What have done towards your prep?

[Straight Shooter]

Update........he cheated..........he tarped over the whole dormer ! The Barftie crastard ......he’s no bloody fun at all .....as I wipe the egg off my face.

[Straight Shooter]

Bought a pile of tinned meats yesterday along with other tinned veg , plus another ten k of lentils off the net , got another ten bags off white rice .......prices are going to rocket upwards along with the upcoming shortages , so it’s time to get as much in as you can afford Right Now ! Or we might miss out completely ....it’s about to get a lot worse I think .

[Pete Grey]

We also shopped yesterday, more tinned meats and veg, a load of pasta and rice, longlife milk and breakfast cereal, butter and cooking oil, all stowed away. Freezers are full.
These are not to add to our long term preps but so we don’t need to shop for a few weeks after our camping trip (camper is all packed ready).
We know so called freedom day will cause chaos so we’ll be off the weekend to chill out mid Wales until things settle down.
As SS says prices are already rising and supermarket shelves are showing a lot of spaces. Shop now or repent at leisure .

[Straight Shooter]

It’s not so much prices going up Pete , more the fault of inflation and the currency loosing its value , as Mb pointed out inflation has arrived .......everywhere around the globe ! All I do now is check the speed of it ......we all need to get what we can while we still can and can afford to buy .....have a good time Pete and mrs Pete ! ........bought a new caravan today ! .....wild child rules okay ! ......new to us that is !

[Pete Grey]

(15 July 2021, 20:01)Pete Grey Wrote: ...................We know so called freedom day will cause chaos so we’ll be off the weekend to chill out mid Wales until things settle down.

This is not a bug out, we’re just avoiding towns and crowded places for two or three weeks or so, and meeting some old friends.

Nearly forgot 2 extra bottles thetford portaloo chemical a pack of toilet paper, some hand wash laundry detergent and a couple of cases of the “amber nectar”.

We’ll be off early tomorrow before it gets too hot.

[Pete Grey]

SS forgot to say congratulations on the new caravan, you never know we may end up on the same site one day.

[Straight Shooter]

That would be good Pete ! .....we are in west wales at the moment....up north next month !

[Straight Shooter]

Made some drying racks this afternoon in readiness for the potatoes and carrots , there is more black currants and red currants ready to harvest so I will get that done tomorrow .......the blueberries are coming along strong and will not be long , the apples and pairs were hit by that cold snap and knocked them back but I will have a crop but low yield , the damsons are looking good but weeks away yet .....leeks , Swede , cabbage , turnips are doing great my polytunnels are getting to hot ! But the tomatoes are plentiful .....the cucumbers have had it ...but a very different storey down the two big polytunnels .....hydroponics system is a big success the aquaponics system is proving its worth .....the self watering tub system is turning out to be brilliant .....everything in there is doing excellent and beyond compare ....100% success.....I put this down to shading and position .....charge on !

[Pete Grey]

(15 July 2021, 20:01)Pete Grey Wrote: ...................We know so called freedom day will cause chaos so we’ll be off the weekend to chill out mid Wales until things settle down.

Well I was wrong wasn’t I, no chaos. Most people still wearing masks in shops, sanitising trolleys and distancing. Infections still high with the delta/Indian variant but no wave overwhelming hospitals. Shops seem to be getting better deliveries. Still it was a good excuse for a trip to meet some old friends .

[Pete Grey]

I haven’t really posted anything new recently about our preps here’s why. At the age of 77 I think it’s now time to just maintain the status quo considering our age and health. Our plans are fairly comprehensive, and so our preps will not really be increased and will be kept at around this level.

So here is an update of where we are.

Our home is as secure as we can make it. Doors and windows are fitted with the best locks we could get. We have cctv cameras, all garden fencing is constantly checked and repaired as necessary, and is supplemented by spikey holly’s and firethorn’s.
After all we know our area, it’s where all our resources are, we’ve worked for many years to get house and garden to what we want. It’s where we are all set up to bug in.

Where possible the majority of our preps are kept in crates, as they stack taking up less space, and can be easily checked and moved about quickly. We try to keep each about 30lb weight so if needed they can be loaded into a vehicle quickly and easily should we need to bug out. In a bug in situation we can quickly move stuff to where it’s most convenient.

Our potable water is kept in jerrycans with backup being our waterbutts, it gives us 150 gallons, we have a Berkeley filter, with spare filters, thin bleach, sterilising tablets, these will keep it all safe. We also have plans for the collection of as much rainwater as possible should it be necessary. The jerrycans can easily be moved on our four wheeled garden cart.

Our present food stocks both canned and dry should feed us for 4 or 5 months, more with care. We have a lot of salt for when the freezers die. We have raised beds for vegetables, fruit trees and bushes, and a good stock of seeds. However we don’t know how long we will be fit enough to garden, so we have started to increase our canned and dry food stocks.

For heating we have enough coal to last a long winter (our multifuel stove can also boil water and heat saucepans).

For cooking we mainly be using propane (we have spare regulators of all types also for butane if we cane “find” any) and we do have some charcoal and some logs. It may sound silly but we have a couple of homemade rocket stoves, they burn any odd twigs or scraps of wood in an emergency, they cost us nothing and could be very useful.

For when the power goes down we have solar panels and leisure batteries (we are planning to increase them and get spare cable, connectors and charge controllers). We now have little honda generator which we will try to keep for the freezers, but household lighting (all led now) will probably have to be rationed to 2 or 3 hours of an evening. We have led strip lights in garage and workshop, these really need their own solar supply, however after dark we’re usually in the house so not really a problem. But after an event with no mains electricity I expect windup led lanterns and candle lanterns will be the norm. We also have two hundred tea lights (cheap as chips) and two hurricane lamps with some paraffin, we’ve not forgotten matches and lighters.

For communication we have sw radio (plus a spare) for national and international news, cb radio and walkie talkies are for local use, they should keep us informed of any unusual situation, rechargeable batteries, several sets for each and a separate solar charger for them. We have two 12V 7Ah batteries (kept charged) and with ready made up leads just for comms. All kept in a metal dustbin for EMP protection.

Our medical preps are the usual OTC general colds and flu remedies etc, good stocks, and the other usual pills and ointments.
Our prescription medication (high blood pressure), two months supply, could be extended by reducing dose, and can be supplemented with home grown garlic, and dried hawthorn berries (to make hawthorn tea), we will have to take our chances if we run out of meds.

For first aid we have good stocks of sterile dressings, steri-strips, micropore tape, bandages, wound irrigation syringes, wound wash also hydrogen peroxide, detol and methylated spirit. I only keep items I know we are capable of using safely (we both did a first aid course some time ago). We also have good PPE stock.

We have tools for home maintenance, car maintenance (if we have fuel), gardening tools, and protective clothing to prevent any accidents, bump cap, work gloves (you can never have too many), welding gauntlets, rubber gloves and h/d pvc apron while handling batteries or any chemicals, leather apron (while welding or when heavy cutting), goggles, ear defenders, dust masks.

EDC is now a day sac, always with me or in the car behind the driving seat. There is a GHB kept in the boot, and a crate (with extra water, food for 3 days, an esbit stove and billy can, a tarp, FAK, if we are stranded for a couple of days ). If we are out and about and an event occurs and we have to abandon the car, I will carry the GHB and and my wife will carry the EDC day sac with any other useful stuff from the car.

As for a BOB, due to our age and circumstances we will not be moving into the woods or into the hills for an indefinite period, this is a bag to move to friends or to a hotel for a few days.

If we DO need to bug out it’s the camper, see a more detailed thread “PGs camper van”.

Our family car is a GHV and a backup BOV, there is a separate thread “The Car” with our thoughts on this.

We also have stuff cached with friends at our chosen BOL.

These are currently our plans and preps, but could easily be changed if and when necessary, plans should always be flexible.