Preparedness for when

[Deleted User]

Yes we have an OzPig which is called 'Fatima' as she could feed the 5,000 when she gets going. It's an outdoor pot bellied wood stove and has a cooking plate on top (or you can cook over the flames and swing the plate to one side) and she has another plate for keeping food warm that sits in a bracket at the side of the burning chamber and as long as the plate and the pot you've cooked in are both in contact with the stove body the food stays simmering and keeps warm. Very useful gadget.

Butterfly_Brain

COOLTRIKERCHICK wrote: »

Sorry if I have missed any posts on this subject, but trying to limit my time of the old interweb..


what are people's thoughts ( from a prepping point of view) about the tragedy of the Malysian plane that came down in the Ukraine??


Do you think this will effect trade, prices, shortages etc if this turns out to be more than just a plane malfunction??

It is an awful tragedy but it is not the first commercial airliner to be shot down.

Oct. 4, 2001: An errant surface-to-air missile fire by the Ukrainian military during exercises in the Crimea causes the crash of an Air Siberia airliner en route from Tel Aviv to Novosibirsk. All 78 people on board were killed. Oct. 20, 1998: Rebels in eastern Congo shoot down a Congo Airlines passenger jet carrying 40 people. The plane crashes into a densely forested area just outside of Kindu, about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) east of Kinshasa.
Sept. 22, 1993 - Abkhazian rebels in Georgia shoot down a passenger plane, killing 80. A day earlier, 28 died when a Russian Tu-134 was hit by Abkhazian fire and crashed into the Black Sea.
July 3, 1988: U.S. warship Vincennes shoots down an Iranian passenger plane over the Persian Gulf, mistaking it for a threatening warplane, during the war between Iraq and Iran. All 290 people aboard are killed. United States pays more than $ 130 million in a 1996 settlement that includes compensation for families of the victims.
April 10, 1988: Afghan guerrillas shoot down a Soviet-built passenger jet, killing all 29 people aboard. Soviet television condemns the incident, especially after announcements that a negotiated end to the 10-year-old Afghan war is near.
Sept. 1, 1983: A Soviet fighter jet shoots down a Korean Air Lines passenger jet en route from New York to Seoul, purportedly mistaking the craft for a spy plane as it wandered into Soviet airspace west of Sakhalin Island. All 269 people aboard are killed. The incident helped lead to the commercial release of GPS for civilian use, including aviation. The technology was developed by the U.S. military.
April 20, 1978: An off-course South Korean jetliner carrying 110 people is attacked by a Soviet MiG fighter and is forced to crash land on a frozen lake near Murmansk, killing two passengers.
Feb. 21, 1973: Libyan Airlines Flight 114 en route from Tripoli to Cairo goes off course, crossing the Suez Canal into airspace over the Israeli-held Sinai Desert. Israel claims the plane refuses to identify itself and two Air Force Phantom jets fire at it to force it to land. The aircraft goes out of control and crashes, killing 108 people. There are five survivors.

maryb

Frugalsod wrote: »

I think most of our gas comes from Norway and Qatar, though depending on how long those contracts are they might find that they are now having to pay a lot more for it. That will mean that prices could go up though for many it will mean rethinking how they heat their homes.

Also most high users will be cut off in cases of shortages as a matter of their contracts so that will mean mainly industry suffering in the short term. Electricity companies might have lower supply but they will be able to cut off industrial users very rapidly.

The fact that there is no practical reason for our privatised utilities having surplus capacity is one of the main flaws in the privatisation process.

In the US the reserves of gas from fracking has been reduced to 22 years (10 proven and 12 probable) in total not the hundreds of years that the industry initially claimed. That could be the same here and excludes all the externalities like water loss etc.

I know most of our gas comes from Norway rather than Russia - but isn't most of it supplied on interruptible contracts, because that is cheaper? In which case we will be outbid by Germany on the spot market to replace the gas they get from Russia and we will be the ones short of gas.

So many Government spokesmen Labour, LibDem or Tory, makes no difference, all popping up for the last however many years and saying no worries we can buy on the spot market. That's like saying if there's a problem and Sainsbury's is out of stock I'll go to the corner shop. Back in the days of the old CEGB they used to make strategic decisions (whassat? I hear the current crop of MPs ask). No one is prepared to do that now. It's not even sleepwalking into an unfolding tragedy, it's running towards it with outstretched arms!

Frugalsod

Witless wrote: »

In other words ... about a day ... hopefully.

If you try and do everything the same way. If you change your idea and use a dehydrated meals for when there is a black out then it should be a lot longer. You would only need to boil the water for drinks and meals and that can be minimised. No need for multiple pans.

Frugalsod

maryb wrote: »

I know most of our gas comes from Norway rather than Russia - but isn't most of it supplied on interruptible contracts, because that is cheaper? In which case we will be outbid by Germany on the spot market to replace the gas they get from Russia and we will be the ones short of gas.

So many Government spokesmen Labour, LibDem or Tory, makes no difference, all popping up for the last however many years and saying no worries we can buy on the spot market. That's like saying if there's a problem and Sainsbury's is out of stock I'll go to the corner shop. Back in the days of the old CEGB they used to make strategic decisions (whassat? I hear the current crop of MPs ask). No one is prepared to do that now. It's not even sleepwalking into an unfolding tragedy, it's running towards it with outstretched arms!

Yes we will be having to pay the spot prices though we will be in a better situation that poorer countries like Ireland. We could also import more nuclear powered electricity from France. The real impact will be on the poor here, I doubt that they will have the money to pay the higher prices either way.

Witless

Frugalsod wrote: »

If you try and do everything the same way. If you change your idea and use a dehydrated meals for when there is a black out then it should be a lot longer. You would only need to boil the water for drinks and meals and that can be minimised. No need for multiple pans.

The small stove (with clip on fold up toaster - £2.99) is for emergency use in short term power cuts as opposed to routine cooking: no intention to use multiple pans - 1 x kettle (aluminium) & 1 frying pan (99p): a brew & egg banjos while I gather my thought & get into 'survive' mode.

For longer term use there are several options: mini gas cooker (2 x rings & grill, theoretically portable but not really) with full size Calor cylinders, open fire, garden BBQ / fire pit etc.

Like many others here I learned (the hard way) that any fool can be cold, wet, hungry & miserable.*

A day that starts (or indeed ends) with a hot brew & egg banjos** and regular hot brews throughout the day gives you the edge.

Though an early riser I'm not really a 'morning' person, less so when minus my brews.

* My boots & wet gear may not be overly fashionable (the many times rewaxed & patched Barbour is only 32 years old) but they're certainly effective: the Driazabone (sp?) stockman coat might not do totally as a tent but it makes a mighty fine (tried & tested) groundsheet.

** Bacon butties are a reasonable enough substitute.

[Deleted User]

Frugalsod wrote: »

If you change your idea and use a dehydrated meals for when there is a black out then it should be a lot longer.

Quite.

That's why I based my test on 1 Litre of water.

1 Litre is enough to make a brew and rehydrate most foods.

Of course, things like canned soup, canned spaghetti, baked beans, etc., use even less gas than boiling water, since they don't actually require bringing to the boil.

Meals like egg and bacon, also use very little gas.

Frugalsod

The last few days I have been using my solar kettle and I can get half a litre of boiling water in around one and a half hours of sunny weather. So I usually get two or three cups of coffee on sunny days. It can also be used during the winter apparently and I will be trying this over this winter.

nuatha

Witless wrote: »

Like many others here I learned (the hard way) that any fool can be cold, wet, hungry & miserable.*

It takes real dedication to remain that way once you've discovered how easy the alternative is.

A day that starts (or indeed ends) with a hot brew & egg banjos** and regular hot brews throughout the day gives you the edge.

I admire your thinking.

* My boots & wet gear may not be overly fashionable (the many times rewaxed & patched Barbour is only 32 years old) but they're certainly effective: the Driazabone (sp?) stockman coat might not do totally as a tent but it makes a mighty fine (tried & tested) groundsheet.

** Bacon butties are a reasonable enough substitute.

Your Barbour is barely broken in.
Drizabone are exactly as the name describes - though I need a wide brimmed hat, since it always manages to rain down the back of my neck.
I suspect the wax cottons will outlive my more high tech outdoor clothing by quite a margin - one of my cousins wears a 1920s Barbour which will probably manage another generation of weatherproofing the family. (It got a new collar a few years back and the cuffs have been redone)

jk0

Frugalsod wrote: »

We could also import more nuclear powered electricity from France.

You think?

The interconnector is rated at 2000 MW:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HVDC_Cross-Channel

As I type this, we are drawing 1996 MW:

http://www2.nationalgrid.com/uk/Industry-information/electricity-transmission-operational-data/