Slow Breakdown - How will you be hit?

[WHB]

I/we are pretty well sitting OK for the now.
I care for my 88 year old father and our weekly shopping and bills don't cost as much as my carers allowance and my wife's salary + the son'a housekeeping comes to.
One thing I am trying to do is get our solar 12V electric system as a power-down backup.
Since reading One Second After I am now driven to keep a 12V cool-bag for my wife's insulin (usually a 5-6 month supply)
I also, just in case, will be storing the cool-bag and a couple of my radios in a Faraday cage in the storage area and have the thing earthed via a meter long copper earth-rod driven into the ground.
On the main, I am doing pretty well on the slow breakdown front. My accident compo enabled me to get in place a rather good food and water cache.

I am seeing a lot of my builder friends telling me they are again very busy. I personally think that this good indicator of the building trade is a economic false flag which was enabled by the Tory party to make the people think the worse is over. I see an unsustainable rise in earnings and loadsamoney ethos quickly returning to times where the building trade goes flat and wages are driven down with a quick 30 % cut in wages, It happened to me as one day I was earning £140 per day then was told the day-rate was dropping to £90 per day.

We as survivalists and preppers should never loose sight that we DO have spare cash but that could very quickly change upon the whim of those above us in the chain. From politicos down to our bosses who see a reduction of our wages as a way to increase their profits we should be cautious because there are no friends in business, be it political business or the business of the people that employ us.

I use the building trade as a measuring stick because when that slides many other of societies business structures follow on close behind !

WHB

[Steve]

Here's a good article on Faraday Cages:

http://www.futurescience.com/emp/emp-grounding.html

"Remember that a faraday cage without any wire penetrations does not need to be grounded, and any attempt to ground such an uncomplicated faraday cage is simply asking for problems."

My own Faraday cage is the "multi layer" approach. A metal shipping container containing metal filing cabinets and an 800kg metal safe, none of it is grounded, each layer sits on wood. I have electricity wired in, for lights and equipment, but the metal cabinets and safe should provide protection for their contents from unexpected EMP, and if an event looked likely I would remove the connection completely.

[WHB]

Thanks for that link Steve, plenty in there for me to understand what's needed.

WHB

[Devonian]

The humble McVities biscuit tins work well for me.

[Mortblanc]

And once again we have turned a thread about the slow downward spiral, we are actually in, over to prepping for the "big event" in the form of the EMP.

One's phone in a faraday cage is of no use to anyone. Especially so if one has not had the money to pay the bill for months and they have shut you off.

[bigpaul]

(4 August 2015, 16:07)Mortblanc Wrote: And once again we have turned a thread about the slow downward spiral, we are actually in, over to prepping for the "big event" in the form of the EMP.

that seems to happen a lot on SUK MB.

[WHB]

Ho Mortblanc, I guess the thing about the Faraday cage was down to me ?
Why not reread my post and see I was talking about radios not mobile phones.
One thing about a slow breakdown is that it will either stop and be slight whimper or it will slide into the big one,

WHB

[Steve]

OK, my fault for commenting on the Faraday cage, but no need to end a thread - it's just an "aside", like in normal conversation.

So, downward spiral is my priority scenario, because it's actually happening. I can live a simpler life, as can most people, as long as I have a few essentials taken care of. I asked myself what did I really need to survive, and the answer was shelter, means to harvest water, means to grow food, and means to protect it all. Boxes are amply ticked.

I sold up in the South East ( worked in London all my life ) and bought a smallholding way over West. I found a local job I enjoy, grow food and raise pigs.

Loads of room here, massive dry barn, fields, ponds, static caravans, don't see another person from one week to the next if we don't want to.

I'm surprised more people don't do it, I bought the lot for just a bit more than I sold my 3 bed semi and woodland in Kent for. Even before TSHTF, it's a much nicer place to live.

Bug out now - you know it makes sense.

[bigpaul]

the trouble with a slow breakdown is most people wont even notice it until it is too late.

[T-oddity]

As far as I'm concerned we are already in a slow breakdown, very much a boiling frog situation.