Food & Water
The two things a household runs out of first. Long-term food storage, rotating pantries, freeze-dried, canning and mylar — plus water filtration, storage, sourcing and treatment. The ground truth on what actually feeds and hydrates a household when the supply chain stalls. Plain reviews and honest taste tests, no panic.
Top picks in Food & Water
Curated by topic, not commissionAll curated
We Own Everything and We're Happy
How a family eliminated debt, owns their property and vehicles outright, and built financial resilience through off-grid solar, food production, and repair skills.
Survival Challenge (No Food, No Water) Catch and Cook — Fishing Bushcraft Camping
23-minute solo survival scenario: building shelter, sourcing water using primitive methods, and catch-and-cook fishing on an island with minimal gear.
F-35 Crash, US Infrastructure Attack, and Yemen Invasion: Crisis Preparedness
Overview of three concurrent geopolitical crises and immediate water-storage priorities for household resilience.
August Stock-Up Guide: What to Buy Now Before Prices Surge for Your Prepper Pantry
Seasonal food storage buying guide covering freeze-dried foods, long-term pantry staples, and current sales before fall price increases.
Frozen Yogurt Cheesecake Pie - No-Bake Summer Dessert with Variations
Fifteen-minute walkthrough of making a no-bake frozen yogurt cheesecake pie from scratch, with ingredient variations for different climates and resources.
We Are Seeing This in Every City Now
Practical steps for accelerating food production and community building before systemic collapse.
What I Got Wrong About Grazing Schedules
How to manage rotational grazing by animal density rather than fixed calendar schedules, and why flexible paddock sizing improves land productivity and parasite control.
The Backyard Food System That Can Feed a Family | Suburban Gardening
45-minute tour of a backyard garden growing caloric staples (carrots, peppers, sweet potatoes, tomatoes) with year-round techniques and survival-crop planning for family food security.
2 Night Summer Camp on an Island in the Wilderness
Practical wilderness camping techniques: shelter setup, fish procurement, and backcountry cooking on a remote Canadian island.
The Summer Slump in the Vegetable Garden (How We Survive!)
Build sustainable garden routines and systems to manage mid-season overwhelm and maintain consistent harvests without burnout.
Four steaks for $142? Cattle inventory and beef price inflation explained
Why supermarket beef prices are hitting record highs: analysis of US cattle inventory (lowest in 73 years) and its direct impact on household grocery costs.
Water Storage Is Important
Where to source food-grade 55-gallon water drums affordably—Facebook Marketplace, big-box retailers, and grocery stores—plus what to check before buying.
Going Off-Grid in Australia: The Rules That Catch You Out
Legal boundaries for off-grid water collection, food production, and power generation in Australia — what's permitted and where regulations tighten.
This Amazing Tiny House Does Everything Differently!
Tour of a curved tiny house in Australia featuring off-grid solar, rainwater tanks, separate amenities building, and productive gardens supporting a self-reliant lifestyle.
Former Executives Speak Out About Canned Food
Analysis of public allegations against a major canned food manufacturer and what consumers should know before stocking their pantry.
The Prepper's Secret to Watering a Garden When Water Is Scarce
Learn how gravity-fed olla systems reduce water waste and labor in off-grid food production.
Beauty & Food While Harvesting Heat - How the Shop Wall Microclimate Planters Are Doing This Season
Eleven-minute walkthrough of microclimate planter boxes along a shop wall in a cold Wyoming climate: what's growing, what's working, and how passive heat capture supports food production through weather swings.
The Mobile Chicken System That Handles Extreme Heat
How to manage pastured chickens through extreme heat using mobile coop design, timing, and water management — no expensive cooling equipment required.
Off-Grid Timber Frame Sugar Shack Build | Wood Stove Cooking and Wilderness
Learn timber framing, wood stove cooking, maple syrup processing, and forest resource harvesting on an off-grid homestead.
We Finally Got Our First Milking Goat — Now the Real Work Begins
Ten-minute walkthrough of setting up a milking goat operation: building a homemade milking stand, establishing twice-daily routines, and producing fresh dairy on a small homestead.
Spring Pole Snare Survival Trap
Three-minute walkthrough of building and setting a spring pole snare for small-game trapping in wilderness survival scenarios.
First Tractor Investment – Was It Worth It?
Scott walks through 12+ years of tractor ownership on a Virginia farm, covering equipment evolution, maintenance hacks, and principles for scaling farm tools wisely.
Off-Grid Water Truth — Wells Aren't Your Only Option
Compare wells and natural water sources for off-grid properties: evaluate access, cost, and reliability for daily use.
Where Does Melting Snow Really Go?
How to use contours, terraces, and organic matter to slow runoff and store water in soil, reducing erosion while improving plant health.
Editor's note
“If you only have a weekend and $200, fix water before anything else — it's the prep with the highest ratio of survival impact per dollar. On food: most $400 emergency kits could be replaced with $120 of supermarket staples plus mylar bags. The expensive part of food prep is the marketing, not the calories.”
— Cockroach editorial
What Are You Doing Now To Better Your Homestead – No. 1447
Discussion and Q&A on homestead improvement projects, food preservation, and property self-sufficiency from an Idaho family compound.
Prepper Pantry Haul: Smart Food Storage on a Budget
72-minute walkthrough of freeze-dried food purchases, brand comparisons, storage containers, and budget strategies for building long-term food supplies without overspending.
Why the Sudden Grain Shortage Warnings
Analysis of declining grain production across multiple countries, with focus on wheat, barley, sorghum, and rice shortages and their implications.
Set It & Forget It! Sun Oven Cooking In Action
Demonstration of solar oven cooking: how to set up, what foods work well, and practical results from a working sun oven.
Smallest Electric Water Filter I've Ever Tested & It WORKS! ITEHIL E01 Mini
Twenty-two-minute hands-on test of the ITEHIL E01 mini electric water filter, covering setup, flow rate, filtration quality, portability, and suitability for off-grid or emergency water treatment.
Why We Grow Cucumbers Vertically
Vertical cucumber growing reduces pest losses, saves space, and improves harvest yields—a practical technique for small-space food production.
100-Year-Old Pipes Are About to Cost You Thousands
Federal lead pipe replacement mandates and their financial impact on homeowner water bills and household budgets over the coming years.
How to Make a Blackberry Shrub
Learn to preserve fresh blackberries into a versatile fruit syrup for drinks, cooking, and long-term storage.
$1M Machine Stuck for a $1K Part
One PCB-resin plant offline threatens global supply chains for smartphones, farm machinery, and critical equipment—a case study in single-point-of-failure vulnerability.
The Soil Secret Every Gardener Should Know
One-hour conference lecture on worm composting, soil microbiomes, and regenerative gardening techniques for home food production.
Milk Kefir Grows So Much Slower in Winter
One-minute observation on how seasonal temperature drops affect milk kefir fermentation rates and what that means for year-round food preservation.
How I'm Prepping for a WW3 Food Apocalypse and Famine
Build a self-sufficient food system using garden crops, chickens, and bees to produce thousands of pounds of food for long-term resilience.
Food Prices Force Big Staple Switches
Why rice prices are climbing globally and what households can substitute (corn, oatmeal, homemade bread) to manage food costs.
Follow the Sun: The First Step to a Thriving Garden
How to evaluate sun exposure and aspect when choosing a garden location to maximize crop growth and soil health.
Jars For Canning – No. 1446
Hour-long panel discussion on canning jar selection, types, and best practices for food preservation, hosted with expert guests from Rebel Canners and ChefTech.
Turning Home Grown Cabbage Into a Tasty & Fresh Summer Chip Dip
15-minute walkthrough of making fresh cabbage-based chip dip from garden produce, with full ingredient list and technique.
Crop Shortage + No Workers = Real Problem
Analysis of labor shortages and infrastructure delays constraining US crop production capacity, despite new USDA and administration strategies.
Sun Oven Cooked Meat is Perfection
Twelve-minute walkthrough of cooking meat in a solar oven, demonstrating passive solar cooking as an off-grid food preparation method.
The best livestock for a small homestead might surprise you
Guidance on selecting livestock species suited to small homestead operations, covering production efficiency and space constraints.
Why Soaking Our Legumes Is Important
How soaking legumes reduces antinutrients and improves digestibility, making them safer and more nutritious for food storage and daily meals.
This is How We Survived on Rainwater for 8 Years... In the Desert!
38-minute walkthrough of a family's rainwater harvesting system and practices that sustained them off-grid in an arid climate for eight years.
5 Money-Saving Tips for Raising Chickens
Ten years of chicken-raising experience distilled into five budget strategies for sustainable egg production and flock management.
One Week Later the Desert Pond Is Still Full
One-minute follow-up on a DIY pond water storage system six days after construction, demonstrating long-term integrity of off-grid water infrastructure.
What if you never bought compost again?
52-second introduction to worm farming and vermicomposting as a method to produce free compost and soil amendments for food gardens.