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.
Showing 209 videos · runtime 15–30 min
Top picks in Food & Water
Curated by topic, not commissionAll curated· primary topic only
Kill the Quack Grass: Planning and Preparing to Move the Garden to Its Final Home
27-minute walkthrough of site preparation and invasive grass removal when relocating a food garden on off-grid mountain homestead.
I Ate Nothing But Survival Tabs for 3 Days: Performance Test Results
Three-day test of Survival Tab emergency rations: energy, cognitive function, hydration, and gastrointestinal effects, with a final rating for food-storage planning.
7 Product Recalls: Food, Beverages, and Medication Safety Alerts
Breakdown of seven active product recalls involving food, beverages, toothpaste, and medications, with details on contamination risks and how to check your household supplies.
I Spent 3 Years Trying to Grow All My Chicken Feed
Three-year case study on growing chicken feed in 1,800 sq ft: what worked, what failed, crop-by-crop yields, and why commercial-feed independence remains unsolved.
7 Foods Quietly Disappearing From Shelves
Seven foods facing real supply pressures and price rises: USDA data on cattle herds, bird flu impacts, tariffs, and crop decline—and how to build a buffer by adding two items per grocery trip.
Your Soil Needs to Breathe | Soil Health Series Part 4
Learn why soil aeration is essential for garden health and practical methods to improve aeration through compost, cover crops, and mulch.
Micro Clover for Yard and Soil Health: Why I Choose It Over Lawn
Fifteen-minute walkthrough of micro clover as a soil-building alternative to traditional lawn grass in an off-grid mountain homestead setting.
DIY Ferrocement Water Tank: Building a 40,000-Pound Storage Tank from Farm Wire
Step-by-step ferrocement tank construction using cattle panels, chicken wire, and rebar: materials, engineering principles, and the $15 tool that cuts build time in half.
9 Ways to Cook Food During a Blackout Without Visible Signals
Nine cooking methods for blackouts that minimize smell, smoke, and light—including commercial cookers, solar ovens, chemical heaters, and pre-cooked strategies.
To Freeze or Not to Freeze? The Truth About Bugs in Your Wheat, Flour & Pasta
Learn whether freezing kills insect eggs in stored grains and whether it's necessary for long-term food preservation.
Five Things You Must Know About the Food Supply Right Now
How grocery freezer failures and supply-chain disruptions expose gaps in household food storage; practical steps to audit and strengthen your inventory.
Stockpile These: No-Bean Chili Meal in a Jar for Your Prepper Pantry
22-minute walkthrough on making homemade freeze-dried chili meals in jars: ingredient selection, layering, storage, and customization for family dietary needs.
Decanting Food the Right Way: Six Steps to Extend Pantry Life
Twenty-minute walkthrough of proper decanting technique to prevent bug infiltration, moisture trapping, and information loss when transferring dry goods into storage containers.
5 Years Growing a Tropical Food Forest in Australia
Five-year tour of a tropical food forest orchard: what grows, establishment timeline, and lessons from a working homestead in Australia.
Rainwater Harvesting Off Our Earthbag Dome
25-minute walkthrough of installing a rainwater harvesting system on an off-grid earthbag dome structure, from planning through implementation.
Grocery Store Cyberattacks and Food Supply Vulnerabilities
Analysis of recent refrigeration system failures and cyberattacks at U.S. and European grocery chains, and what they reveal about food-supply fragility and the case for home food storage.
Survive What's Coming With This Device
Review of the QuenchSea 3.0 portable hand-powered desalinator for obtaining fresh water in survival scenarios.
The Right Way To Store Food Long Term: Mylar Bag Workshop
Twenty-minute walkthrough on storing bulk staple foods in mylar bags and food-grade buckets for long-term shelf life, including oxygen absorbers and sealing techniques.
Living Off the Land in the Rocky Mountains
29-minute walkthrough of foraging, fishing, and hunting techniques for food self-sufficiency in alpine terrain, demonstrated by a 40-year bushcraft practitioner.
Growing All Our Own Food: Garden Foundation Systems
26-minute walkthrough of permaculture-on-contour, compost rebuilds, biochar production, orchard guilds, and hugelkultur variants for maximizing food production in dry climates.
Deer Catch, Clean, and Cook Start-to-Finish
Twenty-two minute walkthrough of harvesting, field-dressing, butchering, and cooking a whole deer, emphasizing respect for the animal and zero-waste processing.
This is a Game Changer
Review of a new food preservation technology that the creator believes significantly advances home food storage capabilities.
Harvest Right Countertop 360 Freeze Dryer: First Look and Testing
Twenty-three minutes testing Harvest Right's new compact freeze dryer: capacity, operation, performance, and whether the lower cost and smaller footprint make home freeze drying practical for average kitchens.
Is the Countertop 360 the Best Value Harvest Right Has Ever Made?
Twenty-minute walkthrough of Harvest Right's new countertop freeze dryer: specs that matter, comparison to the Small model, and total cost of ownership for home food preservation.
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
Why You're Running Out of Food Faster Than You Think
Learn to calculate real calorie needs for your pantry using a simple formula; test three pantry scenarios and identify common storage gaps.
Five Foods to Watch During El Niño: Storage and Supply Risk
Analysis of how a predicted strong El Niño could affect five pantry staples (rice, coffee, flour, sugar, chocolate): what experts say, storage best practices, and the creator's own pantry strategy.
Food Is Freedom: Food Preservation and Storage as Economic Security
Twenty minutes on food preservation through canning and bottling dry staples like rice and beans, framed around food scarcity risks and supply-chain vulnerability.
No Power, No Water? Do This First
Calculate your family's 2-week water needs, learn safe storage methods, and identify backup water sources within walking distance for grid-down scenarios.
Are Backyard Chickens Worth It? It's More Than a Money Question
Twenty minutes on the real five-year costs and payoff of raising backyard chickens for eggs and meat, including hidden expenses and why fresh home-raised birds differ from supermarket poultry.
Stockpile These 7 Canned Meats — Don't Waste Money on the Rest
Nutritional and cost analysis of canned meats: which 7 brands deliver real protein and shelf life per dollar, and which to skip despite appearing cheaper.
Mylar Bags & Oxygen Absorbers: The Complete Guide to 25-30 Year Food Storage
Learn how to seal dry foods in Mylar bags with oxygen absorbers for 25-30 years of shelf-stable storage.
What to Do When the Tap Stops Working
Learn how to prepare for municipal water emergencies through real incidents, storage strategies, and a household water safety plan.
Planting Fall Garlic in Zone 2b3a
Step-by-step guide to planting garlic in late fall for zone 2b/3a climates, covering timing, soil prep, and basic technique.
Food Labels, Ingredient Transparency, and What Companies Don't Have to Disclose
Eighteen minutes on how to read food labels critically: what FDA/USDA rules require, what they don't, how legal claims can mislead, and how to source food you actually trust for storage.
Baking Staples: Storage, Testing, and 100-Day Pantry Week 3
How to stock baking essentials for long-term storage, three one-minute tests to check if baking powder, soda, and yeast are still active, and budget-tiered shopping strategies.
Diesel Prices Up 70%—What It's Doing to Your Groceries
Analysis of actual grocery prices across 31 states vs. national averages, diesel's impact on food costs, and which pantry staples held steady or spiked.
Make Your Own Applesauce: A Simple Sunday Project
17-minute walkthrough of water-bath canning applesauce using NCHFP tested-safe methods for shelf-stable home food preservation.
Last Harvest of 2026 — Zone 2B/3A Garden
Twenty-one minutes documenting the final autumn harvest in a northern Alberta garden (zones 2B/3A), with seasonal learnings for next year's growing.
Our First Winter on the Homestead: Firewood and Sheep Grazing Planning
Walk-through of first-winter planning on a PA mountain homestead: firewood procurement, stacking and drying strategy, rotational sheep grazing to stretch pasture, and regenerative land management for cold-season self-sufficiency.
The Best Time to Buy: My Complete Q4 Stock-Up List
Month-by-month guide to Q4 pantry shopping: what to buy in October, November, and December based on USDA food price forecasts and seasonal availability.
Bone Marrow, Street Corn, Cornbread | Off-Grid Cooking in the Cabin | Preparing for a Bowhunt
Cast iron cooking techniques for three off-grid meals: Mexican street corn, bone marrow, and cornbread prepared over a wood stove.
I Bow Hunted Elk for 20 Days in the Mountains: Traditional Bow Hunting Elk 2026
Twenty days pursuing elk with a selfbow on public land: a walkthrough of backcountry hunting logistics, patience, terrain navigation, and the reality of food procurement in remote mountains.
Can You Actually Vacuum Seal Soup? Vesta V23 Tested
Real-world vacuum sealer evaluation: testing bulk meat, bread, soup in liquid mode, and dry staples to help you choose the right tool for pantry preservation.
Ferrocement: A $5,100 Problem, A $1,200 Solution
Building a 5,000-gallon water tank using ferrocement (wire mesh and cement) for $1,200 instead of $5,100: material costs, engineering principles, test-piece casting and failure analysis.
If Farmers Are Right, You Should Prepare for What's Coming
How rising input costs are forcing farmers to cut capital investment, with cascading risks for food production and household food security.
Gray Squirrel from Field to Table: Appalachian Camp Cooking
Seventeen-minute walkthrough of harvesting, preparing, and cooking gray squirrel with potatoes and gravy over a camp fire.
The 100-Day Rice Math You Need to Know
Calculate caloric and staple quantities for 100-day food storage using rice, beans, oats, and flour; learn packaging and oxygen-absorber best practices for long-term safety.
Gas Tax Relief Scam as Airlines Cut Flights
Analysis of diesel and jet fuel price spikes, their impact on agricultural harvesting costs and food supply chains, and airline capacity cuts in response to rising energy costs.