lose lose situation?

[jansman]

thanks for the replies.
one of my concerns for a long term event is heating.
propane gas cylinder wont last very long.
what suggestions do people have?
(typed heating into search but wouldnt work)

Slow down, chill out. The World ain't gonna end inside the next ten minutes. As many of the previous posters have already said, work on the small things first.
I have been at this prepping game for well over a decade. At the start I was like you. However, over time I realised what the priorities were. Basically, enough supplies to last a month to start with. Then build on it. In fact. I would start with 1week.
For example, earlier this year I was put out of work. I worked for many years for a firm that went insolvent. NO immediate redundancy money(that took a month to come from the Gvt. )and dole was the same. Our preps-food and spare cash, saw us through, AND taught us what we don't need at the same time.
Once you have a comfortable level of stores, and more importantly knowledge,you will be more comfortable with life in general. You will also be better placed to deal with the bigger things, IF they occur. It isn't all about Rambo knives and crossbows.

[izzy_mack]

Heating is a problem for me too, I wait to see if their are any ideas for those of us in rented homes who can't install a wood burner.
At least I have a house and garden, so life is easier for me, I can only imagine the problems in a flat. I have preps hidden in a difficult to get to attic and buried in the garden. You will have to be more inventive. Biscuits tins are good,mouseproof, you can pack stuff in them and hide them in small spaces, fascia boards in your kitchen can be removed and tins and bottles hidden behind them. Depending on the stlye of chest of drawers, there is a space below the bottom drawer to hide stuff. If the time came, I plan to hide stuff in plainsight - almost - my large laundry bin will hold a lot of stuff with dirty laundry on top, can't see them delving into my dirty clothes. Boxes of toys, books etc with food underneath.Even places like your washing machine with an old towel at the window blocking the view of the food at the back.
If you have curtain poles that are hollow, you can fill them with dinner candles and a lighter and rehang them.I have some candles that look like ornaments and may be overlooked, and plan to hide stuff behind books and soup packets taped behind pictures.
You can also disguise bottles by taking the labels of stuff they might leave , like bleach, and putting them on bottles of water or oil.

If they do take them, at least you can picture them trying to wash their hair in cooking oil. I will also leave some boxes of food "hidden" where they will be found in the hope that they will think they've got my stash and be less careful in their search.
I am lucky, we have guns, though we're only allowed a small amount of bullets, so knives, catapults,spears made from a knife and a broom handle can make you feel safer but you do have to practice. Even things like a tub of pepper for cooking thrown in someone's face would slow them down, as would a spray of anything, deodrant, air freshener etc.
Take a wander through your house and you'd be surprised at the places you could hide stuff and everyday things that can become weapons. And be prepared, if you have to, to leave it behind and bug out. Good luck

[Ferricks]

Wool is one of THE best natural fabrics for keeping warm. I have access to salvage from an industrial process that I turn into rugs and blankets; they're amazingly warm, and I'm working on a lightweight sleeping mat atm. Just about cracked it.

If anyone is ever up in the north, give me a shout; I'll happily supply you with materials and show you how to use them, just drop me a PM.

(You won't want to put the finished product in a prep box though, you'll keep it out and use it!)

Thanks redskies - we'll be "up north" in the spring - expect a PM!

[redskies]

No bother, Ferricks. I can teach you what you need to know inside of an afternoon. You'll need one simple tool that I can help you/show you how to make, other than that, it's repetitive patterns all the way

[Briggs]

Heating is a problem for me too, I wait to see if their are any ideas for those of us in rented homes who can't install a wood burner.
At least I have a house and garden, so life is easier for me, I can only imagine the problems in a flat. I have preps hidden in a difficult to get to attic and buried in the garden. You will have to be more inventive. Biscuits tins are good,mouseproof, you can pack stuff in them and hide them in small spaces, fascia boards in your kitchen can be removed and tins and bottles hidden behind them. Depending on the stlye of chest of drawers, there is a space below the bottom drawer to hide stuff. If the time came, I plan to hide stuff in plainsight - almost - my large laundry bin will hold a lot of stuff with dirty laundry on top, can't see them delving into my dirty clothes. Boxes of toys, books etc with food underneath.Even places like your washing machine with an old towel at the window blocking the view of the food at the back.
If you have curtain poles that are hollow, you can fill them with dinner candles and a lighter and rehang them.I have some candles that look like ornaments and may be overlooked, and plan to hide stuff behind books and soup packets taped behind pictures.
You can also disguise bottles by taking the labels of stuff they might leave , like bleach, and putting them on bottles of water or oil.

If they do take them, at least you can picture them trying to wash their hair in cooking oil. I will also leave some boxes of food "hidden" where they will be found in the hope that they will think they've got my stash and be less careful in their search.
I am lucky, we have guns, though we're only allowed a small amount of bullets, so knives, catapults,spears made from a knife and a broom handle can make you feel safer but you do have to practice. Even things like a tub of pepper for cooking thrown in someone's face would slow them down, as would a spray of anything, deodrant, air freshener etc.
Take a wander through your house and you'd be surprised at the places you could hide stuff and everyday things that can become weapons. And be prepared, if you have to, to leave it behind and bug out. Good luck

Guns and bullets? Really?!?! Surely society will have to collapse catastrophically before you resort to that measure, no?

[Plymtom]

Guns and bullets? Really?!?! Surely society will have to collapse catastrophically before you resort to that measure, no?

Izzy's just getting started and I expect like most of us will mellow, easy to understand when we who have cable or satellite TV are being fed a constant stream of disaster scenario documentaries plus the steady stream of American "Doomsday preppers" all convinced that the end is nigh and that everyone is out to get them.
We British when you think about it, is TS ever does hit the fan big time, will probably begin by getting out the camping stove and making a cup of tea and assessing the situation, or worrying about getting home if we weren't there already when the roads are jammed with people rushing out to panic buy all they can.

As for firearms I would advise you enjoy them for the purpose you are licensed to hold them for, and don't let yourself get into siege mentality until the need looks way more of a certainty than any major SHTF scenario does right now.

[Arzosah]

Heating, if the power's off for a prolonged period - kindling, twigs, charcoal, whatever you can, in a nice sturdy barbecue - I found a 19th century French firepit, only about 15" across, which is utterly beautiful, and would be very safe to have a little fire in. (ETA - it was £10. A camping stove from Asda, for about the same price, will put out heat, as well as cook your food).

A candle can be converted into a thermal store by surrounding it with a couple of tin cans, on this principle:

http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/grapev ... 47865.html

http://heatstick.com/_Process.htm

The heatstick link, as the name implies, has detailed instructions.

Honestly, I think knowing how to have at least minimal heat in a prolonged power cut is more of a priority than all-out defence. Not that defence might not be important, but a power cut is much more likely, in the immediate future, seeing as we're in November now.

[nickdutch]

If you can heat water, you can keep people warm. Hot water bottles (maybe two - four per person) and plenty of thick woolly clothes.

So stoves and kettles are going to be a priority for you. IMHO, bioethanol fireplaces are a good way of increasing the ambient temperature of a place. Admittedly ethanol has half the calorific power of heating oil, and also costs a load more per liter and when you burn it, it draws oxygen from the air that you breathe so you need ventilation or to only use it in stints of maybe one hour at a time on max or just trickle heating the place on a lower level, but on the other hand, its still something that you can use when the boiler dies in a power cut.


My bioethanol fireplace was created using three bioethanol burning tins off ebay (from Germany £20) and a cheap cast iron chimnea (£30) from a budget shop.

I also have a camping kettle and two methylated spirit stoves which both burn the bioethanol that I buy for the fireplace very efficiently with a good flame height.

I also have two hot water bottles.

Therefore heating in a power cut or outage shouldn't be too much of a problem for me.

[Arzosah]

Wool is one of THE best natural fabrics for keeping warm. I have access to salvage from an industrial process that I turn into rugs and blankets; they're amazingly warm, and I'm working on a lightweight sleeping mat atm. Just about cracked it.

If anyone is ever up in the north, give me a shout; I'll happily supply you with materials and show you how to use them, just drop me a PM.

(You won't want to put the finished product in a prep box though, you'll keep it out and use it!)

Thanks redskies - we'll be "up north" in the spring - expect a PM!

This sounds fascinating, redskies - I get "up north" as far as Lancashire several times a year, and I'm planning a trip to Orkney next year - which version of "up north" are you? (I'm a looooong way south!).

[redskies]

Heating, if the power's off for a prolonged period - kindling, twigs, charcoal, whatever you can, in a nice sturdy barbecue

Charcoal is BAD indoors. A great way to end up in the local morgue!

This sounds fascinating, redskies - I get "up north" as far as Lancashire several times a year, and I'm planning a trip to Orkney next year - which version of "up north" are you? (I'm a looooong way south!).

On the other side of the country, so to speak. Drop me a PM, I'll see what I can do - mats are too heavy to post, tbh, but maybe I know someone heading your way