Became a prepper this week - Ebola concerns

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Arzosah
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Joined: Fri Jun 22, 2012 4:20 pm

Re: Became a prepper this week - Ebola concerns

Post by Arzosah »

newlondonprepper wrote:not sure what came over me yesterday that led to a massive shopping spree, today my biggest concern has shifted to "where the hell am I going to put all this stuff" I think I over reacted a little, think I got ripped off on the MRE packs too - doesent look very big for £100
I think thats what most people were concerned with when you posted about the amount you spent - making your money go further by spending it canny - thats an important part of prepping too, there are so many things its **possible** to buy. And MRE packs are notorious for being expensive per 100g or whatever.

Hold off on the buying stuff - or at least investigate Aldi and Lidl, or the value ranges at the other supermarkets. Look at the ingredients in what you're buying too, especially the baby food - have a look around the forum first, even look at parenting forums for less expensive, more wholesome ways to feed babies. There's a lot of parents out there with those concerns.


ETA - thanks for the feedback on the work, and your own health concerns while commuting - I'm glad you've found a way of earning income that suits you.
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ukpreppergrrl
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Re: Became a prepper this week - Ebola concerns

Post by ukpreppergrrl »

newlondonprepper wrote:thanks, I recruit IT people - I geuss that makes me low risk since I never leave the flat, when I worked in London and commuted daily I was always sick, had a cough for 5 months once after three courses of antibiotics.
Welcome to the forum :)

I so hear you! I'm also in London and now work from home. When I commuted I was sick as a dog! In London the big petri dish for illness is the transport system, so the more you can avoid it the better you are likely to be. Wash your hands whenever you've been out (the first thing I did when I got to work was wash my hands, but I was still sick!) and try not to touch your face so much! Bus/train hand posts, shopping trollies/baskets, lift buttons, ATM buttons all can harbour germs.

As others have said, most people here prep for all sorts of reasons, not just pandemic; though there may have been one particular instance that initially triggered their prepping mentality. The thing that I always maintain is that stocking food, water and toiletries will never go to waste regardless of what catastrophe you may face, be it pandemic, job loss, terrorist bombing, broken leg etc.. With something like ebola you'd want you and yours to leave the house as little as possible, so stock up on food, water, toilet paper, toiletries, medicines (pain killers, diarrhoea/constipation/rehydration, plasters, antiseptic etc.), entertainment, treats, nappies etc.. Enough for a month maybe. The best way of doing this is to look at your weekly shopping list and simply buy a little more of the same stuff than you normally would the next time you shop, and then do the same the next week, and the week after. The tenet is: store what you eat and eat what you store. i.e. make sure you rotate your stocks by eating them :D One important thing to remember is that if you are quarantined in your house for any length of time, maintaining some sense of normality is important for the morale, and eating the same food you normally eat is one way of doing this. It's also much better for the health of the bowel shall we say... :? So unless you normally eat MREs just buy ordinary tins and packets and rotate them.

Storage is always a tricky one if you don't want your domicile to look like an army shed, but underneath beds is an often overlooked place that can hold quite a lot! Do not be tempted to store food or medicines in the attic though as the large temperature changes will shorten the storage life considerably. But providing it is dry the attic is great for toilet paper, nappies etc..

Specifically for the current ebola preparation I have checked on and added to my sanitising products: bleach, antiseptic, alcohol gel, PP3 masks, surgical gloves, coveralls etc.. Other than that it's business as usual - that's the great thing about being a prepper: this year it's ebola, next year it might be solar storms, it doesn't really matter because with a few tweaks your basic preps will cover 99% of eventualities without any fuss or panic. :D

By the way...you have filled those water tanks you've bought haven't you? No point in buying them unless you fill them! ;) Been there, done that, been caught short! :shock:
Blog: http://ukpreppergrrl.wordpress.com
التَكْرَارُ يُعَلِّمُ الحِمارَ "Repetition teaches the donkey" Arabic proverb
"A year from now you may wish you had started today" Karen Lamb
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external
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Re: Became a prepper this week - Ebola concerns

Post by external »

Welcome to the forum, some have already answered but i'll let you know what I have bought in extra specifically for Ebola:

- Tyvec suits for the grownups (sadly none for the children)
- disposable latex gloves (you'll need to wear two pairs should the need arise)
- N94 masks
- overshow protectors
- disposable medical gowns
- disposable medical hair nets
- Duct tape

There are lots of other prep items which cover ebola and other situations ie food, medical kits.

I shall also be ready to have an external postbox on the gates.
Personally your just as likely to get it from the post as you are coming in direct contact with somebody.
Fail to prepare, then prepare to fail.
newlondonprepper
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Joined: Mon Oct 13, 2014 5:51 pm

Re: Became a prepper this week - Ebola concerns

Post by newlondonprepper »

thanks, I got all that stuff - I also got one of those water bob water tanks that goes in the bath although I can see the Sutton& East Surrey water companies plant from my window as they are maybe 100 metres away, I got the MRE`s because we are short on space but yeh I think tins are best of you can - you pay for the MRE`s because of their light weight/portability I think which I dont need if I am staying in.

doesnt help that they showed "I am Legend" on the TV last night.

I have a generator too, stored accross town in a rental garage but its noisy and I wouldnt want to shout out that I am "prepared" in case of a social order incident, my ideal plan would be to get out of London (trying to do this now pandemic or not) hence the stores of diesel, the fuel tanks arrived today as did wind up torches, wind up radio`s, a machete - dunno why I ordered that, Tyvex suits, military respirators and water treatment pills.
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ukpreppergrrl
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Re: Became a prepper this week - Ebola concerns

Post by ukpreppergrrl »

As you're talking about a generator and stores of diesel I'm assuming you're not in a flat but a house and therefore have a useable "outside" :) Have you considered permanently sited off-grid solar panels and a small battery bank instead of the generator? They are totally silent and can provide 12v power. With the proliferation of tie-in solar panels on roofs in London people don't even notice them any more, and you certainly don't stand out as a "prepper". I have a set on my car-port roof.
Blog: http://ukpreppergrrl.wordpress.com
التَكْرَارُ يُعَلِّمُ الحِمارَ "Repetition teaches the donkey" Arabic proverb
"A year from now you may wish you had started today" Karen Lamb
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diamond lil
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Re: Became a prepper this week - Ebola concerns

Post by diamond lil »

I live remote and we often get bad weather so we tend to always have a lot of food in. The same food will cover us for snow gates closing, flu or ebola.
The secret is to learn to cope without needing to go to the shops. I'm very aware of ebola, and I think it's inevitable that it will get here sooner or later.
My preps are based on long life dry ingredients that have multiple uses. Like porridge, lentils, barely, flour, dried fruit, dried veg, dried and UHT milk.
Porridge oats = thickens soups and stews, makes lovely flapjacks (with fruit and syrup), oatcakes.
Lentils, barley and dried or garden veg = soups and adds to stews.
Flour of course for baking and for bread.
I get powercuts in bad weather so I don't stash a lot of expensive meat in the freezer.
jansman
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Re: Became a prepper this week - Ebola concerns

Post by jansman »

I feel that if Ebola is your concern, then you have to be realistic as to what you CAN do. If health workers, who are wearing top notch gear with a watertight protocol,are contracting the disease, then we mere mortals have no chance. Frankly, unless a prepper wears his 'protective clothing' from now until the 'emergency' is over, then the chance of infection is there. And the clothing we can get will be nothing like that which the World Health Organisation stipulates. If you are looking at protective gear, do you understand the procedures needed to de-contaminate, dispose or sanitise? Do you have multiple sets of this clothing? All the health workers involved dispose of their gear and wear fresh.
The post by diamond lil is right. You need food and water for a lockdown, which is what most preppers are able to do. I am not criticising the original post by any means, nor anyone worried by Ebola. Not at all. However, there are many folks new to the prepping lifestyle who thinks there is a quick fix. There is not. What we have to be able to do is to weather the storm, by being able to stay away from other people. That applies to many situations that life may throw at us.
In three words I can sum up everything I have learned about life: It goes on.

Robert Frost.

Covid 19: After that level of weirdness ,any situation is certainly possible.

Me.
Roadkill
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Re: Became a prepper this week - Ebola concerns

Post by Roadkill »

Thanks for that list of food to store it has gave me something to work to :D
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hobo
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Re: Became a prepper this week - Ebola concerns

Post by hobo »

Lil forgot to mention kale in her food prep list. Mustn't forget kale, eh Lil?
:twisted:
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Devonian
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Re: Became a prepper this week - Ebola concerns

Post by Devonian »

external wrote:Welcome to the forum, some have already answered but i'll let you know what I have bought in extra specifically for Ebola:

- Tyvec suits for the grownups (sadly none for the children)
- disposable latex gloves (you'll need to wear two pairs should the need arise)
- N94 masks
- overshow protectors
- disposable medical gowns
- disposable medical hair nets
- Duct tape

Nothing personal but I need to correct this for the benefit of others as N95 (not N94) Respirators and Tyvek Coveralls are not what you need for protection against Ebola.

Firstly N95 Respirators are a US standard and not commonly available in UK other via ebay sellers. N95 means that it filters 95% of the airborne material that you breath, potentially leaving 5% unfiltered!!!

N95 is the equivalent of an FFP2 standard in the UK/EU, but what you actually should be using are FFP3 grade disposable respirators (or P3 filters on a re-usable respirator). Though I would also recommend a full face shield over the top of respirators/googles.

With the coveralls, Tyvek is again not suitable. Tyvek (which is a DuPont trade name) offers Type 5/6 protection and is used for protection against particulates such as asbestos fibres and dusts etc, but it does not offer chemical/liquid protection which is essential for Ebola.

What you need are type 3 coveralls such as Tychem F coveralls (again a DuPont Trade name for comparison). Type 4 coveralls can be used as an alternative to Type 3 coveralls BUT ONLY if the Type 4 coveralls are fully covered with a type 3 apron.

for more information on protection standards, have a look at the following web page and in particular Table 1 on Page 4:

http://www.unicef.org/supply/files/UNIC ... Posted.pdf

However regardless of all of this, the best protection of all is to simply avoid other persons, after all are you really going to go shopping whilst wearing that lot??