The Prepping Thread - A Newer Beginning ;)

silvasava

TBH as a mum with school children in the 70's on 3 day week and short time, the government hiking interest rates and shortages of bread and potatoes and power cuts you quickly learn to adapt or go hungry. Our meals were probably boring - pilchard pizza anyone? but no one went hungry..
I keep a stock of things we use or items that can be substituted. I've two small raised beds in the garden for fruit and veg and a small greenhouse for cues and Tom's, that's as much as I can manage now. We did isolate during lockdown but have never had any SM deliveries due to DiL getting the odd bits and pieces along with her shop. TBH we will get through whatever happens, I'm not being complacent just realistic and I'm more concerned about people with serious health issues getting treatment.

Suffolksue

The  biggest shortages at the start of the pandemic were common sense and compassion ( generally,not specifically) and there’s no way to prep for other people’s reactions.

Karmacat

MingVase said:

I know people will adjust, there's no option - but it helps if we've got forums like this one to talk about what we're going to have to adjust to     -  I think that's bad grammar but what do you expect from a vase ?

Yay, all your lovely vase-ness, I couldn't find a vase, so have a bus stop 🚏 a lotion bottle  🧴 and a fire extinguisher 🧯 they're kind of similar shapes to *some* vases
 

[Deleted User]

Going forward into the future is a complete unknown, we can make a guess at what life will be like and make as many or as few preparations individually as we can afford, see as sensible or feel safe with but it's not something that can be predicted is it? We can only act or not as each of us as individuals see morally and sensibly correct and as with much as we can or can't afford to buy in of things we feel are necessary. It's not compulsory and it's fully understandable that some people won't do anything while some will do too much but it's down to individual visions of what might be the future we all face isn't it?

We all of us are preppers but there's no written rule book on what that means and we all differ in interpretation of the word. I still think that skills are as important as physical stores and if you're lucky enough to have a garden or afford to have and run an allotment that's worth the work it takes to get a crop, being able to repair and make in the house and home is also worth the work it takes to do so.  Prepping isn't solely about how many tins you can afford to stock up with it's a large part in mental resilience and determination to make the best of whatever situation you find that's out of your control!

MingVase

Karmacat said:Yay, all your lovely vase-ness, I couldn't find a vase, so have a bus stop 🚏 a lotion bottle  🧴 and a fire extinguisher 🧯 they're kind of similar shapes to *some* vases
 

I think it might be a wee tad difficult trying to hide under a vase shaped like a bus stop. I'm just sayin.

Saipan

@VJsmum - the consensus seems to be that shortages in fresh fruit and vegetables are pretty much a certainty, and these links suggest that a wide range of other foodstuffs will also be affected.  

https://www.thegrocer.co.uk/supermarkets/food-shortages-now-inevitable-due-to-labour-crisis-industry-warns/657227.article
https://london.eater.com/22545094/food-shortages-uk-supermarkets-brexit-covid-19
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/jun/25/uk-facing-summer-of-food-shortages-due-to-lack-of-lorry-drivers

greenbee

VJsmum said:

I think it's useful for those of us who don't / can't have allotments, productive gardens etc to know what to get in.  I think it helps to be reminded every so often. As i've said before, i've no desire to produce my own food - actually that's wrong, i definitely have an aspiration but do not want to can't commit the time and patience to it (hats off to those who do). 

Therefore i am reliant on what is available (not necessarily wanting it 24 hours a day) and am constantly reassessing what to keep in for Justin. THing is, i do like the option of having different foods from abroad - not constantly but for variety. Be they ultra fresh (i.e. veg), merely fresh as in cheese etc or more shelf-stable stuff. 

I'm interested in others' preps and what they prep for - a brief shortage or a zombie apocalypse?  I'm definitely the former. The shortages during the early pandemic - loo rolls and flour mainly, wasn't it? - were very short lived. So has anyone any clues about what there is going to be a shortage of?   

Based on the data I'm analysing at work... 

Anything that relies on a silicon chip... the entire supply chain is a mess with shortages in manufacturing facilities for certain types of semiconductor wafers, and the substrates used to produce them. So phones, computers, cars... all affected, along wth a lot of other things. 

Anything that needs transporting long distances - there's a massive shortage of containers, and they're all in the wrong places due to all the various lockdowns and the Suez issue. This means anything that relies on container imports is not only slower but also more expensive as transport costs are up as a result of competition. And then there is the shortage of lorry drivers and pickers for crops. 

Apparently cardboard is also in short supply, as people are hanging onto it rather than recycling it - something which the B2B supply chain doesn't do. They probably don't compost it either... so I'm putting more of mine into the recycling bin and freeing up space in the garage, claiming that it's to help with supply chain issues  

I'm not overly worried about food shortages as I can adapt (and frankly despite all the lockdowns, I still have stuff that didn't get eaten when supplies were unreliable). My prepping is primarily financial - trying to pay down the mortgage, build up savings, invest in my pensions so that if I have periods of unemployment, or am unable to work, it isn't a disaster. So to a certain extent, investing capital in 'stuff' just in case isn't worth it. Flexibility and adaptability is my biggest prep - not being set in my ways and being prepared to change. 'Resilience' is one of the buzzwords of the moment in business - along with agility, adaptability and pivoting. All of which are about how we respond to change. Data also suggests businesses are back out spending, recruiting (and struggling to find people - possibly down to people deciding to retire early, drop to part time hours, be more picky or spend time with kids/caring for elderly relatives) and mostly predicting a return to growth during the rest of this year/next year. 

pollyanna_26

Just popping in to say thank you to boultdj. A friend of mine has a son at our local fire station near Farmfoods. She's just phoned to say he's been to !!!!!! in his lunch hour and I have my Mr Mash.

Thanks also to Eurnorris B&M is a bit iff the beaten track here but I'll keep it in mind if needed.

Re my " Inconvenient memory" Mar. I never forget a kindness and Nuatha was both kind and helpful. I never forget Heffalumps which I know you find a little inconvenient but that's the way I am.

polly

MingVase

Well I know elephants never forget, but I didn't know it also applied to parrots

pollyanna_26

You live and learn Mar.

pollyx