Preparing for troubled times ahead - Advice on what is needed.....

[Robson Valley]

I should look before I leap. I don't have enough Coleman fuel to run for 5 days, let alone a month. I'll save the butane bottle stoves as a last resort. Need to do a little shopping next week.
The single Coleman 533 is supposed to run 1.75 hr on HI and 6.5 hr on LO. Mine holds 1.1 pints or maybe 500ml that's 1/2 a bottle of fuel. I ought to have 4-5 hours on HI.

 

[Van-Wild]

Take out cash, to cover in the event card transactions are hit by cyber attacks.
Make hard copies of documents or details you might have otherwise relied upon accessing online.
Get stock of something to light your home in the event of black outs.

This most definitely.

(Puts tinfoil hat on...) in the event of an EMP attack or just total loss of mains electrical power, your cash card or mobile phone payment option is useless. (Takes off tinfoil hat....)

I always carry cash on my person. Sure, most places are doing card only nowadays because of the covid malarkey, but I still carry cash. I wear a low profile belt (this one, if you're interested.....https://crusheverything.com/product/1-5-lopro-belt-patch-style/) with cash in it. Its always there, and yes, I hear you when you say 'why not just carry it in your wallet?' Well, because I have a minimalist wallet that is just for cards. The idea behind the cash in the belt is emergencies/urgencies only....(like the icecream stall which is cash only ). But seriously, having a lump of cash on you is a good idea.

Hard copies of essential documents is imperative. We have originals in one fireproof box and copies in another fireproof box elsewhere, just in case. I also carry a laminated sheet of paper with important phone numbers, copies of passport and drivers license on it in my EDC bag, just in case......

Sent from my SM-A528B using Tapatalk

 

[TeeDee]

Thank you everyone, some interesting posts and a few ideas I'll follow up with.

It is interesting to see what others are thinking about, fuel and electricity is the main concern, that is mostly out of my hands and fresh vegetables.....

I work with water, mainly safeguarding resources and dealing with issues around water quality, so understand and know where water is near me, so that's sorted.

I am not quite as green / inexperienced as some people expect, I used to be a sheep farmer in my youth, which exposed me to a lot, and experience of hunting, fishing, foraging and survival skills.

My main focus immediately is to finish my raised beds and sow seeds. I have access to almost every tool possible on a farm, so lucky.

I have been looking at moving away from battery and electricity sources, mainly as like @Robson Valley power can be hit and miss with the surrounding trees.
We are particularly not interested in generators too, so old school tech where we can.

House is in limbo, so not quite where we want it to be.....hoping to get the builders in very soon to help.

The people side which @Toddy is missing for us, we are quite isolated and don't have support from family, and friends we have are nothing like us and not close distance wise......they also think we are strange for having a 80% plant based diet, let alone anything else. But I know they would come knocking, if anything happened.

Still loads to learn and welcome more ideas, some have outlined their setups which I would very much like to know more about.

Cheers Gra

TBF It sounds like you have many of the pieces of the puzzle that many would covet and aspire too - so I hope things are just a case of getting a few projects finished and topping off some home stocks and staples.

 

[gra_farmer]

TBF It sounds like you have many of the pieces of the puzzle that many would covet and aspire too - so I hope things are just a case of getting a few projects finished and topping off some home stocks and staples.

I feel that I am a little way off still, but getting a glass house today, just need to clear and collect.

The most useful tool I have access to is a 135 massey ferguson tractor, which is a god send.

As I said, learning still, but will get there hopefully soon.

 

[Lean'n'mean]

The problem is, when the brown stuff does hit the fan, the scenario is never as it has been imagined. Preparing may offer a sense of security if you know what you're preparing for but it also makes you a target for those who haven't prepared should things really go belly up.
Unfortunately, inflation is not only going to endure but also get worse, so even if you get stocked up with today's prices, it will only be a temporary measure. There doesn't appear to be any sign of shortages on the horizon though.
As for the consequences of the Ukrainian situation, Putin today has ordered that his nuclear arsenal be put on stand by, so we may not have to worry about anything pretty soon.

 

[TeeDee]

The problem is, when the brown stuff does hit the fan, the scenario is never as it has been imagined. Preparing may offer a sense of security if you know what you're preparing for but it also makes you a target for those who haven't prepared should things really go belly up.
Unfortunately, inflation is not only going to endure but also get worse, so even if you get stocked up with today's prices, it will only be a temporary measure. There doesn't appear to be any sign of shortages on the horizon though.
As for the consequences of the Ukrainian situation, Putin today has ordered that his nuclear arsenal be put on stand by, so we may not have worry about anything pretty soon.

1st part.
Maybe one cannot know the exact reason or situation but the 'things' and requirements we need to support human existence away from the current societal norms don't really change that much - its easier to be adaptable to the unknown situation if you at least have access to the right generic set of tools and supply provisions

2nd Part - Inflation - I agree completely that its here and will be here for a very long time indeed - but even that people can take an alternative perspective to place them in a potentially less harmed positions. But yes , inflation is going to hurt us all I expect. Also a good time to leverage the nature of inflation to ones own benefit

Hugo Stinnes .


3rdPoint - There will be some pretty significant sabre rattling on both sides until this thing is stopped.

 

[grizzlyj]

I looked at a solar powered torch a while back and discovered the Degen DE13 solar powered with hand crank radio with torch, currently £28 from Mr Bezos. FM MW SW.

My comment on developing your community stemmed from my realisation that if you are the one not knocking on doors asking for food, are the one with smoke coming out of the chimney, are the one with light in the evening you will have a lot of people coming at/to you. Lift everyone around you to a similar level of awareness even if not stock levels you will all be more resiliant.

 

[Danceswithhelicopters]

I don't think things will go Lord of the Flies but I do see us returning to an era only people if a certain age can remember... And I don't mean that long ago.

Profligate spending on nonsense will end. Pointless cash expenditure will end. People are slow to see that in the last week their income has just dropped 15%. Fuel increases, food inflation and council tax up by 3%...boom...your /we are all 15 % worse off.

Thing is I think we'll return to an era of no takeaway coffees, 2 special family meals a year, big freezers, bulk meat, reduced portions, no takeaways, 1 big holiday a year and no flying.

No end of days but a better way to live.

 

[MartinK9]

Store what you eat, eat what you store.

 

[Tengu]

But that is what I do now.

 

[MartinK9]

But that is what I do now.

Then you are ahead of the game.

Your food storage should mirror your normal pantry to a certain extent.

Just think of it as a mini supermarket in your house.

Run out of coffee? Upstairs to the spare bedroom cupboard for a jar, add x2 jars to the shopping list.

 

[Robbi]

I feel that I am a little way off still, but getting a glass house today, just need to clear and collect.

The most useful tool I have access to is a 135 massey ferguson tractor, which is a god send.

As I said, learning still, but will get there hopefully soon.

Cor, I spent the summer of 1976 driving MF 135's for a living. Seriously happy days.

 

[Wander]

Don't forget the Haribo.

 

[Broch]

Cor, I spent the summer of 1976 driving MF 135's for a living. Seriously happy days.

'74 for me - good times but I realised I didn't want to get stuck 'on the land' after a year of it

 

[TeeDee]

On inflation and currency debasement.

 

[Robbi]

'74 for me - good times but I realised I didn't want to get stuck 'on the land' after a year of it

Hey. . I had that glorious summer.... Brown as a nut... Working hours were... Daylight.

 

[C_Claycomb]

But that is what I do now.

Sadly there isn’t enough recognition of trend setters!!

 

[C_Claycomb]

I visited with my parents this weekend. My dad is a news hound and we got copies of both Sunday Times and Telegraph. There were a lot more interesting and in depth articles than one finds on the moving picture news.

One article discussed the possibilities of cyberwar spill over from operations aimed at Ukraine, while suggesting that direct Russian state operations against the UK are less likely than Russia releasing the criminals they have recently arrested and just encouraging them to make trouble.

putting what savings one has in hard assets does look like the thing to do, although it is a bit late now.

 

[slowworm]

My advice for anyone wanting to be more self sufficient is straightforward.

Go to your fusebox and switch it off ( leave your freezer on but tape it shut). Turn off anything using mains gas. Turn off your water at the stopcock. Don't eat anything that you didn't grow or procure / preserve yourself. See how you get on for 24 hours.

I was going to post up a thread along those lines after having no power for 30hrs last weekend.

One thing I noticed is, as much as I like candles as I make our own from our own beeswax, when the powers off and the roads are blocked safety becomes a bit more important so we used torches for the evening. (Power tool batteries and their LED lamps worth getting as they would last a few weeks of evening use).

I would also prefer one of those basic gas hobs that use the gas cylinders, very stable and 4 cylinders can cook and boil water for a week. After that some form of wood stove (either inside or out) as wood is far easier and safer to store large quantities.

Another thing I noted during the pandemic, we've been growing our own veg for years but the seeds we bought last year had appalling germination rates. I put this down to the greater demand for seeds so poorer quality control by the seed companies. It's certainly worth saving your own seed when you find something you want to grow year after year.

 

[British Red]

I was going to post up a thread along those lines after having no power for 30hrs last weekend.

One thing I noticed is, as much as I like candles as I make our own from our own beeswax, when the powers off and the roads are blocked safety becomes a bit more important so we used torches for the evening. (Power tool batteries and their LED lamps worth getting as they would last a few weeks of evening use).

I would also prefer one of those basic gas hobs that use the gas cylinders, very stable and 4 cylinders can cook and boil water for a week. After that some form of wood stove (either inside or out) as wood is far easier and safer to store large quantities.

Another thing I noted during the pandemic, we've been growing our own veg for years but the seeds we bought last year had appalling germination rates. I put this down to the greater demand for seeds so poorer quality control by the seed companies. It's certainly worth saving your own seed when you find something you want to grow year after year.

Definitely agree with that philosophy on seeds. We supplied a lot of neighbours with things like parsnip seed . Those little briefcase stoves are outstanding as a backup. Cheap to buy and, as you say incredibly stable. Lighting is very interesting. I'm with you on candles, and head torches are fine but some form of area lighting is really nice to have. I have some rechargeable work lights that are great but only last a few hours, however my " best buy" are the LED inspection lights that run on AA batteries. They are a torch, reading light, hanging room light all in one. Super cheap too.

https://amzn.to/3JYLkeN.