Preparedness for when

mrs_lds

GreyQueen wrote: »

Yeah. I was reading How Not to Get Killed in a War Zone by Rosie Garthwaite recently. She's ex-Army and now a journalist. She points out many things she's seen, including how loving and decent men will trample other people's small children underfoot to get food and water for their own small children.

When it gets ugly, it's very ugly, as we're wired to survive and our instinct is to protect our kin above all others.

Which is why you need to keep your OPSEC and be prepared to dispense charity at one remove, as you wouldn't want to be known as the household with the cupboards full of food or you might well find yourself making involuntary donations to the most aggressive members of society, and having your own family go hungry as a result.

What is Opsec? Tia x

nuatha

mrs_lds wrote: »

What is Opsec? Tia x

Opsec is a military acronym for Operational Security.
Basically the idea that the fewer people who are in the know, the lower your exposure to risk.
HTH

grandma247

A garage not too far from me charged over the odds during the petrol shortage (the big one) and it went out of business pretty quick after that. It has only recently been opened as a garage again.

I don't know if anyone else saw it but there was a man on the news last week in America who said he had used half a tank of gas trying to find more? Surely he would have been better off staying home and only using the car if he really needed it such as for getting to work? It came accross as such a daft thing to do. Half a tank would get dh to work all week and he drives 5 miles to work.

It was very cold last night but it has been a lovely day. Dh did not have to work today so he put the new window in the bedroom. It used to be the coldest room but it is lovely and warm now. The cowboy who put the windows in here has a lot to answer for. Large gaps all around the frame and covered up with wood panels, no expanding foam or padding to stop up the gaps behind the wood. It is also very quiet in there now. We used to be constantly checking to see if the window was open before because it was so noisy. We think all the windows are like this.

thriftwizard I think I have always had the prepared mindset. I remember playing disaster games as a kid I did live abroad for most of my childhood which may have had something to do with it. Think monsoon floods etc.

wondercollie

Grandma, Americans are addicted to their cars. They don't do small cars either. It has to be at least a Ford Escape (and they consider that a small car). On the East Coast they love their Escaldes, Grand Cherokees, and the odd Hummer. Neighbourhoods aren't laid out for walking and public transit is often really poorly laid out.

I live a 30 minute walk from the shops in my neighbourhood. Due to poor bus service a 14 minute drive to work turns out to 110 minutes on the bus with three changes.

So, I shop and buy gas on the way home from work. The population back there is huge. Two winters back we had a huge snowstorm that the City just didn't have removal plans for. It was a nightmare. It took ten days to clear up the mess, by the end of January we had filled up our snow lots, we had no place left to store the stuff. The last of the piles melted in August! I made it out to work every day in a Focus with four snowtyres and had my pantry full.

What I'm trying to say, I guess, is the North American reality is very different from the UKs.

Popperwell

wondercollie wrote: »

I live a 30 minute walk from the shops in my neighbourhood. Due to poor bus service a 14 minute drive to work turns out to 110 minutes on the bus with three changes.

That seems a problem here and in your country too, the most direct routes in my part of the UK take around 25 minutes+ to travel approx 7 miles...and after 6pm run only one per hour, the late bus is not late enough should you want to go out and...it only completes 75% of the route so if you live in the last two towns on those routes you are left in the middle of nowhere.

Same county further North there are more bus services and they run later and complete their journeys...

esmf73

This is going to sound silly as I have a small store cupboard and freezers full of food, but what do you guys buy to put in your stores?

Oh is ex army so we have gas stoves and gas. We have a multi fuel burner and wind up torches. Warm clothes, candles (although probably not enough) and blankets / duvets etc. I've stocked up on toilet rolls, kitchen rolls and that sort of thing. Oh and I need to Los some weight (not too much) but I suppose when shtf I shouldn't be thinking of that.

Ideas welcome.

Popperwell

Hi esmf,
I don't think you are going wrong with what you have already. Just think of the household items that you use and buy a couple of spare. Also, decide if you are going to buy items when on offer or buy a cheaper own brand or whether you are buying from a main supermarket or somewhere like Aldi's.

The same with food. You may have your fridge/freezer full but want to decide if you'd like some dry goods in jars, tins or packets which usually have a long shelf life. If you use what you buy, nothing is wrong...people think of a major disaster but can just be to offset the price of food rising.

Just read up the threads in this section and you'll see loads of suggestions/tips but I am sure others will give you lots of specific advice.

mrs_lds

Morning preppers. An insightful article from the telegraph.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/consumertips/household-bills/9649310/Food-prices-are-rising-and-its-going-to-get-worse.html

vanoonoo

morning all - I had another comedy thought on the way to work today - how's this for a challenge - hi vis paracord, fashioned via macrame / knitting / crochet / some other means into a hi vis jacket I realised that altho me and he have hi vis at home and soon to be in the car (no, i dont know why it's that way round either), I probably need something in my bag incase I need to walk along a road in gloomy weather. Do we think a hi vis paracord vest would work

hope you're all ok - I've had a fairly lazy weekend

craigywv

vanoonoo wrote: »

morning all - I had another comedy thought on the way to work today - how's this for a challenge - hi vis paracord, fashioned via macrame / knitting / crochet / some other means into a hi vis jacket I realised that altho me and he have hi vis at home and soon to be in the car (no, i dont know why it's that way round either), I probably need something in my bag incase I need to walk along a road in gloomy weather. Do we think a hi vis paracord vest would work

hope you're all ok - I've had a fairly lazy weekend

:)sounds great u could start a whole new trend PATEND IT QUICK!!!!!!!!!!!!1