To stockpile 72 hours of supplies

South London definitely took a battering during the war. I live in a house built in 1950 to replace the Edwardian houses that were destroyed by a bomb on our road and the next.

I suppose we could use the caravan on the drive for a while, that has plenty of gas and a toilet. We also have a camping toilet in the garage with bags and cat litter, just in case, so we would be ok for a few days if the water went off

i started a plan for this years ago add in a terrible ridiculous over thinker.

as a result, 5 adults in my family are recurve archers and 3 of us own our own bows. I’m a pretty good shot. My BIL was in the army and then went on the ships as armed protection against pirates so he’s very handy and would have no qualms in protecting his family using violence. Tbh I think I’d be ok with it too, and I’d deal with the emotional fall out later but I could survive it. But my DH and DSIS would probably need to be gagged and duct taped to a chair to stop them inviting marauders in for a brew “cos they look thirsty “ ( and I’m not joking, they are really gentle and good people that are blind to the ill will of others).

i also grow my own mushrooms ( mostly magic with some Reishi, oyster and Lionsmane) and know which ones are growing wild that are bad. If somebody managed to get in to my cosy little place you can bet your bottom dollar I’d be poisoning the stew and id look forward to them crapping their eyeballs out of their arse.

When I lived in Germany it seemed to be the norm to have two enormous shops each year for non-perishable stuff, most flats, and I assume houses, had a Kellar for storing the stuff.

The world is tumultuous and chaotic ATM, I don't blame anyone being a prepper.

I'm one of those pesky poor people. Did ok Pandemic wise, saw the writing on the wall and did 3 big shops before the panic (didn't think about stocking lol roll tho).

I'd be fucked right now, been winging it lately but I think it's only wise to have more long life food in, so will be stocking up a bit. Can't afford anything crazy.

We have water in the garage, always buy batteries by the 100 from Amazon or eBay as they are cheaper, have good supplies of food and have all the camping stuff

One month before my third birthday, in February 1944, I was at home in Lyham Road, Clapham, with my mother, grandmother and baby sister who was teething and wouldn't settle. At about ten o'clock we were brought downstairs. Almost immediately, there was a shattering sound that went on and on. We had no warning, no time to escape to the shelter.
Our mother and grandmother leaned over us, bending towards the chimney wall. That was the only wall in the house left standing. Our bedroom was now debris scattered down the stairs, and a broken skylight balanced precariously on the bannister. I remember sitting, freezing, crying, in a wheelbarrow amongst the scraps we had been able to salvage.
Next day our father came home on leave to find Lyham Road devastated. No-one could tell him if we were still alive.
The intense shock and cold brought on pneumonia, and my life was eventually saved by the pre-penicillin wonder drug that had saved Winston Churchill, M and B tablets. This experience has taught me never to say that children are too young to understand shock, fear or grief, or that somehow young children are more resistant to disaster than adults.

Farms and well-stocked homes will be targeted by raiders.

Your best bet is to become a raider's moll.

I also grew up in the 70s but I’ve moved on. Power cuts are infrequent.

Maybe where you live, but we've had 2 in the last year.

Trying to find a puke emoji😱

https://www.foxnews.com/world/putin-poop-case-moscow-health-problems.amp Reminds me of this

The cat always has at least a months' supply of wet and dried food. Ditto the horse. Me? About three days.
Priorities, please!

Honestly 3 days is less than most people just already have. People laughed at me before Covid but I’m immunocompromised and get sick really easily so I always have a stockpile in.

I have a camping stove with 12 gas canisters. Batteries and torches and candles.
5x5l drinking water

12 tins of soup/beans &sausage/meatballs
6 of those dried pasta and sauce things
3 tins corned beef
3 tins hot dog
Large tub of dried mash
12 various tinned veg
1kg sealed porridge oats
12 tinned fruit cocktail/grapefruit/mandarins
1 jar coffee
1 pack teabags
hot chocolate
ambient squirty cream
dried milk
4 condensed milk
3 boxes of cupa soup
sweets/chocolate/biscuits
sugar
emergency first aid medical kit
extra concentrated cordial squeeze pots

I also have other stuff like cards, board games, head torches for reading in the dark, spare guitar strings, crochet hooks and yarn and those glow sticks that you can make jewellery from to keep the kids entertained in power cuts. Basically is all the same stuff I’d take camping and I use it and replace it so it’s always got a decent shelf life. I already buy toilet rolls and cleaning products in bulk so I’m pretty set tbh. I also live on the very top of a hill that’s often inaccessible during snow so it totally makes sense for me to have things in place.

and all of that ^ is on top of my normal cupboards, chest freezer and fridge. I also have a multi fuel bbq and a Dutch oven so can even bake my own bread as I always have 6kg+ of flour in the house plus tons of other baking ingredients. I would empty the freezer first in an emergency and use that. We could probably last 4-6 weeks easily before I got fed up and started running low.

Or, and hear me out, find my local scout leader, seduce them with my feminine whiles, marry them and get them to light a fire, cook our rations and kill the raiders!

#beprepared

Ahh the early 70's 3 day week. We would be sent home from school to a stew that mother had cooked in a wartime haybox. Battery powered radio, board games with candles (no rechargeable lighting then). But as a child was an adventure. Nothing like the 'adventures' that my parents had during WW2. My mother was in the Brixham/Clapham area & was bombed out 3 times. Long story why she, her sister & mother weren't evacuated.

Soz edited as I put a link to Mum's BBC post which, as it has her name on my contravene MN rules. Have copied & pasted her post below.

Very true

The alternative is - know where your local scout leader lives and bump them off first.

See a huge supply of alcohol isn't a bad idea if things get really shit. It would make it all more bearable. I highly recommend elder flower champagne - will be in season soon and you can bottle it up and keep. Just being careful on what bottles you use as they can explode. You can get absolutely shit faced on it.

Do you camp? I’d just use my camping stuff to heat things up, we did that in the last power cut.

i have always had a policy of '1 in use and 1 just in case'.. i thought i was pretty normal? how do people cope when they run out of essentials?

Note to self - buy an axe…

On the other hand, I have a dozen jars of marmalade and plenty of rice 😀

A case of whisky will take up less room. HTH.