What's your situation?

[katilea]

Another reply I wrote to a different thread got my thinking about this new thread.

What exactly are you preparing for?

I'm 46 yo disabled female (Deaf with physical disabilities) I live with my 2 dogs , one retired assistance dog nearly 15 with arthritis also and a young 3yo (Border) collie who has been trained to take over to help me round the house... no other people though my bro just lives a couple of villages away from me.

My biggest problem is SNOW! I've been a wheelchair user since 2005 but my worst winter was 2010. I used to live close to town so roads got cleared and previous winters were never that bad but in 2006 I was moved out into the surrounding villages as it was the only wheelchair accessible property available at the time to meet my future needs.

Lovely quiet cul-de-sac but of course when it snows, no gritters come down here and most of my immediate neighbours are also elderly or disabled themselves!

In 2010 we got the BIG SNOW!... snowed in 2 weeks solid with 6-8 inches of snow up my drive no chance of getting mobility scooter up the road to get dog out (at that time was just my eldest , then about 10yrs old) my regular food delivery cancelled and I hadn't been saving up food so was totally unprepared. My bro did manage to reach me by the sun after it first snowed with some more food and take my dog for a good run over the fields as she hadn't had a walk all week. I managed to get my scooter up the road by the following Saturday, it's not been as bad since but it's my worst nightmare.

We did have snow when my collie was a puppy snowed in for about 4 days but he was only 4-5 months old so got enough exercise in the garden and my old girl's arthritis had started getting bad in cold by then so she wasn't interested in going out over those days. He's now fully grown and a very active dog used to 5-6 mile a day on average so another 2 week snow in and we're gonna be bouncing off the walls..lol!

Anyway so far to try and prepare for a future bad snow-in so far I've got a treadmill for him to burn excess energy off on (he can play in garden too he loves chasing snowballs!) and a rechargeable lantern. Just about to get a Kelly Kettle starter kit, a couple of thermos flasks to keep soups and drinks hotter for longer (once made on it) and looking at solar powered phone chargers for getting help as my minicom (special phone for deaf) only works on mains to phone people or electric company etc via Typetalk relay service.

The dogs have got fleece jumpers and I've got a onesie and blankets to keep us warm! (if no electric for fire or blanket)

It actually never occurred to me the last time we had a powercut I could have just used lights from electric wheelchair or mobility scooter for extra light at night as if i was snowed in anyway I'd be unable to get out with them so battery power left in them could be used exclusively for extra light at night! DOHHHHHH!

And I've been getting extra tinned stuff thats quick to reheat since Sept after press mentioned snow coming as early as Sept! ..got the dogs xmas shopping , just need my brothers delivering incase this 38 day snow actually happens as without giving my location away too much .. I'm 'up North!' where we're likely to get the worst of it!


and yes its just occurred to me as I was about to post this that the treadmill won't work either if no electric! .. DOHH ..another Homer Simpson moment..lol!

Anyway what are you all preparing for?

Kati

[nickdutch]

Being self employed I periodically go through periods of lack of money. The worst being when the main agency didn't pay me for three months.
I am also concerned about bad weather, banks not working when I need them to for short periods of time, powercuts and what happens when the next fuel crisis comes and we can't get basic supplies
So I got over a months worth of supplies plus things to make foods with.
Next stop: Ethanol for the fire and trangia.

[7 lives]

Mainly prepping for flooding ,having had 2 bad floods a couple of summers ago and the village was cut off for a while.
Focused attention on food,water,heating and lighting.Am also disabled so nebulisers ,oxygen and medication all now sorted.
Have had so much good advice from this forum- so many talented folk out there who are generous with their knowledge and have loadsa patience when answering basic but new to me stuff!

[MissAnpassad]

I don't exactly see the winter stuff as prepping, for me it's completely normal to have propper winter clothes, a million gloves, socks, knitted hats etc. But I have only been snowed in once for 48 hours, we had like 60 cm of snow falling down under one night. But I could have gotten myself out, I do have skis and a kicksled, I just couldn't get to work. In total the depth what winter added upp to 140 cm. My neighbor emailed me before that easter asking if it was possible to spend easter in her summercottage, I just emailed a picture of the house and she replied "See you at midsummer". You could just see the roof.

But back to the topic, I mostly prep for war, me being sick/injured and for a ecological disaster. In Sweden we are well protected against economic crises like unemployment. You don't become rich, but you won't starve. And the Swedish church are enormously rich, the can help with food short term until you got your paperwork sorted out.

[Deeps]

I'm not prepping for any specific event, for me its more a case of having the ability to feed ourselves and provide the comforts of heat and light. I'm prepared water wise too but I really don't see it being an issue in Sunny Ecosse.

Just thinking our your situation Katilea, mind and make sure you've got plenty dog food in too. We use Zooplus and get it delivered in bulk, we try and keep at least a months worth of kibble for them. As for your cooking arrangements, the briefcase cookers are very user friendly, cheap and the gas cannisters are cheap.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Campingaz-Camp- ... ping+stove

I hope you get a mild winter.

[Brambles]

I'm preparing for any old bump in the road. Whether it be a broken leg, a day or two of pants weather, loss of income, or something a bit more serious it's all the same.

+1 on Zooplus. Fantastic prices and great service.

[katilea]

yeah got dogs food in.. Pets at home had a special offer on their food so got 2 big bags from there when got some xmas presents. I'd already got one half price from elsewhere so thats 30kg.

I use zooplus too as they have a great selection of grain free treats. up to xmas we'll be fine as they have extra for their xmas stocking too. Hopefully I'll get chance to do a few more shops before its really bad. Usually its worse between Jan-March but it does seem to be getting worse earlier and staying colder longer (Snow in April last year!)

I 've got a spare freezer so always have meat in so can defrost meat and my youngest will eat raw (save the wet food for my old girl).

I've also had good service from Zooplus most of time, only once it took nearly 3 weeks to turn up and didn't get delivery notification (I always chose DPD) I think that was around the time there was the strike at Calais or something? The following time after it arrived within the week and no problems. Obviously if weather is bad though even at their end rather than ours it may take a while to get here and get stuck at this end if snow was too deep or ferry couldn't sail. The dogs always come first so they'll eat before I do anyway whatever's left in the house!

You just have to hope there are breaks in the snow where food can get to me even if I can't get mobility scooter out, enough to stock up inbetween!

[jansman]

I will run with what Brambles said. I seem to have been bouncing from job to job lately, and that has an economic consequence in itself. Also if I get ill or injured, I don't get paid. One thing that having preps has done for me, plus getting older and wiser, is that I do not worry about much anymore.

[Arzosah]

I was a bit apocalyptic when I first started prepping too many science fiction novels, but these days its for illness during winter - lots and lots of storecupboard food in the house, fairly normal amount of frozen and fresh. Long term, I think an economic downturn and the effects of climate change are what concern me most, and the closing of so many services we used to take for granted.

[metatron]

I don't really prep for a particular situation. I always liked the saying "Hope for the best, prepare for the worst". "Shit happens" is another one, but it feels less like shit if you are prepared for it.