Emergency Preparedness Guides

[Glow_worm]

if these nations are supporting and urging these actions and I am aware ours have also ( although to a lesser extent ) done the same - are other european nations and are people here following them or see it as unnecessary?

The UK government has done very little to encourage preparedness and self-reliance in the case of an emergency compared to Scandinavia- it really amounts to the prepare campaign and the disjointed community emergency plans. No mention of war!

Meanwhile the media continue to attack the 'prepping' movement, nearly always drawing comparasions with extreme survivalists. Seems almost criminally socially irresponsible when every encouragement should be given to the population to make sure if the unexpected happens, the majority will not instantly become a drain on resources which will be needed by the vulnerable.

 

[Woody girl]

The UK government has done very little to encourage preparedness and self-reliance in the case of an emergency compared to Scandinavia- it really amounts to the prepare campaign and the disjointed community emergency plans. No mention of war!

Meanwhile the media continue to attack the 'prepping' movement, nearly always drawing comparasions with extreme survivalists. Seems almost criminally socially irresponsible when every encouragement should be given to the population to make sure if the unexpected happens, the majority will not instantly become a drain on resources which will be needed by the vulnerable.

As was illustrated by the lockdown and loo roll fiasco!
Keeping an eye on things, I think food will be our next BIG problem. British farmers are talking about withholding fresh veg ,meat, milk and eggs from supermarkets from now untill Xmas.
I have a small veg plot, and regularly dehydrate frozen mixed veg. Eggs and honeyI can get from a friend, I have powdered milk in my cupboard. I'm prepared to face most things, but then I always am, as occasionally I get cut off living on the moors.
My first few years here were a steep learning curve, so I'm always stocked up with meds food and fuel now.
Whatever happens I'm comfortable for several weeks, after that is anybodies guess. You can't prepare for everything, but think about what would happen if everything stopped for a month,and just do your best to mitigate what you can.
I don't think I'm a prepper
per say, just prepared. Oh that reminds me, I need more batteries.

 

[Glow_worm]

@Woody girl I'm the same, I could look after myself for a few weeks if needs be. It's the way I was brought up, my parents have never thought themselves preppers but they did the sensible thing and always ensured we could fend for ourselves. It doesn't necessarily run in the family- one of my siblings runs a regenerative farm and grows/rears/hunts for literally 100% of his diet. Another sibling by contrast lived near a shop and had practically empty cupboards.

I don't think any threats of farmers curtailing food supplies are valid- I am involved in farming and know the industry well enough to be certain that interrupting the financial cycle in such a way would bankrupt the vast majority of farmers in no time.

 

[oldtimer]

I was born during World War 2 and while my father was away fighting, my mother and I lived in a village in the country. Shortages, rationing and uncertain supply lines were a fact of life then and contimued into the 1950s. Making sure the larder was well stocked with necessities for a siege was something I was brought up with together with the importance of self reliance and a make do and mend attitude. The lessons learned then have stood me in good stead and remain with me over 80 years later. To me, being prepared is just plain common sense. (And I was once a Boy Scout!)

 

[TeeDee]

I’m sure there’s plenty of things we will agree on as well - I tend to find almost everyone has far more in common than sets us apart. Unfortunately though, online discourse tends to amplify the things we disagree on. And what power do we have to change half of it? Not much.

Thus we have a divided population, whilst the rich and powerful stay rich and powerful.

I quite like being rich and powerful. So don't knock it.
( joke !! )

 

[Woody girl]

Just stocked up with extra batteries, and indigestion mixture, made some wax candles in case of power outage, and now hunting out the hot water bottles. Snow on the tops, and bitterly cold today .
The walk home almost snagged me a pheasant, but it got away. !
I'll take a towel out with me next time, and throw it over one. The blighters have been letting me get within 3 feet of them all week, then they dive into the hedge where I can't follow.

 

[Chris]

As was illustrated by the lockdown and loo roll fiasco!
Keeping an eye on things, I think food will be our next BIG problem. British farmers are talking about withholding fresh veg ,meat, milk and eggs from supermarkets from now untill Xmas.
I have a small veg plot, and regularly dehydrate frozen mixed veg. Eggs and honeyI can get from a friend, I have powdered milk in my cupboard. I'm prepared to face most things, but then I always am, as occasionally I get cut off living on the moors.
My first few years here were a steep learning curve, so I'm always stocked up with meds food and fuel now.
Whatever happens I'm comfortable for several weeks, after that is anybodies guess. You can't prepare for everything, but think about what would happen if everything stopped for a month,and just do your best to mitigate what you can.
I don't think I'm a prepper
per say, just prepared. Oh that reminds me, I need more batteries.

Being prepared for realistic eventualities is indeed just sensible. I am not a prepper by any definition, but the two weeks of food, vitamins and medication I kept aside when people thought a global pandemic was a ridiculous idea, stood me in good stead when the lockdown panic buying started. The intention was that if I was really poorly for a couple of weeks, I could survive and recover without leaving the house and infecting others. But as it happens, it also protected me from the idiots buying up all the pasta and toilet rolls.

People wouldn’t think it ridiculous to prepare for financial hardship by having some savings, or to have home insurance in case of a fire (in fact banks insist on this), so why is it deemed ridiculous to just have a bit set aside for your other needs?

I think part of it is that people are scared to acknowledge how unprepared they are for even just a couple of days worth of strife. So it’s easier for them psychologically to just dismiss those who put the effort in as loonies.

 

[RonW]

I guess that Scandinavian countries, similar to middle of nowhere American towns, have more of a 'natural' preparedness mindset as part of their daily lives. If it's liable to be seriously snowy or emergency services are hours away etc, preparedness is an extension of how you're living anyway.

I do not know about Finland. Given their history with Russia/Soviet Union I would think so, yes.
However Sweden..... not in the slightest!!! Helpless and naive as newborns and equally dependent on the nanny state.

Not quite, they drove themselves into the corner in their previous incarnation by being lousy imperium. Eastern European countries were not cathered in by NATO, they wanted security against Putlin.

A more historical view is that Muscovy is part of Ukraine. Peter the Tall actually changed the name into the present one and he took it from the original slavic mother country, Kiev Rus, ie. Ukraine.

Maybe try talking to some Russians and try to see it through their lense?

Thus we have a divided population, whilst the rich and powerful stay rich and powerful.

Which get richer and more powerful by the day, thanks to their shenanigans and games.

Food for thought, which might put current and past events into another perspective:

 

[Chris]

Food for thought, which might put current and past events into another perspective:

I’ve been packing on the pounds to make it harder for them. That’s my excuse, anyway.

 

[Woody girl]

Being prepared for realistic eventualities is indeed just sensible. I am not a prepper by any definition, but the two weeks of food, vitamins and medication I kept aside when people thought a global pandemic was a ridiculous idea, stood me in good stead when the lockdown panic buying started. The intention was that if I was really poorly for a couple of weeks, I could survive and recover without leaving the house and infecting others. But as it happens, it also protected me from the idiots buying up all the pasta and toilet rolls.

People wouldn’t think it ridiculous to prepare for financial hardship by having some savings, or to have home insurance in case of a fire (in fact banks insist on this), so why is it deemed ridiculous to just have a bit set aside for your other needs?

I think part of it is that people are scared to acknowledge how unprepared they are for even just a couple of days worth of strife. So it’s easier for them psychologically to just dismiss those who put the effort in as loonies.

Yep, my pals laughed at me for going into the big town and filling my sholly shopping trolly, a 60 litre kit bag and a 45 litre rucksack with all sorts of supplies, from crossword books, knitting wool and seeds to disinfectant instant mash, tins of veg and meat, meds and masks. I locked myself down that evening when I got home, and a week later the first lockdown began. Later I remember boris or someone saying lockdown should have started a week earlier than it did.
My pals all asked me later how I knew to do what I did. I can't give an answer apart from I listened to my gut instincts.
I was considered highly vunerable, so couldn't leave my home and be around others. So I spent a lot of time improving my garden, growing veg, and bushcrafting in the woods away from the great unwashed who refused to wear masks or stick to any rules.
We can argue whether the rules were right and nessasary or not, but I used the time to hone my crafting and self sufficiently skills. I feel so much more confident to be able to cope with adverse conditions of any sort now.
It's a lesson many never took in. ie
No problem, just order online and let others take the risks to keep me fed and watered sort of attitude.

 

[TLM]

Maybe try talking to some Russians and try to see it through their lense?

Waste of time, they would not get. And what use would watching the world through paranoic lens make, absolutely nothing.

Besides those two things are much closer to facts than the Russian point of view.

 

[Tengu]

Yes, while others were busy bog roll, I was buying food...

 

[Falstaff]

I still cannot believe how the wharehouse shelves of Costco were stripped bare, there was very little left to buy... I managed to get a sack of rice, a pack of industrial paper hand dry/waste wipes, and several packs of latex gloves. Still using them up now, but that has resulted in a price saving due to inflation.

 

[RonW]

Waste of time, they would not get. And what use would watching the world through paranoic lens make, absolutely nothing.

Besides those two things are much closer to facts than the Russian point of view.

It might just take away your own blindfolds, but each to his/her own.

 

[barrs]

Quite interesting to see the be prepared guides in the article talking about being invaded!.

I know that Scotland has a general be prepared checklists and guides for basic prepping in digital form at ready.scot. Very similar to the American version at ready.gov.

 

[Tengu]

Rumbled! I was planning on invading them next spring...

 

[TLM]

It might just take away your own blindfolds, but each to his/her own.

You got it exactly wrong, they have the blindfolds as they can't see but their own propaganda.

 

[RonW]

You got it exactly wrong, they have the blindfolds as they can't see but their own propaganda.

And what makes you so sure that you are not?
As far as I can tell you are projecting your western line of thought onto their history and culture, utterly refusing to even consider their angle and yet call them wrong.

 

[TLM]

projecting your western line of thought onto their history and culture

Exactly where? Are you claiming that they did not steal their name from Ukrainians? Also being vassals to the Golden Horde for a quarter millennia did not really civilize them in any way.

utterly refusing to even consider their angle and yet call them wrong.

For once you are correct, I consider looking at things in a murderous paranoic way crazy and refuse to do so.

 

[Falstaff]

I don't think the russian people are unduly paranoic or crazy, and are quite well aware and as cynical as us about goverment propoganda and media spin. Like us, they have limited information sources to draw on and have to make their own conclusions and beliefs.
The pervasive western influence reaches right thru russia to differing degrees, even via their own media, so I don't think they are as blind to things as we are.