Any Prepper shopps in upstate SC?

Regulis7

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Anyone know of a local business in the upstate that sells long term food stocks like Mountain House, Wise or other brands? Looking for the #10 can products not the little hiking singles.

Closest brick and mortar prepper shop I have found is Carolina Readiness Supply Inc. in Waynesville NC, web address is http://carolinareadiness.com/. That is about an hour and twenty min drive from Anderson area of SC.
 

Parhams0508

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I believe the store on Woodruff Rd is called Southern Survival. They mostly do guns, but they have Datrex bars and civilian MRE's.

I once saw an ad on Craig's List about long-term food storage. You might want to see if there is a Mormon store around the Upstate as well.
 

bigfutz

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Even Costco is starting to sell some emergency food kits. Don't think either SE Survival would have the extensive inventory and selection you're looking for. But you might call SE Survival.
 

Regulis7

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Need to check SE Survival out, they are not far from work so I can drop in and see what they have. As far as Costco and Sams Club.. they do advertise bulk products online but not stocked in local box stores at least they did not have them on my last visit.
 

Parhams0508

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Greer is waaay far out from Anderson, but the Acme General store in Downtown Greer has Mountain House #10 cans, I believe.

If I might ask, what particularly are you looking for? Freeze-dried foods for easy preparation? Foods with particularly long shelf life? Meal variety?

If you can afford the time spent, you might want to consider dehydrating and canning your own foods that you and your family know how to cook and enjoy to eat. Going by the maxim of "store what you eat, and eat what you store," the Mountain House meals (and other freeze-dried measl-in-a-can) might not be palatable for you and your family, and could be quite expensive if you are regularly going through them. Plus, some brands do not have a great shelf-life once they have been opened; you'll be stuck eating beef stroganoff for a week in order to not waste any of it.

IMO, I would first try to have at least three weeks of foods you regularly eat stored up, then delve into longer lasting staple (beans, wheat, spices, etc.). Store up smaller portions as to not waste any of your money, or buy in bulk and then divy it up into air and water tight containers. My wife and I are working on a menu of meals that we like to eat, and we're using those ingredient lists as a guide to developing our pantry and garden.

At a prepper conference last year, I met a local representative for Shelf Reliance. Their products seem pretty stout!
 

Regulis7

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Parhams0508,

What i am interested in most are the #10 can meats both real and flavored TVP to compliment my current stock of staples and other food products. Some of the Mountain House one pot meals are not bad and with a few extra cups of rice/noodles you can make a nice filling meal with minimal extra's needed. As you pointed out, a person should try these products before making a big purchase though, some are great while others can have a taste of salted cardboard. Mountain House is one brand I really enjoy eating, been using their products for years for hiking, camping, over nite hunting and fishing trips.
 

footballboy3

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A friend of mine at work recently opened Upstate Defensive Solutions LLC in Spartanburg, 430 Oak Grove Rd, Suite 8, Spartanburg, SC 29301. He sells MREs, Wise food buckets, Lindon Farms food buckets etc....
 

Tigerstripe

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what you are looking for is in Columbia. i cant think of the name but it is the mormans, where you make an appointment to go and can whatever you want, yourself, with their guidance. is it LDS cannery? its on the web with prices.
 

Regulis7

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Tigerstripe,

The LDS cannery in Columbia is located at 9730 Mill Field Rd Columbia, SC 29223 (803-699-5740) and it is by appointment only. Great people to work with too and the prices cant be beat. Best way to buy from the LDS cannery is to go in on a group/family purchase, share the cost/labor and have a great time.
 

Tigerstripe

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well there ya go. i guess its not what you would call upstate though but a good reason to stop by PSA going home.

Im confused on the quantitys in the cans. helpings, meal size and such, plus ive seen the cans opened and they are only half full. whats up with that?
 

Regulis7

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Tigerstripe,

Each mfg is different of how much product they put in a #10 can, people think it should be filled to the brim because regular canned products we purchase are filled to the brim. When it comes to dehydrated/freeze dried foods they are packaged by quantity of servings, not volume, in the container. 20 servings of regular can foods takes up a huge amount of space, but when you dehydrate or freeze dry the product you remove all the water and reduce the amount of space and weight for the same 20 servings of product.

First time I purchased a #10 can of Mountain House beef stew I thought I got ripped off or they messed up with my can during the packaging process, I took it back to POS for an exchange/refund... LOL!
 

PCShogun

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I know its not the same, but I have really been getting excited about shelf stable foods. Milk that lasts 18 months? Microwave meals that have a 8 - 10 month "BEST BUY" date (meaning you could probably eat them after two years). You can get this almost anywhere so you do not need a specialty store.

Hormel Completes - 300 calories but still filling, decent flavor, large variety and eat them cold or hot. Immerse in hot water if microwave is unavailable (or leave on your dash in the sun). Its not the amount of preservatives that keeps it edible, its the pasturization and the package. About $2.00 each at Wally World but I frequently find $1.00 off coupons online. for $.98, you cannot beat it for long term food. Other companies have a similar product and I do find coupons for them also, but not as frequently.

Shelf Stable Milk - Liquid milk in a box that requires no refrigeration. Tastes good. tastes much better when cold. You could cook with it if you were not going to drink it strait. Again, its not the amount of preservatives that keeps it edible, its the pasturization. They heat this a lot more than regular milk. I found it at Big Lots for $1.00 per quart and was available in Whole Milk and 2% Low fat. I had the whole milk and could not find a taste difference once chilled.

Powder Milk - Only had the skim milk this way. A lot like milk flavored water but takes up a lot less space. Comes in 1 quart envelopes so you don't waste much, if any. Much better when cold and allowed to sit in the fridge to "develop" the flavors. I keep about 3 gallons worth ever since Hugo. saw so many people begging for this to feed their babies. a box of 3 envelopes is about $2.95 at WalMart. I'd be willing to buy this in bulk if I knew it was wrapped in small portions so opening the box or can would not cause the rest to go bad quickly.
 

mcdaniel

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Any thought about a possible PSF group trip to the LDS cannery? I would like to go, but I have been wanting to go with someone that's been before.
 

JGguns

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mcdaniel said:
Any thought about a possible PSF group trip to the LDS cannery? I would like to go, but I have been wanting to go with someone that's been before.

I would be interested in going as well.
 

Tigerstripe

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i think anyone or group can go they want you to make an appointment. they show you how and you can your own.
 

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