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Where to start?

10 replies

Panda90 · 30/05/2019 12:00

Want to start prepping but not sure where to start? How much food should I stockpile? Is it mostly tinned and dried food I should stockpile? Should I store it separately from the food in my kitchen? What is a good system for stock rotation so food doesn't expire? What other things do I need that isn't food related? Should I get wind up torches and wind up radio? Thanks

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bellinisurge · 30/05/2019 15:31

Ok. Take it slow. A good place to start is to imagine that you have to hunker down at home for three days.
Some countries like Sweden, Switzerland and Germany recommend a couple of weeks if not more to start.
No zombies. No nuclear war. Just good old fashioned power out/snowed in/water off.
I'm a general prepper rather than a Brexit prepper. The above is general prepper stuff.
Then think in themes and affordable projects.
There's lots of American shitkickers on YouTube but , surprise, surprise, it's usually the women - like Prepper Pot Pourri - that are the most sensible and undramatic.
Don't chuck money at unrealistic things.
If things get tricky, chances are most people with kids would prefer to stay in place. You might find "homestead type" prepping more useful.
Think about growing some veggies. This time of year is still ok to start. Keep that simple too. In my little patch of garden years ago I grew spinach and tomatoes- these also work in pots. Salad stuff right there.

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bellinisurge · 30/05/2019 18:09

If it's just Brexit prepping there's loads of threads on this.
I've been boring everyone with this:
I've been trotting out an "imagine what you need if you are snowed in for three days" thing for months now on here. Freezer/shelf stable versions of what you actually eat. Do more if you want, don't do less.
Include hygiene needs. Include pets. That kind of thing. It's a good place to start and is affordable if you do it slowly.

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Panda90 · 30/05/2019 18:40

bellinisurge thanks for the reply. It's more of a general prep incase of things like a natural disasters like floods etc. The place I'm in flooded a few years ago and the power was out for days, luckily I had a gas hob on my cooker and could light it with matches. Do I need to prepare incase the water is cut off or the gas? What do I need for that? I have some candles, battery powered torches, extra batteries and matches for power cuts, thinking of getting some wind up torches and windup radio as well. Anything else incase of a power cut?
For food I'm thinking of getting a few months supply of the tinned food and dried food that I use. Thinking of maybe using a spreadsheet to keep track of it all and keeping track of the use by dates.
For hygiene I have a few months supply of toilet paper, and a couple of extra bottles of shampoo, shower gel, handwash and toothpaste.
Wondering what medication to stock up on like painkillers etc.
I have a small garden, I could test my terrible gardening skills by growing some tomatoes or something in a pot.

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cranstonmanor · 30/05/2019 18:43

Do you have a barbecue? That would help if it's just for a few dats/ a week. Not to difficult to do.

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cranstonmanor · 30/05/2019 18:44

You can also buy water purification tablets or waterbottles with filters that you can drink natural water. Although DH always has a rotating stock of six big bottles of water. I like that we have water but I don't like the plastic waste so not sure how I feel about that yet.

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Panda90 · 30/05/2019 20:09

Thanks, Bbq is a good idea, will add to my list of things to look into getting. Where do I get purification tables? Do you mean brita filter type filters? Not so keen on getting lots of bottles of water because I won't use and yeah the plastic waste.

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bellinisurge · 30/05/2019 20:19

Amazon. Dirt cheap.

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bellinisurge · 30/05/2019 20:24

Also - hard rolling boil for 1 minute. Filter through T-shirt first before boiling. There are other ways but these are some easy ones.
Try to add some bushcraft and/or first aid skills to your preps. Knowledge and skills are a good prep.

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BlackeyedGruesome · 31/05/2019 21:12

if you are flood prone, keep some stuff upstairs.

back up photos on more than one device, think which things need to be out of theway of flood waters.

do you have a flood plan? barriers, one way valves on your plumbing?airbrick covers?

theft: back up stuff on phones and computers to somewhere safe. (I email stuff to a friend and have photos at mums and home.) l

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Socksontheradiator · 01/06/2019 12:18

I know people don't like the plastic waste with water bottles, but i think it's worth having something in place in case of disruption to your water supply. We found out first hand just how quickly people will start fighting when our small town had 2 days without water recently. Bottles were being given out in a local car park, by local council i think. There were long queues, and people did start squabbling. I keep emergency water now, plus purifying tablets and a purifying straw.

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