Review: Fallout The Vault Dwellers Official Cookbook

 Fallout meals: fallout the vault dweller's official cookbook - Flip eBook Pages 1-50 | AnyFlip

I had the good fortune to have the opportunity to do a book review, for something that really interests me, Fallout and Cooking. The Fallout: Vault-dwellers Official cookbook. This 190 page, full colour hardback, in-universe cookbook features all kinds of in-game content, jargon, names and certainly has the feel of the Fallout universe. As well as an entertaining read, chock-full of game references without being cloying, but also full of very appealing recipes.  

The cookbook is laid out by courses, in usual cook-book style, which makes for convenient selection of recipes: Appetizers, Soups and Stews, Sides, Mains, Desserts and Drinks ( including, excitingly, a recipe for Nuka Cola Syrup). 

I wanted to try out some meals and keep it somewhat in-world, Sole-Survivor style, so I opted for finding three bush-pot, one-pot style meals. One-pot meals reduce loss of resources and ensure maximum nutrition retention, which is a good lesson for any lone survivor. I used my big cast iron cook pot for a good rustic authentic feel.  I settled on Cabbage soup, Pork and Beans and a game-meat stew. 

I wanted to go with simple and easy to come by ingredients to better mimic what a vault-dweller might come across on the Surface. The book has well laid out ingredients lists which made scavenging for ingredients from the ruins of Super Duper Mart or trading at a settlement for caps a breeze. I made these three dishes over the space of a few weeks to spread the potential impact to my family out a little. More out of a desire to pad out the potential stigma for "nerdy Fallout meals" rather than commentary of the cookbook or my cooking. 

First up was the Cabbage soup, not a glamorous start for sure, but wholesome and easy. This one called for:, Onion, Shallot, Butter, Celery, Carrot, Green cabbage, Purple cabbage, Vegetable broth, Red potatoes, Tomatoes, Parsley. just some salt and pepper to season.

The recipe was very easy to follow, the steps simple and efficient and after a couple of hours slow cooking, it was ready and delicious. I threw in some thinly sliced dried salami to increase the protein a bit, something my Hungarian ancestors would no doubt approve of. We ate it with some crusty bread rolls and it made for a filling, warming couple of meals for the whole family. Even the fussy eaters ate it, with some reservation.

The batch size made enough for a couple of nights worth of meals and whilst a robust meal, repeat reheatings made it a bit sloppy by night three. It could do with more meat, though the recipe didn't call for any.

Id heartily recommend hearty cabbage soup for any Vaultie that finds themselves with a sack of looted veggies and mouths to feed.

Second meal from the book was a more seemingly traditional survivor / frontiersman meal the redoubtable Pork n beans that any good cowboy would recognize. The recipe called for ingredients easily salvaged from suburban wastelands or the dusty back storerooms of long abandoned roadside diners, with the possible exception of bacon and onion.

The full list is here: Bacon, Onion, Jalapeño, Garlic, Ketchup, Brown sugar, Honey, Cider vinegar, Ginger, Mustard, Worcestershire sauce, Lima beans, Canned pork n beans. Not too bad of a shopping/scavenge list. I opted for canned Lima/butter beans, but dried beans in a sack would work just as well if take just a bit longer with a soak first.

In place of sliced bacon I used a small picnic ham and cubed it to add a meatier bulk to the dish, to make up for the light meat content of the Cabbage soup. I skimped on the Jalapeño as a concession to delicate palates but the recipe was very flavorsome even with only very simple seasonings. The flavors came through in the cooking and long simmering blended it all together nicely.

Eminently suited to a big cast iron pot, from the browning of the ham/bacon and the onions to the caramelisation of the honey and ketchup. I purposefully let it thicken up quite a bit as I didn't want to serve it with rice, but if you did ,leaving it a bit runny would be an easy enough variation.

For the third meal I wanted to make something a bit fancy, but in keeping with my "one-pot meal" idea, I opted for this game stew. Ok, lets be fair, this is a curry, and I used goat. It's goat curry and it was delicious. I like to think that goat would make a good stand in for something like a white-tail deer, though hopefully someone who's eaten both can let me know. Though I suppose either would be a good choice for a RadStag. I could have gone with venison from our local butcher, or even kangaroo but I thought goat would be a more in-keeping with the theme of the meal and everyone in the Vault loves goat.  

This recipe called for the most intense ingredients list, which might require a salvage/scrounge mission to  Super Duper Mart unless you happen to have a local spice-hut to hit up, but that said the ingredients weren't that exotic or hard to come by: Ginger, Garlic cloves, Lemon grass, Onions, Turmeric, Coriander, Cumin, Garam masala, Cayenne, Fennel, Serrano pepper, 2lbs goap/ Bambi, canned tomatoes, Bay leaf, Coconut milk.

After toasting the spices to release their aromatics the goat gets browned then spiced, before the wet ingredients (coconut milk and canned tomatoes) go in. Then it slow simmers till the meat is tender and falling off the bones tender. (beware small sharp bones).

I served it with plain white rice, and a sprinkle of coriander as garnish. It was delicious and well received. I accompanied mine with Mexican cola as we didn't make any Nuka Cola. (but there is a recipe for that!!!)

So, all told, three solid recipes, well documented, well laid out and adequately instructed. The cookbook itself makes a tremendous addition to any fan's library, both thematically and also in the context of an actual cookbook. Tall, hardback, glossy pictures and crisp printing. 

I'd have liked a bit more loot and salvage type content, but food health and safety obviously need to take precedence to avoid litigation. Be sure to grab a hard-copy before the EMP wipes out all the PDF servers!

S.P.E.C.I.A.L!

Home Front: IBC water storage

Water security has been a concern for me for a while, weather patterns changing all the time and even social disruptions affecting major infrastructure like water distribution.

Residential water use across Melbourne was 164 litres per person per day in 2021-22. This is 5 litres more than the 2020-21 average of 159 litres per person daily. The average water usage for a standard toilet flush can range from 6 to 9 liters

 During the Covid lockdowns I kept a stash of water-bricks, in the house as well as a couple of 240L (55Gal) blue barrels for rainwater catchment at the back and a 1000L collapsible tank also for rainwater. When we moved house we lost the tank and the barrels, so for a while we had no back-ups, My very clever partner Silky Steph recalled some homesteading hints she'd seen regarding IBC's so we picked one up via FB Marketplace which was dropped off the back of a ute onto our front lawn.

 The IBC (Intermediate bulk container) is a fairly ubiquitous kind of unit, favoured of farmers and building sites, bur well worth thinking of for the urban prepper or homesteader. 

This IBC type often features an interior water carrying liner, blow-mold manufactured from polyethylene, that is structurally supported by a protective cage frame, often of galvanized steel composition.

Caged IBC engineering features a top port inlet with cap for filling of cargo (commonly 15.3cm  (6") with a bottom discharge outlet port--common is 5 cm (2") ball valves--and an integrated pallet base skid for maneuvering the IBC. The pallet base of composite IBCs usually features four-way access channels. 

1,200mm x 1,000mm x 1,150mm (45" x 40" x 46") for the 1,000 L capacity and they weigh around 65 kilos (143 lbs). The first one we had delivered was dropped off in out front yard and I "walked it" to the back yard rolling it end over end, which worked well enough, especially as our yards are flat. Not especially efficient, so the second one we received I hooked a rope to it and dragged it, sled dog style on its skids. 

I also set up drain pipe diversion, with the garage gutter downpipe diverted into a storm drain rated PVC pipe and a couple of elbow bends slung under the gutter running down to the top port. This took some careful rigging to get right, both to align and ensure a good drain, with a collar to secure it. I stretched a small amount of fly-screen mesh over the top port in order to keep both bugs out but also crud from the gutters. I routinely clear this crud catcher out to reduce contamination to my water reservoir. 

I found that 4-5 days of good rain filled up our first 1000L IBC which is why we got a second. In order to connect the two tanks, I fitted them both with gasketed threaded flanges through holes I cut with a spade bit drill, fitting a standard garden hose tap fitting and a short length of hose means overflow from the first tank fills the second, this also avoided any sediment from the first IBC washing into the second, further reducing contamination. 

I draped an old towel over the intake port and down pipe to limit intrusion and evaporative loss.

In order to make best use of the captured water I found a standard garden hose connector cap for the discharge outlet, to direct the water in more meaningful ways than the 5cm firehose otherwise released. With this fitting, and a good length of hose will make it dispensable throughout the garden to water our crops, but also possibly feed into the house if needed. 

Initially I put the first IBC up on Milk crates, one under each corner to get it up off the ground to generate some head-pressure. This was a mistake. 1000L of water weighs 1000kg (1.1 ton) and when it filled up it crushed the front two crates. This resulted in me needing to empty the IBC and put it up on logs I had been seasoning. 

One final thing. Ensure your IBC is clean and free from residue, or other contaminants before using for drinking water. Water collected of roofs will likely have bird poop so appropriate decontamination and sterilization is in order too. 

Review: Survival Storehouse Tactical Tin

EDIT:I am now an AFFILIATE You’ll receive a unique discount code for 5% off the Tactical Tins (ammo tins packed with survival biscuits). USE CODE 'apoc25" at checkout to receive your discount!

Survival Storehouse kindly sent me one of their Tactical Tins recently and i'm pleased to present you with my review of it now. 

The tin itself is a standard 200 rnd .30 cal / 7.62 ammunition can, brand new and stickered with the BDH manufacturers ingredients and nutritional facts details. I love ammo cans; robust, resilient and ergonomic, lending themselves to stacking and packing. They also feature a rubber gasket on the removable, latch locking lid for an air and watertight seal. This means from the get-go you have a  sealed, crush-proof and portable storage for your food. The added weight of a steel can is mitigated by its utility and reliability. 

Inside the can are 12 individually packaged high density food bars. I've covered these before here and the ones included in the Tactical Tin are identical, produced by the same manufacturer in China, but the ones included in this Tin were manufactured in August 2024, with a 20 year expiry, good out till 2044! 

The vacuum sealed Mylar sachets each contain 4 individually plastic wrapped biscuits, each block of four weighs 200g (7 oz)  and each 100 g ( two bars) contains 2000 Kilojoules or approx 300 calories. (2000 calories / day is USFDA recommended)

Ingredients: wheat flour, palm oil, sugar, glucose syrup, water, salt, food additives, baking soda, edible essence. This is the standard flavor, but they also come in chocolate or peanut butter varieties. Which I haven't yet had a chance to try. 

I find them very tasty and keep a couple in my car, in my day to day get-home bag and even at my desk at work. Great for a pick me up snack or a "forgot breakfast". 

With up to 20 year shelf life from manufacture date if stored in a dry cool place. These are a reliable and long term food supply, packed with energy and vitamin enriched. Shipped from Survival Storehouse's warehouse in Australia. The combination of the bomb-proof ammo-tin and the super dense food bars makes the Tactical Tin an ideal first stop in any prepping adventure. Perfect for back of the closet, car trunk or bunker load-out!

Home Front: bean and rice survival soup

A while back I secured a copy of the impressive and practical goldmine of prepping projects: 

 NO GRID Survival Projects (How To Produce Everything You Need on Your Property) by Amber Robinson, Claude Davis, and James Walton

One of the included projects was a long term storage meal of Rice and beans, Bean and Rice Soup. After collecting and portioning out the ingredients into 1.5L long term storage jars. They then sat under my desk for some months until I  realized I hadn't even tested it.

One of the important things to do with any food-prep items are to test it in a non-crisis to ensure you'll want to eat it in the event of a crisis. 

So I set about making a batch of this. The soup is remarkably simple, the first stage is the bean mix: Brown beans, white beans, lentils, split peas, chickpeas.(370g/ 13oz)  These go on with plenty of water (3L/3qt) to boil. Next in goes in the spice and seasonings mix:

Bullion cubes, garlic and onion powder, cumin, salt and pepper and dried mushroom, dried tomatoes. This cooks on low until the beans all soften up. At this point there was still a fair amount of water in the pot and the rice goes(210g 7 1/2 oz)  in. The soup was tasty if watery at this stage but the addition of the rice soon thickened it up into a very solid stew. I ladled myself out a healthy serve and got stuck in.  It was delicious, filling and hearty. 

I went back for seconds and had leftovers for lunch AND dinner the next day. This "quarter ration" ( being half of one of two jars I had made up, and it served 6 hefty servings. I was a little concerned that such a legume rich meal would lead to intestinal distress or gas but no such occurrence developed. 

I call this a resounding success. Admittedly it was a long cook-time ( several hours) and used a lot of water, but turned very cheep and light ingredients into a lot of very tasty food. I wouldn't call the end result a soup by any stretch of the imagination, it's a stew or pottage. The 1.5 kg jar of dry mix serves 12

The re-stocked and sealed jars are going into my prepping cache and the No Grid Survival Projects book is going into high rotation. 

Home Front: prep storage shed

When we moved house at the beginning of 2023 it became apparent that my multitude of preps and camping gear outpaced the available storage inside the new house (even with a detached garage and garden-shed. Even after drastic culls of stockpiled salvage, my collected packs, tents, mats, hammocks and what-have-you exceeded what I could sensibly store. 

My parents came to the rescue in the form of a flat-packed shed which we built over the course of a couple of weekends. it was a good bonding time and we got to together with very little fuss, even with some from-factory misalignments that required some on the spot modifications and fabrications.  We put down treated pine sleepers, bracketed them at the corners, bolted them to star-picket anchors and then mounted the shed to the sleepers. I'd say its a far cry from hurricane proof, but our yearly Melbourne rager storms haven't given it any trouble. 

Due to conditions of our lease, we couldn't put down a concrete slab for it, so we picked a flat sheltered spot against the fenceline and raised it up. 

The spacious ABSCO shed is 3 m x 3m (9'10" square)  and 2m (6'6") tall at its peak. Initially we just loaded things in onto the grass, but later on i put down the box frame from an old mattress we retired, as well as a set of duck-boards to cover almost 3/4 of the available floorspace. A big table covering the back wall makes for an excellent storage space and an old dresser-cabinet we curb-side salvaged years ago fit nicely too. It was good that we put the duck-boards and bedframe down too, as it turned out we had placed the shed in the lowest part of the yard and rains tended to soak that spot. 

I loaded that table up with, tents, sleeping mats, filled gear-crates and a whole swag of filled Tactical crates. (More on these later). The whole process was good for consolidating and rationalising my collection.  

Whilst in the process, I decided to move some of my food-preps out to the shed, I noticed that even in the heat of the day the centre mass of stored things remained cool. Following periods of heavy rain I would leave one the double doors open to facilitate evaporation which seemed to work well, though the grass has long since died.  

One problem I had was  inaccessibility to my food preps and this cost me. Mice had found their way in and ate their way through a considerable  amount of my preps! My box of Mainstay food bricks and an entire crate full of MRE's (apart from the bread and metallic tubes of spreads.)My boxes of Mac-n-Cheese also suffered similar fates ( except tins of cheese sauce). Rookie mistake. After cleaning up what I could salvage, I re-crated the canned goods and have set up a metal shelving system and stacked my crates one deep rather than two as they had been on the table to facilitate better access and reduced pest-access. I will be storing re-stocked dry-goods in sealed containers, either pails with lids or lidded tubs. I also took the time to tabulate my canned goods, for better reference.

I also found, amongst other gems, my FireCones for summer bbq starting needs!

Ask me anything!

 As I find myself a little shy of new
gear to review currently, I thought I might put the question out to you my readers to see if there was a topic you'd like my thoughts on? is there a type of gear you'd like me to try out? Is there a situation you'd like my contingencies for? Is there a skill or set of skills you'd like to hear more about and test me on? Piece of kit you'd like me to do a YouTube on?

Lay it on me in the comments or DM's and i'll do my best to answer in upcoming posts!

Review: EDC Monster Titanium Multi-function Pry Bar

Time for another pry bar! Having just covered the small titanium pry bar I wear in a belt pouch you might be asking why i have yet another one. (on top of the WTF prybar I wear around my neck as EDC). The short answer is Two is one, One is none, and I have two hands and hate being kept out of places. 

This is the EDC Monster Pry-Bar, which was launched via a Kickstarter project. As their sixth successful project ( they make a lot of folding pen-knifes and the like). The thing that caught my eye about this tool however was  its multi-function design. It's packed full of options whilst retaining rugged construction.

Milled from a block of corrosion resistant Gr5 Titanium, the tool features a number of useful features the designers workshopped from common EDC tools.  

First and foremost the pry-bar end of the tool is dual-beveled on the top face and has a bevel on the under side too, finishing up as a 1-2mm flat edge 15mm long rather than a sharp chisel edge. Not sharp by any stretch but plenty pointy enough to cut taped boxes and packages open. 

A good sized bottle opener sits at the belly of the pry end, in front of a finger notch. The double sided beveling allows the tool to be worked-into a gap easier than if it were flat on the underside, which is handy.

 The back spine side of the tool features a swiveling, magnetised cover that turns to reveal two hex bits, a S2 Alloy Steel  Phillip's head and a flat head driver, both held in place with magnets, but easily popped out. both drivers fit the ratcheting driver ring seated in the butt-end of the tool, it ratchets in one direction only, so you flip the tool to change direction of driving.

It's worth noting that the driver bits don't lock into the ratchet driver, and need to be held in place by the user, (placing a thumb on it seemed to work fine, but worth noting) . You could swap out the drivers with others as long as they fit in the recess.

Recessed on the underside of the tool is a magnetically affixed, titanium bodied "everlasting graphite" nibbed pencil. More than just a gimmick, these pencils are very useful for always to hand writing implements, though I have found the nibs to be fragile on occasion, they do write really well and are super handy. Astute readers may have noticed one lanyareded to my other EDC pry-bar

The pencil is short (1.65")  but not unworkable so its a very useful addition and is securely held in its recess, protecting the sometimes brittle nib, when not in use. 

The very butt-end of the tool features a tungsten carbide spike to allow glass breaking and inscribing into hard surfaces. It also features a lanyard hole for fitting you favourite beads or "don't-loose-me" cords. 

As well as the well placed groves milled in for grip, there are four recessed slots (2 on front, and 2 on the back) for fitting tritium vials. But due to shipping restrictions, they were not able to provide the tritium vial, but they did will provide luminous rods as add-on options. I have yet to install these but should be a matter of applyng a dry-clear epoxy glue. The tool has a removable belt clip, but also comes with a snug kydex sheath with a belt clip. All told the tool including its bits and pencil weighs only 85g (3oz) and measures 14.2cm (5.6") x 2cm (0.82") broad. Its a nice compact tool packing a lot of utility into its small frame.