What survival plans have you made

Builderfromhell

I thought it would be interesting to share plans and strategies to survive difficulties that might occur in the future.

Here are mine;

1. Have cut huge amount of firewood cut from fallen trees and waste in woods. Use wood burning stove most of time. I drive a old Hilux pick up with off road modifications which helps to get into woods.

2. Make my own Fuel from waste vegetable oil and usually have at least 300 litres in barrels. Have driven about 20,000 miles on this so far.

3. Had hens and was getting a few eggs everyday. need to get new hens in spring as fox has eaten them.

4. Have built raised beds in garden and grow all kinds of food. Need to join gardening class locally to increase efficiency.

5. Have planted blackcurants, raspberries, strawberries, logan berries, white berries and rhubarb,

6. Have stockpiled some food but need to get more variety. Also, need to learn to cook better quality meals.

7. Have several camper gas stoves and could, if essential, cook soup or stew on top of wood burning stove.

8. Have got permission from local farmers to shoot the plentiful deer and other game. I don't shoot but have invited hunters to stay over for weekends and we would hunt together.

9. Most importantly, I have joined LETS http://www.eastclarelets.net/.
I firmly believe that no one can survive alone and people working together will make life easier for us all.

eth0

1. Have a half decent stockpile of food + food in the garden, although could do with a bit more tinned stuff for the winter

2. Lots of wood for burning, always pick bits up from the side of the road have a shed full and some more

3. Few drums of gas, 1 burner cooker that sits on top of one, also a 4.5kg drum that is easier to carry around

4. Have a collection of spare car batteries i keep charged, 2 7ah UPS and spare battery, 30w solar panel but i need to make a charge controller for this, bought ones are overpriced. 2.5kva petrol generator, 2 inverters one is 600w and can keep the freezer running

5. Satellite phone with credit on it

Dont have much for water harvesting but when the water goes i can get it from a stream fairly close by. With the water rates ill have to sort something else out

Used to have chickens for ages but they gone now. The e wire has to be dug in at least a foot underground or more to prevent foxes digging in under it.

Someday i must get a .22 cause plenty rabbits around, but i dont wnat to buy a piece of sh|t so ill wait till i can afford a good one

Grizzly 45

Plenty..But I'm not discussing them on an open forum where both sides of the law have access to the info!!!:eek:

TBH folks,I wouldnt say too much as one side of the law will proably come in times of crisis and make off with your stockpiles and a warrent and a few guns under the quaint idea you are "hoarding and stockpiling".

While the other side of the law will proably just arrive with a gun and no excuses and say they are robbing it.:p:eek:

Nor would I be too botherd telling my neighbours,family or relatives ,who scoff at such preparations anyway,but will be the first to show up on your retreat door with plenty of other useless mouths that need feeding when things go bad.
Some things are best kept sthumm;)

eth0

I was thinking the same but don't post from anywhere near where the stocks are piled. So they'll be a long time looking

the 'big brother' society is actually quite worrying. In a few years I hope to move to some place even more remote if it's at all possible

fodda

Grizzly 45 wrote: »

Plenty..But I'm not discussing them on an open forum where both sides of the law have access to the info!!!:eek:

TBH folks,I wouldnt say too much as one side of the law will proably come in times of crisis and make off with your stockpiles and a warrent and a few guns under the quaint idea you are "hoarding and stockpiling".

While the other side of the law will proably just arrive with a gun and no excuses and say they are robbing it.:p:eek:

Nor would I be too botherd telling my neighbours,family or relatives ,who scoff at such preparations anyway,but will be the first to show up on your retreat door with plenty of other useless mouths that need feeding when things go bad.
Some things are best kept sthumm;)

Not untill they have taxed/levied you on it first.:)

eth0

Ownership taxes are the way forward. People are no longer making money so its time to take from those who merely have things laying around and no income

Gun ownership tax - 80 every 3 years
TV ownership tax - 170 or something
Soon house ownership tax, which could rise to 1000+ a year

They'll be keeping the people dependent by demanding 1 euro for every tin of food kept in stock per year as well as taxing any useful items like shovels, chainsaws, anything that will help you get by without that shower up in Leinster House

I always wonder what people who are living self sufficient in UK or USA do about property tax, are they living so far out that nobody notices or are there exemptions? 1,000+ GBP a year must be hard to come up with for someone living self sufficient

Tabnabs

[mod] Folks, the title of the thread is What survival plans have you made, let's keep things on topic. Please feel free to start a new thread rather than drag it off topic. [/mod]

kildare.17hmr

Iv pretty much the same, tools, gas stove, food and water supply. Planning to get a geni soon too and when funds will allow a second car or the other half changes her mind about driving a jeep ill get one. enough to keep me and the family going for a while

eth0 wrote: »

Someday i must get a .22 cause plenty rabbits around, but i dont wnat to buy a piece of sh|t so ill wait till i can afford a good one

€200 will get you a nice .22, id recomend a CZ, they are tough as old boots and last a lifetime. seen one for sale that was 32 years old recently for €150, the wood work could do with tidying up but she was in great nick with a smooth action and criso trigger. No need to spend a fortun to fill a freezer with bunnies;)

ShadowFox

Ive been very interested in this for a year or two now and with 2 adults 4 kids and 2 dogs lot of mouths to keep fed so any helpful ideas greatly welcome So far I have
1 25 5lt bottles of drinking water / 2 55 Gallon drums for flushing the toilet
2 2 weeks extra day to day food that doesnt need a fridge (I do use my freezer but it keeps things frozen for up to a month)/ 10 1Lt UHF milk
3 A weeks suply of MREs just incase I have to leave my house for a couple of days
4 Bottle Gas Cooker extra gas / Camping stove and extra fuel
5 Flashlights / Candles extra batteries
6 Lots of wood for the fire and a superser
7 Extra warm clothes / Blankets
8 Looking into wind turbines instead of solar panels
9 Plastic cutlery / paper plates
Any ideas on anything let me know

krissovo

I will not divulge too much but here are some of my approaches:

1, Home, built to almost "passive" house standards last year with very little heating requirement even in -16 last year. Have a stove with back boiler that can heat radiators in case oil runs out. The house construction is poured concrete and not far off being classed as a bunker. I have a panic room

2, 1200ltrs fresh water tank plumbed into house water system. Can be mains, well or even fed from the gutters with 30 mins prep. Also have 5 x1000 ltr bladders in storage.

3, 3 acre coppice that should supply all my heating/cooking fuel needs. Will take another year to mature:(

4, Bug out vehicles, I have a camper van and also a inconspicuous panel van that can sleep 4 both have basic survival kit stored in them. Panel van would be used in the event of civil disruption and I have fabricated a simple system of protecting front windows similar to the Cops riot vans but again you would not really notice.

5, Food, stored food stuff, seeds and fertilizers. Access to plenty of land (hidden behind coppice) if I need to start growing secretly.

6, Bug out bags for whole family


Given my plans my family should be able to live quite comfortably without electricity or oil.

Future plans:
Wind Energy - Studying this and may look to build something in next year
Long term food storage

ShadowFox

Just a foot note for people starting off There is no point in having all or any of this stuff if you dont know how to use it Do a basic first aid course Do a fire marshel course Help your neighbours as they could help you in an emergency You might have neighbours that are nurses firefighters plumbers electrictions YOU WILL NEED HELP FROM THESE PEOPLE so help them and others now while you can because no matter how well you think you can manage on your own you will need help sometime

Red Harvest

krissovo wrote: »

5, Food, stored food stuff, seeds and fertilizers. Access to plenty of land (hidden behind coppice) if I need to start growing secretly.

First time I've heard anyone mention seeds. Growing anything without them gets a bit tricky. I keep all the last few years unused from seed packets (reduced viablilty but better than nothing), collect my own (runner bean, broadbean this year) and keep a supply of the more useful seeds from the cheaper ranges that Lidl etc sell every year. Must really think about keeping some decent seed potatoes from year to year as I can't think of a better way to grow "calories", so I'd also want to add something to the store for blight control.

btw I won't ask what you might be using the fertilizer for

While I'm at it may I recommend the following books for anyone needing to improve their growing skills

From the RHS

The RHS Allotment Handbook

The RHS Fruit and Vegatable Gardening

From the Expert series

The Vegetable & Herb Expert

The Fruit Expert

There are tons of other useful gardening books but you won't go too wrong with anyone of those.

Misty Moon

Red Harvest wrote: »

First time I've heard anyone mention seeds. Growing anything without them gets a bit tricky.

I'd add learning how to harvest seeds to the list of important things to learn (you mention that you do this too). Seed to Seed is a fairly good book and I'm sure there must be others.

Doc Ruby

grapeape wrote: »

Just a foot note for people starting off There is no point in having all or any of this stuff if you dont know how to use it

This. Give a gobshite the best kit in the world and he'll come back crying if he comes back at all. Someone that knows what they are doing can get by with a minimum of basics.

Also definetely +1 on the support of neighbours, friends and family.

CamperMan

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.

Grizzly 45

CamperMan wrote: »

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.

Thats a great deal if you can get it in Germany..How are they hitting you for gemeinschaft steuer.[IE community tax on things like fire brigade services,church tax,etc?].Can I ask where abouts in Germany too?:)