Many people buy food and water storage and for good reason. Natural disaster, emergencies, civil unrest, and unexpected unemployment paired with lack of supplies and resources can wreak havoc on anyone and their family. Building up a great stockpile of food, clothing, and water is important but just important is how you store them.
Regardless of the preservation method used in the processing of your preps, the ideal environment for maximum longevity and shelf life of these items seems to be in a cool dry place. The best temperature usually lands between 60 to 70 degrees fahrenheit.
I don't know about you but I don't know very many people that keep their homes or bug out shelters a brisk 60 degrees year round, especially not in the summer. Where is the best place to keep your emergency supplies? And out of sight? Do you have a basement?
Due to the thermal inertia of such a large mass as the Earth temperature stay considerable cooler below ground than above. Basements can oftentimes be the ideal place to store said preparations. Especially if you live in a drier climate. If your basement leaks or otherwise stays wet than this may not be the solution for you and digging a root cellar or burying a storage container may be a better solution. If you live in a humid area you may want to consider running a dehumidifier.
One of the mistakes that a lot of people make is that they keep their preps in their pantry or tell loads of people about them. Where will the masses that know about your food storage and don't have at least a 72-hour kit go when an actual emergency strikes? The great thing about the 3 solutions mentioned in this paragraph are that they are out of sight and nobody even has to know about them.
Some agencies recommend everyone have a 72 food hour kit. Many ecclesiastical leaders recommend 3 months. We like to agree with the longer term and would implore people to store anywhere from 3 months to two years or more of food, water, toiletries, medicines, and anything else that would make you comfortable should a super calamity occur. So go ahead and build shelves all over your basement and fill them with food, water and anything else that would be of necessity for you and your family, friends, and anyone else you plan to support should the worse happen.
