[SurvivalJug]

I am wondering a few things, looking through all the past blogs and online I am not finding the best of answers. Maybe someone on here can straighten a few things out for me.

First - Food
Canned food, how much past the date on the bottom of the can is the food still edible granted it is in the basement controlled environment 60 degress or so.

Second - The food Saver
I have heard good and bad things on here about it, I want to store meat but not can it. Anyway I could freeze it and how long would the meat stay good for?

Third - Weapons
I know about storing rifles and ammo now thanks guys, but I am wondering about all the other gear like mags, lights, and all of that jazz well batteries for the lights I know. But what would you do with a rifle mag? as long as you keep the rust off of it?

Thanks

 

[FredLee]

The food: how hungry are you going to be? If I'm starving,and open the can,and it doesn't stink funny or look bulged out,its dinner.I've eaten canned stuff 5 years old,no problems.
Food saver: Main trick to a good seal is two DRY surfaces to heat weld together.that means no meat juice or moisture where it seals.Good to go for
a couple years anyways.
Mags: High Caps I'm assuming. Spray down with a protective coating,heavier the better.Inside,too.DO NOT USE WD-40. its a water displacer/penetrant.Leaves no real protective coating. Store mags empty,in an ammo can with a dessicant pad for good measure.

 

[TacomaJPP]

Magazines: I agree with Fred - never use WD-40. Use Rem Oil or equivalent. Also, don't leave the clip full of ammo. This weakens the springs and will cause the gun to jam.

 

[BudgetSurvivalist]

No matter how hungry you are

Never, ever, ever, ever eat food from a bulged can, unless you are trying to deliberately kill yourself with Botulin!

I did see R. Lee Ermey eat leftover WWII rations on his show. He said they didn't taste good, but he ain't dead yet.

 

[Brew]

Magazines: I agree with Fred - never use WD-40. Use Rem Oil or equivalent. Also, don't leave the clip full of ammo. This weakens the springs and will cause the gun to jam.

Never ever repeat this weak spring old wives tale. All manufacturers concur that mags may be left loaded indefinitely. The key is they must be unloaded and lubed to prevent rust every 3-5 years.

The only mags that must be unloaded are DUTY mags where the rounds rotate from walking the beat and its recommended this be done every three months with the rounds mixed up and reloaded. This is done to prevent scoring on the brass cases which can be the same as the grooves in a pineapple grenade and cause the scored cases to split, much the same as a glass cutter scores glass before the break.

All magazines should be stored loaded, if they will be used for any sort of defense. Only new mags purchased for investment in their original packaging should be stored in an unloaded condition.

Hope that clears things up. Anyone who doubts can email their gun manufacturers and receive the exact same advice.

This is an old wives tale. The only thing that weakens the spring steel is loading and unloading the mags.:thumb:

 

[Brew]

Never, ever, ever, ever eat food from a bulged can, unless you are trying to deliberately kill yourself with Botulin!

I did see R. Lee Ermey eat leftover WWII rations on his show. He said they didn't taste good, but he ain't dead yet.

I will go one up on you and say to never eat any food from the modern plastic packaging that you have not removed and plated. Bolulism grows against the plastic and you will not see it.

 

[test]

I'll give you my opinion on the food saver.

I bought one about two months ago and I've had some good and bad experiences with it. I have tried to seal up dry beans. That didn't work out very well at all. Even though the bags were vacuumed sealed, after about a week I noticed that the beans were loose in the bag as if the air hadn't been vacuumed out. I left them as they were, thinking that even though they were loose, the seams were still sealed and it would keep the bugs out. I checked them about two weeks later and the bugs had gotten in after all. Fortunately it was only a small amount, so I didn't feel overly bad about it.

I bought large quantities of flour and then measured them in to smaller portions then sealed them. Then put the smaller portions into 5 gallon food grade buckets. I just checked the flour on Saturday and the bags are still sealed.

I've also sealed up salt, just to try it out and that has remained sealed as well.

After reading from one of the posters here about using 2 liter bottles, I've decided to try that route and so far it's actually worked better for me than the vacuumed bags.

I think you many just have to experiment as I've done to see what works best for you. My intention is to start canning so that I won't be dependent upon the freezer if something happens.

 

[melody]

A few months ago I opened up a gallon can that had been setting in my parents pantry for more than 20 years. The can itself was too tough for my can opener since it was an old fashioned metal can, so I had to open it with a knife. It tasted fine and obviously I'm not writing this as a ghost.:

My father used to work for a major food processor. They routinely keep several years worth of product on hand at a time so that that they can balance out prices from year to year. One year they found that they had 4 years worth of broccoli, so they didn't buy any from the farmers that year. Instead, they sold out of their storage and counted a nice profit on their balance sheets.

It's a myth that all food goes bad in a few months. Canned food lasts for years if not decades under the right storage. Dried food that is kept in a dark dry place will last for years. Our ancestors didn't have stores to run to every week and were able to keep food for years without modern storage technology.

 

[Straight Razor]

In foot or meters?

 

[curdog]

I'll Bet you there are some c-Rations in military supply that is still used that is dated back in the 40's. The Reason I say that is because back in 1981 I was Issued a C-ration From 1945 it was Beef and Potatoes and it was still good.

 

[CornFedReb]

I am wondering a few things, looking through all the past blogs and online I am not finding the best of answers. Maybe someone on here can straighten a few things out for me.

First - Food
Canned food, how much past the date on the bottom of the can is the food still edible granted it is in the basement controlled environment 60 degress or so.

Check out the article at the below link on canned food. I think it will answer your question.

http://www.enotalone.com/article/7794.html

 

[dirtyape]

Never ever repeat this weak spring old wives tale. All manufacturers concur that mags may be left loaded indefinitely. The key is they must be unloaded and lubed to prevent rust every 3-5 years.

The only mags that must be unloaded are DUTY mags where the rounds rotate from walking the beat and its recommended this be done every three months with the rounds mixed up and reloaded. This is done to prevent scoring on the brass cases which can be the same as the grooves in a pineapple grenade and cause the scored cases to split, much the same as a glass cutter scores glass before the break.

All magazines should be stored loaded, if they will be used for any sort of defense. Only new mags purchased for investment in their original packaging should be stored in an unloaded condition.

Hope that clears things up. Anyone who doubts can email their gun manufacturers and receive the exact same advice.

This is an old wives tale. The only thing that weakens the spring steel is loading and unloading the mags.:thumb:

+1,000,000 :thumb:

 

[SurvivalJug]

Thank you all for the great info I will go and start storing all of what I need this summer, can't really do that when in the military but soon, soon will be good.