I've went throught the archives and couldn't find a previous post answering a question I thought would've certainly been discussed by now (came close but not quite).

I know that many people have plans A, B, C, etc. if Y2K turns bad. I think the most common plan B would be a bugout retreat. It is for me anyhow. I plan to stay home (about 7 miles outside of a town of 34,000 people) as long as possible. Allthough I live in the country, I have concerns because of nearby prisons plus the fact that I don't believe anyone else in our subdivision of about 20 families is preparing (but several of them know that I am).

I don't know what they will do with the prisoners if things get bad (hopefully they won't just release them into the countryside) but one thing I am pretty certain of is that, if the food supply is gone, my neighbors will be knocking on my door looking for food. I would more than likely help as much as I can but I am willing to do only so much before I am not willing to do more. What will happen when I tell them "no more handouts" (and no, I don't need them working for me nor do I need anything from them. Food for my family comes first). I can't help but think it wouldn't be long before they start to conspire against me (paranoia? maybe.) and decide they will work together to take my large stash. I don't want to have to tell them no more food nor do I want to have to draw a weapon on them. The last thing I want to have to do is shoot a friend or neighbor. Thus, plan B comes into effect. I relocate to my bugout retreat before any of this can happen.

I've been preparing for about a year now. I have a small cabin which I built on about 400 acre's of land (not mine but a friend who is a GI) surrounded by national forest. It will be prestocked and ready to go within the next 2-3 weeks hopefully. It's just a matter of moving the rest of my stash to that local. I already have the things that the summer heat wouldn't affect there. My next move is to take my remaining stash there. This is where my problem comes in.

My remaining stash consists mostly of canned food (cases upon cases of canned veggies and meat (chicken, ham, beef, spam, vienna's, sardines, tuna, dried fruit, etc.)). I thought the summer heat was my main problem storing these items but have just recently realized the the winter temperatures might be worse than the heat.

I live in east Texas and the winters are pretty mild but it's not uncommon for temperatures to get down into the teens and 20's for several days at a time.

My question is (finally), what are these freezing temperatures going to do to my canned goods? What are y'all (the one's who have bugout retreats) doing about this problem? I would think that if these goods are exposed to freezing temperatures they would surely not last long, or would they? What will happen to these items if they become frozen? Will they still be good to eat? Any ideas on what to do about this?

The only thing I have been able to think of is to put them underground. I have an old chest type freezer which I can bury mostly underground (and camo the top portion) and store these items if it would work but I don't feel real confident or secure about this method. The only other alternative I know is to load it up in my Jimmy when the time comes. Unfortunately I'm afraid I won't have enough room with my wife, son, dog and other last minute items (no trailer either). I also don't feel comfortable carrying that much stuff if things have gotten bad (it's not too far away (about 30 minutes) but I still don't feel comfortable doing it).

Thanks for any ideas and suggestions.

-- NokternL (nokternl@anywhereusa.com), September 30, 1999

Answers

I grew up in eastern Oklahoma and in the winter it often went below 32 degrees. My grandmother had a cellar full of home canned food. The cellar was part below and part above ground. The part above was soil covered. The food did not freeze.

-- red (okie-redneck@webtv.net), September 30, 1999.

Some other thoughts:

Store all the dry foods like beans, rice, etc. at the cabin (inside storage with a second lock. An insulated cooler box could be used for some of the canned items, esp fruits packed in syrup.

Being so close to your cabin you should have time to make a couple of trips when and if the time should come to bug-out.

-- tc (trashcan-man@webtv.net), September 30, 1999.

Thank y'all for taking the time to respond.

-- NokternL (nokternl@anywhereusa.com), October 03, 1999.