Preparedness for when

Perplexed_Pineapple

Very interesting link jk0 with the original article (link in the first paragraph or so) interesting as well. The thing is, I personally know several people who these personal SHTF events have happened to - I know two people whose houses have burnt down, one person who has been stranded in the snow overnight, and more people than I care to remember who have had a serious road accident and required attention. I also know people who have sufffered multiple close family bereavements in the space of a few months, who have lost their jobs and had their houses repossessed in short order, have had serious mental health related events that left them unable to function normally, or have been left homeless This is just through personal acquaintance. You are much more likely to experience something of this sort than total apocalypse and it makes much more sense to prepare along those lines. Fortunately a lot of the skills that we are trying to develop would be applicable to both small-scale and apocalyptic scenarios.

GreyQueen

I've said before that I wouldn't contemplate bugging out unless it became impossible to stay. By impossible, I would mean the complete failure of water supply and sanitation for many days, with no hope of them being re-established, leading to epidemic disease. Or the utter breakdown of law and order, in such a way that one was a sitting-duck for robbers and rapists, even more so than one might be on the move.

My flat is in a big block, and there are a few of my neighbours with serious mental health problems. One of them is audible, by passing neighbours, threating to burn us effers all to death in our effing beds. And yes, the housing department are on the case and their assessment is that it's just talk. If it isn't (and those like SG who have known this person for years are gravely concerned), one night, we will be is a serious situation very quickly and an evac, most probably to a community hall, is the likely immediate outcome. We've had it happen before.

My BOB is chiefly aimed at escaping with the essentials in such an event. I have a change of clothes, plus another change which can double as nightwear, a washkit, cash, essential paperwork, medicines, and things like torches in there. I also have an emergency shelter in the form of a bivvy bag.

Because I go camping, I have that equipment, too, all easily accessible in a second back-pack. I also have some basics bagged and stowed in the allotment shed, along with a supply of bottled water.

There is a degree of duplication, not because I have spent loads of cash, almost everything was pre-loved from bootsales and chazzers, but because when things go to the bad, you can't predict exactly what will happen. We've had the situation in this city where whole towerblocks have had to be evacuated as an emergency and were not habitable for many weeks, so an evac plus spell in a hotel/ emergency accomodation isn't an unreasonable thing for me to prep against.

moneyistooshorttomention

One tiny little thought here on prepping - having relevant phone numbers for emergency purposes on you when "out and about" just in case.

I keep numbers on me of a couple of local taxi firms (courtesy of now living in pretty rural-ish Wales) with attendant poor bus service. That way I know I can always get home okay if need be - even if buses have stopped for the day. Just phone my "tame taxi firm" and they will come and get me if need be. I keep a couple of friends' phone numbers on me as well (but...just in case they weren't around...then the taxi firm is the backup).

I also keep on me the phone number of the locksmith that changed my locks for me in the first place. He knows it IS my house and, if I ever locked myself out, then he has an emergency service.

Must remember to have my Premium Bond holder number and phone number of insurance company on me as well....just in case the house had any problems..

EDIT; Just had an email from my Californian penpal today (ie the US County that is about to run out of water) and...yep....she is very well aware and checking out houses elsewhere in America and asking my opinions. One of her comments to me being (from my own experience) re different lifestyles to be expected someplace else. Its easy to take for granted that the way of thinking/living in your own area is the way things are everywhere (eg this is independent/questioning/confident/pretty sophisticated - so everywhere else will be too.....). Ahem.....

Very much a factor to take into account for anyone having to move on a permanent basis because of societal SHTF (or you think it might well be at some not too distant point....).

[Deleted User]

If shelter IS the most important thing at the top of the list it really is easily achieveable to learn how to make one many instruction sites on the web and I suspect on you tube too . Girl guides are taught at a young age and I suspect scouts too and even I at 67 have made a waterproof shelter big enough to comfortably house 4 people from what was in the piece of woodland just lying on the ground. The best thing to carry it turned out was a large blue tarpaulin which one of the group had with him and we made a cracker of a pole shelter and topped it with a lattice and branches and earth and moss and it was snug and waterproof. A tarpaulin is a couple of pounds in a cheapy shop and the knowledge of how to doesn't weigh anything if you've already done it and can carry it in your head.

thriftwizard

MTSTM, things must be looking up in Wales somewhat, if you have a phone signal where you might be stranded. There are plenty of places here where there's no signal & my phone can't link to the GPS; we struggle to get a signal here at home & sometimes have to go & stand by the pond with an arm up in the air to send texts - and we're only just outside the conurbation! And now they've taken away all the rural phone boxes, because everyone has a mobile. But it isn't much good without a signal...

moneyistooshorttomention

:rotfl:Hmmm....there is that slight point...ie I've heard people mention re places without a phone signal (usual workman excuse for not phoning customer with explanation/apology if late here).

Add layer of refinement to that particular prep. then of "find someone who looks friendly and smile sweetly and ask if I might pay to use their landline phone to call for a lift, as I'm stranded"....The plus side of the way things work here is that there is a fair chance of being offered a lift if you need one...

Good point there...and me = I can find someone to have a chat with wherever I go round here pretty much. Yesterdays total during a days Exploring The Area amounted to bumping into one person I'm already friendly with and getting chatting to 7 people in total during my latest countryside foray.

jk0

thriftwizard wrote: »

MTSTM, things must be looking up in Wales somewhat, if you have a phone signal where you might be stranded. There are plenty of places here where there's no signal & my phone can't link to the GPS; we struggle to get a signal here at home & sometimes have to go & stand by the pond with an arm up in the air to send texts - and we're only just outside the conurbation! And now they've taken away all the rural phone boxes, because everyone has a mobile. But it isn't much good without a signal...

I have some further news regarding the similar problem I had:

(My phone with a 15 year old Orange PAYG SIM card had no signal.)

You may remember I ordered a new Orange SIM card to try, and found it worked worked better, although not brilliantly. This was due to the phone now being able to connect to T Mobile masts, as they merged with Orange.

In the end I got a Sainsburys (Vodafone) SIM, as that worked very well everywhere I go.

Yesterday, I tried the new Orange SIM in my fifteen year old Motorola phone, not expecting it to do much, as it is G2 and (I thought) locked to Orange. Amazingly it now displays 'Roaming EE' and connects indoors.

Frugalsod

I think that prepping to leave for a few days say when the area is evacuated for a specific reason and bugging out are very different cases.

It is good to have a copy of important documents in an evacuation bag, along with money, spare clothes and things that you will need for work etc, should you be evacuated for a few days. Though you will almost certainly be allowed back soon enough.

Circumstances that require permanent bugging out will be clear and while they may take some time to develop. You will also have time to co-ordinate plans with friends and family. Even a flood will have some warning, unless you live downstream of a badly maintained dam or similar will develop over time and you will have some warning of how long you might be away. Though once the crisis develops you might be pretty busy stacking sand bags across your property.

[Deleted User]

I think the idea of a bug out bag for a few days when you know there is a reasonable chance that whatever the problem is will be sorted out and you'll be going back to life as normal makes complete sense. The need to leave for good in a planned way also makes complete sense if there is indeed no way you could stay or return and the list of items I would take with me for that scenario would be quite different to the previous one. I would have to be very certain that 'it' was necessary and would be of use, no room for sentiment or frills. What does throw me a little is the idea that a weather event the like of which we've just seen in the islands where ALL is destroyed and gone and you have just what you are standing in and help can't get to you easily or quickly COULD occur here in our part of the globe and everything, even those carefully chosen things that you have taken to your place of safety are gone. That would be very, very difficult mentally to cope with and the only thing that would sustain you would be skills learned and perfected in calmer times before the event. It's one thing to read about skills or see them demonstrated on screen and another entirely to actually try to perform them in real life. I found it immensely difficuly to use a modern fire starter and it took me many trys to get it to work but then I had the technique so I know how in my head. It would be totally demoralising to be standing with only a fire lighter in chaos and not be able to make the darned thing work. Perfecting skills and practise, no matter what the world thinks will give you a MUCH better chance of surviving than all the theories in the world.

[Deleted User]

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

if you're new to foraging make absolutely SURE though that you know for certain what is the plant you are picking

The trick is to limit yourself to those items you are sure you can identify.

I tend to stick to fruits, dandelions and field mushrooms.