I've never heard of that method, but it sounds kinda cool. My guess is that if it's what you've got when the time comes, you'll appreciate it being there.

On the other hand, if you don't use it within 5 years time, you're left with the options of eating it so it isn't wasted, or throwing it out. In that case, if it isn't good, the appreciation may be hard to find & it'd be wasted. LOL!

I know several people that do the "prepping" or stocking up. Some of them can thier own food even meat by putting the food in mason jars and using a pressure cooker.

I don't know their recipes but I am sure you can find them online. They do alot of canning wildlife and say that it is the BEST.

One of the people I know will put tap water in gallon jugs with one drop of bleach. (??)

I know people that just boil the food on the stove for 20 minutes or so and then seal in clean, warm mason jars. I am not sure you can safely do this with meat though. ??

I am not sure of all of the details but I think a pressure cooker is the safest way to keep canned foods. There is some foods that you can safely can without a pressure cooker but most people recommend a pressure cooker.

The bleach thing.... my cousin is Mormon, and they are required to keep a stock of food/water. They were instructed to NOT rinse out a bleach bottle after using it all, filling it with tap water, then duct taping the cap back on to seal it. The chlorine will keep any bacteria from tainting the water and it will store like that for a very long time.

You may want to validate this, but I know they had MANY gallon jugs stored in their cellar.

I don't want to sound crazy but I have started stocking up. Not "preppers" but keeping a supply on hand of food, water and neccessary supplies. You never know when you may need a good supply on hand.

I keep distilled water, food especially can foods like tuna, beef stew and soup. I love the can foods with the pop tops. Oh and peanut butter for protein.

I keep an extra supply of cold/flu medicine, baby wipes and tylenol/motrin.

EDITED**** MY next planned purchase is below 0 sleeping bags.****

I'm a big canner. My husband is a doomsday kind of guy. I'm not as paranoid. I like doing it- partially because we don't have cable and partially because I work at night and have to have something to do after he goes to bed on my nights off. Canning your food traditionally with water bath method or pressure cooking will allow food to last for a year. It can have far less sodium than anything store bought and is guaranteed to have far less preservatives (why it only lasts a year) and other chemicals. DH and SS have noticed they feel better, and so do I, since I've really picked up this hobby. It is a lot of work, but I like it. I have not tried dry canning. This is not a cheap thing to set up, but once you have all the necessary toys, it is far less expensive to maintain then to go buy all the same things, especially if you have access to a good CSA. My suggestion would be to see if you can find anyone locally who does practice this and see if they're willing to let you buy/trade/have a jar to see if it is something you like, or start with a small batch and don't wait too long to try it so you don't heavily invest in it if it isn't something you like or will realistically do. Good canning resources - Ball Complete Guide, Joy of Cooking, Food in Jars (web blog with lots of links). You may find a dry canner blog, too. If you do traditional canning, make sure you use validated recipes for food safety, correct acidity, etc.