It's not that they intentionally prepared for a rainy day...it's more that a larger percentage of "staples" were naturally "long life" or were purchased in bulk. You didn't naturally buy baked breads for example - a larger percentage of the population, rural and urban, baked their OWN bread...and yeast came dried, flour came in four pound or eight pound bags etc., etc. And if stored correctly would last a long time on the shelf without spoiling.
Tinned foods made up a larger part of the diet...because frozen or freezedried foods were not at all common. Bottled or canned fruits and veg were bought in....or put by by people themselves...in that form because that was the only way to store them - or you dried them, and those were certainly "long life"!
And the only "ready meals" people had access to came from the chippy...IF you lived near a chippy And before that...you had to live in a town or city to have access to food prepared by somebody else.
And don't forget - larders and pantries LOOKED fuller...because local foodstuffs' harvests were seasonal ;-) Larders would be fuller after harvest time....or after various garden crops came ripe; you didn't leave soft fruits etc. on the plant in the garden for the wasps...they ALl had to be picked when ripe and something done with them - whether bottled or jammed. Spuds and other root veg or tubers couldn't be left in the ground over the winter - they had to be harvested and stored in the most appropriate way and BEFORE any autumn blights or weather changes destroyed them. (Farmers shouldn't be killing down potato plants and leaving the spuds in the ground over the winter nowadays like they do - all it means is that by the spring they're trying to sell us rotten, damp, rubbish...)
So all that was happening was that at various times during the year, larders and panties suddenly filled up with relatively large amounts of goods all at once; it LOOKED like putting something by for a rainy day....but really, all that householders were doing was putting it away for tomorrow, and the day after, and the day after that etc. That was how they stored stuff then.
I dont wish to know that! :D
I'm not really talking that far back. I know loads of people from the 60s and 70s who would always keep a full cupboard always have something on hand for emergencies.
...and after a couple of false starts, I'm looking at last at adding a magneto-ignition motorcycle to the stable. Means I won't be immobilised because of EMP...
I'd thought for a while of an early coil-and-points bike, somnething British and early '60s...but that puts a VERY major point-of-failure in any plans - it puts me at the mercy of Lucas Prince of Darkness for small and randonly-failing, badly-made electrical components Lucas, the company that patented the "short circuit"...
What you need is a old dumper truck, something with a Lister twin and 4WD, will run on anything, go anywhere slowly, has good luggage capacity and is EMP proof
It would be easier to survive long term with zombies rather than having 64 million other people looking for food/resources to in the UK.
There's several obvious fails in there, S-S ;-)
1/ Zombies are undead, they can't die of hunger....just get hungrier and hungrier
2/ Guess who THEIR food is?
3/ If 64 million Britons were looking for food - within a month it would probably be 6.4 million.....and falling every day; but there'd still be 63.99999999 million zombies roaming about...
Just a thought though.
All apocalypse scenarios rely on having large numbers of the population dying off.
It would be easier to survive long term with zombies rather than having 64 million other people looking for food/resources to in the UK.
It wouldn't take large numbers dying off for things to get messy, just enough people in key areas like power stations and food distribution.
64 million hungry and cold people looking for food would cause the country to quickly descend into chaos. A large number of those living in cities would die of starvation within a few weeks as they would not have the knowledge or mobility to obtain food that doesn't come in a microwaveable container. Those that can get out of the cities would quickly strip the nearby land of all available food.
What you need is a old dumper truck, something with a Lister twin and 4WD, will run on anything, go anywhere slowly, has good luggage capacity and is EMP proof
....and everyone in a five-mile radius in that otherwise silent landscape would know that there goes some cvnt that's got fuel, and he's going somewhere, so he knows where there's food...:D
And I wouldn't be able to "dash" away from trouble either...:p
Apparently my TD5 defender will run on a chip fat diesel mixture for a short time but where it uses a high pressure injection system the injectors and pump quickly clog up making for an expensive repair bill. I know someone with an older 300TDI defender who runs it on chip fat all of the time and apart from smelling like a takeaway it works perfectly fine.
Apparently my TD5 defender will run on a chip fat diesel mixture for a short time but where it uses a high pressure injection system the injectors and pump quickly clog up making for an expensive repair bill. I know someone with an older 300TDI defender who runs it on chip fat all of the time and apart from smelling like a takeaway it works perfectly fine.
I do like the TD5, much nicer than the Tranny lump and more go than the TDI300.
TD5s can run on bio Diesel if you know what you are doing. Someone does on Landyzone.
A friend has a TDI300 powered D1 based kit car and he cannot keep up with my Discovery 2 espite a short chassis and GRP body.
A week, but we do have a pantry of tins and dry goods that might see us for a month.
If the society somehow breaks down, the first place we'll escape to is my mum's place. It's a farmhouse with two old priest holes. Her pantry and livestock can last us at least a year. The kits from my school archery / fencing / shooting / kendo days are still at her house, so we will use those. I'll need to practise, though, as it's been decades since I last touched those.
There's an old WWII bunker somewhere in the woods behind her house. Granted, it stinks, but we can clear it up. I'll get the kids to do it. The bunker will be our last-resort place in case Mum's house gets overrun.
1/ Zombies are undead, they can't die of hunger....just get hungrier and hungrier
2/ Guess who THEIR food is?
3/ If 64 million Britons were looking for food - within a month it would probably be 6.4 million.....and falling every day; but there'd still be 63.99999999 million zombies roaming about...
But you can kill zombies.
At what point would it become lawful to kill people?
Not saying it wouldn't happen but the way it's set up, the majority of all resources in the country would be gone before it got to the point where killing people didn't have consequences.
And any government would pour masses into keeping order on the off chance that things would resume to normal.
So yes, a lot of killing eventually, but with people rather than zombies, you and others would be at starvation levels before you started. And then having killed lots of people, the resources needed to keep going until harvest, resumption of production, would have been used.
Do you think any government would authorise a cull?
Or allow one to happen before it became obvious there was no hope?
Apparently my TD5 defender will run on a chip fat diesel mixture for a short time but where it uses a high pressure injection system the injectors and pump quickly clog up making for an expensive repair bill. I know someone with an older 300TDI defender who runs it on chip fat all of the time and apart from smelling like a takeaway it works perfectly fine.
Might not stop you, but it would probably stop food getting to Tesco.
And the uk without electric for 1 week, would cause panic and chaos and everything has failed, no cash no petrol no nothing, no electric means no heating for millions. the uk at a stand still. But people can not live their lives on but what if this or that happens because of the things that could happen are endless. Thats all it takes is no electric and the uk is dead in the water, because without elictric no water either
An old diesel car would be better for long term transport as diesel doesn't degrade as fast as petrol and the old diesel engines will run on chip fat and a variety of other oils.
Apparently my TD5 defender will run on a chip fat diesel mixture for a short time but where it uses a high pressure injection system the injectors and pump quickly clog up making for an expensive repair bill. I know someone with an older 300TDI defender who runs it on chip fat all of the time and apart from smelling like a takeaway it works perfectly fine.
"bio diesel" still needs processed/filtered to make it really useable, and it's usually done on a "rolling" basis I.E. whoever runs the local micro depot will do the rounds of whatever chippies and takeaways he has agreements with, and lifts their old oil...takes it back to the depot...processes it - then texts whoever he has as customers (a lot of van couriers and some taxi drivers I know use it, though they have constant problems with injectors and especially filters) and they come toot sweet and fill up. Means he doesn't need many and various (and expensive) licences for bulk storage etc....
Which means that there's actually very little bio diesel "in the supply chain" at any given time...so you don't want to have to reply on a fuel that's automatically in short supply by definition.
(And that's not to mention that many dealers add a percentage of home heating oil to make the stuff actually work....)
A week, but we do have a pantry of tins and dry goods that might see us for a month.
If the society somehow breaks down, the first place we'll escape to is my mum's place. It's a farmhouse with two old priest holes. Her pantry and livestock can last us at least a year. The kits from my school archery / fencing / shooting / kendo days are still at her house, so we will use those. I'll need to practise, though, as it's been decades since I last touched those.
There's an old WWII bunker somewhere in the woods behind her house. Granted, it stinks, but we can clear it up. I'll get the kids to do it. The bunker will be our last-resort place in case Mum's house gets overrun.
What you'd VERY quickly want to do is dig a second way out of it, a "back door"; no point in getting yourself stuck somewhere there's only one way out of...
WWII-era Aux Units' "ops bases" and Robin network bunkers had an emergency rear exit that led up to somewhere under cover...under thick bushes etc...80-100 yards away from the bunker. To give the occupants a fighting chance (sic) of getting away if the Nazis discovered the front entrance...
And the uk without electric for 1 week, would cause panic and chaos and everything has failed, no cash no petrol no nothing, no electric means no heating for millions. the uk at a stand still. But people can not live their lives on but what if this or that happens because of the things that could happen are endless. Thats all it takes is no electric and the uk is dead in the water, because without elictric no water either
Opposite us are two hand pumps (in the allotments) that pump up from wells.
Me and my sons have already earmarked them for when the zombies appear.:D
We are so different to our parents and grandparents, they always had something for a rainy day. No one ever thought they were odd or unusual
but We mostly live day to day or week to week never seeming to care about tomorrow.
Say a disaster happened
You got snowed in for weeks
The power went off for weeks.
You lost your job, and benefits were very slow in coming( as many have found out)
People are having to go to food banks.
Famine, diseases. anything really
How long would your family survive.
So what "rainy day" stuff did your grandparents have to enable them to better survive the disasters you list?
lol at all these people saying they could survive 5 or 10 years financially in a catastrophic emergency.
In such emergency money as we know it would be worthless. Unless you held it in precious metals it would be as good as worthless.
Yes i think people forget that its no longer any good to buy things with, its only value is if its paper burn it and hope to keep warm from the flames.
Comments
I dont wish to know that!
I'm not really talking that far back. I know loads of people from the 60s and 70s who would always keep a full cupboard always have something on hand for emergencies.
What you need is a old dumper truck, something with a Lister twin and 4WD, will run on anything, go anywhere slowly, has good luggage capacity and is EMP proof
Might not stop you, but it would probably stop food getting to Tesco.
There's several obvious fails in there, S-S ;-)
1/ Zombies are undead, they can't die of hunger....just get hungrier and hungrier
2/ Guess who THEIR food is?
3/ If 64 million Britons were looking for food - within a month it would probably be 6.4 million.....and falling every day; but there'd still be 63.99999999 million zombies roaming about...
It wouldn't take large numbers dying off for things to get messy, just enough people in key areas like power stations and food distribution.
64 million hungry and cold people looking for food would cause the country to quickly descend into chaos. A large number of those living in cities would die of starvation within a few weeks as they would not have the knowledge or mobility to obtain food that doesn't come in a microwaveable container. Those that can get out of the cities would quickly strip the nearby land of all available food.
....and everyone in a five-mile radius in that otherwise silent landscape would know that there goes some cvnt that's got fuel, and he's going somewhere, so he knows where there's food...:D
And I wouldn't be able to "dash" away from trouble either...:p
Apparently my TD5 defender will run on a chip fat diesel mixture for a short time but where it uses a high pressure injection system the injectors and pump quickly clog up making for an expensive repair bill. I know someone with an older 300TDI defender who runs it on chip fat all of the time and apart from smelling like a takeaway it works perfectly fine.
I do like the TD5, much nicer than the Tranny lump and more go than the TDI300.
TD5s can run on bio Diesel if you know what you are doing. Someone does on Landyzone.
A friend has a TDI300 powered D1 based kit car and he cannot keep up with my Discovery 2 espite a short chassis and GRP body.
You hide it.
Got enough pet bedding and cage floor material for ages
We really need to stock up on some things though, pet food, medical supplies etc
If the power went out we would be screwed though
Well the OP does seem very proud of this fact im pretty sure all their neighbours and friends know
If the society somehow breaks down, the first place we'll escape to is my mum's place. It's a farmhouse with two old priest holes. Her pantry and livestock can last us at least a year. The kits from my school archery / fencing / shooting / kendo days are still at her house, so we will use those. I'll need to practise, though, as it's been decades since I last touched those.
There's an old WWII bunker somewhere in the woods behind her house. Granted, it stinks, but we can clear it up. I'll get the kids to do it.
But you can kill zombies.
At what point would it become lawful to kill people?
Not saying it wouldn't happen but the way it's set up, the majority of all resources in the country would be gone before it got to the point where killing people didn't have consequences.
And any government would pour masses into keeping order on the off chance that things would resume to normal.
So yes, a lot of killing eventually, but with people rather than zombies, you and others would be at starvation levels before you started. And then having killed lots of people, the resources needed to keep going until harvest, resumption of production, would have been used.
Do you think any government would authorise a cull?
Or allow one to happen before it became obvious there was no hope?
Yes, HDi type engines can't run long on chip fat.
And the uk without electric for 1 week, would cause panic and chaos and everything has failed, no cash no petrol no nothing, no electric means no heating for millions. the uk at a stand still. But people can not live their lives on but what if this or that happens because of the things that could happen are endless. Thats all it takes is no electric and the uk is dead in the water, because without elictric no water either
In such emergency money as we know it would be worthless. Unless you held it in precious metals it would be as good as worthless.
"bio diesel" still needs processed/filtered to make it really useable, and it's usually done on a "rolling" basis I.E. whoever runs the local micro depot will do the rounds of whatever chippies and takeaways he has agreements with, and lifts their old oil...takes it back to the depot...processes it - then texts whoever he has as customers (a lot of van couriers and some taxi drivers I know use it, though they have constant problems with injectors and especially filters) and they come toot sweet and fill up. Means he doesn't need many and various (and expensive) licences for bulk storage etc....
Which means that there's actually very little bio diesel "in the supply chain" at any given time...so you don't want to have to reply on a fuel that's automatically in short supply by definition.
(And that's not to mention that many dealers add a percentage of home heating oil to make the stuff actually work....)
I'm pretty sure that actually dont.
What you'd VERY quickly want to do is dig a second way out of it, a "back door"; no point in getting yourself stuck somewhere there's only one way out of...
WWII-era Aux Units' "ops bases" and Robin network bunkers had an emergency rear exit that led up to somewhere under cover...under thick bushes etc...80-100 yards away from the bunker. To give the occupants a fighting chance (sic) of getting away if the Nazis discovered the front entrance...
Opposite us are two hand pumps (in the allotments) that pump up from wells.
Me and my sons have already earmarked them for when the zombies appear.:D
To be fair my OP did state different scenarios. Like losing your job.
Yes i think people forget that its no longer any good to buy things with, its only value is if its paper burn it and hope to keep warm from the flames.
Mass disorder, helping yourself at the supermarket if you get there in time.