Preparedness for when

[Deleted User]

I was on the market earlier today, and found a stall selling ordinary, unscented/unperfumed bleach (sole ingredient - Sodium Hypochlorite Solution), at £2 for a 5 litre bottle.

Also, £world sells bleach tablets (1 tablet makes 1 litre of bleach), which contains Sodium Dichloroisocyanurate, rather than Sodium Hypochlorite.

Wikipedia says Sodium Dichloroisocyanurate can be used for water purification, in the same was as Sodium Hypochlorite.

A quick and dirty calculation says a quarter of a teaspoon (the amount required to sterilise 1 gallon of water) is about 1/666th of a litre.

Obtaining 1/666th of a bleach tablet (they weigh just 2g each) would be very hard in the lab, and pretty much impossible in the field, so I'm thinking, if really desperate (eg. when even undrinkable water was in very short supply), a brief scrapping from the tablet would be the final option.

Of course, scrapings from a tablet is rather hit and miss, so would only be used in the most desperate of situations.

Wherever possible, making up a litre of bleach, then using 8 drops per gallon (2 drops per litre), is of course the preferred method.

Either way, given their light weight (39g per tray of 12), small size (92x72x10mm per tray) and multiple uses, I think a tray (or maybe several trays) would make a valuable addition to a BOB.

jk0

Yeah, I packed up my BOB with all the survival gear I'd bought, and it made my back hurt just putting it on.

I have split it into two bags. Clothes go in the back pack, and the other stuff goes in a wheeled duffle bag.

The_Thrilla

Found some guy on YouTube called Woody, who seems to know what he is talking about with regard to survival. For those who are interested, his interviewer, Stefan Molyneaux is a Canadian philosopher, and is a pretty cool guy. Regarding the list of 100 things that are the first to disappear, if you just google it, several lists will appear. I have just had a look at one. Bad news for people with presbyopia: reading glasses were number 76 on the list.

Anyway, here is the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGuZhBSoWI0

Butterfly_Brain

I had proper flu when I was 18, and trust me you can't move, have no appetite and just want to sleep all of the time and it took a good month to start feeling back on par and I was a fit and healthy teenager then.
Even though I have asthma, COPD and diabetes I have had to stop having a flu jab because I have developed an allergy to egg albumen, but I have had my pneumonia jab.

[Deleted User]

jk0 wrote: »

I have split it into two bags. Clothes go in the back pack, and the other stuff goes in a wheeled duffel bag.

Probably be better to do it the other way round.

That way, if you lost/had to abandon the wheeled duffel bag, you would only lose the clothes.

Cottage_Economy

Bedsit_Bob wrote: »

I've got more than enough food, in my BOB, to last 72 hours.

If I'm still in a SHTF situation, after all that has been consumed, I'll resort to nature's larder.

So will everyone else because everyone has the same plan

[Deleted User]

And there was me, thinking I'd come up with a unique plan.

GreyQueen

Afternoon all.

I don't react to the flu jab, apart from a teeny bit of tenderness in the arm, so that wouldn't be a disincentive. I've had flu precisely thrice in nearly 50 years of life, although I have been jabbed for the past 15.

The first time was as a child under 10. Poor Mum nursed me then got it herself and was off her feet and in bed at her in-laws over Crimble. Second time was the day of my 20th birthday. I couldn't actually stagger out of bed until after 2 pm and that was after several hours of trying; couldn't move my legs due to lymph glands being swollen so badly. Gawd, I have never been so poorly in my life.

Third time was when I'd had the jab at the same time as I had a cold and it didn't take and I got the flu, although less badly than I might have done, and was knocked sideways for several days. Looked and felt like a zombie. I was on my way to the folks and they basically put me to bed and I spent the next few days shuffling between there and the sofa, feeling pitiful.

If you're up and about, you probably haven't got flu, just a stinking cold.

Hey MrsLW, I got the pneumonia jab at the flu clinic about 3 years ago. Was asked when I last had one and told them never and came out with one jab on each arm.

Waiting for my pooter wiz to come over and find out what the heck The Beast has done now (prehistoric desktop PC).

thriftwizard

I had 'flu proper when I was 19. I lost a whole week, delirious, and woke up a stone lighter and as weak as a kitten, having been the sort of girl who happily yomped up mountains for fun at weekends. It left me post-viral for two years & I had to drop out of uni & pay my grant back. Best avoided, if possible. But having worked in sheltered housing, I've lost count of the number of people I've seen become ill immediately after their flu jab, some of them quite seriously, so I'm beginning to worry about that now too...

[Deleted User]

Hi GQ said Doctor said you only ever needed one pneumonia jab as well, that gave lifelong cover too!!! Cheers Lyn xxx.

THRIFTWIZARD We've had the Flu jab for the past three years and neither of us has had any reaction to it other than a very slight pinkness at the injection site for 24 hours. Both fine today and also the arm with the pneumonia shot is fine too, we must just be lucky, Lyn xxx.