A Comprehensive Comparison of 26 Options from 14 Sources

Seed companies have been selling special collections of seeds for years. Some of those companies have now shifted their marketing strategies to buy into the buzz phrase “survival seeds”. These specific package deals have sprung up like weeds in a favorable Spring environment. Many savvy entrepreneurs as well as survival gear stores have taken on what may likely be an entirely new product line.

The packages available were varied in price, quantity, variety, various extras and type of storage containment. In some cases when making comparisons, the price to yield or price to feed ability ratio did not vary as widely across samples taken. However, the variance in the range for purported yield or feeding ability was large for similar quantities of seeds.

To further complicate matters there was a large variety in seeds and combinations in seeds across the board, as well as the fact that the weight or number of seeds was commonly not provided. In other words, it was difficult to make a fair and true comparison. It also put into question the validity of claims as well as source data, if any were used at all, as to yield or feeding ability of available survival seed packages.

Terms commonly used to promote and describe these seeds within survival seed packages are: non-hybrid, heirloom, open-pollinated, non-GMO and on occasion even organic.

Non-hybrid, heirloom and open-pollinated all have the same basic meaning: the resulting plants will produce viable seeds that if they are harvested properly have the ability to produce a crop the following growing season. If hybrid seeds are used, the resulting plants will not consistently have the same characteristics of the original plant from which the seed derived, and may produce totally disparate wildcards within the crop. While open-pollination may not produce a garden full of varieties uniform in characteristics, by its very nature, this plant stock will eventually become hardier and adapt to the local climate and soil environment.

Non-GMO refers to the term genetically modified organism. Usually a GMO plant will produce sterile seeds. In other words the seeds are unable to produce a crop.

The term organic can be tricky and the ability to apply this term falls under the regulation umbrella of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. An organization may seek Organic Certification and often farming operations will opt to simply take up practices that are considered organic even if there are stipulations they have trouble adhering to which keep them from being able to use terms such as Certified Organic. Some requirements are out of their control, such as proximity to certain environmental factors. Seek out information on farming practices at the source of the product for the truth. There are times when a label or lack of a label will not tell the entire story about the conditions of the source of agricultural products.

Fourteen sources on the Internet were reviewed, which garnered 26 survival seed package options. Listed in alphabetical order the sources are: American Survival Store, Ark Institute, Emergency Essentials, Healthy Harvest, Heirloom Organics, Heirloom Seeds, Lipscomb Affiliates, Nitro-Pak Preparedness Center, Inc., Survival Acres, Survival Logistics, Survival Seed Bank, Survivalist Seeds, Territorial Seed Company, and The Survival Zone. (Links are provided at the end of this article.)

The lowest price found was $31.95 from Survival Acres. 15 varieties of seeds for a total of 17 packs are offered in a #10 can. Survival Acres also offers a second option for $191.70 that is simply 6 #10 cans. This is exactly the cost of 6 #10 cans individually. Seeds provided are: Blue Lake Bush Bean (2 packs), Detroit Dark Red Beet, Golden Acre Cabbage, Scarlet Nantes Carrot, Golden Bantum 8 Corn, Straight Eight Cucumber, Salad Bowl Green Leaf Lettuce, Utah Yellow Sweet Spanish Onion, Lincoln Pea (2 packs), Champion Radish, Bloomsdale Long Standing Spinach, Zucchini Black Beauty Summer Squash, Sweet Meat Winter Squash, and Rutgers Tomato. The weights are given in ounces or grams and are typical of the average seed packet purchased in a home garden store. It should be noted that a minimum combined order of $250.00 is required.

The highest price found was from Nitro-Pak Preparedness Center, Inc. $264.00 for 6 #10 cans. This is a savings of $11.70 when compared to the other offer available on their website for 1 #10 can containing 16 varieties of seeds for $45.95. If the case of #10 cans is purchased, it breaks down to $44.00 or a savings of $1.95 per can. Nitro-Pak Preparedness Center, Inc. claimed that each can would produce a ½ acre of yield and have a shelf life of 4-5 years if kept at 75 degrees Fahrenheit. Seeds were given as: Golden Bantam Corn, Blue Lake Pole Beans, Little Marvel Peas, Scarlet Nantes Carrots, Utah Sweet Spanish Onions, Golden Acre Cabbage, Lucullus Swiss Chard, Detroit Dark Red Beets, Butternut Winter Squash, Square Black Beauty Zucchini, Ace 55 VF Tomato, Barcarolle Romaine Lettuce, Yolo Wonder Peppers, Champion Radish and Bloodsdale Long Standing Spinach. The weight in grams or ounces was given for each seed packet as well. 5 ounces for a packet of corn and 6 grams for zucchini are typical weights for the average seed packet purchased in a home garden store. Currently Nitro-Pak Preparedness Center, Inc. offers free shipping for most orders of $100.00 or more in 48 states.

Nitro-Pak Preparedness Center, Inc. states that their seeds have been specially prepared and heat sealed in a triple layer foil packet to keep 3-6 times longer than typical seeds and Survival Acres makes similar claims about their package.

At face value the deal offered at Survival Acres appears to be a better deal than Nitro-Pak Preparedness Center, Inc. with a savings of $12.05 for a single can. There is also a difference of one pack of seeds. Neither website purports how many people these package deals may feed for a year.

Ark Institute appears to have a solid offer of $99.00 for 40 packets of 52 seed varieties. Ark Institute claims these packets will “keep for years”. This included vegetables, fruit and herbs. Some highlights are Baby Watermelon, Eggplant, Broccoli, X-Early Sweet Yellow Corn, 3 varieties of Hot Peppers and Tioga Hard Red Spring Wheat. Ark Institute also had two other offers. One was for small space and included 3 books and half the seeds for $129.00. The third offer was similar to the one for $129.00 but without the books and only costing $59.00. It is not discussed how the seeds are stored exactly, how many seeds there are or how many people the package will feed for a year. Shipping and handling is included in the price and each deal comes with instructions on how to prepare seeds for storage.

An interesting comparison was made between Survivalist Seeds, Lipscomb Affiliates, The Survival Zone and Survival Seed Bank. The Survival Zone and Survivalist Seeds appeared to have very similar if not the same offer, both for $118.95, which included shipping and handling. Each site offers 20 varieties for a total of 6000 seeds. The Survival Zone claimed it was nearly 2 pounds worth of seeds where as Survivalist Seeds claimed it was close to 3 pounds. Survivalist Seeds further stated it would feed “a family” for 3 ½ years. Survivalist Seeds also offers a free DVD that shows how to sell produce to restaurants, delis and farmers markets. There is also a claim they offer to buy harvested seeds.

Lipscomb Affiliates appears to offer a deal very similar. They claim their package produces 1 acre, and has 20 varieties. There is exactly 1/3 the seeds for a total of 2000 seeds, but not for a 1/3 of the price or even ½ the price. $64.95 with shipping and handling included is $5.47 more than half the price for a 1/3 of the apparent product.

Survival Seed Bank offers 22 varieties in a vacuum packed waterproof container for $129.00. This is $10.05 more than the offers from The Survival Zone and Survivalist Seeds. Survival Seed Bank does not make a claim of the number of seeds to make a proper comparison with The Survival Zone and Survivalist Seeds. It has 2 more varieties but only claims to make an acre garden. This is what Lipscomb Affiliates claimed 2000 seeds would produce, which was 1/3 the amount of seeds that Survivalist Seeds and The Survival Zone offers. The prices for the latter two are similar in price to Survival Seed Bank.

Survival Seed Bank offers instructions on how to harvest seeds as well as offering Nitro Seed Starter Solution, which is supposed to give seeds a boost in growing after they are soaked in this solution for a few seconds before being planted. When comparing Survivalist Seeds and The Survival Zone packages to Survival Seed Bank, the extra $10.05 may be offset by the starter solution if the DVD from Survivalist Seeds does not have value to the customer.

The most esthetically pleasing package deal was not geared toward survivalists, and it is possible the seeds may not be packed to keep for more than a year. It is a gift basket from Territorial Seed Company that comes in a 3-quart colander. It actually appears to be a decent deal if it were to be given as a gift to someone who would make use of it in the immediate growing season. As well as a colander, 2 different grow solutions are provided, a Seed Master II seed sower, as well as a seed to seed book. 24 varieties of seeds are included in this eye-catching basket for $109.95. The shipping weight is 9 pounds and so there is an extra shipping charge. A few highlights of the seed varieties are: Crimson Sweet Watermelon, Sweet Basil, Yellow Pear Tomato, Alderman Pea and Lemon Cucumber.

Two more deals from different sources were from Survival Logistics and Emergency Essentials. Although Survival Logistics did not provide as much information, it appears the package may be very similar if not exact. 16 jumbo-sized seed packets were offered in a can from Survival Logistics for $32.99. However, as of the writing of this article this offer was out of stock. Survival Logistics states that their seeds come in a resealable reuseable triple layered foil packet and their seeds have a shelf life of 4 years. Emergency Essentials also offered 16 varieties canned. Reusable triple foil bags are hermetically sealed to provide a 4-year shelf life at 65-70 degrees Fahrenheit. The cost of the package from Emergency Essentials is $40.99.

Healthy Harvest has 2 options for survival seed packages. The first one is $59.95 and includes a #10 can with 20 large packets of seeds. The second option is $99.95 and includes 40 varieties of seeds packaged in 4 separate #10 cans. There are no claims as to yield, weight, or amount of seeds for either option.

American Survival Store and Heirloom Organics appear to offer the same brand in the form of 4 offers at each of their websites. This was one of the most confusing comparisons, as there appears to be widely conflicting data on how many people their packages will feed, how many seeds are in otherwise similar packages, and the weight of the packages. Also there is a lack of information on the varieties of seeds contained in the various packages. Packages range in price from $69.00 up to $249.00, and claimed to feed from 1 person on up to 8 people.

Heirloom Seeds provides 2 very similar offers. The difference is $4.99. For that amount you receive your seeds either with or without a silica gel insert contained within a plastic bag. Heirloom Seeds claims that those seeds stored within the plastic bag will keep for 3 years. For either option $10.00 is donated to the American Red Cross for each purchase. $95.00 or $99.99 will get you 76 seed packets. Some highlights of seeds offered are: 6 varieties of Tomatoes, 4 varieties of Summer Squash, Parsnip, Kale, Golden Self Blanching Celery and New England Pie Pumpkin.

This is by no means a complete comparison of aspects such as shipping time, product quality, actual success with the seeds and actual testing of how long seeds keep before degrading beyond usefulness. The family at Survive That! would like to encourage its readers to take practical steps in disaster preparedness and survival. It is only when our readers take the initiative to voice their opinions and knowledge on collective experiences, such as that with survival seed packages, that our magazine can continue to grow. It is this writer’s humble wish that all of you will openly and honestly share your wisdom with one another.


UPDATE- NEW SUPPLIER FOUND!

Garden Seeds LIFETIME SUPPLY!

16 popular, easy-to-grow, garden vegetables. More than 23,000 open pollinated, 100% NON-HYBRID seeds, precisely dried for long-term storage (4 years +). Complete with "Gardening Made Easy", instructional guide.

Garden Seed Can Contents

Triple-Layered Foil Packets
Sealed in a CAN FOR EXTRA PROTECTION

Sweet Corn, Golden Bantam: 5 oz./142 g.
Onion, Utah Sweet Spanish: 10 g.
Spinach, Bloomsdale Long Standing: 10 g.
Winter Squash, Waltham Butternut: 6 g.
Squash Zucchini, Black Beauty: 6 g.
Radish, Champion: 10 g.
Tomato,: 3 g.
Swiss Chard, Lucullus: 8 g.
Pea, Lincoln: 10 g.
Beet, Detroit Dark Red: 8 g.
Cabbage, Golden Acre: 10 g.
Lettuce, Barcarolle Romaine: 4 g.
Cucumber, Marketmore 76: 8 g.
Carrot, Scarlet Nantes: 6 g.
Pepper, Yolo Wonder: 5 g.
Pole Bean, Blue Lake: 5 oz./142 g.

Exclusive E-Z Lock Resealable, Reusable Bags

3 DAY SHIPPING! $39.95
http://www.efoodsdirect.com/products/garden-seeds.html

Websites referenced:

Survival Acres

Nitro-Pak Preparedness Center, Inc.

Ark Institute

Survivalist Seeds

Lipscomb Affiliates

The Survival Zone

Survival Seed Bank

Territorial Seed Company

Survival Logistics

Emergency Essentials

Healthy Harvest

American Survival Store

Heirloom Organics

Heirloom Seeds

With almost superhuman abilities they can read erased print from a page, navigate in a pitch black room, without one gizmo squads of them in group operations can communicate silently with mysterious hand signals. These agents of amazing abilities need no GPS because they can find their way home literally blindfolded. With a keen sense of smell they can pick you out of a room full of people or read your lips from across the room.

Who are these skilled superhuman people you may ask?

With almost superhuman abilities they can read erased print from a page, navigate in a pitch black room, without one gizmo squads of them in group operations can communicate silently with mysterious hand signals.  These agents of amazing abilities need no GPS because they can find their way home literally blindfolded.  With a keen sense of smell they can pick you out of a room full of people or read your lips from across the room.

Who are these skilled superhuman people you may ask?

Every May, the nation's attention is focused on hearing loss during Better Hearing and Speech Month. This is the month that there is a major push to get more people screened for hearing loss. We encourage everyone to get their hearing tested this month, it's a matter of survival.

In addition we would like to salute not just the hearing and speech heroes, but also the visually impaired. They teach us what is possible and ultimately provide new skills for mankind.  Out  of necessity and hard training the impaired have developed things like "human echolocation," "smell vision," complex sign languages, lip reading, reading with your fingers and even "holographic vision" and limbs.

I remember meeting an amazing woman back when I was a child of around 12. My father took me to meet this woman with plans to get me to see things a different way. He knocked on the door and she told us to come in. I noticed nothing odd about the old woman; she looked like anyone's grandmother, kind and soft-spoken. She offered us something to drink and something to snack on and then something surprising happened.  My father asked her for her phone number so she asked him for a piece of paper. He handed her the small notepad from his pocket but before she started to write she stopped and replied, "There is something on this paper from your notebook you gave me, is it important?"  The paper had writing on it that had been erased.  One might say that is not difficult to see but our lady of the hour was stone cold blind. She began to read back the erased print from the page to make sure it was not important. Pardon the pun but it opened my eyes. She knew all this by running her fingers over the paper. She could read print with her fingertips as fast as people with clear sight.

Another suprising talent was her sense of smell that was better than a blood hound. She could tell what you ate earlier and where you stood and a likelyhood of where you had been based on smells in the room.

I often remember stories about that when a person loses one of their senses that the rest or one in particular becomes super heightened. My father asking her to tell me how she gained theses skills, told me, practice, pay attention, focus, and practice some more. She earned my respect, this was all practice until it became a skill. The woman could not see three inches in front of her face yet she could read print faster than most people and was more aware of her surroundings than I had ever imagined one could be.

Many get turned around while taking a quick stroll in the woods resulting in search parties, and often in injuries or worse, all for lack of paying attention to where you are in this world. How little do we take stock of where we are and appreciate the God given gifts of our many senses.  The color of plants that tell us of harvest or the shape they take from coming bad weather. Smell of a carcass in the woods may mean wolves are near while sounds of birds can tell you about other predators, water, and food if you know how to listen.

Take time to appreciate your senses and process the information around you. Get to know your surroundings both city/suburb and wilderness. A man who does not know the land around him is an alien in his surroundings.

Sensory training social experiment:

Try wearing an eye blind/mask for 24-48 hours and you will soon learn to make your abode friendlier to situations where there may be a blackout or loss of sight from a catastrophe or accident. Going silent for a while is another interesting challenge. You never now how much you rely on your voice until you cannot use it.

Play a "What If" game with your family. Tornadoes, floods, and smoke from fires can cause loss of power putting you and your loved ones in the dark and without heat. Twenty-four to forty-eight hours without electricity as a drill can turn into fun with family games around a candle if one can remember where they are. Make a list of things you will need like candles, an alcohol cooking stove (make one or buy one), drinking and bathing water, and of course some food that is easy to cook in an emergency. This is good practice to help rotate those canned goods and other items that need restocking from old expiration dates. Check your first aid kit also and make sure the items have not expired.

During a real emergency use all your senses instead of freezing up. Smell, do you smell fire or moisture? If the smell is like rubber it may be burning wires which means electrocution is a danger. Use your eyes to look for smoke and loose beams, boards, and branches. Use your ears to listen for falling debris. If you cannot smell anything, taste the air. Feel the door low not near metal during a fire, is it too hot to exit?

You may not learn to see in the dark with human echolocation, read erased print with our fingers or other seemingly superhuman things, but by taking time to appreciate the senses we have through preparing to survive during emergencies and appreciating and learning about nature all around us we all then are a superhuman to ourselves and most importantly to our families.
References:

Blind Man 'Sees'
Holographic vision experiences.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18487511



Human echolocation

The ability of humans to sense objects in their environment by hearing echoes from those objects. This ability is used by some blind people to navigate within their environment. They actively create sounds, such as by tapping their canes or by making clicking noises with their mouths. Human echolocation is similar in principle to active sonar and to the animal echolocation employed by some animals, including bats and dolphins. - Wikipedia.

Space Storm Alert: 90 Seconds from Catastrophe

23 March 2009 by Michael Brooks

IT IS midnight on 22 September 2012 and the skies above Manhattan are filled with a flickering curtain of colourful light. Few New Yorkers have seen the aurora this far south but their fascination is short-lived. Within a few seconds, electric bulbs dim and flicker, then become unusually bright for a fleeting moment.

Then all the lights in the state go out. Within 90 seconds, the entire eastern half of the US is without power. A year later and millions of Americans are dead and the nation's infrastructure lies in tatters. The World Bank declares America a developing nation. Europe, Scandinavia, China and Japan are also struggling to recover from the same fateful event - a violent storm, 150 million kilometres away on the surface of the sun. It sounds ridiculous. Surely the sun couldn't create so profound a disaster on Earth. Yet an extraordinary report funded by NASA and issued by the US National Academy of Sciences (NAS) in January this year claims it could do just that...

 

Earthquakes strike violently and without warning. And as you can see from the information on this site, they are occurring almost constantly. Identifying potential hazards ahead of time and advance planning can reduce the dangers of serious injury or loss of life from an earthquake. Even though here in Tennessee we don't concern ourselves with earthquakes but we should remember we are still in a prime area and no one really knows when an earthquake will shake our world again or where.

Check for Hazards in the Home
Identify Safe Places Indoors and Outdoors

Educate Yourself and Family Members
Have Disaster Supplies on Hand
Flashlight and extra batteries
Portable battery-operated radio and extra batteries
First aid kit and manual
Emergency food and water
Nonelectric can opener
Essential medicines
Cash and credit cards
Sturdy shoes
Develop an Emergency Communication Plan
Help Your Community Get Ready


Work together in your community to apply your knowledge to building codes, retrofitting programs, hazard hunts, and neighborhood and family emergency plans.