, etc).

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I'm not some doomsday prepper

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Wait....you can't figure out where to buy ammo, but figured out how to post on Texags?

I mean I know where in general, but any preferences on this board? I don't frequent this board often.

I see it as 'pretend the shelves at Wal Mart are completely empty for six months' and buy six months worth of goods. Think past just the food. Also think about things like soap, toothpaste, other cleaning products, toilet paper, Advil, vodka, propane, etc.

Ammo is whatever. Go to ammoseek.com.

Personally, we keep LOTS of rice, noodles, flower, and canned fruits and vegetables for several months. Oh and peanut butter. Got to have the peanut butter. And everything I listed in the first paragraph.

2. Plenty of businesses sell freeze dried and dehydrated foods in pouches or #10 cans. My Patriot Supply is one that has specials ongoing. Emergency Essentials is another which has many entrees available.

3. Get a Berkey or Alexapure Water Filter for the house. If you need to pre-filter pond water, find a cone-shaped container and put activated charcoal in the bottom with fine sand on top of that and small gravel on top to filter the big stuff out. Then use the Berkey.

And don't forget an anti-diarrheal medicine. Dehydration will kill.

Go look up the old Prepper thread on here for all the answers since you are prepping.

Guess I am prepping....just not buried bunker off the grid prepping. I just want my family to be better positioned in a crisis event.

giddings_ag_06 said:

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Go look up the old Prepper thread on here for all the answers since you are prepping.

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This. All your answers can be found there.

OP- I know you aren't a self-proclaimed doomsday prepper, but you are a prepper. Just own it. The only people that will care will all be dead anyway.

2girlsdad said:

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I'm looking for suggestions on:
- where to buy more ammo (12 gauge/.45/.38)
->buy online and use a search engine like ammoseek.com, buy as much as you're comfortable storing plus some more.
- food with years of shelf life (enough to feed family of 4 for at least 3-6 months)
->Just make a bunch of hardtack and learn how to prep and store it. In such a SHTF scenario and you're family is still alive, they won't care if it's bland it's the volume that matters
- non-powered water purification (pond behind the house)
->Keep in mind that the filters are for drinking, filtering future grey or black water would be a waste. there's probably some variant of what your seeking on the web.
I appreciate any other suggestions (generator with X amount of gallons of fuel with stabilizer, etc).
->buy a generator only if you have enough of a reserve of fuel. In such a situation whatever the gas stations have will be the permanent supply. May want to get a basic solar panel to charge basic stuff. probably want to save gas for the vehicles.

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Answered some questions, there's a neat article about surviving and dealing with other people during SHTF on the web by a survivor of the 90's Bosnia conflict. My takeaways:

• Basically no fortifications are enough for a determined attacker. Concealment of your stuff or stockpile is your best way of keeping what you have.
• If your cooperating with the survivors in the community, the most useful skilled people are the ones that thrive, medical training and skills are a premium same with mechanical knowledge.
• There is no such thing as enough ammo, in the worst of situations it is currency worth more than gold. So stockpiling some for bartering situations could save your life more than the extra that rots in storage.

3-6 months supply is a s***ton of food.

- where to buy more ammo (12 gauge/.45/.38) - If you're serious, focus on actual needs. 2 different pistol rounds are ineffective and cause issues. Consolidate to 9mm if the .38 is for recoil conscious people and train. I would dump the 12 gauge as its bulky to store comparatively and short range. AR will be easier for all to handle, low recoil, available ammo, etc. Then actually train and know how to run everything.
- food with years of shelf life (enough to feed family of 4 for at least 3-6 months) - My patriot supply has the options you are looking for in a one stop shop. Plenty of others out there too.
- non-powered water purification (pond behind the house). Get multiple purification methods, filters are nice but can take time and fail, tablets are pretty foolproof.

Pay attention to how you will cook food and remember that boiling water is a great purification method as well.
Look at the food supplies for palatability for your girls not just you. If you're thinking 3-6 months, then do some things that will help make their life easy.

Put all your supplies into printable spreadsheet to track expirations dates over the years. Keep it up to date and also keep a print out available with your supplies so you know what you have all the time, (print out required because you likely will have power/internet issues if you actually need this stuff). You can also use the spreadsheets to calculate total calories and plan rationing abilities for what you have.

If you are serious about it:

1. Buy whichever ammo is the best cost to storage area to amount ratio. I'd suggest .22LR (you can buy a ton for a relatively low amount of money) and 9 mm and whichever hunting ammo you prefer.

2. Same thing for food - best cost to storage area to carbs to how long it lasts ratio. Rice, beans, etc.

3. You can get used 1 and 2 gallon food grade buckets from Walmart deli for $1. I've bought at multiple Walmarts.

4. Get a food sealer.

5. Read the other thread. Lots of good information.

22WMR is the ammo you need. Packs a punch and you can carry much more of it than .223.

Try to walk a mile with 50 rounds of 12Ga. You'll feel it

Caliber said:

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I would dump the 12 gauge as its bulky to store comparatively and short range. AR will be easier for all to handle, low recoil, available ammo, etc.

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There are a lot of tasty food items that have wings and are plentiful. Good luck shooting them with a pistol or an AR. You would also not want to waste the bullets trying.

Many places to buy ammo. I get most of mine from Natchez

For food you can get individual service size stuff but it'll be pricey. For 3-6 months what you need is 5 gallon buckets, mylar bags, and those packets you throw in to remove moisture and seal them. Lots of prepper supply places should have that stuff other than the 5g buckets. Then go buy bulk rice, beans, etc to put in there. Seal the bags, put a lid on the bucket then store in the closet. Be sure to put the date and contents on the outside somewhere.

92AG10 said:

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Caliber said:

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I would dump the 12 gauge as its bulky to store comparatively and short range. AR will be easier for all to handle, low recoil, available ammo, etc.

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There are a lot of tasty food items that have wings and are plentiful. Good luck shooting them with a pistol or an AR. You would also not want to waste the bullets trying.

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Yea I didn't understand that 'dump the 12 gauge' comment. Go right ahead and dump that 12 gauge. I will eat birds. Have fun with that AR

These threads always draw the worst case scenario zombie apocolypse comments when reality is situations like mass shortages are much more likely and much more temporary.

If there is ever a situation in this country where you need more than about 300 rounds of 223 and maybe 100 rounds of 9mm, one of 2 things will happen. You'll be dead and it won't matter how much ammo you have or you can pick up as much ammo from dead comrades as you can haul in your deuce.5

I'm not opposed to lots of ammo, I assure you I bring the avg up in that category, but I don't foresee myself ever needing it for anything more than shooting dirt/paper/steel.

No ammoseek.com suggestions on the ammo yet?

agsalaska said:

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92AG10 said:

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Caliber said:

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I would dump the 12 gauge as its bulky to store comparatively and short range. AR will be easier for all to handle, low recoil, available ammo, etc.

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There are a lot of tasty food items that have wings and are plentiful. Good luck shooting them with a pistol or an AR. You would also not want to waste the bullets trying.

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Yea I didn't understand that 'dump the 12 gauge' comment. Go right ahead and dump that 12 gauge. I will eat birds. Have fun with that AR

These threads always draw the worst case scenario zombie apocolypse comments when reality is situations like mass shortages are much more likely and much more temporary.

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Add .22 as well. Don't worry about being sporting. Don't need to wing shoot things that are sitting...

Irish 2.0 said:

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No ammoseek.com suggestions on the ammo yet?

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Ctrl+F is your friend

https://texags.com/forums/34/topics/3326644/replies/63189093

https://texags.com/forums/34/topics/3326644/replies/63188921

I'm a stupid...

Thanks all for the replies, a lot of great suggestions. I'm definitely not interested in selling any guns, but an AR would definitely be a nice addition.

These thoughts never came into my head before, but with the little girls I'm thinking over cautiously. I've saved a lot of money and it's nice to have the security that if I was let go tomorrow we'd be ok for months. I want that same sense of security with the essentials.

You have a place to go shoot wild swine? If things go south, the pig population is going to suffer. Which I guess is a good thing.

Don't forget to make biltong with this easy recipe:

Caliber said:

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agsalaska said:

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92AG10 said:

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Caliber said:

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I would dump the 12 gauge as its bulky to store comparatively and short range. AR will be easier for all to handle, low recoil, available ammo, etc.

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There are a lot of tasty food items that have wings and are plentiful. Good luck shooting them with a pistol or an AR. You would also not want to waste the bullets trying.

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Yea I didn't understand that 'dump the 12 gauge' comment. Go right ahead and dump that 12 gauge. I will eat birds. Have fun with that AR

These threads always draw the worst case scenario zombie apocolypse comments when reality is situations like mass shortages are much more likely and much more temporary.

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Add .22 as well. Don't worry about being sporting. Don't need to wing shoot things that are sitting...

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True,

I would want a .22 before an AR.

But we are way off what he is asking about.

50lb bag of rice
50lb bag of beans
10x 5gallon bottles of water
2 sawyer water filters from Walmart

Maybe $200 all in

That's almost a month of calories and maybe 2 weeks of drinking water, then the filters are a good adder onto that.

For longer term food I like food from the LDS church. Order online, like $3 shipping, you don't have to join the church or anything. Lots of staples like beans, rice, wheat, potatoe flakes, dried milk, pasta. All 20 year shelf life. https://store.churchofjesuschrist.org/usa/en/new-category/food-storage/food-storage-items/5637169327.c

Dayam, she's a smoke show!

2girlsdad said:

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Thanks all for the replies, a lot of great suggestions. I'm definitely not interested in selling any guns, but an AR would definitely be a nice addition.

These thoughts never came into my head before, but with the little girls I'm thinking over cautiously. I've saved a lot of money and it's nice to have the security that if I was let go tomorrow we'd be ok for months. I want that same sense of security with the essentials.

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Knowing you can pay the bills for months with no income is a great feeling, congrats.

Start a notebook. Write every "it would be bad if _____" idea that pops into your head in it for a while.

Review it in a few weeks, and order from "likely" to "almost no effin way".

Problem solve/gameplan the likely stuff, then keep working down the list as you want/can.

You're miles ahead of most Americans just by still being able to pay bills for a while even if you got fired, so great job on that one, dad. Thats seriously good stuff.

And keep in mind the common mentality you will encounter when it comes to guns/prepping: everyone who "preps" less than you is a sheep, and everyone who preps more than you is a nutjob tacticool seal wanna be zombie etc etc. Be careful to view everyones advice through the lens that they are far more likely interested in justifying what they do to themselves than answering the questions or concerns you have for your family.

BattleGrackle said:

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50lb bag of rice
50lb bag of beans $40
10x 5gallon bottles of water
2 sawyer water filters from Walmart

That's almost a month of calories and maybe 2 weeks of drinking water, then the filters are a good adder onto that.

For longer term food I like food from the LDS church. Order online, like $3 shipping, you don't have to join the church or anything. Lots of staples like beans, rice, wheat, potatoe flakes, dried milk, pasta. All 20 year shelf life. https://store.churchofjesuschrist.org/usa/en/new-category/food-storage/food-storage-items/5637169327.c

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I like the 50 lb bags. I think that a 5 gallon bucket of honey would be a good addition.

I don't have any 50 lb bags right now, but I have transferred them to 1 gallon Mylar bags with a moisturizer absorber in them, I do 5 lb per bag. Takes the storage life from 1 year to probably 10+.

If you want "get out of dodge" food, maybe MREs, no prep, but heavy and a shorter lifespan. I would go a few days at most with this kind of food, especially due to the cost.

Maybe add some Tang drink mix (vitamin C) and/or multi-vitamins. You don't want to be getting scurvy, matey.

Anmo is the key. Buy ammo in bulk online. When it all goes south, you can raid your neighbors pantries, presuming of course that you have lots of ammo.