Alcohol and Prepping

a reply to: AdmireTheDistance

Hell If I had the coin, I'd buy a retired distillery and "bug in" there....

a reply to: Hijinx

The minute it starts going down, I plan on hightailing it to Kentucky, and barricading myself in the Maker's Mark distillery.

a reply to: AdmireTheDistance

Will everyone fit?

Every man in America will do the same...

to give an answer to the OP, you should stock up on clear alcohols and things that are at least 100 proof, good for medical purposes. Other than medical, and trading, it won't do you a whole lot of good in a survival situation, except for maybe getting plowed before you bite the big one....

a reply to: ladyvalkyrie

Everclear. I know this. And build up your stock of lipstick. )

If your bunkering in and it's legal in your state to own a still.. Buy one so you can make adjust the alcohol content for what you need.

I would suggest buying from a reputable dealer to help prevent pesky things like going blind.

Problem with buying it though, recently the atf got the purchase list from a major company and swept through Florida arresting and fining people because it's against the law to own a still.

originally posted by: ladyvalkyrie
I'm saying that after seeing what canned food looks like 15 years later I'm making the executive decision to invest in something else to take up the small amount of basement space that is now vacant.

Pics or it didnt happen.

No really, what did it look like and can you eat it or has it decomposed to amino acids and sugars?

To answer your question, the wines that keep well are expensive and they only last 5-20 30-40 years for an exceptional wine (1 in a thousand). Then there is the problem of corks, they need replacing every 10 years, and you need to top up the bottles you are replacing the corks from. So the plan would be to buy 12 of the same wine and every 10 years use half of one to top up the others and drink the rest. Add to that the risk of cork taint, 1-3% of all wines will be tainted and taste like puke.

When you get to fortified wines (sherry, port, madeira, tokay) they keep much better but evaporate faster through the cork.

As for barrels you loose 3-10% per year from those depending on the climate, thickness of the wood, type of oak and what is in the barrel - and you have to keep topping them up. Also if it is new oak then the barrel may impart too much wood flavour to the spirit or wine.

My bet would be to buy 10 years worth of spirits and keep rotating them, like you are supposed to do with canned and freeze dried food.

I think it is a good idea and if you know your herbs you can poison would be invaders with your own unique blend of "rheumatis medicine". Or open the top, put a rag in it ....

a reply to: Cinrad

Were are talking about surviving....MODERATORS please delete

a reply to: AdmireTheDistance

I'll meet you there. I will bring extra ammo, and cigars.

a reply to: ladyvalkyrie

I think the OP has the right idea! I have always believed that when the SHTF, alcohol and tobacco will be the trade. It's the same kind of trade that exists in prisons and jails right now.

Stock up on tobacco and alcohol peeps! This WILL be the new trade, at least for a while, until a new monetary system is introduced.

I like this thread, it makes a lot of sense to me.

a reply to: ladyvalkyrie

Politely, what is " Prepping " .... Preparing ? .... For what ? A party ?

Sorry, I'm English, North Yorkshire, to be precise.

a reply to: chalybeate

Yes, "prepping" means preparing, typically for some sort of disaster/apocalypse type scenario.

Let me address all the loose ends:
@ Kratos40 ...it's not JUST about surviving. I also don't want to waste my money on supplies that spoil and disintegrate over the next few years in the instance that the sh*t does NOT hit the fan. Obviously if you knew for a fact that the zombie apocalypse was going down next month it would be wise to spend hundreds of dollars on canned food....which is what my folks did back during the Y2K SNAFU...which rotted out of the cans within 15 years. Now if they had spent some of that on whiskey or Everclear, it would still be just as good today as 15 years ago.

@ Hijink Some excellent input, thank you! The barrel thing sounds great, but I think you are right...more trouble than it's worth. With my luck the barrel would rot and the spirits would evaporate. My basement is relatively secure, but has been known to have flooding issues from time to time (I'm working on fixing that) and the humidity is crazy.

@ Cinrad "Pics or it didn't happen." Lmao! I SHOULD have snapped a few pics, but I was too busy gagging and cursing my parents! Basically it looked like some of the food managed to push it's way out of the cans, drip down the sides and onto other cans and become black slime....chili=black slime, green beans=black slime, etc. Some of the cans themselves were rusting and rotting. And this was on shelves down in a basement, not really exposed to the elements.

a reply to: chalybeate

Prepping= slang for preparing Check out a show called 'Doomsday Preppers', the people are kind of extreme but it's interesting and it gives you ideas that you wouldn't normally have thought of on your own. You should always have at least 3 days worth of food, water, medicine. You should always have extra batteries, candles, etc. Just in case, you should have a plan- bug out or hunker down. You should have an idea of a safe place to get to if things really got ugly. If you're into weapons then you should have those- plus plenty of ammo, cleaning/maintenance supplies etc.

And this isn't even for a zombie apocalypse. Look at Hurricane Katrina. All it takes is one massive disaster and it could be days if not weeks for help to come.

Everyone on this thread keeps talking about my alcohol idea like I'm planning on kicking back and drinking my way through the apocalypse (which may not be a bad plan!) and/or using it for trade. But...there's multiple uses: lower proof spirits can be used as a topical antiseptic- Everclear or moonshine is strong enough to be used as a surgical antiseptic. Then of course it can be ingested for pain relief (but alcohol thins the blood, so you have to be careful if the 'patient' is suffering from a bleeding wound- you could do more harm than good). My grandmother soaks avocado pits in tequila and rubs it on topically for her arthritis...swears by it. You can also soak a rag and light it...Molotov cocktail. I've never made one, but this is another one I think the higher the proof the better off you are.

a reply to: Wookiep

Cigarettes are a great idea as a trade item, but then you run into the issue of keeping them intact/useable over the period of years. And, like the canned foods, what happens if I spend hundreds on cigarettes...then nothing happens. And in 15 years I have boxes of rotted, worthless cigarettes to throw away. I have land, so on that tip I would be better off getting some tobacco seeds and just growing it if/when the time came.

In 15 years a bottle of Jack will still be a bottle of Jack, just as potent and useful as the day I bought it.

As a few have mentioned, familiarize yourself with distillation. If you know how to solder copper, you can build a decent still out of a pile of junk that used to be a house easily enough.
Corn makes whiskey- 20% wheat by tradition to get the enzymes for converting starch to sugars.
potatos make vodka, but I suspect you'd need enzymes. Anything that's got sugar or starch can make a "beer"- and with a basic still and some know how (the know how is the important part- look into making cuts) you've got a virtually unlimited supply of high grade fuel, booze, and currency.

Unlike beer, you can get away with natural yeast most of the time, even.

There's a reason people have been making whiskey for hundreds of years in the states. Well, until the banksters got their hands on the place and shut it down about a hundred years back.

a reply to: AdmireTheDistance

Thank you " Admire The Distance ". And " Lady Valkyrie " understood..!
Wouldn't work here in UK.
Too many people on a small island, I would think...

OK, you form alliances for protection in numbers, how long before you come up against a bigger, better equipped, alliance / band of " Preppers " and are slaughtered in the most basic fashion ? ( ammunition may have run out ...)

Cannibalism and the primitive side of our nature would take over, the result would be carnage and butchery, real blood and guts, literally, and not a pretty sight.

Even if you were skilled enough to live on the edible plants and wild animals, with everyone eating the wildlife, it would not last long either.

Maybe it would not be worth surviving the situation anyway ? ( Nuclear / biological warfare / environmental disaster, etc.)

Just my thoughts, not trying to upset anyone.

a reply to: chalybeate

Dont have to think world wide disaster... If you lost power for say 2 weeks could you take care of your family... Or would you have to rely on your govt..

a reply to: Irishhaf

A fair point, Irishhaf !
Can't disagree with that, though I do have solar power, mains electric, mains gas, a solid fuel stove....

Distilling my own would be a possibility. But, I really don't need another 'project' and don't really want to invest in special equipment. It would be worth investing in a 'How to' book though.

For my purposes I am talking about the most intelligent way to fill a small corner of a cool, but humid basement. Not only in the event of a disaster, but in the event of a non-disaster too. In 15 years if civilization is still creeping along as it always has I still want to be able to do something with my investment....other than scraping disgusting contents off a shelf.

And even a 'disaster' probably wouldn't be the marauding, cannibalistic hordes some of you are picturing. As Irishhaf just pointed out, what happens if there's a solar flare strong enough to knock out the electric grid for most of the hemisphere facing it when it hits? What if if causes enough damage that it takes weeks to repair? Electronic anything would be beyond worthless. Paper money would be worthless. Silver/gold coins MIGHT be worth something. But food/water/weapons/medicine would be the most sought after. And alcohol would be much more useful than some people give it credit for. So, for my basement it looks like a shelf full of spirits and Everclear (1:1 ratio) would be the best investment. Everclear is more practical as far as medicinal/weapon uses, but spirits would be a much better trade item. Plus, if I get limited edition stuff, or stuff that improves with age....I could actually TURN A PROFIT in the event of a non-disaster!!!!!