Preparedness for when

westcoastscot

Bedsit_Bob wrote: »

Given the choice, in a SHTF situation, would you be better living in an urban or rural location?


Bob we lived in the inner hebrides, and now we're mainland but very rural, and I vote for living here! Yes, we're at the end of the line for getting power back on etc - used to routinely be 2 - 3 days - but we're mostly well geared up to that. Strangers - well everyone knows when someone is around that we "don't know", we mostly have weapons of some form (for hunting etc) and know how to safely use them. We're a pretty self sufficient but inter-dependent bunch and to be honest, apart from light in the evenings when the power goes off life pretty much goes on the same. I guess in a really extended crisis (6 months plus) our diet would be limited by low supplies of grains, but we could supplement our diet healthily with other things. We by no means live a peasant lifestyle but are only one step up from it really!

WCS

fashionlover10

We thought the same thing whilst watching Blackout last night Bob. Our first thought was 'Well we'd have to block up the windows so we could get on with things without drawing attention'.

We agreed we're lucky that we live in a second floor flat (so our windows aren't too visible and we're less likely to be looted) and that we live in a really small semi-rural town right by the high street. Our town should be relatively safe from riots/looting but also means we'd get supplies quicker than if we were completely rural.

Watching Blackout made me realise we haven't got enough tinned foods that can be eaten as they are to last us and that we really should start storing water.

VJsmum

short_bird wrote: »

Ash can be useful for covering poo when you've dug your latrine. (I think I've remembered that correctly from the Centre for Alternative Technology)

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And sawdust works well too. It might be worth getting a bag or two in, just in case.

Re portable /disposable BBQ. I have said this before, but it was my BiL's suicide method of choice . He was in a car, drank a bottle of vodka and lit 3 of them. The bloods in the post mortem showed no levels of alcohol, he was dead before any of it hit his bloodstream. Do not take any chances.

Haven't see the programme yet. May try later

pineapple

daftmummy wrote: »

People will be selfish remember the bread shortage a few years back? the woman in adsa proudly showing her trolly full of bread to the papers? you cant make a meal from bread.

It's a matter of wonder to me. When we have winter weather problems here - there is always a run on bread and milk in the local shops. Because running out of either means the end of civilisation as we know it

RAS

pineapple wrote: »

It's a matter of wonder to me. When we have winter weather problems here - there is always a run on bread and milk in the local shops. Because running out of either means the end of civilisation as we know it

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:
And those concerned have not got in store a carton or 2 or UHT or a tin of dried milk nor a bag of fllour and the know how to make soda bread, scones or drop scones?

Butterfly_Brain

It is 9 meals to anarchy so basically three days and all hell breaks loose.

Butterfly_Brain

I hope that a lot of people watched Blackout, because it might make them think that this actually could happen. Does anyone remember the warnings that in a couple of years we could be facing wide scale blackouts, or that Russia could cut off the gas pipeline anytime they so wish?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2213362/Britain-blackouts-70s-style-blackouts-withing-years-EU-rules-force-bills-warns-Ofgem.html

Do not forget that central heating runs with the help of electricity so installing an alternative source of heating and having plenty of blankets would be prudent.

I love my kelly kettle and wouldn't be without it, so having hot water and cooking will not be a problem

thriftwizard

We by no means live a peasant lifestyle but are only one step up from it really!

WCS, I've just come back from an area where many people are still mostly living more or less as they did in the middle ages. OK, they do have cars & supermarkets, but I have a feeling that if these were taken away they'd shrug, laugh & just get on with the gardening & gossiping. I've never seen such a fruitful, abundant & well-managed landscape; my friend kept saying how wonderfully wild it all was & couldn't seem to understand that you don't get a forest that's virtually 100% edible (or otherwise useful) by accident! They live in tall, tightly packed terraced houses with wooden shutters (so much nicer-looking than double-glazing, and cooler too, when it needs to be) clustered around old monasteries or small castles, and have little gardens further up on the mountainsides, watered by irrigation channels running from the mountain streams. There are lots of little independent shops in the village centres; they're not big-supermarket-cheap but the food & other goods they're selling are generally superb value & the locals do use them. We've eaten mouthwateringly soft, sweet little figs & grapes still warm from their gardens, crisp local apples & pears from the street market, blackberries picked halfway up a Pyrenee & sausages to die for. But we'll have to go back in late Spring to catch the cherry harvest, apparently... Yet it snows up there in winter, & there are still pits for storing winter ice that would be usable without too much work; it's not all balmy & warm.

The locals are also incredibly laid-back, polite, friendly & tolerant; we didn't hear a cross word or catch a sideways look once. It's not a rich area, in financial terms, but if I were a free agent I can't think of anywhere I'd rather live. The one thing that worried me was that there weren't many people around younger than me - mid-50s - so I just hope their way of life & all the related skills don't die out. Needless to mention, there are trees being bulldozed down & new housing estates going up, with detached villas, swimming pools & arid grassy or gravelled gardens; many of them to accommodate second-homers or urban refugees - people like me, I expect. And giant hypermarkets sprouting up on the edges of the little towns, but at least they do seem to be able to sell local produce.

I think it does pay to look at how people have lived in your local landscape down the centuries. I know it won't all have been sweetness & light there, and it wouldn't work here - our winter is too long, summer not warm enough - but for me, semi-rural would be the way to go, in a strong community, with easy access to growing land & irrigation & an expectation that people would use it to the full, not just for "produce" crops in otherwise bare soil. Not too badly off in many ways here, but the sense of community is eroding away steadily as people move out here from the nearby city & start protesting about people keeping poultry or "allowing" their fruit to attract wasps, gardens are getting built over for rabbit-hutch "retirement" homes and small local shops are priced out of the market to allow chain stores to move in & "attract more shoppers"...

OK, I'm a NIMBY! But concerned that we are losing touch with how best to live in our own backyards.

jk0

Bedsit_Bob wrote: »

It occurs to me, that heavy/blackout curtains, would be a good idea.

In the event of a major/prolonged SHTF situation, they would allow you to illuminate your home well, without broadcasting the fact you have oil/gas lanterns, and/or lots of candles.

Something I'm considering, (which I mentioned here a few weeks ago) is making some plywood shutters that can be fixed in place behind my venetian blinds. That would serve the purpose of restricting the light, and also be extra protection against break-ins.

Charis

metherer wrote: »

eta the survivalist guy, who thought he had everything under control, but hadn't thought of not being able to use his generator due to the noise. No bug out plan.

TBH seeing what could happen on the roads in that scenario has made me definitely decide to stay put. If I was in a city I might attempt to get away but I've suddenly become fond of being 'stuck out in the sticks'

Thinking about the drama today, they could have made so much more of it. I was annoyed that as far as I can remember there were only two people over forty, both of whom were dead weights (ageism) and the young people were nearly all portrayed as being brain dead or thugs (reverse ageism?). The realism mostly came from newsreel footage, which in itself is more worrying.