Disaster & Emergency Prepping?

[LettuceBe]

So there's some quite noticeable global instability at the moment.

I think prepping has got a bad rep from the attention being focused on people who take it to the extreme.

Are you ready for a possible week without food and water? A month?

 

[silva]

I've been stocking up since rump first talked of tariffs, and see more and more reason we'll see worse disruptions than covid caused
I have dry beans, lentils, some cans, backup spices, canned tomatoes, rice and smaller amounts of other grains, varieties of pasta, shelf stable soy milk, whole bean coffee, peanut butt
Preparing to really do a garden, particularly dark greens, .....never been my thing beyond herbs
Bottled water, paper products, emergency supplies
On the lookout for canning supplies
I started with the idea of prices increasingly going up, and buying things at discount prices, but I do worry about instability

 

[Veganite]

I'm prepping, but for my dinner at the moment.

On a serious note, I prep, but because I live in earthquake territory. I also love hiking and ultra-lightweight camping. So I have many items that would help during such an event. I have everything I need to survive for several weeks, or perhaps a bit longer.

I also have a decent water purification device and tablets, if need be.

*

 

[Raven]

I'm not prepping, but I'm on a forum where some people do take it seriously. I have taken some of their advice regarding having torches in the house and fire extinguishers. I do have a lot of tinned food and dry food like rice and lentils and I have bottled water.

I wish I had cat litter and toilet paper stocked up when we had the pandemic and the lockdown. I don't have any cats at the moment, but I do probably have about 50 rolls of toilet paper in the house at the moment.

 

[LettuceBe]

I wish I had cat litter and toilet paper stocked up when we had the pandemic and the lockdown. I don't have any cats at the moment, but I do probably have about 50 rolls of toilet paper in the house at the moment.

Toilet roll is a worry to me too after the pandemic. I think I have a couple of months worth. I'll probably get more.

The only real expense for me is buying bottled water. Everything else is just stocking up on things I'm going to be using anyway.

 

[Jamie in Chile]

I'm not prepping, but I probably should. It's been at the back of my mind for years that getting a few months worth of canned food I could live off might be worth doing. Actually, I won't do it now as I might move house this year but one day should probably finally get around to prepping that.

I do have a solar power and battery system that works in a power cut, so that's a good start.

I also have an EV so in theory there could be no petrol, diesel or electricity and I'd still be driving around in the apocalypse. Although based on some apocalyptic movies I've seen, that might make me too much of a target.

I think the water for this house comes from a well in the ground nearby so that also bodes well for the next apocalypse.

 

[Raven]

I always keep some cash in the house too. I got my bank account hacked a few months ago. Years ago I had to take my cat to the vet at night near Christmas and all the cash machines were out of money. Neither of us drive so we needed money for the taxi.

 

[Emma JC]

I am a somewhat prepper - I definitely was for Covid and so that has held over a bit - I have always had oil lamps & oil, small propane tanks and a cooker and heater for them - I also have water purification tablets and 'straws' - because I am a high floor I do keep water in larger jugs for toilet flushing etc.

Lots of dried beans/peas, usually canned beans too although I need to replenish that supply, noodles (who would have thunk it LOL), pasta, rice and lots of other canned goods. Could definitely last more than a month if need be.

The toilet paper 'thing' makes me laugh as I understand the angst, I have more paper towels than toilet paper and lots of washable rags, if need be.

Emma JC
Find your vegan soulmate or just a friend. www.spiritualmatchmaking.com

 

[Veganite]

Lots of dried beans/peas, usually canned beans too although I need to replenish that supply, noodles (who would have thunk it LOL), pasta, rice and lots of other canned goods.

I always have lots of these foods in my pantry. I think just between the rice and beans alone I could survive for weeks.

Funny, the last worry on my mind is toilet paper. There's so many natural options if necessary.

*

 

[silva]

I always keep some cash in the house too. I got my bank account hacked a few months ago. Years ago I had to take my cat to the vet at night near Christmas and all the cash machines were out of money. Neither of us drive so we needed money for the taxi.

Oh yeah! That is important! I keep using it....
I do have a stash of TP, but have a bidet. I was buying when Costco had sales

 

[KLS52]

I still have a case of the super large rolls of toilet paper... industrial sized or something ...because it was all I could get during Covid. I haven't touched it because I just figured I would save it for an emergency and it's not like it would fit on the toilet paper holder in the bathroom lol.

We could probably get by for a month on canned/dry goods but I don't think I have enough to go beyond that. I always have a couple of jugs of water and I rotate them and end up using them if they start to get close to the expiration dates.

The thing I worry about the most are my medications, mainly my heart meds. It's not something I can stop suddenly if I ever had to come off of it and it would need to be a slow wean. I have been on them since 1998.I can't stock up on them because I can't refill them until I'm down to the last four or five tablets. If it was something that I could skip every once in a while I would do that until I accumulated a sufficient surplus… I actually have done that with my other medication. But I can't do it with the heart meds. The last time I missed a dose I ended up in the ER and had a problem for almost a year going forward. That was in 2021. I've been so stable now I dread the thought that something could happen where I wouldn't be able to get my medication.

 

[PTree15]

I definitely have a decent supply of dry goods, but I could stock up on canned goods a bit more. I have a solar oven that I've gotten pretty good at using, plus I have some camping equipment that would come in handy if needed. I am low on paper goods, which I will restock soon. I might get some water tablets. That seems like a good thing to have on hand.

 

[Emma JC]

having cash and a bit of gold and silver are very wise - if we ever went to a barter society because of terrible things happening I have always said that the person that has a stash of cigarettes and mickeys will do the best because people will trade almost anything for those

Emma JC
Find your vegan soulmate or just a friend. www.spiritualmatchmaking.com

 

[silva]

That cash on hand is pretty important! I have none and thinking it would be nice to call a plow

 

[LettuceBe]

having cash and a bit of gold and silver are very wise - if we ever went to a barter society because of terrible things happening I have always said that the person that has a stash of cigarettes and mickeys will do the best because people will trade almost anything for those

Emma JC
Find your vegan soulmate or just a friend. www.spiritualmatchmaking.com

I've always thought that if it came to bartering, gold and silver would be pretty useless as they have no real use.

I looked up tobacco to see if that would be any good but from what I read about Ukraine, tobacco use increased as it was still easily obtainable.

I don't know what Mickey's are?

I'm hoping people will want toilet paper.

 

[Jamie in Chile]

having cash and a bit of gold and silver are very wise - if we ever went to a barter society because of terrible things happening I have always said that the person that has a stash of cigarettes and mickeys will do the best because people will trade almost anything for those

Emma JC
Find your vegan soulmate or just a friend. www.spiritualmatchmaking.com

I have wondered about this. What can you keep on hand to trade if money is worthless. Like if you had $1 million, and you knew the apocalypse was coming and the bank would be shut down and paper money would be worthless or massively devalued, what do you convert the $1 million into.

Gold and silver is a good idea, and might be more durable than money, but quite hard for the average person to assess the value, and if things were really bad would they just be considering shiny rocks if people are going hungry.

Tinned food? But impractical in large quantities.

Maybe petrol/ diesel/oil or solar panels and batteries. I think those are good ideas if you need the apocalypse was coming next week, but they are not things you would want to keep around in large quantities for a long time. The petrol I think goes bad eventually, and the solar panels and batteries might devalue reasonably fast in a few years, and it seems to shame to not be immediately using all the solar panels and batteries immediately, given climate change and pollution.

Still the original thread did say

"I think prepping has got a bad rep from the attention being focused on people who take it to the extreme.

Are you ready for a possible week without food and water? A month?"

So maybe I'm taking it off topic a bit, maybe we should keep back on the more realistic prepping for natural disaster, pandemics etc.

 

[LettuceBe]

So maybe I'm taking it off topic a bit, maybe we should keep back on the more realistic prepping for natural disaster, pandemics etc.

I absolutely agree from a practical standpoint. Prepping should be mostly keeping a stock of things you're likely to need in the short term and that you will use anyway so you're not wasting money.

But I do find some less likely scenarios quite interesting to think about. Aiming to be one of the last people left alive is where the extremists take it. I think they'd like to be in an "I told you so" situation.

I don't think considering what could be bartered is taking it too far IMHO, as long as it doesn't harmfully financially impact you too badly.

 

[LoreD]

I have quite a bit of non perishables. I saw the rise in prices and stocked up on beans, grains, pasta, pasta sauces, and canned goods. Freezer is also full. The only things I am buying is bread, fresh and frozen food. I made a trip out to the Mennonite store and did a big stock up on snacks, cookies, crackers, chocolate, nuts, and organic canned soup. If hard times are coming; I'm not running out of snacks.

I went over to the little bread bakery on Tuesday. They are closed on Monday, so I get serious markdowns on the leftover bread from Sunday. The 2 day old is $3 and the 3 day is free. I usually will buy 1 full price loaf, so I don't look tacky. I picked up one 2 day old, 1 free loaf, and full price cracked wheat. Total $10 for 3 loaves. Everybody else walked past the basket of free and discounted loaves, and then bought the SAME ITEMS for full price.

I am so well stocked that I could probably go a couple of months with only buying bread, fruit, and vegetables.

 

[Emma JC]

something/someone I was watching yesterday on youtube was talking about this and their biggest point was getting out of big cities or at least having somewhere to go that is out of a city - so anything that you have stocked up on needs to be somewhat portable - I have friends and family that live away from cities and probably would pick one of them, we also hope to move out ourselves in the next while, we'll see

I remember years ago, leading up to Y2K, I visited a person in Montana who was a full out prepper and he was fully stocked, barrels of rice, guns, ammo etc and I often wonder if he managed to eat it all - he also showed me some of the underground escape places there with chimneys sticking out of the ground etc.

I admit I do not like being within visual closeness of the US border however most of the population of Canada lives within 100 miles of it.

In Canada a "mickey" refers to a small bottle of alcohol, one that you can slip in your pocket, and yes, I agree, gold and silver are difficult to eat.

Seeds are another thing that I have a fair amount of and will likely get more in the spring as some of mine are older now. Having an ability to help others with first aid, or planting food, building things, basically solving problems is also a good barter.

Oh and keep your gas tank full or your vehicle fully charged too, along with batteries, flashlights, a hand crank radio, small solar system (I have one that I have had for years and it just rolls up in a small pack. Lighters, matches, tools, pocket knives, a roll of duct tape.... I could go on.

Emma JC
Find your vegan soulmate or just a friend. www.spiritualmatchmaking.com

 

[Jamie in Chile]

That's a good point on a small solar system. Something that can charge your phone, laptop, and the modem or whatever box you need for the internet.