What Preps are you doing this week? Part 8.

How are you preparing
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rik_uk3
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Joined: Sat Jul 21, 2012 1:49 pm
Location: South Wales UK

Re: What Preps are you doing this week? Part 8.

Post by rik_uk3 »

Popped into my local Wilkinsons this morning and they had 1l bottles of BBQ lighting fluid marked down to £1. This fluid (NOT the gel) is actually good quality paraffin and will burn clean in your lamps/lanterns/Primus stove/Tilley/Vapalux pressure lantern and £1 a litre is a great price so I picked up 12 bottles, I'll pop back in a couple of days and if there is any left I'll take another load. Well worth you popping down and pick a few up if available.
Richard
South Wales UK
Retired, spending the children's inheritance.
Zedsdead
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Joined: Wed Jul 28, 2021 5:57 pm

Re: What Preps are you doing this week? Part 8.

Post by Zedsdead »

grenfell wrote: Sun Oct 03, 2021 8:04 am I suffered tool theft some years ago. I got paid out by the insurance but that's not really the point. Two bits of advice i would give. Firstly don't leave tools in a van overnight or for that matter don't load all the tools into the van , just put in what's needed on the day. Ok so there might be the odd occasion when you could do with , say a jigsaw , and it's sat in your home but it generally makes sense. Some complain that it's not practical to remove tools at night but frankly it's a poor excuse in most cases.
The other piece of advice is to dump the nice blow moulded cases the tools come in and replace with a cheap looking plywood box. I use shuttering ply boxes with rope handles complete with dinks , dents and paint splashes. From experience thieves climbed over these boxes to get to something else. If i buy a new tool one of the first things i do is put the plastic box on ebay and get a few quid for it. There will always be those who want to buy these boxes with steal me , sorry i mean Makita or dewalt written on them.
I’m lucky, I can park in a way that only the passenger door of the van is accessible and there is no key hole on that door. I don’t leave my tools on board anyway but I think the way I park sends a message to would be thieves that I’m aware and thinking about it.
grenfell
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Re: What Preps are you doing this week? Part 8.

Post by grenfell »

I'm a member of a facebook group concerned with tool and van theft. It's depressing when one sees the efforts some go to to steal. Peeling the doors seems quite common and i've seen pictures of vans that have had their roofs cut open. I'm lucky in that i'm able to park close to the house , it limits access to the rear doors and it's covered by lights and cameras.
There have been discussions about what makes a vehicle attractive or not to would be thieves . Does signwritting make it more obvious what's inside ? Do locks , parking close to walls , cameras etc make it obvious there might be something worth stealing ? Does having a tatty looking van make it less likely to get broken into? Mine's looking a bit tatty and i haven't been targeted for years but i think the conclusion was that it's pretty much down to luck.
Zedsdead
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Re: What Preps are you doing this week? Part 8.

Post by Zedsdead »

grenfell wrote: Sun Oct 03, 2021 11:13 am I'm a member of a facebook group concerned with tool and van theft. It's depressing when one sees the efforts some go to to steal. Peeling the doors seems quite common and i've seen pictures of vans that have had their roofs cut open. I'm lucky in that i'm able to park close to the house , it limits access to the rear doors and it's covered by lights and cameras.
There have been discussions about what makes a vehicle attractive or not to would be thieves . Does signwritting make it more obvious what's inside ? Do locks , parking close to walls , cameras etc make it obvious there might be something worth stealing ? Does having a tatty looking van make it less likely to get broken into? Mine's looking a bit tatty and i haven't been targeted for years but i think the conclusion was that it's pretty much down to luck.
I think ultimately they’re looking for an easy target. I imagine a sign written plasterers van is reasonably safe in comparison to a sign written chippy or plumbers van. If, as we do think about how we park and have other measures in place it adds some doubt to the mind of the thief. This won’t always help but if it stops at least one attempt it’s worth it
Nurseandy
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Re: What Preps are you doing this week? Part 8.

Post by Nurseandy »

Its not just work vans - I'm ultra careful when I park my car anywhere vaguely suss (or even tesco carpark) not to leave anything suggesting NHS as people have had their cars broken into for needles etc.
grenfell
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Re: What Preps are you doing this week? Part 8.

Post by grenfell »

On the facebook group there have been more light hearted suggestions . For example someone said to paint it like a police van ( illegal i know but it was in jest) only to be shown examples of stolen police vehicles. Other suggestions have included a waste collection service for women's public toilets or dog carcass disposal. Sounds good until you arrive at a customer's house. On another occasion a van had the "no tools kept overnight" sign only to find the van peeled and written in the dust "just checking" . I've heard also of thefts of needles and drugs. There were also comments about leaving the van empty and the rear doors unlocked ( assuming there's a bulkhead and the cab is secure) to help reduce the unnecessary damage that can be involved.
Ultimately if someone wants to break in or just plain pinch the van then they will. As said if you can make it more awkward or less appealing then it might be an advantage. It doesn't help when the police response is often just to give you a crime number for the insurance.
Just to add , and it ties in with the supposed petrol shortage , that on the local news this week was a report about a charity's vans having their fuel taken. Catalytic converters are another target as well.
GillyBee
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Re: What Preps are you doing this week? Part 8.

Post by GillyBee »

We had our car fuel line cut and petrol nicked in the first fuel crisis many years ago. The remainder was allowed to flood the car park. 🙄
Just another thing to worry about for security although I think more modern cars now have encased lines to discourage this type of dangerous behaviour.
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Le Mouse
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Re: What Preps are you doing this week? Part 8.

Post by Le Mouse »

Awaiting delivery of a new work / get home bag and a pair of walking poles. The laptop bag I was given by work isn't cutting it, and I wanted a bag that does double duty. It's a fjallraven kanken knock off from Amazon, but with more pockets and much better shoulder straps. Nicely 'grey woman' too. The walking poles will live in the car for possible walking home purposes, but also I could do with more exercise and the poles will help me with walking longer distances in general.
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PreppingPingu
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Re: What Preps are you doing this week? Part 8.

Post by PreppingPingu »

Returning to the prepping board :D to catch up on massive amounts of threads!

Over the last few months' absence, I've finished clearing out the garage stash and restocking it, going through the pull out container under the spare bed and using and replacing that too. At the moment I am making a list of clothing/bedding for the winter ahead and buying any new stuff now before the weather properly turns and everyone is rushing to buy limited stock. Trying to think ahead as to what essentials may be needed. Thinking ahead, I am making a list of the rest of the jobs that I want done around the house and trying to get trades in to do some of them before the poor weather hits or supplies make it even harder for trades to get spares and materials. Double glazed house this year and got decent bedroom underlay and carpet for warmth and energy loss prevention but still have other things to do.

As I've been completing my forest school leader qualification, (all handed in just waiting on final mark and certificates,) I am stocking up on bits that double as bushcrafty/forest school stuff and I can use at home too - basic things like cotton wool and Vaseline to start a fire/bbq when the power goes out/can't afford the gas bill etc etc and I fancy cooking outdoors in the snow :lol: Jesting aside, basically I'm looking at everything for both personal and professional lives, especially duel purpose bits, to make sure I have stock as we are never sure what is going to run out/be hard to get next atm.

Next week I will make a start on chutney and preserve making, for me personally and for festive gifts.
"Today is the tomorrow that you worrried about yesterday" - unknown
"Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast" - Red Dwarf
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Arzosah
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Re: What Preps are you doing this week? Part 8.

Post by Arzosah »

Hello Pingu - you've been doing well with your time away! Nice one on the double glazing - I'm in the middle of clearing away things in the two rooms where double glazing has failed - living room, and my bedroom. That includes cleaning the venetian blinds :o :oops:

And I finally planted half a dozen mint plants, wanted low growing perennials outside the back door, they do well in drinks, in sauces and in some herbal uses. Going to do the same tomorrow.