Now in all fairness, I will also tell you that Mountain House sent me some of their Wraps to review. They also sent along a few of their other menu items in pouches for me to give away to my readers. Any time someone wants to send me free food to try out, I’m all for it!

There was just one little problem. They sent it at a time I was involved in a major renovation on a part of our house and I put the pouches with my own stockpile of Mountain House foods and simply forgot about them. That was until I went to get a few pouches out of the Pantry for an upcoming camping trip and noticed the pouch that said “Mountain House Wraps – Buffalo Style Chicken”.

I thought to myself “Now I don’t remember buying that”. Then it hit me! “OMG!, I was suppose to try a couple of these out and review them for Mountain House!”  Geez, they sent them last July and I just found them in my store room the other day!

Well, being the good reviewer that I am…and one always willing to try new foods , I put on some water to boil and decided I’d have that Buffalo Style Chicken for lunch right then!

I also whipped out some tortillas. I mean, after all, I was reviewing the “wraps”. Since we’re big Mexican food eaters around here anyway, the tortillas were handy anyway! I always like to throw them on the stove and heat them with the open flame. My Wife on the other hand, hates it when I do that. So I make sure I only do it when she’s not home!

With the water boiling, I poured some into the pouch and stirred. I followed directions and let it sit for a spell before dishing it out on my tortillas.

Since I had never had this flavor before, I didn’t really know what to expect. So at the first bite, I was both amazed and not so amazed. I was amazed because it actually tasted like Buffalo Wings! Not so amazed because every entree that I’ve had from Mountain House has tasted just like I thought it was suppose to!

I also was more than a little surprised that this Buffalo Style chicken actually had a little bite to it. I like my food on the Spicy side! They weren’t as hot (spicy wise) as the Buffalo Wings I normally eat, but I didn’t expect it to be that hot anyway! A nice surprise and they made a filling lunch.

While I ate, I read the package to look over the ingredients and the nutritional label. (yeah, I probably should read these things before I eat them… )

Hey, these things pack quite a bit of protein and other basic necessities. Especially if you’re far from a market and still need nutritious foods when doing strenuous activities like hiking and hunting … or surviving! The nutrients in these pouches is just one reason I have several in my bug out bag. Other reasons are because they’re relatively lightweight and are easy to prepare. There’s not much more you can ask for in a survival food!

I ate the Bacon Skillet wrap for breakfast one morning on the camping trip and it was every bit as good as the Buffalo Style Chicken. In fact, one evening I caught myself wishing I had another helping of that spicy pouch of Buffalo Style Chicken goodness!

It should go without saying that I’ve added these two flavors to my stockpile of food.

Free Mountain House Freeze Dried Food Giveaway

So now I have three pouches of Mountain House freeze dried food to give a way. I’ve wondered how would be a creative way to find the perfect person to give it to. So the only thing I can come up with now is this.

Leave a comment and tell me what your favorite entree of Mountain House food is. It can be pouches or the #10 cans. Just pick one and one entree only and let me know. If your favorite matches my favorite, you’ll win one pouch serving of the Mountain House freeze dried Ice Cream Sandwich,one pouch of Scrambled Eggs with Bacon and a pouch of Chicken Stew!

If more than one person guess correctly, then I’ll randomly draw from those who guess correctly for the winner.

I’ll let this run until July 7th, which according to my old email, is the date last year that Brittany at Mountain House contacted me in regards to trying the Wraps. Good luck and let me know what your favorite Mountain House freeze dried food entree is…you just might win!

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If you’re looking to move into rural America or you planning on staying put where you are in the suburbs, there are a few skills that will become very helpful to you should the SHTF.

These skills can be learned rather easily and may provide beneficial to you beyond your dreams. Some can be learned by reading a book or watching a video while others will require you attending a few classes at your local community college. Here’s my list of skills every survivalist should learn.

#1. Stick Welding

Learning to stick weld is not that hard. You just want to get proficient enough to be able to know which rods to use or which amp setting to use so you can join two pieces of metal. It’s not like you’re planning on making welds on the Alaskan Pipeline. Are you?

Many community colleges now give classes on Welding. And they are very reasonable. Once you own a welder, you’ll find a million and one uses for it. Not to mention should you ever need some extra cash, you can barter or start your own small welding business on the side.

The little Lincoln cracker boxes are 220V welders that can be picked up cheap in a lot of places such as Pawn Shops or Craigslist. These are great for nearly any situation you’ll find yourself needing a welder in a survival situation. But they require a 220V power source. A better choise for the Self Reliant family is a portable generator/welder combo. This way you can take your welder with you plus have the convienance of a portable generator. Honda, Lincoln and Hobart as well as others all make excellent combo units. Just stay away from the cheapies, especially if they’re from China or Indonesia. They may be fine or they may leave you swearing.

#2 Small Engine Repair

Knowing how to repair your generator motor or any other small engine (such as Garden tractors, pumps, etc) is a must. Sure, you could either take it into town or call a repair guy out to your place, but in a crisis situation, do you really want to put yourself at that risk? Once again your local community college will come to the rescue. Many have classes over basic and advanced small engine repair. Once you’ve learned the basics, the rest is a piece of cake.

So the next time your butterfly sticks closed or your magneto isn’t firing, you’ll know why and more importantly, you’ll know how to fix it!

#3 How To Fish

No, I’m not talking about grabbing a can of worms and heading off to a stream. I’m talking about putting up a ton of fish quickly. If you even live remotely close to a large body of water such as a lake, river or pond, you should learn how to catch a lot of fish and do it quickly.

Learn how to make fish traps, nets and trotlines. Then learn how to use them properly.

Many fish have seasonal spawns where they will congregate in schools and move in mass to spawning areas. Most everyone knows that Salmon do this, but fish that live in lakes and rivers do this as well. Stripers, White Bass, Crappie, Walleye and many others spawn this way.

There are many fine books on the market that will teach you these skills. Memphis Net and Twine has a wonderful catelog that includes trawl and gill nets plus many supplies to help you achieve this goal.

Be warned, many of these techniques are illegal in a lot of States. Be sure to read the regulations for your area before trying any of these techniques out. Of course, in a survival or emergency situation, you’ll probably be more worried about eating than getting a fine!

#4 How To Butcher Animals

This skill will come in very handy for those of you who wish to raise your own livestock and to take advantage of the Wild Game in your area. You may need to connect with another like minded individual who already knows how to do this and convince them to show you as well. Learning how to properly cut up an animal, whether it’s a Deer, Cow or Chicken, is a valuable skill that every survivalist or person wanting to be self sufficient should learn.

Many butchers in my area charge 50 cents per pound on the hoof to kill, butcher and package a Steer. If you’ve got a 800 pound steer to put up, that can add up to a lot of money. I’ve even heard some butchers charging 75 cents per pound or more to do this!

Deer typically cost at least $50 and many times more to have processed.

Save yourself some money and learn to do it yourself!

#5 Learn To Trap

Trapping gives the self sufficient person or survivalist a whole other avenue for procuring fresh meat.  Unlike hunting, traps that you set are working for you around the clock. You can also set a lot of traps in order to cover a wide area. This increases your chance of catching something for the Supper table.

What’s more important is knowing what type of trap to use in order to catch your intended target. If you’re wanting to catch a Wolf, then you’ll be sorely disappointed if you use a trap or snare intended for a Mink.

The Survivalist needs to know how to use Snares, Live/Box traps, leg hold traps and body gripper traps. All have their use in the Survivalist tool shed!

Snares can be used in a survival situation to catch everything from Rabbits to big game animals like Deer and Bear.

Most States have a Trappers Association. They routinely have meetings or weekend get-togethers where there are seminars on basic and advanced trapping. There’s always something for beginners. Look yours up and get on the list today.

#5 Gunsmithing – Learn To Repair Guns

If you’re living the Self Reliant lifestyle or you’re a Survivalist, then chances are good you have some firearms around, or you should! But do you know how to fix those guns if they break? Can you disassemble your guns, clean them and reassemble them and have them work properly? Sadly, from what I’ve seen, most people can’t. Some believe they can, but their idea of cleaning is spraying a half can of WD-40 into the action and calling it clean.

Do you keep spare parts around for your guns? Probably not. But you should and you should learn how to fix a firearm if it breaks, especially the military type firearms.

Brownell’s has a huge library of Video’s and Books on Gunsmithing. Grab yourself some that cover your type of guns and learn how to clean and repair them.

#6 Learn Basic Carpentry Skills

Can you plumb a wall, build a barn, square up walls or plumb a house? If not, these skills are easily learned. Your local community college may come to your rescue again. If you’re the type that can learn from a book, then you can find many fine books on building and carpentry at Amazon.com. If you live near a Barnes and Noble, they have a decent list of books as well.

These skills are necessary should we face a long term crisis. Carpentry, Electrical and Plumbing skills will all be in demand and you could make a lot of friends quickly if you the one in your area who knows how to fix things.

#7 Auto Repair

This is close to the Small Engine repair skills you’ll need, but on a much larger scale. You’ll need to learn basic maintenance and repair skills and obtain some advance skills like possibly being able to rebuild an engine or transmission. If you have a newer computer controlled vehickle, then these skills will be more important. Older, non-computer controlled vehicles are much easier to work on than those built today.

Also, depending on who you listen too, these older vehicles may give you some protection from EMP attacks. No sensitive electronics to be fried in case of an attack.

At the very least, you should be able to change a tire, break a tire down and repair it with basic hand tools, change out starters, alternators, water and fuel pups. If you can’t do these simple chores, you’d better have money or another vehicle to rely upon should one go down.

You should also be able to tune an engine and adjust carbs and troubleshoot your vehicle. This may all sound intimidating, but all are easily learned skills.

#8 Operate a HAM Radio

I have to confess. This is one skill I don’t have right now, but I’m certainly going to work on it very soon. In the case of a disaster, a HAM radio will allow you to communicate with the outside World to find out what’s going on.

There are plenty of books and courses on operating a HAM radio, all that is required is a little time and effort.

After Hurricane Ike struck, we were without power for two weeks. At the end of this time, I was really getting use to not having a TV blaring every day or phones ringing. I was very content to hang around my home while cleaning up the debris left by the Hurricane. Once we got power back on, I was amazed at how much news I’d missed out on. I was also amazed at how much useless information we have coming at us everyday without realizing it!

Learn to use a HAM radio. Get your license, find out what type of equipment you really need and get going!

#9 Hunting Skills

It’s easy to assume that all self reliant families or survivalist know how to hunt. But that isn’t the case. Many don’t even have the skills to find and harvest squirrels or rabbits, not to mention big game. To be successful on a regular basis, these skills will have to be learned and will usually take some time. It’s not as easy as going out to the City park and pot shooting city squirrels.

You can bet that when the SHTF, others will be out putting food on the table. The same food that should be headed to your table!

Most hunting skills can’t  be learned from a book or video. Your best bet is to find someone who is successful and tag along. have them show you what to look for and specifics on each game animal. At the very least, you’ll need to get out in the woods and watch how animals exist in their part of the World. Once you understand how animals move and use the woods, you’ll be on the right path to being a good hunter.

#10 Advanced First Aid

Yeah, there are other important skills I could have used at #10, or any number for that matter, but knowing advanced life saving first aid skills should be the goal of every person who is prepping for the worse. It’s just good common sense that you should know these skills. And I’m talking about skills that go above and beyond those taught in basic first aid classes.

You should know how to treat major wounds, such as a sucking chest wound, until help can arrive. Could you set a broken bone? How about removing a bullet? It’s not as simple as some macho guy on TV makes it look. You’ll have to assume at one point during a crisis, you’re first aid skills will be needed. If not by you, then possibly by a family member or friend. You may be their only hope for surviving.

This is my top 10 list. If you don’t know these, then you should be working on learning them. If you do know these skills, then start your own top 10! Remember, these are only the skills you’ll need to start if you want to be truly self sufficient or become a true survivor.

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