Scenario

[bigpaul]

OK so this isnt my scenario, but after a long conversation today with another prepper-who's name i wont mention as he likes his privacy- how's about this one: you wake up tomorrow morning..say 6-6.30am its still dark ...and there is no electric.....you come home about 6-7pm AND ITS STILL OFF.....ok you manage for a few hours then go to bed-no problem but you wake up the next morning and its still off.....eventually there is a van going round with a loud hailer....X event has happened( dosent matter what it is-its happened...make up your own "event") and the power will NOT be restored for about a week......what do you do? have you got enough torches? what about batteries? candles? got any water stored?(remember most water mains are electric powered) where can you get more water? do you know where the local springs or wells are? how are you going to cook, light up your house or warm your house( dont say mains GAS cos most of the controls are powered by electric), what are you going to do with human waste...no water remember so once you flush the loo it wont refill again. thoughts and comments please!!

[Prepaday]

Go camping My fella won't be at work as there is no leccy, so may as well go camping, I can light a fire better outdoors than in

[Ghost]

I could easily survive for about a week. I'd use the water from my butt..stop laughing at the back!..to flush my waste and i could purify it enough to drink.
My worry would be all the idiots who would see it as an opportunity to start looting and rioting. I'm guessing shops/supermarkets would also be closed forcing many people who are hungry to break into these places and steal all the food they could walk away with.

[bigpaul]

its one week(minimum) to start with, we can always expand it from there...maybe up to 1 month...how about 3 months....does that change anyones answers??

[Ghost]

Winter is on it's way so I'd stay put and bug in while the rest of the world went to hell in a hand basket.
Then maybe at the beginning of Spring next year I'd head for my BOL and set up permanently there.

[Hexyprep]

A week would be fine, I would first turn off the gas/water/electric at the mains to prevent back ups and surges causing issues.
I have enough candles, lanterns (wind up) tourches to last months... but would probably try and use the light and sleep soon after it goes dark. I have a nice big double grill gas BBQ that my naighbours gave me a few weeks back as it was too big for their needs!! ((result)) and enough gas stored to last a couple months if used once a day. It would do for most of my cooking needs. Also a wood burning stove for outdoor use for the rest of it. I have a wind up radio and battery powered ones along with CD players and plenty of story CDs, books and board games to keep us all entertained (if I'm even worrying about that).
I have a water butt for the toilet issue and enough drinking water stored for cooking and drinking for 3 months. I also have a lot of water stored down the side of my shed which can be purified for drinking or used to wash. My nearest stream is a 5 min walk and my nearest river is a 10 min walk. I I also have tablets to purify and a purifying filter bottle which has a lifetime guarantee... so should last a reasonable time anyhow!!
Heat might be an issue... but we all have thermal underwear, jumpers, jackets, hot water bottles and an unreasonable amount of blankets. We actually had 2 weeks with no heat or hot water in the worst of winter a couple years back and it was uncomfortable but we managed.
my one concern would be the food in the freezer as there is much more than a weeks worth. I might be able to smoke some of it on my outdoor woodburner and maybe if its cold enough it would be okay outdoors... but think we might lose some of that.
Not really sure how long we would be okay... but sertainly a week would be fine.

[IB1]

One week should be manageable for virtually anyone on this site who has given it just a little thought, water being the main problem but getting a weeks worth of drinking water in stock should be the first thing on any new preppers to-do list. Disposal of human waste would probably cause the biggest problem, short term answer would be burying it in the garden, longer term would be a compost loo but as we are only talking about a week here then burying will do. Other than that, go into full grey man mode and act as if I am as confused and short of food, water, and heat as everyone else

It all depends on where you live as well, 2 days without power in the middle of a large city could cause total mayhem, a week without power in the countryside could be a problem but not a major one.

[bigpaul]

ok so preppers on this site would be OK, what about the NON preppers around you? the sheeple/the neighbours/the chavs?? how would they cope and would that effect your plans??

[Metroyeti]

Last time we had a powercut I went for a walk. They were hanging out their windows and shouting "missed the end of corry whats ganing on?" at each other. After my walk I read my book with the help of a few candles.

[IB1]

No chavs near me, mostly middle aged and retired people. I would imagine that they would be ok with the probable exception of water and possibly cooking. Most older people i know still have things like candles, hot water bottles, and blankets around the house, quite a few round here have caravans and tents so they would probably group together to cook food on the camping gear.

Trouble would depend on which direction the chavs from the estate a mile or so away decided to go in search of their ciggies, booze, and pizzas.