Preparedness for when

Popperwell

I buy small amounts but as I sometimes make things last/eat less my store builds up and dates are good sio they have a long life on most things...it's not panic buying as such...I think most OS'ers on MSE do things sensibly rather than those that sweep into a supermarket and strip the shelves bare...

Fruball

vanoonoo wrote: »

i think the oldstylers could make a great homeguard with our aprons, paracord, cutlery drainers, weed whackers and sharpened toothbrushes.

what other standard issue kit is there? knitted socks and crochet hats along with fleece scarves obviously, but anything else?

You forgot the OS badge... The safety pin!

I watched the D00msday Preppers programme this evening... Did anyone else notice that the guy who had the underground tunnel had no provisions for getting rid of waste? Either food or human waste.... or did I miss something?

I have no interest in "bugging out" (that expression still makes me giggle!) but those interested in parac0ard, have a look on ebay for parac0ard bracelets - they are already made up and have a good length of the stuff! Personally I cannot think of a time I may want or need it but each to their own

I experimented with fried up tinned potatoes yesterday and they got the BIG thumbs up from the kids, so at least they won't starve as that is what I have mostly stored

Anyone storing wheat, remember you can grow wheat grass from that which is nutricious

It was interesting to note that you can make lake water drinkable by leaving it in the sun for 5 hours - Altho they were in Arizona and I guess the equivalent would be a week in the UK :rotfl:

I thought the series started on the 5th too, and that is what it said in the top right hand corner of the screen whilst it was on so I assume it is a new series, but that is a guess.

Happy prepping all x

vanoonoo

I think they are different programmes with slightly different titles - I saw the one with the hydroponics people and the tunnel family the other day and I thought the same about the waste!! eugh. I think that is called doomsdayers 2012 and the new one starting on 5th sept is doomsday preppers I believe

vanoonoo

Fruball wrote: »

You forgot the OS badge... The safety pin!

doh! I think I figured that was standard for all oldstylers not especially for the [STRIKE]zom[/STRIKE]homeguard brigade

GreyQueen

nobodyspecial wrote: »

It might be worth remembering that the government ( before the start of WW2) advocated getting stores going. Then because some people did this rather too well, rationing was introduced and lasted for many, many years. Yes a few days or even a week or two stocks is prudent, anything more than that on any sort of larger scale, will result in shortages that will trigger rationing. In my opinion a good thing, as the poor cannot afford to stockpile, they barely have enough to last from week to week.:( OK for those with resources to have months of supplies, but please consider those on severely restricted funds, or simply don't have the grow your own, demolish the supermarket etc or simply cupboard/freezer whatever storage.

These are good points. Although I believe that rationing owed rather more to the following factors; formerly civilian factories and raw materials being diverted into war work, thus making much less available for civilians and the difficulty of getting supply ships past enemy shipping and aircraft. We haven't been self-sufficient as a nation for hundreds of years.

By any economic stretch I'm personally counted as among the working poor and if you're thinking Yeah, right and she's online but claiming she's poor, I don't think so I'd like to point out that my internet is costing me £3.24 a month and this is a 10 y.o. desktop PC which has seen better days and couldn't be turned into hard cash even if I wanted to. I don't have telly and what I save on a TV license can be spent on other things.

When you're skint, you have much less ability to manoever through changes, especially downturns, than people who have more leeway in their budgets. So you need as much notice to weather the storm as possible. Which may mean leaving that 2 litre bottle of coke at the shop and coming away with a few cheap cans of food instead. I don't think anyone in this country finds a 12p can of basics rice pud an unaffordable luxury item and if you could only set aside £1/ week for building a food reserve, you could build up a tidy little storecupboard in a month or two.

The important thing is, harsh reality doesn't go away because people don't know about it. In the run-up to rationing in WW2, which was introduced at different times for different things, the government needed time to get the ration books and allied administration in place and kept it very hush-hush to avoid panicking the populace. They introduced clothes rationing one Bank Holiday weekend, I believe. The idea being a lag where the shops were closed so that people couldn't panic-buy.

If people don't pay attention to the serious undercurrents in this world, they will wake up one day and find that something big and nasty has breached the surface and will be theirs to cope with for the foreseeable future.

Butterfly_Brain

Here it comes
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2194436/Family-food-bills-soar-British-shoppers-face-paying-bread-pasta-meat-devastating-drought-ravages-crops-U-S.html#ixzz24owtJLZW

Butterfly_Brain

Luckily the wartime farm starts next Thursday, we will need all the tips we can get to weather the storm that is brewing.

D&DD

lol love the uniform ideas but I think if I turned up to the meet dressed like that people would probably run for cover :D
Dashing out with doglet will catch up later I seem to be chasing my tail myself today! Where is the time going???
Thanks for posting the food links will read them when I get back,I did check out Farming today yesterday too they have the crop reports on there for 24th August
later peeps XXX

http://www.farminguk.com/News/Grain-and-Oilseeds-Market-Report-24th-August-2012_24096.html

jellybean08

Hello all,

I have just taken several hours to read this thread but did so with great interest. I honestly didn't think so many people thought this way. I saw the ads for doomsday preppers but boy do they seem to take things to the extremes! I became interested in trying to be as self sufficient as possible through my degree where I have spent a lot of hours studying the effects of global warming, drought, crop shortages and so on. I don't believe that we should, or can, rely on foreign imports forever.

Like I said, I didn't realise so may others also thought it was important to prepare for things like power cuts/severe weather etc and have started thinking about what I could do. I have asked hubby to build some shelves under the stairs so I can start my own little store and whilst we actually managed to grow some fruit and veg in the garden, it needs to be on a bit of a bigger scale.

Look forward to picking up some more tips along the way

Helen2k8

In terms of human waste, in the short term bucket of wood shavings then the compost heap. In the long term - "humanure", tree bogs, back to the privy...