Preparedness for when

[Deleted User]

BessieBooBoo wrote: »

Um, I Am assuming this doesn't mean cuddle down...

BBB

No, it means cervical dislocation.

VJsmum

I like coconut oil too, though I use it mostly as a body lotion. Although that is because the one i bought - from a boot fair - isn't solid, it is rather runny, so I think it has been mixed with somehting else. It is fine as a body lotion but I will get something better next time. It was only £1 a tub, so I can't complain.

The 5 top items intrigues me - what would you keep? I know we are all prepping for different things and different lengths of time but in a total SHTF situation what 5 would be the best things to have? Water, I was thinking Olive oil, but maybe coconut would be better, pasta? tomatoes? milk? Hmm, requires more thought I reckon.

My stores are largely pasta, tomatoes, water, baked beans, cereal, milk, tea bags, lentils, flour, tinned fish. But that is mainly because I buy things on offer rather than specifically to stock up for a crisis. Perhaps I should rethink.

GreyQueen

Morning all.

Decided not to have the pooter on after w*rk yesterday as I'd had a poor night's sleep and was pie-eyed with fatigue. Did some domestic stuff then noticed that the weather which had been grey and miserably cold with spitty snow and a howling north wind, suddenly went sunny at teatime.

Bah! Too late in the day. But I was so starved for solar radiation that I had to go out in it even tho it was still baltic. Went out with the trolley to the camping store and got my portable butane stove and gas cylinders. Will practice with that at the weekend.

I felt a bit smug as I bowled along the street in my Norma Normal guise, thinking about how excellent trollies are as an aid to the ole OPSEC.

I have also decided that for a social gathering here early next month, which will comprise of a mixture of friends and almost-friends, I will remove certain prepperish tomes from the bookshelf. They're bookish people, bound to look, bookshelf is very prominent, don't really want to get sidetracked into discussion of prepping in mixed company. After all, everyone has the Royal Marines Survival Manual, don't they?:rotfl:And bushcraft and foraging books etc etc?

surbanwifey, whenever I am tempted to feel a bit ARRRRGGHHHH-the-nukes-are-coming-we're-gonna-die (and this has been known, but very rarely) I am reminded of convos with an older friend who recently retired.

She was a teen at the scariest points of the Cold War when it didn't seem unreasonable to think that there was no point in making plans for any kind of future as we were all doomed to die shortly in a nuclear war. I've also got older pals who were peripheral (as military brats) to the Suez crisis and grew up in freshy-divided Cyprus as well as Egypt. They have interesting stories, to be sure, but the world still turns.

As maryb (I think) said, there is a lot of posturing going on. NK's population is starving, many are in concentration camps and it will eventually collapse under the weight of collective insanity of its ruling cadres. They are also physically contained between China and America's client-state (SK). This has been going on for 60 years which is but a mere hiccup in the age of nations. NK won't last forever. China could squash them quite easily and probably will if they become more of a liability than an asset.

Wars are usually fought to get control of assets; fertile land, minerals, seaports, strategic waterways etc. If you want to know where the trouble spots are likely to be, globally, look for weakly-governed states sitting atop a lot of oil and mineral reserves; that is where the big powers will be fighting. I'd be more inclined to worry about Africa if I spent much energy worrying about geopolitics. I'd also be very suspicious of any movements around the Persian Gulf or the Panama Canal.

I think that the biggest threats to us in the immediate term are to wealth and standards-of-living, due to the constant devaluation of the currency and rising costs. Most people are poorer than they were a few years ago. To my mind, this trend will accelerate in coming years and our money on deposit is losing it's spending power even as we speak. This devaluation of fiat currencies is global, insofar as I have been able to ascertain. So, it makes sense to store some of your wealth, if you live more than hand-to-mouth, in tangibles, if you can.

And if they won't decay before use. And this also keeps them out of the way of "haircutting"; I truly regard current events in Cyprus as one of those key historical turning points. If you want to know exactly what can happen when a government takes control of its citizens' private wealth via the banking system, you could do far worse than read the history of Argentina in the past decade or so. Ferfal's blog is instructive.

As some of you may recall, I work for a local authority. We administer HB as well as still own our own houses and flats. Earlier this week one of my managers had head in hands and was almost screaming about the BT. It drives us spare at work, it is on the media every which way we turn, we feel that we're party to a disaster which will cost people their homes and there's nothing we can do to stop it.

I feel fearful for the people I talk to every day (several each day and for 6 months+ now) who are being affected by BT. So many people are incredibly vulnerable. I don't think the Gubment has a clue about how many people who, a couple of generations ago, would have been "in homes" or mental institutions are living in the community (read as; on benefit and in social housing) and how fragile their existance is. They're barely managing now, even with support workers and soc services involved, and this may tip some of them over the edge.:(

I guess that the world has always been uncertain but, that we in the West have had a few good decades with an illusion that we are safe and protected and all will be well and that our children will be a bit better off than we were and that the upward trend will continue indefinately. This pretty picture is fading fast and some of the more thoughtful members of society are beginning to raise their eyes from the TV and are starting to notice that things are going wrong.

We're among them. Keep prepping and if you do need to have a wee panic, please do it quietly and don't alarm the neighbours or there'll be a run on preptastic stuff and some burgers will put the prices up. Getchorepanics in early before the rush.

Gosh, an essay and with only one pint of tea aboard. Better get rehydrated with another cuppa. Laters, GQ xx

Helen2k8

JayneC - sounds like you're on my wavelength! I'd have a forest garden if only the plants would grow...
I did look at aquaponics - there was a nifty all-in-one thing that looked good but was only available in America. By the time I bought components to bodge my own system together it would be as expensive if not more so. (Ahhh, no, just seen the price that thing is currently selling at :O )
I saw brown trout mentioned as good cold-climate fish to use too.
I've seen quail "loose" in a greenhouse/polytunnel but I don't know how damaging they are to young plants or how you catch your dinner They should be good for keeping pests down.

GreyQueen

Helen2k8 wrote: »

JayneC - sounds like you're on my wavelength! I'd have a forest garden if only the plants would grow...
I did look at aquaponics - there was a nifty all-in-one thing that looked good but was only available in America. By the time I bought components to bodge my own system together it would be as expensive if not more so. (Ahhh, no, just seen the price that thing is currently selling at :O )
I saw brown trout mentioned as good cold-climate fish to use too.
I've seen quail "loose" in a greenhouse/polytunnel but I don't know how damaging they are to young plants or how you catch your dinner They should be good for keeping pests down.

I've been racking my brains as to where I read about the uses of quail; could you get Molloy's Permaculture 1 and Permaculure 2 from a library? I think it was in one of those.

Chickens can't be run in a veggie patch due to their scratching although they can usefully be penned on rough grass which you're clearing and their manure will help. It wasn't uncommon to let chickens have the run of fenced orchards where they can scratch pests out of the grass. Chickens are also descendants of jungle fowl and do like being under trees. HTH.

BessieBooBoo

Hello GQ

Thanks for that, its what I was thinking this morning, only you've put it better than I can.

I do believe all this media focus is a distraction from what's going on in our economy. I don't have a feeling of doom in my water/gut instinct/intuition, call it what you will about NK - strange, usually I'd worry about stuff like this, but I'm not.

Only about cuts/austerity measures/benefit caps/frozen wages/rising prices/poor growing seasons/BT/and more cuts...

Remember what a certain person said in that leaked memo after the terrorist attack? 'A good day to bury bad news'.

Be aware folks. Spend what you are comfortable with on seeds, especially non-hybrids, perennial veg, herbs,plant in pots or on windowsills, guerilla garden if you don't have your own. And/Or search your area for free food - we've found apple trees on disused railway embankment (good foraging areas), plus elderberry, blackberry, pear, surprisingly, sloes, wild garlic, rabbits galore, wood pigeon all over the place. And that's just walking the dog and being observant. Plus that R.Mabey book in pocket size.

On preps: have alternate cooking/heating methods and be v. aware of the safety of operating these. Even better if you can afford to off-grid. Gadgets are good like solar lanterns etc. but don't forget traditional candles, lamps too; and be super safe with them, esp. with youngers around (or crazy pets).

Food: store tins, dried stuff, preserved items (either bought or home made). Be aware of how to store and rotate properly, and only buy what you like. Be discrete where you store it, and don't talk about it.Learn to cook from scratch, its fun, money saving, and educational.

Others: think of the satisfaction of making your own cleaning stuff or toiletries - theres recipes on mse for laundry gloop, etc. Experiment (safely!) with plants for dying, fixing colours,making soap (soapwort anyone?)

Every tiny step you take, even if you are just starting out on your preptastic journey, makes you feel just a little bit better about all the doom and gloom around you.

You are responsible for making your life your own- even on atight budget, you can see help out there for making hobo stoves out of used tins, etc. There's something for all on here, and all over this web-site too.

This is people power in action, helping each other, learning, keeping informed, and still learning. Thanks to all the helpful people on here for what I've learned already!

Take care, don't worry, start prepping, and channel that worry energy into something useful!

BBB

BTW ddog is fine, pinching toys from other dogs on the park , and generally misbehaving!

boultdj

VJsmum wrote: »

I like coconut oil too, though I use it mostly as a body lotion. Although that is because the one i bought - from a boot fair - isn't solid, it is rather runny, so I think it has been mixed with somehting else. It is fine as a body lotion but I will get something better next time. It was only £1 a tub, so I can't complain.

The 5 top items intrigues me - what would you keep? I know we are all prepping for different things and different lengths of time but in a total SHTF situation what 5 would be the best things to have? Water, I was thinking Olive oil, but maybe coconut would be better, pasta? tomatoes? milk? Hmm, requires more thought I reckon.

My stores are largely pasta, tomatoes, water, baked beans, cereal, milk, tea bags, lentils, flour, tinned fish. But that is mainly because I buy things on offer rather than specifically to stock up for a crisis. Perhaps I should rethink.

Definatly water, & tea, then it would be dried runner bean's so I could grow more food,salt to store the extra bean's, and then I'd cheat and have a big box of assorted veg,herb and flower seed's, yes I did say flower's, some are edable, other's can be used as antiseptic's and other's can be used as dye plant's.

BessieBooBoo

VJsmum wrote: »

I like coconut oil too, though I use it mostly as a body lotion. Although that is because the one i bought - from a boot fair - isn't solid, it is rather runny, so I think it has been mixed with somehting else. It is fine as a body lotion but I will get something better next time. It was only £1 a tub, so I can't complain.

The 5 top items intrigues me - what would you keep? I know we are all prepping for different things and different lengths of time but in a total SHTF situation what 5 would be the best things to have? Water, I was thinking Olive oil, but maybe coconut would be better, pasta? tomatoes? milk? Hmm, requires more thought I reckon.

My stores are largely pasta, tomatoes, water, baked beans, cereal, milk, tea bags, lentils, flour, tinned fish. But that is mainly because I buy things on offer rather than specifically to stock up for a crisis. Perhaps I should rethink.

Hello

Preppers site list:

Stuff that lasts forever:

Salt
Sugars (white stores best)
Honey

Preserving:

Vinegars (you can find recipes on prep sites to make it)
Spices
Herbs

Dried stuff:

Can keep longer if you do it right e.g. oxygen absorbers/riceinabag

Pulses
Grains
Flours
Dehydrated anything
Tea
Coffee
Drinking chocolate
Malted drinks
Milk

Tins:
Lose nutrition after bb date but still kind of edible (not the damaged, rusted or bulging ones though!)

Comfort food:
Chocolate!
Sweeties!
Crisps
Bis-quits
Or whatever floats your boat

And for the rest of the family:

Baby food, andnecessaries
Pet food,etc

Seeds to grow edibles/herbs - kept correctly to preserve

HTH

BBB

dandy-candy

Just a heads up on people interested in growing herbs for medicinal purposes.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bartrams-Encyclopedia-Herbal-Medicine-Bartram/dp/1854875868/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1365153189&sr=8-1&keywords=bartrams+encyclopedia+of+herbal+medicine
Bartrams is a bible for herbalists. I studied herbal medicine a while back and this is the book the tutor uses and it is also the one branches of Neals yard keep under the counter for reference in their loose herbs section. I use mine all the time for reference.

mardatha

I concentrate on stashing foods that are multi purpose. Like oatmeal/porridge - breakfast, flapjacks, oatcakes, crumble, healthy nibbles, thickening stews, and making bath teas.
Flour is an essential multi-purpose item, I keep it in the fridge or freezer.
Lentils are another one, and barley.
Tea is my number one stashed item though
You can't go wrong if you look up what Victorians had in their larders.