Page 1 of 4 1234 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 37

Thread: Home

  1. #1
    Trapper Realbark's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Location
    Lincs
    Posts
    278

    Home

    Not TEOTWAWKI but basic home preparations for you and your family. Prolonged power (gas or electric or gasoil) outages. Water? We saw the problems experienced in NI a few weeks ago. Its a different ball game to a few days away in the countryside. Mainly because you probably have more people (maybe young and old or infirm) to look after.

    Everyman and his dog will have bought up all the meths, wood, water, bottled gas and the supermarkets empty rapidly - we witness that here during a bit of snow. Without having a gung-ho apocalyptic survivalist mentality it does no harm to prepare your home for an event where you are effectively able to live off grid with your family for anything from a few hours to several weeks.

    There is a fair bit of crossover between the bushcraft and home survival skills IMO, which is why i have an interest in both.

    My family reckon on being able to be off the grid for 2 weeks comfortably and 3 weeks at a not-so-comfortable push, with water the biggest issue at that stage.

    What do others think?
    Time is precious - waste it wisely

  2. #2
    Trapper klause's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2010
    Location
    Earlestown - N/W England
    Posts
    259
    I think your point is extremely valid, you don't have to be a "The end is nigh" paranoid wreck to see the problems we could easily face in todays uncertain society. I too have more than enough food to last a couple of weeks (there are six people in our house). i have just a couple of doubts about my ability to see out a couple of weeks -

    How would you go about storing water ?
    What sort of fuel would you store ?

    PS, love the lurcher...
    Last edited by klause; 01-02-2011 at 05:19 PM.
    There's no brew without fire.

  3. #3
    Trapper Realbark's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Location
    Lincs
    Posts
    278
    Allowing 1 gallon per person per day.......5 gallon storage containers. Changed every 3 months or so. Rainwater butts (i have 2) and a hot water tank. Not to be used for toilet or filling a bath! Just work out water requirement per day and x by people in the house and store what you need. We have water out here fairly regularly tho its not been more than 15 hours yet.

    Fuel - apart from my meths you mean! I hold 4 propane gas bottles - can be used with with either a calor gas type heater or a cooker. When one is empty i reorder another. Also have several camping/backpackers gas stoves to eke out with about 20 refills. My fireplace has an electric fire BUT the old open fire is just behind it and useable in an ongoing emergency. I have vitrually no wood (being on the fens) but am currently considering storing some or coal. Not tons - just a few bags. As i say im NOT looking at TEOTW just being able to carry on fairly normally in the event of being off grid for a relatively short period.
    Last edited by Realbark; 01-02-2011 at 05:35 PM.
    Time is precious - waste it wisely

  4. #4
    One with Nature JonnyP's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2010
    Location
    Talland Bay.. An pleg-mor Kernewek hag a wra kovyow
    Posts
    1,538
    Fully agree with you Realbark.. We are all so dependant on others to supply us with our needs these days.. It doesn't take that much for a disruption in the chain and we lose what we are used to. Be it a couple of hours, or a couple of weeks (like we went without power after the storm of 87), to a full blown major inconvenience.
    We keep all sorts here to keep us going for a while..

  5. #5
    You'd be surprised how many bushcrafters are preppers as well, theres quite a community of them out there ;-)

  6. #6
    Tribal Elder Metal mug's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Location
    Devon
    Posts
    1,332
    Quote Originally Posted by JonnyP View Post
    Fully agree with you Realbark.. We are all so dependant on others to supply us with our needs these days.. It doesn't take that much for a disruption in the chain and we lose what we are used to. Be it a couple of hours, or a couple of weeks (like we went without power after the storm of 87), to a full blown major inconvenience.
    We keep all sorts here to keep us going for a while..
    NO POWER! How can I update my crazy rambling threads!

  7. #7
    Wanderer
    Join Date
    Mar 2014
    Location
    North West Devon
    Posts
    71
    we were snowed in for nearly 4 weeks about 3 winters ago, power was ok but couldn't go anywhere apart from walking the dog until it thawed, we have stocks so no problem, when it thawed we just simply restocked what we had used.

  8. #8
    Natural Born Bushcrafter Midge_Fodder's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Sunny Dumfriesshire
    Posts
    899
    Yep every year it happens. I get my week away from technology, and wifey goes nuts with the Hoover, if she hears a storm is on it's way. It's daft not to stock up for that kind event. Granted there are things that happen you can't account for (tree through the roof ect). I find though it's not something I think about often as I auto pilot, and I hate shopping so buy enough so I don't have to go back for another month. I think if you live (or have lived) in the sticks, it's second nature as you just have to be more organised, if you forget the milk and it's a 12 mile round trip you learn fast.
    Border Bushcrafters

    Isn't it nice when someone says "that's a great piece of kit, where did you buy that", then you can modestly reply "you can't buy it, I made it myself". The moral is, it's amazing what you can achieve if you put your mind to it.

    "No better burden can a man carry on the road, than a store of common sense." - Hávamál: 10

    http://midgefodderbushcraft.blogspot.co.uk

  9. #9
    Wanderer
    Join Date
    Mar 2014
    Location
    North West Devon
    Posts
    71
    exactly, its a 20 mile round trip to a small supermarket and a 50 mile round trip to where we do our monthly "big" shop.

  10. #10
    Natural Born Bushcrafter Midge_Fodder's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Sunny Dumfriesshire
    Posts
    899
    Aye and the wee village shop is closest to you but never open when you need it........ Always the way I found it
    Border Bushcrafters

    Isn't it nice when someone says "that's a great piece of kit, where did you buy that", then you can modestly reply "you can't buy it, I made it myself". The moral is, it's amazing what you can achieve if you put your mind to it.

    "No better burden can a man carry on the road, than a store of common sense." - Hávamál: 10

    http://midgefodderbushcraft.blogspot.co.uk

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •