Bug bags work. Your list is good. Just as the pioneers and explorers learned years ago:
quality jerky and home made "trail mix" will carry one far until stable conditions occur.

On lace up boots: make a knot middle of each lace, then thread them equally at bottom eyelets.(Keeps the lace from coming out too far.) Use on my Kennetreks and Maine Hunting Shoes by LL Bean.
Army socks-boots are tough. So is the wool French Army "neck roll". Acts like the neck area of a turtleneck, but can be taken off and used as a
wool skiclava to keep head warm.

A reliable accurate 22 LR handgun- for grouse, rabbits. An S&W kit gun also allows use of shorts and CB caps to reduce noise levels while foraging.

Water purification tablets or device & canteen.
Matches in WP container
Boy scount & sheath knives
Signal mirror

Frankly, what I see most “preppers” doing is getting stuff.

While it can help, what really helps is knowledge and skills.

Buying some jerky is of some, but limited value. Being able to make jerky and the ingredients for making it is much more useful.

What good is a generator if you have no ability to maintain it?

How good is a gun if you can’t maintain it and keep yourself in ammo?

Farming is not easy… it’s a definite skill set.

And so on.

So.

What skills are good to be prepared for an adverse event?

The ability to sew clothes reasonable well, to be able to tan a hide and sew moccasins, to able to have basic blacksmith skills to be able to preserve meals/food.

Later this month i am having a "class" in my house to teach some folks how to pressure can some food. Not everyone grew up doing such, i guess.

So, what do yall think would be best to show them,? I can do elk, beef, chicken or fish are the easiest meats, or i can do a complete stew or potatoes or use dried pinto beans. I have pecans i need to can but dont want to confuse them at this point. What would yall suggest??

Jerry, I think it would be easiest to just focus on plain meat rather than recipes with multiple ingredients.

Also, emphasize safety as far as following canning times and proper storage. Recommend to them a good canning book as well.

From a prepping POV, the meat makes sense.

From a practical standpoint, I would think canning things like soup or stew makes sense…

Soup is one of those things that everyone makes in volume, and if you have a few canned jars of homemade soup and you need to eat in a hurry, it’s easy.

It would get some folks started on a more self sufficient path without being preachy about preparedness.

Once you’ve got canning down for soup, it’s certainly not a stretch to can garden produce or an extra chicken or two.

Baby steps…

quote:

Originally posted by crbutler:
From a prepping POV, the meat makes sense.

From a practical standpoint, I would think canning things like soup or stew makes sense…

Soup is one of those things that everyone makes in volume, and if you have a few canned jars of homemade soup and you need to eat in a hurry, it’s easy.

It would get some folks started on a more self sufficient path without being preachy about preparedness.

Once you’ve got canning down for soup, it’s certainly not a stretch to can garden produce or an extra chicken or two.

Baby steps…

The only item I can for soups is stock. The rest of the ingredients I add when I make a pot. I dehydrate many items for this purpose as well.

Flavors can get odd when a bunch of things are pressure canned together. So when I can, I do single items for contents.

Great idea Jerry!

I'd confine the first class to just beef and chicken. Everyone knows what those two taste like and the only thing people will know going into your class is that you can get food poisoning from "improperly canned food" because that is what media points out to everyone. I'd be concerned people would taste then toss out some wild game just because , well, it tastes different than what they are used to.

Also, my opinion as I don't think it will happen but in the rare situation that a region somewhere loses power with no refrigeration there are going to be great deals to be had at the meat counter! And the vast majority of that will be beef and chicken.

So for starters just teach them how to can the items that would most likely be canned first.

quote:

Originally posted by Jerry Fisk:
Later this month i am having a "class" in my house to teach some folks how to pressure can some food. Not everyone grew up doing such, i guess.

So, what do yall think would be best to show them,? I can do elk, beef, chicken or fish are the easiest meats, or i can do a complete stew or potatoes or use dried pinto beans. I have pecans i need to can but dont want to confuse them at this point. What would yall suggest??