Best way to store a food supply for the car kit

  • Hey Guest, Early bird pricing on the Summer Moot (29th July - 10th August) available until April 6th, we'd love you to come. PLEASE CLICK HERE to early bird price and get more information.

Tengu

Full Member
Jan 10, 2006
12,776
1,510
51
Wiltshire
I've currently got it in a carrier.

I need to wrap it carefully as vibrating containers can wear through.

(Dont ask me how I learned that)

Any cans now have a run of duct tape top and bottom.
 

MrEd

Life Member
Feb 18, 2010
2,148
1,053
Surrey/Sussex
www.thetimechamber.co.uk
What kind of food? Glass jars? Cans? Retort pouches?

In individual ziplock bags and Wrapped in corrugated cardboard works for me, then packaged in a plastic clip lid crate, so it can’t rattle around etc.
 

Silverclaws2

Nomad
Dec 30, 2019
287
155
56
Devon
Tinned food, through it being in the strongest air tight container and the contents are already cooked and well, the best before date isn't the date the contents cease to be edible.

But ally cans yeah wrap them in something, perhaps fabric bodge tape.

Water I keep in the car is kept in the plastic water bottles it comes in, to not break the seal until I need it, I break the seal and it comes out of the car to be replaced with a new bottle with intact seal. t also find those bottles are surprisingly resistant to damage, they even bounce.
 
  • Like
Reactions: MrEd

MrEd

Life Member
Feb 18, 2010
2,148
1,053
Surrey/Sussex
www.thetimechamber.co.uk
Tinned food, through it being in the strongest air tight container and the contents are already cooked and well, the best before date isn't the date the contents cease to be edible.

But ally cans yeah wrap them in something, perhaps fabric bodge tape.

Water I keep in the car is kept in the plastic water bottles it comes in, to not break the seal until I need it, I break the seal and it comes out of the car to be replaced with a new bottle with intact seal. t also find those bottles are surprisingly resistant to damage, they even bounce.

i think because they are so thin then can deform and the water acts as a big damper.

i do the same re: bottled water,

@Tengu i used to keep ali drinks cans in the boot until I had the same thing as you, I presume it was becuase slide and gradually wear away the thin soft metal.

I now keep a couple of litres of water, abs dried food - dried fruit and nuts, some dried noodles, and a jetboil, and a couple of cans of soup, and some boiled sweets - stuff that won’t melt or be adversely affected by cold or heat. I also keep a uco candle lantern - it’s amazing how much a candle keeps the inside of the car warm with the window cracked open.

that’s my emergency kit that stays in the car year round with only minor changes (more water in summer etc)

my lunch goes in the passenger seat and usually gets eaten before lunch :D
 
  • Like
Reactions: Van-Wild and TeeDee

Toddy

Mod
Mod
Jan 21, 2005
38,937
4,569
S. Lanarkshire
You know the sheets of half inch thick polystyrene that come with packed boxes ?
Put that at the bottom of your storage box for cans and tins.
It not only stops them rattling, but if you press in gently it keeps them stable and upright too.

M
 

Laurentius

Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Aug 13, 2009
2,422
614
Knowhere
I keep everything in a couple of old ammo boxes in the boot. I have provided them with locks, because if you leave anything out long enough around here it gets nicked.
 
  • Like
Reactions: GoatBoy666

Van-Wild

Full Member
Feb 17, 2018
1,399
1,221
44
UK
i think because they are so thin then can deform and the water acts as a big damper.

i do the same re: bottled water,

@Tengu i used to keep ali drinks cans in the boot until I had the same thing as you, I presume it was becuase slide and gradually wear away the thin soft metal.

I now keep a couple of litres of water, abs dried food - dried fruit and nuts, some dried noodles, and a jetboil, and a couple of cans of soup, and some boiled sweets - stuff that won’t melt or be adversely affected by cold or heat. I also keep a uco candle lantern - it’s amazing how much a candle keeps the inside of the car warm with the window cracked open.

that’s my emergency kit that stays in the car year round with only minor changes (more water in summer etc)

my lunch goes in the passenger seat and usually gets eaten before lunch :D
I do the almost the exact same thing.

In the centre cubby of my work van I keep a constantly replenished stock of paleo fruit bars, oat bars and various breakfast type biscuits. These are my lunch every day.

In the back of the van, packed in a small rucksack is 2 ltr of water, a jetboil, more oat bars, biscuits and boiled sweets. I also carry a warm hat and gloves, a poncho liner and an orange survival blanket, coffee bags and sweetners.

If I have to leave my van and walk home (because you never know......) I've got enough stuff to keep me going.

Sent from my SM-G970F using Tapatalk
 
  • Like
Reactions: MrEd

MrEd

Life Member
Feb 18, 2010
2,148
1,053
Surrey/Sussex
www.thetimechamber.co.uk
I do the almost the exact same thing.

In the centre cubby of my work van I keep a constantly replenished stock of paleo fruit bars, oat bars and various breakfast type biscuits. These are my lunch every day.

In the back of the van, packed in a small rucksack is 2 ltr of water, a jetboil, more oat bars, biscuits and boiled sweets. I also carry a warm hat and gloves, a poncho liner and an orange survival blanket, coffee bags and sweetners.

If I have to leave my van and walk home (because you never know......) I've got enough stuff to keep me going.

Sent from my SM-G970F using Tapatalk

exacrly why I do it as well, even sitting and waiting for breakdown for a few hours in the summer sun on a motorway hard shoulder can be challenging.

i got stuck in snow for about 4 odd hours a number of years ago and I didn’t have anything with me at all, I mean I was fine but it could have been more comfortable so now I keep basic kit to keep me and my family comfortable:)
 

Van-Wild

Full Member
Feb 17, 2018
1,399
1,221
44
UK
exacrly why I do it as well, even sitting and waiting for breakdown for a few hours in the summer sun on a motorway hard shoulder can be challenging.

i got stuck in snow for about 4 odd hours a number of years ago and I didn’t have anything with me at all, I mean I was fine but it could have been more comfortable so now I keep basic kit to keep me and my family comfortable:)
Imagine a breakdown by the motorway in rough weather! that could be a touch uncomfortable if youre not prepared!

Sent from my SM-G970F using Tapatalk
 
  • Like
Reactions: MrEd

Stew

Bushcrafter through and through
Nov 29, 2003
6,446
1,284
Aylesbury
stewartjlight-knives.com
I used to have a tin of baked beans in the car when I was doing a long commute. Edible cold but not instantly desirable enough for me to just snack on it through idle boredom. I did need to eat a tin at one point so it proves it’s worth.
 

Silverclaws2

Nomad
Dec 30, 2019
287
155
56
Devon
exacrly why I do it as well, even sitting and waiting for breakdown for a few hours in the summer sun on a motorway hard shoulder can be challenging.

i got stuck in snow for about 4 odd hours a number of years ago and I didn’t have anything with me at all, I mean I was fine but it could have been more comfortable so now I keep basic kit to keep me and my family comfortable:)
The last time I had to break into my car supplies was when what passes for a main arterial route in my part of the country was closed by the police clearly without thought to funnel off all the main arterial route dual carriageway traffic into the adjacent high hedged country roads to result in gridlock. I was there for four hours in all unable to move to need to break into those supplies, on a summers day the water supplies. To also because I generally carry three two litre bottles dish it out to other motorists that needed it.

An other time I broke into supplies was I was when one year on the hottest day of the year I was stuck on the M25 for five hours due to the police having closed the road ahead due to an accident. But back then I was fortunate to be driving an air cooled campervan of which is very at home in hot conditions unlike the water cooled all around. To in eventuality not only dish out the contents of my water tank, but also lob up the elevating roof and draw curtains to give a woman travelling with a baby a break from the overheated supermini greenhouse they were stuck in. Whereby when the roof went up other drivers wandered over for even cups of tea as we had got the cooker going.

A large part of my own mobile preparedness is the role I play as 'mother hen; as I am always ready to help other people.
 
  • Like
Reactions: MrEd and Van-Wild

Broch

Life Member
Jan 18, 2009
7,975
7,755
Mid Wales
www.mont-hmg.co.uk
You need to be disciplined enough to rotate your car food storage so the ali can don't end up getting worn through in the first place. This is the person speaking that found, just recently, that the hot chocolate sachets in the emergency food box in the Landy were five years out of date! :)
 

Robson Valley

Full Member
Nov 24, 2014
9,959
2,664
McBride, BC
We have serious winter and desolate mountain highways. I have a soft-side insulated bag to stuff with water, cheese and chocolate/candy etc. I never worry about containers degrading. Never left in the vehicle, the weather here is just too cold for that. One more bag to pack on the morning of a trip. Bag #2 is usually blankets or a quilt. Anything like -20C and colder, most everybody is smart enough not to risk travel.

If I was ever concerned with food and drink containers in a hard shell carrier, I'd add a couple of layers of plastic bubble wrap for a cushion.

September and October here are preoccupied with local logging road trips of 20-50km away from the village. Always a non-stop feast of fruits and cheeses and drinks and sweets. The days are soft and slow, punctuated with brief intervals of fast action grouse hunting. Hot drinks? No stove, no stopping but a couple of big insulated bottles. Aladdin and Thermos.
 

Van-Wild

Full Member
Feb 17, 2018
1,399
1,221
44
UK
You need to be disciplined enough to rotate your car food storage so the ali can don't end up getting worn through in the first place. This is the person speaking that found, just recently, that the hot chocolate sachets in the emergency food box in the Landy were five years out of date! :)
$hit happens! All my vehicle food and water storage is regularly replaced, as I actually eat and drink it, but always ensure I have a huge surplus at all times.

When I go to the supermarket I always grab a 5 pack of fruit bars, a 5 pack of oat bars and a 5 pack of breakfast bars. On return to the van they are immediately dumped in the centre console, with the older snacks brought to the top.

Water in the back is regularly used for a brew at work so it's always topped up. And I have a spare 5 ltr plastic fuel can, which is marked 'WATER'. That is always full and never used, but I do rinse it out at weekends, refill and replace when I wash the van.

My gosh, I sound like a Prepper! or as I prefer to call it, a grown up boy scout. Dib dib dob dob!

Sent from my SM-G970F using Tapatalk
 
  • Like
Reactions: Broch

MrEd

Life Member
Feb 18, 2010
2,148
1,053
Surrey/Sussex
www.thetimechamber.co.uk
You need to be disciplined enough to rotate your car food storage so the ali can don't end up getting worn through in the first place. This is the person speaking that found, just recently, that the hot chocolate sachets in the emergency food box in the Landy were five years out of date! :)

As long as it hasn’t caked hard I will still drink it!
 

Billy-o

Native
Apr 19, 2018
1,981
975
Canada
boiled sweets
They melt ... had a packet of Fox's Glacier Fruits do that. Unpretty. That said I have an ancient bag of humbugs among the kit piles which has become a bit of an experiment. I am guessing about 10 years old. I periodically eat one.

Got a little red plastic insulated Coleman in the back of the Forester. Its always in the process of being emptied and refilled. Staple is big bags of pretty basic homemade trailmix plus water and whatever else from the BulkBarn
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: MrEd

BCUK Shop

We have a a number of knives, T-Shirts and other items for sale.

SHOP HERE