Preparedness for when

GreyQueen

Popperwell wrote: »

Being alone I can stay secretive unless the landlord visits but I can make it look tidy...

Just been thinking parrafin might be available at a camping store that sell all things for camping, clothes and supplies etc...

Pops, unless your LL's representative is going to take time to open every cupboard and drawer, how on earth will they know what you have stored?

I think I recall you mentioning built-in wardrobes? How about stacking cans and packets neatly in boxes on the floor of such a wardrobe and folding something like a quilt or a blanket over it? Add a couple of things onto hangers and even if anyone opens the door all they'll see is the sort of thing that they expect to see, and look no further.

Human beings have to edit a lot of what we see or our brains would fry, so we use shorthand methods. If we see approximately what we think we should be seeing in a place, we give it no further thought. What you don't want to do is have stuff conspiciously out of place which causes people to ask questions and investigate further.

F'instance, if you glance into my bedroom you see a bed. If you saw what was under it, you might thing !!!!!!?! But that's what valances are for.......... If you open my airing cupboard, you see folded linens, which is what you'd expect. If you were to rootle under them, if might occur to you that I own more soap that a branch of B00ts, but why would you be doing that?

Thins kind of hiding in plain sight wouldn't fool a full-on police search but I very much doubt a housing officer is going to even open a cupboard, never mind dismantle the joint.

You could also think about putting things under tables with very long cloths on them, perhaps with the table against the wall. Looks very normal..........

My tenancy agreement has rules about gas canisters but they don't say anything about hurricane lamps.............:rotfl:

Salt_n_Prepper wrote: »

Hi All,

Very long time lurker, but first post.

The new series of Doomsday Preppers starts Wednesday 20th March, at 8 pm on the NatGeo channel. 16 part series.

Thanks for all your great posts, especially GreyQueen and MLW, you have put many a smile on my face, and thought in my mind.

SnP (Mr)

Welcome from lurkdom. Wish I had a telly to watch preptastic programmes on...........

Among other things (gardening, seeing friends, doing the chores and the shopping) I have been giving some thought to the storing of water. I have purchased a 25 litre water container from the camping store for a tenner. As 1 litre = 1 kilo weight, I would not be able to move this 25 kg/ 55 lb container very far when filled. I need it to be at hand but hidden from casual view and as most of my tiny home is on casual view, I shall have to be oblique in my approach.

I'm planning to have 2 of these big containers (as well as the many many 2 litre water bottles I already have) hidden inside the flat. They will have to be hidden in plain view, as well.

I really don't want to explain to pals why I have 50 + litres of water around the place. Not that I don't trust my pals, but can you trust everyone they might choose to mention your business to? If it all goes pear-shaped, we don't want to be the go-to household for looters, do we?

What I'm planning to do is make tailored covers (think boxy) from fabric which matches my decor and stand these containers around the home like casual furniture. The look I'm aiming for is a padded cloth stool and I shall make them oversize so that they will take some polyester wadding, the kind which comes in sheets, to give them a more boxy, less water-carrier look. The idea is that the covers will sit over the containers like tea-cosies over teapots and only take a couple of seconds to remove. I may run a flap underneath, with snaps, to discourage any casual removals.

I have my eye on some curtains at the c.s. which seem just the ticket. One of these water containers will live in my sitting-room and one in my bedroom. Since I have a sewing machine and plenty of thread, plus newspapers to make patterns, this should all be accomplished on the next rainy day.

It would be the work of seconds to break into my flat so the important thing for me is to fly well below the radar and hope that trouble would go towards more lucrative targets than a tiny flat in a notorious council block.

If SHTF, there would be a spell of people looting consumer goods like high-end electronics and designer duds before the penny dropped that water, food, camping equipment, medical supplies and tools are what they should be after.

My thoughts about SHTF are (immediate term).

1. If you have a vehicle, don't let the tank get below 3/4 full - ever.

2. If you have a pushbike, keep it's tyres pumped, chain oiled and pump and repair kit ready to roll.

3. If you take essential meds, try to finesse things so that you have plenty by you. May be impossible for the opiate painkillers, of course, but many other things can be done.

4. Keep phones charged and credit on (if PAYG) and have a hardcopy of essential numbers somewhere handy in case it is lost or damaged. Perhaps laminate that hardcopy; copyshops can do this for pence if you don't have a laminator yourself.

5. If you live apart from relatives, have a plan to get to them, or for them to get to you.

6. If you live in town, what are the access routes from your home to main roads? Many estates are built with a single access route to deter through traffic. Something accidental or deliberate happens to that pinch point and your vehicle goes nowhere. Do you know alternate routes either across town, around town, or what to take if the main road/ motorway is blocked?

7. Pay cash for food supplies and try not to do all your shopping at one time. If you buy 20 tins of whatever at once, people will notice. Add an extra tin or two per trip. Mebbe leave off the clubcard or other loyalty thingies, too.

8. If you have kids, be careful about what they know. Kids love to brag on their parents and they could be undermining your household's safety by telling another kid who tells their parent and before long half the community is into your business. Right now they might just laugh at your tinhattery but if it all goes wrong, they'll remember your 40 tins of sardines............

9. Do as much as possible in cash. I used to work for a debt advice service. We'd see people's bank statements all the time. You'd be surprised at how much your bank statement gives away to even a quick glance; the make of car you drive (that servicing at the Ford garage), where you shop, where you go (and when) and even your alcoholism (the daily spend at the offie which just happens to be exactly what a bottle of spirits costs...........). Trust me, that's far too much info to have in other people's hands.

I've also been a postie and it's not for nothing that posties are known as coppers' narks; you'd be horrified about what your regular post-person knows about you, just from what comes through your letter-box.

10. Aim to look poor. Not down-and-out poor, but a little bit shabby, a wee bit careworn. Your outer clothes in particular. In a recession, it's not a good idea to be blinging it. If people are hardtiming it at work or socially, hardtime it along with them. Don't be a flash g*t, don't blab your private business all over town. Think of yourself as the Grey Man or Grey Woman. You want to be the person who is seen and not remembered. Or if they do remember you, it's as that daft old bird or funny little feller with their shopping trolley/ shabby backpack who bumbles about the town, totally harmless.

;) Of course, what's in that trolley or backpack might be very interesting indeed, which is why it's hidden up inside........

westcoastscot

I don't know why no one is in our corner politically - had a wee rant earlier about it and then scrubbed it. Be nice to see the fighting spirit of the miners etc again wouldn't it??? At least we felt like we were making enough noise to be heard - now I just feel like we're all wimpering in the dark.

Been out in my garden today preparing for planting. It's still winter of course here but i've got seedlings on all the windowsill.

grandma247

mardatha wrote: »

What I can't understand is why no political parties are shouting in support of the ordinary people. The Oppostion isn't uttering a cheep, the Lib Dems aren't uttering a cheep, nobody cares about us.

Probably because they all know just how deep in the doo doo we really are and are frightened to death because they can't fix it.

mrs_lds

Had no idea how much Russian money was in Cypriot banks like 60% no wonder they are collecting as much as they can lots of money laundering going on looks like the first eit out of the euro Italy next me thinks.

Margaret54

Good post Greyqueen. I have peas and tomatoes growing on the kitchen windowsill, and some seed potatoes in the container in shed. I too am concerned at what is happening and my dh and I have been talking about it today. Welcome new people:) it is such a great place here and we all share and learn from each other.

GreyQueen

westcoastscot wrote: »

I don't know why no one is in our corner politically - had a wee rant earlier about it and then scrubbed it. Be nice to see the fighting spirit of the miners etc again wouldn't it??? At least we felt like we were making enough noise to be heard - now I just feel like we're all wimpering in the dark.

Been out in my garden today preparing for planting. It's still winter of course here but i've got seedlings on all the windowsill.

WCS, I have a vibe about the BT which feels to me like going thru the "tartan testbed" of the Poll Tax all over again (lived thru it in Scotland in the 1980s and regard it as one of the drivers for independance). It's a perfect storm brewing, the legislation is beyond cackhanded, even Cameron snapping that it isn't the bedroom tax sounds like a reprise of Thatcher et al snapping that it wasn't poll tax it was community charge.

And lo, when the papers came out under the 30 year rule, they'd been calling it poll tax all along in cabinet.......:mad:

As a seasoned and sarcastic observer, I think this BT could be the thing which brings down the coalition. And maybe, just maybe, will motivate some people to get off their backsides and out to the polling stations.............

bluebag

mardatha wrote: »

What I can't understand is why no political parties are shouting in support of the ordinary people. The Oppostion isn't uttering a cheep, the Lib Dems aren't uttering a cheep, nobody cares about us.

They are all pasted into a corner and admitting that would cause havoc. Better to give a little whistle and pretend it all isn't happening.

I don't really think any of them, no matter what colour badge they wear know what to do.

bluebag

GreyQueen,

I have a nasty feeling about the BT too, I think it might be a $h*t sandwich for the coal shun without the bread.

They may have gone a step to far in not understanding the poorest can't just up sticks and move to a smaller place in a moments notice.

But when have tptb ever understood !!!!!! is going on, half the time they would be better off reading the sun instead of all the working parties , white papers, mori polls and steering comittees they consult at massive cost. It's a tale told by an idiot.

GreyQueen

bluebag, I work for a local authority which owns its own housing stock. We have people clamouring to downsize. We simply don't have enough one-bedrooms for them to downsize into. I don't think any local authority or HA landlord does have many one bedroom places, tbh.

Our (insert expletive of choice) MP has gone on record as being pro-BT. So not gonna get a sympathetic hearing there, Mr or Mrs Constituent...........:( I'm remembering some the many desperate and vulnerable people I've spoken to about the BT in the past 6 months and am fearful that they may do something to themselves in desperation.

I'm expecting this to bring down the government. But not before it's ruined a good many lives.

westcoastscot

It's a huge concern isn't it? Trouble is we have to find a solution somehow, or one will be forced on us at some point - it's only a matter of time until someone calls us on our debt, so probably better we try and address things ourselves if we can.

GQ part of my job is assisting vulnerable folks with welfare rights/benefit applications and it's getting really dire - more so for the more vulnerable who just aren't well enough to "play the game". It makes me so angry I could spit to be honest -when I think of some of the people I know who've relied on benefits when they could have made more of a fist of life, imo they've really screwed over the truly needy. I think most of us who work in these arenas know someone who won't make any effort even to try voluntary work, in case they are deemed to have some work capacity and may have look at working even a few hours a week. I know there aren't the jobs any more though, so a bit of a moot point now I guess.

The bedroom tax will just make people more ill, and won't save money in the long run because people will either be forced to default on their rent, becoming homeless and then come under the auspices of the homeless service - in effect costing the LA more, or ending up back in hospital and costing the NHS more - it's stupid.

Hopefully this will be the prompt for people to stand up and speak out - its about time!!! You're entirely right about a perfect storm scenario - some days at work I just cannot believe what's happening.