The Prepping Thread - A Newer Beginning ;)

Si_Clist

GreyQueen said:

My allotment has a handsome leek patch ...

We had one of those too, but it's not so handsome since the damned badgers decided to shred the fleece that was over them last week and have badger fun flattening 40-odd plants.  Luckily they didn't vandalise the spuds quite as much as usual this year.

Horrible creatures, badgers, but alas the allotment site has some misguided tenants who see fit to feed the blessed things.  Whether they're the same folk who have been feeding the foxes, of which there are now four tame (so much so that one of them regularly plays with a kitten from over the road) ones, I know not.  But I do wish they would wise up and not do it.  Mind you, there's nothing wrong with them that you couldn't cure with a shotgun.

But whatever, there is rejoicing here too on account of the reappearance of GC.  Let us hope that it lasts  

MrsCD

Lovely to see you back, @GreyQueen 😊 and to hear how you're doing. I've read many of your words of wisdom over the years, so it's great to see you again. Take care x

jk0

LadOnTheHill said:

DigForVictory said:

Other than meter reads sharpish, what's the drill?

Sit tight and wait for the new supplier to contact you. If you know who it is, and you can, send them a meter reading ASAP. Other than that, it takes a while for everything to filter through properly and get set up. Any credit you had built up with the old supplier will be transferred. When the new supplier wants direct debit details, or whatever, they'll contact you. It's frustrating to have to wait, I know, I'm in the same boat.

I've been trying to test out some of my stuff recently to make sure A) I'm familiar with it, and don't have to find out what its idiosyncrasies are at an unfortunate time and that it actually works. Some stuff I've played with as soon as it arrived, but others, like the marksman heater I have, haven't been touched since they were unpacked. They are very similar in concept to those flat, square camping hobs, in that they run on 227g canisters of gas that slot in, then you pull a handle to click it in place. Searching for "marksman heater" on the big river website will bring one up. Anyway, I can't get the piezo ignition to work on it. I never have much luck with those doodahs, so I fetched a lighter.

Problem #1) a small bic lighter, with the roll-y flint and flame right next to each other, doesn't fit through the grille on the front, designed to keep objects away from the flame. 😏 So I fetched a "long nosed" lighter.

Problem #2) the nozzle on the lighter is still too big to fit through the hole, and there was rather too big a flow of gas before it caught, for my liking. So I fetched a pair of pliers and made a gap in the bars so the lighter nozzle could fit through. Only small, but do I really want to have to modify a safety feature on a device in order to use it?

I ended up searching online, and found a completely electric lighter. No gas at all. It's charged via USB, and at the top emits an arc of plasma. It's windproof, doesn't rely on fossil fuels and works great for what I need, as the head is quite slim and fits between the bars a treat. They're about £10 on the big river website, searching for "arc lighter" will bring them up.

The awkwardness of lighting the heater also got me thinking about what else I'd have difficulty lighting with one of those small lighters. I have lots of them, and they do work for lighting tealight candles, for example, but I'd struggle if to light a candle in a jar, for example. All of my stash are either candles in jars, or pillar candles that I put in jars because I've had so many melt down the side and make a huge mess. It's a waste of wax when that happens, too. I don't want to lose all of that light, skinflint that I am.😁

I've got one of those heaters. I'm off to investigate...

BTW, the same goes for butane cabinet heaters. It took me about an hour to light mine, with the lights working to read the instructions by.

cuddlymarm

Is it still possible to get long matches ? Or tapers that you can light and reach to light jar candles or heaters etc.

pollyanna_26

cuddlymarm said:

Is it still possible to get long matches ? Or tapers that you can light and reach to light jar candles or heaters etc.

Our little Coop sell Bryant and May Extra Long Matches, Wilko do too.

pollyx

mothernerd

I bought tapers last year from the big river site - only plain ones not the lovely coloured ones that tobacconists used to sell. I also bought a pack of 100 taper candles from them.

Si_Clist

Well at least my cunning plan to build up a stash of drinkable instant coffee since January has paid off!  The threatened price rise seems to have finally happened, as the cost of my regular order of 2 x 400gm jars has suddenly gone up by 12.5%.  A pound to a penny says corned beef from Brazil will be next.

Funny old world innit, when buying a stash of food over a period of time is a better investment than putting your money into a savings account ...

Nargleblast

A moneysaving hint for lighting candles in jars without burning yourself - set fire to a piece of spaghetti. Works well as a long "match"

MingVase

Nargle I really want to know how you discovered this.

DigForVictory

Seconded!
I already have form amongst my scouts for being able to produce at least three forms of inflammable from a nappy bag (vaseline, cottonwool,& a plastic magnifying glass) then creating further mayhem with a brillo pad & battery - so where when & why did it occur to you to use a stand of spaghetti?
As it's genius, (even if the Explorer scouts lament Any foodstuff being burned), and, carefully arranged, could make a more interesting burning decoration than a brazil nut carefully skewered on a paperclip...