Preparedness for when

2tonsils

Have just been catching up with all the posts. Didn't get time to come on here what with storms and one armed mopping up of rainwater. Our fixer upper didn't come to mend it/have a look as he drove into a telegraph post getting out of the way of a wayward Greek driver...ooops.

So have a report in to the insurance company and waiting for them to bring someone to check it out. The good news is that it has now stopped raining and the sun is out again. Long may it last.Thank God we have a tiled sealed floor as it meant we could just squeegee it out and nothing got ruined (except my peace and quiet). At the worst we had two inches of water pooling on the floor every half an hour so had to stand controlling it...life is never simple here in Greece.

Meanwhile there have been two landslides, one of which brought huge cyprus trees down the mountain and stood them perfectly upright in the middle of the road.....You couldn't make it up could you? Another couple of main roads have disappeared down the cliffside so goodness knows when they will be repaired as the local councils have no money to do it.

My shoulder joint is much better since the surgeon pushed it back into place but the nerves in that arm are really sore. I have continued on the anti inflammatories to try and control it and I still have the sling on. I have one more week with it on, then two or three before I can train at the gym again. I am in no rush to put any strain on it!

esmf73

Glad you are ok 2t.

Grey queen, whilst I found the book amazing, reading your posts on here you have far more knowledge - unless you are likely to be in a hurricane, nuclear war etc!! It did get a bit far fetched as I got deeper in! Honestly does anyone think that humans would survive a nuclear war unless they were holed up in a bunker somewhere? I don't think a bathtub and piece of plastic will protect you much!!!

RAS

esmf73 wrote: »

Grey queen, whilst I found the book amazing, reading your posts on here you have far more knowledge - unless you are likely to be in a hurricane, nuclear war etc!! It did get a bit far fetched as I got deeper in! Honestly does anyone think that humans would survive a nuclear war unless they were holed up in a bunker somewhere? I don't think a bathtub and piece of plastic will protect you much!!!

Having grown up when SHTF was potentially nuclear (my first political question "What is a world war, daddy" was inspired by the Bay of Pigs), I was astounded to discover that one of the few useful bits on advice in the Government publications was to whitewash the windows!

Apparently the flash precedes the blast for a considerable distance and the whitewash reflects the flash and protects from ignition. If the community can reduce the number of burning buildings, firestorms etc can be prevented. Not that I fancy surviving a nuclear war.

2tonsils

I honestly think we have more to fear from our own governments than from foreign ones. I never thought a nuclear war was likely and still don't. What is far more likely is that they will bleed us dry with their greed or ruin the earth with it...if they haven't already done so.....

pineapple

Too right 2T... Nor do I think we can assume our government will always be benign (if indeed it is).
Anyways - today I found myself trying to give myself a trim - always a sign that my hair is in dire need of a cut! As ever the scissors were rubbish and as ever I made a pigs ear of it and need to go get it done properly. But it got me thinking - I need a pair of decent hairdressing scissors in my arsenal. Plus a sharpening tool for knives and scissors.
My parents used to sharpen their knives but I think less people do it in today's throwaway society.
It's the never ending shopping list...

But here's something for FREE! Check out these survival links. The US centric martial arts stuff isn't for me :rotfl: but some of the links are brilliant.
http://alpha411.blogspot.ca/2012/11/100-free-survival-downloads.html

katieclampet

Sharpening tool for knives sounds very interesting and useful. The kind of thing I might buy, still looking for a steel (if thats what its called) to start fires.

Weather is absoultely freezing at the moment, but house is warm and cosy. I think if TSHTF one of the things I would miss most is a hot bath, in winter and a warm shower in summer.

kate

GreyQueen

Katie, you can find them in army surplus stores. They aren't expensive and are rated for a certain number of strikes (counted in thousands). Think of about £6-£12 mark.

You can also use a flint and a steel (you hold the flint in one hand and strike downwards with the steel in the other). The trick is that the sparks have to land on something very flammable like tinder. Watched the wonderful Ray Mears using a small bit of charcloth held over a small flint. When struck by the steel, the sparks rose and dropped back on the charcloth and bob's yer uncle. Bet I couldn't do it so well.......

I have flints on my allotment, some of them with the knapping marks from the Early Neolithic period as identified by the museum. My lottie site was a farmstead back in the day. Can see some experimentations going on up there in the warmer weather.

When I was playing mudpies in the woods with the Mad Bushcrafters, they taught us how to raise a burr of steel on the back of a one-sided knifeblade (the side you put the burr on depends whether you are right or left handed). Then, holding a firesteel point downwards just above a tinder pile, you strike the back of the knifeblade fast down the firesteel, and those sparks fly........... it's something I need more practice on.

For sharpening I have a small piece of Arkansaw (sp?) stone which I've owned for about 25 years. I've heard that you can't buy it anymore as the deposit is all mined out, so don't be decluttering any of those, my dears.

Rosemary_Jane

pineapple wrote: »

Plus a sharpening tool for knives and scissors.
My parents used to sharpen their knives but I think less people do it in today's throwaway society.

My Mum always has the sharpest carving knife I've ever seen. She's a dab hand with a carborundum stone - hers is worn to a lovely hollow, as is her fathers which she also uses.

I still haven't mastered it.
I found some on Amazon ...
http://www.amazon.co.uk/carborundum-LO1-Sharpening-Stone-Oil/dp/B008N02EXU/

R

herbily

Vanoonoo, so sorry to hear about your dog - such a shock - and sorry to hear about other poorly hounds.

I've spent the last couple of days glued to my newly-arrived copy of "The Cottager's Companion" (and boy, have my family had fun with that title) so thank you, Mrs Lurcherwalker! It's quite good on the subject of food and growing things (though I don't think I'll be getting a crossbow any time soon to get meat).

Also many thanks to all those who recommended the Michael Allaby, lot of information on energy in there. At the moment, if the power goes out, I've got heat and candles, and a rather feeble wind-up radio, but I really need to look at better sources of lighting. Does anyone have experience of paraffin lamps? Are they worth getting?

maryb

http://www.preservingabundance.com/blog.html

http://justincasebook.wordpress.com/

Two blogs by Kathy Harrison, the author of the book GQ mentioned