Preparedness for when

craigywv

i agree lynn but i also think its back to good old fashioned books , they will hold the key to survival ie..if the electricity goes down there be no computers and its all stored in pc and laptops all this info on how to trap animals,purify water,light a fire from nothing. i think it should be mandatory in schools that the kids learn COMPULSARY like maths,english etc , that theylearn basic survival guidance. ilove hearing you have all these books on foraging and would love to be near yourself,GQ,and soooo many of you onthis thread when the shtf at least we could all combine what we know and get on with it. xxx

GreyQueen

craigywv wrote: »

GQ, until i came onto this site i never even thought sbout oil and energy! it was just pay the bill and keep warm but now its soooo different i want to educate myself and pass it down to my son so he is aware that nothing is forever and always have plan b,c,d and even e . i want him to be able to have many different views on how he can survive and continue in life and be prepared and not think like the majority but think for himself.

:T Sounds like a Mum with her head screwed on right. Good for you.

Don't know how old your lad is but there is a lot of very interesting stuff out there on the web.

I found it helpful when I understood that oil is effectively a force-magnifier. We humans have been using tools to magnify the force of our actions since the dawn of time. We use fire to cook food, so we can eat things we otherwise couldn't eat, so our guts could progressively get smaller and we could divert more calories to our huge (relative to other apes) brains.

We've used all sorts of things to maximise our strength and reach but none of them have had the impact of abundant oil. Have you ever seen a pub called The Woolpack, or seen narrow bridges on remote parts, just wide enough to lead a string of pack animals across? Goods once moved all over the country on people's backs or animals' backs.

Compare and contrast this to the amount of goods which can be shifted by one truck on one day, with one driver and one fork-lift truck driver to offload the palletised stuff into a store or warehouse.

Think about how the UK is settled, compared to countries which were settled in the modern motor era. You're seldom more than 7 miles from a market town, with these being no more than about 15 miles apart. Yes, there are some exceptions, for remote areas of mountain and moorland, but why is this?

Because you needed to bring goods and animals to market, and to access the specialised services which a more diversified population centre could provide. And, thinking about walking, perhaps with a cart, you can only realistically go about 7 miles, do your trading, and about 7 miles back again.

Apart from the historical interest, what does this mean for us, going forward? My interpretation would be to think very carefully about where you set up your home. Are you within easy reach of your work (or a reasonable variety of work options)? Can you access healthcare,education, non-car transport links, retail, farmland (farmshops)? Can you cycle into town, preferably off road on cycle tracks?

I've known people who had fatal car accidents because they moved out of a middling sized town to have what they perceived as a better quality of life in a much smaller town. Even those who survive the daily commute end up spending a lot of money going hither and yon to work, to shop, to get educated, to get entertainment. It takes time and costs a lot.

Market towns of middling size are reckoned to have the very best quality of life. I do know of one particular large village where the amount of homes for sale is a direct barometer of the economy; the worse it is the more people are selling. Been watching this phenomenon for years. Country homes could end up plummeting in value.

[Deleted User]

The books are the result of far too many years hanging about at jumble sales and in charity shops and boot fairs!!!!! Useful though, I think my parents named me incorrectly - it really should have been Rose,Second Hand Rose at that!!!!!!! I've done some interesting courses too Backwoods Survival, Prehistoric Cooking, Flintknapping and Cordage, Victorian Cleaning, and my DD has even done Bronze casting (made her own sword!!!) leather working, basketmaking, Permaculture design, cheese making many things that will be needed as skills in the future, though hopefully not the sword making!!! It's all still out there if you know where to look and I'm grateful there are still folks who can teach and pass the knowledge on, Cheers Lyn xxx.

Paul_Varjak

Just came across this thread today and the few posts read so far have been fascinating.

It was only within the last couple of weeks that I have heard of the terms 'prepping', bug-out bag, SHTF etc. and they all seem to be Americanisms but it is clear there is a thriving preppers' community in the UK too.

I am going to look forward to reading the thousands of posts on this thread and, hopefully, make a few useful contributions.

craigywv

lynn..i want to make a sword!!! gq my boy is 9 and willing to learn. i agree about the market towns and that was actually a part of the documentary in the U.S.A. the suburbs will be a thing of the past as most burbs are 50 -60 miles outside the cities thats a 100-120 round trip journey to work and back PER DAY!!! and when the gas goes all these people wont be able to getto work etc...i am lucky i am in the city but with a decent garden to grow and part time job around the corner, but how many people arnt in this postion i know when i got petrol the other day i put 10 quid in and read on pump thats 7 liters .....3 and a half 2 litre jugs of milk!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!its nothing!!!! i pity anyone who has long journeys to go on.in the future i think people will use all local ammenities and "travel" from city to city more like a day outing not just fly up motorway to big outlet shops i think travel will have to be very well thought out weeks in advance.

Popperwell

This will sound selfish but perhaps for myself perhaps I am fortunate not to see what's coming and being older(with health problems)my time would be limited somewhat.

In fact if wee return to the times that are more simple lives where we have hard physical work perhaps the amount of years Humans live may reduce again.

If energy was less abundant we may all be back to using candles for light and/or early nights and getting up depending on the amount of light available according to the seasons.

Less centralised governing from places like London and the like and many more decisions made locally in little villages/towns/hamlets and live our lives in a small radius of 7-10 miles.

To some extent most of my own life is contained within a few streets already.

Even medical advances that have helped us lived longer may not be available(drugs and operations)Will we be a more of a Big Society watching out for each other or will still have those who lord it over others like the old barons watching over the surfs?

grandma247

Mrs L, out of curiosity I googled how to make your own shoes. There are a lot of sites out there.

[Deleted User]

GRANDMA first catch your cow, then learn how to kill it, then learn how to skin it, then learn how to cleanse the hide, then learn how to tan it, then learn how to make the sinews into threads, then learn how to make a pattern, then learn how to refine metal to make a cutting implement and some needles, then learn how to make a moccassin, easy yes???

POPS I intend to live to be 150 and see all that happens and survive it and live well afterwards. I hope I will be useful and always earn my keep, how about that for ambition, Cheers Lyn xxx.

GreyQueen

Paul_Varjak wrote: »

Just came across this thread today and the few posts read so far have been fascinating.

It was only within the last couple of weeks that I have heard of the terms 'prepping', bug-out bag, SHTF etc. and they all seem to be Americanisms but it is clear there is a thriving preppers' community in the UK too.

I am going to look forward to reading the thousands of posts on this thread and, hopefully, make a few useful contributions.

Welcome aboard.

Yeah, you have to pick and choose among the American sites, as a lot of them aren't UK-appropriate. We haven't got huge wilderness areas to bug out into, nor are most of us going to be acquiring firearms. And what some sites call "folders" are "lock-knives" to you and me and "offensive weapons" to the constabulary.:rotfl:

Some of the wilder shores of prepping contain some looney tunes, but there are useful things to be had in lots of places. A form of prepping which wouldn't get much time from the gun-mad might be to learn how to make preserves and bake, and cook on non-standard facilites like campfires and stoves made from IKEA cutlery holders.

Here are a few sites (there are very many more) which I find interesting;

http://22billionenergyslaves.blogspot.co.uk/

http://ferfal.blogspot.co.uk/

http://thearchdruidreport.blogspot.co.uk/

HTH.

ETA, Mrs LW, the family historian (hi Dad) has just unearthed an ancestress who made 104! Mid-eighteenth to mid-nineteenth century. Bygorry, I'd love a time machine to go back and pick her brains!

[Deleted User]

See 150 isn't too much to ask for at all is it? knowing you you'll now raise the bar to 155! Cheers Lyn xxx.