To feel totally overwhelmed about Be Prepared?

[Witchhunted]

Sorry im sure there are hundreds of posts about this but I used Search and couldn't find what I was lookimg for.

I'm not really looking for a conspiracy theory type discussion about whether something terrible is coming. I'm trying to keep really calm and thinking - we don't really know either way. But it seems sensible, on balance, that if lots of governments across the world are telling people to have a bit of a stash in plus some things like torches, radios etc - in the interest of my family I probably should. If I don't need it, hurray, and if whatever happens is too awful for a 1 week supply then...well, canned food will probably be the least of our worries.

SO my AIBU is just that I'm totally overwhelmed with what to get? I want to get a one off bulk shop really, with budget of max about £150. Would rather spend less because it's nearly Christmas and could do with that money elsewhere! We are a family of 2 adults, 2 teenagers. What would we need for 1 week that's vaguely palatable and wouldn't require either water or electricity to cook?? We do have an old school bbq so I guess if I get some bags of charcoal, could heat things on that if it isn't raining outside. Also - what can I get that will genuinely keep for a really long time as I stocked up for Covid and there was soooo much wastage; really don't want that situation again where everything just gets thrown out.

I've looked on the Preppers section but that all seems quite hardcore and survivalist! What does the absolute average Joe family buy who isn't prepping for the apocalypse, realistically won't survive a worst case scenario, but wants to be prepared if there are 1 week of power cuts etc? Specific brands, foods, recipes hugely appreciated!

I was thinking this too...

We have some old demijohns in the garage that I am planning to wash out, sterilise, and fill with water.
I did just order some new bungs for them on Amazon though!

I’m just being sensible and not leaving bare shelves, keeping the pasta jar full, not being on the last bowl of cereal.

Risk assessing my own personal situation, we aren’t rural, we aren’t in a flood zone, we have a log burner for heat and cooking - like you say, it’s either bad for a couple of days or so bad that tins won’t matter.

(Then I see stuff on social media and think “am I being stupid for not buying a radio and torch?”.)

Toilet paper.

I keep bringing this point up on these threads. There is no need to be stressed and worried. Most adults can manage for at least a couple of days to a week with no food.

We've bought some bottled water which we shall use next year for days out in the summer so it will get used and we can rotate. And then a few tins and packets for our toddler.

Flood, fire, roof blowing off?

(I know where mine are and keep thinking I ought to be putting it all together 🙈)

@Witchhunted I don't think there's a belief that anything is particularly imminent, so no need to panic. In your position I'd just add a few items to your weekly food shop over a period of time. Most people have enough food in at any one time for a few days, but if the gas or electricity goes, then tinned food (pasta and pasta sauces) and a camping stove is a modest prepping idea. And bottled water, maybe some spare cash as well.

Our power and water went off a lot last winter, so I've got some stuff from then - a few supplies for power outages and then just a bit more of our usual things than we usually use.

• Lots of batteries
• Space heater
• Camping light
• Bottled water
• Packet rice to have with pouches of dal/curry - found quite a few in the shop, some nice-looking ones from Jamie Oliver and Leon
• Instant mash
• Tinned veg, fruit, custard, tuna and sardines - thinking I'd mix the veg in with rice, and probably do the tuna on bread or crackers
• Extra pet food and supplies
• One extra prescription of all regular medication
• Granola bars and protein bars
• Crackers, biscuits and oat cakes
• Juice boxes (thinking of getting some cans of iced coffee for the adults as well!)
• Nuts and dried fruit
• Extra loo roll, paper towel and wet wipes

Just back from a walk round the block where I spent the whole time wondering what people will do in this potential time of no internet.

Most people can't take a shit without scrolling their phone. What state will a family of two adults two teenagers be in after 24 hours in the understairs cupboard - no phones, surrounded by damp cat litter, rowing because someone left the torch on and the battery's kaput.

The lack of phones will break people long before they run out of cold tinned hot dogs.

We live in an era of naice packet rice.

Googled it before I posted. Even in our largest city the overwhelming majority have garden access.

https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/environmentalaccounts/articles/oneineightbritishhouseholdshasnogarden/2020-05-14

This is from covid era but the stats won't have moved that much since.

I heard a good tip on Reddit. Wash and sterilise your 2l milk bottles then keep them closeby in case the water goes off.

Apparently, you get a few hours to fill your bath/water bottles before everything stops working. I have 5 lined up as we speak. I used Miltons sterilising liquid to sanitise them.

I was told used milk bottles are impossible to sterilise for drinking water storage...something to do with enzymes in the milk and the plastic

🤭🤭🤭🤭

Have a look at the tinned food on line and pick stuff that is similar to what you would usually eat, and/or break it down by meal type.

My stash includes:

Breakfast: Porridge oats, UHT Milk and juice, tinned and dried fruit, bread mix, homemade jam and compote, peanut butter

Lunches: Soup, baked beans, spaghetti hoops, savoury biscuits, tinned tuna, ham and corned beef, olives.

Dinners: Mostly tinned 'ready meals' - chicken korma, green Thai chicken curry, Korean spicy chicken, chilli con carne - all of which can be served with rice

Stewed steak in gravy - makes a nice makeshift stew with drained tinned carrots and peas and potatoes. Can also turn it into a decent chilli but adding tinned tomatoes and kidney/black beans and a packet of chilli seasoning.

Chicken in white sauce - ditto, could add chopped tinned ham, sweetcorn and mushrooms and make some kind of chicken supreme thing as well with rice or pasta

Hot dog sausages - to have with Idahoan cheesy instant mash and Heinz BBQ beans

Swedish Meatballs in sauce - to have with instant mash

Ratatouille with pasta

I've also just added some of these tuna and sauce sachets which I imagine can also be eaten cold, and corresponding flavours or Merchant Gourmet grains as they were all on offer and keep until mid 2028.

Snacks include high protein cereal bars, savoury nut mixes, chocolate and trail mix. Then tea, coffee, hot chocolate etc...and off the top of my head I think I've got about 35l of water.

Non food wise: I have a large plastic lidded box containing a single burner camping gas stove and 6 cans of gas; matches, lighters, large tealights and old Gu pudding ramekins to put them in; batteries, battery fairy lights and camping lights, baby wipes, battery radio and a stove top kettle.

First Aid kit - this is a good one:
https://amzn.eu/d/0aNqWZNG
Also add any over the counter or prescription meds you need and a good quality hand gel.

Keep some cash and a list of important contact numbers and account details and you're done really.

I was incredibly bored this airing and scrolling through some of these posts Adhd decided to see how long it takes to heat 2 points of water using 4 standard wax tea lights. I balanced the pan on 3 gu pots and put in two pints of water and put the lid on. I’ll attach my pictures and thoughts in the photos. I do think a second subsequent boiling of 2 pints of room temp water would be quicker as the wax has totally melted at that point which means that the wax isn’t costing energy to melt it.Its working at is best efficiency at that point and the glass has heated as much as it was going too as well.

long and short of it is it cost 11g of tea light wax to boil 2 pints of fresh tap water and it took 44mins. I imagine it would be much quicker with 6-8 candles or even a smaller pan as you have to lose heat to the air too. But you could easily use a method like this to heat food or water. I also have a plant pot heater that is powered by candles for my green house. Works a a treat from preventing frost in March/April and it keeps the greenhouse at 8c minimum for 8 hours overnight.

I dont care about any of it.

This is perfect thank you!

I love this. We’ve done this before as a cubs experiment and warmed up hotdogs over candles.

I had asked ChatGPT and got the same, 87% of households across the uk have access to a garden. Way more than I expected!

That does drop to 1 in 5 in London, and does include shared gardens (that could get grim😱), balconies and terrasses, but still, it sounds like it wouldn’t be anywhere near as much of an issue as I thought. Although a lot of people I know are in that unfortunate 20% 🙁

@cuckoolodgerI like your scientific approach :-)

Mmm I think the bigger issue is that the 20% are quite concentrated! If it were an even spread across UK territory we would have less of a problem.

What are people planning for medication? I asked for a spare inhaler etc but it was refused because of prescribing guidelines. So I've asked again and told them I'm going on holiday.

But GPs are so strict on giving out spares. My HRT has to be ordered month to month. I use two inhalers every month. I don't look forward to not breathing properly!

i would make sure that in my freezer I had spare bread, butter, milk, bacon and cheese, plus some home made frozen veg soup all date labelled used and replaced as it got to its use by date.
In the pantry I'd have muesli, tinned fruit, tinned puddings, rice pudding, custard and beans
I'd get the recommended bottled water for each person and the wind up radio phone charger and a camping stove.
If I were you and were prepared to BBQ under gunfire or similar but only if it wasn't raining, I'd also get a large umbrella!

This was really bad advice - I'm not sure if it's been given out by Joe Public or the actual govt campaign. The NHS doesn't have enough of everything to give us all spares. I'm on a medication that is strictly 8 weeks given at a time.

I find the apparently disdain for people who need to adjust their shopping habits a bit weird if I am honest. I don't have my heading on from end of August, and I don't order sandwiches in 3 times a day, but I do tend to cook everything from fresh and therefore have very little convenience or tinned food around. If I had several days without a fridge/ freezer we would struggle, same if the shops weren't open for a week. That is the downside of eating mainly fresh foods.

Anyway OP, I dont' think you need to panic, just add a bit of what you like to eat here and there. You don't need food for months, but think if you lost power for a couple of days how would you keep your family fed. We have bought in bottled water (again not something we'd usually have), and added tinned soups the kids like, beans, ryvita, tuna, tinned fruit and custard. I tend to pick up a spare pack of pasta when I am buying one anyway, and have bought a few rice pouches. That sort of thing. If you just add a little here and there you soon find you easily build up for 3 days and more.

The thing I did buy especially (other than water) was a wind up radio, solar charger and some extra torches (we aren't a camping family so only had one) and made sure our first aid kit was stocked up. It's also made me be a bit more orgnaised on things like loo roll and wood for the fire - where I'd normally wait till we were out to reorder/ re buy I now tend to make sure we replenish before it's finished.