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.

Is there an imminent threat or disaster looming?

Did you miss Trump/Israel's war meaning petrol prices are skyrocketing with potential supply issues, the impact that will have on global transport?
Or the climate change that has seen 45 degree heat in India, killing people and crops (which we import), flooding, drought, el Nino?
Or Russia using sea drones to try to cut our internet cables? Or developing faster drones that can go further? Or targeting our airports and train lines across EU?

The check list is good if anyone is interested.

Shops will be closed if there is a major power cut.

If you get some wheat grain (from whole foods shop or online), you can sprout it to get wheatgrass for piggies. It's really nutritious and gets to the grass stage very very quickly, so well worth having to hand. I used to do it for my dad's guinea pigs and my chickens in winter.

https://youtube.com/shorts/xFP_0IXiwAU

We have just been discussing this and have filled a small box with wind up torches, wind up radio, candles, matches, regular torches, batteries, portable chargers for phones topped up.

Will be sure to keep firewood stocked up in the cold weather.
Have bottled water and always have a pantry full of back stock food.

Adult DS was here last night and we were talking about it with him. Came down this am and said since we discussed it he has seen 2 articles recommending getting the torches and radio etc in.

Without even thinking of a threat/disaster,what about those more frequent storms/weather events we have been having?

Where I live (Aberdeenshire),it really doesn't take long for transport to be affected and shops not getting deliveries. Add a power cut that last a few days and it's no fun.

Yes we have extra bits in. Nothing excess, just a few days worth, like the government has recommended.

We have a few 5 litre bottles of water. We try to keep an eye on the dates and use them when we go camping. And because we canp we do have a little gas stove with the cylinders.

Then we have a few extra tins of soup, my DH eats these for lunch sometimes so I just top up every so often. We buy 5kg of rice at a time so normally always have that in. And I try to keep in extra pasta. Then its just a few tins of chopped tomatoes, baked beans, chickpeas etc. A few packets of biscuits, chocolate, dried fruit and crackers. All stuff we normally use.

We were burnt during covid and now we have a toddler i am not willing to risk that again. If we had a bad storm, electricity went out, online systems were hacked and payment systems went down, then no one is going to give a shit about you and your family. Look at all the panic buying and hoarding that happened during the lockdowns.

Have done / am doing the same on government advice - and have started a little kit for the car too.

So far:
Candles
Torches x 3
Batteries (plan to have one unopened pack of AA, AAA, and D)
First aid kit + 1/2 unopened packs of IBP and paracetamol, and possibly antacid
Gas stove + gas canisters
Toilet rolls (again plan to keep one unopened packet alongside whatever we are currently using)
Tinned food - will aim for approx 30 meals
Dried starches like pasta, noodles, crackers, oats
Jam and peanut butter

Dried milk
Wet wipes
Hand sanitiser
Water (currently debating over how much to save - but thinking 3 days supply).

And then for the car have a torch, first aid kit + pain killers, pack of 12 500ml bottles of water, plus granola bars for adults + baby.

It just seems sensible - and if you build up over time, and make a concerted effort to cycle through the store so things don't go bad I can't see the downside.

Only thing that's a bit of a pain is the water....

Good luck with that. We aren't being told to prepare for one, isolated powerful you know ..

Slightly more concerning for us as we have a dd who literally has no “in reserve” fat (we are working on this) so she really really cannot not eat for very long. Gots lots of tinned rice pudding in my shop today to add to my tins.

Interestingly the threat the government are emphasising is El Niño storms from end of October.
Guess it’s politic for them not to mention Russia attacking our utilities or the Iran war affecting our supply chain.

What will you do if electric goes off … do you have a generator. Tinned stuff is useful.

I am well aware who will end up being the 'go to' people in our area.

I am not thinking about just myself and my family. I am fairly sure, we'd be people that others would rely on.

This is also part of my thought process.

They won’t help. Where does it end? Sorry it will be every man (or family) for themselves. Why should you give away scarce resources you have stored to feed your own family because others cba to plan in advance when they were told to do so?

I think people need to be more responsible for themselves and not rely on others or the government.

I agree. I was a young adult in 1987 when the hurricane knocked out our power for days. That was totally unexpected, and living rurally, ours was one of the last properties to get our electricity back on. I think it was about ten days.
I think it's always worth 'expecting the unexpected'. And in this instance, if anything happens, we've been warned. I think it's only very recently that people have had such easy access to power, food and water, so it can be very tempting to take it for granted.

I've added some extra tins of tuna, sardines, mackerel and various pulses to our pantry and have bought 12 litres of water and 2 litres of long life milk.
We already have camping lanterns and batteries because we live in an area that is vulnerable to power cuts (overhead cables that go through woodlands).

That's an excellent suggestion. I will add that to my list.

Hard agree!

The very fact that you don't live in a rough area makes your
"gaff" a better target in hard times. No point in robbing a place that has nothing.

God yes I remember the hurricane. We were in a village, power down, it was ages before we could get in and out properly, and our Mum was really worried about our grandparents as they were about 30 miles away and our phone, or theirs, was out too.
Edited to add: I also remember it was ages before my Dad could get to a shop for milk...!

I used to think like this but changed my mind after storm goretti brough 5 days without electricity and trees down blocking my driveway and a burst water mains meant we were without water for 24 hrs.
Now, ive got a store cupboard not enough to collapse any supply chains just some basic essentials.Tins,batteries,pain medicines,water,.

Use the camping stove outside, no need to use it inside.

But they will still blame everone else for empty shelves.

In an ideal world you wouldn't have to because everyone would have followed well-publicised government advice in plenty of time.

For short periods of disruption, isolation can work fine. For longer periods not necessarily.

One example: if lots of shops were closed and finding an open one meant walking around and queuing, a few households could cover more shops between them than one by itself, then share whatever they manage to get hold of. It would require a certain amount of trust, which is worth cultivating.