I'm a prepper. Ask me anything.

[bellinisurge]

Prompted by me sticking my beak in on a few threads to do with making personal preps for Brexit, I've dug out my tin foil hat to invite you to Ask Me Anything. I'm sure other preppers are more kick ass than I am but I can answer based on what I do.

@anniegranny - no dogs. A rather stuck up cat. My in laws have a dog. My dd set up a FaceTime/WhatsApp between them recently- you can, or rather shouldn't, imagine.
I know that Having a dog. Usually a scary snarly one is a prepper thing. I don't do that. My in laws dog is also a bit rubbish at scaring people.

I have extra food/litter and a bug out bag for the cat.

How long could you survive with what you already have? I’m thinking of stocking up on some bits as I expect Brexit to have a few crappy months at least.
How do you rotate food? Like if you have 6months worth of soup do you eat the shortest date and replace? How do you store and preserve your home grown stuff? What do you use dehydrated food for? Are you worried about canning ineffectively and getting ill? Do you have children or pets you have to prep for?

@Greenyogagirl - at best, we could go a couple of months.
I imported an All-American Canner . It's great although I admit to being a bit scared of it - how tough am I?
I dehydrate stuff too - 1960sHikerDude on YouTube has some great ideas.
I grow veg but obviously that isn't self sufficiency level. I have e.g. some yeast flakes in that vegans use .
I have stuff for my dd and, yes, the cat.
My parents were the wartime generation so making do and finding alternative forms of entertainment are not totally new to me.

@Greenyogagirl - I'd plan for us to make soup with what we have rather than eat from tins. Or a mix of the two.

Thank you

Great thread OP really interesting.

Do you ever think 'what if I get to 90, about to die, and no shit hit the fan' ?

Thanks @BadderWolf .

@PamsterWheel - same as house insurance really. I'm quite happy not to be burgled etc but have the insurance.
I see prepping in the same way. It's insurance. And then I get on with enjoying my life.

@Sarahjconnor - I agree about skills. And local knowledge. Which is why I always think that older people would be among the handiest people to know and have a good relationship with. So I'd be more likely to help out an elderly infirm neighbour than a young fit one. If I helped anyone at all.

@PamsterWheel - I recognise that preppers are generally seen as doom loving social conservatives (that's being polite). Some American channels are full of contempt for anyone who isn't a white conservative man. And some UK preppers copy that.
Not for me.

Also @Sarahjconnor , take a look at OffGrid with Doug and Stacey on YouTube. Really engaging practical people.
LizZorab on YouTube - UK small holder - is a lovely person too. Very encouraging.

Thing about prepping is that a lot of people who scoff imagine us gearing up for apocalypse type scenarios. Whereas I prep for:

• water shortages

• fire/other reason to evacuate home quickly

• transport problems. I always make sure I have shoes I can walk in. Last Monday when the French football team came to Paris there were major public transport problems. I ended up walking a hell of a long way home. But no blisters (although I did have blister plasters in my handbag just in case)

• supply shortages. I keep well stocked food and medicine cupboards. It gets used and replaced

• electricity cut offs

Not applicable to me but if I lived elsewhere I'd prep for snow, flooding etc. All things we've seen recently

What do you keep in the bag you’d grab if you had to get out quickly?

Thanks @Bellinisurge. I always meant to get some life straws for travelling. I'm sort of envious of people who have had experiences like yours of martial law - if not the experience itself, at least the mental resilience and perspective it must give you. My exH is from an eastern bloc country which collapsed in the 90s and I always admired the way those tough experiences made him physically courageous: small things like not being bothered when walking past a big group of hoodies or lager lout types, who would make most people nervous. I don't think most cosseted middle class English people could cope with much danger or adversity, as much as we like to romanticise WW2 and the Dunkirk spirit!

I have 2. I will grab the small one first.

The small one:
Important documents, external hard drive with all our photos, list of important phone numbers (insurance, bank, family, friends, etc.).

DC's health book and our family book (both essential here). Our passports.

Cash and an A-Z of our city.

Windup torch. Survival blankets. Rain ponchos. Mini first aid kit.

A life straw and water purification tablets.

The big one:
Change of clothes each, windup radio, water bottle, biscuits. Nappies (until neither child needed them). Baby wipes. Tissues.

To be honest, I really need to check both of them and check I have everything I need.

Some preppers have proper bug out bags with camping equipment etc. but I don't.

What set me off was reading a post on MN years ago that said "Imagine you were standing in the rain in the middle of the night watching your house burn down. What do you wish you had with you?"

Sorry for hijacking OP

No problem @SnowOnTheSeine . The point of a bug out bag or a go bag is that it's personal to you. I have zipped "modules " in mine - just some cheap zipped bags. One for first aid, one for clothing, one for food, one for "communication ", that sort of thing.

@Agustarella - you cope with what is thrown at you. Having that ability in "ordinary " life is handy. I think people are stronger and more resilient than they give themselves credit for because they haven't had to test it much.
I've been through a phase in life when I was fearful of lots of things. Prepping has helped me with that.
As for the proverbial "people in hoodies ", I just try and keep a low profile and not be noticed. That and a stout pair of shoes.

@SnowOnTheSeine - I have a pill holder on my key ring with a rolled up £20 in it. I used to have a secret £20 stashed in my usual bag. Whatever works for you.

Good answer! 😁

From a storage point of view, my dad turned his kitchen cupboard kickboard thingys into pull out drawers that were the perfect size for tins.

Nice idea @Exploring