Preparedness for when

GreyQueen

pineapple wrote: »

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.

Here are some of the new additions to the 700-strong basket used to calculate inflation;

What's new in the basket

• ebooks
• Digital TV recorders
• Electric educational toy
• White rum
• Hot chocolate
• Blueberries
• Charcuterie
• Spreadable butter
• Block butter
• Packaged vegetables for a stir-fry
• Self-assembly kitchen wall units
• Daily disposable contact lenses
• Pub roll/sandwich, hot or cold
• Non-disposable charcoal BBQ

Read the full article at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2013/mar/12/inflation-basket-ebooks-champagne#ixzz2UhtnRAkF

The blue text highlights which of them are occasionally bought by me. The rest - never.

Of the items demoted from the 2013 basket:

• Standard Freeview receiver boxes

• Round lettuces

• Champagne
• Imported butter
• Home-produced butter
• Basin taps
• Soft contact lenses
• Gas service charges
• Staff restaurant desserts/puddings
• Pub cold-filled roll/sandwich
• Gas BBQ
• Computer game with accessory

Gosh, I'm a bit rubbish aren't I? Carp at consumption. Can't seem to find a list of all the 700 items in this "basket" - anyone know where to look?

I was looking at the pop-up tents at the weekend, not for the first time. They're single-skinned and I wouldn't like to trust them to stand up to a downpour, but for a night or two summer camping, they should be OK. But they would be better than no shelter at all. I do like my wee backpacking tent but those ultralight jobbies with the extreme weatherproofing come in not far shy of £100, so not going to be everyone's cuppa.

Speaking of which, coughing like crazy, better get a cuppa down my neck...............

ETA, strange fings are afoot in the parental homestead. Mum admitted to buying four candles (and yes, we did reprise the Two Ronnies sketch together) at a bootsale at the weekend. And I did tell her I bought her a candle lantern for £1 off a charity stall this afternoon and am bringing it to her's and there was no protest. Either she's having 1970s flashbacks or my nagging errm hard work is paying preptastic dividends.

craigywv

oooooooooooooh LYNN a sixth of an acre you lucky thing I have a miniscular garden I would love one that size

JosieJump

The Gadget Show did a 'test' with 3 tents and the cheapo pop up did as well as the others.

http://gadgetshow.channel5.com/gadget-show/videos/challenge/challenge-wild-challenge-2-part-3

[Deleted User]

CRAIGY - bigger garden = more weeds!!!!! Cheers Lyn xxx.

GreyQueen

I watched that. 15 mins of pretend heavy wind and rain hardly replicates a really rough day or night out in the open. I've had my Vango Banshee 200 out on the mountains with 7 days and nights on incessant rain and storms walloping in off the Atlantic, inc ones which were bad enough to snap a big larch tree in half nearby. I'd consider that a far more realistic test of weather resistance.

And the business with the muckspreader and the flash flood? Foolishness. Festival mud is far more likely to be creeping up the walls of your tent over the hours, not splattering down on you from above all at once. And, unless you've camped somewhere very bizarre, I cannot see a situation where a brief wallop of heavy water will crash into your tent.

But I guess it makes better telly than making them all sleep out in filthy weather for days then talking to them about the experience afterwards.

At one point I was camped on a flattish bit of ground which developed a puddle. Bloke in the next tent kindly woke me; the puddle (think of a puddle several meters across and about 5 cm deep) had penetrated into his cheapy tent. His sleeping bag and other kit was soaked. My tent was sitting right beside his in several cm of water with no leaks at all; he had to move all his kit in the dark, I waited dry and snug and moved my tent later after breakfast. And it was still dry inside.

Interestingly, one of the three tents on that test - the Kyham Igloo - is a make and model I used to own back in the early nineties. Mine was purple with a white liner. Good tent if you car-camp but I sold it for only a tenner less than I paid for it once I'd had it for a few years because it's too heavy for non-car campers like me.

With tents, you have to factor in the condensation factor as well, which I guess would be pretty bad with that single-skinned red pop-up tent. Condensation from your breath beading on the inside of the fabric and dripping on you is pretty unpleasant.

I think the question we have to ask ourselves with this kind of popular journalism is; why do people spend serious money on technical tents? Because they're fashion victims? Or because they've tried cheaper tents and found them lacking? One of my pals had the last tent standing on a campsite struck by a serious windstorm overnight; the rest were shredded, blown away and off the cliff. Hers was one of the very first dome tents ever made, a pretty expensive bit of kit in its day, and still going strong.

If you just want to spend a couple of nights at a summer festival, buy a pop-up, and hope the weather is kind. One of my pals works the festivals and many of the campers can't even be bothered to pack these cheapies up and take them home with them. Quite often, they defecate inside them just before they leave, just to make sure that rescuing them will be unpleasant or impossible. She rescues and re-sells what she can for a few bob.

To me, having anything but esp a tent, and treating it as a disposable item, is offensive. I'd rather spend pop-up price x 3 or x 4 (my techy tent was £79.99 on sale) and keep it for twenty years. I know people who've had tents in use - regular use - for 20-30 years. Heck, my folks still have their 1970s ridge tent and I have it out of the loft for an outing from time to time; even the smell and colour is so evocative that it takes me right back to childhood.

[Deleted User]

Camping in my old ridge tent, in the late 70s and early 80s, was fun, but boy was it hard work.

It was heavy (especially when wet) and took ages to pitch and strike.

The separate groundsheet would let water (not to mention insects) in.

The pole was in the way of the entrance, and the guy ropes, stretching down from the top of the door, were always in the way.

I remember the Camping Gaz Bleuet S200 was the "stove to be seen with", but I can't think why :huh:

Like most teenage campers, I coveted it (although I never owned one), but it was actually a PITA, because you couldn't remove a partially used cartridge, due to the absence of a valve on the cartridge.

I actually had the much better, Parasene stove, but I didn't see it as being better, at the time.



I do remember nearly freezing my hand off, unscrewing the cylinder, after a long cooking session.

Butterfly_Brain

OMG have you seen this article I nearly honked
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2332489/Plan-feed-livestock-maggots-reared-cow-pig-excrement-bid-satisfy-rapidly-expanding-global-demand-meat.html
I am so going veggie

nuatha

I remember using canvas tents and the weight increase from wet weather (not to mention the problems drying them before using them again the following week). Replacing my Force 10's flysheet with the (then) new nylon version and the upright poles with the (then) new A poles was a huge improvement - so much so that it remained my main tent for another 20 years (and is still a backup tent)
I have a Gelert single skin dome tent with a small cap sheet (which covers a mesh ventilation panel) which I use in summer, and a dome tent which is three mesh walls (and a nylon front) with a full flysheet which is the tent I use for the rest of the year or if I expect severe weather.
Ventilation in tents is very important, your gear can get as wet from a lack of ventilation as it can from rain.
If I really want to lightweight it, I use a goretex bivvy bag (in all seasons/weathers).
None of my tents take more than 5 minutes to setup solo or 10 minutes to take down (and rain can half these times). (I have a half metre cube popup tent for photography, on a good day it takes 5 minutes to pack away and a bad day it takes nearer 20 minutes, so I may well be biased against popup tents).
I've seen the remains of some popup tents after a summer storm, though I admit to seeing several other makes still in good condition. I suspect part of the difference might well be price.

Bob I remember the Gaz Bluet, though I started with Primus pressure stoves (Gaz doesn't work well in the cold) but moved to Trangias almost as soon as I discovered them - still using them after 30+ years.

Apart from razors, I avoid buying any disposable kit. I try to buy the best I can and generally find that I get a good working life out of things.

GreyQueen

nuatha wrote: »

Apart from razors, I avoid buying any disposable kit. I try to buy the best I can and generally find that I get a good working life out of things.

100% in agreement with that sentiment.

One thing RL has shown me consistantly is that good stuff lasts longer and performs its job better. Mostly, you pay a premium for the good stuff, although you sometimes luck out and find it reduced to not much more than cheapy stuff, or even secondhand. I'm very happy to identify quality stuff secondhand and take it into protective custody.

I've been very happy with the more expensive choices I've made; in time you forget those extra few ££££ but if you have something unsatisfactory, it's a pest every single time you use it.

Buy cheap=buy often, as my granny would have said.

[Deleted User]

nuatha wrote: »

Apart from razors, I avoid buying any disposable kit.

Razors are the one thing I absolutely refuse to buy disposable.

Instead, I buy Tesco Triple Blade cartridges, @ £3-23 for 12.

Although they're not as cheap as disposables, they last a lot longer, and give an excellent shave.