THE Prepping thread - a new beginning :)

maryb

http://attheendofasuffolklane.blogspot.co.uk/

one of the things she talks about is her problems with finding adequate lighting for power cuts. Mrs L I remember you mentioned the IKEA solar powered desk lamps you bought a couple of years ago. Are they still going strong?

[Deleted User]

Hi Mary, sadly not and I've been to Ikea today and not a sniff of solar lighting that isn't strings of fairy lights. The old style reading lamps were called SUNNAN and I see them occasionally on E.Bay and the newer lanterns were SOLVINDEN so should you ever spot one either online or even possibly in charity shops/boot fairs they both work extremely well and mine live in full daylight on various window sills and are always fully charged up and ready to go as is my little wind up radio that has a minute solar panel and is the same as the one shown today on Sue's blog picture.

Keeping us warm is also catered for as we're lucky to have the woodstove (it's a CLEARVIEW INSET STOVE) which is the most sensible and useful thing we've ever put into a home. We shall definitely put another woodstove into the new house when we move and I've found one that is also a cooking stove with 'keep warm' wings that fold out to it's sides it's made by STOVAX and is the STOCKTON 11 Cook Stove which I'll give really serious consideration to in a new kitchen it looks fantastic.

maryb

I love our Clearview but I can see us having problems in future - not only does Saddiq Khan want to ban wood burners in London, which would mean only being able to burn smokeless fuel, but more immediately, the bungalow next door has been sold to a developer who wants to build a 'two storey house with a mansard roof' (so a three storey house) I can see them objecting to their upper windows being close to our chimney (because I am sure they will build right up to the boundary)

Karmacat

Thanks Mary. And today's post is specifically about preparedness! But she's got a lot on her plate, that's for sure

[Deleted User]

Perhaps the planning department would be open to listening to your input re the chimney and as a pre-existing feature that would only be fair. I know planners have to consider all possibles but it wouldn't hurt to flag it up as a potential problem when they have their planning meeting to decide what can go on the plot. Another bungalow which wouldn't be affected by the smoke would seem like a sensible solution. Good luck, let us know how it all goes.

[Deleted User]

Prepping comes in many individual guises, each of us has their own priorities and ideas as to what we prep for and how we go about it, what we store or not and what we consider to be essential bits of kit and knowledge to enable us to get through whatever happens in our lives. I've been lucky to have enough space (and a spare room that is used as a store room for big bits of equipment) to accommodate food stores and stored water in fair old quantities, as well as all the peripheries like the solar lighting and gas cylinders/stoves etc. that I've deemed necessary for the two of us. We are now looking to move to another area to be closer to both daughters and their families and also looking to downsize to a smaller house so now I have the dilemma of having to decide what IS and ISN'T a necessity for surviving what I prep for. I know we'll have less storage space if we downsize to a 3 bed and there will be no spare room for all my clutter let alone the prepping stuff so I've got to do the exercise of deciding what I will actually NEED rather than keeping everything and all the books that I have at the moment. How do I prioritise? what is the actual reason that YOU prep for and what is essential stores and equipment for you?

fuddle

Oh dear. It's kind of like the student telling the teacher!

I live by earth, fire and water. I need food and water, my home, warmth and my health. My preps are to keep us all in our home and if any financial difficulty came along we could weather the storm.

My kit is about day to day living and doing and it's basic in terms of not got much but my kitchen is fully functioning, modern - to a basic level, and I have it so I use all space available which means cupboards on every available space, floor to very high ceiling.

I don't hoard. Everything has to be useful and be present. It has to earns it's space in storage. By that I mean the more we store the less my walls breathe and that could be a problem in this old house.

Everything is neat and tidy because it helps with my tidy mind and a tidy mind, for.me, is a calmer one.

The last house was so spacious but no storage. In this tiny house I have ample kitchen cupboards, a cupboard under the stairs and a cupboard in our bedroom. For me, that is ample storage if you're canny about it.

There is no greater feeling, for me, than knowing exactly where something is and putting my hands on it. Organisation is the key.

Essential stores? For us it's food, water, wood and coal, medication, clothing, cleaning, tools and a financial back up. Anything and everything that aids us to live simply, warmly, comfortably and safely.

I think your food processing kit is a must to keep and anything you have in terms of water storage or purifying is a must too.

You know I've moved house a lot and each time I love to sort and pack up. Each time I only take what I really need or really love. It's cathartic.

I'd love to hear what is important for other people too.

Karmacat

I shall have to think about that!

Basically, the preps that I have are like fuddle's, except I don't think of "wood and coal", I think of "fuel" in general. And I'd add books about various skills - from knitting to gardening, to travelling under less than ideal conditions.

As for what is the actual reason I prep for?
1 - Long periods of illness, like when I had chronic fatigue, and even ordering and putting away a supermarket delivery was too challenging.
2 - as an extension of that, pandemics (I'm very nearly going into pandemic mode now, with Aussie flu, but I'm not, I'm still out and about).
3 - economic downturn. Personally, I'm in my very own economic downturn, because of previous ill health and current rubbish stamina, but I think about a more general one too.
4 - I keep my ears open about terrorism, though I don't think there's much you can do, except after an attack to keep close to home until they're caught or dead.
5 - weather events. That's pretty simple, if I'm already prepped for long periods of illness.
6 - bad patches of volcanic dust thanks to Iceland (my entire preps for this are 4 rolls of clingfilm, so that the sharp dust doesn't get into the body of my electronic gear ). I think I got that from USGS.
7 - anything else is zombies

[Deleted User]

I prep for the unexpected, things that come out of the blue and stop everyday routine be they power cuts, illness, environmental happenings or even strikes that touch every day life and make it less ordered. I remember the bin men being on strike and the rubbish piling up in the streets, how we didn't get plagues of rats and illness is a mystery. I also prepare for weather glitches and as we're in a village that only has one bus running through it and there is only one road in and one road out if we get icy conditions often the busses just don't come here so having meds and things like matches, candles, soap, tea, food etc. really is sensible. Now I know we live in warmer southern Hampshire so we don't get snowed in to the same extent as you hardy souls in the northern areas but we do get storms, big rain etc. and we do get power cuts and things of that ilk so we still need to think ahead and try to have in what we need. I have a small library of books full of useful things that ought to fill skill gaps in times of need but I don't currently have water purification means except a pattern to make a gravity filter so that's something to address. We have camping gear but not a tent, we have foil blankets and sleeping shelters that would be better than nothing and I know how to make shelters but that's if we have to leave the house. I'm more inclined to prepare for things that disrupt so we can stay in situ and make the best of things until whatever the problem is has been sorted out.

fuddle

Do you know what I found the most disruptive and dangerous weather event to be down on the South coast?The fact that winds can be very harsh but the trees stay in leaf until the very latest in the season and become a rocking time bomb. It's very sensible to weather prep down there.