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Grab bags for Brexit.

(71 Posts)
PamelaJ1 Tue 10-Sept-19 08:18:04

Have you got yours ready?
What’s in it?
Apparently, just seen on Breakfast, we are being advised to carry back packs to make sure we are equipped for Brexit.
These should include- a torch, a whistle, matches and a wind up radio as well as lots of other essential bits of kit!
I think it’s serious advice.
What does yours have in it? Don’t think I heard the word gin.

Nonnie Tue 10-Sept-19 17:26:01

DotMH1901 Tue 10-Sep-19 16:51:36 yes and I think it was all the publicity and panic that meant companies took precautions which stopped it becoming a problem. Had they put their heads in the sand and called it Project Fear, it would have been a disaster!

grandtanteJE65 Tue 10-Sept-19 17:22:06

A go-bag is a spy's bag packed ready but kept hidden containing passports, money etc. It won't do you a blind bit of good if or when Brexit happens.

Somebody with morbid sense of humour posted that bit of advice.

Sparklefizz Tue 10-Sept-19 17:07:00

My daughter did some panic buying when she thought Brexit was happening back in March, but they've eaten it all now grin

Solonge Tue 10-Sept-19 17:00:23

Mine would be a big bag....more a suitcase...with a plane ticket....and I won’t be back. How anyone thinks ruining the UK for this was a good idea is frankly nuts.

DotMH1901 Tue 10-Sept-19 16:51:36

Oh dear - that was funny - shows how advice from the Police given with the best of intentions is twisted in to a notice that panics people who believe Brexit is going to be the end of us all. If you travel then it is sensible to have basic items in a spare bag, either in the car or with you, but we are not going to descend into Dark Ages chaos!!!! Remember all the panic about the Millennium?? Are the majority of us still here and unscathed? Of course we are, and it will be the same with Brexit. Don't panic Mr Mainwaring!

Fairiesfolly Tue 10-Sept-19 16:50:47

I agree it is scaremongering. However having lived in New Zealand for 10 years and going through the Christchurch earthquakes of 2010 and 2011 we always had an emergency box ready to run if need be. It is always advertised on TV there to be ready get through! Oh and don’t forget passports in case you need to fly out in an emergency but I don’t for one minute we need anything like that here. We haven’t always been attached to Europe and we survived beforehand so I am pretty sure we will get through it if we come out! Providing everyone doesn’t ‘Panic Buy’!

BlueSapphire Tue 10-Sept-19 16:36:39

When we lived in Northern Australia where cyclones were a seasonal possibility, (remember Cyclone Tracey in Darwin?) we were advised to have an emergency box ready, containing many of the things listed above. Luckily we never had to use it. Also most houses there are built with a reinforced room, usually the bathroom, where we had to go if a cyclone was expected imminently.
And no it is not a Brexit bag, as I have just read in my newspaper. This is scaremongering and ridiculous, in my opinion.
On the other hand it would be useful to have such a bag/box, in case of emergencies such as power cuts.
Mine would definitely have gin and tonic, chocolate and a bottle of Cointreau, for medicinal purposes only, you understand....

annehinckley Tue 10-Sept-19 16:28:28

I think I carry a lot of these items in my handbag!

Scottiebear Tue 10-Sept-19 15:51:44

My mp3 player so I don't have to listen to any more politicians. Chocolate and wine in case of a shortage.

Nonnie Tue 10-Sept-19 15:36:48

The thought that anyone actually believed this is Brexit related shows how easy it is to con people! If its on MSM people will believe anything. I am not immune, some time ago on one of the Brexit threads someone stated that we were going to lose our EU veto in 2020 and I accepted it at face value. Only recently I discovered that it was false news, something minor changed in 2009!

Doodledog Tue 10-Sept-19 15:32:50

I assume the whistle is to use if you get stuck in a ditch, or lost on the moors smile. All eventualities catered for!

My emergency box has come in handy over the years - there's nothing worse than groping round in the dark looking for a source of light before you can even start to do anything useful. I hope never to need some of the things in it, but it's good to know it is there, and the children raided it more than once before going festivals.

Lupin Tue 10-Sept-19 15:32:04

Have had what is known in the family as my Nuclear Winter Cupboard for years. In reality it's a supply of canned food, candles, matches and a torch as well. I really should add some fun items. Good brandy, chocolate ginger, macaroons. Pre emergency I could eat and replace these regularly in case they go stale. Should stop here or the list will be endless.

sunseeker Tue 10-Sept-19 15:31:36

Living in a rural area the electricity would go off with the slightest breeze so I always have a small torch next to my favourite chair to get me to the cupboard where I keep the candles and matches. Although that no longer happens (cables have been put underground) I still keep the torch and candles handy!

Also if we have heavy snow I get snowed in so I always have a well stocked freezer, a good supply of logs for the woodburner and lots of tinned goods in the pantry.

Hetty58 Tue 10-Sept-19 15:27:03

'Scuse me but what's the whistle for?

Rowantree Tue 10-Sept-19 15:07:02

I notice no one has included a potty. Or poo bags.

Sussexborn Tue 10-Sept-19 15:06:35

My corned beef tin comes with it’s own can opener though getting it to work can be a challenge. We will have to survive on tinned fruit, masses of baked beans from when there was an extra special offer and the lagers left over from Christmas when one of the SILs had to work.

Having been plunged in to total darkness with three panicked children yelling for their Daddy (who would only have added to the chaos if he had been there) I do have a couple of torches, some candles and a box of matches kept in the cupboard under the stairs.

Rowantree Tue 10-Sept-19 15:06:11

This is because we aren't used to power failures/fires/floods? Sounds reminiscent of the US adverts in the 50s/60s advising you to hide under the table in the event of nuclear war. Anyone else remember 'Duck and Cover'?

shysal Tue 10-Sept-19 14:47:03

I have had a hospital bag packed for years, and also took a lot of the listed items plus many more on solo holidays, where most were used, often lent to others. In fact I charged my spare pay as you go basic phone from the bag only this morning. I also use this phone to send myself a text once a month to avoid it being cut off through non use. My regular smart phone needs charging every day so would soon run out if no power source was available.
'Be prepared ' should be my motto, although I was never a girl guide. smile

willa45 Tue 10-Sept-19 14:45:28

Does anybody ever think to include a can opener?

Paperbackwriter Tue 10-Sept-19 13:22:15

I think a possible hospital bag is a good idea. I spent a frantic 20 minutes rushing around grabbing essentials when my husband fell off a ladder and was taken to hospital. If I'd known they film 24 Hours in A&E at St. George's, I'd also have included make-up.

4allweknow Tue 10-Sept-19 13:11:24

Don't think the backpack is for Brexit, it's for any kind of emergency eg the recent power failure, flooding, fire.

missdeke Tue 10-Sept-19 12:57:20

With you there Ellan

EllanVannin Tue 10-Sept-19 12:51:01

I'm afraid I'm not hyping myself up for anything.

Doodledog Tue 10-Sept-19 12:43:55

I have always had an emergency box in the pantry. It has a lot of the things in the 'grab bag', and also things like dried and tinned food, bottled water, candles, a primus stove (and gas), paracetamol, tampons (a bit aged now grin, loo roll, a wind-up torch, and even a pack of cards, which I put there when my children were small, to give them something to do in an emergency.

I put it together long before the vote for Brexit, in case there was a power cut, a flood, getting snowed in - whatever. My grandmother had one in the war, in case they had to leave the house in an emergency, and my mum followed suit, so it seemed a natural thing to do. I check it every few years to make sure the batteries are working, and the food and drugs are roughly in date.

My box isn't really a 'grab bag', though, It's far too heavy. It's more case of knowing where to look if the power goes off, or if we suddenly had to leave the house to camp out in a church hall for some reason. There is plenty of food in the pantry proper, but it's reassuring to know that I can cook the things in the box if the oven and microwave don't work.

sarahellenwhitney Tue 10-Sept-19 12:25:10

For pity's sake this is Brexit not world war three. We are leaving Europe not being invaded by it.