Preparedness for when

We are covered on most fronts but it always concerned me I wouldn't be able to bake..not the most pressing worry if the SHTF
but I've now got this covered as I bought a cobb oven from Lakeland with my birthday money so I can now bake bread etc

For those worrying about freezer contents but who do have a camping stove,do you have jars?? Bottling is so easy to do and fruits can be saved this way,veg can be pickled etc.

I have a pedal generator too so can use my slowcooker with this and charge stuff it can also jumpstart a car apparently :rotfl:

I also save the lint from the tumble dryer to use as a firestarter if needed,cotton wool balls soaked in vaseline work well too.

I have the kind of camping gear that takes us abroad every year for 6-8 weeks where we camp without electricity most of the time. Just off the top of my head I've got cooking gas for at least a month, torch batteries and gas for the lamps ditto, all the bedding required for camping as well as that we have in the house, a complete spare medicine chest, box of canned basics and all the rest. And a camp fridge that can run on gas if required. I've got sparkers and matches in both the lightweight camping supply box and the trailer tent. And about 100 candles, which I bought for the Millenium Bug thing and still haven't used!

We do have a portapotti and chemicals for it too but with four of us in the house that wouldn't last long. However we just so happen to have a manhole for our local sewer mains in the corner of the garden and it's easy enough to get open, or we could just use the camping bucket for liquids and dig a hole out in the garden for solids. We've got a shed, we could convert that to an outside loo very easily.

For transport we've got more bikes than people here, then a few more. And an old bike trailer for hauling things like firewood.

What else? Heat? We're all fat and healthy, we've got plenty of clothes. We spent four months (Feb-May) in this house with no heating except the fire one year and that was when DD was four and we coped just fine. We've got an open fire grate and I do keep the chimney swept for the couple of times a year we like a fire. (Rest of the time we've got a fake logburner/electric stove in front of it.) I've got a fair stack of wood outside, for building things in the garden and allotment. And a hatchet, for chopping it up.

I have enough food here for at least a month, assuming we eat the freezer stuff up first. When the big snows came 18 months ago we stayed at home for two weeks, what drove me out to the shops in the end was cat food and toilet rolls, lol. I've kept a months worth of both in the house ever since, plus UHT milk (that's a camping thing) and flour. I can bake bread in a Dutch oven on a camp stove.

I never keep less than one month's worth of our prescription drugs in the house, usually two. Plus all the usual stuff like paracetamol and antiseptics, I have a very well stocked first aid kit and I've also taken a first aid course. Hubby and I have a spare set of specs each in the medicine cabinet, we don't buy them specially, just keep our old ones when we've got new ones. Can't manage without my specs and prescribed drugs and I don't want to be panicking if one of the kids gets a cut or something.

Water? Well, if I had warning I'd get the bath and every bucket in the house filled up, plus the camping water containers. There's four of the big Tesco water carboys downstairs in the utility room for emergency drinking water, they wouldn't last us a week of course but they'd give us a start. Very convenient for camping btw and cheap enough to keep a couple to hand! I've got two water butts out the garden filled with water which I could use for washing and such. There's a river a quarter of a mile away from here come to think of it. I could take the laundry down and beat it on the rocks....


The only thing I can think of that I haven't mentioned is hygiene. Now that would be very important and I don't mean washing hair every day I mean washing hands and dishes etc, to avoid getting tummy upsets. Sanitising gels are all very well but really, there's nothing to beat soap and water for hands and hot water and detergent for dishes. Remember to scrape the dishes really well, rub off any fat or lumps with newspaper and it's surprising how little hot water you need to wash up after that. And dispose of rubbish regularly, you don't want to be keeping several bags of rubbish in the house in case of rats. As for water I do have sterilizing tablets and a filter so I could drink the river water if I had to, yup. There's always the option of boiling it as well of course, and rainwater or clean snow are an option depending on weather.

I've not actually collected any of this stuff in preparation for a big disaster btw, just for times we can't get out the house because of bad weather or illness or such. The camping gear is for holidays, the bikes are used, the storecupboard is moneysaving in its own right. Much of the rest is common sense. Do some people really only have enough clothes and bedding to keep them warm if the central heating is on too?

Thanks for this one Mar. its actually shown me how far I have come in my thoughts, I have boxes of candles, with some in candle stands on window sills. Lots of tealights and holders (I really dont want fires breaking out), candle holders and candle lanterns too.
Water - we always have a a good supply of bottled water in (only thing DS8 will drink so I buy it buy the crate)
We have a gas hob (and it works with the electric ignition) if gas is still running and a gas BBQ to use outside under a canopy if not.
Food - well we always have a really good store

I keep a big spotlight type torch on charge in utility room which I can use to see whilst I gather supplies from the shed. I would really like a camping stove and I think they were fairly cheap in B&M last week so I will try to pick one up.

For me the big issue would be dealing with DS8, being autistic he will likely panic and as he relies heavily on TV as a calming baseline it will be the loss of TV that will cause the most issues.
I try to keep all the laptops, portable DVD players and nintendo Ds fully charged and with some warning that would be my first port of call ensuring they are all fully charged. Then it would be a case of rationing them - although I would be willing to charge them in the car if it went on that long.

We have loads of spare duvets, pillows etc and I would definitely have everyone camping in the living room together to keep warm. Although I would definitely be bringing their mattress' down too!!

As for keeping warm entertained etc, I think I would be encouraging the kids to spend five minutes racing up and down the stairs every hour!

Hello, followed you over from the 't' thread. Would it be possible to post a list of the very basics you think we need to get started?
Thanks, back off to lurk.
L

When we used to rough camp we used to dig a pit to put the content of our Porta potti in. A four foot deep pit, contents then soil, contents soil etc. The pit lasted our two week hols and was fully filled in when we left.
We have the loo up in the loft still. Must get some blue stuff in for it. Blue stuff dissolves solid waste and stops smells.:p

When we rough camped we used to collect 10 gallon of water every day! That covered washing (us and dishes) and drinking water for two adults and two children. Think how much you would need to last a few days!. Camping places sell 5 gallon plastic water carriers, I'm thinking big!