My take on is that politics or religious beliefs may be the cause of a war/revolution/schism but that is the way it’s always been. I prefer not to participate but to watch from a safe distance. I’m not religious or politically active and hold no strong views. I follow the mantra of enlightened self interest, outwardly respectful of authority while quietly doing my own thing.

This technique can also be used as a quick fix to water proof old leather that is dried out and on the point of splitting or re proof old tents. Rather than naphtha we would use white spirit in the UK because it’s a widely available household chemical with multiple applications 

Great advice, especially that last bit about hatching to reduce risk of infection. When we bring in new livestock of any kind we quarantine the new birds/livestock. 

I really can’t stress how bad those little briefcase stoves are that take the gas cans that look like aerosols. I know there are a lot of different ones on the market but they’re cheaply made and suffer from poor manufacturing and horrendous quality metal castings that have been known to crack and leak gas…not something you want if you’re using it in your home. The images I’m showing you are from a stove that actually caught fire and could not be turned off.

I really can’t stress how bad those little briefcase stoves are that take the gas cans that look like aerosols. I know there are a lot of different ones on the market but they’re cheaply made and suffer from poor manufacturing and horrendous quality metal castings that have been known to crack and leak gas…not something you want if you’re using it in your home. The images I’m showing you are from a stove that actually caught fire and could not be turned off.

I wouldn’t want to rely on cell phones in an emergency situation, here in the UK cell phone networks can quickly become overwhelmed in an emergency, there is then a contingency plan which prioritises government or Emergency services cell phones and blocks “non emergency” calls no matter how urgent or important they might be to the survival of an individual. Essentially you’re on your own.Power outages can shut down cell towers that are necessary for phone coverage as we found out when storm damage totally cut off a lot of communications in the north of England and most of rural Scotland. Having a well rehearsed plan that everyone in the group knows and understands is probably the surest way to get everyone moving in the same direction or keep them safe.

I use small pickle barrels and store dried goods like rice, quinoa and grains. Before I close them I add a desiccant pouch and an oxygen absorbent pouch. They’ve  remained free of mould and insects for as long as I’ve been doing this.

How long is a piece of string? The answer to this question is also dependent on your abilities and the kind of environment that you live in. Your mode of travel, the time of year, any injuries in your group etc. There are so many variables that the question quickly starts to become unanswerable  Having a reasonably local rendezvous point makes good sense, travelling to a place where you know that you are safe and will be welcome makes even better sense but never turn yourself into a refugee 

Yes, lead is great radiation shielding. A good thick layer of dirt also serves as radiation shielding. 

I’m looking at some of the answers in this thread and I’ve got to say that there seems to be a little bit of confusion between signal shielding (to prevent tracking or data hacking) and EMP shielding using a Faraday cage. Just to illustrate, your car is an effective Faraday cage yet you can sit in it and still use your mobile phone. There isn’t any need to spend a fortune, place your sensitive files in an enclosed conductive mild steel box or steel mesh box that is well grounded. Something like a locker or filing cabinet is ideal. This will not block data. Signal shielding is better suited to preventing tracking of phones or protecting data from being copied such as credit card cloning or keyless car security. Don’t be seen carrying those shielding bags in a retail store, in the UK they’re known to be used by shoplifters trying to defeat electronic security tags (going equipped)

Since you didn’t mention that the wildfire was in another country in your initial post it was reasonable to think that it was a more immediate problem. If the fire is in another country then surely this is completely pointless.

Bog in a box is a simple folding solution to temporary lack of facilities. A folding cardboard structure that holds compostable bags for you to do your solids into. As for washing laundry, hand washing isn’t much of a chore, wearing a lot of wool reduces body odour so it can be washed by hand at longer intervals 

In that case I recommend Nido by Nestlé as a powdered full fat milk that you can cook with but even this has a best before date. (Not a use by date)

This is why a lot of professional emergency planners (yes, there are professional emergency planners) refer to pre bang and post bang. Essentially they are breaking a disaster response down into two parts, resilience and recovery. You can plan your resistance to a disaster event in detail but a recovery plan needs to be more flexible as it is a response to something or a series of events that are by their very nature unpredictable. Being part of a close established community is a major advantage, a range of skills that compliment each other. People that can care for you when you’re sick or injured (as you can help them in their time of need) Without community survival quickly becomes a zero sum game. Hit zero and you’re dead. Community and co-operation are key to long term recovery and survival.

Does it have to be dried milk for a reason? Sterilised milk also has a long ambient shelf life and tastes good. UHT has a shelf life of at least three months. Nido is a full fat dried milk brand owned by nestlé which is often used in 3rd world countries such as the UK. The key to storing perishables is to rotate out old stock as you replace with new.

You can discard the toothpick and replace it with a tiny ferro rod.

Every vehicle and most of my outdoor jackets have a SAK permanently in the pocket or glove compartment. I always carry one on my belt. My reasoning for the SAK being a good survival knife is that I can always have one with me and it is uniquely versatile. Please take note, I don’t claim that it’s the best survival knife. That would very much depend on your environment and what you wanted from a knife.

Great that you can remove the larger smoke particulate from the air that you breathe, I hope you can stay safe. Do you have a carbon monoxide detector…or perhaps a canary? Increased levels of harmful gasses with a corresponding decrease in oxygen can have an insidious effect.

Welcome Danny5, it seems you’ve started your journey down the rabbit hole. Great work on your first aid and home security. Regarding the Screws in your British standard locks, as long as they comply with or exceed the standard then your insurance company will not take issue. 

Simple answer, your main costs will be your time and your health.. homesteading, small holding, farming etc are a huge time commitment. Forget travelling to see friends or relatives, you can’t go anywhere because the animals need feeding. During some seasons certain jobs take over your entire life and you end up working 18-20 hours a day until you can no longer think strait, other times it seems like the days drag by and you’ve nothing to fill your time with except worry. If you’re tough and you stick it out then you’re rewarded with more of the same except you’re older, you ache and you take longer to heal. Have you ever wondered why country folks seem to flip from young to old without the bit in between? Hard work and worry is why.