Your ‘emergency supplies/stockpile’.

[ohyouagainclarence]

Has anyone else started stashing a few things away in the event of some kind of ‘national emergency’ and if so, what sort of things are you storing?

I’m certainly not going to turn into a prepper but as I have plenty of storage space, I’ve got two big plastic boxes filled with dried goods (rice/pasta etc) and then some tinned stuff. I’ve also stocked up on batteries, candles and matches and I bought a solar charger. And oh, got two 5 litre bottles of water.

The temptation to go a bit nuts and plan for Armageddon is high! 😂😂 But I’m being sensible and just having enough for the basics to keep us going for about a week. I’m also cycling through the food so it doesn’t get wasted - use a tin of beans and then replace it etc.

We've got enough food for about 1-2 weeks by default + medication, camping equipment, water treatment tablets, open fires/woodburner + wood for heat and a wind up radio. We're good to go 😁

I aim to have enough food and drink to sort our family of four out for a week if we really needed to. Perhaps not pleasantly, but enough that we wouldn't go hungry.

I always keep a stock of things we use regularly and just rotate it. I agree with a PP to think about items you don't need to cook. We mostly keep in plenty of baked beans, tinned pulses, tuna, peanut butter, tinned fruit and then things like UHT milk, bone broth etc that could be drunk if we needed to and otherwise go into our cooking.

I don't keep lots of bottled water.....usually just a couple of trays but we do have a water butt and also a life straw for hiking. We are set up in terms of camping gear anyway so we have a camping stove and gas, wind up torches and radio, sleeping bags etc.

Medication is one to consider in case of supply chain issues as is items that would keep you more comfortable during a power cut or your heating breaking. Extra blankets, rechargeable electric hand warmers, power bank for your phone, head torches, card games, books etc.

So far

5l water
wind up portable radio & torch

trying to buy a few extras each week: tins, pasta, rice

If you have things like pasta do you also have a camping stove for cooking ?

Stockpiling stuff you don’t like? Ok

If anyone wants a good follow on Twitter I recommend Lucy Easthope AT LucyGoBag

She is a professional disaster relief and contingency planner and has field experience.

Her advice is measured and just sensible.

Nothing scary.

Her advice is yes just get stuff you like.

I’ve been doing this for years does to having a compromised immune system. When I had kids I got sick a lot and I needed food in to feed them. So I’ve always had a stash to make sure they could eat while I was trying to survive the recurrent MRSA/ pneumonia I was plagued with. Its smaller these days as they have mostly left home but in the food supplies i have around 18 tins of chunky veg/tom/chicken soup. 8 tins beans and sausages, 4 corned beef, 2 bacon grill, 4 tubs dried mash, 6 spaghetti boll, 4 mushy peas, gravy, curry sauce, 4kg pasta, 6 passata, 6 meatballs, 6 tinned peas/carrots, 4 tinned peaches, 4 tinned fruit, 4 tinned grapefruit, 6 rice pudding. Various cordials, coffee, tea, milk powder. Then a load of various noodles,flour, sugar, stock cubes, rice, lentils, split peas, curry powder, herbs, spices and cooking oil. 25 litres of water not I also have a RO system so water isn’t a concern as long as I can remineralise it.

we are avid campers so we have rechargeable lanterns, gas stove and canisters, candles, power banks. Hoping to get a 1000w power station and solar panel on the Black Friday sale.

i also bulk buy shampoo/soap/loo roll/laundry/toothpaste. So i could very easily not leave my house for 3 weeks minimum, especially with me having a chest freezer full of meat. I recon I could go for 5-6 weeks before things started getting sketchy and meals would be random mish mashes.

I think it’s sensible to prioritise having some extra supplies at home. Even if money is tight, you can just buy a few extra items and slowly build up some reserves. I am always amazed when some people say they only have enough food in the house for a few days (although of course I understand that this would be the case if you are really struggling, in emergency accommodation etc).

I actually did that before covid - not panic buying but when things first started sounding a bit grim, before the lock downs, I started slowly buying a few extra things, because I was worried about being in a scenario of being sick and not being able to go out to buy supplies for me and dd. It was very reassuring and nothing got wasted as it was all things we would use anyway.

I bought sticky rib pot noodles this morning in weekly shop, so we’ll have 1 power cut meal if we heat some water up on our camping stove.
Will add something else to shop next week. Going to have a 24 hour power cut supply of food. I can’t see a power cut lasting much more than this.

We camp a lot so we've already got torches/head torches, first aid kit, solar powered lights and a camping stove with loads of spare bottles of gas.

I tend to keep a fairly well stocked pantry anyway but I've added to it bit by bit over the summer, realistically I could feed our family of 4 for a fortnight. It wouldn't be up to the usual standard, but nobody would starve. Lots of tuna, beans beans with sausages, soup, passata, pasta, rice, corned beef, tinned fruit, rice pudding etc. oat milk rather than uht because I really don't like uht milk. I've got maybe 5kg of flour and a Dutch oven that can make a decent loaf over an open flame so could still make bread. I do only have about 40 liters of water which is an issue, but we've got a water filter bag and there's a spring not too far away.

We've got two wood burners and just had a huge amount of logs delivered, so nobody is getting cold. Our central heating runs on oil and I've just had the tank filled. Only issue is that of course the boiler requires electricity so camping stove and wood burners are probably the likely solution in an extended power cut.

I think in a time of political instability mixed with more extreme weather events it makes sense to be in a position where you don't need to put extra pressure on the supply chain during challenging times if you can (not everyone has the spare money or storage space). I don't think Armageddon is coming! But I think storms cutting off electricity and cargo ships stuck in the middle of nowhere/getting blown up by a bunch of idiot men in an international pissing contest are entirely likely.

Give it to a food bank?

You don’t need water to cook pasta. Cook it in pasta sauce or a tin of tomato soup. Not a large pan obviously, but still.

We were without water for two weeks in the summer of 2007. Government had water delivered to a local point, but there was a massive queue. Only four bottles a family, and they wouldn't let me have extra for my elderly mother, so just under a 2l bottle each to last a day. Not enough left to re-queue later. In time mire drinking water did come in at lots of points and a few browsers meaning enough for third sink water to wash.

No, it was the result of panic buying, which is different.

I was thinking of it but I don't think its even good Food Bank food tbh. You need a lot of other things to make something out of it.
I might try some sweetcorn fritters.

I have loads of bottled water and cereal bars. Tuna in tins and always have plenty of loose roll. I need to think about buying more food that won’t need power to cook it or any precious water.

I have ordered a head torch and have loads of candles.

What about wine? And crisps?

No, it was the result of panic buying directly resulting from the fact that the UK population, for decades, has assumed they don’t need to keep any stocks in because they ‘can just pop to the shops’.

Prepping when supplies are plentiful is very different from panic buying. Prepping os a good thing and means those people literally don’t need to panic buy.

For anyone who is filling containers with tap water as storage rather than buying bottled - please do read up on safe water storage.

The whole point of doing it now, not in a rush, is EXACTLY so that the supply chain will not collapse in the event of a problem!

That is why the government is recommending it now.

If you just buy a few extra things a week, building up a stock slowly, then the supply chain can cope.

If there is then a national disaster in a few months time - no one needs to rush out like in COVID to stock up, because they have already done it.

Hoarding/keeping a stock at home is fine. You are confusing it with panic buying. Which is exactly what will happen if you DON’T start to build a stock now and have to rush out should disaster strike.

You are wrong though. It has nothing to do with different opinions.

We live in Japan so have a fully stocked earthquake bag, following a guide like this

https://japanhandbook.com/earthquake-safety-in-japan-preparing-a-home-emergency-kit/

This year the bigger issue has been floods caused by heavy rains. I generally keep the cupboards well stocked anyway, so if there was a possibility we couldn't leave the flat, we would be fine.

It’s the exact opposite. If people stock up while the supply chain is robust and goods are easily restocked (like now), then if something happens to impact the supply chain, those people won’t be descending on the shops in a panic.

Enough people stocking up in advance might be the difference between a full collapse of the supply chain and not.

Gin, wine, fray bentos pie

I have plenty of tins, rice, pasta, UHT as standard but recently stocked up on pet food: 20 kg for guinea, 10kg for my rabbit and about 10kg for my cat. Plus an extra 2 bales of hay. If we can't get fresh veg and sachets they will survive. They may not be thrilled but it'll do. I do also have vitamin C tablets for the guineas, but probably only a week's supply or so.

We have a camping gas stove and a Kelly Kettle. Woods within walking distance so can keep it stocked. Also have a river in the garden so have a Life Straw for clean water.