Preparedness for when

vanoonoo

missrlr wrote: »

Well I failed today, was going to buy 2x2l bottles of MrT cheapo water for the car, but they only had sparkling.
So I bought 4 tins of beans, 2 packs of can be steamed puddings, 4 cans of assorted fruit and 4 packs of custard, some broccoli from seduced items section (I love broccoli so will munch tonight) and a roll of wrapping paper (the reason I went to MrT in the first place)
Not very MSE but quite Preparedness I think.

Note to self, leave in car and bring in when DH is at work otherwise he will make funny noises, aside from broccoli as I can eat that tonight.

I think I am verging on the obsessive about this now ....

start on the 'no spend things' now: lists, planning where you'll go, who you will contact, how you will contact them. It CAN get obsessive but it doesnt need to be so and if you have other areas to point your spends then its important to do that too!

being prepared isnt all about spending money and acquiring things, it's about planning and being organised and not being in a panic - dont hide things from your OH, get him involved x

I apologise if I havent phrased the above very well, I am in a rush to get out the door but I want to let you know that although all your preps are amazing and wonderful and fantastic, you shouldnt be struggling in other areas as a result xxx

vanoonoo

dawemouse wrote: »

Ive just spent the last hour looking at campervans! i figured it would be handy for cooking and escaping in following a zombie attack! ha ha ha not very ms tho!:rotfl:

we call them the walking dead winnebaegos! lol

also the ZeeRVee's (zombie recreational vehicles)

vanoonoo

perhaps our first purchase for craprollz should be a vitrual RV with 50 berths?

BigMummaF

Caterina wrote: »

....Fancy cashmere high-neck and lovely green merino jumper got gawping holes in front!:mad: BUGG&R, at least if the holes were somewhere else a few mending stitches would not be quite so visible, but they are now....

Could you darn & then cover the repairs with diamante, fancy emblems or just simple embroidery? We don't have any haberdashers in reasonable distance now but I luv watching all the programmes & drooling over crafting ideas

I'm intrigued as to the full name of the Group many of you belong to; I've got my own interpretation but nothing I could repeat here :whistle: :laugh: My family despair of my preperations (which they calling 'hoarding'.. honestly! The difference is like porridge & a full english, but they can't see it :doh:) but they always know who to ask when they need x, y or z aannnnd without the slightest hint of irony!

The eldest of The Offspring would probably be better at coping, but the other two enjoy technology far too much & fail to understand the implications of losing just the leccie. I'm so tempted to do the 'remove a cicuit breaker from the main fusebox' like the mum on that ad a while back :rotfl:...

superskintmouse

i think i have missed that whats CRAP ROLLZ and im sure i need a bug out bra!!

2tonsils

Vanoonoo what a cracking good idea....although with all the four legged friends on here I think we might need a bigger one lol....seeing that its virtual we can just stretch it to hold more.....

Having a rare glass of local red wine as I very rarely drink alcohol.....since I already have a headache I had nothing to lose when my OH offered me a glass......glad I took it....it tastes of fruit and autumn evenings by the fire......

I seem to have lost my curtain wires somewhere, think I need to get the stepladders out and search the spare room storage space...hmmm.... I may be some time! I need to put up my thick lace curtains as well as the standard heavy winter curtains downstairs, so the wire has to clip to the curtain pole.....if I can find them that is.

Rumour has it here that some of the politicians plan to resign before the austerity measure vote and force a new election....which would mean all the talks have been for nothing as the bailout would not be paid. They say the country has got enough money left to last till mid November....in my view that is optimistic....the people have been filling the gaps in the money for at least two years out of their own pockets with extra taxes , cuts in pensions and paying for their own medical care even when they pay for health insurance......things are far worse than the governments are making out.....

BigMummaF

vanoonoo wrote: »

perhaps our first purchase for craprollz should be a vitrual RV with 50 berths?

Oo! Oo! Oo!....Please Miss. Me Miss. Me! Me! Here! Miss? Miss!..

Can we have an old London double decker & do it up? Then we can magically break into the exact same song at exact same time and all orf us know ALL the words & actions :T Free people-powered entertainment & enjoyable exercise to warm us up before lighting the fires!

*sings.........badly*
We're all working from our
B.O.Be-ee Bags
Cuz we've had them ready for a
Year or two......

GreyQueen

maryb wrote: »

Spuds I can resist but there do seem to have been a lot of offers on loo paper recently. The mocking chorus from family is reaching a crescendo

But when the bottom drops out of the t.p market, be sure to make them use leaves and reserve your luvverly stuff for your sole personal use. I reckon profuse apologies will follow rapidly.

I have limited myself to a mere 4 spare packs of t.p. stored on a high shelf in the shed. They're over 6 feet above the ground and I reckon if the river innundates the flats to that degree, keeping my loo paper dry will be the least of my worries.

Can't play the current scenario properly (no kiddies and no OH) motorbiking or otherwise.

2tonsils, I'm sure I've read that the USA has 3 distinct power grids which are separate from each other. Texas is one of them and the other two cover the rest of the landmass but cannot recall where the dividing line is. They are all potentially-vulnerable to solar flare damage. The deep-cycle battery banks would keep the phone system up for about a week after no power but after that, phfffftttt!

Well, here at Shoebox Towers, our c.h. and hot water systems are running off a centralised system of mega industrial boilers. The controllers on the boilers are electrical and require a professional re-set after a powercut, even if it was only one of a few minutes' duration. To my certain knowledge, there are FOUR engineers in the city with the expertise to work in our boiler house. As one GasSafeRegister engineer told me Unless you're trained on industrial boilers, you'd be a fool to even go in there. He wasn't thus trained and he wouldn't even be allowed in there.

I would be unlikely to freeze even in extreme weather as the flat is very small and very well-insulated. I have a gas stove so if that was still being pumped, I could still cook and boil water.

My counter-top freezer is rated as safe for 17 hours without power so I'd leave that shut tightly and hope the power came back before I lost stuff. The main financial expense is a few portions of salmon, some cheese and the remaining space is taken up with veggies and whoopsied butter. Wouldn't lose mega £££ but it'd still be annoying.

If the power was up but looking iffy, I'd get any empty water bottles refilled and make sure the mobile had a full charge. I have a hardwired phone so this should be OK for a while. Would keep an eye on SuperGran as she's five feet nothing, built like a tank and very very gutsy and might need help but not think to ask for it.

Re waterproof bags, can't recall who asked, not sure if you mean big bags to hold all your kit or smaller bags to hold stuff dry inside main bags? If it's big waterproof bags, you can get bags designed for kayaking etc. If small ones, you can get waterproof dry bags in various sizes with foldover tops (see A.N.Other outdoor store for details). HTH.

2tonsils

A bug out bra would look so good with my winter warmth biker boots and sunglasses! All the local ''hunters'' here wear camouflage suits, carry huge shotguns and go out and shoot the little spuggies and eat them baked in the oven. So I told some Greek kids that in England if you kill a small bird it brings death to the family......there have been so many more robins and little birds flying around I think the word has spread LOL

12months

GreyQueen wrote: »

Morning preppers and passing lurkers and anyone else who knows me (gag from 1980s radio phone-in progs, for younger readers).

The emergency number for gas leaks is 0800 111 999.

I read a good tip somewhere about having your emergency numbers on a laminated list. We need to factor in that when the S hits our personal Fans, we can well be in a total lather of panic and not be thinking at our best. Stuff needs to be pre-positioned for ease. Lamination can also stop problems with paperwork becoming illegible (you may be flooded out, it may be pouring with rain).

Re starting an emergency bag, I started from my most-essential (life-saving meds taken several times daily) and worked back from there.

Sooooo, my suggestions would be; prescription meds (if applicable), a complete change of clothes for each person inc undies and socks, a hat and gloves, a basic washkit and a travel towel/ small handtowel, a torch and spare batteries, something calorie-dense and portable to eat (nuts? cereal bars? peanut butter? chocolate?), essential documentation, keys to any family members' homes if you are responsible for them/ will want to take refuge at theirs, a map if you will have to head any distance (main roads you normally use may be blocked and you need to go on backroads), a small first aid kit, lots of ziploc bags from the Army Surplus to keep your kit dry, essential contact numbers, charger for your mobile, CASH inc change, water bottle, water purification tabs.

Everyone really needs a waterproof jacket and shoes/ boots strong enough to walk in.

I would be on foot or on bicycle in a total SHTF situation so if it comes to hiding in the woods, supplementary kit would be the camping gear. Hope never to have to deploy that as anything more than leisure use, but you never can tell.

ETA; my kit also includes spare glasses and the documentation includes my eye prescription, NHS Medical Card and EHIC and NINO cards, passport, driver's license and birth certificate. You often need several forms of ID to interact with officialdom.

Thanks GreyQueen, I can see I still have lots to think about and lots to do. That's good advice about medication, especially for my parents. I think I need to make a list and start to plan this methodically so I make the most of what I've already got and then I can just plug the gaps. A busy few days ahead I think