Hello Everyone - from sunny Bristol

[jennyjj01]

Never thought about under the bath tub and underneath the cubbords, will have to see if if mine are removable and if so will give me a nice bit of extra space. I have already filled under the bed after a lot of convincing my partner

Now you just have to reconcile the balance between what items to store: Tinned food? Dried food? Water? Equipment? And for that you need to know what scenarios you realistically face.
Good to have your OH on board.

[Frnc]

Never thought about under the bath tub and underneath the cubbords, will have to see if if mine are removable and if so will give me a nice bit of extra space. I have already filled under the bed after a lot of convincing my partner

Now you just have to reconcile the balance between what items to store: Tinned food? Dried food? Water? Equipment? And for that you need to know what scenarios you realistically face.
Good to have your OH on board.

You can survive 3 weeks without food and 3-4 days without water so I guess water takes priority. In a limited space stackable containers might help, not sure how easy they are to get in the UK. Personally I use 5 and 10l containers. Remember to change the water once or twice a year.

[jennyjj01]

Now you just have to reconcile the balance between what items to store: Tinned food? Dried food? Water? Equipment? And for that you need to know what scenarios you realistically face.

You can survive 3 weeks without food and 3-4 days without water so I guess water takes priority. In a limited space stackable containers might help, not sure how easy they are to get in the UK. Personally I use 5 and 10l containers. Remember to change the water once or twice a year.

Indeed, water takes priority, but it's back to the old chestnut of tap water hardly ever being unavailable. E.g. it would be a bu**er to be on a strict lockdown, with a big stash of water, very little food and the taps still running.
Yorkshire Andy came up with that cheap source of 10L stackable water bottles and other places do 5L ones. Ordinary round 2L stack ok on their side, honeycomb style.

[Frnc]

Now you just have to reconcile the balance between what items to store: Tinned food? Dried food? Water? Equipment? And for that you need to know what scenarios you realistically face.

You can survive 3 weeks without food and 3-4 days without water so I guess water takes priority. In a limited space stackable containers might help, not sure how easy they are to get in the UK. Personally I use 5 and 10l containers. Remember to change the water once or twice a year.

Indeed, water takes priority, but it's back to the old chestnut of tap water hardly ever being unavailable. E.g. it would be a bu**er to be on a strict lockdown, with a big stash of water, very little food and the taps still running.
Yorkshire Andy came up with that cheap source of 10L stackable water bottles and other places do 5L ones. Ordinary round 2L stack ok on their side, honeycomb style.

True, I was glad to have a bit when lockdown happened. By the way, regarding water, you need to keep it in the dark. I have bin liners over mine, but it would make sense to buy black or dark blue containers. However I like white ones so I can see they are clean.

[Sammy]

Hi Ben and welcome to the forum. I am new here myself. Unlike your good self, I detest camping, i love being outdoors but I like my warm comfy bed! Sleeping outside has never appealed to me and I am hoping that as I live in a smallish village in a quiet area of Scotland that if and when the S.H.T.F that my roof ,doors and windows will remain intact and we have a solid shelter! Saying that sleeping bags and tents are on the "emergency" list of things to buy, just in case of my "worst case" scenario. Anyhoo, good luck in your prepping journey.

[GillyBee]

In the event of severe cold and no heating, the sleeping bags can be added to your beds and I have even heard of people pitching the tent in the warmest room in the house to sleep in....

[BAbrill]

Hi Ben and welcome to the forum. I am new here myself. Unlike your good self, I detest camping, i love being outdoors but I like my warm comfy bed! Sleeping outside has never appealed to me and I am hoping that as I live in a smallish village in a quiet area of Scotland that if and when the S.H.T.F that my roof ,doors and windows will remain intact and we have a solid shelter! Saying that sleeping bags and tents are on the "emergency" list of things to buy, just in case of my "worst case" scenario. Anyhoo, good luck in your prepping journey.

Thank you You can never go wrong with a good 4 seasons sleeping bag in any situation I would love to live in a more rural area but thats a compromise I had to make with my partner, shes a city gal so got to make the best of it

[Rusty74]

Hi Ben and welcome to the forum. I am new here myself. Unlike your good self, I detest camping, i love being outdoors but I like my warm comfy bed! Sleeping outside has never appealed to me and I am hoping that as I live in a smallish village in a quiet area of Scotland that if and when the S.H.T.F that my roof ,doors and windows will remain intact and we have a solid shelter! Saying that sleeping bags and tents are on the "emergency" list of things to buy, just in case of my "worst case" scenario. Anyhoo, good luck in your prepping journey.

cant go far wrong with an ex military arctic sleeping bag,just keep it dry

[Frnc]

Re sleeping bags etc I have a sort of modular system. In my bugout bag is an ultralight (235g), not very warm sleeping bag that only comes up to your waist ('half bag' or pied d'elephant). The idea is to sleep in a puffy jacket. You can't buy them anymore, they only do a full length one, although there is another company that does down ones but they are expensive (cheapest is £271, 250g, rated 3°C camp, -10° bivvy). For winter I have a cheap but light camping quilt that packs down small, not the proper backpacking quilts that are 3/4 way to a sleeping bag, more like a padded blanket. I have a 5 season foam mat plus an ultralight air bed. The sleeping bag/quilt combo probably wouldn't provide a good night's sleep in winter if it's cold, but it could save your life. There are some quite cheap down quilts (again, the blanket type) on Amazon but they are a bit heavier. Proper down backpacking quilts are like a sleeping bag with no hood and a gap underneath you. The logic is that a sleeping bag gets compressed where you lie on it and therefore gives no additional insulation there, so the gram counters save a bit by relying on the mat.

[Sammy]

Hi Ben and welcome to the forum. I am new here myself. Unlike your good self, I detest camping, i love being outdoors but I like my warm comfy bed! Sleeping outside has never appealed to me and I am hoping that as I live in a smallish village in a quiet area of Scotland that if and when the S.H.T.F that my roof ,doors and windows will remain intact and we have a solid shelter! Saying that sleeping bags and tents are on the "emergency" list of things to buy, just in case of my "worst case" scenario. Anyhoo, good luck in your prepping journey.

Thank you You can never go wrong with a good 4 seasons sleeping bag in any situation I would love to live in a more rural area but thats a compromise I had to make with my partner, shes a city gal so got to make the best of it

Happy wife, happy life! lol My good lady and I love visiting the cities, our 2 eldest live in Aberdeen and Dundee at the moment(doing degrees at University) so it makes for a good weekend away every now and again, but we are always glad to be back home in our quiet, slow-life village.