smartsizing in a crisis
Crisis? What crisis?
Updated 22 May 2024 with some 'common sense' for Minister Oliver Dowden at the bottom:
One of the edicts of the Cubs/Scouts was:
Be Prepared.
Be prepared for any eventuality.
Be self-contained and self-reliant whether it means carrying a jumpstart kit in your car or having several months of food stored at your home.
This is where this a smartsizing lifestyle differs from mere minimalism or just-in-time bugman living where we are over-reliant on a huge ever-present food chain to survive more than a couple of days.
As I write this (22 Sept 2021) Britain is in the grip of a 'fuel crisis' meaning lots of garages are closed because of lack of petrol. There is fuel at the depots but not enough lorry (truck) drivers to deliver the petrol apparently. Meanwhile I am sitting pretty with a full tank and 3 jerrycans in a locked shed outside which I've had since last year when I suspected the UK Government would bring in fuel restrictions to stop people travelling round the country during lockdowns. I've been 'filling up' every couple of days since.
- You should have
- A proper landline.
- Candles - and matches - at your house.
- A tyre pump in your car, also spare fuses and water.
- A small portable phone charger in your backpack or case, in your car.
- 3 months supply of food; tinned goods, milk powder etc
- a couple of jerrycans of petrol (kept outside or somewhere safe)
- candles, matches, wind-up torches*
- spare cash
- phone chargers
- spare toiletries/medical supplies
- some spare water bottles and tissues
- there is a power cut lasting a day or more
- you lose your wallet with cash and cards
- you are locked out of your car
- you are accidentally locked out of your house
- your have your car stolen
- there are riots in your area and it is not safe to venture out
- there is a supply crisis and there is no fuel at the pumps or limited food in the shops
If you have useful technology you can use it! Unless maybe you're Amish. Mobile phones are useful, Smartphones can be useful; GPS and maps for example. But for these uses mobile phones need to be powered on of course. An actual compass for direction finding is ultimately more reliable than a phone compass... Now, government 'reassurances' and exhortions not to panic only make things worse, egged on by the ghoulish Press.
The public doesn't trust anything government ministers say - these were the same people who were saying 'three weeks to flatten the curve' last year at the beginning of the crisis that shall not be named (so you don't get one of those annoying notices appended to this blog post dear reader). At the very beginning (we are talking January/February 2020 when it was just rumours on the internet unacknowledged by the BBC) some of us 'hoarded' essential supplies not because we seriously believed that the country would run out but because we didn't want to participate in the zombie apocalypse an unseemly scrum at the shops.
The neighbour who assured me yesterday that this crisis was over as someone at a petrol station told him there were now going to be deliveries every two days...today looked a bit sheepish as he told me the garages on his route to work were again closed. When I asked him, he admitted he hadn't even bothered to fill up his car but just put the usual £15 worth.
There is still a huge queue at my local - they took a delivery last night and word got out. He has a little fuel-efficient Fiat he is proud of and puts £11 in each week. He has enough fuel now til the middle of next week.
I, on the other hand, have enough for the middle of next month even if I drive a good deal every day. So - even after he witnessed the fuel crisis - closed garages, long queues - for himself this still wasn't enough to convince my neighbour of the need to stock up while he had the chance...
Here's a list of things you should have on standby at all times:
This isn't hoarding - this is how people used to live, with enough supplies to last through the winter months, with self-sufficiency being expected of one, when 'survivalist' was not a perjorative term but the norm. Have a series of thought experiments with yourself, are you prepared for these eventualities:-
The way to keep your food stores is thus; rotate your foodstuffs using oldest last. You buy new tins etc to replace old - always use the oldest you have so that your food doesn't reach expiration date. Buy sticky labels and write the expire date in large type so you can see at-a-glance. Petrol lasts about a year without degradation so use the jerrycan petrol every so often and fill it up again.
An interesting sidenote is that when the crisis that shall not be named hit, I was fine on food and fuel etc but the thing I ran out of after a couple of months was coffee! I mean not coffee per se but the coffee that I use - VIA sachets from Starbucks as well as their packets of beans and decaf beans. Starbucks closed its shops and amazingly had no online presence selling its wares. Some of their coffee was available through unofficial channels at a considerable mark-up. I searched in vain for replacements/substitutions but nothing matched and I was left with a kitchen full of unpalatable swill. It was like the War. I had stockpiled but not enough. I resorted to getting a friend to ship the stuff from the US while I paid import taxes and waited while it sat in a sorting office in South East london for two weeks...
You should have your own lists of stuff to stock up on which befits your own circumstances, eg this message above left I just got from an ex-pat friend living in Bangkok. The previous about someone's nephew living in England. You will have your own particular circumstances, may have certain medications for example. The important thing is not a prescriptive list from me but what pertains to your own life. After all, I've been caught out myself after what I considered careful planning.
Top tip: Do a thought experiment involving each of these everyday or even rare emergencies. Think through what you would do. Buy any additional supplies or tools/equipment that you need accordingly. And if you are travelling anywhere with your food don't forget the tin openers!
As for government ministers lecturing the public on what's 'simply common sense advice', 'DanniP' from Bristol has his own advice for HMGovt in the comments. (Over 1,000 2,500 upvotes Sept 2025 at time of writing)
As I recall that "early warning system" wasn't a great success. I assume the 3 days of food will have to be canned food as if the electricity goes out then freezers won't work. Here is a thought, why not build strong enough defences to protect against cyber attacks, ensure maintenance is carried out to prevent "prolonged" power cuts. As for flooding, stop building on flood plains, dredge rivers and clear drains.See? Just common sense advice, Oliver!
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