Considering Prep Stores
Rotate… OpSec… Food Stores… Canning Butter?
Holy smokes, Batman. Can you say rabbit hole?
There are things we can do that are free or cheap to prepare ourselves. Sometimes, it is not about what we acquire but how we secure it.
Some things we consider with Op Sec are apparent: keep an eye over your shoulder and be aware. But what about the things we tell people without saying a word?
Scenario: Today, you go to the store… While there, you buy some extra flour because it is on sale. You chat with a friend and mention concerns over the current climate and how you found a sale and stocked up on some flour; they should run over and pick some up as well. You load your groceries into your vehicle that has two bumper stickers. One is that honor student (child or grandchild), and the other is Kimber. Questions to ask yourself… did you once notice the person watching you in the aisle? Did you see them looking at your bumper stickers? Every day, we tell the savvy predator a little bit about ourselves. We told this one we stock up. That we have a weapon and what school our children go to. What else do we tell people every day without knowing it?
Friends or others come over to your home, and you open the pantry door to grab coffee and offer them a cup. They see all your fantastic food stores. You post online how-to-can butter (that would be me), and in a photo of your cat or small dog on Facebook lies an entire bookshelf, family portrait on the wall, or what you keep in any location of your home or yard. If you think the predator isn’t doing their homework, this is where you are mistaken.
Feeling a bit stunned yet?
How does this relate to food? Well, consider your food storage and the ways that these things can be not only a giveaway but also where the heck do you put it all?
I relate to all of this because, as preppers, one of our best tools is our mind and the way we think. So, let’s think about the food and the way we organize and store it. I posted a few thoughts on free ways to prep this week but also noted people talking about rotation, which is one of the best things you can consider when preparing. How sad is it that we spend money on preps only to have them go bad?
Now you have food stores and realize some may look to take advantage of this… even family. How can we “simply and freely” work towards obscuring our food storage? When the SHTF and it will at some point large or small scale. How can you keep these things under wraps? Friends or family may come, and some may not care about the whole when considering how food is rationed.
Ideas to make sure it is secure while also providing more storage space.
- That bookshelf? Who knew there was a whole space behind those books we keep neatly pulled forward?
- Weird containers like cat litter or detergent tubs.
- Attic
- Basement
- Yard shed
- Behind and under furniture
The options are endless if you just think about them.
But… Now you have food everywhere, how can you rotate it?
The trick is to know what is where. Index cards, excel spreadsheet, whatever works for you. And use them to keep track of your shopping. Example might be this week I will rotate the bookshelf because it has come into the rotation at the top. In this location we have:
- 5 cans of green beans
- 3 cans of tuna
- 2 cans of evaporated milk
- 4 rice packets
- Cumin
- Cinnamon
- Salt
- Pepper
- Seasoned salt
- Mustard
- Mayonnaise
- 2 jars of butter
- Pancake mix
- Maple syrup
- Yeast
- 5 lb flour
Seriously? All that fit behind the books? Actually, that, and more. Now with this list you head to the grocery store and in your weekly grocery shopping you purchase these items. When you get home, remove the ones from the shelf and replace with the new items. Put those from the shelf in the pantry for everyday use. Take the list and rotate it to the back of your hidden storage lists moving the next location to next week’s (or month’s) rotation list.
Rotate…. OpSec… Food Stores… Canning Butter?
Holy smokes, Batman. Can you say rabbit hole?
Just keep in mind that preparedness does not happen all at once… ‘One step at a time.”