The Prepping Thread - A Newer Beginning ;)

Wraithlady

ariarnia said:

on/off topic of power cuts and preping. we picked some of these up at a market and used them while staying in a friends camper for the weekend a while back. just found the website to order some more. not very cheap but tasty and filling. small packets but make good size potions because of the added water. maybe something those with there own dehydrator might want to do?

https://cowleysfinefoods.co.uk/product-category/meals/  

I know Martin and Suzy of old (courtesy of re-enactment and LARP) and their stuff is always good.

silver-oldie

Wondered if you lovely people could help 
Struggling with life and not sure I always make the right decision
I was thinking of buying a Kelly kettle, in case of power cuts. Several different sizes, some with extra items. Not sure which would be the most suitable.
Just DH and myself, not going to be used away from home. Am I better off buying 1.6l and putting water into flasks for later. Which attachments are going to be useful? Maybe to warm soup or other food
Then I saw Ghillie kettle not sure if one is better than the other.
Sorry but I'm getting myself confused.

Also thought a power bank might be useful, again I have no idea what to buy, any suggestions please?

Thank you in advance

MrsCD

I'm thinking about a Kellie kettle too, @silver-oldie
I think the middle size pack would be the most useful for the two of us, DH and me, because I don't know if the gas canisters for our camping stoves will be available all the time.
We have a couple of small Anker power banks that we keep charged up for our mobile phones if the electricity goes off. They cost around £20-£30 ish if I remember correctly.
In my opinion, it's better to have something and not need it than the other way around. It certainly looks as though there will be some power cuts, either planned or not, so be like the Scouts...be prepared!
Think about how you will keep warm too. Not just clothing....blankets, hand warmers etc, food to heat up on a camping stove etc. Flasks to store extra hot water....you get the idea?
Don't worry though. Humans have done this before and come out the other end!!!
If you have received money from HM Gov, maybe use some of it for preps.🙂

silver-oldie

Thank you
Have just ordered (click and collect) a couple of hot water bottles, will collect later in the week when I get 3 hours respite. Wilko is nearby so will pop in see if they sell hand warmers. 

Whitefiver

silver-oldie said:

I was thinking of buying a Kelly kettle, in case of power cuts. Several different sizes, some with extra items. Not sure which would be the most suitable.
Just DH and myself, not going to be used away from home. Am I better off buying 1.6l and putting water into flasks for later. Which attachments are going to be useful? Maybe to warm soup or other food


Also thought a power bank might be useful, again I have no idea what to buy, any suggestions please?

Hi, we had the same thoughts, and went for the big Kelly kettle, for exactly the reasons you mentioned - ie store excess hot water in a flask. Also consider fuel - where are you going to get dry wood/pine cones/twigs from? Oh, and some means of lighting the kettle too. Cotton wool balls smeared in vaseline make a good fire starter.

Great idea for a power bank (I'm assuming for charging phones/tablets, etc.) - I would suggest a known make e.g. Anker, as the knock off versions are often half the quoted capacity, and maybe dangerous too. If you have plenty of spare cash and want to run low power mains appliances, then much larger power banks are available that output 240v, but they are expensive for anything with a decent capacity. Brands include Anker again, Jackery, and many others. Lithium iron phosphate batteries are better than ordinary lithium for these big power packs. (BTW, I do not have one of these)

Plenty of reading on the web.

RAS

I'd be inclined to stock up on some extra gas canisters for your existing burner if possible. And getting a cheap camping stove if you don't already have one.

You can fashion a decent twig stove from a large tin or a metal utensil holder (Ordning at Ikea or similar) and a couple of shewers or tent pegs. That might be cheaper, and both need to be used outside. Just make sure you have twigs. 

-taff

Hi @silver-oldie more long time no see, glad to see you're getting some respite now.

CJRyder

Just a quick heads up to check out the places not normally on your radar. I go through a lot of dried noodles and the supermarkets have been hit very hard. However, the local Asian supermarkets have good stocks as well as an amazing variety, albeit at slightly higher prices. I do always remember the joke "When I am out of stock, I sell them at half price!" in situations like this though.

MrsCD

My Kelly kettle came today!!! I'm so pleased with it. It was very windy today and I didn't have time to try it yet, but I will as soon as I get 5 minutes to play...I'll let you know how it goes.

Van_Girl

MrsCD said:

My Kelly kettle came today!!! I'm so pleased with it. It was very windy today and I didn't have time to try it yet, but I will as soon as I get 5 minutes to play...I'll let you know how it goes.

I treated myself to a small (trekker?) kelly kettle a couple of months ago. I'm keeping it in my car as part of my winter emergency pack, but also purchased it as a back-up for blackouts etc. I haven't used it yet but quite excited to haha