Brick & Motar verses Internet

[bersaguy]

I have been pondering this for a month or so and thought I would throw it out there. I do order a few things in the way of food items but mostly snack foods but as I have been observing more and more people are doing a lot more grocery purchasing on them and Amazon just purchased a very large food chain to add to their already enormous varity of items they offer. I am just wondering what if there are only a few brick and motar stores left and the internet is attacked in a cyber attack which is not out of the realm of a possibility how would people be able to buy food if they have gone to buying food only on line? I know it is just a theory but just curious what folks think????

[nightrunner]

If there is a cyber attack of that magnitude, brick and mortar stores won't be any better off. Just look at what happens when it snows in TN! Any food in the brick and mortars will be gone in 2 days. Most grocery stores get deliveries of something every single day. And a certain product will need to be replenished at least once a week if not 2-3 times a week. Shelves will be bare of ANYTHING in less than a week. And that's if there wasn't a panic. If there is, 48hrs max.

 

The only way to insulate yourself from this is having food put away for short term shortages. This is hard for dairy products, but not impossible. And have a plan or better yet practicing the plan for long term. Such as having a garden and either hunting or raising animals.

 

Edit to add, I buy everything I can online. Most notable exceptions are perishable groceries and guns that require a background check. Everything else is bought online, including dry goods (rice, spices, pasta, and other dry foods)

Edited July 3, 2017 by nightrunner

[tennessee1911]

Honestly 95% of people are not smart enough to think about such contingencies.

Businesses don't care about anything but the money. Prime example was the bankers who were throwing million dollar parties the week the economy imploded.

[peejman]

Most people wouldn't be able to buy food anyway. No internet = no credit/debit cards. Hardly anyone uses cash anymore and most electronic cash registers are computerized and wouldn't work either. Even if a store could accept cash, I'd bet you'd have a hard time finding anyone who could run a calculator and keep a ledger of the transactions.  

[Sam1]

Food, water , bullets.  I'm good for 8 months if I live that long.

[bersaguy]

48 minutes ago, Sam1 said:

Food, water , bullets.  I'm good for 8 months if I live that long.

I know they have all of them buckets of emergency food you can buy but I would rather trust what I buy.

Yea I began putting non parishable food items back about 3 years ago a little along and I rotate the stock of many things from time to time, Someone mentioned dairy products. I have probably 25 boxes of powdered milk and 3 cases of Canned evaporated milk that I do rotate out periodcally. I also have probably 40 boxes of Instant potatoes and spices which have a long shelf life like salt, pepper etc.

  Tuna and canned chicken is also something folks can store and rotate from time to time as it is all dated and easy to rotate out. I probably have enough to last 6 to 8 months of food items. Water is one thing I have been stocking up on recently. I was buying cases of 20 oz bottles and stacking them up 4 high and recently I found it is cheaper to buy it in gallon jugs so now buying gallons a few at a time. 

Now I will mention one more thing and I know there are many people that probably planned on this but if you have pets you might want to make sure you put back food items for them also as they are family too....................JMHO

     No shortage of ammo in any caliber I have a gun either.

[DWARREN123]

As for water, the tanks on toilets and the water contain in a water heater would be quite a few gallons of potable water.

[Sam1]

50 minutes ago, bersaguy said:

I know they have all of them buckets of emergency food you can buy but I would rather trust what I buy.

Yea I began putting non parishable food items back about 3 years ago a little along and I rotate the stock of many things from time to time, Someone mentioned dairy products. I have probably 25 boxes of powdered milk and 3 cases of Canned evaporated milk that I do rotate out periodcally. I also have probably 40 boxes of Instant potatoes and spices which have a long shelf life like salt, pepper etc.

  Tuna and canned chicken is also something folks can store and rotate from time to time as it is all dated and easy to rotate out. I probably have enough to last 6 to 8 months of food items. Water is one thing I have been stocking up on recently. I was buying cases of 20 oz bottles and stacking them up 4 high and recently I found it is cheaper to buy it in gallon jugs so now buying gallons a few at a time. 

Now I will mention one more thing and I know there are many people that probably planned on this but if you have pets you might want to make sure you put back food items for them also as they are family too....................JMHO

     No shortage of ammo in any caliber I have a gun either.

I'd rather have the buckets.  Easy to move, take up little space, cheap.  If they ever get used, stuff is bad enough I'm not worried about much else other than caloric intake.

[Ronald_55]

I read that New York City does not have enough food in stock at any point to feed its entire population, let alone everyone that commutes in. 

I put back canned food and keep a few freeze dried food buckets. I keep salt and spices luke cinnamon, and garlic. Salt would be like gold after a while. I have been trying to do more in the way of water. I saw these and though they were a nice idea. Some people cover them and use them as end tables. You might have to treat the water for long term storage though. These are water bricks. They also make ammo bricks.

 

 

Edited July 3, 2017 by Ronald_55
Ammo brick

[peejman]

4 hours ago, bersaguy said:

I know they have all of them buckets of emergency food you can buy but I would rather trust what I buy.

Yea I began putting non parishable food items back about 3 years ago a little along and I rotate the stock of many things from time to time, Someone mentioned dairy products. I have probably 25 boxes of powdered milk and 3 cases of Canned evaporated milk that I do rotate out periodcally. I also have probably 40 boxes of Instant potatoes and spices which have a long shelf life like salt, pepper etc.

  Tuna and canned chicken is also something folks can store and rotate from time to time as it is all dated and easy to rotate out. I probably have enough to last 6 to 8 months of food items. Water is one thing I have been stocking up on recently. I was buying cases of 20 oz bottles and stacking them up 4 high and recently I found it is cheaper to buy it in gallon jugs so now buying gallons a few at a time. 

Now I will mention one more thing and I know there are many people that probably planned on this but if you have pets you might want to make sure you put back food items for them also as they are family too....................JMHO

     No shortage of ammo in any caliber I have a gun either.

Gallon jugs (milk jugs) of water will leak eventually, so keep that in mind. 

[bersaguy]

25 minutes ago, peejman said:

Gallon jugs (milk jugs) of water will leak eventually, so keep that in mind. 

Even if you buy the ones filled with water at the store? If so I will go back to buying the 20oz bottles by the case.

[nightrunner]

32 minutes ago, bersaguy said:

Even if you buy the ones filled with water at the store? If so I will go back to buying the 20oz bottles by the case.

Yep, that's what I had. Store brand gallon water jugs. After 2 years, when I moved, around 80% of them had partially or completely leaked out. Prettt dang high failure rate IMO. None of my cases of water bottles had though. Cases of water bottles have a lot of wasted container. 

I haven't done this yet, but best option I have found is 2-3 cases of water bottles and some heavier duty containers made specifically for storing water long term. I know some of the survival websites have them for sale, much like the water bricks posted above. And a Big Berkey water filter system. 

[bersaguy]

19 minutes ago, nightrunner said:

Yep, that's what I had. Store brand gallon water jugs. After 2 years, when I moved, around 80% of them had partially or completely leaked out. Prettt dang high failure rate IMO. None of my cases of water bottles had though. Cases of water bottles have a lot of wasted container. 

I haven't done this yet, but best option I have found is 2-3 cases of water bottles and some heavier duty containers made specifically for storing water long term. I know some of the survival websites have them for sale, much like the water bricks posted above. And a Big Berkey water filter system. 

I have 5 cases of 20 oz bottles that i have had about 4 years now and have not got 1 leak in those yet. I'm not going to buy any more of the gallons and the ones I have I will start using to make coffee with each morning. It does make better coffee than tap water does.

[Danger Rane]

You might want to read up on why bottled water is not supposed to be used after one year. The bottles themselves start breaking down (even faster for the thinner "green" bottles and any exposed to much direct sunlight) and you end up drinking the bad for you particulates.  Not saying I wouldn't drink it if I had nothing else, but it's easy enough to rotate out cases of water as you use them. I generally keep 8-10 cases on hand, but I also go through at least a case every few days when I'm working outside. 

[peejman]

What they said. I've got 3 or 4 of the big 7 gallon containers specifically for water. I dump and refill them annually. 

[bersaguy]

14 hours ago, Danger Rane said:

You might want to read up on why bottled water is not supposed to be used after one year. The bottles themselves start breaking down (even faster for the thinner "green" bottles and any exposed to much direct sunlight) and you end up drinking the bad for you particulates.  Not saying I wouldn't drink it if I had nothing else, but it's easy enough to rotate out cases of water as you use them. I generally keep 8-10 cases on hand, but I also go through at least a case every few days when I'm working outside. 

Yea I did read that and we out and bought 2 of the large Brita water filter pitchers with about 10 extra filter kits for them in case I did have to use the water after a long period of time I can dump it through the Brita units and it says it will purify it to about 90% and 90% is better than 0% any day. I am looking at trying to find a plastic barrel capable of catching and holding rain water also. I know it would have to be boiled but still would be a good source of water in a real emergency.

Edited July 4, 2017 by bersaguy

[Sam1]

why not just store any kind of water and have a couple of $20 life straws?

[btq96r]

I've yet to see a better water container than the 5-gallon ones we had in the military.  They're super tough, can be stored in vehicles easy, and even fit inside a rucksack too perfectly (aside from the weight) if you're going to be on foot and need a large water supply.  Just refresh the water inside them from time to time, and they'll be there when needed.

[Alleycat72]

I have food and water in my backyard 24/7 so.....

[hipower]

17 hours ago, Danger Rane said:

You might want to read up on why bottled water is not supposed to be used after one year. The bottles themselves start breaking down (even faster for the thinner "green" bottles and any exposed to much direct sunlight) and you end up drinking the bad for you particulates.  Not saying I wouldn't drink it if I had nothing else, but it's easy enough to rotate out cases of water as you use them. I generally keep 8-10 cases on hand, but I also go through at least a case every few days when I'm working outside. 

Same here. I learned the hard way that these bottles do not have an indefinite shelf life. I had 5 cases stored for "emergency" use. They were only about 8 months old, but stored in my garage that wasn't a constant temp. Finally broke one out just because I was too lazy to go into the house to get water. It was nasty. 

[hipower]

On ‎7‎/‎3‎/‎2017 at 2:37 PM, Ronald_55 said:

I read that New York City does not have enough food in stock at any point to feed its entire population, let alone everyone that commutes in. 

I put back canned food and keep a few freeze dried food buckets. I keep salt and spices luke cinnamon, and garlic. Salt would be like gold after a while. I have been trying to do more in the way of water. I saw these and though they were a nice idea. Some people cover them and use them as end tables. You might have to treat the water for long term storage though. These are water bricks. They also make ammo bricks.

 

 

Interesting. I'll look into them.