Preparedness for when

pineapple

alfsmum wrote: »

GQ, I am liking the idea of false walls. Just happened to come across a shelf of my fave chocolate half price in Mr T today and some of it fell Into my basket. .

I'm just imagining - should one vacate the property unexpectedly (like falling under a lorry or something :eek:) - the bewilderment of the new occupiers on finding the walls full of chocolate :rotfl: But also the surprise and delight of Mr and Mrs Mouse and all the little mouses

JayneC

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

I'd not use the woodstove unless I absolutely had to to conserve fuel which would be brought indoors (2 tons of it!!!) to make sure it .

Lyn - I read somewhere about people getting carbon monoxide poisoning from wood that was stored inside, it was in the case of these biomass boilers that require filling up with wood/pellets and people passed out due to fumes in the storage facility, I'm sure there was at least one fatality. Not sure how relevant it is to nicely seasoned logs but might be worth investigation before bringing 2 tons of wood inside?
Will try to find it.....

JayneC

This isn't exactly what I saw but...

http://www.hse.gov.uk/safetybulletins/co-wood-pellets.htm

Seems it relates to the wood pellets not actual logs so you'd prolly be ok - panic over!

JayneC

Interesting to read about false walls. I'm hoping to build a pantry at the end of my kitchen and have actually been pondering whether I could disguise the entrance so it just looks like the end of my kitchen - it wouldn't fool anyone who''d had a good look at the house from the outside, but someone in a hurry, chancing their luck, may not notice that the kitchen is 3' shorter on the inside;) Will ponder some more... I wonder though, if it was discovered would that make it more likely that you'd get a thorough ransacking in the quest for more hidey holes...

Re rationing food in a SHTF scenario that appeared on the surface as temporary - I'd probably semi ration initially (cut down a little but not severely), whilst weighing up the situation. I'd normally agree with running down the freezer first but at the mo my freezer contains mainly soft fruit pending jamming/juicing, several containers of stock ( I save it and then forget to defrost it so it builds and builds:() and a deer head and hind!!!!! I'm planning to tan said hide at some point. I reckon if someone checked out my freezer looking for food they'd think I was potty and quickly depart:rotfl::rotfl: I do have one burger, 4 meatballs and some bread in there though, oh and some cheese!!
My fridge isn't much better, we had a 'gathering' a couple of weeks ago for DD3 21st and I was trying to make some room in the fridge for [STRIKE]beer[/STRIKE] refreshments. It was full of, almost exclusively, milk, butter/spread and cheese - decided we are dairy fiends:D Must look into ghee as butter only last a couple of months really, although I'm sure you can can it - if only I had a canner.....

Just to add - a lot of the butter is for baking - i have 4 large tubs of Stork in there atm which almost take up a shelf to themselves and then I have several packs of Flora buttery as its the only spread i like and as it's expensive I tend to get a few packs when its on offer, ditto the cheese, DS likes Cathedral City and it's BOGOF at Sainsbugs atm so 4 packs of that and, well as I go shopping monthly I can have 6 blocks of butter - one a week and a bit extra;) I often get 16-20 yoghurts at a time too so there's no room for anything else........ Think I need a bigger fridge n freezer....

pineapple

JayneC wrote: »

Lyn - I read somewhere about people getting carbon monoxide poisoning from wood that was stored inside

It seems to be a risk for wood pellets
http://www.hse.gov.uk/safetybulletins/co-wood-pellets.htm

[Deleted User]

JayneC wrote: »

Must look into ghee as butter only last a couple of months really, although I'm sure you can can it - if only I had a canner.....

You could always freeze it.

thriftwizard

Smallish SHTF situation been ongoing here for a while; I've been cooking for 5-9 people on two gas rings & one small oven for months now. They've finally delivered my new [STRIKE]arm-&-a-leg[/STRIKE] cooker today, after insisting on re-siting of the electrical connection, re-wiring the trip-switch etc., only to announce that now the gas connection wasn't satisfactory! However the company have been very reasonable, left the cooker half plumbed in & are paying for a local guy to come in & sort the rest out, as they'd previously OK'd the gas connection.

So I have to survive an unknown number of days with no hob; we only have two gas engineers in our little town & they're both pretty busy. Luckily I have two of the little suitcase-type burners; I also have a potbelly BBQ stove I can cook on, but it was raining tonight. I do now have two working ovens & a grill, and there's always salad. However several members of the household don't "do" salad or vegetables cooked in any other way than boiled or stir-fried. So my current challenge is, to persuade them to step outside their prejudices & eat what's available & do-able, rather than hankering after something that's not currently possible.

Anyone else suspect that in a real SHTF situation, they may have trouble getting some members of their household to accept reality & adapt accordingly? Not eating any veg for a while may not seem important, but IMHO could have major ramifications for their health. Not to mention the plumbing...

ETA - minor autism/OCD traits in several members of the household, BTW, it's not just a case of spoilt kids.

Perplexed_Pineapple

Evening all, today has been an organising sort of day and haven't had much time to catch up on the news but it's worrying that things like the UK energy supply are seemingly being treated as just another political football.

Butterfly_Brain wrote: »

That is just the greedy energy companies panicking that their golden goose will be well and truly cooked, it is corporate blackmail and if they do turn off the power it will be classed as terrorism as they are all foreign owned, therefore the government can seize the power stations and take them back into public ownership with no compensation, so the companies are just blowing a lot of hot air

I can't entirely agree Butterfly Brain, the UK energy suppliers rely on imports for most of their supplies (UK governments of all stripes over the last 20 years having failed to invest in the infrastructure to use local resources). So if the UK sets a fixed price for energy of x it's just asking for another country to say our price is x+1 and command the market, it's not as though the UK is geographically convenient to supply from the oil fields of the Middle East or the gas fields of Russia, we're at the end of a long supply chain. A power station isn't much good without the gas to run it (and both coal-fired and nuclear facilities are at the end of their useful life more or less).

Butterfly_Brain wrote: »

You need something to protect you from the elements,
a tent would be best but if you do not have one an emergency shelter from poundland for each of you plus a groundsheet and emergency blankets....
...I have .....spaghetti (Which can be used as a firelighter as well as for food)

Absolutely right about the shelter, one option depending on the sort of area you live in is to take the equipment to construct your own shelter - in any sort of wooded area a small saw or axe and some cordage would provide the basics, and firewood too.
I never knew you could use spaghetti as a firelighter! Will have to try it now :T

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

...The great power debate and the possibility for power outages is going to be around for a long while I think but, nowhere, on TV in the paper, in any media publication or political speech by any political party or green/eco group have I heard the suggestion that using less might be the way forward. ...

I think 99% of the population is in denial. I've been working seriously on improving the energy efficiency of our set-up - more insulation, energy efficient lights, foil behind the radiators, that sort of thing. We'll see how it works but my aim is not to turn the heating on until at least November. At the weekend I invested in a cheap thermometer (pretty basic but we didn't have one) - am thinking about aiming to keep the temperature in the house above say 14C - thinking anything lower might be hazardous to health. Not sure about that though, what do others think?

Butterfly_Brain

It is official our kids think that we have both gone totally doolally, especially when I made a veggie bolognaise using soya mince on the camping stove for dinner, I put the spaghetti in boiling water in the cool box and closed the lid, it came out lovely after 15 minutes and they found it amusing that the kelly kettle had been going for tea and coffee, I put all the remaining hot water in insulated jugs so the kelly wasn't actually in use all day - I have 4 Insulated Jugs thanks to Wilko sale of leifheit ones and Aldi sale of their own make ones. Luckily there was no need to light the fire, but I am happy that we have it.

mardatha

The Kraken Wakes is actually a good book for preppers, as well as a great read