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Thread: Storing food in water

  1. #1
    walk lightly on the earth wildWoman's Avatar
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    Default Storing food in water

    Hopeak mentioned in one post that he kept some canned food in a lake over the winter to keep it from freezing. I'm considering that system for keeping food cool in the summer - has anyone done it (except for bottles of beer and the like)? We'd need a waterproof barrel I think because of waves on the lake and to keep it away from bears, any ideas apart from canoeing barrels?


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    missing in action trax's Avatar
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    I think you basically nailed it with canoeing barrels wild. Sounds like that would work fine, anchor them down is all. Simple is usually the way to go!
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    Senior Member wareagle69's Avatar
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    never gave it much thought but it is a good way to stash food same as hiding in the permafrost dig down far enough line with wood and styrofoam and bingo you've got a fridge

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    non-senior senior member Assassin Pilot's Avatar
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    Does anybody know why only the top of the lake generally freezes? (it's probably something simple that I don't know). I know the ice floats therefore it stays on top, but why not the whole lake?

    Rick is prob gunna come in and make me look like an idiot, but oh well.
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    Senior Member Stealth's Avatar
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    its because lakes are fed by feeder streams and rivers that contain water that is warmer than the air temperature. the ground below a certain level is held at 55º F all year round so water that is drained from the ground (it would be impossible for ice to drain from the soil) into the feeder rivers will be warmer than the air during winter. therefore, the air freezes the water that it is in contact with while the water below is kept warmer due to the feeder streams. also, when water freezes, it is less dense than water and will float, like an ice cube in a glass of water.

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    Survivalist chopp29's Avatar
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    Hey guys I know this is tottaly off the subject. just hoping someone can help me out. Im fairly new to this forum, and only have posted 1 thread on my own. i wanted to post another but forgot how to get to the POST YOUR OWN THREAD option. Could someone help me and guide me on how to post and start my own thread? Thanks

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    Senior Member Stealth's Avatar
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    chopp, see if this works for you: http://www.wilderness-survival.net/f...=newthread&f=2

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    Senior Member wareagle69's Avatar
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    Default so in other words

    convection vs conduction

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    The ice also forms a barrier that stops heat from leaving the body of water. Large bodies of water store a tremendous amount of heat, so once there is a good layer of ice the rest of the water will not easily freeze.

    How will you retrieve your stash? Floats attached to your container that become frozen into the ice? Remember that the ice on lakes and streams moves and is very powerful - it may drag your supplies away or even smash them.

    In the spring as the ice is melting it may be impossible to get your supplies, if they are still where you put them.
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    Quote Originally Posted by RobertRogers View Post
    The ice also forms a barrier that stops heat from leaving the body of water. Large bodies of water store a tremendous amount of heat, so once there is a good layer of ice the rest of the water will not easily freeze.

    How will you retrieve your stash? Floats attached to your container that become frozen into the ice? Remember that the ice on lakes and streams moves and is very powerful - it may drag your supplies away or even smash them.

    In the spring as the ice is melting it may be impossible to get your supplies, if they are still where you put them.
    SO I am interested to know what you would suggest, as a better idea???? Maybe move the the city, and be one more drone living a life of quiet desperation. I have to keep a hole open in the lake anyway to get water. I use a empty bleach bottle on 50' of 1/4" rope as a float. It is like a refrigerator, the water is 34* to 36* above. The outside air might be -34* below zero. I put 2" blue DOW board over the hole to keep it from freezing.

    This method works well in the summer also. I have never lost any supplies, nothing was ever crushed, nothing ever floated away.
    Last edited by Sourdough; 02-18-2008 at 01:17 PM.

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    Administrator Rick's Avatar
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    Why not consider a root cellar? At depths below four feet, ground temperature stays a constant 50 to 55 degrees Fahrenheit year-round (depending on soil type and density). A root cellar could be an easy 6-8 feet deep and offer a nice cool year round "fridge". The water is not only going to gain heat from solar radiation but transfer that heat rather easity to any food stuff stored in the lake. You would want to maintain it below surface level and insulated, which seems like a lot of work to me.
    Tracks Across the High Plains...Death on the Bombay Line...A Touch of Death and Mayhem...Dead Rock...The Griswald Mine Boys...All On Amazon Books.

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    Well you have to dig it by hand, with a pick and shovel, and if you hit a large rock you get to start over. One of the other methods that works is you have a trapdoor in the floor of the kitchen, and have a small root cellar under the kitchen.

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    Administrator Rick's Avatar
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    Uh, the cat will move a little ole rock won't it?
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    Here yes, But I was speaking to my time homesteading on Lake Clark. Here I have grid electric; refrigerator, and freezer. The back part of this property does not have electric power, and would cost $90,000.00 to run it up there.

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    Administrator Rick's Avatar
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    What's that saying? Oh, yea, "Fire in the hole!".
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rick View Post
    What's that saying? Oh, yea, "Fire in the hole!".
    Not after 9-11......now you need what is called a "Master Blasters", License to buy explosives. In the old days when we were responsible cogs in the social wheel, we all had explosives for blowing stumps, or blowing a root cellar. I remember 35 years ago when we used explosives to clear a channel between two lakes, so we could taxi the float planes between lakes.

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    walk lightly on the earth wildWoman's Avatar
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    [QUOTE=hopeak;27354] I have to keep a hole open in the lake anyway to get water. I use a empty bleach bottle on 50' of 1/4" rope as a float. It is like a refrigerator, the water is 34* to 36* above. The outside air might be -34* below zero. I put 2" blue DOW board over the hole to keep it from freezing.
    QUOTE]

    Hopeak, do you have a wooden frame in the ice to keep the hole from growing smaller through the winter?

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    No, but I could see how that would help. I just put some pine limbs, or a 4'X4' piece of Dow Blue board insulation over the hole, and flag it for aircraft. I used a burlap bag, or sometimes a laundry bag, or real heavy Gamebag. Maybe a large milk crate type thing'ie with a lid might work.

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