MREInfo.com

• Quakehold! US Coast Guard approved earthquake survival kit
  Get the basic life supplies in an expandable bag or box
  Provides the 3-days worth of basic survival supplies for 1 person
  Includes lightweight blanket, 6 sealed bags of water, and 6 food bars
  20-by-12-by-12-inches with 5-year shelf life

Get the basic life supplies in an expandable bag or box. Enough for 1 person for 3 days each kit contains 1 lightweight , compact blanket (size 52" x 84" which retains 90% of body heat and can double as rain poncho or shelter), 6 individually sealed bags of fresh drinking water and 6 food bars that taste like a cookie and provide all the essential vitamins and minerals. Keep one handy wherever you spend the most time. 5 yr. shelf life. U.S. Coast Guard approved. Box is bilingual in Spanish and English. Product Link-Quakehold

Thats a very good price J.

Any info on the calorific/nutrient content of the food bars? How much water do you think a pack contains?

Actually, I would supplement your water reserves. Had an actual emergency this year that required me to take from my water container and used it all -- quickly. Therefore, I would recommend a couple of things:

Product -- Nalgene Wide Mouth Cantene

Military 5 Gallon Water Container


Build the Perfect Survival Kit

Product Link - Build the Perfect Survival Kit

The water container is not really helpful, "fresh" water, kept in an jerrycan will spoil.. unless you sterilize it..
And when you put it in when there is a shortage, your to late already..

Here the goverments use small bags and 0,5Liter bottles of water in case of inmergency.. they get on the civil market now and then due to date issues. You can use it untill long after though..

The purpose of my post was to show individual survival kit.

My 5 gallon military water jug was put into service and saved the day.
So its proven to be effective. After using it and determining
how much water one needs it became clear that two are needed
which will be good for about three days (short term).

For safety reasons, I refill it every 6 months. The water can last
much longer than that - much longer. You can always
treat and boil your water before use.

When I fill the 5 gallon water jug I put a refill
date on it like food in the refrigerator
and regularly clean it.

Since I live in a big city emergencies are common
enough. It also doubles as a car kit and water
source for picnics and outings.

I would still prefer bottled water for drinking/food preperation, you'll not have to waste time by cooking it etc..
Here you can buy 2 liter (about half a gallon?) cartons of water.. for about €0,50.. I always have 4 on shelve, what's enough to get me through some days.. (because there is always beer / soda / juice in the fridge or basement)


And yes, beer isn't suitable for survival applications.. but it's still nice to have in normal "emergency" situations, like a power cut down, water shorttage.. etc..

The problem of a jerrycan is that tapwater already contains LOADS of bacteria (saying this as a dutch person, where we use purified groundwater as tapwater.. one of the best qualities in the world, without watertowers etc.. ), and yes.. it isn't very likely that there are toxin producing bacteria in "clean" water.. But normal bacteria can cause diarrhea aswell.

And before you cook it, you can get into contact with it without noticing.. and diarrhea is your worst enemy when in an emergency situation.. dehydration is a big issue, leave alone the uncomfort of diarrhea..

I'm not argueing with you about your method, but I'm just trying to give you some advice
I'd minimise the risk by just buying some bottled water.. bottled water isn't that expensive, and it lasts a long long time.. It's boiled and put into the bottles, so microbiological quite harmless.. (and the few remaining bacteria haven't enough nutrition to grow in mineral water)

One bad thing about water; it's mineral water..
So it might stain when cooking (calcium)

As I already mentioned the can was already put into service and saved the day.

Bacteria in the water? = Boil it to eliminate risk if you're concerned about it.
Since there is no way to tell you boil the water.

You're starting to sound Lazy, Dude.

You might want to read up on bottled water as it's never been
known to be freer of contaminants (bacteria) more than tap water.
Where do you think they get it from?

And we never mentioned anything about beer.

Thanks but the can is staying in service. It's already
proven itself. Not sure why you overlooked the fact
that I told you can is Dated. Again, can is dated
as a precaution.

Perhaps in the USA water treatment is better than
other parts of the world. Boiling the water is still
the most effective way of treatment.
It takes very little time to process
water that way.

In most likely scenario your bottled water will run out quickly
and will do little to support your major hygiene needs - indoors.
And not provide the amount of water you'll need to drink
and for other purposes.

It's not a waste of time boiling because you'll have to cook with it anyway.

Thanks for your advise but as an already proven method
of safety and effectiveness will do little to change
my mind for something that has already proven itself
in the civilian sector and military for soldiers.

And it's very handy at 5 gallons. And if you need
more water -- it gets moved by truck in one big 500 Gallon
truck.

And BTW if you drink from the same bottled water bottle
again and again you are GUARANTEED to get sick.

Add a couple of drops of bleach per gallon, let it sit for an hour... good for years!
Or the same amount of iodine.
I add a couple of tablespoons of bleach to my trailer water tank (15 gallons) every spring, let it sit for a while to sterilize, then drain and refill.
There's enough residual bleach left in the tank so I don't have to add more.
When I go to Mexico, I take a small container of bleach, just in case I have to fill up.
We always use reverse osmosis water for drinking there, available almost everywhere now.
I do take along a water filter for emergencies, never had to use it yet....... But good to know I have it...

The water quality in the netherlands is outstanding (Groundwater, UV/Ozon and filter treated)
Due to the piping etc, tapwater always has a lot of bacteria in it. In areas where purified surface water is used, or water is stored in watertowers for pressure the amount of bacteria will only increase.

Bottled water is sterrilised by cooking (atleast in Europe, it's required by law)
Tapwater isn't sterrilised in a single way, only reduced. But even if you would sterrilize it in an purifying plant, the piping network would still have contaminations. That's also why you should always let your tap run for a while after you come home from an long vacation.

Tapwater is full of pseudomonas, and storing it might give legionella problems.
They don't only pose a threat when you drink raw water, little drops can already cause major problems with legionella.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legionella_pneumophila So even before cooking, you could have a problem..

I'm not critisizing your choice, I only gave a tip.. If you don't feel like using it, you don't.
Dating the can doesn't help you in a single way, because we don't know how long it takes before tapwater spoils.
It has to do with the amount of contamination when filling the jerrycan, so there's no true guideline for it.

In the military we use a 24H maximum for drinkingwater in jerrycans, after that waterpurifyingtablets are recommended..

And we never mentioned anything about beer.

Well, I did.. Cheers

"Well, I did"

"Cheers"

That's great.

Enjoy your Netherland's water.

Your overly concerned about that bacteria
to the level of obsessiveness.

That's why we boil which eliminates
most agents. Treating it in other ways
will do the rest of the job.

Dirtbag also provided additional
safety advise that's on par with
acceptably levels of practicality.

I'm not worried 'cause I used
it safely.

If I tell you I dated it -- you say it has bacteria.

If I say I used it safely -- you say dating it doesn't help.

Again, we never mentioned beer!

And Wikipedia is not a reliable source on many scientific issues.
I did not read your Wikipedia link because it's
not scientific.

I will not be responding to any more of your
posts on this topic.

I found your "beer" comment a little too pompous and
don't be so arrogant with with your responses.

And by the way it's not made of metal -- it's made of plastic
just like your little favorite "plastic" water bottles.