As the events, in weather and social unrest have shown in the recent past how many are actively practising preparedness, either by volonteering in civil groups or in preparing their homes and family or even just looking around for alternate routes and means to travel to work or friends or refuge stations?
Preparedness, do any practise it?
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Eric_Methven
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Now normally I wouldn't admit to being into self reliance and preparedness as I'd either be seen as a freak, or most likely I'd get the response like "Well, if things go bad we're all coming over to your place". What's scary is they actually mean it.
Yes, I do prepare for the unexpected. I have a veg garden and can bake my own bread. I have mountains of equipment all suitable for a protracted stay in primitive conditions. I have a British Berkfeld ceramic water filter large enough for a family and have a grain mill for making flour from wheat.
It's geared around staying put and weathering the storm (or whatever) at home, simply because we are most comfortable at home. We'd only bug out as a last resort. In which case we have contingency plans for dealing with that. In the event of evacuation, we have agreed meet up places in case the brown stuff comes into contact with the oscillating cooling device when we are out separately and don't get the chance to talk to each other. These are unlikely, but have been discussed with immediate family, then salted away in deep memory and forgotten about.
The most likely thing I'm prepared for is storm disruption, industrial disruption (national strike etc), unexpected unemployment or redundancy, and other everyday happenings which disrupt the normal comings and goings I am used to.
If the lights went out we could see well enough with tilley lamps and normal oil lamps, keep warm and cook food on our solid fuel fire (Parkray), sleep warm in our beds and know that we can manage quite well for at least a month. I have a petrol generator to keep the freezers working so food will not spoil and about four dozen Kilner jars and two part lids and a pressure canner. If it were a protracted emergency, all the meat in the freezers could be cooked up and canned and would be good for a couple of years like that.
So yes, I do prepare and have all the angles covered for my environment in the part of the world in which I live.
Eric
Yes, I do prepare for the unexpected. I have a veg garden and can bake my own bread. I have mountains of equipment all suitable for a protracted stay in primitive conditions. I have a British Berkfeld ceramic water filter large enough for a family and have a grain mill for making flour from wheat.
It's geared around staying put and weathering the storm (or whatever) at home, simply because we are most comfortable at home. We'd only bug out as a last resort. In which case we have contingency plans for dealing with that. In the event of evacuation, we have agreed meet up places in case the brown stuff comes into contact with the oscillating cooling device when we are out separately and don't get the chance to talk to each other. These are unlikely, but have been discussed with immediate family, then salted away in deep memory and forgotten about.
The most likely thing I'm prepared for is storm disruption, industrial disruption (national strike etc), unexpected unemployment or redundancy, and other everyday happenings which disrupt the normal comings and goings I am used to.
If the lights went out we could see well enough with tilley lamps and normal oil lamps, keep warm and cook food on our solid fuel fire (Parkray), sleep warm in our beds and know that we can manage quite well for at least a month. I have a petrol generator to keep the freezers working so food will not spoil and about four dozen Kilner jars and two part lids and a pressure canner. If it were a protracted emergency, all the meat in the freezers could be cooked up and canned and would be good for a couple of years like that.
So yes, I do prepare and have all the angles covered for my environment in the part of the world in which I live.
Eric
We're all coming over to your place - you freak ;o)
I think it's good to plan, but I don't admit it to most for the same reasons. Generally I have a 'What would I do if...' plan in the back of my head and have, in the past, arranged a meet up point if there is a Aircon/fertilizer incident!
AJB
So far this year we have had over a 100 power outages of various lenghts, it is becoming so mundane that the drill is down pat.
We also have had so many high winds and tornado alerts that we are always on as far as a BoB is concerned.
As with others we have foods and fuel enough for quite awhile to weather out most experiences.
Its scary to think that many would take it for granted that they could come over to your house just because you have prepared and they havent...that the true sheeple always relying on others to get them out of a bind.
We also have had so many high winds and tornado alerts that we are always on as far as a BoB is concerned.
As with others we have foods and fuel enough for quite awhile to weather out most experiences.
Its scary to think that many would take it for granted that they could come over to your house just because you have prepared and they havent...that the true sheeple always relying on others to get them out of a bind.
One thing that does worry me is if it all went wrong, and law and order fell by the wayside a bit, personal protection from looters and the like would be difficult. Apart from barricading yourself into your own home, there isn't really any way of dealing with it. I believe Lofty Wiseman did a book about urban survival which I'm sure I once had a quick flick through and saw a couple of interesting things like how to convert your house in the event of a catastrophe so tha you could use a normal wood fire in the home. It involves knocking windows out to give you ventilation, and also requires a fire proof floor, and thee were other things in there that showed a bit of thought on the matter.
I am currently reading a book on my PC by Bruce Clayton about life after a nuclear war. Most of the stuff inside is revolving around the aftermath of a nuclear first strike, but could so easily be adapted to a plague or pandemic, drought or any other type of natural disaster. The book is written for american survivalists in mind, and gives another name for them, retreaters. It is quite a good read so far, the book is called Life after Doomsday and is available on Amazon for a tenner.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-li...81511?ie=UTF8&s=gateway&qid=1183743379&sr=8-1
I am currently reading a book on my PC by Bruce Clayton about life after a nuclear war. Most of the stuff inside is revolving around the aftermath of a nuclear first strike, but could so easily be adapted to a plague or pandemic, drought or any other type of natural disaster. The book is written for american survivalists in mind, and gives another name for them, retreaters. It is quite a good read so far, the book is called Life after Doomsday and is available on Amazon for a tenner.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-li...81511?ie=UTF8&s=gateway&qid=1183743379&sr=8-1
Hadn't really given it as much thought as perhaps I could - I've got some packets of
dried pasta but not much to go with it.
Because I live in London and disruption is a twice-daily occurrence (to and from work)
I do have a very good re-routing system lodged in my head and I quite enjoy trying
different routes and modes (I'm quite lucky having the Thames on my doorstep so can
even get a ferry to work) including rail, bus and tube (ugh!) and ferry as mentioned.
dried pasta but not much to go with it.
Because I live in London and disruption is a twice-daily occurrence (to and from work)
I do have a very good re-routing system lodged in my head and I quite enjoy trying
different routes and modes (I'm quite lucky having the Thames on my doorstep so can
even get a ferry to work) including rail, bus and tube (ugh!) and ferry as mentioned.
Sure,
As Eric said, gravity water filter (Freshwater filter since I think the filters are superior), well, open fires, solar array, veg garden, live on a farm with plenty of game and grain, grain mill, make our own soap, bread, candles, beer wine, jerky etc. No bunkers and no cammo though
Red
As Eric said, gravity water filter (Freshwater filter since I think the filters are superior), well, open fires, solar array, veg garden, live on a farm with plenty of game and grain, grain mill, make our own soap, bread, candles, beer wine, jerky etc. No bunkers and no cammo though
Red
Eric_Methven
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Sure,
As Eric said, gravity water filter (Freshwater filter since I think the filters are superior), well, open fires, solar array, veg garden, live on a farm with plenty of game and grain, grain mill, make our own soap, bread, candles, beer wine, jerky etc. No bunkers and no cammo though
Red
Sounds near perfect. Just a couple of 12 gauge shotguns and a big dog or two to finalise the security, but you probably have those as well?
Eric
Eric, it is a shame I don't know you better, your post are well thought out with experience and confidance as a base. I raise my glass to you sir!:You_Rock_
I did seriously consider getting prepared for the worse with the Bird Flu thing but I thought that I might be getting too paranoid.
Actually had a young fellow here at my house today that is routinely denied his back yard by bears, last week a neighbour of his had to call the local wildife officers who dispatched large male black bear that had ketp her prisoner in her home. The fellow wanted to know what he could do, I told him we will see if he goes through with it.
I'm with Eric here, well nearly! When we built this house a few years ago we planned in some things to make life easier is things go wrong. Gravity water, open fires, live in a forest so plenty wood, alternative ways of cooking, lots of insulation etc. Living in quite a remote location I have more deer, rabbits and pheasants than I could handle. My wife is also a great cook and I can get by. Grow some veg and the dogs keep a good lookout. Not perfect but I do keep thinking and adding as we go along.
I do - of course things can happen, sometimes very bad things. It is a mistake to rely exclusively on outside help. So I lay by extra supplies of food, water, fuel, and means to obtain more of the same.
Can you skin a Grizz? Bear meat is good to eat, I hear. A bit on the fatty side but very flavorful. Make a nice rug!
I am most prepared for a bush fire the advice is stay and protect your property
so we have fire blankets lots of hoses rags to stuff in the down pipes ( this is so you can fill your gutters up with water) but recently ive been thinking about the fuel shortage
if fuel did sudenly run out it would be mayhem .
so we have fire blankets lots of hoses rags to stuff in the down pipes ( this is so you can fill your gutters up with water) but recently ive been thinking about the fuel shortage
if fuel did sudenly run out it would be mayhem .
Hi All,
This is a really interesting thread and something I have been giving quite a bit of thought to recently
We get official leaflets through the door and adverts on TV telling us to prepare for natural/un-natural disasters and situations, with advice on the sort of things we should be doing/storing down here in NZ.
I've gone some of the way to getting more prepared but the info on here is inspiring, so I'll have to get my finger out and get more organised.
I think that mostly the sort of problems that can come out of the blue here are big un-expected dumps of snow that can cut people off without power for quite a while (as happened last year).
Thanks for the useful info guys.
J
This is a really interesting thread and something I have been giving quite a bit of thought to recently
We get official leaflets through the door and adverts on TV telling us to prepare for natural/un-natural disasters and situations, with advice on the sort of things we should be doing/storing down here in NZ.
I've gone some of the way to getting more prepared but the info on here is inspiring, so I'll have to get my finger out and get more organised.
I think that mostly the sort of problems that can come out of the blue here are big un-expected dumps of snow that can cut people off without power for quite a while (as happened last year).
Thanks for the useful info guys.
J
Protection from looters...it's very very easy to make your own mace type spray from chilli peppers and a whole lot
more dangerous sprays from household chemicals, black widow type catapults with wheel nuts as ammo...if you don't have access to guns... ok this is last resort stuff but it can be done and there are other things that cannot be discussed here that you can do... 
I have already erected barricades over both the front and back doors to keep out the zombies. Just popping out down to Tesco's to stock up on chilli peppers and Cif kitchen sprays for close quarters fighting - Oh b*******, forgot that I had removed all of the wheel nuts off of my car for ammo for my black widow catapult - WE'RE ALL GONNA DIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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