I like prepping but don't want this.

time lord

http://www.herald.ie/news/new-ice-age-on-the-way-but-its-just-a-little-one-2901083.html:eek:

Sticky_Fingers

For those on mobiles:

IRELAND could face decades of harsh winters as Europe is gripped by a "little ice age".
Research, which is to be published in Nature magazine, shows there has been a fall in the sun's ulraviolet emissions, which may in time cause winters in Europe to become even colder.
The study, which was effectuated by Britain's Met Office, also coincides with predictions that the country would be hit by a cold blast by the end of the month.
Forecasters have noticed what could be the return of a pattern called La Nina, which is linked to extreme weather all over the world.
RECORD
La Nina, which is brought on by a drop in temperatures in the Pacific Ocean, affects upper air currents and is thought to be responsible for last year's record low temperatures, high level of snowfall in the US and flooding in Australia.
While La Nina is only supposed to occur every three to five years, scientists have recorded temperatures in the equatorial Pacific that are 1C below normal for this time of year. The Met office said it was difficult to predict how severe this winter would be because, by this time last year, they had recorded temperatures of 2C.
But Ian Currie of the Meteorological Society pointed out that "all the world's weather systems are connected".
"What is going on now in the Pacific can have repercussions later around the world," he said.
Meanwhile, Liverpool-based, long-range forecaster James Madden of Exacta Weather warned that Ireland can expect to see frequent and heavy snowfalls between November and January.
"It is likely that temperature and snowfall records will be broken," he said.
"I initially expect temperatures to really struggle across many northern regions, including Scotland, Ireland (Northern Ireland in particular), north west England, and parts of Wales." However, a Met Eireann spokesperson said that long-range forecasts are not reliable. Last year's big freeze in late February and December brought much of the country to a standstill and ended up costing Irish insurers €224m.
hnews@herald.ie

TL;DR
Expect a pretty bad winter akin to last years.

Things to think about:

Do you have a way to store water should the mains burst (again)
Are your pipes insulated to prevent burst pipes causing house damage?

Have you a back up heating system such as a stove/fireplace in case electricity/gas supplies are disrupted in any way?
Do you have adequate fuel for the above?

Have you food/essentials to tide you over should food supplies be disrupted? There were more than a few bare shelves last winter particularly in rural areas.

Do you have winter tires for your car? Unfortunately I don't so if it gets bad I'm walking everywhere. I had a pretty hairly experience driving home last winter (on a motorway no less) and I must have passed at least half a dozen crashes on the way down to Limerick from Dublin (no exaggeration). I'm not going through that again.

For those who absolutely need the car for work/shops then seriously think about getting the tires.

Mech1

I bought a chainsaw 3 years ago, just a little 2 stroke macullough 15inch from B+Q, it has sofar kept us in logs just from stopping at fallen trees during stormy weather and filling the car with 4ft lenghts up to 12" diameter.

This year I havent had any fallen trees cross my path at all so I am on the lookout:D.

This wood is obviously not "seasoned" but it still cuts way way down on our gas heating bill when we light the fire, one cheap bag of polish coal lasts ages when burnt with the unseasoned logs.

We only use the fireplace in cold weather and get the chimney cleaned every year so that shouldnt be any problem.

Just really saying that a small chainsaw was a great buy. It also gives me a reason to have a gallon of petrol and a bottle of 2 stroke oil "in stock" so many other uses of liquid fuel are fulfilled.

Sticky_Fingers

Just heard on the RTE news that an increase in solar activity and sun spots should alleviate the worst of the cold weather over the coming winter. Hopefully thats the case but you never know....

Grizzly 45

NASA and the National Aerospace research lab and the others who study the Sun reckon its "flatline" for solar activity for the next 15 years.
Well we wont have to worrry about a solar EMP hit then do we??Or not??

mrbig

Mech1 wrote: »

I bought a chainsaw 3 years ago, just a little 2 stroke macullough 15inch from B+Q, it has sofar kept us in logs just from stopping at fallen trees during stormy weather and filling the car with 4ft lenghts up to 12" diameter.

This year I havent had any fallen trees cross my path at all so I am on the lookout:D.

This wood is obviously not "seasoned" but it still cuts way way down on our gas heating bill when we light the fire, one cheap bag of polish coal lasts ages when burnt with the unseasoned logs.

We only use the fireplace in cold weather and get the chimney cleaned every year so that shouldnt be any problem.

Just really saying that a small chainsaw was a great buy. It also gives me a reason to have a gallon of petrol and a bottle of 2 stroke oil "in stock" so many other uses of liquid fuel are fulfilled.

If the branches are windfall they are usually dead anyway(not rotton just dry) and fairly well seasoned. I have the lidle chainsaw too its pretty good, Make sure to get the chainsaw boots from Lidle too

Grizzly 45

And the safty chaps,gloves ,hard hat,visor and ear defenders.Also if you have never used a chainsaw get somone who knows how to show you.Chainsaws are LEATHL if you diss them!! Especially the little ones,more people have accidents with them than the big logging saws.
Reason people diss them because they are so small,but it is still a high speed cutting device that will lop into your head as quick as the branch you missed in a kickback situation.[The most common chainsaw accident]
I've been cutting timber since I was 12 on our farm and touch wood have never had an accident with a saw..A few close ones but never a cut.:eek:
I am amazed that places sell these yokes so freely to the totally inexperianced.Its like selling a firearm to a underage mentally dim kid!!
Get somone to show you how to use one of these please!! If not suture self!:pac:

eth0

A saw with a blunt chain would be good to practice on but they don't sell those unfortunately. I'd get a good saw like a half way decent Stihl or a Husqvarna that isn't all plasticky & from China like a lot of the cheap ones are.

also some of the electric ones are not bad either, once the chain is sharp even a 1.2kW engined one will cut through like butter

mrbig

Grizzly 45 wrote: »

And the safty chaps,gloves ,hard hat,visor and ear defenders.Also if you have never used a chainsaw get somone who knows how to show you.Chainsaws are LEATHL if you diss them!! Especially the little ones,more people have accidents with them than the big logging saws.
Reason people diss them because they are so small,but it is still a high speed cutting device that will lop into your head as quick as the branch you missed in a kickback situation.[The most common chainsaw accident]
I've been cutting timber since I was 12 on our farm and touch wood have never had an accident with a saw..A few close ones but never a cut.:eek:
I am amazed that places sell these yokes so freely to the totally inexperianced.Its like selling a firearm to a underage mentally dim kid!!
Get somone to show you how to use one of these please!! If not suture self!:pac:

Very good point, I was given instruction on using a chainsaw by a tree doctor friend and it still scares the hell out of me. I have heard that about small chainsaws too, one slip and you sever an artery. They no longer hire out because of danger, thanks a lot you've put me right off using it:eek:

eth0

mrbig wrote: »

Very good point, I was given instruction on using a chainsaw by a tree doctor friend and it still scares the hell out of me. I have heard that about small chainsaws too, one slip and you sever an artery. They no longer hire out because of danger, thanks a lot you've put me right off using it:eek:

ah once yer careful you'll be alright. most accidents involve a distinct lack of common sense or carelessness which is what you'd want to look out for. once people get comfortable with a thing they start taking more risks and then the bad sh/te happens

Grizzly 45

mrbig wrote: »

Very good point, I was given instruction on using a chainsaw by a tree doctor friend and it still scares the hell out of me. I have heard that about small chainsaws too, one slip and you sever an artery. They no longer hire out because of danger, thanks a lot you've put me right off using it:eek:

Dont be put off!! Part of being a survivalist is being able to use dangerous things with alot of commonsense and cop on.You drive a car,100% more dangerous than a chainsaw.Do you have an accident every day??If you can manage a ton of metal and plastic at high speed on a daily basis,you can cut wood with a chainsaw safley for a lifetime.

CamperMan

last winter was terrible in Ireland... even though we lived in a town, we were without main water for 40 days, the shops were selling bottled water at over inflated prices as a result, the roads and footpaths were ice, so we were basically locked in the house, collecting the ice and boiling it.. what a way to live in "modern ireland".. and we weren't the only ones.

the last winter taught us some valuable lessons, this time we are prepared ;-)

Tabnabs

CamperMan wrote: »

the last winter taught us some valuable lessons, this time we are prepared ;-)

Don't just brag man, share, share!

CamperMan

Tabnabs wrote: »

Don't just brag man, share, share!

mentioned in another thread

OK...

We have bought (outright so no rent or mortgage to pay) an old town house in Germany with half an acre of garden with plenty of mature fruit trees.

so far for the survival plans

1: collect rain water from the roofs and divert them into 2 x 1000 litre IBC tanks stored indoors and 10 x 210 litre water butts dotted around to collect rain water from other locations in the garden. (NOTE: we do not have mains water!)

2: In the process now of putting a sand point well in.

3: ALL water goes through several stages of purification before being pumped into the house.

4: plenty of firewood stocked up

5: plenty of candles

6: a Kelly Kettle... and a gas hob.

7: working on a backup solar system and batteries (used the same in Ireland with good results)

8: Plenty of mature fruit trees in the garden, 2 apple trees, 2 cherry trees, 1 pear tree, 5 plum trees, 2 goosberry bushes, and strawberries, these were all planted before we bought the house. We are working on a section of the garden for spuds, carrots, onions, etc.

Tabnabs

So to escape the winter in Ireland you moved to Germany?

I was expecting things to overcome the locked in and no water situation?

CamperMan

Tabnabs wrote: »

So to escape the winter in Ireland you moved to Germany?

I was expecting things to overcome the locked in and no water situation?

over here (Germany), the councils clear the bloody roads, the footpaths are always gritted... not like Ireland.. where the council feck off to Spain when the going gets tough!

it was also about affordability and sustainability (buying a place in Germany)! in Ireland, our living costs are on average €450 a week, here in germany we have it down to €100 a week, with this global financial mess, who knows what might happen, so best to live where you can actually afford to live.

kildare.17hmr

CamperMan wrote: »

over here (Germany), the councils clear the bloody roads, the footpaths are always gritted... not like Ireland.. where the council feck off to Spain when the going gets tough!

it was also about affordability and sustainability (buying a place in Germany)! in Ireland, our living costs are on average €450 a week, here in germany we have it down to €100 a week, with this global financial mess, who knows what might happen, so best to live where you can actually afford to live.

Thats cheap livin that. does that cover weekly shop and bills ect? how many people?

CamperMan

kildare.17hmr wrote: »

Thats cheap livin that. does that cover weekly shop and bills ect? how many people?

that is for 2 adults and a cat, includes food, bills and running the car.. food is cheap in Germany compared to Ireland, our food bill per week is about €30 and that includes buying fruit & veg, dairy produce and a couple of bottles of wine!

You can buy a trolly full of food in Germany for the same price as a carrier bag of food in Ireland!

kildare.17hmr

CamperMan wrote: »

that is for 2 adults and a cat, includes food, bills and running the car.. food is cheap in Germany compared to Ireland, our food bill per week is about €30 and that includes buying fruit & veg, dairy produce and a couple of bottles of wine!

You can buy a trolly full of food in Germany for the same price as a carrier bag of food in Ireland!

Thats serious good going! You keep mentioning fruit and veg but havent mentioned meat? Whats the wages like compared to here?

CamperMan

yes, we include fish and chicken in that budget!

wages??... what is that?

I am self employed and all my income originates in Ireland, and that amounts to less than €6000 a year

kildare.17hmr

CamperMan wrote: »

yes, we include fish and chicken in that budget!

wages??... what is that?

I am self employed and all my income originates in Ireland, and that amounts to less than €6000 a year

Hats off to you man fair play;)

ch750536

I had the same. Have bought snow chains & snow socks for the car. Ton of wood to be delivered. 5 * 40 litre water carriers purchased. Main thing is the snow chains, was impassable for 2\3 weeks last year.

Doc Ruby

A bag of sand for gritting the ice under the wheels would do no harm either, and costs nothing. Keep the tank full as well.

I must be the only one in the country who is hoping for a frozen icy winter, the only one over the age of ten anyway. I love those conditions, it brings out something atavistic in me.

Tabnabs

Snow shovel and oil skin trousers (for kneeling in the snow) would be my additional gear to the above specifically for driving in the snow. I've also been eyeing up a pair of British/Nato surplus snow shoes for when the traffic gets too much and I have to abandon the car

Grizzly 45

CamperMan wrote: »

over here (Germany), the councils clear the bloody roads, the footpaths are always gritted... not like Ireland.. where the council feck off to Spain when the going gets tough!

it was also about affordability and sustainability (buying a place in Germany)! in Ireland, our living costs are on average €450 a week, here in germany we have it down to €100 a week, with this global financial mess, who knows what might happen, so best to live where you can actually afford to live.

True,in alot of ways but then what we had in the last two winters is almost the norm in Germany for an average winter.Great that you got such a deal CamperMan,but what are the other costs in living in Germany?Water rates?And other taxes we dont have here on property ownership?Not to mind things like Church tax for example.
Certainly you CAN live on 100PW over there on foodstuffs.

BUT what you lose on the swings,they gain on the roundabouts.:(.
Fuel for example is now 1.60 a litre for petrol last week.
Nor do you have alot of freedoms you would enjoy here.EG going into the forest to collect some firewood,even deadfalls belong to somone.

Hunting and gun ownership is a pretty complex affair over there involving alot more than over here,but then again you can own virtually any type of gun[bar full auto] with the right paperwork.

Germany is a schein gelleschaft [trans a liscense society].IOW you need a liscense for just about everything,be it riding a quad bike to using a motorboat or riding a horse.:eek:
Eventhough I am half German myself and speak the lingo like a native and know the norms and customs of parts of it.
I would think twice about moving to Germany as a bug out country.
Their mindset is totally different to the Irish,maybe around Berlin and the East they are abit more chilled.But the West, our Irish attitude and easygoing way is anathema to them.
But if it works for you CM,I wish you all the best with it.:)
Grizz.

eth0

Places like germany, france, holland, belgium always strike me as great countries if you like regulation and obeying the latest set of pedantic strict little rules while sitting in a tiny wee apartment but absolutely everything is regulated

Here lots of things are technically illegal but in reality nobody gives a feck about a lot of them. It would seem the fringe areas of Europe would nearly always be better if you want the ptb to leave you alone as much as possible

Doc Ruby wrote: »

A bag of sand for gritting the ice under the wheels would do no harm either, and costs nothing. Keep the tank full as well.

I must be the only one in the country who is hoping for a frozen icy winter, the only one over the age of ten anyway. I love those conditions, it brings out something atavistic in me.

Meself I hope the place freaking freezes over for a good few weeks. If we got a good few ft of snow and every road closed I'd be delighted. Like last year it never bothered me a bit, even though I couldn't go anywhere in the car for a week or more. Its certainly a change from the normal mundane humdrum of "modern" life

CamperMan

eth0 wrote: »

Places like germany, france, holland, belgium always strike me as great countries if you like regulation and obeying the latest set of pedantic strict little rules while sitting in a tiny wee apartment but absolutely everything is regulated

Here lots of things are technically illegal but in reality nobody gives a feck about a lot of them. It would seem the fringe areas of Europe would nearly always be better if you want the ptb to leave you alone as much as possible

Ireland is getting very restrictive as more and more jobs are given to public sector workers, work has to be done? by these people, so enforcing things like cattle droppings on the road, enforcing planning issues, parking laws, speeding etc.. will happen more in Ireland.

Ireland was a great place to be, and so relaxed when we first arrived in the 1990's.

I can tell you, I feel more relaxed living in East germany than I did in the last 5 years of living in Ireland!

eth0

That has indeed been the trend but there is no more money for this so we could see a bit of a reversal.

You kind of see it already. During the tiger you had 2 fellas with earpieces in standing outside a pub saying "no (colour) shoes, bud". Now they're just glad to see a customer going in.

There is a huge difference between Dublin and more remote parts of Ireland of course. In Dublin our version of the American dream of the strict, regulated Celtic Tiger lifestyle hasn't died yet for some reason. Still plenty of people swanning around in their '11 Lexus 400h with Prundletronic gearbox wishing that mid-90's 'bogger reg' car would get clamped for not parallel parking perfectly in line with the other cars. And indeed plenty of people on this site complaining about dole scroungers and wishing the introduction of new Big Brother measures by our government.

The place is draining out too so that also means things should get a bit more relaxed.

time lord

We all go prepping and fecking short sleves are in order in Nov. Ya can't win:rolleyes:

Grizzly 45

.

There is a huge difference between Dublin and more remote parts of Ireland of course.

Thats because Dublin IS Ireland of course!!:D:rolleyes: Anything beyond the Pale is just for Dubs to visit in their SUVS,build weekend houses on and lecture the Culchies on how to lead their lives.:rolleyes::rolleyes:

Tabnabs

Grizzly 45 wrote: »

.

Thats because Dublin IS Ireland of course!!:D:rolleyes: Anything beyond the Pale is just for Dubs to visit in their SUVS,build weekend houses on and lecture the Culchies on how to lead their lives.:rolleyes::rolleyes:

This type of comment is unhelpful, please don't do it again. We don't appreciate "Area -v- Area" remarks here.

Thanks.

Builderfromhell

Tabnabs wrote: »

This type of comment is unhelpful, please don't do it again. We don't appreciate "Area -v- Area" remarks here.

Thanks.

I got the impression Grizzly was joking and took what he wrote as a joke.

Back on topic, I have also prepared for a very cold winter similar to previous years but now I'm thinking it might be flooding and fallen trees to contend with and I may not get use out of recently purchased new 4x4 snow tyres.
Have yet to connect up 1,000 litre water tanks to collect rainwater. Did this in another persons house after freeze last year and fitted a filter water diverter to divert leaves and dirt from drinking water. Works very well.

fodda

Builderfromhell wrote: »

I got the impression Grizzly was joking and took what he wrote as a joke.

Back on topic, I have also prepared for a very cold winter similar to previous years but now I'm thinking it might be flooding and fallen trees to contend with and I may not get use out of recently purchased new 4x4 snow tyres.
Have yet to connect up 1,000 litre water tanks to collect rainwater. Did this in another persons house after freeze last year and fitted a filter water diverter to divert leaves and dirt from drinking water. Works very well.

What type of water tank is it?

Builderfromhell

fodda wrote: »

What type of water tank is it?

Something like this;

http://www.jpleisure.co.uk/info_JP13005.html

Builderfromhell

This is one of the many water harvesting filters that are used to help clean water.
Cost about 50 euro

http://www.3ptechnik.com.au/index.php/lng/au/tpl/135/filtercollector.html

fodda

All i know is that if you are going to drink the water the plastic has to be of a certain spec.

Grizzly 45

Tabnabs wrote: »

This type of comment is unhelpful, please don't do it again. We don't appreciate "Area -v- Area" remarks here.

Thanks.

LACKING.SENSE.OF.HUMOUR.:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

http://www.3ptechnik.com.au/index.php/lng/au/tpl/135/filtercollector.html.

BuilderfromHell.
Are those parts easily fitted to Brit standard or EU standard guttering??Or are they totally Aussie fittings?

Doc Ruby

Grizzly 45 wrote: »

LACKING.SENSE.OF.HUMOUR.:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

http://www.3ptechnik.com.au/index.php/lng/au/tpl/135/filtercollector.html.

BuilderfromHell.
Are those parts easily fitted to Brit standard or EU standard guttering??Or are they totally Aussie fittings?

Well one mans humour is another mans handbag Grizz, I'd a good laugh anyways. Also very interested in that water filter system, I've a couple of blue barrels at the moment and tapping them is troublesome.

kildare.17hmr

Doc Ruby wrote: »

Well one mans humour is another mans handbag Grizz, I'd a good laugh anyways. Also very interested in that water filter system, I've a couple of blue barrels at the moment and tapping them is troublesome.

You can get screw on taps that work when the barrel is on its side

Like this one http://www.dvfuels.co.uk/product.asp?pid=67

or a pump like this http://www.handpump.cn/english/Drum%20Pump.htm

Builderfromhell

Grizzly 45 wrote: »

LACKING.SENSE.OF.HUMOUR.:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

http://www.3ptechnik.com.au/index.php/lng/au/tpl/135/filtercollector.html.

BuilderfromHell.
Are those parts easily fitted to Brit standard or EU standard guttering??Or are they totally Aussie fittings?

I just quickly found that Aussie site when googling for rainwater filter. These filters are available in Ireland but cheaper in Uk or Germany. They can be used with standard Rain water downpipes.
They are relatively easy to fit.

Some DIY people make their own sand filters to further filter the water to higher quality drinking water.

Just noticed other posts regarding rainwater harvesting.
I might open a new thread and suggest a few systems and maybe photos of what I have already done.

eth0

Builderfromhell wrote: »

I just quickly found that Aussie site when googling for rainwater filter. These filters are available in Ireland but cheaper in Uk or Germany. They can be used with standard Rain water downpipes.
They are relatively easy to fit.

Some DIY people make their own sand filters to further filter the water to higher quality drinking water.

Just noticed other posts regarding rainwater harvesting.
I might open a new thread and suggest a few systems and maybe photos of what I have already done.

Tis probably a good idea to get this sorted before the water meters come in. Scammers are probably already getting their supply of overpriced water butts and the like in.

Like those little 500w heaters intended for the attic and other out the way parts of the house to prevent stuff from freezing, they were very cheap in the start before the harsh winters. 20e or less, nobody was interested. Now plenty of cowboys are selling them for 50 and more in the hope mis informed people will buy them

krissovo

If anyone is considering a filtration kit for their water then please ensure that it can filter "Cryptosporidium"!!!!!!!! Please, please and double please ensure it can filter this.

This is one nasty bug that can spread through human contact once ingested. I have seen entire military units go down to this bug that gives you a mad dose of diarrhea.

Doc Ruby

krissovo wrote: »

If anyone is considering a filtration kit for their water then please ensure that it can filter "Cryptosporidium"!!!!!!!! Please, please and double please ensure it can filter this.

You can try double boiling but the only way to be sure with that is UV purification. One trick that worked in the tropics was to lay glass bottles of water out on a tin roof during the day, killed just about anything. Alternately you can get commercial UV kits, batteries not included. Generally just avoid sheep runoff.

krissovo

Interestingly (for some) my ex father in law worked for a German water filtration company. He became quite wealthy after being on the team to develop a cheap filtration system that managed to filter 100% Cryptosporidium. The best way describe it was like a highly twisted mop that only required back flushing every 12 hours.

The Coke bottlers (Hellenic) after a few costly law suits were the first to install it and now most drink bottlers use the system.

In my Army engineering days (nearly a decade ago) we had only two systems that filtered this crap. One was high resource system that used Diatomaceous earth and the other was reverse osmosis. Now there are cheap systems that filter to 1 micron but my suggestion every time is a reverse osmosis system even though its a bit more expensive.