Preparedness for when

Frugalsod

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

There feasibly might come a time when there were no more clean filters left and the supply of ready made matches/lighters had all been used. You'd still have the knowledge in your head when that day dawned wouldn't you? I don't think we can rely on there always being 'instant' answers and knowing 'how to' real old fashioned style would be valuable for the long term.

I think having plenty of fire steels would solve that problem. They are more reliable than lighters just not as convenient.

Having a good range of equipment plenty of stores and skills will get you through most events. The sort of events that there is nothing left but your skills would probably have decimated the population significantly by then, as most would not have enough to cope. Also until things are more stable you would not necessarily have many options. Such extreme situations are not going to be pleasant for whoever is left anyway.

Also the best skill is avoiding trouble in the first place. So knowing where to go when there is a local fire flood or incident is very useful. This might just be down to habit. These will save your life in many situations.

Then having plenty of preps will get you through pretty much most other events. Even now should we have another significant financial crisis then many of us would continue to work maybe not at the same income but we would still have an income. This is why cutting living costs so that you have scope to cope with significant cuts in income are probably the best preps of all. Then if you do lose that job you can cope on benefits far better than if you had not prepared.

Preps like water filters and stoves and camping equipment would also be handy if you had to leave your home and had to fend for yourself until help arrived.

The extreme preps would only be necessary if things were an end to civilisation level and depending on your age would you want to live like that for the rest of your life?

moneyistooshorttomention

Just what I've always said FrugalSod - as in "would you want to try?" and some people honestly wouldn't #handsup.co.uk

Each to their own on that one - but some of us are much more inclined to think "Well - if everyone else wants extreme challenges feel free- but count me out personally"

#watched the film "Everest" recently and just kept thinking "Why on EARTH would some people regard a challenge like that as fun? No accounting for taste...."

Personally - I'd regard any "extreme survival scenario" in exactly the same light. Each to their own - but not for me.

I'll stick to my own form of prepping - ie managing my money well/having a bit of cash by me/being well stocked-up with goods and cultivating the garden and, in my case, being pretty well-informed about my legal rights in any situation I'm involved in (that particular prep. has stood me in very good stead in more than one type of situation and I count that as just as necessary as the well-stocked larder personally).

[Deleted User]

Life at any age is wonderful so is well worth hanging on to for as long as possible, you only live once and we mean to make the most of our lives whatever the circumstances for every single second we have them, even the end of civilisation, enjoy life, embrace life but above all LIVE FULLY!!!

COOLTRIKERCHICK

I personally think it's good to know a few extreme survival skills, OK it might be a very rare occasion where you would need to use them, BUT I think by learning some of these skills it changes your way of thinking, and your mind set, so if you have a general problem, or something breaks, rather than look at it hopelessly, and get on the phone to buy another one , or phone a person to fix it.. You get into prep thinking mode and try and work out how to fix it.

It all goes hand in hand with the make do and mend, and recycle and reuse mind set

Hope that made sense, as it does in my head. Lol

As it was such a lovely warm day yesterday, we spent most if it cutting up the HUGE pile of old pallets for fire wood. And we also split a LOAD of logs.

Last year we only bought a couple of bags of coal, and a few bags of those sawdust logs from home bargains . as we had run out of our own seasoned chopped logs ( we have loads of trees on our smallholding )

Frugalsod

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

Life at any age is wonderful so is well worth hanging on to for as long as possible, you only live once and we mean to make the most of our lives whatever the circumstances for every single second we have them, even the end of civilisation, enjoy life, embrace life but above all LIVE FULLY!!!

Yes but when it becomes almost Mad Max levels of upheaval then it does become a different matter. Though I suspect that should things be that bad anyway it will be those that have not prepared that will be in the most trouble.

There has been a lot of concern by some crazies that there is a UN agenda (Agenda 21) to depopulate the planet. What they are missing is that this a plan for sustainable long term development. At the moment we are using resources at the same rate that we will need 3 earths to fulfil our needs.

Yet there are economic models that have exactly the same effect and massive population falls without wars purely because of resource constraints. So by living as efficiently as possible with as low an impact on the environment might be a good way to live. Growing your own vegetables and giving up most meat might be very efficient for resources. Using solar is another.

The interesting aspect is that the average person will do a lot better than the elites because we will have the necessary skills and be fewer in number. So it will be like the impact of the black death on Europe that allowed tradesmen to flourish. In this respect this will probably happen again, as the real balance of power will swing back to the people, what is left of them.

[Deleted User]

Don't agree my friend, life is the biggest gift we humans are ever given, it's so special that we owe it to ourselves and the universe to make of it the best we can with no reservations as to the conditions we find ourselves in at the time, we MUST live it to the full as well as we can and for as long as we are able. I don't think the end of 'civilisation' as we know it is a relevant get out clause for stopping trying. Mad Max or not I'll LIVE until my last breath, I'll enjoy this fantastic thing that is life and I'll die happy!!!

COOLTRIKERCHICK

What is the saying, history repeats itself??

So looking back at the past, will help us move forward, but alot of people don't look at, or have forgotten the old life skills that were used throughout the ages..

Also since 2008 I think it is trendy and ' with it' to upcycle and re- vamp old furniture and recycle things, but people have been doing it for umpteen years, and the majority of society have looked down on these people .but now it's trendy , they have pushed the prices right up on old brown furniture lol, a few years ago you could pick up old wardrobes etc for a £..

I have also noticed over the last few years that prepping has been mentioned and talked about more and more on the TV and radio, so was wondering what type of impact it will have? More people prepping?? More companies jumping on the band wagon and inflating the price of things? Re- supply and demand??

[Deleted User]

Heavens to Betsy we've become trendy and fashionable CTC when did that happen, blink and you miss it eh? it's bound to be a 5 minute wonder for most of humanity and they'll pick up prepping and run with it for a while until something else takes their eye and then it will be forgotten and in a couple of years all the prepping equipment they buy will be on Fleabay, and we'll be able to get it cheap!!! Can't be bad can it pet?

Frugalsod

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

Don't agree my friend, life is the biggest gift we humans are ever given, it's so special that we owe it to ourselves and the universe to make of it the best we can with no reservations as to the conditions we find ourselves in at the time, we MUST live it to the full as well as we can and for as long as we are able. I don't think the end of 'civilisation' as we know it is a relevant get out clause for stopping trying. Mad Max or not I'll LIVE until my last breath, I'll enjoy this fantastic thing that is life and I'll die happy!!!

I would agree to some extent. Personally I do not think it will get so bad in our lifetimes that it will be an issue. It will be for our grandchildren though. At the end of the day we do not have to be the best just better than most.

If resources do start to limit our lifestyles then some of the Bear Gryll type skills will also have their limitations. With our current population we could not all live off the land. There are not enough trees to start with, same for wildlife. So the trick is to be as efficient with resources so that it becomes less of a drain on the planet. So the things that you suggested such as repair clothes etc will be very useful. Solar cooking and power generation would also limit our needs for energy.

Until then we should all try and live as good a life as we can.

greenbee

jk0 wrote: »

Hmm. Not sure about putting a keyboard in a dishwasher. I'd fill a washing up bowl full of distilled water and leave in there for an hour agitating occasionally, then dry in airing cupboard.

Used to be standard practice for Mac tech support but I haven't done that for a while. But only mac, not PC. And no detergent. If its already not working you have nothing to lose.

Mind you, turning keyboards upside down and getting the crumbs out regularly helps. And if you do spill something on it, turn it upside down immediately to stop the problem spreading. Sugary drinks are the worst. Lots of companies have (or had) a 'no drinks on your desk' policy due to the high level of keyboard destruction from coffee with sugar in it...