THE Prepping thread - a new beginning :)

mardatha

Besides a box of tattoo-ists gloves I have rubbery gardening gloves and I also love knitting gloves... we have a lot of gloves in this house

jk0

I use these for most diy jobs:

http://www.wickes.co.uk/Wickes-Builders-Grippa-Gloves-Orange-Large/p/186928

Warm, flexible, and protect your hands.

GreyQueen

Thanks, jk0, I think I'll be getting me some of them, one pair for the lottie and a couple of pairs to keep down at the flat.

I much prefer to work bare-handed for DIY or gardening (the latter encompassing a variety of tasks not always relating to plants or soil) and tend to rack up a fair few minor injuries over the gardening year. And kick myself every time for not wearing gloves - after the event.:o

Other tasks which are hard on the hands are gathering/ processing firewood and anything relating to post-catastrophe clear up.

Oh, and I'll mention this in case it may serve someone reading here; be careful if you ever have to clean up after fire/ smoke damage. SuperGran told me this was something she'd seen several times in her nursing career; really nasty infections in the nailbed of the hands of people who clean up after fire damage.

If you ever end up doing this kind of cleanup, she recommends double-gloving (inner layer those thin medical gloves). It's painful and difficult to treat, although sweaty robot fingers aren't pleasant, they're better than the consequences.

[Deleted User]

It might not be as effective as Dettol but a strong infusion of thyme (1/2oz dried or 1oz fresh) in 1/4 pint of boiling water left to infuse for 20 or so minutes is antiseptic and disinfectant and can be used to wash wounds etc. as well as general disinfectant purposes. In an emergency situation it's probably going to be useful!

maryb

When we go sailing and tow a line to catch mackerel, I use those gloves to hold the slippery fish while applying the priest (truncheon used to hit the back of the 'neck' as in the last rites. Black humour among fishermen). I hate it if I can't kill them quickly - I'm no vegan but hate unnecessary suffering

maryb

Why fire related damage in particular GQ?

missusP

Pet preparedness- I have three weeks of wet cat food but not dry as she switched food and my other box was in the stash. After three weeks of crisis I think we will either have had to evacuate or she will need to hunt, but she is very good at hunting.


Just checked through the go bags. The only thing really past its date were the peanut sachets. I have microwave rice, which can be heated in a pan over a camp fire. Instant mash would need water added, I'm keen on keeping foods that need minimum water, although I have mash and stored water in my general stash.


On gloves, You reminded me I dont have work gloves in my go bags which would be very useful.


The camping stove is used in the case of a power cut or my hobs blowing up (happened just before dinner guests arrived) and in 'refuge in place' situations. I agree, if I had to evacuate it is still the best option and is very easy to carry in its case.


Currently prepping for the pre xmas price rises/no frills vanishing that seems to happen each year. Already stocked up on stuffing and basic beans. Pasta is already going up.


I was explaining to hubby (not so much a prepper) that my prepping is for very realistic situations like a flu epidemic. Having easy to cook foods and enough medicine on hand could be a life saver in a few months.

GreyQueen

maryb wrote: »

Why fire related damage in particular GQ?

Sorry, should have been more specific- it's the carbon from the fire which gets under the nails and causes the problem. Hurts like hell, apparently. SG has seen it cause very nasty nail infections (and she was a hospital nurse not a GP practise nurse btw) which are hard to treat and take months to clear.

These guys were often employed as specialist cleaners after fire damage inside buildings. But any of us who were doing similar cleanups could potentially face the same risks.

I've also heard IRL from a woman whose hubby got an infection of the heart muscles caused by something he picked up doing drainage work. Virtually killed the poor chap, left him with permanant life-limiting damage. And a manager from the water board told me of an employee, great ox of a man, strong as you can be, who ended up a frail shadow after getting Weil's Disease.

One of the vectors for the bacteria responsible for WD is rat urine and there was a big scare on in the baking hot summers of the mid-late seventies that the river levels were so low that there was a risk of catching WD - since I and kid bruv (under parental supervision) spent a chunk of summer playing in and around the rivers around my hometown, this was a cause for concern.

If anyone is tempted to think that health and hygiene are for wusses and nancy-boys, bear in mind that bacteria don't think, they just do their stuff and can wreck the health of even the strongest people in the prime of life.

maryb

All that proud housewifery in bygone times wasn't just one-upmanship (though that probably came into it, lol) people knew that cleanliness really was their best defence against sickness

mardatha

I've worked in an infectious diseases ward and seen Weils Disease in sewage workers. Pretty horrendous what it does to men. And that's all I'm saying lol.