PowerSwitch

This morning, BBC News 24 reported on the growing number of heating oil thefts from rural properties.

These are just a few of the incidents that have made the headlines recently:

FUEL THEFTS SOAR WITH OIL PRICES

Thieves eager to cash in on soaring fuel prices are targeting homes across the Gwendraeth Valley.Heating oil worth thousands of pounds has been stolen in a rash of raids.

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MORE HEATING OIL THEFTS REPORTED IN LISBURN

POLICE in Lisburn are again warning householders to take precautions after more reports of heating oil thefts in the area.
"This type of crime is on the increase, particularly during the winter months" said a spokesperson. "Usually it is only when people run out of oil that the theft becomes apparent and that is why we are now asking residents to check the level of the oil more frequently. We would also advice homeowners to have a locking cap on their tanks where possible.

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Raiders in fuel thefts

THIEVES have made off with 2,000 litres of heating oil, worth ?1,000, from Seton Primary School in Staithes.
Police are also investigating an incident in Ugthorpe, in which 400 litres of heating oil, worth ?200, was stolen.

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Fuel prices spark spate of thefts

Police have warned motorists to be on the look out for fuel and oil thieves.
The advice comes amid a small rise in the number of fuel siphoning incidents in the Wealden area in recent weeks.

Police said the thefts are mainly of diesel fuel or from industrial heating oil tanks and the increase may be attributed to recent fuel price rises.

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This is a worrying trend and one which shows how vulnerable rural homes will become in the future.

Food, wind turbines, solar panels and any other sustainable devices are likely to be high on the wanted list.

If you are one of the few making preparations for a post PO world, this news suggests that we are likely to become the primary targets when TSHTF.

A self sufficient future? Aren't we just fooling ourselves?

I have long held the view that to stock up on food, fuel, and other supplies is prudent.
IMHO it is best to keep your preps private as far as possible, if like me, you disscuss such matters on the internet, then I suggest keeping your physical address private.
Although heating oil tanks are bulky items to conceal and/or secure, it can be done, and I know some one who has two tanks, one in view and one concealed.
The concealed tank is filled by a hand pump and flexible hose from the other one, therefore even the oil delivery man does not know about it.
The contents of the hidden tank should be secure against thieves, official or otherwise.

In addition to the PV modules in use (and therefore exposed to view and potential theft) I have a few spares, not in use and well concealed.

adam2 wrote: IMHO it is best to keep your preps private as far as possible, if like me, you disscuss such matters on the internet, then I suggest keeping your physical address private.

To date, I have only let my family and friends in on the secret.

I would even go so far as to suggest that it's a big mistake to elaborate on your plans or purchases on this site. Does anyone else share my views?

If we wish to lead by example it's a risk we need to take.

Besides, my solar panels are booby-trapped.

we have a nice little veg garden round the back, and this got me thinking.

when TSHTF it would be soo easy for someone to just jump over the back fence and rip out every carrot, radish, onion, lettuce, strawberry and every bean.

This is why I am trying to learn as much as possible about wild foods, I believe a sedentry lifestyle will be near impossible for a good few months.

Booby traps and weaponary would be an excellent form of defence. But in this so called "civilised" country of ours, one cannot even protect their own home.

chris25 wrote:
when TSHTF it would be soo easy for someone to just jump over the back fence and rip out every carrot, radish, onion, lettuce, strawberry and every bean.

Plant a hedge of blackthorn, hawthorn and brambles

Aurora wrote:[:

I would even go so far as to suggest that it's a big mistake to elaborate on your plans or purchases on this site. Does anyone else share my views?

Possibly, thats why I dont give out my home address, except to a handful of members whom I know well.
Also a large part of my hoard is stored other than in my home.

An idea worth considering is the use of a commerical self storage facilty, possibly under an assumed name.
Most articles stored in such facilities are old archive paperwork from offices and secondhand domestic furniture, appliances etc. Therefore I doubt that self storage facilities would be a target for looters.

adam2 wrote:

Aurora wrote:[:

I would even go so far as to suggest that it's a big mistake to elaborate on your plans or purchases on this site. Does anyone else share my views?

Possibly, thats why I dont give out my home address, except to a handful of members whom I know well.
Also a large part of my hoard is stored other than in my home.

An idea worth considering is the use of a commerical self storage facilty, possibly under an assumed name.
Most articles stored in such facilities are old archive paperwork from offices and secondhand domestic furniture, appliances etc. Therefore I doubt that self storage facilities would be a target for looters.

My parents once stored a ton of stuff in a private store.

When they collected it all a year or so later ... the silverware hidden in the middle had gone.

Stupid ... but it does show that other people have all the time in the world to 'look after' ... or look through ... your stuff ...

chris25 wrote:when TSHTF it would be soo easy for someone to just jump over the back fence and rip out every carrot, radish, onion, lettuce, strawberry and every bean.

This is why I am trying to learn as much as possible about wild foods, I believe a sedentry lifestyle will be near impossible for a good few months.

Why not sprinkle a few carrot, turnip, radish seeds etc around the less accessible parts of your local park or other greenish areas. Not many people will actually recognise them for what they are if they're root vegetables and not planted in neat rows.

Months ago I did exactly this, just for the hell of it. I chucked a handful of surplus carrot seeds around the foot of a small tree near my house, and quite near to a grass lawn which gets watered automatically by the local council in summer. Now when I'm out walking the dog, I check up on them - several carrots are growing and nobody knows! Of course if you do this on a larger, wider scale, a dog comes in handy, giving you an excuse to go out and inconspicuously visit your crops on a regular basis, and even do a bit of night-time weeding and watering!

Erik wrote:Why not sprinkle a few carrot, turnip, radish seeds etc around the less accessible parts of your local park or other greenish areas.

You guerrilla gardener, you, Eric!

The Local Authority Agenda 21 group I belong to are going to do a bit of this, but planting fruit trees and bushes instead of veggies.

I would imagine that if you live in a rural property, are PO aware and see some REAL shit heading your way, a good first move would be to suggest to a friend that perhaps they would like to go out and check out those new pipe cutters - on every road sign within a very large radius.

greg wrote:I would imagine that if you live in a rural property, are PO aware and see some REAL shit heading your way, a good first move would be to suggest to a friend that perhaps they would like to go out and check out those new pipe cutters - on every road sign within a very large radius.

I'm pretty sure I know what you're implying and I agree with you. Just explain your reasoning a tad more, please.

I wonder at what stage the US military will turn off open access to the SatNav systems.
I wonder how long the fleet of satellites will stay operational without big daddy looking after them.

Kind of glad that the path to our allotment runs between our house and that of our new, friendly but easily-roused-to-violent-anger neighbour (who also has an allotment there). Easy to tripwire it and get neighbour to pulp infiltrators

I'll just stand back and shout encouragement, whilst providing an alibi if Plod wants a word

emordnilap wrote:

greg wrote:I would imagine that if you live in a rural property, are PO aware and see some REAL shit heading your way, a good first move would be to suggest to a friend that perhaps they would like to go out and check out those new pipe cutters - on every road sign within a very large radius.

I'm pretty sure I know what you're implying and I agree with you. Just explain your reasoning a tad more, please.

Pretty straightforward, part of the strategy of dealing with unwelcome visitors would be to introduce confusion, followed by 'meet my friend Mr Double-Barrelled Surname' if a polite request to move on is ignored.

Iknow, I know, it's all very American.