Missing, of course, is any mention of firearms (to deter goblins and scumbags from relieving people from their generator, water, food and all the other stuff).
But speaking of stuff: I estimate that this little list is about 10% of what you would really need should ol’ El Niño come a-calling. (We’ll ignore for the moment that El Niño poses little danger to Britishland. Their biggest danger will be that their own government’s actions are likely to cause total social- and infrastructure collapse.)
Anyway: feel free to list the most egregious omissions, in Comments.
I’m astonished they didn’t recommend a solar panel and a wind turbine in lieu of that gas generator.
I guess the propane for that generator, since they didn’t say “petrol.”
They better have a room full of bottled water…or they could have decent gravity fed water filter.
A diet of non-tinned, non cooked food is going to be really boring really fast. They’ll want some variety after a few days.
I have lots of “tinned” food, and a couple of nice manual “tin” openers, and my old army P38 can opener I’ve had on my key chain ~ 60 years as a backup.
They can’t have a firearm, and probably not more than a butter knife; could they get away with a cricket bat as long as they only threatened but didn’t actually use it?
Aside: I just heard Keir Starmer speaking at some length for the first time yesterday.
OMG, what a fucking metrosexual girly man. He was disgusting in his entirety – voice, facial expressions, lack of eye contact, body language, speech content, everything. How on earth did he get elected?
It kind of depends on the kind of disaster. Am I bugging out or in? Why specifically? I’ll kind of include some for both.
I’d probably say to get a decent camp stove and fuel, which solves the problem of needing food that doesn’t need cooking.
Candles.
Knives.
Rope.
Matches.
Flint and steel and tinderbox
Water purification/filtration method for when the bottled water runs out.
Potassium Iodide
Gas mask (will be necessary once I start eating things that need neither cooking nor refrigeration).
Tent
Bow Saw
Axe
Cooler
Ways to clean oneself more so than with wipes and sanitizer.
Extra clothing.
This is just in five minutes, off the top of my head.
It looks similar to the Dutch list, but that one’s a bit more comprehensive.
It’s not designed for a complete collapse, but rather temporary things that leave you stranded at home for a few days.
The Dutch list says so explicitly, it’s designed to keep you for 3 days while waiting for things to either return to normal or be able to evacuate.
And for that the Dutch list is pretty sensible. Candles, matches, bottled water, ready to eat food that needs no heating, a good first aid kit, things like that. And yes, power banks to keep your phone charged so you can get NLAlert (similar to the US Amber Alert) messages.
For total societal collapse, there’s no real way to prepare in most of Europe unless you live in a remote rural area (and how many of those still exist in the densely populated western European countries?
First – I agree with Kim 100%. Guns are missing. However as stated this is the commie UK government.
Items missing
1 – plastic zip lock style bags (I buy both name brand and generic. They can be used for items like food once a bag is open to keep the food fresh longer and also they can be used to seal important documents (titles to vehicle, bank papers, doctors papers, if you have a passport (I don’t) etc from water.
2 – cooler is fairly useless without ice. Do you have an ice maker you could run using the generator? Or do you have ice ready in your freezer. I’m always amazed by people who say they have a cooler but they don’t have ice. Don’t be sure sure you can go down to your local gas station during a disaster and get ice. One exception – if it is winter time – the cooler without ice can be handy – don’t waste your gas generator fuel running a fridge if it’s winter, toss your food or refrigerated medicine into the cooler and put it outside in the winter weather. Otherwise – ice is needed.
3 – medicine. Prescription meds. If you can fill up a 30 , 60 or 90 day supply. And keep a list of the medicines that you take in case you lose them somehow. Amazing people overlook this. Some medicine can be gone without but some is critical for some people.
Also, Do you hand over the counter medicine – anti diarrhea, headache and pain reliever ? Cough drops? Etc? This stuff is cheap for the generic stuff at Walmart. No reason not to have some on hand.
4 – a grill – any size. Portable to full size. Say the power is out. If you have an electric stove – unless you have a massive generator – that electric stove is a paper weight. I have a small generator for running lights, fridge, oil furnace etc – but running a 4,000 watt fridge is not in the cards for my small generator and even if I had a larger one that is an incredible waste of fuel when you don’t know how long power will be out.
Having a gas or charcoal grill with extra propane and or charcoal can and will come in very handy.
5 – small space heater or small window ac
My small generator can easily run my oil furnace – as oil furnaces have a peak draw of around 1,200 watts and then once running they run around 200 to 400 for most models. But say it’s a really cold day? Or the furnace dies during the disaster? Having a small space heater allows you to keep one room warm
If you live in a warm place – a small room ac allows you to keep one room cool. Again the small generator I have will not run my mini splits – but I can keep one room cool with a window ac if the power is out during the summer. Trust me, when it is hot and muggy keeping one room cool will be a huge relief.
6 – make sure when you get non perishable food that it is food you and your family will actually eat. Nothing worse than opening food and learning you think it tastes like shit. Or it went down ok but now you got raging diarrhea because your stomach didn’t agree with the grub you stocked up on. (See above over the counter medicine. Anti diarrhea medicine comes in real handy at times like these).
7 – in addition to bottled water – get a few large jugs of water per person in your household. And a big container to store some in in case you need more. Water is life.
8 – an understanding that the government either won’t come to help until well after the disaster strikes and an understanding that even if they do come to help they will either not help much or botch the help and possibly
Even make things worse. I’m not sure about the UK govt, but the US govt could fuck up a wet dream.
By the way – is the chain saw suggestion the alternative to a gun? Or does the uk have lots of branches and trees that would need to be cut down post disaster?
Either way that might be the only thing I agree with the UK govt on.
I have 2 chain saws myself.
Yes, lots of trees in the UK, even in urban areas. So in an emergency you can both have trees blow over that need clearing AND potentially use them for firewood (though that might get you arrested).
Kim if you were in the SADF you know what White Gold is. That’s level top of the list.
No cooking poses a big problem. Your body needs carbs, protein and fat not so much. Fruit and veg will carry you over a few days before shelf life kicks in. A gas camping burner is good, but solid fuel tablets are better. I was once an active hiker and I know that the space occupied in your backpack by a gas stove would better be devoted to beer. Rice is incredibly good for long-term survival.
In cooler climates you don’t need very much water at all. First, the combustion products of carbohydrates are water and CO2. Half of everything you eat turns into metabolic water. Second, most tinned foods have very high water content (but salt).
In times of need the chainsaw might solve the goblin problem.
I was likewise amazed that they left bogroll (“White Gold”) off the list. I bet a similar list from the German gummint would include it.
Isn’t that on their list, second from last, just above the N 95 face masks ?
Isn’t that on their list, second from last, just above the N 95 face masks ? When I was a scout, we called them KYBO tickets after the acronym we used to refer to the pit toilets.
the Mormons, church of latter day saints has some resources on their website that are worthwhile for SHTF.
I’d add extension cords, good heavy ones. How are you going to get power from your generator to the location you want it without extension cords?
Extra gasoline for an engine so you can leave the area if necessary.
It’s hurricane season on the East Coast so hand saws, axes, gardening implements, gas run chainsaws and such come in handy to clear downed trees and limbs. Ropes, come alongs, straps and such help too. rather than cut a downed tree across the road, sometimes it can be pulled out of the way with straps and such.
A camp stove, canned food and a couple of can openers have food covered. Bottled water or a water source with proper filters would take care of water needs. When I lost power several years ago, we got water from an artesian spring nearby. I think the town capped it since then.
A plan with neighbors helps too.
Guns and ammo might be the fun stuff but they should be on the list too
Well, right off I noticed there was no alcohol on the list. You know, for fuckin medicinal purposes. You should have at least 3 or 4 fifths of whiskey per person, and a couple cases of beer, again per person. A good supply of Advil is also recommended.
Basic tools, even from Harbor (Horror) Freight.
— Crescent wrenches, large and small. Amazing, they fit metric and S.A.E.
— Screw driver, with bit set for flat, Philips, and Torx heads.
–Channel lock pliers
— Basic socket set with ratchet handle and extensions.
— Multi-pack of duct tape.
As already mentioned, just off the top of my head.
A lot of things on these lists assume you’re staying put. I know I’m too flippin’ old to be rucking with 60+ lbs on my back, so staying in place is more than likely unless I’m in seriously dire straits.
Basic tools…include 2 pair of visegrips. The Zon has .032 safety wire in 100 ft packs or 1 lb rolls. A roll will last a lifetime & has infinite uses. A pack of old fashioned wire hangers and clothespins. Same thing…myriad uses & cheap. A couple carpenter pencil sharpeners for turning twigs into tinder fast. Packed into a flat tin can & soaked in melted wax they’ll burn for a couple hours, can be extinguished & relit and the can doesn’t melt down so it can be reused too. Couple pair of well fitting work gloves.
Pressed coin towels. Sold in packs of 1000 weighing less than a pound & reuseable. Wet them & unroll it. Add a drop of disinfecting bleach & you have a sanitizing cloth. They burn too. 10 fit nicely into a cigar tube. Water purification tabs & a way to haul water. Skip the small glass bottles. You drop it and it shatters, you’re hosed. They’re sold in foil packs. Lighter, smaller & they’ll go in a pocket.
Lose the genny. They’re noisy, require lots of fuel and they’ll fail on you. Good old fashioned oil lamps for light, flat foldable solar panels, rechargable batteries & chargers if you need gadgets. Charcoal grill instead of gas. They’ll work with wood. To go real minimal, just the grill grate. Propped on a few rocks over a coal bed & they work fine. A small hot tent woodstove will keep one room livable even at my winter temps of -30 F+. You may have to cobble the venting, but the SHTF anyway so curb appeal isn’t that high on the priority list.
Manually operated firearms: Wheel & leverguns, preferably in the same caliber. Pump shotties. AK’s & AR’s are nice but eventually you’re gonna have to reload all those mags or you have a single shot piece. Mags are a weak point as well. Face it, in reality you’re not going to need to reach out 500 yards; it’ll probably be more like 50. Learn to reload your brass & cast bullets. Can’t have asidearm in your nanny state? Ask yourself how the local goblin has one. No one knows about it until he does something stupid. Don’t be stupid.
Plan with TRUSTED neighbors. You ain’t doin this yourself. Pooled resources & knowledge are force multipliers.
Most of the above is good advice. Having a full gas tank and extra gas laying around is a good idea. As is clean water, and if you have a freezer full of meat have a way to preserve it if you lose power for an extended period.
But the best advice is whatever you do in the above circumstances to prepare, don’t fucking tell anyone, keep it to yourself, shut the fuck up, however you want to describe it.
Your ant-hill will be overrun by grasshoppers who spent their time/money on bullshit like golf-clubs.
I have two additions. First, a dog. This complicates supply a bit, but worth it for companionship and bad guy alerting. That they are hated by the Religion of Pieces is a bonus.
Second, a decent set of binoculars or at least a monocular. See trouble coming before it sees you!
Don’t get a dog just because the government tells you it’s a good idea. And definitely not unless you can take care of a dog AND can keep the dog company all the time.
Do NOT leave your dog home alone for 10+ hours a day while you’re at work.
And oh, government advises you to get a dog most people would just go out buy one of those tiny little yappers from a puppy farm…