what does the forum think.

[grenfell]

Thanks for that , it seems a good ouch and a decent benchmark to work from . It might even make those a bit lax or lazy amongst us , er me , read all the labels and add things up . I applaude the effort you have put into it. As you say not a exact science and yes gardening , foraging or for that matter any heavy work or colder weather would use up more calories . I suppose if one had a months worth and an event looked to be lasting longer than that month then most would probably try to cut down a bit to stretch out the supplies that little bit longer.

[Deeps]

I have several million calories stored in my waistband

I've managed to cunningly conceal the odd spare calorie about myself too. My big concern is twofold....
A. Post apocalypse when we're all cannibals, I'll be an seen as 'big game'.
B. I can't run as fast as I used to, what with being a bit of a fat b'stard.

Thanks for that , it seems a good ouch and a decent benchmark to work from . It might even make those a bit lax or lazy amongst us , er me , read all the labels and add things up . I applaude the effort you have put into it. As you say not a exact science and yes gardening , foraging or for that matter any heavy work or colder weather would use up more calories . I suppose if one had a months worth and an event looked to be lasting longer than that month then most would probably try to cut down a bit to stretch out the supplies that little bit longer.

While we might prep for certain scenarios, having preps in any situation will probably be of help. I personally don't buy into any of the more extreme reasons to prep like EMP etc but if it happens my preps will still come in handy, the same the other way round, assuming part of your EMP preps include food and water then if there's a cyber attack on your bank and you can't get cash out then you'll still be able to eat. None of us have a crystal ball.

[grenfell]

I tend to be more focused on smaller scale scenarios and the long slow crash type of thing rather than full on end of the world type of thing. To be honest I'm not even fully sure that any sudden event that meant food supplies disappearing from the shelves for the best part of a year would actually be "solved" by having a year's worth of stocks as the atendant problems of such an event would be very problematic from gangs to piles of dead bodies to diesease. That's not to say that anyone who wants to store a year's worth shouldn't , if it makes them feel secure then that's all good. And of course they might be absolutely correct and those of us with less will get to see them wearing their " told you so " tee shirts

Oh and I've just noticed that my former post says " it seems a good ouch" . That's not what I meant , it's the bloody iPad . I meant to say " it seems a good starting point"

[Medusa]

To me, four months food and water is quite impressive. I have not really worked out how long all of mine would last, possibly a couple of months if we all cut down somewhat. My main concerns are that if things went badly wrong, my preps would not be just for the 3 of us at home but also my other 3 children, their partners and my grandchildren plus two sets of elderly parents, one set who have very little food stored,. In this case my priority would be to feed those who were doing the most manual work, chopping wood, building things etc the most, the children would be my next priority and the elderly parents who would be doing the least would be at the bottom of the food chain so to speak. Actually writing that feels quite awful, but being realistic nothing different from when the kids were little and we ran the house off one wage, hubby first as he had a manual job, kids next as they needed good food to keep them healthy and I was last, smaller portions of food and if there wasn't enough, then I did without. Probably why my waist size has increased so much over the last few years. Hubby keeps saying that we have quite enough stored, but I want to keep on increasing the stores. I guess that we can all only do the best we can, be that 2 weeks supply or 6 months supply or more.

[Deeps]

To me, four months food and water is quite impressive. I have not really worked out how long all of mine would last, possibly a couple of months if we all cut down somewhat. My main concerns are that if things went badly wrong, my preps would not be just for the 3 of us at home but also my other 3 children, their partners and my grandchildren plus two sets of elderly parents, one set who have very little food stored,. In this case my priority would be to feed those who were doing the most manual work, chopping wood, building things etc the most, the children would be my next priority and the elderly parents who would be doing the least would be at the bottom of the food chain so to speak. Actually writing that feels quite awful, but being realistic nothing different from when the kids were little and we ran the house off one wage, hubby first as he had a manual job, kids next as they needed good food to keep them healthy and I was last, smaller portions of food and if there wasn't enough, then I did without. Probably why my waist size has increased so much over the last few years. Hubby keeps saying that we have quite enough stored, but I want to keep on increasing the stores. I guess that we can all only do the best we can, be that 2 weeks supply or 6 months supply or more.

Like yourself I'm aware that my preps for 2 might end up having to stretch, I suspect a lot of us would be the same, whether we wanted it or not. If you have 3 months worth for 2 people, that's a 180 days worth, it might end up as 18 days for 10 people if loved ones turn up or you end up joining in with the Coronation St. militia or whatever. Like Grenfell above, these more extreme scenarios aren't why I prep but hey, you never know.

[grenfell]

. My main concerns are that if things went badly wrong, my preps would not be just for the 3 of us at home but also my other 3 children, their partners and my grandchildren plus two sets of elderly parents, one set who have very little food stored,.

Yes family the nemesis of a preppers plans . My wife's sister is a good example , despite working all her life in a bank she's lousy with money . When her marriage broke down we ended up first giving her a room and then stumping up 2/3 of the price for a house. That left her with a pretty small mortgage which she still hasn't clearred as she keeps remortgaging ( perhaps spending less on holidays and cars might help there) . She knows we keep stocks and I mentioned recently she is finding it next to impossible to get hold of the HRT drugs she takes but still derides the fact we have full shelves . She says it'll all go out of date and anyway we're not really saving anything so therre's no point.
But she's still my wife's sister and should things go all Pete tong I know full well we'd end up rendering assistance as much as I'd like to think I'd lock the door and hang out the window with a big sandwich in my hands telling her to do one.
And then there's wife's brother , spouse and child and so on...

[jansman]

I guess what you are comfortable with is the answer to food storage. We are at full capacity right now, and need no more than to replace what is used in normal rotation. Allowing for daughters and partners, I reckon we are at a couple of months. That will do. If it really came to relying on that lot, then the garden, livestock , gun and rod will come into play.

[Arwen Thebard]

Perhaps consider getting a decent water filter system so you dont need to store quite as much in bulk, assuming you could find a water source supply somewhere nearby.

Four months is a good start, but if you are thinking EOTWAWKI scenarios, then building that up to a lot more, in small stages, would be good, assuming you have the time left of course and the resources to do so.

A good post above summed up my view nicely, especially regards changing diet to the new situation.
"I'm up to about 8 months worth of reasonable food, drink and warmth for me and spouse. We'd need to adapt diet and lifestyle but I almost relish the prospect. I personally expect to increase my stockpile in quantity and quality to about a years to 18 months worth. By then I hope to have rotation and new-age diet as a way of life".

Plus seeds! Get a decent stock of seeds stashed in the freezer now while you can, all your food stocks will run out eventually.

[Arwen Thebard]

"Post apocalypse when we're all cannibals, I'll be an seen as 'big game'"



Classic.

Hun get the rifle, its hunting time.....

[jennyjj01]

A good post above summed up my view nicely, especially regards changing diet to the new situation.
"I'm up to about 8 months worth of reasonable food, drink and warmth for me and spouse. We'd need to adapt diet and lifestyle but I almost relish the prospect. I personally expect to increase my stockpile in quantity and quality to about a years to 18 months worth. By then I hope to have rotation and new-age diet as a way of life".

Plus seeds! Get a decent stock of seeds stashed in the freezer now while you can, all your food stocks will run out eventually.

Thanks for the thumbs-up. I'm only just getting into most basic gardening with tomatoes peppers and a mini cloche and some growbags.
LIDL have seeds currently 29p for most packets, so I bought a mini stash.
For water, It'll be make use of what I can collect and filter. It would be pretty dramatic for UK rainwater not to be usable and sufficient in a suburban setting.

I've certainly started more and more to use foodstuff that I stash, with dried onions and veg and more couscous, rice and pasta in my daily diet.

Looking forward to being self sufficient in tomatoes.