Anyone starting to wonder if they should be making a little ‘emergency inventory’

[tghwqomn]

Don’t laugh! 😆

I mean I’m not overly worried about there suddenly being ww3 and bombs dropping above our heads next week. But hey, natural disasters, some variant of a Covid drama put upon us again, one day one of the mad countries with some nuclear weapon may surprise us. God knows, nothing surprises me lately with the stuff going on. The trust in our politicians and well our own royal family member of two shows these people just say what they think we want to hear or need to hear. Who knows what’s going on behind the scenes.
The world seems to be pretty balmy lately.

But one thing since becoming a mum is you do think more about ‘what if’.

I didn’t have kids when Covid happened. And I didn’t really buy into it as much as others (I know we all have our own viewpoints on it).
But you’ve got to admit the world is feeling a bit weird lately.

So I’d love to hear what others would in a worst case scenario think they’d want or put in an emergency suitcase or keep stocked at home or whatever.

It can be light hearted or serious.. enlighten me 🙃

The problem is, if anything happens, a few days worth of stock isn’t going to do much.

I work for a logistics company and am part of the chain of putting food on shelves, we are a few days in and haulage prices are rocketing as they expect fuel to keep increasing, but we are still carrying on as normal.

Yeah I third this - a huge cyberattack has the potential to be incredibly destructive without needing to launch a single weapon. I think it’s a more likely problem than a nuke. I have nothing prepared though, I prefer to wallow in endless anxiety and what ifs even though I know it’s entirely futile!

I just went to Amazon to buy a wind up radio (used to have one but don’t know what happened to it) and it immediately suggested iodine tablets and water purification tablets too. That might indicate that there are a few peppers out there!

Lots of food tins. But should whatever happen then I’m not going to bother with cooking so no camping stove here. Although I do see the point another poster made about making a cup of tea! Also I don’t stock a lot of frozen food as I’d think electricity might not hold always.

I just focus on what I think is essentials: some tins eaten cold and water. I have two 50L (i think) canisters in the basement, water purifying tablets, and a few 10L cartons of Highland Spring.

Crank up radio, some mini torches and 1st aid kit. Might hoard some tea lights.

I think this isn’t OTT and am still puzzled about stocking 1K cash in a fireproof wallet !

OP I don’t want to send you down the rabbit hole but if chilling meds is crucial to you you may want to look into a small generator?

I need to stock up on cats. And maybe puppies. But mainly cats. If the world is ending soon, I need to catch up with my fair share of cats.

Apart from the cats, I run fairly well stocked anyway.
I’m a store cupboard cook. Lots of dried beans, pasta, rice.
My loo roll comes in boxes of 48 and one is arriving imminently. I won’t need another for almost a year.

I’ll be hampered if we lose electricity or water. But then we all will.

I don’t, but I probably should have the basics.
ill remind dh to keep his car topped up.
Ive got a couple of bottled waters left over from a gathering at the house.
Maybe we could get a wind-up radio?
Dh works in IT and v clued up in cybercrime so will quiz him in this possibly later.
I’ve never been paranoid about thus sort of thing. Even in lockdowns we were fairly sensible about buying stuff (I think we all panicked a bit at the start though).
We haven’t got that much room in the house but could def fill a plastic tub and put it in storage.Could keep some cash too in case banking went down.
If there’s a nuclear strike I’d rather just die and be done with it. I’ll bring the family too.

No can't see the point in panic buying or stocking up or having an emergency store. I also don't have the space. If the shit happens I'll just have to eat that tin of beans or tuna that have been languishing at the back of the cupboard.

I put petrol in like I was going to last night, was surprised it was slightly busier than normal. But the Daily Mail is already starting the panic buying headlines (completely irresponsibly).

If anything it's going to push petrol prices up, we'll have enough stock for a while.

For most events where an emergency stock is useful (weather too extreme to leave home, extended power cut, cyber attack affecting shops/stock/banking systems) a few days would likely be enough before things get back to normal. For longer term issues, those few days allows the authorities time to organise distribution of longer term supplies (in countries with the foresight to have large national stockpiles. I don't know if the UK is one of those countries though)

My husband’s family is in Iran and they are preppers (without knowing what it is). My MIL has lived through 3 wars and a revolution so is accustomed to uncertainty. She has a dry pantry with beans, lentils and rice. There is a months worth of water stored on her veranda and she has a purification system if needed. She has grown fruit trees in her garden and has hens. Before her knees started to hurt she had a rice field.
I think the answer really is to build a stockpile and get used to not eating what you want but eating what you have.
My current regret is that we didn’t get solar when we had the money for it. You can buy a portable panel and I’m thinking of getting one.

Exactly this. Just a few necessaries in case of any dicking around with essential systems, it's no big deal.

I’m not sure my priorities are right . I have a freezer full of mince to keep the dogs fed . One candle and a half full box of matches 😢

Loved my Brexit pantry (deep walk in cupboard) back in the day. It made me happy seeing tins, bottles and toilet rolls stacked up 😂 DH thought I’d lost my marbles. We ended up using everything except the coconut milk… not sure what that was for. I bought tinned tomatoes, rice, kidney beans, coconut milk, tinned fruit, bottled water etc thinking we could last for months without leaving the house 🤦🏼‍♀️😋Obviously not needed for Brexit but we were still working through the toilet rolls when Covid hit.

I’m going to build up our stash again before DH notices and vetoes my plan 😆

Panic buying is the complete opposite of prepping. Those who have prepared are the least likely to panic buy.

Surely you'd have to be a moron not to keep a enough essentials in that you'd be ok for a week or so. Essentials as in canned soup and baked beans rather than the waitrose view of essentially of fresh avocados and caviar.

Did people learn nothing from COVID?

So a strategy of assuming your neighbours have prepared and will give you their stuff? Interesting. I live in an area with reasonably common power outages and think its pretty sensible to have some torches/candles to one side. I'd be quite happy to share if necessary but would prefer that wasn't my neighbours actual strategy!

Torches, batteries for torches, camping stove with bottle gas, many litre of bottled water, many tinned food and fruit, long life milk (dies need refrigeration ration until you’ve opened it), clothes, hair brush, tooth brush, toiletries, towels, blankets and a big bunker. The thing about bunkers - assuming you have space for one - is yiu could be trapped i. It if debris lands on top. Check out internet for detailed guidance. Generally allow for 3 days but realistically yiu may need much more.

I don’t think we can ever fully rule out zombies or nuclear bombs. I’m ok if they are covered under contingencies.

I have always kept important documents, ie birth certificates, passports etc in the same box within easy reach in a cupboard.

Well cost of fuel will increase now. But I thought everyone was recommended to keep supplies in by the government we have

wind up radio (which is also a torch and charger)

battery and solar powered lanterns

candles snd matches

gas camping stoves with lots of spare gas

water purification tablets

lots of tinned and dried provisions which are rotated

cash/passports/emergency details in one place in a safe

vital docs in a grab fire proof case

bag of tablets/first aid kit

21 bottles of water - enough for a week.

cyberattack taking out banks/utilities is my main concern

This is like the jokes about the brace position on planes being useless except to preserve your dental records if the plane crashes. In reality, most incidents in planes aren't the plane falling out of the sky and everyone dying. And the people who wear their belts and brace are way more likely to be fine than the person standing up before the plane lands.
So too with emergencies

I’ve been like this ever since I started my family. Once you have people depending on you, you think differently about being prepared.

I’m also not originally from the UK. People here sometimes forget — or are simply unaware — that other parts of the world constantly experience natural disasters and war. In many places, being prepared isn’t unusual; it’s just a normal part of life.

Water purification tablets are inexpensive, have a long shelf life, and take up very little space — I even keep them in my car since we love going on hikes. Clean water is one of the first things you need in any emergency.
I also ordered an inflatable water storage container that can hold up to 1,000 liters. I’ve never had to use it, but it’s there just in case. I’d rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it.

Besides that, I keep batteries, a torch or lantern, a radio, and a supply of non-perishable food. My pantry, fridge and freezer always full. I cook everything from scratch, so these items just part of our everyday life.
I do have a logburner where I would be able to cook and boil water without a problem.

I also keep basic medical supplies, hygiene products, and other essentials on hand. It’s not about panic — it’s about being responsible. Plus, we have storage space so buying in bulks works out cheaper for us.

War and crises have happened throughout history. Systems fail. Being prepared isn’t extreme or ridiculous — it’s common sense. I’m not overreacting; I’m making sure my family is covered if something happens.

If the bomb drops we ALL die, any survivors would be affected by radiation and live miserable lives. I’d rather go in one bang, altogether with family, not try to scratch an existence afterwards. So no, I’m refusing to even think about it and will not ever be making any preparations. Live life now and don’t spoil it by thinking about it

Not much meat on a cat. Rabbit would be better.

I'm not sure anyone here is preparing to survive a nuclear strike. We're more aiming to be able to easily cope for a few days without power, or for supply chain disruptions etc. all of which can be done fairly cheaply and easily.