LOL and they even have a National Geographic special on them

[The Rifleman]

I had the oppertunity to talk to survivors of SHTF. I did some time in Croatia and Macedonia training with their armies and they told me about how one day they had a normal life and the next there is a war, looting, death squads. In Kuwait, I met some dam fine resturant owners that told me about the raping, looting and killing when the Iraqis arrived. In Iraq, people told me about civil war, their society and economy collapsing under sanctions and militias. Afghanistan just never seemed to have any real social order above the community or maybe city government.

Where I'm going with this is that I met people who lived this crap and it scared the hell out of me! Reading over what others here have, I'd say that I'm quite well stocked for both short term, long term and indefinately situations. I am glad to see that others are thinking about this. More people thinking this way means fewer people sucking off the system or turning to looting.

Some great points were made about food and investing money. I hate to waste both. Some good tips that I can give you to save money and build your supply base:

Going to the store and buying a couple extra cans of food is good. Going to Mountain House or Alpine Air and buying #10 cans is better. I actually have priced them out and found that if I buy enough at a time, I get free shipping. Augustion farms also will toss you in some free soups or a 20lb bag of rice. Also, I only buy items that I actually eat. I'm slowly rotating through items with a shelf life of 20 years.

Also, I got into canning. I mostly can things out of the garden, but I also found that the farmer's market sells things a lot cheaper than the store at the end of the season. By putting it into my old mason jars, I'm saving $$$ and instead of a can of beans from Price Chopper that is good til 2014, I have my mason jar thats good til 2017 and 1/2 the cost.

Rice is dirt cheap and it fills the belly. It also is provides carbs needed for hard work such as fighting, farming, running or whatever. As long as it stays dry, it will last for years. I currently have 200 lbs on hand. Unlike most of my other ventures, I know I can never rotate that stock fast enough. I don't have the shelf life of my #10 cans. So I keep it dated and when it hits year 4 I will be bringing it to my local foodshelf and writing it off as a tax deduction.

Overall, I would say that I can feed myself and 9 other family members for 6 months. They are aware of my practices and they each have their own stocks as well, so we probably would be closer to 9 months or a years worth of food for a short term emergency. This doesn't include plans and supplies for water, light, defense, medical emergency, food growing and so on.