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

[SaraR]

That was 2011, over 10 yrs ago, its now 2023, and many hotels are no longer in use, business having pretty much collapsed during covid for many.
I'd be interested in more up to date info.

Today I'm taking stock of all my batteries, and will be topping up the AA range, as I've used several over Xmas for twinkly lights. So they need replenishing.
.

I got myself a good battery charger and a set of rechargeable AA and AAA last spring, and then got some more sets of batteries as we'd evaluated the batteries and our needs.

It's been really useful and saved us money already, but mostly it's much more convenient. Plus we don't feel so bad about using the battery-driven radio around the house and garden. In summer I'll try using the solar generator to use the battery charger (it can run off a 12V car charger too).

 

[billycoen]

it can run off a 12V car charger too).

I,ve got a spare 12 volt battery in the shed,was keeping it topped up just in case our other vehicles battery died,never once thought about a solar panel,brilliant,which one do you use.Thanks.

 

[Woody girl]

I am so glad I got my baby jackery system. I will be upgrading this year to a better waterproof panel, and maybe even a bigger and better battery. I hear good things of eccoflow. But it is pricey!!!
It's a pain having a non waterproof panel! The only drawback so far.
I don't seem to be able to get rechargeable AA and AAA localy. Next time I get into town, I will have to hunt some down. I have a few very old ones that are wearing down, and don't seem to hold their charge so well anymore. Better than nothing. Meanwhile, sadly, it back to normal ones and filling up landfill.... bad girl!

 

[Woody girl]

I,ve got a spare 12 volt battery in the shed,was keeping it topped up just in case our other vehicles battery died,never once thought about a solar panel,brilliant,which one do you use.Thanks.

Renology are cheap. Don't have one myself, but I'm hoping to get one this year. I used to have an old 13w solar suitcase that has crocodile clips and is self contained, just clip it onto the battery to charge it. Not waterproof though. But fairly simple to use. It kept a large leasure battery nicely charged.

 

[SaraR]

I,ve got a spare 12 volt battery in the shed,was keeping it topped up just in case our other vehicles battery died,never once thought about a solar panel,brilliant,which one do you use.Thanks.

I splashed out on a Bluetti LiFePO4 power bank (the EB70) with one of their 200 W solar panels. It is big enough to get us through slightly longer powercuts at home and small enough that we can take it in the van on holidays. (Also the biggest one I could afford!)

The solar panels are ”portable” (fold up), waterproof(ish) and have a long enough cable that you can hide the powerbank somewhere sheltered. They’ve apparently got some standard type of connectors, so you can mix and match easily. I’m sure there are better options, especially if you want a fixed panel that can be left out permanently (would be great!), but I wanted something that was guaranteed to work together, and I’m not that good at electrical stuff.

With the rain we’ve had, we’ve only got it set up once to check the solar panel, but even on a completely overcast day (you could not tell where the sun was in the sky), it generated enough electricity to charge the battery when set up on our south-facing patio.

We’ve used the powerbank more and that’s worked fine.

There’s plenty about trickle-charging car batteries and leasure batteries using solar panels if you look on camper van forums!

 

[Woody girl]

I realy wanted a bluetti, but while I was saving, prices shot up, so I ended up with the jackery, I have been saving ever since for a better system, and I'm now almost halfway to affording what I want, missed the black Friday deals of course, which I could have just scraped together, if I'd been willing to wait, but with things so unsure, I felt something was better than nothing, with the threat of power cuts as they were.
Hindsight is amazingly frustrating!
Still, that's the way of things.

With the new year upon us, I need to organise my stuff more, and get some shelving sorted. I planned to do it last year, but spent most of the summer trying to keep the veg plot watered, so lessons learned there, and as soon as I can get on to the garden, I'll be working on water and shading for the raised beds, in case of another hot summer, which has been predicted. I lost so much to the heat last year. It was heartbreaking to work so hard and end up with so little.

 

[billycoen]

There’s plenty about trickle-charging car batteries and leasure batteries using solar panels if you look on camper van forums!

Thankyou for that,i will have a look at the Bluetti,seems rather good.

 

[Broch]

The current floods and ambulance service strikes and delays have got me thinking a bit more. We are now of a certain age when things like trips and falls could be serious but, in reality, unlikely to be life-threatening unless outside in very cold conditions. However, with history on both sides of the family, heart failure is a real possibility especially as we try to continue with our normal life style. So, a little while ago, I invested in a defib unit. Hopefully, that means we will never need it

People express surprise at my purchase; they are prepared to spend more than that on a new bicycle but not on something that may save their life! It's funny how we perceive 'value' at times.

 

[Wander]

That's a fair observation and purchase.
Before Covid, during Covid, and even now, heart disease has been a bigger killer than anything else, both nationally and globally.
But whilst everyone went into a panic (in fairness, with some justification) during Covid - masks, isolating, etc - no one ever seems to do the same to stave off heart disease.
Yet, you stand more chance of carking it from a heart attack than you ever did (do) of Covid.

The thing with prepping is, what are you prepping for?
We can't prep for every outcome. So the answer is to prepare for the likely outcomes/events?
Well, yes. That's got to be reasonable answer.
Yet that's not always the case. A good portion of preppers seem to spend more time prepping for what scares them (understandable, I suppose) than what actually threatens them. Covid/heart disease is an example of that. I'm sure that irony could be applied to other fears and anxieties that are out there as well.

 

[Woody girl]

At the beginning of the covid thing, I was told that my surgery would no longer treat asthma attacks due to the exhaust of fine droplets from the nebuliser which could be covid laden.
So I bought my own, and got the surgery to prescribe me six ventolin ampules, as the nearest hospital is 25 miles away, and ambulance response times were life threatening at the time, if I'd had a serious attack.
I havnt needed to use it yet, but with ambulance response times now even worse, I'm very glad I got it, as the surgery are still refusing to treat asthma attacks due to the risk of covid.
The jackery was another back up for running the nebuliser during power cuts, as even the phone won't work then. We always lose mobile coverage when power goes here, so you can't even call for help.
I feel much better and safer taking responsibility for it myself. I hope
It may never be needed, but if it is, it's there.

 

[bearbait]

The supplied stand for the Ecoflow panels, I think, is OK for a few hours intermittent use and gentle breeze. These are some pix of the more rigid frames that I made for my Ecoflow 400W panels for longer term use. The angle is adjustable. The panels are secured to the frames using cable ties. (I can readily remove them from the frames during exceptionally bad weather.) One could add castors, or trolley-type wheels, to the frames for wheeling in and out of storage, garage, etc.

 

[Woody girl]

How waterproof are those panels, and what are they hooked up to.?
I presume its an eccoflow battery of some size, same as the panels.
Wish I could afford that set up! Looks great, and must give you peace of mind.

 

[bearbait]

According to the spec the panels, and the cable connectors, are waterproof to IP67 Waterproof Rating. They've been out in very heavy rain, and some snow, seemingly without issue. They're connected to an Ecoflow Delta Max and batts.

 

[Woody girl]

According to the spec the panels, and the cable connectors, are waterproof to IP67 Waterproof Rating. They've been out in very heavy rain, and some snow, seemingly without issue. They're connected to an Ecoflow Delta Max and batts.

I'll definitely look into getting a waterproof panel that I can leave out, instead of having to worry it might rain any moment, and possibly damage my present set up. Though I've no hope of getting a delta max!

 

[slowworm]

On a slightly different note, anyone else keeping an eye on what might be happening in China? Seems to be more than the odd rumble about some form of war when they regain Taiwan. Even if the West just impose sanctions I'm wondering what will happen to all the gadgets that will depend on China for spares.

Not just your phones or PCs but more concerned with parts if I decided to rely on solar panels for much of our electric needs for example. Also thinking about an EV, would an old classic petrol car be more maintainable with 2nd hand parts than an EV made in China?

 

[Woody girl]

I've been going low tech for a while now.. simple stuff, such as a spong mincer instead of an electrical gadget. I'm concerned that we are all too reliant on tech, not just in the home. But its become impossible to conduct business in any way without it. I'm thinking about the non tech lifestyle I had in the 1970s and aiming to be able to carry on as best I can like that. It's not just China, it could be a cyber attack, or major cme such as the Carrington event. Everything could come to a halt tomorrow. Atm's won't work, petrol stations, banks, supermarket deliveries, it could affect every single bit of our lives, even down to batteries for torches and toothbrushes.
Something to think about.
I try to shop localy. I buy my honey from a beekeeper for instance. I am stockpiling tea bags tho! and trying to buy second hand or make do and mend wherever I can. I even pick up rubber bands, screws, hair grips etc when I see them.
As for electric cars... ordinary cars are having problems with spares and tyres as it is. It will get much worse I think. Especially if there is war with China, which I'm pretty sure will come when either Europe is weakened by supplying so much to Ukraine or is involved there in a further way. Russia seems to keep pulling us in slowly, and I'm sure Russia and China are in cahoots and have it all planned.
It's not a matter of if, but when.
I wouldn't have said this a year ago, but its a gut feeling. I had a similar feeling in January 2020, and started to get things in order for a lockdown long before it was even suggested. A lot of people I talked to said I was being stupid, acting scared, and not to be so silly. It was only flu!.............
I listen to my instincts, and act on them. If I'm wrong, no harm done. If I'm right..I'm ready.

 

[Bearmont]

Solar is neat, we have that as well. But don't count on it yielding much in the winter months, when an outage would hit the hardest. It's more of a slow return on investment when you expect money to devalue.

Having a stockpile of dry goods like legumes and grains, rice and millet is a great idea, that stuff basically lasts forever. We also get water from a forest spring, about 200l of deliciousness, which is reassuring to have.

Long-term I'd say having trees and a garden that yields food is the best idea. In case of "trouble", you can have emergency electricity for weeks but if the internet's down, you can basically sit at home playing Solitaire with it. Yeah I know, food storage, but the fresh stuff that requires refrigeration will be gone first anyway. Unless you're a hunter or expect large volume of perishables to come in *during* troubled times I'd say there are more important things. A lot of things can be dry-cured.

Duh, that reminds me. Get yourself a sack of good quality rock salt. Possibly sugar too. Get sodium bicarbonate, citric acid, washing soda, curd soap in dry bulk. Get a big bottle of Lugol's iodine. And learn about all the things you can do with these.

 

[British Red]

Get yourself a sack of good quality rock salt. Possibly sugar too.

A bit more than 10 years ago we had a massive freeze. I planned to buy a quarter tonne of road salt. Found out that table salt was the same price...so.....

Since then it's never been so bas that we can't get to the council grit bins, but I have used quite a bit curing meat.

Sugar is crazy useful. If you have sugar you can make wine. If you have wine you can make vinegar. With vinegar you can pickle. It's quite possible to grow beet & make sugar at home, but it's a lot of work!

Salt is a lot harder. There's only a very few places in the UK where producing sea salt by evaporation is feasible and only one mineral salt mine that I know of.

 

[TeeDee]

A bit more than 10 years ago we had a massive freeze. I planned to buy a quarter tonne of road salt. Found out that table salt was the same price...so.....

Since then it's never been so bas that we can't get to the council grit bins, but I have used quite a bit curing meat.

Sugar is crazy useful. If you have sugar you can make wine. If you have wine you can make vinegar. With vinegar you can pickle. It's quite possible to grow beet & make sugar at home, but it's a lot of work!

Salt is a lot harder. There's only a very few places in the UK where producing sea salt by evaporation is feasible and only one mineral salt mine that I know of.

can you do all the same with honey as a direct replacement of sugar ?

 

[British Red]

can you do all the same with honey as a direct replacement of sugar ?

No you can't. At a chemical level honey is adulterated sugar. I love honey but it's not identical to sugar. As an example it will ferment but will not taste the same as sugar - meads are slower to ferment with a different flavour profile. Both products will last pretty much forever if kept dry and sealed (e.g. vacuum sealed sugar) so it makes sense to keep both, but sugar is much cheaper