Reply #6: My mom always keeps plenty of water (she's in Merritt Island)

[northofdenali]

a propane stove with extra fuel (nice to be able to wash up, cook, and do dishes) and general camping equipment. She says she learned to "pack small" from me and my husband, because we do a lot of motorcycle camping. Some freeze-dried foods are very good, even tho they're a little expensive. We generally hit the dried-oatmeal packets for mornings, soup for lunch and an expensive freeze-dried meal for dinner. MRE's suck.

You'd be surprised at how many "no room" foodstuffs are out there. If we can find 'em in Alaska, I know you guys in the Lower 48 can!

I don't drink much coffee, but my teabags are always packed, along with TrueLemon (dried lemon in a packet) and sugar packs. This stuff all lasts; I've used some freeze-dried meals that tasted fine after a 5-year storage period. So it'll last through a number of hurricane seasons!