a personal comment on this stockpiling

Not everyone lives in a flood area. I don’t plus I’m two floors up. I’m sure ‘preppers’ will have taken this caution into account if they do live in an area vulnerable to flooding. Surely that’s just common sense? I imagine any pictures you’ll have seen won’t be in flood prone areas.

By sheer fluke of special offers and trying to find a better product, I have a stockpile of loo rolls. Not intended. But at least they will keep me going till the new year.

I do need a box of matches which actually work. I have 2 large boxes from a while back and they just won't strike. Not damp. And they werent cheap ones.

I have years and year’s worth of books. Guess I could keep warm and have light by setting fire to them .

I tried that once nanna8
A medium sized book that I didnt agree with, so didnt want others to read it either.
Gave about 5 mins of heat.
Had assumed it would give out a lot more heat than that.

One doesn't have to live in a 'flood area' to be flooded.
Last week a family I know were flooded. A burst water main was responsible. The family have lost irreplaceable items.
They are of course insured, but some things cannot be replaced by money.
Since this family's dreadful shock another water main has burst, this time lower down the road.

A news item featured a woman who had ‘stockpiled’, ‘prepped’, …whatever you want to call it.

She opened cupboard after cupboard filled with everything you could need. Packet after packet of rice, pasta, tinned stuff, camping stoves, battery chargers….

Plus various spices, herbs, flavourings, as she felt stuff would get ‘boring’ after a while.

And two huge empty containers which I assumed she planned to fill with tap water.

I felt most of it would be long out of date before she used it, but then dates don’t really matter in times of crisis.

But OTT.

nanna8

I have years and year’s worth of books. Guess I could keep warm and have light by setting fire to them .

😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣

I just think a little control and sense is required!

Enough food/water/loo rolls/batteries/wind up torch/power banks - yes!

Enough supplies to support a small country for a year? No, no, no!!

Am I the only one that finds the thought of burning books abhorrent 😱

Herbs and spices I find are useless for keeping their flavours which disappear very quickly
I think the next thing we ll have is stuff unavailable as all the hoarders and worriers, stockpile it all up.
Ahh well it’s one way to lose weight
I m not going to play into it I ll just keep living my life as normally as possible if somethings not available I ll use something else and if nothings available I ll starve or eat grass 🤣🤣🤣

I've got just the basics, and they are all tinned or in tetra packs or bottled water..having said that, I live on a hill so flooding won't happen chez moi.

I look forward to grass eating consequences, maybe BlueBelle you could "test drive" and report back?

petra

Am I the only one that finds the thought of burning books abhorrent 😱

I could never bring myself to burn a book, even if I disliked it or disagreed with the content, it’s a big no from me.

Why are people still buying wooden matches? Totally unreliable and quite frankly dangerous. They can burn down to your fingers or cause a fire if dropped.
I use a gas lighter. Just pull the trigger and if you take your finger off the trigger it goes out! It’s at a good length from your hand so safer. They last ages and are very cheap and they don’t stop working when damp. You can also get cans of gas to refill if you want.

The point of being prepared is that if or when items are needed there won't be a run on them with attendant shortages, and if it is risky to go out (eg in a storm or blizzard) people can stay indoors. The advice is being given to ensure that emergency services can concentrate on protecting the genuinely vulnerable, rather than those who have nothing in store.

petra

Am I the only one that finds the thought of burning books abhorrent 😱

It is abhorrent, but if this is all that is left and its life and death?

Whethertomorrow

Why are people still buying wooden matches? Totally unreliable and quite frankly dangerous. They can burn down to your fingers or cause a fire if dropped.
I use a gas lighter. Just pull the trigger and if you take your finger off the trigger it goes out! It’s at a good length from your hand so safer. They last ages and are very cheap and they don’t stop working when damp. You can also get cans of gas to refill if you want.

To be very safe I have a chargeable electric lighter, costs next to nothing: yes it needs charging up but lasts for ages and ages once charged. And a cigarette lighter for candles.

I have a sizeable larder which is always kept at a certain level, lest I fall ill and can't get out or the weather is too inclement etc. It's a bit careless to get down to your last packet of digestives and then go rushing to the nearest convenience shop to pay through the nose.

Has any serious thought been given to those who are barely able to afford to buy food for a week? How are they expected to stock up on extra food, batteries etc?

My children have always told me that I have 'siege mentality', so have enough tinned and packaged food in my flat to last me through a very long time. Not deliberate, just that if I see a special offer on something that I regularly use, I tend to purchase extra - and that goes into store.

Mind you, have to make sure I know where my easy to use manual tin opener is - normally I use an electric one - and that will not of use if there is an outage!!!

Redcar

Has any serious thought been given to those who are barely able to afford to buy food for a week? How are they expected to stock up on extra food, batteries etc?

I'm sure most people are aware that having a full larder is a privilege, but again - the point of those who can afford to do so making the effort is so that if an emergency situation happens, there will be enough to go round for the vulnerable, as the prepared won't be buying up all the baked beans and bottled water.

Dandelions are the way to go, you can eat every part of it and make coffee out of the roots apparently.

Perhaps now is the time to take a foraging course.

If there are serious outages of power and water will there be any broadcasts at all,wind up radio or not?
Similarly ,no water to flush the loo,what use loo rolls.Whats to be done with the waste!
Or am I catastrophing as usual.

Whethertomorrow

Why are people still buying wooden matches? Totally unreliable and quite frankly dangerous. They can burn down to your fingers or cause a fire if dropped.
I use a gas lighter. Just pull the trigger and if you take your finger off the trigger it goes out! It’s at a good length from your hand so safer. They last ages and are very cheap and they don’t stop working when damp. You can also get cans of gas to refill if you want.

I bought a pack of gas lighters last winter from the A company.
One worked for a while but the others didn't.
Be careful where you purchase them.

Desdemona

Dandelions are the way to go, you can eat every part of it and make coffee out of the roots apparently.

Perhaps now is the time to take a foraging course.

But won't you spend a lot of time rushing to the loo?
That's another problem if there's a water shortage, flushing the loo.