THE Prepping thread - a new beginning :)

Cheapskate

Our local rag's website has posted a link to the council's emergency plan - they have NEVER had such an animal before - are they expecting an emergency?! :eek::rotfl:

A xo

Doveling

mardatha wrote: »

What's the clingfilm for Karmacat?

To individually wrap your jelly babies so they don't taste gritty

Si_Clist

Doveling wrote: »

To individually wrap your jelly babies so they don't taste gritty

Had to smile at that. Went through the checkout in Tesco's early this morning behind a late teens/early 20's girl who looked a bit rough. Total contents of the poor thing's basket = two packets of paracetamol and a big bag of jelly babies ...

ivyleaf

Si_Clist wrote: »

Had to smile at that. Went through the checkout in Tesco's early this morning behind a late teens/early 20's girl who looked a bit rough. Total contents of the poor thing's basket = two packets of paracetamol and a big bag of jelly babies ...

Love it :rotfl:

Doveling

Very quiet on here. We seem to have lost a few people.
Hope you're all just busy harvesting and prepping.:)

There seems to be so much carp going on in the country and world that it's overwhelming. It always bothers me when pictures of some of the Royal family start appearing on the front pages.
What's being slid under the radar?:rotfl:
Just need to concentrate on things I can do something about.

Hopefully, TTIP is dead in the water but 38' are continually uncovering other shady dealings.

Cheapskate - I looked up our council's emergency plans and there is a lot of information on their website but nothing has been given out. Think they have always had something on their site.

GreyQueen

Morning all.

I've been joking with Kid Bruv for over 30 years that whenever things get really bad, we get given a Royal Wedding. Expect Harry's any year now..... :rotfl:

Shockingly, I very nearly ran out of corned beef, which is unheard of, and am quietly re-stocking from a number of different brands and stores.

The reason for this is several-fold. Going into one store (or placing an online order) and buying a whole tray of one kind of canned product is a wee bit unusual and may be remembered. A good prepper isn't ever remembered.;)

Another is that there is a small risk that there may be something wrong with a canned product, and ones lined up side by side on the same cardboard flat came off the production line at the same time. You don't want to be in the middle of S with some iffy cans.

A third reason is to spread the best-before dates, which should be regarded as a guideline rather than gospel, of course.

A fourth reason is to spread the cost and a final one, highly-relevant to on-foot or on-pushbike shoppers like myself, is to spread the weight. Cans are heavy, maaaan.:p

One thing to mention is that I was in a supermarket, naming no names, except they have an alliterative two word name and sell a lot of frozen stuff, and picked out four corned beef cans from the top of two flats of cans. Then I looked more closely and discovered the first slight signs of corrosion about to top edge of each can. Taking cans from the lower flat revealed that they were all perfect. So I swopped them out.

We are in the dog-days of the holiday season. Things are going on sale, including CAMPING things. Which may be a good time to take your discretionary spending out and about and see it there is anything preptastic out there. I fancy me another 10 litre water carrier but will be having a mooch around an outdoors specialist's warehouse sized store later this morning.

Karmacat

mardatha wrote: »

What's the clingfilm for Karmacat?

Sorry not to reply - walked to the Sainsbo, and felt very rough the rest of the day - fatigue issues, not hangovers (see below with Si Clist's story!).

Doveling wrote: »

To individually wrap your jelly babies so they don't taste gritty

Si_Clist wrote: »

Had to smile at that. Went through the checkout in Tesco's early this morning behind a late teens/early 20's girl who looked a bit rough. Total contents of the poor thing's basket = two packets of paracetamol and a big bag of jelly babies ...

:cool: Poor girl!

Mar, the cling film is only for use if the ash gets much worse than it did last time - to wrap up electronics that you're not going to be using. The ash is very jagged, and very tiny, and it may well wreck sensitive electronics. You can't use your stuff while it's wrapped, of course, but better than being at the back of the queue to replace it.

Official advice here: https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanic_ash/computers_electronics.html

I wrote about it on my blog, and let's just say I'm happy with the google ranking on this subject :rotfl: but I haven't linked to it, that there link above is based with the US Geological Survey organisation.

Save

maryb

Grey Queen how do you square your prepping with your kondoing? Does getting rid of stuff that doesn't spark joy free up more room for food preps? Or do you find that you do get joy from stuff that could make a difference if TSHTF, like warm clothes, even if you don't wear them most winters?

GreyQueen

maryb wrote: »

Grey Queen how do you square your prepping with your kondoing? Does getting rid of stuff that doesn't spark joy free up more room for food preps? Or do you find that you do get joy from stuff that could make a difference if TSHTF, like warm clothes, even if you don't wear them most winters?

It's an interesting question and one I have given quite a bit of thought to.

Broadly speaking, I have an aesthetic dislike of too much stuff. It bothers me visually and causes mental fatigue, as well as the practical nuisances of wrangling with it. This may be a side-effect of having had ME for 30 years and/ or living in an absolutely tiny flat. There is no spare room, spare cupboard, loft or outbuilding to hold items, it's all very much under my nose and thus brought to mind.

This is counter-balanced with a life of relative insecurity, in that I am a single woman on a low income with fragile health. I have had experience of many consecutive years of benefit-only income. I haven't starved, thanks to the welfare state, but there have been some very tight moments. This is stressful. So, as well as money saved for emergencies, I like to have Stuff. Such as shelf-stable foods, spare toiletries (stock up on sale) and a few other bits and bobs.

My reasoning for wanting another 10 litre water carrier is to replace some of the 2 litre water bottles. I have a very minor annoyance at the moment which has involved having to haul a stash of these bottles out of the dead-end corner of my kitchen between the washer and the kitchen sink unit. It's a mild water leak in the neighbouring flat, which that tenant is being dilatory about arranging a repair for, is causing damp in my kitchen.

This brought to my attention the fiddliness of handling five of these bottles compared with the same amount of water in a 10 litre can. And also, the cost of periodically replacing them as opposed a much longer-lived sturdy plastic container. And that one of these doesn't actually have a much bigger footprint than a two x 2 litre bottles. Hence, it's more space-efficient which is extremely relevent to my personal circumstances.

In terms of having things around, some are useful as dual-purpose items or exclusively prepping items, and some are not. I am in the warmer part of the UK and harsh winters are relatively uncommon here. It's perfectly possible not to need a warm coat most winters and I wear an unlined waterproof shell jacket. It doesn't mean that I won't need one some winters. So, I find houseroom for a squashy padded jacket on my 3 ft wide clothes rail, even though the amount of times I will need it in any given year are relatively few. Likewise, I went through the whole of last winter with wearing gloves on about two occasions, but I still have a few things like gloves and warm hats, with a spare to keep at the lottie in the colder weather.

However, there is a large coat on that rail which I have decided that I don't need, as its weight-to-warmth ratio and style aren't actually meeting my needs, and I haven't worn it for about 16 months. I will be donating it to a chazzer where my pal works, but am holding fire for a couple of months until the cooler weather, so they can put it straight out on the shop floor.

Many of the things which could, theoretically, be held onto for a rainy day, wouldn't actually be much use, and it is these kind of things which are being re-homed via the KM method. The trick, as a prepper who also dislikes clutter, is to know where to draw the line.

Karmacat

GQ, how strong are your fingers? I only ask because as a prepper and KM-er too I've just moved to the 2 litre bottle from the 5 litre containers sold by the supermarkets. Not the same thing as you're referring to, I know. But I went to open one a few weeks ago, and I can't manage it, too much arthritis, I can't get the purchase