THE Prepping thread - a new beginning :)

mardatha

Fuddle if it does snow heavy then the rones will come down, and the phone lines as well as the power will go. If it does snow heavy.

[Deleted User]

In the USA earlier on this year or possibly late last year they had an extremely cold snap that lasted for quite a while and the problem they had was ice build up on the power lines which brought quite a lot of them down with the weight of ice. I don't know if that could happen here and I don't know if the US electricity grid is constructed like ours is but I guess it 'could' happen here if conditions were bad enough. Some areas were without electricity over there for quite some time before things thawed and were repaired. Good idea to at least have a contingency plan in your head and some alternative keeping the house warm, , lighting and heating to hand just in case. If it doesn't prove to be a problem you've got some useful preps for the future.

GreyQueen

Wondering if The Beast from the East will hit my city. No sign of anything other than cold clear weather but several nightime temps of the -3, -4 celcius type predicted for the next few days. We shall see; I'm hunkered in my bunker in Shoebox Towers with enough tinned goods to survive a small apocalypse.

Just re-visting the blog written by a Hurricane Katrina refugee, theplacewithnoname, which has much of interest, for those who haven't read it before. It came to mind when someone mentioned the Outer Hebrides, which is where I was when Katrina was redistributing Louisiana over several adjacent states.

I'm also going through B!!!, a 35 litre backpack which lives in a crate in the allotment shed. This has a basic set up with change of clothes, washbag, few other bits & bobs, should I lose everything in the flat. If I had family in this city, B!!! would like there. As is, BOB3 lives with the folks' in the hometown and includes copies of essential paperwork, receipts etc, to make an insurance claim in event of a total loss due to fire etc.

maryb

What on earth does MSE think you are typing GQ?

GreyQueen

maryb wrote: »

What on earth does MSE think you are typing GQ?

Blessed if I know, I typed (minus spaces) B O B1, B O B 2 etc............ not exactly obscene, hey?

Just went thru the lottie bag, an as-new J@nsport 35 litre ruckie I got in a chazzer. Nice, discreet green pack. I have some second-string things in there, as it is potentially hostage to fortune in respect of theft or fire.

I have two pkts of my life-essential meds, stripped of the pharmacy labels with my name and address, of course. A pkt of ibruprofen, some first aid, a notebook, pen, pencil, led torch, KFS set, space blanket and a change of clothes (trousers, top, fleece) plus an anorak with a handknitted buff in one pocket and a pair of gloves in another.

All in very boring shades of navy and what it amuses the outdoorsy wear market to call 'bark', that taupe-y non-colour.

Have thought of a couple of other things which would be useful; a pair of plimsol-type shoes (I have my DM steeltoed hiking boots permanantly living in the lottie shed anyway). I shall look for something in the chazzers, don't have to be a fashion plate about it.

The bag lives in a large industrial-use very heavy duty plastic crate, not like anything you get on the homeware market. As there's plenty of space left, I shall take up an old blanket and a secondhand cushion for those moments when you might want forty-winks.

Although I'd be a bit jumpy about sharing a roof with the spiders, but needs must when the devil drives.:rotfl:

maryb

speaking of allotments, I've been trying to cut down on plastic use but in winter we need to fill the screenwash reservoir on the car so have some of those heavy duty 5l plastic bottles. Filled with water they would weigh about 10lb each (a pint of water weighs a pound and a quarter but a pint is a bit more than half a litre). Do you think they would be useful to weigh down black plastic? Our neighbour's neglected 'orchard' has spread couch grass onto our plot and we need to give it a headache until such time as we can deep dig it to get the roots out

Perplexed_Pineapple

Can anybody help me with this please? I have a couple of paraffin lamps for emergency light/heat and would like a couple more. They aren't used very often at all. How is paraffin in long-term storage? Does it make any difference if it is stored in a plastic container (I usually buy the 4L plastic containers) or would a steel jerrycan be better? Anyone know?
thanks!

moneyistooshorttomention

I've weighed down soil covering material before now with containers of water (in my case it was leftover large milk "cartons") and it ain't very attractive - but it works (even in West Wales - where there's an Awful Lot of Wind).

[Deleted User]

Perplexed_Pineapple wrote: »

How is paraffin in long-term storage? Does it make any difference if it is stored in a plastic container (I usually buy the 4L plastic containers) or would a steel jerrycan be better? Anyone know?

thanks!

From research, I'd say decades at least.

I know people who have found paraffin lamps in sheds at the bottom of the garden, when they've moved into a new house. The lamps were covered in a heavy layer of dust, but still lit up on the paraffin in them.

Of course, metal is a better storage material than plastic, because plastic isn't an oxygen barrier.

Also, if possible, fill them close to the brim, to eliminate as much air/moisture as possible.

mardatha

PP look here:
https://classiccampstoves.com/threads/how-long-will-stored-paraffin-keep-for.14497/