Prepping Mistakes You May Want to Avoid!

LDS Preparedness Manual-seven serious problems
https://thesurvivalmom.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/LDS-Preparedness-Manual.pdf

Pages 32-33

By Vickie Tate

There are seven serious problems that may occur trying to live on
these basics: ---CONTINUED---
1.) VARIETY -
2.) EXTENDED STAPLES -
3.) VITAMINS -
4.) QUICK AND EASY AND PSYCHOLOGICAL
FOODS -
5.) BALANCE -
6.) CONTAINERS -
7.) USE YOUR STORAGE -

5 Prepping “Rules” That Are Actually Myths
http://www.askaprepper.com/5-prepping-rules-actually-myths/

(SNIP) ... There have been guidelines by which all people who call themselves “preppers” adhere.

These rules or guidelines tend to help grow a community because they define what the community is all about. My biggest problem with rules is that the world is not yes or no, nor is it black or white. Prepping is no different. There is nuance and circumstance to consider.

In this article I hope to shed some light on 5 prepping RULES that are actually myths. You will be surprised by some of these, but I will also tell you how to get these practices right, so they can benefit you again. . . . ---CONTINUED---

Read her blog to find out how and why! There are some great things to think about, as you go about your emergency home preparation steps.

Can you prep too much?
http://thesurvivalmom.com/2012/02/27/can-you-prep-too-much/

How could preparedness ever be a bad thing? Is it possible to over-prepare? In a word, yes. ---CONTINUED---

A mistake we made is to store noodles and pasta. It has a short shelf life.

Rice and flour can be stored long term if properly prepared.
We drop a 25 lb sack in the freezer for 30 days at 0F. This kills bug eggs. Then into 5 gallon food buckets and seal. We get our buckets cheap or free from a chinese restaurant that had soy sauce in them before.

We have stored flour for over 10 yrs that is still usable.

oldasrocks wrote:A mistake we made is to store noodles and pasta. It has a short shelf life.

Rice and flour can be stored long term if properly prepared.
We drop a 25 lb sack in the freezer for 30 days at 0F.  This kills bug eggs. Then into 5 gallon food buckets and seal. We get our buckets cheap or free from a chinese restaurant that had soy sauce in them before.

We have stored flour for over 10 yrs that is still usable.

RE: Pasta & Noodles. I have LOTS of both! Haven't dipped into any of it. Now I'm concerned.

RE Flour: I have flour that I packed back in 2006. I just haven't had time to go and check it.

Better check them out RM. We ended up feeding buckets of rice noodles, egg noodles, and pasta to the pigs and chickens.

My storage conditions must be better than yours since I just sampled a box of Barilla penne pasta that was best by June 2014 that was just stored as is, and it was fine.

I do have a bunch of pasta in mylar bags and then 5 gallon buckets, but that's more for a serious event that messes with my primary storage area than for stuff I normally rotate through in a few years. The penne had gotten stuffed in a corner, but it looked and smelled ok, so I gave it a whirl. Tasted just like the "fresh" stuff from the market.

For egg noodles, I make sure to use the No yolk brand noodles (much less fat in the egg white versus egg yolk) and I've used ones that are 3 years past best by dates to no ill effect.

Ideally I'd put everything in mylar bags stored in buckets, but since I eat so much pasta to stretch the food budget it seems a waste for the regular pantry. So I just use that for my LTS pantry. Rice I treat differently since the mice around here really seem to really like it, so all of my rice (other than one in my kitchen pantry) gets bagged and stored in buckets.

Me make prepping mistakes, darn right I do, especially when I first started. Ended up tossing some items, giving some items to the food pantry, etc..

Heck, I'm still making prepping mistakes.

Spaghetti is so cheap here (.88) per pound, that I buy 25 pound at a time (every 6 months) and keep it in its original container and I've really haven't had any problems so far. I have 4, 5 gallon buckets of spaghetti and noodles.

Had spaghetti 2 nights ago, package was dated April 2016, throw enough sauce, cheese and meat on it and it'll taste OK.

Our prepping mistake was canning too much of what we don't eat.

I bought bushels of peaches and apples - canned all kinds of apple and peach pie filling - I'd make a pie, we'd have 1 or two pieces and then done...the rest got tossed. Neither of us is much of a pie eater. I also made applesauce, tons and tons of applesauce. The fillings and applesauce sat in the pantry for 3-5 years. I decided for the work, if we crave an apple or peach pie, I'd make it with fresh fruit. Same with applesauce.

I canned 63 pints of apple jelly...never ate a single pint in 5 years. We preferred the strawberry and blackberry jelly. It didn't go to waste, gave it to my sister to feed to her animals - her whole family ate it. And asked for more. LOL

We also canned garden veggies that we never ate. 5-8 years later, still had that stuff. While it was still edible, we decided to dump it all. Now I freeze the veggies we like and we don't plant the stuff we don't like.

We've keep elbow macaroni, penne, spaghetti, and egg noodles in 5 pound buckets in controlled environment pantry. Takes about a year to get through the bucket. We go through enough that we don't have waste or spoilage.

Another prepping mistake I made was to put O2 absorbers in with my sugar and salt, it's harder than granite now.

Will have to take a sledge hammer to it or drill holes in it to get smaller chunks.

The worst mistake we made was to panic buy and over can things. Gave a lot of stuff away now we are a lot more selective about what we can and dehydrate...

Rick, Wet it down into a slurry. Pour it thin onto cookie sheets. When dry break it into pieces and put in blender.

Thanks OAR, you're so smart. We must be brothers from different mothers.

Thanks. My dad did get around a lot.

If what they say is true-you learn from your mistakes- I am probably the most educated person on earth. LOL.

My biggest mistake is canning, also. I canned SO MUCH meat, and we never ate any of it. Back in 2006, when I was 'pandemic prepping'. I didn't want to eat it because I was trying to stock up fast. Then I was afraid to eat it. Then the jars started to age. Even though I keep reading they can be YEARS old, I'm still afraid. Always said to myself the best time to try it is NOW ... while we can still get to a hospital. But then one of the prepper books I read, a family died from eating bad home-canned peaches. I think I'm tossing all those jars and buying freeze dried. But it's SO expensive to make that purchase!

Other mistakes:
Nuts- they go rancid. (I even threw out peanut M&M's ... now I only store all-chocolate or sugar candies)
Tomato products-cans bulged
Apple Sauce-got VERY dark in the jars after about 3 years

Yes nuts go rancid and so will chocolate. Peanut butter lasts a long time.

We just fed some rice to the chickens. It was in smaller packages. The sacks of rice we pretreated by freezing it for 30 days is just fine 15 yrs later. Same with flour.

OAR: I have very old chocolate. Kept it cool, dark room. It doesn't taste or smell any different and hasn't changed color. We're eating it.

6 Deadly Mistakes Most Preppers Make
https://prepperswill.com/6-deadly-mistakes-most-preppers-make/#more-298

  There are always difficulties to be encountered and dealt with when it comes to prepping. The following mistakes most prepper make are unknown or often overlooked. While some problems can be overcome rather quickly, there are some that can prove deceptive and can lead to disaster.

Many of these issues do not stand out at first, and they occur when is too late to do something about it while others develop right under your nose. These 6 deadly mistakes most prepper makes usually happen to anyone. It’s better to be aware of them, rather than facing them.

For every prepper there are three significant steps when it comes to preparedness:   ---CONTINUED---

TOP 10 MISTAKES MADE BY PREPPERS
https://survivalistprepper.net/top-10-mistakes-made-by-preppers/

Being prepared is something that every single American really needs to be doing. There are approximately three hundred sixteen million people living in the United States today, and according to Google, about three million Americans consider themselves to be preppers. …

We thought it would be equally important to think about some of the areas of prepping that people can make mistakes with. ---CONTINUED---

I'm evaluating my Preps 30+ days into the Pandemic. So far, not too bad.

Early on in APN, I watched every single YT video by Wendy DeWitt. She is LDS and teaches food storage. When this kwap was on it's way I could calculate what I had on hand, how many estimated servings (instead of calories) and how many meals I could create. Since oats/oatmeal are a breakfast staple here it made breakfast calculations easier.

I do have canned meats on hand from Lehman's. They have a 5 yr shelf life. I gave 6 cans to a coworker last winter, they were going to expire March this year.

From what I'm reading, most of you don't rotate food Preps? Date items, pull them forward and use them or ya'll just save them long term?

From what I'm reading, most of you don't rotate food Preps? Date items, pull them forward and use them or ya'll just save them long term?

If it is just going into my kitchen pantry, I will skip the "write date on item" step, since most things don't last long there, anyway.

If it goes into my main storage, I write a four digit number on it yymm format (this year only, I do yy/mm because putting 2003 on a can just looks wrong). I began with a cabinet, which is where I get stuff out of this year, added some totes  and then moved on to some other containers . I plan, beginning next year, or sooner, to begin resupplying the cabinet from, first, the totes, and then other containers.

All of my containers are numbered, and I control inventory by container, rather than by item, because it simplifies my storage system. I put each container inventory on a spreadsheet, when I fill it, so I have a general idea how much of each item I have.

It is a system I developed during 2019. Before that, I did my inventories on a simple text file, in table format. (I would rather have a database, but I don't have the expertise on current software to build that, even though I have some dBase background, and could do the specs in a couple days.)

Blondie wrote:From what I'm reading, most of you don't rotate food Preps? Date items, pull them forward and use them or ya'll just save them long term?

#10 cans and other freeze dried items I just stack in order of purchase.

Mylar bagged beans, pasta, etc all get a date written on the bags and then again on the 5 gallon buckets that I store the bags in.

Wet packed cans bought at the supermarket I put in my can rotation rack with each slot labelled as to oldest, slot 2, 3, etc up to newest. This is done for each type of food, so chicken soups have their labels and beef soups are another set. Same for ravioli, canned peas, canned mushrooms, refried beans, Campbell's cooking soups, tuna, etc. This lets me easily know what to pull next based on our preferences for meals and not have to worry about forgetting about some older cans that might go bad.

So I think I'm ok on that rotation thingie.  

Up to now, I have only been using the can rotation rack for meals, well that plus the fridge and freezer items. I'm saving the longer lasting items in case the supply chain completely breaks down - which is looking far likely as more meat packing plants close due to Covid-19. If the local distribution warehouses start becoming clusters of infection then I'll be staying away from the markets and the panicked buyers....

ReadyMom wrote:My biggest mistake is canning, also. I canned SO MUCH meat, and we never ate any of it. Back in 2006, when I was 'pandemic prepping'. I didn't want to eat it because I was trying to stock up fast. Then I was afraid to eat it. Then the jars started to age. Even though I keep reading they can be YEARS old, I'm still afraid. Always said to myself the best time to try it is NOW ... while we can still get to a hospital. But then one of the prepper books I read, a family died from eating bad home-canned peaches.  I think I'm tossing all those jars and buying freeze dried. But it's SO expensive to make that purchase!

Canning is like reloading ammo. I figure it is something you really into it and do everything right, or do not it at all.
I do not do it at all.

My achilles heel is sanitation and water treatment chemicals, pharmaceuticals and first aid supplies. Since I buy stuff that I hope to never have to use, I need to find a better method for rotating it out and replacing it.

Okay, so now I'm sufficiently impressed with food storage systems but there's no way I'm building a database.

Blondie wrote:Okay, so now I'm sufficiently impressed with food storage systems but there's no way I'm building a database.

Nor am I, but if there is someone who wants to try to code one up, I can do up the spec's in a couple days, and would be willing to beta test it.

5 Things You Should Never Waste Your Prepping Money On
https://urbansurvivalsite.com/things-you-should-never-waste-prepping-money-on/

Let’s face it – preparing to survive a major disaster or world-changing event can be a very expensive pursuit. With this being the case, it’s essential not to waste your prepping money.

In order to make your prepping budget stretch as far as possible, you’ll want to avoid purchasing prepping items that aren’t actually useful or necessary. And that’s the topic of this video by Survivalist Prepper. ---CONTINUED---

8 Fatal Mistakes That Preppers Make
https://urbansurvivalsite.com/fatal-mistakes-that-preppers-make/

  Nobody’s perfect, not even preppers. And especially not new preppers. When the SHTF, thousands of them will be agonizing and dying because of mistakes that, in hindsight, will seem perfectly obvious. But by then it will be too late.   ---CONTINUED---

Preparedness Lessons from Ireland’s Great Potato Famine https://mypatriotsupply.com/blogs/scout/preparedness-lessons-from-ireland-s-great-potato-famine?utm_source=Klaviyo&utm_medium=campaign-email&utm_campaign=MPS%20-%20Mar-05-22%20-%20Scout%3A%20Potato%20Famine%20-%20_Mktg_Content_-%20%282022-03-05%29&_kx=e5v-XJG4pYRmgX7TRLWIDwsWDRn42h9RSsVDTA4VZ0FtPRDtvI_zR4I-3OBFxb3k.TLRHJG

Top 10 Mistakes of Emergency Preparedness
https://www.thereadystore.com/blog/top-ten-mistakes-emergency-preparedness

List from the Preparedness Blog of the Ready Store

The Single Biggest Mistake Preppers Often Make
https://www.offthegridnews.com/extreme-survival/the-single-biggest-mistake-preppers-often-make/

  Survivalists and preppers have a lot of great ideas.

(SNIP) ... If I could give one sentence of advice to those new to the preparedness community, it would be this: TRY IT NOW.   ---CONTINUED---

12 Deadly Mistakes That Preppers Make In These Times
https://www.askaprepper.com/12-deadly-mistakes-that-preppers-make-in-these-times/

(SNIP) ... This article is to help you gain some perspective on inaccurate assumptions that may derail all your painstaking preparation.

Prepping mistakes won’t only waste time and money but could get you killed. ---CONTINUED---

Don't forget you would be eaten alive by the chicks and chiggers in Missouri.