Preparing for E-Day

[ovenpaa]

Just suppose for a moment that E Day was upon us, the day that Ebola strikes hard in the UK and all of a sudden popping to the local shop to buy a loaf of bread and some milk becomes less appealing. Certainly there would be no need to worry about ravenous hordes of Ebola infected zombie types as I suspect they would be feeling far too ill to contemplate chasing the fit and able. Instead the main concern would be food, self preservation and possibly protecting your home from the true zombies, those that have decided it easier to take from neighbours than seriously consider looking for alternative sources of food and comfort.

Lets assume the 'zombies' have been quietly put to bed so that just leaves us 'normal' sane types that all of a sudden to need to provide for our families and still maintain a fairly serious level of isolation until things start coming back on line. Maggie Thatcher was known for hoarding tinned foodstuffs and I am sure many of us could probably last 10-14 days based on the food in the house, after that things look bleaker and we are approaching winter so what would we do for food? I am sure those of us in the countryside could head out and knock a few rabbits down, maybe find the last of the wild apples in the hedgerows but after that where would the food come from?

What would you do for food and water how long do you think you would be able to provide for your family living off the countryside and whatever is left over during what is forecasted to be a rather cold winter.

[techguy]

My house backs onto a woodland, and beyond that farmland. Plenty of pigeons, rabbits, fish, and some deer to be found nearby. Also fairly close to the coast for sea fishing too. So in the medium term, availability is there; just getting it without attracting too much attention would be the difficult thing.

Have room for growing vegetables, but if they're not in the ground already then that would be limited too.

Water, there is a rather large lake near my house. There are also a couple of streams. This water would need to be filtered and purified to make it potable. Easy enough to do with household items, and some unscented household bleach.

You know what would be a good idea.. have a deep pantry, of regular foodstuffs you use (difficult when you use mainly fresh, I know) but keep the pantry topped up with say 90 days of essentials and just replenish that with your weekly shop. Also cleaning and sanitary products too. Good idea to also keep on hand some bottled water. 2 litres per person, per day just to stay alive.

There are more things to consider though if you're trying to stay inside, and keep a low profile in such an event.

How do you cook?
How do you do you dispose of your umm human waste?
Do you have enough medication for an extended period of time?
What do you do to keep warm?
What do you do do stave off boredom?
Do you know basic first aid?
How do you communicate with close friends/family?
What about your pets?

All while keeping a low profile, so that precious food you have caught/trapped/hunted/stored doesn't get stolen by someone else.

[Blackstuff]

Why has the water gone off? The electricity would go before the water so 14 days without both you'd either be living on army hand outs or if the military was somehow disabled i'd expect full-on Mad Max territory, so all bets are off.

[BamBam]

Yeah right, I'm not telling a forum full of armed folk about my doomsday preps.

OPSEC

[HALODIN]

If it happened in the summer we'd be OK, there's 8 fruit trees in the garden, we live on a river, I have a water purifier and I'd fish. A £27 fishing licence could come in very handy and we have a wood burner to keep warm. We're not on mains sewerage, so sanitation isn't an issue either. I think we'd be OK.

[DaveB]

In NZ we are told to be ready for the eventual earthquake, so we normally have stores on hand. The government tells us to keep at least 3 days food and water on hand.

At our place we have at least two weeks of frozen and canned food stock, before we get to the 3 months supply of freeze-dried food. After that, it's a down to a couple of weeks of lifeboat rations. Then I suppose we're in some difficulty.

[snayperskaya]

If it happened in the summer we'd be OK, there's 8 fruit trees in the garden, we live on a river, I have a water purifier and I'd fish. A £27 fishing licence could come in very handy and we have a wood burner to keep warm. We're not on mains sewerage, so sanitation isn't an issue either. I think we'd be OK.

In a SHTF scenario I don't think the bailiffs would be checking your fishing licence!!!.

[HALODIN]

I'd pictured a supply chain breakdown, not quite madmax.

[nickb834]

I'd be one of the Zombies and come round your houses cos you've got loads ;-)

[Chuck]

In a SHTF scenario I don't think the bailiffs would be checking your fishing licence!!!.

It's the UK,of course they would.

First step, they confiscate all firearms - "for your own safety" they will tell you!!