Shoutout to the old guy at the hardware store who saved my prep

I was at Ace Hardware in Portland about six years ago, loading up on bottled water and canned beans like the world was ending next Tuesday. This older guy, must have been 80, just watched me for a minute and said 'youd be dead in a week with that plan.' He showed me how to store tap water in old milk jugs and suggested rice and lentils over beans because they store longer for less money. I still think about that conversation every time I rotate my pantry.

3 comments

3 Comments

hayes.jake22d ago

The amount of times I've had to Google "is this still good to eat" while staring at a jar of something I bought in 2019... I swear my pantry is a science experiment disguised as preparedness. I feel like that old guy would take one look at my chaos and just walk away shaking his head. Store tap water in old milk jugs, that's actually genius and I never thought of that. I've just been hoarding those little plastic bottles from the store like a crazy person.

campbell.tara22d ago

@hayes.jake Oh yeah, my 2019 jar of pickles is basically a historical artifact at this point. I'm pretty sure it could fuel a science fair project for the next decade. And those milk jugs are a solid move, but fair warning - I did that once and forgot to label them. Ended up drinking what I thought was water but was actually my roommate's leftover potato soup. Do not recommend.

hugo_bennett9d ago

Funny you mention those little plastic bottles, but here's something nobody talks about with water storage. Those old milk jugs actually leach chemicals over time. I switched to 2-liter soda bottles for my backup water after reading some studies. They're made of thicker plastic and don't break down as fast. Your mileage may vary depending on how long you're storing, but I've had the same set for about 3 years now with no issues. Just make sure you wash them out real good first, otherwise you get that weird hint of cola flavor. The clear ones work best too so you can see if anything starts growing in there.