Preparedness for when

[Deleted User]

GQ you know that old old saying about horses and water? well it applies to people and reality too. I fairly often go to visit both DDs and I go on the train. Both of them live in the west of the country, both in fairly large cities and I pass through many places as I journey along. I am always astounded by the number of gardens that are just left to scrubby grass with kids toys scattered all round. The number of gardens actually being used to grow food can be counted on the fingers of both hands. It has been like that for the past 5 years and I still, despite prices rising, jobs being lost, things getting ever tighter money wise, see no sign that people are even slightly lifting a finger to do anything for themselves. It is so frustrating, most of us have a plot if we live in a house, and growing basic veg is not hard, but I suspect the reality is that people would rather complain and be discontented than actually do something as basic as making a veg plot from a grass patch. That might be harsh judgement on some people, but how do you motivate people to help themselves if they don't want to listen? It is almost the same where we live, so very few of my neighbours have anything but lawn, flowerbed and decking/patio and we all have 1/6th of an acre each, they see us as aboriginals for wanting to cultivate and produce for ourselves, what to do? I don't care what they think of us but it is such a waste of usable land that upsets me.

D&DD

It's like banging your head against a brick wall here too MrsL..
When our estate was demolished and rebuilt to give everyone a garden I really thought it would make a difference..13 years later I only know a handful of people who even use their gardens.The kids still play on the streets and the gardens are just an outside space either for the dog to 'go' or the rubbish to pile up..:(

[Deleted User]

Not really suitable for a BOB, but certainly worth considering for keeping in the car boot.

Asda are selling a 2 man, pop-up tent, for £22.

It weighs a whisker over 3lbs and, apparently, takes just 5 seconds to erect.

pineapple

Bedsit_Bob wrote: »

It weighs a whisker over 3lbs and, apparently, takes just 5 seconds to erect.

Would that be pineapple proof then?
The erection of tents is like the Krypton Factor for me.
As for getting them back in their bags..... :eek:

RAS

pineapple wrote: »

Would that be pineapple proof then?
The erection of tents is like the Krypton Factor for me.
As for getting them back in their bags..... :eek:

there are a lot of these new pop-up tents around.

This has some nice little videos on packing them away (which is a lot harder than pitching them) http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/hi-gear-pitch-and-go-ss-2-berth-tent-snakeskin-print-p143495 .

pineapple

GreyQueen wrote: »

And, if I do scrape together some folding stuff, over and above what is needed for bills, I get to keep it in a bank which pays a rate of interest which is lower than it's depreciation......... and they tell me inflation is only ?? :mad:

Pull the other one, sunshine, it's got bells on it.

I've been struggling to understand how they justify the official inflation rate - which bears no relation to my reality at all. I believe, for one thing, the 'basket' covers electricals? Well not all of us are on a mission to fill our homes with gadgets thank you very much. In the last 3 years I've seen huge rises in my daily basics and some items have gone through the roof. Unfortunately pineapple's income does not keep up.
I'm considering keeping a log of what I pay out on food, services and fuel - except I'll just end up depressing myself and sounding like Marvin in Hitchhikers Guide.

[Deleted User]

One thing's for certain, tents have changed a lot since I first went camping.

In my day, they were canvas (and, as a result, bloody heavy - especially when wet), had awkward vertical tent poles in the middle of the entrance flaps (due to them being ridge tents) and lacked built in groundsheets.

They were, comparatively, a damn site more expensive too.

They certainly weren't as little as £1-30 in 1977.

My first tent (bought 2nd hand) looked something like this.

thriftwizard

Thank you for that tip about the Asda tents, BSB, I'm "doing" a major festival later this summer & am camping behind the marquee my stall is located in. I'd planned to take our big tunnel tent as we're there for 5 nights and I'll need some extra storage space, but the bedroom sections got wrecked when the boys & their friends took it on a surfing trip a few years back. I'd planned to use pop-up tents inside the main tent for sleeping, as that's extra waterproofing - this is a festival, rain & mud are obligatory! - but only have a couple of one-person ones & there'll be four of us. So I'll be off to Asda ASAP to snaffle one or possibly even two of those.

RAS

Bedsit_Bob wrote: »

.

Both BFs had something very similar except orange and I think the fabric was synthetic (great new advance that at the time).

Camped all over the UK, France and Iberia in that sort of thing. One had a bell end but the pole made using that difficult, and impossible if you had 2 sleeping bags joined together.

[Deleted User]

RAS wrote: »

One had a bell end

I take it you weren't with the one who didn't, for very long?

but the pole made using that difficult

The pole is generally considered essential.