A note from Doug - Our Winner of the Safecastle LLC Mountain House Freeze Dried Foods

Here is a note from Doug about his prize!!!!

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Hello to my friends at the Canadian Preppers Network. I'm a little behind in my report, but the Mountain House prize pack did arrive... eventually. The Canadian supplier had received a large order right before the Christmas holidays, which depleted their stocks, so my package was a little late to arrive.

When it did arrive at the local post office, I knew immediately what it was... and so did everyone else who saw the package, before I picked it up, and after I left the post office. Unfortunately, Mountain House isn't too concerned about OPSEC... their name is plastered across the box for all to see. Ok, this was a free prize, and free stuff is always nice, but in the world of 'preppers' and preparedness, most people don't want everyone around them to see them carrying a box of LTS food.

Upon arrival at home, I quickly opened the box. I was excited to get a look at the cans. As you can see... fairly standard can, nice label, includes preparation instructions, and a best-before date (my stuff is good till at least 2034!).

When Kymber asked me if I had tried anything yet, I regrettably had to say no. Unfortunately, Mountain House recommends that the contents be eaten immediately upon opening. Although they do provide plastic lids for the cans, and state that upon opening, testing has shown that contents will be good for up to one week. So while we’re eager to try it, we also don’t plan on eating an entire can of anything right away, so it will remain stored until needed. (see Kymberz note below)

Also, if you are on a low-sodium diet, or blood pressure medication, you might want to be sure you’ve got some extra on hand. Mountain House states in their FAQ (http://www.mountainhouse.com/faqs.cfm) : Why do you put so much sodium in your product? Our products are designed to fit a high-performance lifestyle, replacing some of the sodium lost during heavy exertion.

There isn’t much else to report; We’re happy to have won the contest, and these will store nicely until we need them. A couple of things to consider; heavy on the salt (so be sure to get outside and do some physical activity!), and potential OPSEC breach, if that sort of thing concerns you.

Thanks again CPN!

Doug.

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Thanks Doug - we really appreciate your taking the time to do this write-up...and we hope you enjoy your prize!!!

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Kymberz note:

Vic, from Safecastle LLC had the following to say in regards to how long the food will last once opened:

"MH lawyers will tell you that the food is good for one to two weeks at room temp once a can is open if it is kept dry and covered/"sealed" with the plastic lid that comes with it. In reality, you can at least double that--and if you refrigerate it, it will further extend that length of time."

Vic also said that our own Bow Beauchamp had recently done a test drive of the MH foods while out in the bush. Bow's review (which can also be found here):

I have been using my Mountain House foods during my winter adventures, research and training. I think it is a great staple for the bush. I especially, like the chicken teriyaki.

I've used the food as directed and prepared the varieties in the bush, just adding boiled water. I have had no issues at all with the cans or the food value. I found the portions that they suggested to be a good amount for one person for one meal. Being that I'm 6'1" and 223 lbs. and it filled the hold in my stomach in the bush, its a good portion!!

Some other meal products that I have tried in the past I've found their suggested servings to be a little on the small portion side to say the least and the taste and quality of the other foods I found poor.

These cans had good clear instructions on them. They suggested that once opened to use them within the week. I tried an experiment with one can and, after opening it, left it. I used it 3 weeks later and the results were excellent--no problems--no loss of flavor or food value.

My conclusion--Mountain House cans make a good bush staple. I think they make a great product.

Another Great Contest for all Canadians - Sponsored by Hometown Seeds!

Our good friends at Hometown Seeds want us all to have peace of mind for our families! And they have graciously offered to sponsor a contest here at the CPN!!!

So how can Hometown Seeds help to provide peace of mind to our lucky winner? How about an awesome package of Emergency Survival Seeds, shipped to anywhere in Canada, for free? I recently wrote about winning a contest at the APN Forum and my prize was a package of Emergency Survival Seeds. I was very impressed with the care that went into the packaging and the healthy look and feel of all of the seeds! You can read more about it here.

The Emergency Survival Seed package includes 16 easy-to-grow, non-hybrid and GMO-free seeds. The vacuum-sealed package will make a great addition to your long-term food storage and has a minimum shelf-life of 5 years - or 10 years if you keep them in the freezer! The package also comes with an in-depth instruction pamphlet and growing guide.

So what do you have to do to enter? Simply leave a comment here on this post and be sure to say "Hometown Seeds - bringing peace of mind to Canadian families!". You can enter once a day until April 1st when the winner will be chosen by a random draw.

In addition, Hometown Seeds is also offering a 10% discount to all Canadians who place an order from now until April 30 - that's an excellent deal considering that Hometown Seeds carries a great variety of seeds!!! Be sure to enter "Canada" in the coupon code when ordering to get the 10% discount!!!

Good luck to everyone and a big Thanks to our friends at Hometown Seeds!!!

Announcement

For anyone interested in following this year's gardening adventures (stop rolling your eyes Scarecrow!) - I will be documenting the journey (with pics!!!) at the Newfoundland and Labrador Preppers Network!!! The first post is already up!!!

A Big Thanks to Scott and the Good Folks at Hometown Seeds

In the beginning of February 2010, I won a contest at the APN Forum. The prize? An "Emergency Survival Seed" package from Hometown seeds!!! I was very excited to win the seeds because I needed the seeds. Why? Well since this is our last full year living here in Ottawa, Ontario before we make the move to Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia (over 1,000 miles away) - we have decided that this year's garden is to be much smaller than other years and we have also decided not to purchase any "new" seeds this year - we planned to use only seeds that we had saved from previous years. So winning this seed package means I was able to get "new" seed without spending any money. And everyone likes "new" seeds!!!

So a few days ago my "prize" arrived! What did I win? How about a couple of pics to show you what a great prize I won!!!



The hand-written Thank You note from Scott was a very nice touch! Thank you Scott!

Here is a pic of the vacuum-sealed bag listing the 16 types of easy-to-grow, 100% non-hybrid Emergency Survival Seeds.



Here is the 8-page pamphlet describing each type of seed and planting guide.



And although the Emergency Survival Seeds are for long term storage, I opened the bag because I plan to actually plant some of these seeds. I will vacuum-seal the rest and store them in the freezer for future years' gardens.



So I haven't planted any of them yet and can't speak to the viability, germination rate or quality of the seeds - but I will come back and do an update once some of the seeds have been planted and their produce is harvested.

However, I can speak to the care that went into the packaging, the healthy look and feel of the seeds and the fact that Hometown Seeds have very good prices and ship to Canada! So be sure to check them out when purchasing this years seeds!

Woohoo! The CPN Welcomes another contributing author - Welcome Cory!!!

The CPN is very proud proud to introduce our newest contributing author - Cory!!! Welcome, Welcome Cory!!!

Although Cory lives in Ontario - in true CPN-fashion he has agreed to take over posting at the BC Preppers Network until we can find a permanent author there. Until then...a little bird has told me that we can expect a new series at the BC Preppers Network - something along the lines of "Energy Tips My Wife Hates" - oh we can't wait for that one, Cory!!!

In addition - and from Cory's own lips:

"My goal is to do a post or two a week and I’ll cover things a young Canadian family like mine can do to take steps toward preparedness and independence including:

- debt repayments
- simple energy efficiency tips
- easy first prepping steps
- planning and building a new (semi) off-grid home

Being fairly new to prepping I’m hoping to document my progress on these topics and learn from the comments of other preppers.

For now I’ll leave you with my personal motto:

“If you don’t take control of your life, somebody else will.” "

Cory...you are a very welcome addition to the CPN! We look very much forward to your posts!

Please join me in welcoming Cory to the CPN!!!!

The CPN Welcomes it's newest contributing author - Allan "Bow" Beauchamp!

The CPN is very proud to welcome Allan "Bow" Beauchamp as our newest contributing author!!!

Allan "Bow" Beauchamp, born in Porcupine, Ontario, is a renowned survival and primitive skills instructor and consultant. He has acted as a consultant for Les Stroud on TV's "Survivorman" series, and also supported Les Stroud on his new book entitled "Survive."

Previously, Bow taught a survival program for 10 years at a university, taught primitive skills courses at local Native reserves, and was featured on the television series "The Great Outdoorsman". Bow has also hosted training over the years for law enforcement agencies, the Canadian Forces, and many local groups.

Bow has also recently been appointed as a Safecastle LLC Advisory Board Member.

Some of Bow’s recognized expertise include: search and rescue, rope rescue, teaching survival and primitive skills programs (to many government agencies), bushcraft, N.O.T.S. man-tracking (developed by Bow), psychology of survival, flint-knapping, bow-making, nature awareness, spirituality, edible plants, bush medicines, traditional fire-starting, and natural navigation. He has been continually researching and improving his extreme survival winter skills for over 30 years!

The CPN will be showcasing some of Bow’s previously-written articles from Wildwood Survival – an excellent survival website run by Walter Muma. Watch for these, and new articles, to pop up on the Northwest Territories Preppers Network, the Nunavut Preppers Network and the Yukon Preppers Network!

Please join me in welcoming Bow!!!

Frazer is on the Prepper Podcast!!!

Woohoo! The CPN is proud to announce that our own Frazer, from the Manitoba Preppers Network, was the guest on Episode 22 of the Preppers Podcast (the Preppers Podcast is run by our friend Matt of the Kentucky Preppers Network!).

Anyway - Frazer did the CPN proud (as always!) and discussed a variety of prepping-related topics such as his having a preparedness mindset since he was young (probably from growing up on his Grandparents' farm where they "just lived the life"), he always had some form of "bug-out bag", eventually got into stocking up food, started planning for power outages, tuna, his prepping on a budget series, Everyday Carry Bags - and of course - his love of "toys" and "gadgets"!

Matt also mentioned all the different video posts that Frazer does and said how much he enjoyed them! Frazer does have some great video posts - if you haven't checked them out, then do so!!!

A big thanks to Frazer for representing the CPN so well...and a big thanks to Matt for always including the CPN on the Prepper Podcast!