[ezearln]

Welcome to our lil group of enthusiasts Amarksman, Don't consider yourself ignorant, but simply uneducated about some subjects. As concerning long term storage of Bulk type of staples such as flour, rice, beans etc your first consideration should always be security from pests (mice/rats flour worms , weevils etc.

Next worry is humidity and then sealing out the air, even vacuum sealing if you are storing larger quantites. You should make a practice of making your packages no more than what you expect to consume in an average week or two. I have found the old metal ammo cans with the resealable lids (especially those made for .30cal/7.62 & .50 cal ) ideal for this purpose. You must also remember that besides the simple basic staples there are items you will need in order to actually use them at all or better still use them as if you were still right in a modern kitchen with all the lights on. Don't forget to store these items along with your base food supplies!

Salt (get kosher salt it tends to last longer, resist clumping better and doesn't have the sharp taste of granulated, don't skimp on the quantity either as it has a multitude of uses including as a cleaning and sterilizing agent)
Sugar
Baking powder
Baking Soda (don't confuse these, some recipes require both!)
pepper (you'll appreciate this after a few days of blase food)
Shortening (easier to store long term, and can be strained and filtered and reused several times)
A selection of spices (whatever your fond of)

Additionally while storing things such as flour, corn meal etc long term is possible you can greatly extend it's usable shelf life by storing the whole grains (whole dried corn, wheat, pumpkin seeds, sunflours seeds) and then produce your own flours as you need them with a small hand grinder.

Much of these resources and good storage techniques for canning, smoking, salting and brining meats, fish and fowl are readily available through many outdoor living resources such as the Foxfire series of books, Mother Earth News and others. For example you can carry fresh meats into a remote camp by a brining technique and have thier useable shelf life greatly extended. a small boneless cut of beef or pork (one solid piece of meat 2-4 lbs) making a salt bath with room temperature water, in the smallest container that will hold the meat and salt sufficient to make the meat float, I find usually 5-8 lbs of kosher salt is usually enough let the meat soak in the brine in a cool spot for 24-48 hours, remove from brine and pat dry wrap in heavy wax or butcher paper, When using the meat cut from one end only the amount needed trim off the salted rind and use as desired. When storing the left over cut rub a bit more salt in the cut end.