We need to have enough tinned food and bottled water to be self sufficient for three days

[CruCru]

There’s a thing in the Times about the Prepare campaign - people need to be prepared for risks like localised flooding, another pandemic, a mass cyberattack which cuts off the internet, disruption to UK space systems that affect GPS signals, conflict and nuclear attack.

I must admit that my first thought was that there are countries in the West Indies who have these sorts of rules - mainly in case of hurricanes. It probably would be useful to have bottled water if we had flooding and the mains water would be turned off. Am a bit horrified by the mention of nuclear war but perhaps this has been overly highlighted by the Times.

Have you seen this? What do you think?

These discussions always remind me of a conspiracy loon I used to know. Ex-army, anti-vaxxer, pro-Trump, etc etc. Firmly convinced by all the stuff about New World Order, the EU being lizards who want to kill us and so on. I asked him if he had large stocks of tinned food and bottled water lined up just in case. He said, no, he’s got several guns and he’ll just use them to obtain supplies from his neighbours.

But also, how long does tap water stay fresh once you bottle it? And where are you supposed to keep it? And what are you supposed to do with the old water each time you replace it? Every solution I can think of is either very bad for the environment, or deeply impractical, or would take hours of effort, or all three. For something that’s relatively unlikely to materialise for most people.

Re the old water, you could use it to water plants, or flush the loo. I could also use it to top up the pond.

yup, also washing.

Water purification tablets are cheap as chips and last for ages. Water butts are also easy to get and fit and tick ecological boxes especially if you are going into growing stuff.

Yeah, but that’s the kind of thing I meant when I said too much effort. I don’t have the mental bandwidth to think up ways to reuse water, or the time and energy to put them into practice. Not on a regular basis because Rishi made vague threats about bad things happening. That is lower on my list of jobs to do than all the other things I never get around to, and it’s not a short list.

Once a year..? Or just buy the 1,5 l pet bottles with still water.

Or don’t. You are in the UK after all, you seem certain that your goverment will take care of you, and they haven’t given you any guidelines like the governments in other countries did years ago anyway.

On this thread only so far I’ve seen Germany, Finland, Sweden and Switzerland saying it’s something you don’t even question because it’s in everyones interest in the end. Not a big deal.

you are speaking as though you have to do it ALL THE TIME which you don't. And yes I know that in times of crisis, sharing is the way to go...but that assumes that everyone who can has something to share, not that they just couldn't be arsed to do anything because they "don't have the bandwidth"

If you have a population that's financially insecure (as so many more of us are now), unhealthy, and afraid, you can do whatever you want as a government. Look at the US with their precarious healthcare system and endless propaganda. Sabotaging the NHS here is a key part of the ideology.

This is designed to heighten our fears a little, make us afraid. Britain has been heading in this direction for years. Tying it into 'why call a general election now? what does Sunak know?' is clever. (He's probably just drained as many contracts for his wife's family as he can and knows nothing is going to improve, so he's at least going to get a summer holiday, no?)

It’s not Rishi, it’s the world. Surely you can see this. It’s just UK waking up late to the party.

But if you have the mental bandwidth to think up ways to reuse a few liters of bottled water then I guess you don’t.

Edit to say I really do think I’ve heard it all now. Mental bandwidth.

It’s not Rishi, it’s the world. Surely you can see this. It’s just UK waking up late to the party.

Is it though?

I've neither seen nor heard anything about this where I live, apart from people who tend to be permanently fretful about this kind of thing.

Where do you live? Like I said several people from other countries on this thread has said that this has been required from their government for years. And permanently fretful has nothing to do with it, but common sense has.

Aren't you Canadian or North American?

Pretty sure there's a huge amount of extreme 'preppers' in those areas.

That's primarily where most UK 'preppers' get their ideas and prepping advice from.

It IS Richi, part of his "We live in dangerous times, don't risk Starmer" rubbish.

Ukraine started over 2 years ago, why suggest this now?

May be perfectly valid reasons to have a few tins in or a well stocked freezer but the timing?????

So much nonsense on this thread.
I am older. I have never had to stock up on food for emergencies. During the seventies we had power cuts so needed candles and torches.
But the shops were always well stocked. Because shops kept their own stock. Now shops operate just in time which mean they keep very little food in stock. This means they are very vulnerable to any delays in food deliveries.

I do have some food in the freezer, dried pulses, flour, etc. But very little that could be eaten without access to power. I am not stocking up on tinned potatoes and stew that I would never eat on the very unlikely chance that all the shops were closed.

Not a coincidence that this was announced just before the general election date was revealed. They'll be hoping people see the Conservatives as a safer bet than Labour in a potential war/ disaster scenario.

Exactly, this has come just when election is looming.

As I said elsewhere, if Putin was in charge he'd ensure there actually was a disaster, and use that as an excuse to cancel the election.

We (in Ireland) generally get reminded at the start of the winter and before extreme weather events to make sure we have essentials in the house and to check on vulnerable neighbours. Years and years ago we also got sent iodine tablets - I still know where mine are (they did tell us to throw them out because we didn't need them any more, but I ignored that).

The German government recommends having supplies for 14 days...has done so for years. You can even download a checklist of essentials. Most houses/flats in Germany are larger than in the UK though (e g. cellar) so storage space not usually a problem.

I think this is possibly true. But would they be?

I remember the 70's (I am 70) and I (and my mother before me) always kept in a small stock of stuff for emergencies. Its all very well to say that the shops were well stocked but when the emergency happened on a saturday night, what were you going to do until monday morning? in the late 70's I lived in an area that was often snowed in, there was no mains gas and power cuts were common. It was plain commonsense to keep in a few cans of soup, dried mashed potato, and similar items that were not expensive and were easy to heat on a camping stove. I mean you do you and yes shops operate kanban style now but why would you not make a small effort to stay comfortable?

I think perhaps they should do annual reminders in the UK as well. Then people should get used to it, see it as routine resilience and not panic as if there's some great ulterior motive or looming immediate threat every time plans and advice that's been in place for decades is mentioned.

@godmum56 so you lived in a rural area?
Where I live now the shops are about 5 minutes walk away. Where I lived in the seventies the shops were 10 minutes walk away. We were never snowed in. We never had the gas cut off. Electric power cuts happened because of strikes.

If you live in a rural area it makes sense to have emergency stocks in, as it has always done. If people living in cities need emergency supplies then that is a very new situation.

What about those who cannot afford to stock up and are already living hand to mouth? And realistically what happens after three days? Will the water be magically uncontaminated? Maybe our useless shit Government should provide each family with a camping stove, torches and 3 days of supplies and a basic first aid kit. All this latest advice does is scaremonger and add more pressure to families already at financial breaking point because our Gov has shafted us.

What we were told to have in the house in the seventies were torches, candles and extra blankets. That is all we needed. And that was because of strikes.

Your post sums up the UK spirit pretty well. No responsibility whatsoever yourself, other people should provide everything for you. Even a torch.

About the water is because it will likely take a couple of days or week to get water out to everyone. That is if you have something to collect it in. But that is too much common sense I guess.