Why have we been told to 'stockpile' and what for?

And there’s an episode of Only Fools & Horses where they find a nuclear shelter .

I’m thinking a camping stove, extra tinned food, including stuff that can be eaten cold, extra bread in the freezer, bottled water, candles, matches and make sure we have some cash. And keep a power bank charged.

Dried pasta won’t be any use to anyone if they haven’t got water or a heat source.

They prioritise essentials like food and water. Most of us consume far too much stuff. We can manage without non essential things. Food and water are what will keep you alive in an emergency.

Since the lockdown I've always made sure I have enough food to survive without going out for at least a week. Over the Summer I have been adding to my preps.

My basic 3 day kit would look like this -

3 x 5 l water, 2 x baby wipes instead of washing and some hand cleaner spray. And I have a water butt full in the garden to flush the loo with.

For food 3 x cans of M&S casserole things, I got a chicken stew, an irish stew and a chicken curry. Bag of rice. Bag of pasta. Tins of sweetcorn, and tins of peas. At least 2 bottles of wine, and 3 bars of chocolate. Thats my main meals.

For lighter meals I've got cream crackers, tuna, mayo, tins of soup, ryvitas and a little tin of Polish chicken pate. I will be honest, I have no idea what it will be like, but I thought it couldn't be worse than spam.

For breakfast I've got porridge oats, dried milk powder, jars of jam, jars of honey. I never run out of teabags or coffee, so they are always on hand.

Add to this what I would have in anyway, the fridge and freezer stuff, I should be ok for at least a week.

To cook I have my camping primus, for light I've got a couple of wind up lanterns, and a wind up radio so I don't miss the Archers. I've got 2 small power banks charged up for when the phone runs low on juice. But I had these anyway because I have been known to have the odd weekend in a tent.

I’m sorted for kidney beans as I seem to buy two tins every time I shop without checking how many I have left. Apocalypse chilli at my house if anyone needs any.

@merryredfly "I have been talking to some friends (a bit older than me) and they say that there was a similar situation in the 80's when there were instructions on TV about how to build a fallout shelter in your home."
Whaat?"

That would've been the "Protect and Survive" campaign which started in 1974 and ended in 1980. It was very, very frightening. I was a primary school pupil in the early 1960's during the Cuban Missile Crisis and I remember the WRVS coming to talk to us about how to survive nuclear fall out. We also had a 3 minute warning drill where we had to take cover under our desks and not to look at the thermal flash. I was only 6 years old! I'm now nearly 70 and still get scared when I see lightening, thinking it's the flash of a nuclear bomb.

Very busy at our local Aldi today and, what a surprise, stocks of loo rolls running out. Not sure how they’re going to help in the zombie apocalypse.

But you then eat your way through the freezer. It would take three days to defrost. My freezer is full of leftovers so I would do to the elderly folk nearby with a two-person portion of spag bol. Or another casserole.

Just have a bucket outside to fill with rainwater.

The only stockpiling I have done is GF food. Granddaughter is Coeliac so she would be the family’s priority.

Honestly, I am really not sure most people on the planet are worth saving right now.

Honestly, mostly ordinary things. Storms like today's (thousands without power in Cornwall this morning), payment outages like Tuesday's Google one, and the occasional cyber-attack on a big company. None of it needs a bunker. A few days of water and food, cash, a torch, a radio and charged phones covers nearly all of it, and most of us have half of that already.

I think in the instances where somebody can’t afford to buy an extra bag of rice/pasta and a few tins (which is indeed a reality for some people) I’d suggest they visit a food bank. The type of food they’d be given is exactly the kind of stuff that would be suitable to be kept, and rotated.

Cancel your nail appointment, postpone the haircut. Buy a 10kilo bag of rice for £10. It will taste like shit and your kids will whinge unless you can cook, but you'll survive.

It's happening in parts Scandinavia, I should imagine it's the risk of war.

I always keep a stock of tinned food, power cut in the event of a weather leaves you without a freezer being a good example

The greedy ones who binge eat food wont make it last one day. Must buy a six pack of beer to wash it down !

There is a current rota also, although cyber attack may mean unplanned power outage..

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/electricity-supply-emergency-code/electricity-supply-emergency-code#annex-2--rota-plans

Basically everyone got lazy and entitled and forgot about the hard times. But throughout even the last century there have been plenty of times when we needed to be prepared.
The UK got rid of its own government food reserves a few decades ago and now they just want us to make our own reserves as they’ve realised we don’t have supplies enough to feed people if something did happen. And right now the possibility of something happening is much greater than it has been in the past few decades.

Do you consider yourself worth saving? What about your family?

Is it just other people you dislike and disregard?

If you're counting on water butts for cooking rather than some stored tap or bottled water you also need some method of purifying the water. I'm a bit hazy on what's safe but water purifying tablets are cheap enough and don't take up any room. Water butt water will flush the loo, do for washing, water the garden, but it's definitely not cooking and drinking water without further attention to its safety.

I disregard the less likely explanation in favour of the more likely.

War or massive cyber attack is unlikely. In any case war on the West would either be elsewhere - in the Baltic states, say - or a nuclear exchange, in which case three days worth of baked beans and Highland Spring will be pointless.

The government knowing that they’ve fucked up the national energy supply and we’re running out of gas for power stations is much the more likely.

Where did the Christmas thread go? 🤔
I feel like I've walked into the wrong room.

Buy a couple of extra Christmas cakes. Get some battery powered fairy lights and relax in the knowledge that the average Turkey can be cooked on a BBQ.

I had nightmares about the Protect & Survive public information film during the 1970s. Moving the dead and hiding under a table after you've boarded up the windows.

Some of the information in the leaflet isn't too far from what we are being told now.
https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/1500124311