Hello to everyone and a couple of questions please.

[Paracord1945]

Hi, my name is James and I have ADHD and Autism. I take things very literal, could I please politely ask you too be clear and concise when replying to my posts please as it will make things a lot easier. Thanks.

Questions.

I have read somwhere online that some water purification tablets can have a shelf life of about ten years, I could be wrong. If this is accurate does anyone know where I might be able to find any please. Many thanks.

Are people prepping now more than ever before or is it because I am seeing what's happening around me at the moment that I assume people are preparing more than ever before. I do understand that we have had wars and fuel and shortages etc in the past, but is it very different now from those times. Not to forget to mention more extreme weathers too might be a contributer? Thanks

[Yorkshire Andy]

Hi, my name is James and I have ADHD and Autism. I take things very literal, could I please politely ask you too be clear and concise when replying to my posts please as it will make things a lot easier. Thanks.

Questions.

I have read somwhere online that some water purification tablets can have a shelf life of about ten years, I could be wrong. If this is accurate does anyone know where I might be able to find any please. Many thanks.

Are people prepping now more than ever before or is it because I am seeing what's happening around me at the moment that I assume people are preparing more than ever before. I do understand that we have had wars and fuel and shortages etc in the past, but is it very different now from those times. Not to forget to mention more extreme weathers too might be a contributer? Thanks

Welcome to the forum James

In answer to the purification tablets they generally have a shelf life it's usually printed on the packaging or the foil strips ...

As for where to get them eBay / Amazon will be your best bet some even state the best before date in their advertising eg:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/394122212599 ... BMuvH7o91g



Many of us have been prepping for many years but it's very easy to get sucked down the rabbit hole and spend lots of money on kit that will never get used


Start making lists and see what you actually need / will use

For example

Power cut

Torch(s)

Alternative cooking kit / lighter

Extra blanket for the bed


Do that for any situation you plan to prepare for and you will start to see an overlap of equipment

Feel free to ask away we will do our best to help


You don't need to spend a fortune seek out special offers and end of season clearance. Any time now most supermarkets / big sell it all shops like B&M sell off the summer ranges camping kit / garden stuff .. for example I picked up a basic Eveready head torch yesterday in B&M for £1.50 with batteries (well I bought three )


Start with the basics for example

Few bottles of water 20p each or so in Lidl for 2l bottles

Extra food be it tins or pot noodles (buy what YOU eat) pick up a extra pack of beans when on offer don't go out your way to buy special stuff

A alternative way of cooking a £12 bistro stove for example and a pack of cartridges. Use your normal pans no need to buy extra stuff ... So say £20

A torch / head torch again a £1.50 torch will light a room as you walk round you don't need a £100 super bright magic Uber brand of torch

A spare blanket or sleeping bag to keep warm

So for £30-£40 your already far more prepared than many people and you have a nice safety cushion if something goes wrong ....

Then once that's taken care of a decent first aid kit and a small stock of over the counter medications such as cold / flu meds / cough mixture just makes life easy if you get man flu and feel rotten you have the stuff at home without needed to go out when you really don't feel up to it

[Frnc]

5 years ain't bad. Mine are the same make but they expire in a couple of months and I bought them Oct 2020. So I just ordered 200.
Anyone know how effective they are after their date? Maybe you could use more of them?
Welcome to the forum, Paracord.

I would add a water filter like Sawyer Micro. They are about £30. They can filter 100,000 gallons.

[Paracord1945]

Hi, I don't find that answers my question exactly but I appreciate the time spent trying to answer my questions. Many thanks and much appreciated.

[jennyjj01]

Hi, my name is James and I have ADHD and Autism. I take things very literal, could I please politely ask you too be clear and concise when replying to my posts please as it will make things a lot easier. Thanks.

Questions.

I have read somwhere online that some water purification tablets can have a shelf life of about ten years, I could be wrong. If this is accurate does anyone know where I might be able to find any please. Many thanks.

Are people prepping now more than ever before or is it because I am seeing what's happening around me at the moment that I assume people are preparing more than ever before. I do understand that we have had wars and fuel and shortages etc in the past, but is it very different now from those times. Not to forget to mention more extreme weathers too might be a contributer? Thanks

Hi and welcome.

I buy these.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07 ... UTF8&psc=1

They have a stated shelf life of 5 years. As with all shelf life numbers, that probably means AT LEAST 5 years, so long as they are kept dry at ambient temperature.

As someone else said, get a Sawyer Straw filter per person.

I started seriously prepping when trump came on the scene, coinciding with Brexit. Others seem to have joined us concerned about Covid, and the threat of wars. In Europe, a few countries have issued advice to store X days of essentials. That getting picked up in UK media and online has probably encouraged more preppers to become active.

[Frnc]

Hi, my name is James and I have ADHD and Autism. I take things very literal, could I please politely ask you too be clear and concise when replying to my posts please as it will make things a lot easier. Thanks.

Questions.

I have read somwhere online that some water purification tablets can have a shelf life of about ten years, I could be wrong. If this is accurate does anyone know where I might be able to find any please. Many thanks.

Are people prepping now more than ever before or is it because I am seeing what's happening around me at the moment that I assume people are preparing more than ever before. I do understand that we have had wars and fuel and shortages etc in the past, but is it very different now from those times. Not to forget to mention more extreme weathers too might be a contributer? Thanks

Hi and welcome.

I buy these.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07 ... UTF8&psc=1

They have a stated shelf life of 5 years. As with all shelf life numbers, that probably means AT LEAST 5 years, so long as they are kept dry at ambient temperature.

As someone else said, get a Sawyer Straw filter per person.

I started seriously prepping when trump came on the scene, coinciding with Brexit. Others seem to have joined us concerned about Covid, and the threat of wars. In Europe, a few countries have issued advice to store X days of essentials. That getting picked up in UK media and online has probably encouraged more preppers to become active.

Jenny, those tabs are huge! 167 mg. One tab treats 20 litres. I thought you only store small bottles? Maybe you need some smaller tabs. Oasis have 8.5 mg tabs that treat 1 litre. They also do 33mg that treat 4.5 litres. Those are a handy size for me as I have 5 and 10 lire containers.
One of the early posts in this thread or the useful items thread has a link to some 8.5mg on ebay with 5 years on them.
Or if you want more, this is a good price
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/32483650840
or this
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/200-OASIS-WA ... 5bc78321e2

[Paracord1945]

Perfect, thank you very much for your help on that. Much appreciated.

[Paracord1945]

5 years ain't bad. Mine are the same make but they expire in a couple of months and I bought them Oct 2020. So I just ordered 200.
Anyone know how effective they are after their date? Maybe you could use more of them?
Welcome to the forum, Paracord.

I would add a water filter like Sawyer Micro. They are about £30. They can filter 100,000 gallons.

Thankyou for the welcome.

Have you ever practiced using them?

[jennyjj01]

Jenny, those tabs are huge! 167 mg. One tab treats 20 litres. I thought you only store small bottles? Maybe you need some smaller tabs. Oasis have 8.5 mg tabs that treat 1 litre. They also do 33mg that treat 4.5 litres. Those are a handy size for me as I have 5 and 10 lire containers.
One of the early posts in this thread or the useful items thread has a link to some 8.5mg on ebay with 5 years on them.
Or if you want more, this is a good price
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/32483650840
or this
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/200-OASIS-WA ... 5bc78321e2

I bought those tabs with the express intention of getting absolutely maximum value for money,
For £10.25, I got enough tabs to purify 10,000 litres
as opposed to £5 for 200 Litres

If TSHTF, I'd be making up 25L in my brewing buckets and 5L bottles.

I'm not actually using these, but have tried breaking one into quarters just to see how chlorine tainted it made the already clean water. Not bad at all. I ought to try making beer or with some treated harvested, tainted water, but that's a big step even for me.

[Frnc]

5 years ain't bad. Mine are the same make but they expire in a couple of months and I bought them Oct 2020. So I just ordered 200.
Anyone know how effective they are after their date? Maybe you could use more of them?
Welcome to the forum, Paracord.

I would add a water filter like Sawyer Micro. They are about £30. They can filter 100,000 gallons.

Thankyou for the welcome.

Have you ever practiced using them?

Pleasure.
No, probably should. Reason is I'm not sure about long term storage when wet. Obviously if you are using them regularly that's not an issue. Apart from possible mould, the other issue is once they are wet you have to make sure they don't get near freezing. I have watched videos about how to backflush them, how to attach a tube to increase flow, what bottles work etc. Pretty sure I know how to use them. I have the Sawyer Micro plus a lifestraw. The Sawyer Mini's flow is faster if you put a tube on the exit end. I assume it works on a Micro. With the lifestraw you can put a tube on the inflow end and syphon from a raised container.
The tubes I bought were food grade silicone
7mm ID x 10mm OD
10mm ID x 12mm OD
Pretty sure the bigger one is for the Lifestraw
Note these thin walled tubes don't coil as well as thicker walled tubes