1 $70 a case at the "right" surplus store and that means a bit of travel, not worth buying less than four cases so it means pitching in. Prowling Craigslist every few days can sometimes get you $5-$6 MREs and $60 case which are close to date but still good. A good friend of mine discovered the HDR, which is Humanitarian Daily Ration. It is the large vegan version they give once a day for refugees. You add your own meat and it works as a single large meal with snacks. By that I mean equal to an XL meal at a burger joint. Like the HDR with some meat over the campfire and you are good to go. Otherwise, it's a full day of food for 125lb peope not doing much physical activity. If you are desperate, a can of generic spam from the dollar store will level it out, or some beef jerky. You get the idea.

2 Ammo. Not in a position to comment much on that, but from what I can observe, one guy ordering large lots from Palmetto State Armory or Cheaper than Dirt is the way to go. Otherwise, pick it up in person at gun shows, but that's only worth your time if you are getting several cases. Time, gas, parking, show admission. That's not to mention nosy pricks looking over your shoulder when you are borrowing the ammo guys hand truck or bringing your own.

3. Some auction sites like govplanet have deals on field gear. I am larger (fatter) now than when I was a skinny 168lb Marine and by the time I was a 225lb national guards guy, the issue bivvy bags were feeling small. At 300, I have to get the custom stuff these days from the big chain outdoor stores. I notice washing one of those monster size sleeping bags can be a bit of a chore, but they sure are comfy. My field kit is still a woobie and two ponchos, but the new USMC style that is just more lies a tarp. You can catch sales at Cabelas and similar stores.

4. Again, my issue is that I need XXL on everything, so surplus is out. I gave away most of my standard size stuff over the last few years. I tried a few XL items from a surplus store out at FT Lewis, but there are so few XXL Rangers ther is little luck finding multicams in those sizes except I once lucked out on some stuff from a guy who was on medical profile and on instructor duty at the Ranger school. The stuff was pretty worn though. I had to just belly up and buy new, and at full price, the best out there is Propper Battle Rip fabric. It's about $8 per item more than standard but really tough stuff. I was using the pants as work clothes before I discovered the fire hose pants from Duluth Trading. If you want solid color stuff, Duluth is the way to go. The FBI was doing that for a while, modded Duluth stuff in brown instead of 511. It's $75 for good pants, $65ish for tops. Reality is that Duluth is superior stuff and does not scream "tactical guy" when you are trying to be covert. You can hit the fall and holiday sales and get the pants around $58-$60 a pair. Not that hard to look like a forest service contract worker from a distance and nobody says shit. One time I had to go retrieve a cache during a first fire, it was my only option, and then I got to thinking that my "camo" to go get my stuff back was not camo, so if I got spotted I would be ignored, and I was out there to grab a pack of high end cammies I had stashed with some camping gear in a way unlikely to survive the fire.

4 little propane cylinders are $5 each at Walmart. I think two for $7.50. At least that's what it was last winter. I was going through one every night in my motorhome since I don't use the big on board propane system (I am paranoid about fire, seen too many campers newer than mine get burned up). I got one of those kits for refilling the little bottles from a big bottle but it never seems to work. It seemed that getting the bigger tank filled and using the big tank to bottle size adapter hose is okay, but something about the way the hose ends work on those, makes them compatible between some tanks and devices and not others. It's a bit of a hassle but it works if you get adapter hoses from a few brands to try out.

5 Daily groceries come from the grocery store and I live in a town with the best restaraunt deals in the world. Cooking means I won't ration portion sizes and then get fat. Eating out on a budget kind of limits that and I don't do junk snack food. If I handle the cooking, everyone fattens up a bit. I can kind of budget stuff, but usually with my cooking, I can be pretty efficient with high calorie stuff and do it in ways that all of the fat calories are consumed. Thus, boiling meats like high fat content ground beef or whole chicken produces more calorie per pound in the meal than say, broiling. The trick is adding olive oil (low grade works, high grade is better). Olive oils, salt, sugar and vinegar in any stew or chili or pasta dish mixes with and helps metabolize the animal fat. Starches absorb the fat and there is your high calorie tasty stuff. Leftovers get repacked and frozen. I mention this because I would imagine you go a big chunk of the year in Canada where frozen food can just sit in a box outdoors and last well enough through a camping trip. For me, the stewpot runs $15-$25 for one pig out meal, and then enough frozen dishes to microwave convenience meals into the weekend if I am alone, or a bunch of people visiting.

I stocked up a few grand in survival food from Walmart and the Mormon Cannery before my supplies got ripped off in a series of survival retreat takeovers, so now I have to risk getting shot to get any of it back. Every time they even hear a rumor that I am heading within 100 miles of the place the local posse group guns up and starts standing watch. It's not far from the Canadian border...last time I was there the food at both locations was untouched. Ransacked for guns and valuables of course. Alcohol all gone...the recent view from google earth seems to indicate that someone probably took off with the firewood that was at one place, several truckloads worth. That's two homicides, armed robbery, some assaults and political corruption over the wealth to be gained in survival retreat looting, but nobody gave a fuck about food supplies. My takeaway lesson on that is in the early stages of SHTF, everyone willing to lie, cheat, steal, kill and betray friends will have done so or be doing it in full force before real food shortages are a real problem.

5 Water - I occasionally buy gallon jugs for a buck at the dollar store. I won't pay a deposit on the smaller bottles unless it is a straight convenience issue or a short term food cache. A little alcohol in a canteen or rinsed out juice bottle seems to keep the water from getting funky. Using clear plastic juice bottles for water and seeing how that looks after a few months with nothing in there to sterilize it will definitely keep you from wanting to leave opaque canteens full if you are wise, or up the alcohol content to the point that microbes won't grow. That is unless it's your thing to drink bleach or iodine, which are poisonous I might ad, and my camp is always a no-sharia law zone.