Prepper Ponderings

Welcome

Readership has jumped a bit in the past few days, I'm guessing from folks coming to read my reviews of Pathfinder Basic School.  So, to those of you who are new, Welcome!  Here's a link to my first post back in May of 2010 to find out some of my background and where I come from as a survivalist.  I hope you stick around and come back every day.  Leave comments to the blog posts, engage on Facebook, and email me with questions, comments or suggestions.  Thanks!


Hungry Jack Hashbrowns

I'm always on the look for regular grocery store items that can become a part of a long term storage food rotation program.  Today I say what looked like a 1/2 quart milk carton that has Hungry Jack Premium Hashbrowns in it.  It has 4.2 ounces of shredded "dry" Idaho potatoes, salt, dextrose and sodium bisulfite and BHT for preservatives.  Fill to the line with hot water, let stand for 12 minutes, drain will, then pan fry in a skillet.  You've got a pound (6 1/2 cup servings) of hashbrowns that will do the scattered, smothered and covered at the Waffle House proud... or will they?  I'll try them out this weekend and let you know how they are.

I paid $1.69 for this carton.  On Amazon, they come in a 9-pack at $1.85 each.  If you do the "subscribe and save" program, and get scheduled delivery, they come down to $1.57 each.

I called the toll free number on the pack and asked the nice lady who answered if they were freeze dried or dehydrated.  She didn't know, but took my number and said she'd have someone get back to me.  They have a "best by" date of Dec. 2, 2011, so I asked her how long they had from the pack date.  She said nine months.  No promises here, but I'd guess it's probably closer to a year, and if you kept the cartons protected from any humidity, they'd probably go longer... but if you're rotating your stock, that shouldn't be a problem.


Tactical Knives Magazine

At the grocery store checkout rack this evening, right up there with National Enquirer, People and Women's Week, was a copy of Tactical Knives magazine.  I hadn't looked at a copy in probably 10 years or so, but it must have been providence that put it there in front of me.  There's a Q&A column from Gunny R. Lee Ermey, a how-to pictorial on popping Champagne with a sabre (that'll get used around the New Year's Eve bonfire heh heh heh), and most importantly for our purposes here, a review of the Ontario Knife Company Blackbird SR-5, a good looking custom sheath from Hedgehog Leatherworks, and the Gerber/Bear Grylls Ultimate Knife.  I'm going to contact each of these companies to try and get samples to test and review for you.