A beginners thoughts on what I think I need to do for preps

[spindrift]

Hi there Combat Squirrel, and I have to agree...sweet name!

All your preps sound damn good, and your definatly ahead of me in terms of your outdoor preperations. The question is, what have you done already? I know how you feel about it being overwhelming but I found a post on another web site useful (I forget which one though) about how to get started right now. It suggested building 3 - 7 days supplies as soon as possible. And what were they? Well I raided Aldi, Asda and B&M and I was set for 7 days supplies.

Heres a rough list of what I bought.

7 - 5 litre bottles of water (thats 1 gallon per person per day) I bought more as theres three of us in the house, but you get the idea
1 - 5kg sack of long grain rice
2 - 2kg sacks of rolled oats
10 tins of assorted soups
2 tins of spam
2 tins of corned beef
About 4-5 tins of various vegetables
2 packs of crackers
2 large jars of peanut butter
Already had a gas camping stove but bought another 5 of those aerosol sized refills
Couple of bags of BBQ charcoal

These bits and pieces coupled with what i already have in my cupboards means I can survive for 7 days without mains water and without restocking my food supplies. Was a good feeling to actually have made an appreciable impact on my food/water preperations.

[bulldogeagle]

To use a bow with any great accuracy you need to be either extremely talented or practice regularly.
Crossbows also need some skill for correct use but are easier to shoot more accurately as you do not have to practice as much to attain good accuracy and keep the correct posture.

Thats why it was law at one time you had to go to bow practise on a Sunday, thats why there are lots of street names with Butt or Butts in their name. its like anything else, practise,practise,practise...even with an air rifle or a crossbow....you dont pick it up on day one and wham! your an expert shot! just thought someone might be interested in traditional bows...but seems not!!

[nickdutch]

As far as how much power can solar make, it depends on the orientation of your wall or roof to the sun and the size and efficiency of panel. Home made isn't necessarily cheaper then commercially bought, but you do get cash flow benefits that can only be matched by having a loan payment plan that i probably wouldn't be allowed and even if I was i wouldn't want.

You the have to think about storage or use. Grid tie can reduce the electricity bills a little, but you have to check with your local electricity supplier as to how much they will allow you to have. A 100 W system wont piss them off though.

For battery storage you need a charge controller of the rght type and power for your system.

[lupiilu]

I keep reading both on here and other forum's the subject of crossbows. i dont know if this is because they are more macho or cos they are fired like an air rifle, but hasn't anyone ever considered the traditional bow and arrow? i got a Slazenger bow and a few arrows at a car boot for £25, arrows are very cheap on ebay, i buy 10X30inch basic arrows for £12.79 +p&p, a new bow string only cost me £6.22 including vat and p&p, and you can pick up a standard quiver for around £13, so you see its not an expensive item, against a crossbow its very cheap.

I have very short arms and the string snaps against my bow holding arm, which going at the speed and force they do is extremley painful and bruising! Crossbow for me simply because I don't have to put my arm in harms way for a meal!

I like the b&m, aldi, asda plan, sounds like a start!

[combat squirrel]

Good replies, thanks guys, I will defo get onto my cooking equipment list, I already have 3 cans of gas and a burner stove and a few bags of charcoal (going a little cheaper now in tesco). But for now its defo gone up the priority list

Excellent point spindrift, I have quite alot of water right now, but not things you listed for a week, defo better planning to plan a week, month, 3 months etc, will get on it.

As I work full time, I have saved tomorrow morning to head down to my local camping, army surplus and weapons store, going to go on abit of a shopping spree , may also get myself an 'ok' air pistol for target practice ONLY ( i dont expect to use it in anger so to speak! lol) (I will also check out there bows), then a really good air rifle when time/money allowsas well, for now however most of the stuff I buy will be useful equipment to add to my camping gear I have (I know its camping, but its also v useful - i.e. I already have a full set of aluminium cooking pans.

In addition in my loft im going to install shelf's and draws to store gear in - well out the way and locked up, then ill spend the rest of the day clearing my downstairs areas (concrete floors in cupboards etc) to store temp sensitive items like medical drugs and such, got a fairly large old metal safe to keep them all in - metal is cold on a concrete floor and makes sure no one can gets there hands on it, safety 1st, no kids or anything so that's good, so no1 will try get stuff, lol.

Also does the forum always take around 12 hours to allow answers to reply to stuff or is it a trial period for new people ?

EDIT: Ironically that posted instantly when I typed it ? lol

[Maddie_cat]

Also does the forum always take around 12 hours to allow answers to reply to stuff or is it a trial period for new people ?

EDIT: Ironically that posted instantly when I typed it ? lol

Only for newbies and for the first 10 posts - think the mods want to make sure you aren't

(a) a Zombie in disguise and getting all our secrets
(b) closet member of Al Quaeda
(c) GCHQ!

[bulldogeagle]

I have very short arms and the string snaps against my bow holding arm, which going at the speed and force they do is extremley painful and bruising!

you can buy arm guards for this, i have got one on order should be here in a couple of days.

[gary5wift]

Arm guards are cheap to buy and even cheaper to make but if the string is hitting your arm it's probably down to technique. I've been a field archer for 20 yrs, I was taught to rotate my bow arm so that the elbow points outwards away from the body not down to floor, whilst still keeping the bow upright. Sounds complicated but it's really easy when you try it. Practise by putting your thumb up and rotating your elbow outwards whilst keeping your thumb upright. also don't lock your arm straight out but keep a slight bend at the elbow.

Even if you wear an armguard, without rotating your arm out of the way you will never shoot straight because the string/arrow slapping against the arm guard will send the arrow off in any direction but the one you want. If you can find one, get an archer to demonstrate, it really is easy but as per other posts, the only way to get good enough to be useful is to practise as often as you can. Start with large targets at short distance (maybe 10yds) and work up to smaller targets at longer ranges.

Use a bow with a light draw weight until you've got the technique right then upgrade to a stronger bow over time - trying to learn on a bow that is too hard to draw will pretty much guarantee poor technique and few hits.

A good place to learn is with the National Field Archery Society ( http://www.nfas.net/ ). There are clubs all over the UK where you will get the chance to see and try lots of different types of bow (you'll be surprised how many there are) and pick one that suits you. They practise simulated hunting at different size targets from small birds to full size bears etc (paper targets or rubber 3Ds not live animals), usually in woodland or similar, at unmarked distances, long and short, so you get to practise really useful skills. It's very cheap to join com pared to most sports and they usually have kit you can borrow for free to practise with until you buy your own and you'll get great tuition. Lots of club members will make all their own kit, i.e. bows, arrows, strings etc, more useful skills to learn and they will be more than happy to teach you and pass on their knowledge.

Cheers
Gary

[Croesoswallt]

Re. Medical kit -

I've been piecing together my own, much cheaper and quite fun/informative.

http://firstaid.about.com/od/emergencyp ... aidkit.htm is a handy reference.

As for the cooking, I got a gas camping stove on ebay, new for a tenner. You can bulk buy the butane canister refills.

Good list, I'm also new to prepping and finding it to be very fun and empowering - as well as very personal. Everyone's thoughts are different.