How likely is it

[Medusa]

That homes would be searched for supplies by Government agencies/Army etc if SHTF and that any useful supplies, mostly food, would be confiscated? Obviously I keep my prepping private, but if my home was accessed by the above they would be very obvious as I am guessing they would for most people. Less obvious places would be behind the kickboards in the kitchen cupboards, but what a nightmare trying to rotate stock under there.

[jennyjj01]

That homes would be searched for supplies by Government agencies/Army etc if SHTF and that any useful supplies, mostly food, would be confiscated? Obviously I keep my prepping private, but if my home was accessed by the above they would be very obvious as I am guessing they would for most people. Less obvious places would be behind the kickboards in the kitchen cupboards, but what a nightmare trying to rotate stock under there.

In times of war or similar, expect larger homes to have displaced persons billeted with them and there may eventually be some sort of house to house situation report. But government agencies would be to thin on the ground to check out every home.

Post serious SHTF, there would be raiders, gangs, committees and 'authorities' with nothing really to differentiate them.

At first there will probably be 'advice' to have a few days or weeks in reserve and that would barely be frowned upon. But soon, anyone seen to have, or try to get, 'more than their immediate needs' would be outed, derided, and probably attacked. And don't expect any help or sympathy with 'the authorities'

If you've been a conspicuous acquirer or storer of resources, you would be a target of whichever pitchfork carrying gang thought of it first. The authority with which they would justify them searching and ransacking your home would be their hunger and how much stronger their raiding force is compared to your defenses against them. Think vigilanties and marauding gangs operating in broad daylight.

You would probably have time to hide away resources, but once the cat is out of the bag, there's no going back.

So those of us with many months worth of resources will inevitably have to prepare to defend them to the death from our starving neighbours and friends. Something to mentally prepare for.

If an army marched through, an enemy, or our own, it would take what it wanted with little regard to our needs or rights.

We can look back of the status of spivs and hoarders back in WW2 time. Here's a Canadian poster about hoarding.


One thing to maybe consider..... If you buy groceries by card or use loyalty schemes, then knowledge of your purchasing habits will be available to someone and it may get analysed and used to target you.

[Frnc]

But on the other hand, all governments encourage the public to be preppers these days, at least to a basic level. It's a fine balance.

During or shortly after the civil war in Russia, there was a drought. Other countries had an economic boycot on Russia. The Bolsheviks had given peasants pieces of land. But agriculture was very primitive, and there was destruction from WW1. Food was scarce. Some peasants, known as Kulaks, owned larger pieces of land, and were relatively rich. Some of these were secretly hoarding large stockpiles of grain, while people in the cities starved.

Obviously in that situation, the authorities had severe penalties for the hoarders. The economic boycot was stopped, and instead, aid was sent, eg from America organised by Herbert Hoover, who sent aid to other parts of Europe as well.

During the war, Hoover had been known as the 'food dictator'. He had authority to clamp down on profiteering and unnecessary hoarding.

[pseudonym]

Make yourself the Gray Man.

Ahead of TSHTF

Pay cash for goods, no loyalty cards

Store preps away from Kitchen area

Don't talk about your preps

Buy yourself a Charity shop wardrobe a size or two up to make out you have lost weight like the others

After TSHTF

Eat meagre meals in plain sight.

Wear clothes as above

Queue like everyone else even if you don't buy anything

Don't buy excess even if it's available

[jennyjj01]

Thanks. Good historical note.

But on the other hand, all governments encourage the public to be preppers these days, at least to a basic level. It's a fine balance.

Indeed. They don't want us to be a nuisance for the first few weeks. "Fend for yourself". But I do wonder how the very well prepared will be viewed with envy, when shops are empty: Implored and coerced to 'Share fairly'. Hunger and envy are strong motivators. Shops, wholesalers and small businesses would be targeted both by the 'authorities' and by extortionist and raiders of all shades. I'll certainly be choosing my gang.

...Some of these were secretly hoarding large stockpiles of grain, while people in the cities starved.

Maybe the word here is 'secretly'. By being furtive, they set themselves up as the enemy of the people.

During the war, Hoover had been known as the 'food dictator'. He had authority to clamp down on profiteering and unnecessary hoarding.

I guess that hoarders in this context were larger scale than just Mr's Housewife with some extra beans.

[jennyjj01]

Make yourself the Gray Man.

Ahead of TSHTF
Pay cash for goods, no loyalty cards
Store preps away from Kitchen area
Don't talk about your preps
Buy yourself a Charity shop wardrobe a size or two up to make out you have lost weight like the others

After TSHTF
Eat meagre meals in plain sight.
Wear clothes as above
Queue like everyone else even if you don't buy anything
Don't buy excess even if it's available

All good points, except maybe I WOULD buy excess, if I could do so inconspicuously.

[izzy_mack]

Apart from immediate family and one almost family, I keep my stores secret - thank goodness. However my fruit and veg garden is clearly visible from the road, okay it's a single track and not exactly heavy with traffic but I doubt if the contents would last long even so. my log store is also easily seen and may well empty although that's not such a worry as I can collect more, it just won't be seasoned.
I tend to always buy a little extra every time I shop so it's not so noticable but maybe I'll do a haul sometime not using my store card and I usually use cash anyway.
I have a larder in the shed attached to the house, it's great as temperature seldom varies but maybe I'll need to think again when it looks like trouble is imminent. What I do with the 5 foot freezer in the shed is a bigger problem.

Thankfully my cottage is small so may be overlooked by authorities. I have a heap of plastic tubs with lids which I could fill with longest dated food and plenty of tape and places to bury them. I would tell some of the family where just in case I snuffed it - or was snuffed . They are about the size of 2 household buckets so would hold a fair bit.

I've never been quite sure how to tell a hoarder from a prepper but I don't suppose it'll make any difference in such a scenario anyway.

I wonder if the powers that be monitor this site and if so they could find us? and would they bother anyway?

[pseudonym]

Snip> I wonder if the powers that be monitor this site and if so they could find us? and would they bother anyway?

Taking food someone has purchased before an event is not redistributing goods to the needy. It is punishing that family at the minimum and at most killing them. At that point people will have nothing to lose.

Prepare to find land salted, preps poisoned and the Jackbooted thugs at a minimum limping back to their overlords.

[jennyjj01]

Snip> I wonder if the powers that be monitor this site and if so they could find us? and would they bother anyway?

Taking food someone has purchased before an event is not redistributing goods to the needy. It is punishing that family at the minimum and at most killing them. At that point people will have nothing to lose.

Prepare to find land salted, preps poisoned and the Jackbooted thugs at a minimum limping back to their overlords.

TPTB probably only look in on these forums when their AI threat detector finds us discussing the jihad nuclear dirty bomb attack that we don't have planned for ... visit to that place on his next outing.

OOPS. I just triggered the algorithm. They'll be knocking my front door in at dawn.

I'm sort of serious. There are probably security departments who do keep an eye on such forums, but with the wealth of YT and facebook, telegram and whatever, they'll be doing it with AI, first and foremost.

I doubt they'll out themselves just because one of us admits to caching a few tins of beans.

We had a thread about defending our reserves...

viewtopic.php?t=17910

[izzy_mack]

Prepare to find land salted, preps poisoned and the Jackbooted thugs at a minimum limping back to their overlords.

now you're REALLY scaring me