Germans told to stockpile

[ThroughThickAndThin01]

Germans are being told to stockpile enough food and water for 10 days, in case of a national emergency.

Sensible or scaremongering.

Any thoughts?

Curly, loads of flat dwellers won't have ten days food in the house. I can't imagine that myself, but I hate food shopping and some people in my block love it and like to go along every day.

Also some people don't think about this, my sis keeps no medicine in the house because she's never ill, which is great but I think it will be a hell of a piece of luck if that continues!

None whatsoever? Not even some aspirin?

Nope, but the concept of a headache is foreign to her. I don't keep aspirin either tbh but I do have paracetamol, ibuprofen, codeine etc.

I have asked her to keep something but she's like my dad - no understanding of being ill till it actually happens.

Neither she nor my folks would plan for a long term power cut, I only recently persuaded mum to keep a loaf in the freezer in case of snow last winter and she only agreed because she's not steady on her feet any more. Luckily the have neighbours who I think would help.

God I'd be nervous and twitchy without a week's worth of food in the house. Admittedly I keep more food in than most (partly because we live in the sticks and get stuck in bad weather) but do people really just eat and shop day to day?

I need to replace our water. We are lucky in that we have a lot of space for storage . I have six large food grade water storage carriers (25 litres each) plus lots of bottles. Water stored properly for a long time doesn't go off but can taste a bit stale (although you can minimise this by shaking it up and oxygenating it). I still replace ours from the tap every six months though.

Yes. It does go stale.

If, as is sometimes the way with things, disaster strikes when you're at the low point of your replacement cycle, might having a couple of those small 'squoosh' juice things help? Or even a bottle of some old-fashioned squash? I genuinely don't know - just musing.

I have tiny squash bottles at work, if you want an alternative to water then sure.
In terms of living day to day, I live in an outer London burb, many here ha e a long commute and small home. So we get home when a lot of good is reduced, I mostly go to Aldi but Waitrose have practically given away some lovely food on the rare time I pop in. So quite common. But these are often people who have never had issues and kind of can't imagine them. It does surprise me given that even a snow warning wipes out the shops.

I grew up in the countryside so we did tend to be a bit more self-reliant, I think. We did get cut off a couple of times,

Some of the family youngsters have never experienced a proper power cut for example. Never.

I'm not at all sure that they would cope with anything more than (a known) 20 minutes.

I'm a slack at the monent prepper. Which is driving mad but then i 'forget All about it' and don't re stock up.

The German recomendation has spooked me a bit. So will be getting some water in, plus purification tablets.

The other month I found in lidl a solar charger for phones and tablets going cheap. The family were as to why I bought it.

I liked the link to the German supplies company. I never knew you could get tinned bread.

It's the tinned cake that I liked the look of.

(The family youngsters indulge me, I think, on the rechargeable things. They have little or no idea.)

Dh has always been at me, over 10 years ago, there was a small petrol generator on sale for £60 I ask for it for xmas, my DF bought me it in the end. I get my prepping from him.

Problem with having a generator is that people could hear it in use and get jealous.

I know from my German grandparents that you have to be pretty discreet about supplies if things really get bad.

We have tinned cake! Well at least lots of tinned steamed puddings. Don't go paying those prices when you can get a tinned steamed pudding in Lidl for 79p that will last for years. We even have choice - golden syrup, chocolate or jam!

Ah, tinned steam puddings! I had forgotten them!

Does anyone know where I can get fried egg btw?

Dried

There's a Dr Oetker dried egg white powder packet. Its about £1.50 but you don't get a lot and its not whole egg.

www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00N489O34/ref=mp_s_a_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1472715028&sr=8-7&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=dried+egg&dpPl=1&dpID=51NGdxw8JfL&ref=plSrch

Amazon, there is also 1kg for £12

www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00L7XAV76/ref=mp_s_a_1_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1472715447&sr=8-1&keywords=dried+egg&pi=SY200_QL40

I got thr price wrong £15 for 1kg

Looking on amazon they have a lot of mountin house stuff, pricey though.

That mountain house stuff is and has always been very expensive. There are much better ways to build a stockpile (although I do keep an eye on the seven ocean biscuit prices and might buy some at some stage just in case..)

My store cupboard is run down at the moment because we had some work done to the house and needed to access the area but you can do it far more cheaply through normal tinned foods (which last longer than their BB dates) and dried goods, particularly if you buy a cheap vacuum packer and a dehydrater.

We could last a good few months without leaving the house if we absolutely had to. Or if food was in short supply we would have enough put by to supplement our share for even longer.

Does anyone remember, hot tin meals? I can't remember what they were called but they had things like sunday lunch and gravy in the tin. When the tin seal was broken there is some sort of reaction that heats up the food. So no need for cooking things Appliances.

you can still get self heating MREs, or a pack to heat your normal MREs.

I dont mean to change the tone of the thread but what medical stuff do people have?

I am trying to sort through my current larder stash - lots of things are at or near their dates, I have spices that need replacing, and various "must try that" packets that have never been tried. And yet the stocks of things like flour and pasta are quite run down due to those "must try" items taking up valuable real estate.

I intend, in maybe a month or so, taking a day off work and going through the entire kitchen thoroughly. (And the dresser too - but that's not a food items spot, more a clutter catching area). Then I'll really know what I need to replenish properly, and do a massive stores shop that weekend.

My first aid stash is quite good but not in an "I can doctor up and fix a broken leg" range.

I have tonnes of bandages - well, about 6 full packs of band aid type strips, quite a few sheets of steri-strips, about 15 large roller bandages and lots of packs of gauze, tubegauze, lint and rolls of tape etc. Lots of sterile wipes, tissues, etc. A few packs of gloves, a couple of bottles of sterile water (eyewash, or other needs). Plenty of cotton wool (a roll and a couple of packs of makeup remover pads that I keep for first aid). A couple of rolls of strapping tape (heavy duty physio stuff, not just elasotplast for sticking on plasters). Maybe half a dozen triangular bandages and a load of scout neckerchiefs too, and plenty of safety pins!

Hardware - decent scissors, and a shears to cut clothing. A couple of thermometers, decent tweezers (and my eyebrow ones can be used if needed too). I have a couple of cold packs (only 1 is a single use, and 3 are normally in the freezer) and maybe 20 re-useable heat packs (you click the button and they heat up, then after using, you boil them for 10 minutes and they go clear again to reuse when needed).

I have a small stock of painkillers, a couple of months of my asthma meds and maybe 3 weeks of DD's meds. I know there are other things that I need to replace (upset stomach, diarrhea etc). I do have arnica and savlon cream for bruises and cuts.

I sometimes contemplate getting something like a stethoscope and pressure cuff (I am trained in using them - not just for laughs), but I am not formally allowed to use them and can't really see a need at the moment for them. Splints can be made with wood from the shed or other strong items.

I have a small first aid kit for normal everyday use with a cold pack, band aids and a couple of wipes. A larger "mountain kit" which goes on longer events with a reasonable amount packed into it. And then a plastic "suitcase" style which I keep in my tent on camp with lots of spare bandages etc. All spare bits and bobs are kept in a larger plastic tub at home - although I am trying to reduce down what's in there as lots of it is not needed.