AIBU to think my friend is overdoing emergency stockpiling?

We don't camp, but we use our stove on day trips etc, but I agree not everyone has one just happens most people I know do, partly because of their pursuits and also family in rural area prone to intermittent power cuts. But I agree not everyone has them. We also have a firepit and large store of wood.

Anyone doing it sensibly is only stocking up on what they would use anyway, and using and replacing so they're constantly rotated. That's what I do; most of the tins in my store cupboard (its a normal sized kitchen cupboard) are tomatoes, tuna, sardines, rice pud, beans, soups etc. Then its pasta, rice, cereal, cereal bars. All are currently dated between 2028 and 2030. As I rotate they just become later dated.
Edited to add: I only store enough for about 2 months at the moment. Beyond that imo we'll be in a long term war situation and that is hard for anyone to prepare for in realistic terms.

We have a camping stove and gas canisters - the trouble is that they are not the same ones that run the weed burner & oldest sons steam engine otherwise we could rotate them.

Large store cupboard that we rotate stuff through so we could survive for a week or two in a rather strange diet.

So who stores petrol or diesel then or has a generator??

Someone at the Model Engineering club has two Lister D's - small petrol engines that farmers etc used before mains electricity came along that he has set up to charge batteries, he was accused of being a 'prepper!'

I think having a camping stove is sensible and thought most people did.

Why would most people have a camping stove?

We don't camp, nor do most people.

We do, however, have a firepit/small barbecue and loads of charcoal.

I think having a camping stove is sensible and thought most people did.

We were without power for five days after Arwen.

Have also seen us go a week without deliveries to the shops. Storms are predicted to be bad this year.

I’m genuinely worried about vulnerable and disabled people that I know of. I cannot look after all of them and I’m not sure how bothered some of them will be, but it’s a worry that I’m going to have to discuss with local friends over the next few weeks.

This is a great plan because the news this week is worse than the usual doom and gloom.

So when you see people proudly showing their food stores, and saying they have enough to feed the family for a year (or two), how do they manage the storage? Do they eat the oldest stuff and replace it with fresh, or do they chuck it when it reaches 2 years old, or do they just keep accumulating more and more. I don’t fancy living off 2 year old food to avoid wasting it.

I'm not 100% sure what you mean, but some people including me are preparing for possible (not inevitable) power issues, extreme weather, cyber attacks. Some of us do it anyway if used to power issues in bad weather or in very rural areas. I personally am not talking all out war and a Walking Dead lifestyle as if it went on that long all bets are off, really.

One advantage of getting in supplies for longer is that you'll also have enough to share a certain amount with neighbours, who may then be able to support you in other ways. That's valuable for anyone who lives alone.

The government has recommended having 3 days food and water in.

Flour was also a nightmare - I ended up ordering in from a company that supplied restaurants who had pivoted to consumer amounts. Odd looking unbranded bags but the contents (plain and self raising) were fine at a time flour was completely unavailable at 4 separate supermarkets (one large, two medium sized and one small) near me.

What have I missed ? Don’t read the news anymore as it’s all doom and gloom

Yep, there was still plenty of shops that had food. The only thing I remember being hard to get was yeast but I didn’t want it.

Yabu imo, she needs to prep as best she can

Next months food shop is ASTRONOMICAL for me but I need dd to be looked after 🥺

After seeing the massive power blackouts in Spain last year, we also keep a battery-powered radio and torch in a handy spot. That's the only specific "prepping" I've done.

We generally have enough shelf-stable food in to survive for a week or more, and I replenish regularly, but none of it is specifically set aside for emergencies.

I live in a town with probably hundreds of shops within possible walking distance. It would be an unprecedented level of disaster if there was over a week where I couldn't buy enough food to survive. If a disaster required six months of stockpiles, I'm not sure how keen I'd be to survive that long anyway!

Not made any plans to stockpile anything.
Is it going to end up like Covid when there's no toilet paper or pasta to be found anywhere?

I’m a prepper. I prepare for anything that I think could credibly happen. Power cuts. Hot summers. Winter weather. Cyber attacks. Occasional disruption to supply chains. I do not assume I’d be living off tinned food for six months, and I don’t have bottled water. (I do have a hiking filter system and some water butts).

I do make sure I have a month’s worth of coffee available. It’s all about priorities.

🫢

Why?? Am I missing something too....??

Hmm

Well I didn’t have anywhere to put it.. I had a big lounge 🤣

There is nothing wrong with being prepared, that's why we build retirement funds, pay insurance, practice fire drills and such.

Being also house ready is good too, as long as you aren't just willy nilly buying shit.
Storms, war, cyber attacks, serious income stopping accident/illness, and bubbles bursting happen every day to someone somewhere, and it might happen to you too.

The key is to only buy in what you actually use, and then to use it, regularly. A stock should be rotating, not kept for ages.
First in, first out, nothing perishable in the stock should be there more than six months.