Stashes and Hidden Caches

Preparing in an Apartment

In talking to people, specifically those who live in urban settings, one of the most common barriers to prepping I encounter is the belief that apartment dwellers lack the space to store three weeks’ worth of food and water. It’s not a lack of space; it’s a lack of imagination and guidance. In this post, we’re going to identify places to store extra food and water when preparing for disasters in urban environments. No basement, no garage- no problem. Real strategies for three weeks of food and water in a small apartment, from a certified emergency manager.

Before we proceed, I need to take a minute to establish something foundational. Most disasters don’t operate on a set schedule. A severe thunderstorm isn’t a guarantee of a power outage, and a power outage doesn’t hint at how long it will last. During day-time weather events, most adults are at work and kids in school. You come home to a dark house, and you have no way of knowing how long the power has been out. 

One of the first things you’d do is open the fridge and freezer to check on the food. This is a normal thing to do but you’ve just accelerated the clock on food spoilage. Immediately get your cooler set up with the perishables from the fridge that you intend to eat fairly immediately. This allows you to preserve the food in the freezer by not opening it. Click on this link for more food storage and blackout tips.

The food in the kitchen is replenished by the short-term pantry which, in turn, is stocked by the long-term pantry. Buy the food you and your family eat. Three weeks’ worth of refried beans and chipped beef is useless if you’re a family of vegans! Buy extra quantities of the food you eat and keep it moving. Let’s unpack the rest of this.

Water

This is one of the biggest areas of concern in any setting, urban, suburban or rural. Unless you have access to a natural water source, you’ll have to account for this. In urban settings, during a power outage, water stops flowing when there’s no power to the infrastructure. Adding to the pressure is the impossibility of setting up a rain collection system in a high-rise condo building. All is not lost, you have options.

The exact number of cases of bottled water to have on hand is calculated based upon how many people are in the household. Let’s crunch some numbers.

ð       A gallon of water weighs just over 8 pounds.

ð       A standard 24-pack case of 16.9 oz bottles contains 3.17 gallons of water.

ð       You need water for three separate purposes: drinking, cooking, hygiene & sanitation.

ð       Be sure to store your water in food-grade, BPA free plastic containers.

ð       Regardless of what you store your water in, rotate your supply every six months.

Using these figures, establish how much your household needs. Juice and soda come in food-grade plastic bottles and once rinsed out, these bottles can be used for storing water. If you have a bathtub, fill it as soon as possible and use this water for sanitation and hygiene purposes. An even better option is to place a bladder in the bathtub and to fill it with water. A standard bathtub holds between forty-two to sixty-eight gallons of water. Stackable plastic containers are another option for water storage. These containers start at a two-gallon capacity.   

By combining cases of bottled water, a bathtub bladder and stackable storage containers, a family of five can easily have a few hundred gallons of water on hand. Earlier I mentioned that you need to have water set aside for three separate purposes: drinking, cooking, hygiene and sanitation. It’s helpful to identify a purpose for water rather than simply stating that you have 300 gallons. This creates a dangerous false sense of security. 300 gallons seems like an adequate quantity. When you take the same quantity and divide it by five people, plus a dog, over the course of twenty-one days, for drinking, cooking, and hygiene, it’s suddenly much less than you think. Do not use water intended for drinking for hygiene. This only depletes a limited and critical resource faster. Remember, food can be rationed, water can’t.       

Food

We’ve established that you buy the food you eat. Highly processed foods such as cookies, chips and crackers are full of sugar and salt. Additionally, they contain oils that go off after a while so be sure to consume these items by the “Best By” date. Another consideration is to have food on hand that requires little to no cooking. For example, tuna can be eaten directly out of the can.

Ramen and oatmeal require boiling water and a few minutes to allow it to sit. If your budget allows and you want to incorporate some of the freeze-dried meal kits and consumer MREs into your long-term pantry, fine. Buy them and sample them right away, rather than assuming you’ll like it. If you don’t like it now, you’ll like it even less when there is nothing else to eat. Be sure to include coffee, tea and hot chocolate in your pantry. Hot drinks have a calming effect and create a sense of normalcy.

Food is about calories and calories are the energy source that powers the furnace that turns on our metabolism. This, in turn, gives us the energy we need to live. The average adult needs between 1,600 to 3,000 calories a day to function optimally. Children need between 1,000 to 3,200 calories a day. Build your pantry on calorie-dense food such as legumes, pasta and meats.

Community gardens are a fixture in urban environments across the country. If space allows and the interest is there, starting one is a solid idea. Not only do you get to exert more control over the quality of the food you eat, but you also ensure that you have access to food when the infrastructure is down.

In the absence of a private outdoor space, you can still grow a limited number of vegetables and fruit such as lettuce, tomatoes and potatoes. Herbs have been grown in kitchen windows for like forever. Growing buckets, plant stands and vertical planters make indoor gardening viable. There’s also the added benefit of being able to grow fresh produce year-round! Again, you're limited only by your imagination, appetite and budget. All you need is a window and a nice exposure.     

Coolers / Generators / Stoves

As I mentioned above, no one has a cooler set up and ready to go because disasters don’t operate on our schedule. The opportunity is to have a cooler or two within easy reach to act quickly. Leaving the cooler knocking around in the trunk of the car or buried in the bottom of a closet wastes valuable time.

In the absence of power, the fridge and freezers are on a countdown to heating up and food spoilage. The sooner you get the cooler set up with ice packs and frozen bottles of water, and stop opening them both, the more time is on your side. As odd as it sounds, the frozen items create a sort of thermal mass that maintains the cold temperature. Of course, given the lack of power, the temperature rises slowly, thawing and heating up the contents. 

I’ve established that it’s illegal and dangerous to use fuel-based generators indoors, regardless of where you live. The same applies to camping stoves and grills. Never use them indoors. If you have access to an outdoor space such as a porch or patio, this is your best and safest option for cooking.

OpSec and Storage

We have established that keeping your supplies and level of preparation hidden from your neighbors is impossible. They will know because people make the business of other people their business! Security is built into the plan at the outset. Bragging on social media about your arsenal size and supply of ammunition is immature and unnecessary. Posting pictures of your generators and floor-to-ceiling supply of meal kits and MREs is dangerous and invites attention you ultimately don’t want. Discretion, restraint and a high degree of situational awareness are your most effective allies.  

Like I said, with respect to storage, you’re mainly limited by your own imagination. You can store unopened food almost anywhere.  Many buildings offer private storage closet-sized rooms or a locker in a type of cage in the parking garage. Remember, temperature extremes are harmful to food over time. In all instances, the points below refer to the storage of unopened food in the original packaging.   

ð       The original packaging is intended for short-term storage only. Be sure to use these items by the “Best By” date.

ð       If you remove food such as grains, beans and pasta from the original packaging, place inside of Mylar bags with an oxygen absorber and heat seal. Place the bag inside of a food-grade plastic bucket or bin. Indicate the date of storage on the lid with a piece of paper.

ð       Storage spaces in garages and basements should be checked regularly to ensure the integrity of your property.  

ð       Place suitcases inside of a box or trash bag to keep safe from vermin and dust, if this is a concern.

ð       Store in Ziploc bags in bins under beds; inside ottomans; on bookshelves in decorative baskets; atop cabinets in the kitchen in bins and baskets; on the back of doors in shoe caddies in closets.

ð       Some things can be kept in cars (trunks) such as water or toilet paper/ paper towels.

Download out these checklists and read this bulk shopping post for additional guidance.