THE Prepping thread - a new beginning :)

DigForVictory

On the way out, if you have one, open the tumbledrier & harvest the lint. Stuff in a waterproof pocket, as it burns a treat. (Both accidentally & deliberately.)

I've used hedge clippings to make a "bed" that was off the wet ground, and reckon heather & bracken are massively underappreciated as In Case Of bedding. He who fossicks as research historian has a paliasse - an empty thick cotton sack, which when stuffed with straw or whatever is springy & to hand makes a perfectly comfortable mattress.

[Deleted User]

A sack for a mattress is a very good idea D for V and we've also got some foil blankets, foil sleeping bags and double walled foil shelters that I would have with us to at least keep us warmer and hopefully drier until we could get to proper shelter. None of them weigh anything at all so all will be easily carried.

Cappella

Brilliant ideas here, especially for equipment. I'd try to take our small trangia and a full bottle of meths as well as the Kelly kettle, the teangia is light and the pans come with it? I'd head straight for the canals here. No gridlocks and even if the towpaths were crowded - which isn't all that likely - they're the quickest and most direct way out of the city if you're walking. Lots of trees and bushes even in urban areas and shelter, and plenty of flammable litter in the undergrowth (sadly) which could be utilised if it was dry. Otherwise we always have dry kindling in the fire basket do a small faggot could easily be added to the loads. After that I'd have to improvise though. Short term it's doable but the quickest route out would take us onto the moors, and that's where I'd be really struggle. .

GreyQueen

Afternoon all.

Karmakat, you'll have to ask NewShadow, I literally didn't think to save a copy.

Interesting scenario, Lyn. If I had to evac out, I'd take my ruckie and some extra provisions in the wally trolley. It's a sturdy rolser and rated for 18 kg. It would enable me to carry more supplies, even if it was holding food which would decrease over time. It's strong enough for a lot of terrain yet light enough to be lifted over obstructions like stiles etc.

A fast way to carry the makings of your own palliasse is to have some extra strong rubbish bags. If you can get hold of material like leaves, bracken etc, you can improvse a mattress of sorts to keep your body up and out of the cold mud. Losing heat through conduction to the cold ground isn't going to be survivable for long.

If you can get somewhere where there are pines or firs, particularly little christmas tree sized ones (no forestry commission woods near you, Mar?) I'd get into a plantation of 10 foot or under firs if I could.

I grew up in a town surrounded by woodland and have spent a lot of time making dens. If you can get in among small, densely-planted spruces, you can enjoy several advantages:

1. They don't allow other things to grow under them, so you will be on a thick carpet of pine needles which are soft and can be scooped into your bin-bag palliasse.

2. They cut the wind and keep off frost and the worst of the rain.

3. They're not going to be blown down on your head, unlike some trees. The beech has been nicknamed the widowmaker for its habit of dropping branches unexpectedly and for gossake don't go anywhere near the cedar of lebanon. They can drop multi-tonne branches with no warning even in fine weather.

4. You'd be pretty hard to see, which might be in your best interest, depending what else is going on in the world.

If you can get somewhere like a water course, you may be able to get under a weeping willow, or harvest willow or hazel rods which are the traditional 'bender' framework. Add a tarp for fast shelter. You can also improvise the kind of shelter that the Apaches used, called a 'wikiup' which is essentially a small tipi made of branch wood with the gaps between the poles filled in with twigs and leaves.

Another trick in woodland is to look for a previously-downed tree. Stay away from hangups, trees which have fallen partway and which are being propped up by other trees. But if it's completely down, you may have a nice scooped-out bit where the root-plate has hoiked out of the soil, or you can use the trunk to form the ridgeline of a lean-to debris hut.

There is also a trick which is to build a fire in a long rectangle, allow it to build up a good ashy bed, then rake the fire out. It will retain some of its heat for up 24 hours and you should be able to lie on it after a while (preferably not in a bin bag palliasse, tho ).

Mar, I think you'd have to head for lower ground. I know that might mean the town beginning with G, of which you seem unfond, but it beats dying of hypothermia.:rotfl:

[Deleted User]

One very small and light item that I DID find very useful when I did the survival course was a plastic carrier bag that I always just tuck into a pocket when I walk the dog I case we come across anything useful that could be harvested and taken home. Rather than a plastic carrier I've a couple of sturdy nylon type material ones that live permanently in the side pockets of my rucksack which , like the plastic one but oh so much stronger are absolutely wonderful when collecting firewood. It's amazing how much you can squirrel into a pile in a very short time if you have a bag and keep your eyes on the ground you walk over. With a bag you can gather up all the dry pieces of branch a foot long or less, you can fill it with dry leaves, you can strip dry bark from silver birch trunks into it, you could also use it to collect pine needles etc. for stuffing your paliasse with. It will never be too heavy to pick up and not too obvious as to what you ARE doing either!

karcher

GreyQueen wrote: »

Afternoon all.

Karmakat, you'll have to ask NewShadow, I literally didn't think to save a copy.

Interesting scenario, Lyn. If I had to evac out, I'd take my ruckie and some extra provisions in the wally trolley. It's a sturdy rolser and rated for 18 kg. It would enable me to carry more supplies, even if it was holding food which would decrease over time. It's strong enough for a lot of terrain yet light enough to be lifted over obstructions like stiles etc.

A fast way to carry the makings of your own palliasse is to have some extra strong rubbish bags. If you can get hold of material like leaves, bracken etc, you can improve a mattress of sorts to keep your body up and out of the cold mud. Losing heat through convection to the cold ground isn't going to be survivable for long.

If you can get somewhere where there are pines or firs, particularly little christmas tree sized ones (no forestry commission woods near you, Mar?) I'd get into a plantation of 10 foot or under firs if I could.

I grew up in a town surrounded by woodland and have spent a lot of time making dens. If you can get in among small, densely-planted spruces, you can enjoy several advantages:

1. They don't allow other things to grow under them, so you will be on a thick carpet of pine needles which are soft and can be scooped into your bin-bag palliasse.

2. They cut the wind and keep off frost and the worst of the rain.

3. They're not going to be blown down on your head, unlike some trees. The beech has been nicknamed the widowmaker for its habit of dropping branches unexpectedly and for gossake don't go anywhere near the cedar of lebanon. They can drop multi-tonne branches with no warning even in fine weather.

4. You'd be pretty hard to see, which might be in your best interest, depending what else is going on in the world.

If you can get somewhere like a water course, you may be able to get under a weeping willow, or harvest willow or hazel rods which are the traditional 'bender' framework. Add a tarp for fast shelter. You can also improvise the kind of shelter that the Apaches used, called a 'wikiup' which is essentially a small tipi made of branch wood with the gaps between the poles filled in with twigs and leaves.

Another trick in woodland is to look for a previously-downed tree. Stay away from hangups, trees which have fallen partway and which are being propped up by other trees. But if it's completely down, you may have a nice scooped-out bit where the root-plate has hoiked out of the soil, or you can use the trunk to form the ridgeline of a lean-to debris hut.

There is also a trick which is to build a fire in a long rectangle, allow it to build up a good ashy bed, then rake the fire out. It will retain some of its heat for up 24 hours and you should be able to lie on it after a while (preferably not in a bin bag palliasse, tho ).

Mar, I think you'd have to head for lower ground. I know that might mean the town beginning with G, of which you seem unfond, but it beats dying of hypothermia.:rotfl:

Where do you live GQ?:p

I think I'll just head your way as you seem to have it all sewn up and know what you're doing

GreyQueen

Being of a sneaky state of mind, it occurs to me that a person out foraging in potentially dubious places (i.e where ownership of trees might be in question) could do worse than take some dog poo bags with them.

Let's say you see someone walking along with a small knotted dog poo bag hanging from their hand. Are you going to investigate? Whereas if you see someone with a small bag of mirabelle plums/ hazelnuts/ mushrooms, you might give them the bent eye or some hard questions. Two or three bags could even be nestled inside each other for added strength.

For added authenticity, you could even take a dog with you. If you haven't got a dog and aren't borrowing one for walkies, you could take a strong dog lead for a walk. It's a handy weapon if you get one made of a chunky chain, and could intimate that your rottie was just out of sight but available to charge to your aid if you yell.

I've just been moving into a new bag as my daily carry. I decided the old one was failing opsec as it was a little too hip for my middle-aged self and had committed the heinous crime of having a large and visible logo. This made it noticable and noticable isn't good.

My new-to-me bag is one of those rectangular black nylon bags with a zip, with shortish straps which can be worn over one shoulder or carried in one hand.

This has the following advantages;

1. It's very plain and very commonplace, the kind of thing that disappears in plain sight in any urban or suburban environment, which is where it will spend 99% of its time.

2. It's strong and lightweight without looking the slightest bit tacticool.

3. It's cheap and not likely to incite envy or be the target of crime.

4. It's big enough to hold my daily work stuff and have a permanant cargo of preptastic items.

5. It's not so big that I'm going to be toting more than I can comfortably lift.

ETA; can't tell you that, karcher, I've promised the bike shed to Mardatha and the RV in the event of a crisis. My childhood was lived mostly outdoors in the woods and on the commons, and I come from a country family, so have some skills. Always more to learn, tho, here and in other places.

mardatha

The only woods I have are forestry commission, miles and miles of the horrible things. but yes GQ they are dense and cosy and dry. I could stay up on the high ground here because I know where the ruined farm steadings and shepherds houses are. I don't think I'd waste too much time trying to stay dry and warm in woods, I'd prefer a ruined cottage - stone walls keep the wind out better than trees. Get the tarps fixed up over a corner. Usually the chimneys are intact too, so could use the fireplace for cooking. But apart from fish, up here you'd be really struggling to get enough to eat at any time of year.

westcoastscot

We have caves nearish by so I'd head there, but would try and stay home if possible.
When I lived on the island we had a small island slightly offshore where we used to graze the sheep - we got there by small boat and had a cave that over time we'd made comfy - a small oildrum stove in so we could camp overnight when seeing to the sheep, and bbq, sleeping platforms etc.
I think its a really good idea to try out what you think you might do just to see how it goes. Not much fun longer term!!

thriftwizard

I can't imagine finding anywhere down here that wasn't already occupied! There are plenty of small off-the-beaten-track woodlands, but one thing I've noticed when walking/foraging around the place is that most of them already have unobtrusive shelters of one sort or another in them. In some places, it's "just" the bushcraft people or storytellers entertaining the local kids, but in another, I suspect it's lived in more or less full-time; walking at dusk, I'll often see a thin wisp of smoke curling out from the treetops over there, and when the leaves are down and the wind's in the right direction, you can sometimes catch a glimpse of the dark-green tent that's there all year round.

For me, it's not that likely that all the roads out of here would be gridlocked, as few residents will risk their precious Audis on the pot-holed rural roads and tracks, so taking my van (with camo net, removed from the chicken run) would be my number-one choice. It's a basic life-support system in its own right, and happens to be 4x4, diesel with a high air-intake, and thus capable of getting through some quite challenging conditions; I drove out of our extremely wet and muddy county showground exhibitor's car park last year where most vehicles were being hauled out, many of them much lighter than mine.

I do have tarps, Kelly Kettle, paracord etc. ready to grab and a number of useful if basic skills, and a small but tough BoB with wheels that's permanently ready to go, mainly to support my mother. But for me, bugging-in will always be the first choice, as we're well-stocked & placed, and quite unobtrusive here, with good friends & neighbours. There are lots of big and showy properties the zombies would head for first...