Preparedness for when

GreyQueen

A good trick for new HWB before first use is to put a teaspoon of glycerin into it. Supposed to help the rubber last.

I have a Stermat brand HWB which is over 10 years old and going strong, but I have had a few fail on me over the years. Best trick is never to put boiling water in, and not to fill to more than 75% of capacity.

I really ought to get one of those old fashioned stone HWB, too.

I'm thinking about getting a solar light for use in my little flat, has anyone got recommendations of something which isn't too expensive and is reliable, please?

sb44

oceanspirit wrote: »

Living in a small home I don't have much storage space and with having mobility problems there's no chance of me bugging out so will have to take what comes if things get really bad.

One idea. Those round chipboard tables that you can buy, the ones were two pieces slot together as a base. Don't use the slotted legs, get a few small tomato boxes and stack them up. You would be able to store quite a few tins in those, I reckon 5 boxes would bring the table up to the usual height.

Just cover with a round tablecloth and that will hide the boxes.

Or perhaps you could get someone to cut you a piece of chipboard to whatever circle size you needed. I think B&Q or Wicks do that.

jk0

GreyQueen wrote: »

A good trick for new HWB before first use is to put a teaspoon of glycerin into it. Supposed to help the rubber last.

I have a Stermat brand HWB which is over 10 years old and going strong, but I have had a few fail on me over the years. Best trick is never to put boiling water in, and not to fill to more than 75% of capacity.

I really ought to get one of those old fashioned stone HWB, too.

I'm thinking about getting a solar light for use in my little flat, has anyone got recommendations of something which isn't too expensive and is reliable, please?

I've got one of these in my garage GQ with the solar panel set up under a skylight.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/D-light-S300-Lantern-Charger-Orange/dp/B00BJE7K18/ref=pd_sim_sbs_201_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=0QT7GTQBSEY6CMMXSZW2

I've had it a year, and it still seems to be working.

nuatha

sb44 wrote: »

I have a good stock of baked beans, tinned spuds, rice, pasta, tea, coffee, water for a starter, enough for 12 months.

Other tinned stuff to last about 3 months.

Anyone any tips for newbies as where to start re stocking up, better late than never.

Start with what you actually eat - if you don't like it now then the odds are you won't like it when the pressure is on.

sb44 wrote: »

Yes, I have tins of corned beef, corned beef hash, chicken in white sauce, tuna, stewing steak, ready made chili con carne etc, soups, enough for 3 months of all of those.

Don't forget the milk chocolate is half price this weekend at Lidl, so 17p a bar, so will get stocked up on those too.

I keep a decent stock of tinned goods, in addition to those you list, canned minced beef, spaghetti (I know, but its Herself's comfort food, and comfort is important) peas, carrots and sweetcorn, Fray Bentos pies, tinned peaches, fruit cocktail, rice pudding. In non canned there's substantial stocks of instant potato, dried onion, dried mixed veg, jelly cubes, dried fruit, vegetable stock powder alongside the stock cupboard staples of tea, coffee, flour, sugar, pasta, oats and the like.

You need things that offer the ability to be eaten as is, are quick to cook, are easy to cook (for example bring to the boil for 20 minutes and spend several hours in a thermal cooker) and offer the basics to make a wide range of dishes.
I generally have substantial freezer stocks but I can only keep stuff frozen in summer for one week without electricity, so that gets used first and where possible is preserved by other means (the berries turned into jam for example).

I've still got about 8Kg of chocolate, so I'll pass on the Lidl offer. Must get my baking mojo working again.

sb44 wrote: »

Oh, forgot about the Spam too for extra calories.

Haven't had that for years and wasn't overly keen then but it is very calorie dense and that is what you need from what I have read.

In the right circumstances lard becomes very desirable - generally
the circumstances are crossing the Artic. If its calorie density you need, find a palatable way of adding it to your supplies. As a kid I used to read lots of tales of explorers, and ended up fascinated by the idea of pemmican which sustained the likes of Shakleton and Admunsen, I got to try it in my 20's and its absolutely rank. Pounded dried meat, mixed with dried berries and fat.
Peanut butter is possibly the most nutritional dense all-rounder.

GreyQueen

Those chipboard occasional tables which sb44 mentions commonly turn up at bootsales at about £2, have seen them in chazzers, too. Great idea.

You can put a line of canned goods behind books in a bookcase, there is usually a gap between the back of the sofa and the wall, you can use furniture for purposes the manufacturers never intended. I was very tempted by a chazzer piece which looked like a chest of drawers but which is actually a cupboard. I used a CD/DVD cabinet with several compartments to hold sewing supplies. One of those pull-out sections is a bit secret squirrel and has some non-sewing supplies in it.

You can also mount shelves inside full-sized cupboards flush with the top of the door frame. Human beings often don't look in and upwards at the same time. If you have kickboards under kitchen cabinets, they might be detachable, giving you a storage space. Ottomans or storage stools can hold some cans under tatty old guff like old newspapers and magazines. If you have beside cabinets, you have some storage there. Some people have easily detachable bath panels..........

You might be able to fit false backs to a kitchen cupboard, and use some space between the back of the base unit and the wall. A lot of homes have carcases of dead computers about; these are ubiquitous and pretty worthless. No one is going to steal or look inside that dusty old CRT monitor or CRT telly on the floor in the corner of the home office. If you've got one of these emptied out, you can store a plausible 20 kg of stuff inside without it being unbelivablly heavy - my live CRT monitor weighs 21 kg.

Hiding in plain sight is also an option. Most people aren't very observant; if something is explicable in the context of where we see it, we don't tend to look further or question it. Only things which look odd are liable to be investigated or remembered for future investigation/ gossiping about.

On a high shelf in one of my kitchen wall units is as small cardboard box bearing the legend Spare Mugs. It's almost beyond reach even for 6 footers and, if you nudge or touch it, you get the unmistakeable clink of mugs. In fact, there are only two in there, they happen to be sitting on a densely-packed stash of sardine tins.:D

sb44

Regarding the tomato boxes under the circular table top.

Of course I mean the cardboard ones that Lidl etc use to display their packs of tomatoes in .

They are about half the size of the apples/pear boxes, so a decent size to move when you can't make your mind up where the hell you are going to store your food (:o)(if not under the table top ).

If you are going to store under the stairs, watch you head :mad:!

sb44

nuatha wrote: »

Start with what you actually eat - if you don't like it now then the odds are you won't like it when the pressure is on.

I keep a decent stock of tinned goods, in addition to those you list, canned minced beef, spaghetti (I know, but its Herself's comfort food, and comfort is important) peas, carrots and sweetcorn, Fray Bentos pies, tinned peaches, fruit cocktail, rice pudding. In non canned there's substantial stocks of instant potato, dried onion, dried mixed veg, jelly cubes, dried fruit, vegetable stock powder alongside the stock cupboard staples of tea, coffee, flour, sugar, pasta, oats and the like.

You need things that offer the ability to be eaten as is, are quick to cook, are easy to cook (for example bring to the boil for 20 minutes and spend several hours in a thermal cooker) and offer the basics to make a wide range of dishes.
I generally have substantial freezer stocks but I can only keep stuff frozen in summer for one week without electricity, so that gets used first and where possible is preserved by other means (the berries turned into jam for example).

I've still got about 8Kg of chocolate, so I'll pass on the Lidl offer. Must get my baking mojo working again.

In the right circumstances lard becomes very desirable - generally
the circumstances are crossing the Artic. If its calorie density you need, find a palatable way of adding it to your supplies. As a kid I used to read lots of tales of explorers, and ended up fascinated by the idea of pemmican which sustained the likes of Shakleton and Admunsen, I got to try it in my 20's and its absolutely rank. Pounded dried meat, mixed with dried berries and fat.
Peanut butter is possibly the most nutritional dense all-rounder.

Jelly! I had forgotten about that, I love to eat it 'raw' by the cube. Not sure how long the shelf life is of it though as I always tend to eat it on the way home from shopping in the car (before I start to drive, obviously ).

May have to get some Kendal Mint Cake in too.

sb44

GreyQueen wrote: »

You can put a line of canned goods behind books in a bookcase, there is usually a gap between the back of the sofa and the wall, you can use furniture for purposes the manufacturers never intended.

I did this at the weekend, it is surprising how much you can get behind there.

For those not living alone, make sure you tell your other half were you have hidden all of this stuff, just in case a piano drops on your head tomorrow!

Well, it sounds less morbid than 'walk under a bus' and that is what used to happen in all of the old movies (the piano, not the bus). Am I showing my age now). :cool:

nuatha

sb44 wrote: »

Jelly! I had forgotten about that, I love to eat it 'raw' by the cube. Not sure how long the shelf life is of it though as I always tend to eat it on the way home from shopping in the car (before I start to drive, obviously ).

May have to get some Kendal Mint Cake in too.

"Raw" jelly is one of my favourite mouth fresheners when walking. (As in relieves a dry mouth).
I preferred Dextrosol lemon to mint cake, though I've just remembered that its fairly straightforward to make, I'm wondering if I can make a lemon version.

rosiepup2000

The solar D-lights are very well made and very reliable. I've had an S20 for over 3 years, it sits on a south facing windowsill and is always charging during the day, even on an overcast winter's day (a little light on the back tells you it's charging).