The Emergency Preparation Thread

When it comes to household and personal products, I have large supplies of cleaning materials, washing powder etc. and toiletries. I made lists and worked my way through them. It is mostly 'green zone' stuff though.

I agree that honey is a good thing to have, and I have many jars of coconut oil - organic cold-pressed. I am still not too happy with getting a lot of tinned food - red salmon is a big treat though!

I will bear this in mind. I will get more cash out, for a start. I will download more books too, just in case.

I have no idea how prepared ISPs are for this.

“The sprouting system is a good idea to look at.“

I have been thinking about this as the next step. Sprouted seeds would be very useful if the shops had a shortage of green vegetables.

I have decided that it is best to start small and that there is no need to get any of the 'kits' that are available. I have been recycling all my glass jars as they become empty, but will save a few from now on. There is no need for special lids: they can be covered with any old gauze-like material. They can also be kept tilted if required without the need for special stands.

£15.88 for the kit, or DIY with any old glass jar:

Short-term disasters

I had rather cooled off about all this, partly because I now have a big stock of supplies and partly because I am very reluctant to spend money on and store things I may never need. I have stayed well within the 'green' or comfort zone so far; I haven't even bought any seeds for sprouting yet, never mind the wind-up torch and radio!

However, I have seen that people in Scotland were without electricity and running water for well over a week recently because of heavy snow.

Then there is the possibility of having to self-isolate for 10 days because of having been in contact with someone with the new virus variant, and restrictions are getting tighter again.

“Things are clearly ramping up...”

Avacyn I have also noticed that reports of temporary bank, Internet service provider and social media site outages are increasing in frequency. Amazon was down for a while too.

Although the Zombie Apocalypse and the total collapse of civilisation are out of my league, there is no harm in trying to prepare for something less drastic.

This is part of why I was saying "Be the bank." I am now in the habit of keeping in the bank what i am likely to need to spend online, and to keep a supply of cash available.  You also don't know when the banks will turn around, and close for a banking holiday, because they have money problems they want to solve by using your money to get themselves out of trouble.

Also, look to finding small independent shops, as they will have different supply chains. The toilet paper shortage of 2020 (for example) was really a supermarket phenomena; the small shops still had toilet paper, and some even got in more, in preparation for a panic buy. So going small and independent could help to insulate you from shocks in a crisis situation. 

Reviewing the situation

Although the COVID restrictions are now just a memory, the recent extreme heatwaves and the steep rise in the cost of energy and basic supplies are reasons to think about how best to prepare for the future.

I have not done anything more or even thought about 'prepping' for some months now; I am still living well inside the 'green zone' and have not bought any guns or even wind-up devices.

It is time to review everything, make some decisions and restock. I don't think that I will be going this far though:

Chest freezers and tins of food

People who want to prepare for food shortages are often advised to get a second freezer and fill it with food for emergencies, yellow ticket items in particular. Having a stock of food on standby and the hugely reduced end-of-day bargains that are sometimes available are points in favour, however the cost of electricity and the possibility of power cuts are reasons to be cautious.

My fridge/freezer died recently; luckily it didn't have much in it and I was able to salvage and use most of the food. I am in no hurry to replace it as as I am saving a lot on electricity! I found some tips online: keeping things in a bowl of cold water covered with a wet teacloth works quite well.

Then there are the tins: preppers are advised to lay in a big store. A friend told me that his tin of rice, which he opened just after the best-before date, was a funny colour and looked a bit off in other ways so he didn't eat it. He had bought it over two years ago at the time of the first COVID restrictions.

I am going to sort through my hoard of tins and start using some and donating others to a foodbank.

It is best to think carefully about possible future problems before investing in one of these:

Another version of the simple emergency cooker

Emergency cooking devices that use tea lights can be made from items that many people will already have.

There are a few bricks on my balcony so I may try this one:

Problems and progress with prepping

I tried a tin of soup from my hoard and it didn't taste very good. It could just be that I have become much less accustomed to processed food though.

I opened a jar of coconut oil that had been around for over a year and it tasted a bit off. I have a few different brands; it could be that it is just this type that didn't last long.

A small tin of tuna had gone a bit mushy, but it tasted ok.

I have sprouted and eaten some seeds. I just used old glass jars. I advise sticking to the bigger, well-known seeds: I had to write off some tiny ones when they slipped down the plughole when I was rinsing them! The mung beans were fine though. This is exactly why it is best to start with samples and see what works. It is bit too much trouble to do regularly, but it is good to have some vegetable sources on hand for emergencies.

I have heated baked beans and cooked eggs, toast and fried potatoes on a tea light stove. It is a bit primitive, but it feels good to know that I could have a hot meal in an emergency. I am not sure how much electricity is saved by cooking this way, and there is the cost of foil, candles and matches to factor in.

My stove is similar to this one, except that so far I have used only foil containers for the food:

Economy sometimes pushes prices up!

Tips for saving electricity include using an air fryer instead of the oven and a heated clothes drier instead of the tumble drier.

I found a listing for a discount on a heated drier for someone who is thinking of changing to using one; by the time she got around to having a look the offer had gone!

It is much the same with the – misleadingly named – air fryers. They will be much in demand, which will push prices up and they will no longer be on special offer.

I had better get some more of these before they too go up in price or become unavailable:

Cash versus cards

“...having cash out of the banks, and to hand, could be a very good idea.”

This needs more thought. Banking disasters, power cuts, trends, personal and commercial preferences...all are key factors.

An increasing number of people no longer pay with cash, and some shops and other retailers no longer take it. Money is said to be dirty and time consuming to count. It has to be banked regularly, which entails costs. There is often a security risk.

I still prefer to use cash for regular shopping but we seem to be moving towards a cashless society, especially after the introduction of contactless debit cards.

Emergency alerts from the government

I learned something new today when someone told me that he had received a government alert with a scary siren sound on his smartphone and accidentally dismissed it before he could read the message. He wanted to know if I could find out what it had said.

I investigated, and found that a new emergency alert system is being rolled out. He probably just got a welcome or a test message.

It is intended mainly for severe weather warnings but could be used for all kinds of dangers and emergencies.

Full details here:

www.gov.uk/alerts

I have enough salt to last for a few years.

I don't drink alcohol, but whiskey is said to be good for things such as toothache. Which reminds me, dental cement is a useful think to have.

I would never have thought of sulfur (sulphur). I see that it can be used as a pesticide. I will investigate this and other possible uses.

Yet another threat to cash

HSBC Bank has just announced that it will close 114 more branches.

Not everyone lives in a big town with many options when it comes to taking out cash and paying it in. People who prefer to pay with cash and businesses currently accepting cash may decide to move to cards only if taking out and paying in means driving long distances to their nearest branch. The petrol cost and the time involved may be the deciding factor.

So while some of us may have a stockpile of cash, we may not find it easy to find somewhere to use it.

Living in London is a big advantage – for now.