Terrorism

[karen2205]

I'm attempting to take the govt's advice on how to prepare for a terrorist attack in context.

Now at home I always have plenty of food, so I'm not too worried about that. I have two litres of bottled water and I know I should have a couple more, but where's the line between a supply in case of emergency and preparing for WW3 paranoia? I've got water purification tablets (mainly for Guides), so I suppose I could purify water from the toilet cistern/bathroom sink if necessary.

I have plenty of medicines/first aid stuff - out of habit I suppose and I have paper lists of important telephone numbers.
I have a torch that lives by my bed - mainly in case of power cuts. I also have candles and matches in the house - mainly for Guides.

Where I kind of fall down on preparedness is in having a battery operated radio - I have a mini radio that operates on 2AA batteries, but its signal is never very strong (I get a lot of interference trying to listen to Radio 4 between Waterloo and Basingstoke) and it eats batteries. I've also got a radio/tape player and a radio/CD player which are mains operated but can be run off batteries if necessary. So would I be being unnecessarily paranoid to try and make sure I always have enough batteries to listen to the radio on one of those?

Comments

[chickenfeet2003.livejournal.com]

Don't forget the paper bag to put over your head.

[karen2205]

Yep, tis present and correct:-)

Radios

[cultureofdoubt.livejournal.com]

You could either get a clockwork radio or one that needs no batteries or winding at all (yes, it is possible, but the volume is very low and it only works on shortwave I think!). The clockwork is my only serious suggestion.

If you do get a stock of batteries, keep them in the fridge. Supposedly they store for longer then.

Re: Radios

[karen2205]

The last time I looked at clockwork radios they were circa £50 which seemed a little excessive as a 'just in case' device.

Re: Radios

[cultureofdoubt.livejournal.com]

Ahhh yes, that's true.

[publicansdecoy.livejournal.com]

Remember to paint yourself white.

-x-

[karen2205]

Duely noted:-)

[feanelwa.livejournal.com]

Radio sets don't have signals. The radio station has signal, and if the radio set is receiving a small signal in a lot of noise, that's because the signal isn't getting through without a lot of noise being put in it by e.g. hills, and no amount of extra power at your end will help pick it out of the noise except by having enough spares so you can turn it up loud enough to hear the signal around the noise for a longer time. Having spare batteries in the house is a good idea anyway.

I am going to buy a radio soon because I think I might be able to get Classic FM in the new house. Yay! Music!

I have also been drinking glasses of water from bathroom taps for years and not died yet.

The government are just trying to get everybody to panic-buy to distract attention from themselves trying to turn the country into a fundamentalist state of the USA.

[karen2205]

*nods* - I'd forgotten that bit of GCSE science. Right, so spare batteries it is then.

Yeah, I generally drink a bit of water from the bathroom tap as I brush my teeth, but I wouldn't fancy drinking water from the toilet cistern without purifying it.

And that's probably true re the govt - but there's a difference between panic-buying and being prepared with things that make your life easier in the event of any sort of emergency. I'm not going to panic buy, but I'd rather have enough useful things about that, lets say, losing my electricity supply for a couple of days won't cause serious difficulties.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_speaktrue/]

Glad to see someone who isn't taking it as a big joke :)

[karen2205]

Yeah, like I've said there's a happy medium somewhere between ignoring it completely and panicking - neither of which are very helpful.

I think a major terrorist attack on London is inevitable and while obviously I'm not going to let it affect how I live my life, I'd like to at least be as prepared for it as possible.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_speaktrue/]

Very wise :)

[lisekit.livejournal.com]

If you want a radio anyway, my mother loves her digital radio which gets you a lovely clear signal and lots of different channels. (Ma has been getting into the urban and Asian networks lately). They're very easy to tune, and I think you can work 'em with batteries. They go for about £40 now, I think, perhaps there are cheaper ones around. You'd have to want one anyway, but they come with at least one seal of approval.

[karen2205]

Yeah, but I've already got three radios (four if you count my radio/alarm clock, but I don't think it can be run on batteries) so I really don't need another one.