There are so many bloggers and U-tubers who are preparing for what seems like the Apocalypse that I'm beginning to get spooked a bit. Would we cope in an emergency? I'm not sure. We have plenty of food (and our tastes are simple and appetites are small), plenty of medicines, both prescription for Gray and over the counter things like paracetamol, ibuprofen, plasters, antiseptic cream, antacids, Imodium etc But we haven't prepared grab bags for emergencies, for example. We don't have many clothes and wear everything we own (although, on reflection, Gray has stuff he never wears) so I couldn't afford to put stuff in a bag and leave it somewhere where we would inevitably trip over it!
I have candles aplenty, torches to hand and last month decided to buy a wind up radio in case we lose power suddenly. It's this one....
It has a radio, a torch, a compass and emergency alarm. It has a small solar panel, a reading light and can be charged by USB, solar or wind up. It will even give a small charge to a phone in an emergency. For less than £30.00 it's a small price to pay for a bit of security, I think. I would love to have solar panels of the kind that Frugal Queen in France uses but they are so expensive to buy.
Have you prepared grab bags? What have you put in them?
Have you other plans in place in case of evacuation?
We feel so blessed that we are not prone to floods or bush fires but other things can happen and I'm getting more nervous the older I get 😕
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Thanks so much for popping in. I appreciate every single comment I get. They make me feel a bit less alone in the world...
Stay safe wherever you happen to be,
Angie 💗
I prepared a grab bag during lockdown in case of sudden hospital admittance, and had a checklist of stuff to pack in a hurry because my father made so many ambulance trips in his last couple of years. But no, we keep a fair bit of lon date food, and I always carry 24hrs of meds wherever I go, but that's it.
ReplyDeleteI think you have it nailed Kirsten....
DeleteI don't consider myself to be a prepper but I have a good store cupboard. I make sure I order medications in very good time. I also have a couple of power banks which I charge up occasionally just in case of power cuts. That's as far as I want to go.
ReplyDeleteThose portable solar panels which Frugal Queen has are very expensive and she was given some for review. I couldn't move the batteries around so they would be of limited use to me.
The only "emergency"there has been in recent times for me was the pandemic. I didn't need to buy anything for a couple of weeks until panic buying was over and the shortages meant little to me because I always have enough in the cupboard even if menus became a little strange!
I think I would buy something like you have if I were to buy a radio now. No, I don't keep a grab bag - as you say it would just be something else to trip over!
I think there's only so much you can do, isn't there. The radio is very useful anyway as it's small enough to take anywhere and the solar panel will mean it saves buying batteries too.
DeleteI don't think a bit of food would help in an apocalypse - the zombies would be out to get us!!
ReplyDeleteI thought about a grab bag but then needed the things that were in it - so that was the end of that idea.
I think you've summed it up nicely!
DeleteIn March 2020 we went down with Covid very early on in the game - but I'd got a 'brexit box' which I had not needed in the January, so we were able to keep fed and watered quite happily until lockdown shopping became easier. In 2021 we had an emergency phone call at midnight, asking us to go to London to look after Rosie. We were on the road within 15 minutes - along with the clothes, phones, tablets &chargers, and our personal meds to last a week. It really didn't take long to throw stuff in a bag. So I am not letting 'preppers' cause undue anxiety. There have been 'wars and rumours of wars' for millenia - Like Dolly Parton, I am just asking the good Lord for the strength to live One Day At A Time. [and making sure I do not run out of clean pants or teabags]
ReplyDeleteDolly is a very wise woman, and clean pants and teabags are priorities in my view along with a toothbrush and toothpaste!
DeleteI keep a stock of OTC meds and our prescription medicines. Also batteries, candles, matches, dried milk and loo roll. Although I didn't run out of anything during the Covid lockdown, the meals got a bit monotonous.I think we worry more about coping as we age as we know our limits physically and mentally. Take care. Xx
ReplyDeleteYes, Gill, I think age saps confidence in coping, doesn't it. When I was younger nothing fazed me but even during the pandemic I didn't feel up to battling the shops. I don't like crowds now either, wherever they are
Deletexx
I live in California. As such, I try to be prepared for earthquakes, fires, mud slides and floods. The biggest earthquake I've experienced took place in January 1994, when my daughter was a baby. Last January, we were ready to evacuate due to wildfires. I keep extra food, water, toilet paper and paper towels, etc., and, yes, a grab bag.
ReplyDeleteGosh, Bless, I would really panic in your situation. Well done for taking all the prep in your stride.
DeleteI think Covid has made me a bit more savvy about having a well stocked cupboard of most things we use and need. Plenty of tins etc, we are always careful about prescriptions not letting them get too low, I always have some bottled water, but we don't have a grab bag ready anything we would need is really close to hand. I think some people just panic unnecessarily. If something dreadful happens it happens and all the grab bags in the world wouldn't make a difference. Regards Sue H
ReplyDeleteYour last sentence is so very true. We can only prepare for power outages and nothing more serious I think.
DeleteI hope I am prepared for a few things like miserable weather, power outages and things along those lines. Anything more dire, well if it happens, it happens.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
so true, Jackie, so true....
DeleteThat's a handy little wind-up radio with lots of extras. I used to use a wind-up radio in my polytunnel but the damp and the humidity got to it in the end and it died a slow death.
ReplyDeleteI always have matches and candles to hand and an emergency torch that comes on automatically in the event of a power cut, and of course a cupboard full of food, but that's about as prepared as I am at the moment. Once we move we will have a woodburner and solar panels again so we should be a bit better prepared, but I have never had grab bag ready though.
The idea of solar panels is really attractive to me but we've been informed that we would not be allowed to put them on the roof, so a portable one like Frugal Queen has is the only option. They are quite pricey though.
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