One of my favorite prepper book series is 299 Days, by Glen Tate. This is a very long series with 10 books in total(Book 10 is optional). I’ve often said it was one of the most plausible scenarios I’ve come across.
Of particular interest in the book was once he purchased his cabin retreat he began to stock it with supplies. Food was of primary importance. Interestingly, due to his hiding his preps from his wife early in the book he put all his preps in a shed on the property. It was never discussed, but, I assume he took logical precautions against bugs and rodents. Early in the series, he would refer often to this shed and how he had it stocked – especially with pancake mix. His son loved pancakes.
If you are not familiar with the series here is a quick summary of the series beginning with Book One:
From Book 1: Meet Grant Matson: lawyer, father, suburbanite husband who awakens to the fragility of modern society and embarks on a personal journey that introduces him to a world of self-reliance and liberation.
299 Days: The Preparation, the first book in the 299 Days series, depicts the inner struggles Grant must face as he exists in a social system he recognizes as unsustainable and on the verge of collapse, but one in which he has built his life around. What begins as a return to his roots, self-sufficiency and independence, becomes a full blown move to prepare for what may come. Engaging, insightful and a bit suspenseful, follow Grant’s transition from a self-perceived “sheeple” to a full-blown “prepper.” Will his fears come true? Is he an extremist? What if nothing happens? What if something do
I’ve often thought about the idea of a “preparedness shed.” Basically the idea is not to have all your eggs in one basket. While many supplies would be kept in the main house, additional supplies would then be stored in the shed. Should something happen to the house the shed would have supplies to fall back on and vice-versa.
Of primary concern would be extreme heat in the summer and freezing in the winter. There are a variety of ways to cool in the summer including the use of air conditioning on the hottest days as well as 12V fans with a small solar setup to improve ventilation. In the winter a small, wall-mounted propane heater with thermostat could be used to keep contents above freezing.
Food stored in rugged totes and sealed 5-gallon buckets could be stacked along the walls. Other supplies organized in totes of various sizes and labeled would provide easy access. Maybe even inventory sheets to track what comes in and out of the shed? Maybe.
Thoughts? If you had a nice survival shed what would you store in it?
Take care all –
Rourke
Build a Pantry You Can Rely On — Without the Overwhelm
- Pantry Inventory Sheets (printable)
- Pantry Gap Checklist (what most people forget)
- Pantry Shelf Life Reference Chart
- Bucket Food Storage Guide (Mylar + oxygen absorbers)
- Step-by-step Mylar packing instructions
- $5 / $10 budget food storage plan
- Pantry organization tips
- Food rotation basics
- Practical preparedness advice
- Want to build a pantry but don’t know where to start
- Are trying to prepare on a budget
- Want to keep your food storage organized
- Live in an area with storms, outages, or uncertainty
- Want to take better care of your household
- Peace of mind
- Flexibility during hard times
- One less thing to worry about
Or bulk food is in 5 and 3.5 gallon buckets, with an inner liner bag, food-grade DE, and bay leaves. For quite a while we supplemented our canned/jarred food with store-bought freeze dried food (stored in cases, 6/cs.). We now freeze dry our own; stored in 1-gallon Mylar bags, O2 obsorbers, zip locked and vacuum sealed. These are stored in clear 45-gallon tubs. Everything is labeled, inventoried, and stacked. This works for us.
I’ve advocated for some time that if you live in earthquake country or a Hurricane area or basically anywhere where there might be natural disasters or even house fires; you should store full supplies in an on-site shed or some type of container(s). If your house becomes uninhabitable then you can go to your shed and find: a family tent, sleeping bags, cots, sleeping pads, Coleman stove & lantern (with fuel), cookware, Dutch oven with briquettes, warm clothes, Tarp, Paracord/rope, Water, Freeze Dried Food, Medical Gear, Solar Radio, Communication Radios, Self Defense “Tools” (Firearms, Knives, Machette, Axe/Hatchet, etc.), Hand Tools to use when digging through your destroyed home).
There are many other items that could be stored on-site with easy access.
Just my 2 1/2 cents worth,
Myke
we have an underground storm shelter 8×20 and the temperature stays fairly constant without electricity, around 70. it works for us and serves double duty. lets face it, if your home gets destroyed, the shed in the backyard is most likely going to be a goner as well.
good luck all