Here in the midwest we have tp, but signs limiting each customer to one.

On the manufacturing side, it took six weeks but I think I finally found the last 1000 amber glass bottles left on the planet. My company has been hit by all sorts of supply chain issues on raw materials, labels, and even cardboard shipping boxes.

On the groceries side, Hot Pockets and Chile Lime Shrimp Ramen Noodles no longer seem to exist. SPAM is very hit-or-miss. Ammo is completely gone other than some 3" 410 #7 shot.
-Blast

Weirdly my local Albertson's has virtually no paper towels again (although TP is in full supply). No real shortages that I've noted except Lysol disinfecting wipes which I might not see again for another year. Plenty of hand sanitizer although you maybe can't be picky.

Ammo is virtually unobtainable in 9mm or 5.56 NATO. The LGS has no shotgun ammo in stock except 16ga. Fortunately I have an adequate supply for the firearms I rely one for CCW, HD and hiking/camping.

At least at Costco, no shortage of the basics. Some specialty foods are spotty. Have one week, not there a few weeks later. Plenty of decent quality hand sanitizer, wipes are on and off.

Local Safeway supermarket is still short on some canned goods like soups and such. Plenty of TP and Paper Towels, as long as you are not too choosy. OK on disinfecting cleaners. Wipes most of the time. No cookie shortage, very critical.

Ammo in any common caliber not to be found on shelves. Most FFLs hold for their best customers. Can still be found online if you are willing to pay, although perhaps not your preferred brand or model www.ammoseek.com seems to work well for my friends who didn't stock up or have purchased their first firearm.

As of this week, our preferred brand of of bathroom tickets is available in large packages at a good price, limit 1 per customer. Our preferred brand of hand sanitizer is totally unobtainable, but other brands that seem just fine to us are easily found. Nitrile gloves went from almost impossible to get anywhere to the bargain-bin of the local pharmacy.

The club I belong to put in a multiple-pallet group buy of 9mm and 5.56mm ammo about a week before the ammo shortages started, slated to arrive in the next couple weeks. Assuming that we get the delivery, I'll end 2020 roughly even on ammo stocks, despite having significantly ramped up both formal training and practice sessions.

Availability issues and huge cost increases for beef and pork at the grocery and butcher seem to have ended.

In the Des Moines area of Iowa it is sort of "normal" right now but there are some weird shortfalls - I'm blaming it on the supply chain and vendors when I see it.

An example: The Delightful Mrs. drinks Gatorade sports drink as the Dr. wanted her to improve her electrolyte levels and this works. However, she likes the Orange G2 or low sugar version which the regular grocery stores have not had on the shelf for the last several weeks. I started checking on-line and calling around the whole area to see if any was to be had and found that Menards (the home improvement big-box store) was the only place it was to be had. We went around town last night to several of them and snapped up the last 18 packages in town.

When I was checking around, a HyVee manager told me they have it on back order through their supply chain all the way to the vendor. Another store checked their supply resources and they could not even order it and the choices were very limited on what they could get. I checked on-line with the vendor and it's not being manufactured right now and there isn't a timeline for it to restart production from what I was told. The HyVee manager I know has also told me they have several "normal" stock items that have become unavailable as their vendor is not producing some specific products - thus gaps on the shelf and odd ball shortages. We also liked chef boyardee pizza mixes and they (the vendor) only make a double pizza box mix and had dropped the old single pizza size. They looked for me to see if it could be sourced someplace else and it just isn't made that way anymore. The lesson is to grab it when you see it!

Vitamin Water Zero may be available, has no sugar, and does a good job with electrolytes. I buy the Lemonade flavor of it by the case.

Common sense? Especially seems in short supply over here in the UK.
County has told people not to travel outside of the county.
Problem is the local major shopping centre, which is less than 3km / 2m away from my front door is the other side of that boundary.

Other than that, not noticed any shortages, think all the restrictions on tp and canned goods were lifted several months back.

I guess I spoke too soon! I made my weekly Costco run today and they had a big palette of Chlorox Wipes up by the door. While I don't use 'em at home we do use them at work.

In Phoenix, limited supply of disinfectant wipes. TP still rationed. There are still empty space on the shelves of Safeway/fry’s/Basha’s, but mostly stocked.
Flours; All purpose, self rising, bread, and whole wheat are back in stock, as is yeast. Meats were only rationed for a short while.

I would second ammoseek. I used to go to ammo.com or sgammo.com, but in the current climate both of these are out of stock on almost everything. I used it for the first time last week looking for .223 in 38 - 40 grain (kind of rare compared to the usual 55 grain and up) and found some. Prices, though, are not great.

I have a fairly old revolver in 32.20. I'm having trouble finding ammunition in less then case lots. Any ideas?

Buy a case.

Handloading. Make sure you get the proper propellant (the original is a black powder cartridge) for your gun.
Depending on the required amount and power, you could try to contact CAS shooters to get some ammo. It seems to be a fairly popular cartridge there. Be aware that CAS shooters do not tend to load ammo to high velocities.

Why are there shortages? Are you expecting factories to be closed in a new lockdown?
Qjs

The reason for the shortages may be that someone bought more than their share. Some may indeed expect factories to be closed.

In Finland we have no shortages. Life goes on as normal except that we have covid-pandemia and that does not affect the amount of goods in stores and shops.
Earlier in the spring people hoarded TP but that was all and ended by summer.

In an election year people tend to stock up. This year there are, according to news reports, many new gun buyers adding to ammo sales. When President PHRASECENSOREDPOSTERSHOULDKNOWBETTER. won in his first term gun sales increased, on the assumption that he would promote anti-gun policies. For the most part this didn't happen, but gun owners are a nervous lot.

Edited to add - I post this as a straight forward answer to the question, without political comment.

There's always some irrational/panic buying around important nation and international events, and the increased paranoia and tribalism of our present world have only made it worse. Then there's the semi-legitimate panic around the current pandemic. I say semi-legit because there are genuine supply chain issues caused by the disease sweeping through meat packing plants and other industries. My personal viewpoint is that it's always prudent to keep a few weeks worth of food, a couple months worth of medication, some water, etc. The wife of my employer had a very difficult time getting a prescribed medication for a dangerous congenital disorder so she was scrambling to try to stock a bit. I'd say, current events notwithstanding, if you have medications you need to stay healthy (or to stay alive, period) now is the time to talk to your doctor about the possibility of getting an extra month or two supply.

I haven't been able to find copies of Hamlet, you know, the good edition with annotations. Is it because it's an election year?

While I'm not an expert in the small arms ammunition industry, I think there are four major factors to the shortages we're seeing in the USA.

First, there are a lot more first-time firearms owners in the USA than in any usually 6+ month term that I can think of.

Second (and closely related to the first), many firearms owners have more concern about public safety than they've had in the past.

Third, there are concerns about potential future legal restrictions.

Fourth, I'm told that there are shortages regarding specific components, especially primers, related to the pandemic. I don't have any data to support that, but it seems plausible.



As for me, I've been training more this year than in any other year, as I had planned long before any of the above factors came to light.

The two calibers I train with are in short supply everywhere, and when available they're priced much higher than a year ago. But they are possible to find, with some effort.

I hesitate to post at all, but I must respectfully say that I'm worried about you guys. A shortage of ammunition suggests a shortage of confidence in the future, and an abundance of fear.

Americans are very prone to tribalism and are very prone to panic buying. I'm 51 years old and I've seen this at least four times with minor panics in between. This shortage is maybe not as bad at 2014, at least not yet. Fear drives it and without getting into the politics it's the practice here to use fear to control people and keep them in line. Maybe I'm just an optimist but I think we'll be just fine once we get into next year.

if you are a shooter in the US, and compete in a couple of USPSA practical shooting matches and a couple of Steel Challenge matches a month...

typical USPSA match around here is 125 rounds x 2 a month x 12 months is 3000 rounds a year... for me this is hand loaded 9mm
and small pistol primers are not available

a Steel Challenge match is 5 separate runs on 5 targets per stage x 6 stages per match x 2 matches per month x 12 months is 3600 rounds... for me this is .22lr...prices have jumped from 3.6 cents to 11 cents per round

and that does not include any practice sessions

competitive shooters are not necessarily hoarding components or ammunition, many have stocked deep so they can enjoy their freedom

We have sanitizers and paper towels, but signs limiting customers to 1 or 2.

Up here, it seems the current issues are paper towels, pressure treated lumber and firewood. And Tums.

The "why" on paper towels is obscure to me. We go through a pack every year, mostly to regulate moisture in stored garden vegetables. Others apparently can't imagine a day without them.

Pressure treated lumber is hard to get (or spendy) and so is other stay-at-home-improvement stuff. I had a hard time getting the caulking I needed. The store guys say everyone is stuck at home so they are upgrading decks etc.

Firewood is the new thing. And chimney sweep/inspection services. Demand has doubled or more. People are stuck at home anyway, so they want the spice of indoor/outdoor fires, even though basically everybody uses natural gas for primary heat in the winter.

Walked through a WalMart for laughs (time to kill) and they had ammo in the calibres/gauges I use. Didn't buy though; I don't have much need.

Latest:
Target is limiting purchases of certain items ( masks, paper towels, etc.) Most everything in stock.

Primers are selling locally by private parties from 10 to 25 cents EACH. People buying them on the local trading web site are new gun owners that can't find ammo and are learning to reload. The other components are unavailable at stores too, but are not bringing the price hikes like the primers. Lots of trading going on, people buying components they can't use so they can trade for stuff they can.

TP is available but stores are limiting per customer.

Haven't noticed any other shortages other than furnace filters that disappeared from shelves during the wildfire smoke.

A few months a go , there were shortages of face masks and some other items. These are available in the market now. The twist is not availability but my OCD-infected brain. LOL.

During the pandemic lockdowns, I managed to buy a few boxes of face masks at higher price than I would like. I was relieved to have masks, but was sore because of what I paid. The price came down gradually, and I bought more.

My INTJ psychology ordered me to put the numbers and cost in an Excel sheet. LOL, some of you may guess where this is going. Yeah, a few weeks ago, I bought a few more boxes, not for prepping sake, but to lower the overall average price !!!

If you are an INTJ, try to change to something else.
LOL.

Here in the UK, shotguns are relatively easy to obtain, and ammunition is plentiful.
Lawful private ownership of rifles is rare, and lawful private ownership of handguns almost unknown, so ammo supplies not relevant.

Moving to other supplies there are still local shortages of toilet paper, cleaning products and some canned goods. No generalised shortage though.
Turkeys are very commonly eaten at Christmas, and some reports suggest a glut of these birds (fewer large family gatherings) whilst other reports suggest a shortage for some not clearly defined reason.

Firewood is in short supply and expensive. Propane is much less used here than in the USA but supplies seem adequate. I purchased three large portable cylinders each of 19 kilos without problems.
Coal is less used these days, but is readily available.

Our stocking up has been limited to ensuring that we have a two week supply of real essentials (medical, food) in the event we have to quarantine. And we did have to do so once a few months ago due to a potential contact.

Beyond that we haven't seen too many shortages. We buy a lot online, partially due to our remote location. Lately I've been feeling bad about how much of it is via Amazon. No doubt some online purchases, such as a table saw and a miter saw have been to avoid going to big stores (with a perceived higher virus risk). It is amazing what can be purchased online. Heck, I recently bought a 60 inch PTO driven snowblower for my tractor online. Amazing.

TP & paper towels have seen sporadic shortages the last week or so. Costco here has been cleaned out but the closest supermarket to me is fully stocked. Dish soap has also been kind of variable, which seems odd but most of the panic buying doesn't make sense. I live by myself so it's pretty easy to be "stocked up" on most stuff, at least stuff that's not perishable.

Where I live, we're suffering a shortage of personal responsibility and self-discipline right now. C'mon, fellow citizens, show a little backbone!

/end rant

WRT the shortage of dish soap, this might be not very rational panic buying, or alternatively production may have been curtailed.
Many manufacturers produce a range of cleaning and hygiene products, and I consider it possible that production of dish soap may have been limited in order to free up factory space and staff for hand sanitiser production.

Yeah, I suppose that could be. I stocked up a little, not a ton. In "normal" time when there's all the soap you could carry, I tend to buy a bottle when I'm almost out. But now when I find it I usually buy two bottles at a time.

Regardless of prepping mentality or the circumstances, I think it is wise to buy a few more than we need. It saves time and frustration. If you have a pantry or enough space , it is wise to have your own "store" at home, especially for non perishable items like soap ..etc.

Sometimes, you are not in the mood to go out, or the roads are congested for a reason or another, or the weather... etc. There are a million reasons that we should store a few extra of everything. Find a balanced level that is suitable for your lifestyle and size of your family, and I think no one will regret having a few things stashed in the pantry.

During the pandemic lockdown, two of the kitchen appliances broke down. When things eased a bit, I bought TWO of each.

I agree but in "normal" times it's not a big deal to me (with dish soap that is). It gets used at a pretty steady predictable level so it's unlikely that I'll be surprised to run out. But yeah, in this "new normal" I tend to stock up more on everything than I used to.

We never stopped limiting TP & PT in many places here.
(Southeast PA)

No shortages at the local grocery store...

As of today 4/21/21 we don't have much for shortages here in Western Montana except for ammunition and lumber. Locally the former is hard to find at any price while the latter is available to a degree albeit at much higher prices.

Retail and grocery items are mostly full with some shortages in limited areas. (
A new bike is hard to find.)

Shout (the spray bottle version) and, amazingly, hiking boots. I can find tactical boots and work boots, but no hiking boots.

umm
A bit short on education. I don't really understand the "shortage" warning that is circulating these days in many videos and websites. Even Survival Lilly , who lives in Europe, I think, was talking about probable shortages.

So, somebody please educate me, what's going on ?

There are several problems. Not enough farmers are getting the water they need due to the severe drought in the western United States. Ranchers are not getting enough feed they need because of the problem mentioned above. Moreover, what does exist is not moving because the number of truck drivers retiring exceeds the number of new hires.

Jeanette Isabelle

Here in Finland there is no shortage whatsoever of anything.

Thanks Jeanette

I wonder if the Covid-19 has anything to do with the truckers problem ?

I hope it remains that way, but still we should be cautious and have something for rough times. Hope for the best, and prep for the worst.

I've observed that the number of retirees is more significant than those newly recruited for some time. Has that problem suddenly gotten worse due to the current economic environment, or has that problem been brought to light more so than usual? That I don't know.

Jeanette Isabelle

We have a shortage of hospital beds and medical staff where I am. COVID is overwhelming the local hospitals.

This is not just something you hear about in the news that somehow doesn't have a real impact on you. A few weeks ago I took someone to the emergency room. They didn't have a bed for him and, after spending a miserable night on a gurney? stretcher? he decided to go home on his own, even though he could have used a hospital stay. He also said it was clear they didn't have enough people working there to help him.

So, guys, don't get into a car accident or have a heart attack.

New bicycles. Shops can't get them, or can't get essential parts due to messed up supply chains.

Wasp spray. It is the year of the wasp up here, and they're already getting aggressive. I have five nests that I know about, and certainly more in the woods. I made a 14' extension nozzle for my shop vac. Tonight I go to war.

A college friend once told me that spray paint works on wasps. I haven't tried it. Therefore, I can't vouch for it.

Jeanette Isabelle

I am not inclined to grab a can of paint and get "up close and personal" with an active wasp nest. Maybe someone can make a YouTube challenge out of it. ;-)

I’ve taken out a large wasp nest using the following method:

1) Buy a large can of wasp spray, a type with a very long stream distance.
2) Wait for a night when it’s cool enough that the wasps are dormant — the Internet says 50 degrees F, and I remember it being closer to 55 degrees.
3) Spray entire can onto the nest, completely soaking same, from the furthest distance the spray can would support. I remember this being about 15 feet.

I would not attempt this technique if the air temperature is 60 degrees or higher. I would also not recommend any technique that uses fire as a component.

Spray paint is best used within about 3 feet or so, which is closer than I would want to be for such a task.

WD-40 is great with ants ( the ones that give painful bites )

Insert that tiny red tube in the hole, and press.

You mentioned your shop.
It reminds me of my small handyman's nest.
Lately, I bought a few hex bit sets. They are not really essential, but definitely give you more options when you deal with home problems during lockdowns and such.

It was a "shortage" within my workshop I had to fix.

The only significant shortage that I have observed here in the UK is Propane. Has been in short supply, to varying degrees, for at least a year.

Propane is much less used here than in the USA, most households don't use it at all.
That however is no consolation for the minority of rural householders who do use this fuel.

I do not use propane normally but keep a couple of cylinders for emergencies, each cylinder contains 19 kilos of the fuel. Other sizes are available.

The largest portable cylinder is 47 kilos, and the smallest is 4.5 kilos.
For greater demands bulk tanks are available, these are fixed in place and filled from a road tanker. Not common but used by some rural homes and farms.

I went into a Walmart in rural Ellsworth Maine and noticed that by my estimate about 1/3 of the shelf space has been removed. Isles are now wider and there appear to much more empty space (no shelves). There were a couple of empty shelves but not many. Looks like they have slimmed down their inventory. Just my observation.

Nomad.

I use electric for the inside kitchen and propane for the outside kitchen. This setup offers lots of peace of mind. If you have a house, I suggest everyone does the same. In an apartment, however, you may not have any choice.

Costco put their paper products on sale, arrived yesterday to find no Paper Towels or TP to be found, not just theirs, but none period. We'll have to see if this is just a spot shortage due to sale or portends more issues.

Canning jars are nearly non-existent in Houston.
-Blast

Our local Sams Club was out of their line of toilet paper, so we bought a package of Charmin. Their paper towels were in stock, so got a package of those.

The local petvalue ran out of crickets

Oh no!

Daughters lizard is not happy

If she lived in the Dallas area, she could catch crickets for her lizard.

Jeanette Isabelle

Wild crickets may have parasites and transfer them to the lizard. Crickets should be easy to breed. If the lizard cannot eat enough of them, they can be made into burgers. Rumor has it that those burgers are fairly tasty and rich in protein. That would also help if there is a shortage in beef supply.

The package of hygiene items has shrunk.

Jeanette Isabelle

as in burgers for people or burgers for lizards.

I'll occasionally see a cricket in the yard but she won't let me catch them for him.

and the price has remained the same right?

No. The price has gone up.

We're not allowed to discuss the end of the world as we know it scenarios, but we're in one now.

Jeanette Isabelle

As in burgers for people. There are plenty of recipes out there. Many are a little heavy on vegetables.

The biggest thing I am seeing is that shipping from China (and Asia) is taking MUCH longer than before - 3 months on some items. Shop early.

Here in the UK we have a significant petrol panic.
Long queues, arguments, and calls for the TPTB to do something.

Caused by a shortage of tanker drivers to deliver fuel to filling stations. The initial shortages were minor but have worsened due to panic buying.

Some foodstuffs are in short supply or even completely unavailable, but there IS NO general food shortage merely a reduction in choice.
Media pictures of multiple empty shelves look alarming, but can represent for example 20 types of bread out of stock, but another 8 types available.

Media seem to have a major part in perceived shortages. Showing empty shelves has an impact.
When some politicians in Germany started to tell on TV that there is enough for everyone provided that everyone bought only what they need, panic buying and hoarding started to pick up pace.
Some products vanished from the shelves due to conflicts between the manufacturer and the retailer. For the consumer the products just stopped being available.
We also had shelves with very limited choice in baker shops. The reason was simple: the employees where ordered to bake a limited portfolio and fewer items to avoid wasting unsold produce.
Maybe it´s time for a return to the national loaf and the Woulton pie.

Thanks for the report. I've been looking for first hand accounts, but since I don't do the Face Pages or twit, I'm out of the loop.

What's causing the driver shortage?

finding enough good drivers was already challenging and covid made it worse.

Where I am we have a shortage of moderation. People consume to excess. I see people throwing away perfectly good things all the time.

I'm posting not to "gloat." That would be really silly. Just to balance the perspective.

I read your first sentence and I was all “Tell me where you need me, Bingley,” and then I realized you meant something else.

Brexit. Brits left the EU and threw out a great deal of the foreign work force. Not realizing that this same work force do all the loww paid jobs that keep the country running. Like driving the trucks. UK is now lacking some 100 000 drivers. No wonder delivries do not funktion as it should.

Apparently SE of England is having petrol shortages.

Hardly surprising as most of the supply comes into the UK via either the north, or Milford Haven port in west Wales.

Haven't seen video clips of people filling garbage bags yet though.

It seems like it is not a petrol shortage per se. It seems like it is a distribution problem due to a lack of truck drivers. They have the petrol and just cannot get it to the pumps. Apparently there are plans to use drivers from the military to relief that problem.
Some pubs also have a distribution problem with beer. The commonwealth citizen Slim Dusty performed a song about that: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cKPchRDaVM . As a funny coincindence rumor has it that the reason was a transportation failure as well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkDUBYOzyAQ
Got to love the Aussies for creating fitting songs decades ago.

Actually beer shortage probably due to lack of carbon dioxide. Also used in packing meat products and so on.
Again as you say, probably down to distribution.

Think a lot of people in gov didn't think Brexit was going to really happen and even after the vote believed someway somehow it was going to get reversed, and never really put any planning in place for the eventuality.

Our local COSTCO last week was out of Mexican Coke (made with sugar, not corn syrup) and also out of Charmin, my wife's preferred TP. So, today we stopped at another Costco on the way home from a meeting. They had the Coke, but had NO, Nada, ZERO TP at all. Other paper products were available, but no TP.

The supply chain issues are happening everywhere due to truck driver shortages. Not many people want to / can live the life, its a long lonely and boring life and you have to put up with the stupid (car) drivers and the company wanting you to get there faster and having to worry about the log books and laws around them. So companies can't find drivers and the old drivers are overworked and getting sick and tired and quitting/retiring.

For those who are out of TP...

Consider buying a Japanese toilet instead. Think about it: if you stepped on some doggie doo, would you just wipe it off before walking all over your carpet? No, you'd wash it. The same logic applies to your toilet. You can just install a seat that hooks up to a water source.

Or install a bidet shower next to the toilet seat.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/db/Bidet_shower.jpg/1200px-Bidet_shower.jpg

Wife wants a bidet, anyone installed one recently, whats good/bad?

A number of friends have done the seat route. One issue is that if you want heated water, you need electrical close enough to plug in (or a hot water line, even more problematic in most cases). So, for our bathrooms that means some fairly extensive work to get a receptacle where needed. And, good ones are not cheap.

This is the one that my friends have settled on: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B018F18TIK

well luckily our bathroom is small enough that you can shower, use the commode and brush your teeth at the same time if you wanted

Whoa. That's not a small number. Hope you're prepped.

Bidets as a way to address a TP shortage are ok, I guess. There's certainly an argument to be made from a cleanliness aspect.

But if you lose your water supply the bidet is offline. You should probably still have some TP for the plastic bucket / trench latrine / etc. you'll now be using.

There are alternatives. Some were used before modern toilet paper made an appearance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVTRpTHPs3o

Advertisment flyers are still delivered in abundance where I live and only few of them are printed on glossy paper.

wiping your behind more than a couple times with advertisements and you'll end up sore. I have to go often and I can tell a difference between brands of TP even.

I'll try to put this in a way that's acceptable in mixed-company. I'm a practical person, especially when it comes to intimate apparel. Today I was having trouble getting the intimate apparel I usually buy. I'll try again, but I will have to go with something different if I can't find what I typically wear.

Jeanette Isabelle

Something I've always said for preps, when you buy your intimate apparel buy extra and keep those extra in a suitcase ready to go. This give you
1. extra to get through a shortage or tight budget due to job layoff or another circumstance
2. Evac time saves, NOLA type, or forset fire, etc where the authorities tell you to evac (or you decide to evac on your own) you don't have to worry about your laundry being caught up or finding and packing as much.

Most people buy their underwear and socks and such in packs (3,6, whatever). Buy an extra pack of each and store in your suitcase in case of evacuation. Then each time you buy new you put the new in the suitcase and take out what was in there, i.e. rotate stock.

I've bought extra intimate apparel, as you have said. However, what I wear now is wearing out faster than I had anticipated. Therefore I'm concerned that the extra I have is not enough.

Jeanette Isabelle

Went to Walgreens near us today. Halloween decoration shelves almost empty. Empty spots throughout the store in most catgories. Almost all the impulse buys shelves as you go though the checkout were empty.

I think part of whay we are seeing is a staffing shortage - not enough people to move stock to the floor.

Nothing big, in terms of shortages that matter to me right now. I can get all the grocery and food and fuel I need, on demand. That doesn't include my ample garden loot. TP is available too, so far. So basically, no empty shelves.

I do see a lot of businesses posting warnings that they can't get stock on many, many items, and may not be able to stock them for a year. So, there may parts etc. that I can't get due to the giant shipping snafu.

Also, the spot price of propane has jumped 300%. Hmmm.

A few years ago, I bought Mrs. Magnet a new car. Our favored local dealer had hundreds of new cars on the lot and a large number of used cars.

Today, they had less than a dozen new cars on the lot and just a handful of used cars.

Yes, cars are on the list of shortages. If they can't get semiconductors, they can't complete the build.

We wouldn't mind an upgrade for my DW's vehicle, now 10 years old and still reliable, but it's a lousy time to buy. Negotiate? Fugetaboutit.

Propane remains in very short supply here in the UK. It is much less used than in the USA.

Most UK homes are heated by natural gas, with oil being popular in rural areas without natural gas.
Long wait for heating oil deliveries, stocks are reported as being ample at depots, shortage of delivery drivers.
Coal is very little used these days, but is readily available.

For those who DO use propane, the shortage is a cause for concern.

There are a number of shortages of everyday goods in supermarkets, but no general shortages.
For example, locally no tinned beef stew was available. That however is not a FOOD shortage. Fresh beef available, though the choice is restricted. Other tinned meat products available, but again the choice is restricted.

It seems like we have to brace ourselves for an upcoming shortage of coocoo clocks from the Black Forest region. They lack clockworks, cast iron weights, paint and ironically wood for building them. They also seem to lack cartons for shipping.
I am confident that I will survive this shortage.

Over the weekend I worked at a "gun show" for a friend of mine and ran his table of gear for a little bit. He's in a related field so the promoters really like his little shop there - it's all medical gear and first aid stuff.

During my short stint at the opening on Friday (5PM to 9PM) I moved over four hundred bucks worth of equipment and supplies. I didn't get back on Saturday/Sunday, the traditional 'big' days but I understand my friend did really well at the show overall.

As for shortages - all sorts of gauze, dressings, pouches and bags in which pre-built kits are sold are all in very short supply and each month his costs are going up and availability of materials is going down.

The customers I interacted with included the buy a few things type who were adding or re-supplying kits they already have. However, the big thing to me were the folks buying completed "medic" bags and full kits of materials or getting a lot more than a couple of bandages for the car sort of thing. They were stocking up big time and were also telling me they really liked getting this stuff as they were having problems getting some if it locally. My take away is to stock up on basic medical gear, supplies and OTC medical while you still can.

Ideally, you will already have a robust inventory of first aid supplies, regardless of supply chain issues. no time outs are available when you are dealing with severe bleeding, blocked airways, etc.

Currently in Houston - no single servings of SPAM, no automobiles (new or used) at big car dealers, and no frozen turkeys.
-Blast

No SPAM?...who cares...

No wheat bagels and multiple Walmarts...

Many stores are having early Christmas sales. Take advantage before what you are looking for is gone. Supplies are limited and shipping times outrageous!

First they came for the Spam, but I didn't speak up 'cause I didn't like Spam ...

The position in the UK remains similar.

Shortages of individual foods but no general food shortage. Butter is short at present.

Propane remains short, even in Summer, as does kerosene. Neither is widely used.

One odd shortage is white coveralls. No shortage of workwear or overalls in general. My theory is that Ukrainians bought up large stocks for use as improvised snow camo. And another layer against the cold.

No shortage of goods on the consumer side here, except perhaps for big ticket items like vehicles.

Inflation is hitting hard, so there is a shortage of affordability, and in necessary foods not just junk food. I'm not sure how low income families are going to manage.

My (excellent) independent mechanic tells me that getting parts for repair is increasingly a nightmare. This is for North American built vehicles as well as others. Dealerships can't get them either. That is a concern across the board.

The sword prices have gone up. The Swiss Guard must be charging more these days to protect the pope with medieval weapons.

Hmm, not sure sword prices have gone up all that much. But I could swear they are shorter than they used to be.

I just tried to purchase an automated electronic defibrillator (AED, zaps one's heart, if needed), and shipping is listed as a 6-8 month delay. Time will tell.

I'm having trouble getting the shelves that match the shelving in my bedroom, and only one store carries them. They are available in Lufkin, the city next to my now permanent home, Nacogdoches, but are currently unavailable for shipping.

Jeanette Isabelle

Spot shortages of certain foods continue, but no question of any general food shortage.
Tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers are in short supply at present, some supermarkets are limiting purchases. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-64729317

I am finding odd stuff being "no longer available" such as my shaving soap, Williams, which has gone the way of the do-do bird and is nowhere to be found. The same has happened to some of the wife's preferred cosmetics - poof just gone and can't be found anywhere on line or in stores.

It´s not that odd. Stuff gets less popular or companies get bought by bigger ones.
They stopped producing Erbswurst when the yearly production was at about 450 tons. DeBeukelar got bought and the buyer decided that they do not need two brands of basically identic biscuits.

Products from certain brands currently are not available in the stores of some retailer chains. The owners are not happy with the pricing policy of the manufacturer. I guess that will change eventually.
Also it seems like swedes and turnips are in short supply while there is an abundance of other vegetables.

I went to three different grocery stores, including one with a whole aisle of hot sauce. I couldn't find sambal oelek anywhere. I'm having to make do with Sriracha and Crystal. How can they expect us to live like this??? No sambal oelek? O the humanity! The humanity!

You have my sympathy. Around here there is plenty of sambal oeleck (unfortunately none of the good stuff), very little of very mild sriracha and none of the halfway decent hot sriracha. Sometimes we have to make do with Tabsco sriracha. Ironically the Tabasco hot sauce is hard to get.
Rumor has it that in a few weeks asparagus might be out.

I'm having difficulty locating hot sauce, which I enjoy with my eggs.

Jeanette Isabelle

Today, I revisited Walmart to buy a few items. Regrettably, they still didn't have hot sauce, Kellogg's Special K, and only had one box of Cottonelle flushable wipes in stock. Consequently, I chose to order the hot sauce from Amazon once I arrived back home.

Jeanette Isabelle

Is a world without hot sauce a world worth surviving???

I made sure to prepare for everything, but I seem to have forgotten to include hot sauce in my list.

Jeanette Isabelle

Since "buffalo squirrel wings" are on my bug-in survival menu, hot sauce is indeed essential.

Cayenne pepper keeps better though.

I keep hearing from mechanics that some car parts are incredibly hard to get. Vehicles can sit for weeks/months, unusable. Not a happy scenario.

One more reason to insulate oneself from global supply chains in any way possible.

Modern cars are highly interconnected, meaning that if one function fails, the entire vehicle may not start. To avoid this issue, some individuals may prefer to drive a 1970s car with commonly replaced spare parts.

Jeanette Isabelle

Interestingly, despite the shortage of many other items, milk is abundant and therefore priced lower locally.

Jeanette Isabelle

I thought the hot sauce shortage was a supply issue for my local store. It turns out there is a much bigger problem. The drought in Mexico is affecting hot pepper production --

https://www.salon.com/2023/04/11/is-the-...e-answer-is-no/

Is a world without hot sauce a world we want to survive in?

While preparing, I realized that I had forgotten to add hot sauce. It's important to make sure that we remember all the necessities while prepping.

Jeanette Isabelle

The answer to the problem might be to DIY. I have a pending harvest of 4 jalapenos. Maybe I should turn them into hot sauce instead of just cutting them up and use them for a dish.
I also have some seeds left. Potted chili plants are fairly easy to keep.

There could be a scarcity of macaroni and cheese, chocolate chip cookies, milk, and cereal. Yet, I've been storing dry milk as a precaution.

https://youtu.be/BxVqmiCqYu0

Jeanette Isabelle

I visited Dairy Queen today, but unfortunately, they had run out of taco meat. So, I decided to order a burger instead.

Jeanette Isabelle

Wow, nearly all of it is stuff I don't eat. At least 50% doesn't seem healthy. ("Process fruits & vegetables"? No, thank you.) But I also recognize that there are people with very different eating habits. If food prices are going up as the video says, I'm going to be untouched!

I'm still waiting for Huy Fong to find a supplier for chili pepper so I can get my sambal oelek hot sauce.

Hot sauce shortage continues. Scalpers abound. I feel like we need to declare a national emergency. Is a world without rooster sauce one we want to live in?

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/foo...ce/70397038007/

With all respect, I'm not sure dripping irony increases the quality of the conversation here.

There are genuine supply chain issues that affect us all, or remind us of how vulnerable we are to disruptions that actually matter.

Neither taco meat or the hot-sauce-of-the-week qualify.

Do we want to build this forum or let it die? Our words will decide that. If nothing else, it is a repository of solid information. Unless the founder of this "supply chain" decides it's time to pull the plug.

I have observed that Dairy Queen could not provide a particular item on one occasion, but it does not indicate a widespread shortage. Nevertheless, it highlights that we should anticipate our preferred dining establishments to run out of certain items occasionally. Conversely, when peppers are scarce, it is indeed a shortage.

Jeanette Isabelle

I'd say the shortfall in hot sauce should be of interest even to those who do not use hot sauce at all, because it was caused by global warming. In the beginning the impact of such things may be visible only in "specialty" items like Sriracha hot sauce or Georgia peaches (2023 is seeing a 90% reduction because of higher than normal temperature). But one day we will see wide disruption in agriculture and our food staples as farms are forced to relocate further north -- if they can afford such a move & if they can find the land.

The French bread from the Walmart bakery seemed smaller the other day.

Jeanette Isabelle

This is what food companys do in my country when prices go up. They keep the same price of the package but reduce the content.

So for example: yesterday 500g of bread cost 2 euro. Today it also cost 2 euros but now it is only 400g of bread. A lot of people are fooled by this. They only look at the price and not the size of package.

We use the term "shrinkflation" in the United States when a product's size is reduced.

Jeanette Isabelle

Shrinkflation is prevalent here in the UK, my favourite chocolate biscuits now come in a pack of 8 for the same price previously charged for a pack of 9

Minor spot shortages of other goods continue, but nothing serious. Example, one major supermarket was out of own brand salted butter for a couple of weeks, plenty of alternatives though.

Propane is still in short supply, but is much less used here than in the USA.

Some cuts of beef are in short supply, but no general beef shortage.

Nestle tinned cream is hard to find, but not exactly a major food item.

Some NON FOOD shortages are being blamed on the war in Ukraine, white overalls (improvised winter camo) White latex paint (apply to sidewalls of tyres for winter camo) basic sheets and blankets, for hospitals and shelters.

Spot shortages continue but generally not serious.

No fillet steaks available from the nearest two supermarkets, but plenty of other cuts of beef and other meats.

Butter still sometimes short, I have not seen any store out of ALL butter, but the choice is often restricted.

Eggs also available but in a restricted choice.

Basic sheets and blankets still in short supply, plenty of full priced linens in department stores, but cheap government surplus and institutional blankets and sheets hard to find.
Due to the war in Ukraine.

The only more significant shortage is propane, this is much less used here than in the USA, but the situation is serious for the minority who are reliant on this fuel.

Today at Walmart, I purchased a bottle of cough syrup. I didn't mind since I needed one, but I noticed a sign stating I could only buy one without any explanation.

Jeanette Isabelle

Minor shortages continue of some goods, but nothing serious.
The shortage of basic bed sheets has made the news, with some hospitals running short. Used sheets are laundered and returned promptly, but replacements for those that are lost, damaged, or worn out are delayed.
Propane and butane have remained in short supply during the Summer and there are concerns about next winter. These fuels are less used here than in the USA, but the situation is concerning for the minority of rural households who are reliant on these fuels.

I have three full 19 kilo propane cylinders and one half full, for emergencies.

Spot shortages of butter and certain cuts of beef continue.

The only new shortage that I have noticed is of some frozen vegetables.

No physical shortages of goods or materials here. Mostly I'm worried about being run over on the road by an Amazon van delivering stuff.

There is a shortage of "affordability" though. From groceries to housing, urban folks are under some pretty severe stress.

I am fortunate to have a buffer to all this, even though I drive a 10-year old used car. For a several decades, I have done the same as my pioneer grandparents -- my long-term "preps" involve growing a ton of food, building soil fertility without supply chains, and sharing surplus with my multi-skilled neighbours. I also have more wood than I can burn, and the skills to use it. It doesn't solve everything, but I certainly sleep better.

It's strange. Our local Ollie's, a surplus store, has ample sheets. However, these sheets have patterns and are not solid colors like the ones in hospitals. Does that make a difference? Nonetheless, if I were a hospital running low on sheets, I would use whatever is available.

Jeanette Isabelle

Hospitals need sheet that can washed at 90°C for hygiene reasons. Patterned sheets often require lower temperatures.
Patterns may also hide leaked bodily fluids. That can be bad thing.

UK hospitals used to use plain white 100% cotton sheets, more recently they have changed to cotton and polyester also in plain white.
Generally vigoursly washed in very hot water, They last on average for about 100 cycles of use and laundering before becoming lost, stolen, ripped, damaged, or stained irrecoverably.

Patterned sheets are avoided for the reasons already given, but could be used in an emergency.

Hospital sheets are usually longer than those used in the home.