THE Prepping thread - a new beginning :)

Perplexed_Pineapple

Afternoon all, we live in interesting times, no change there really. GQ, thinking about your small flat that stays warm with no heating, I think that must be because your surrounding flats (above and around, I think you are on the ground floor?) have heating and the whole building has high thermal mass. If the power was out for an extended period the whole building would slowly cool to the environmental temperature I would think.

[Deleted User]

I'm thinking on to a future of the initial cessation of supply where all the gas canisters and paraffin/petrol is used and it's still a bitterly cold winters day in the UK. With our head of population I'm pretty sure that firewood would soon become pretty scarce everywhere and although there IS still coal it's I believe not easily extracted and we have no working mines, certainly not enough to supply all of us and I believe very few experienced miners who could safely work the coal seams again. Some folks will have solar panels although I think the electricity generated is fed direct to the grid? and some folk will live in places where there is hydro electricity but if the national grid is down/damaged/patchy that's not a reliable thing either. The only thing I can come up with is charcoal and communal kitchens which effectively takes us back to medieval times where homes were warmed and cooking was done over charcoal braziers and if you were a lucky peasant you'd be allowed to work and sleep in a great hall belonging to the Lord of the Manor.

maryb

Nuatha:j:wave::wave: How are things with you?

maryb

I do worry about our electricity supply but I seem to recall that the UK was building storage for liquified gas transported by tanker from the Gulf. If that's true then we might actually be in a better position than landlocked European states.

But no Government of any colour has wanted to take grown up decisions about our energy strategy for the last 20 years and we are squeaking along hoping to avoid disaster. Still, trying to be optimistic, cracked mugs often hang on for a long time before they actually break. So if we get our act together soon we might stand a chance

westcoastscot

Lynn I think in that situation we would indeed be back to survival of the fittest and that wouldn't be me! I suspect in a real shtf long term shift then communal living would be the only sustainable model for those of us who are not in a position of power. We'd be back to a feudal society of very decreased lifespan and a relatively narrow existence.

I know it's a scenario of huge interest to some preppers - however I confine myself to a vision of a future in which I can realistically make a difference at my age/health etc. I've tried my best to instill solid values in my children, and the broadest education I could manage as a home-schooler and can only hope and pray that they have the skills and strength to survive whatever challenges come their way.

GreyQueen

Perplexed_Pineapple wrote: »

Afternoon all, we live in interesting times, no change there really. GQ, thinking about your small flat that stays warm with no heating, I think that must be because your surrounding flats (above and around, I think you are on the ground floor?) have heating and the whole building has high thermal mass. If the power was out for an extended period the whole building would slowly cool to the environmental temperature I would think.

I'm on the ground floor. The building has a lot of thermal mass, as does the neighbourhood and the whole city. Cities and towns are always warmer than the open countryside. I notice that I can walk out of the neighbourhood and we are frost-free whereas 300 yards up the road where it opens out it can be a white ground and air frost where we have neither. Seen this on many occasions.

But the smallness really helps; the kitchen opens off the sitting-room and any cooking activity means the heat has to be reduced to compensate, even the computer's fan raises the temperature noticably. If you have two people in here, the extra heat radiating off another human bean is noticable, too. Therefore, the smallness of the space, along with the cavity wall insulation and double-glazing, really makes a difference and I don't think we'd sink to ambient outdoor temperature - plus being on the ground floor means that I'm sheltered by other, lower-than-the-Tower, buildings nearby.

Agree with people not wanting to make hard decisions about energy policy. No one wants to be an adult and make long term plans, it's easy to kick the can down the road and have your personal plan as emigration to somewhere sunny and the devil take the hindmost back at home.

Deforestation for firewood, as well as housebuilding and shipbuilding, was a major issue even back in Elizabethan times and the population of the country was a mere fraction of what it is now.

I suspect that the end of the oil age, unless some fabulous new technology comes along to solve all our woes (magical thinking), will render many of our modern structures completely unsuitable. Both commercial and residential structures.

It is possible to build homes from cob and from straw bales which are very energy efficient and comfortable in both cold and hot weather, but they are pretty much the province of the self-builder at the moment. It would be nice to see a major housebuilder offering either of these as an option, instead of sticking up yet another estate of land-wasting ticky-tacky so-called detached dollhouses.

Efficient building (or efficient choosing and retro-fitting existing dwellings) would have the living quarters oriented towards the south with big windows there to maximise solar gain, and small or no windows on the cold northerly side of the house. One could also look at having light interior walls to maximise light and minimise the need for artificial lighting, and even have those solar tubes to bring daylight into parts of homes which would normally require artificial lights, even in daytime.

We know how to do these things but commercial interests, as well as being stuck in conventional thought patterns, is limiting sensible future-proofed dwellings.

mardatha

I think that good woollen clothes are a worthwhile investment whatever happens. In real cold you need wool, nothing else works.
There is an old open-cast coal mine site not too far from me - only the older local folk like me remember where it is. During the miners strike it was covered in people with shopping trolleys and sacks lol foraging for coal.
Wood for the fire might be a problem for us, we'd need our sons to go and fetch it home as we live too far from actual trees. Although there's plenty forest around here, we couldn't saw or carry it home. I do think an open fire or a fire pit is a must.

[Deleted User]

I think the gas supply has to be kept at a certain pressure in the pipes? and one liquid gas terminal in Milford Haven wouldn't be anywhere big enough to supply the whole network, there's an awful lot of Island to cover. Firewood would last as long as the trees did and with everyone hacking them down in desperation that would be a relatively short time, trees take years to grow to maturity and I don't expect people would have the patience to let them alone that long if they were cold and hungry. I think it would take a complete change of expectations and a revamp of the way we live to survive the first period and common sense and practicality involving lots of hard decisions to continue from there on in.

maryb

I agree Mar, nothing beats wool for warmth. Although I do like silk thermals. I've just sorted out for the chazza a whole load of Heat Tech type thermal tops from Marks which I bought in 2010 which I really don't like - they feel synthetic and they're not that warm.

GQ I know you quite like technical clothes and I agree they are much more practical and efficient for hiking. But for keeping warm in underheated indoor rooms I like silk. And it's surprisingly not as expensive as you might think

GreyQueen

maryb wrote: »

I agree Mar, nothing beats wool for warmth. Although I do like silk thermals. I've just sorted out for the chazza a whole load of Heat Tech type thermal tops from Marks which I bought in 2010 which I really don't like - they feel synthetic and they're not that warm.

GQ I know you quite like technical clothes and I agree they are much more practical and efficient for hiking. But for keeping warm in underheated indoor rooms I like silk. And it's surprisingly not as expensive as you might think

I have a silk shirt, beautiful sea-green number (50p, chazzer) and if you pair it with a merino wool sweater, you have the perfect combination of warmth and breathability without much weight. Both materials look and feel luxurious but are surprisingly hard-wearing. If and when I go travelling again, the silk shirt and some more like it will be coming along with me.

I'm still pinch-me-I'm-dreaming about the Icebreaker merino wool crew shirt I got a few months ago for 50p. Immaculate. Full retail is £80-£90, I coveted one for ages but even at sale prices, they were more than I could spare.

By judicious shopping around secondhand and in the sales, you can build a wardrobe which is both good-looking and surprisingly preptastic. You could be in 'town' clothes and still be set up for severe weather. What's not to like?

Wool is excellent because the fibres are hollow and can absorb water without losing their ability to keep you warm, unlike cotton.

Wool turns up secondhand because some people find it itchy and/ or cannot be arrised to wash it by hand.