Preparedness for when

thriftwizard

This is probably why people get upset with us OSers & don't even want to think about living in a more old-fashioned way...

I never had to live like this, though there were times when we didn't have enough to eat & weren't warm. I can't ever thank my mother enough for working so hard to keep us out of these kind of conditions...

craigywv

thriftwizard wrote: »

This is probably why people get upset with us OSers & don't even want to think about living in a more old-fashioned way...

I never had to live like this, though there were times when we didn't have enough to eat & weren't warm. I can't ever thank my mother enough for working so hard to keep us out of these kind of conditions...

we don't know we are living so well! that was awful really sad

[Deleted User]

I've found these in B&M, for £4-99 each.

It occurred to me that, since they run on 4xAA batteries, two units, wired in series, would run on a 12V supply.

So, two of them (wired in series), and connected to a car cigarette lighter plug, should run for ages (I estimate about 45 hours) on a 17 Ah Jump Starter Pack.

[Deleted User]

Seeing that picture of the woman frying over the coal fire, reminds me of the 70s power cuts, and one occasion (when I was a child) when we had the electricity cut off for a week or so.

GreyQueen

Afternoon all.

Weather is starting to cut up rough here with squally wind and rain, nothing serious but a helluva contrast to he clear blue skies and blazing sunshine of yesterday. Nothing compared to what 1tonsil is experiencing, though - hope you stay safe and well.

Had one of those annoying and unexpected moments yesterday when returning my pushbike into its shed, which stands in a row of a dozen down the block. Him next door and him next-door-but-one came by to one of their sheds and had a good old natter and a nosy. That was a first in all the years I've lived here, and I would really rather they hadn't seen the contents of the shed, but then realised that most of the stuff on view looked like pure clutter.

Yes, there was the pushbike, but they know I have that anyway, and the newspaper delivery trolley, but the sack of spuds was inside the bag on that and not visible. Various preptastic things such as water were hidden bags on the shelves, and the part of TP Mountain which lives up there was on a high shelf, shrouded in black bin bags, and barely visible, never mind recognisable.

Made me very glad that I'm a bit secret squirrel as neither man is any stranger to the criminal justice system, IYKWIM, and I've had the plod disturb me in the middle of the night before now, looking for one of them. Which made me a bit cross, being woken in the small hours.

Family members need to learn to hold their tongues about preptastic matters, and if too young to mind what they say, preps need to be well-concealed. I like to be a bit underhand about what I bring into the home, and cart stuff about in bags for life or carrier bags from the cheap shops like F Foods, Icelandia et al. Also prudent to be careful when bringing in stuff like electronic goods and when moving house. The black bin sack is your friend at such times.

A lot of things can be hidden in plain sight, once you understand that making things look as boring and predictable as possible is the way to go.

Just going to brave the weather and visit a shopkeeping pal and see what the wicked of the world are up to. Deffo a waterproof jacket kind of afternoon.

fuddle

thriftwizard you have took me from hysterics with "cars driving in a 30mph at 60mph... in case their cars get wet" Honestly folks I think thriftwizard has captured the mood of our town life this morning, beautifully.

And then the montage from only 40 years back led to great sadness tinged with a bit Dunkirk spirit. Never giving up on a situation, how horrid, and never accepting defeat. Survive we shall. Survive we must.

Coming from a childhood that meant tea was hotdogs and smash I didn't know what it was to have OS spirit or means. It wasn't till SHTF that I had to learn and learn quick. The more I experimented and asked questions the more I realised that my grandma knew all these things that I now needed so desperately to know but never thought to pass on because of progress - back to the hotdogs and instant potato I guess :cool:

I don't actually know what my point is :rotfl: but I do know that if OS means slumming it to people then I guess I see why the negativity. I mean who in society wants to go backwards :eek:

Me because if 'backwards' means the ability to survive with what you have then progress can be strived for. Progression isn't a right in my opinion. If you think progression is a right, is a given, then woah begoodness, be ready for a ride that is uncertain, frightening and fraught with worry. Ask me how I know

thenanny2die4

fuddle wrote: »

Coming from a childhood that meant tea was hotdogs and smash I didn't know what it was to have OS spirit or means.

Did you not have tinned garden peas with yours then?

1Tonsil

I am fine thanks, shaken not stirred by the close shave with the lightning. Currently in the eye of the storm. Today has been chaotic although I haven't left the house...running up and down checking for leaks and mopping up the steady stream of rain coming through the wall and over the tiles in the front room....thank goodness we don't have carpet!

Most of the flights were diverted to Thessalonika, so they are bringing them over by bus ... a five hour journey...and taking them from here to there to catch the flight to the UK. This was a good idea till the ferries between here and the mainland got cancelled. Now they are all stranded at the port instead of the airport. They have my utmost sympathy as do any folks planning to fly to here in the next day or so.

It is forecast to clear up on Wednesday so fingers crossed. Otherwise there will be food runs with none of the delivery wagons being able to deliver to our supermarkets.

Gave up on the tv signal and unplugged everything, but by some miracle we kept the wifi. Lots of places have no phone lines working but ours is on wifi as well so we still have it. Very quiet outside now but the sky is a very odd colour. I do think it will hit us again when the eye of the storm passes. The bit that hit us is heading south now and seems to be clinging to the coast lines.

Right, going to have a prawn and smoked salmon salad to cheer me up, along with the biggest mug of tea I can find.....:T

[Deleted User]

I've been thinking....... OK you can come out from behind the sofa, I saw you run!!! I've been thinking about why people are so scathing when they find you have a little stash of food and hardware just in case we get glitches and know how to do things the old fashioned way and I wonder if it scares them a bit? It's second nature to all of us to keep a finger on the pulse of life, the weather, political situations, what's going on in the world that might affect the food supply, national security and always have the thought that if there is a crisis we've got it covered. A lot of people don't even watch the news and have the opinion that 'THEY' will sort things out and make it all normal again with no input or help from Joe public and that life will always go on just as normal, no inconveniences, no disruptions, no need to be responsible for any of it. I guess that thought of there being a hiccup in the smooth and comfortable running of their sheltered and cushioned lives just doesn't seem likely? I, like many of the rest of you had a very difficult childhood with not much cash available in the home and hard times and because of that I learned very early on that it's usually cheaper, better and lasts longer if you make it, whatever it happens to be, yourself. My Dad grew veg in the garden and new things being got from the shops was a rare occurance in all areas of life. I guess that if people have never experienced anything but safety, affluence and good times it must seem lunatic fringe to stash candles and food and water and survival equipment in the thought that you might need them in earnest one day. That's why it IS important to keep old skills working and pass them on to the next generation which they in turn will pass to their descendants because we really are living in a shiny soap bubble in 2014 and the trouble with soap bubbles is that their fragility is not apparent in all their glistening beauty right up to the moment when they suddenly and unexpectedly 'POP' and dissapear. If most people were suddenly bereft of all modern conveniences I guess a lot of them would starve pretty quickly if the only skills in food prep they have are the ability to open a tin or cook a 'ping' meal, they wouldn't know where to start would they???

Frugalsod

happydays89 wrote: »

A friend called in for coffee today,and proceeded to tell me how she and one of her friends had a good laugh at my prepping,:mad:she was telling the friend how I supplied her with masks and a 5ltr bottle of hand gel when the bird flu scare was on a few years ago,and how I am prepared for anything it didn't help matters when my son called in to help her move a heavy sofa and he joined in the fun informing them that I could feed a lot of people for about 10 years.They said they new where they would head if there was any SHTF disasters,I am so cross about it,I wouldn't mind but I don't mention what I have or discuss any problems with anyone.so I have decided to let her believe I don't have any preps anymore because nothing bad will happen.i don't like being made out I am some mad paranoid woman.:eek:

Actually when the S does HTF make sure in no uncertain terms that you had hoped to inspire them to do something for themselves and cannot expect to free load off you just because you had the foresight to actually make plans. So unless they can bring something substantial to you that would help you then they can go away when things erupt.

Prepping is like insurance, you have it hoping to not have to use it. In fact in some places a specific number of days preps is statutory such as in California to cope with earthquakes. So would you criticise someone for having house contents insurance? Prepping is just a variation that insurance companies do not cover.

So ignore them and live in the comfort that you can cope with such emergencies.