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.

Living in the centre of London, I don’t see a huge amount of point in prepping loss other than a few days water and some dried or canned food.

I see the intense prepping in others in more rural areas as almost a hobby or interest - the act of doing it, thinking, planning, sharing ideas and being resourceful - it’s a life enhancing thing I imagine, which staves off anxiety and develops news skills and knowledge in a very satisfying way.

But ultimately I think it is unlikely to make a massive difference to survival beyond a few weeks or months.

@Urbanbeetler - even some water and food for your family for a couple of days is a good idea. I'd recommend an A-Z. Obviously it's entirely up to you . Take a look at Urban Prepper on YouTube. You might find the odd idea that works for you.

@Urbanbeetler - and CityPrepping on YouTube too.

Have you read plenty of apocalyptic and dystopian literature, OP? I have and frankly I would rather die than be raped and slowly eaten by other humans who have resorted to cannibalism. Wouldn't you?

@RhythmStix - not my bag. And I have a kitchen knife.

@RhythmStix also I'm big with the running away approach.

Really interesting thread, thanks bellinifor starting it.

I don’t think of myself as a prepper because I haven’t addrssed lots of the basics (water storage, toilet, a way to cook when power goes out etc), however I do like to keep a good selection of tinned and dried food, and candles on hand.

I grew up in a village without a shop, and having a well stocked larder was less about being snowed in, and more about having the ingredients to bake a cake if we wanted to without having to make an impromptu half hour drive to the shop first.
Also power cuts were quite common during rainy season!

moving to a city and realising lots of people rely on being to shop anytime was very surprising! As you say, even just being ill if living alone for a couple of days, you would want to have food in the house!

Will you be disappointed if nothing bad happens and you don’t need the stuff?

Have you read up on foraging, and can you source and recognise edible (and poisonous) plants and fungi? Do you have fishing rods or nets, and do you know how to fish? Can you find edibles on a beach, in rockpools etc.? Do you make your own alcohol, or could you? Can you start a fire without matches or a lighter? Can you open a tin without an opener?

I'm not a prepper, but I can do all of the above, just because I went through a phase where it interested me :) First sign of social collapse, and I'd be off out to the nearest unpopulated area - where I'd probably freeze to death, not having read up much on wild camping!

@mimibunz nope. Why? Should I be?

@FurryDogMother I can forage a bit and I can light a fire without matches. As for the rest, a bit with a book. Which wouldn't exactly look cool but ...

I love this thread. Before I had DS I vaguely thought about prepping but on a zombie/apocalypse based scenario. Now I’ve got DS and am on a much lower salary and both mine and DPs jobs are reliant on tourism as an industry. I do worry about post brexit so have started growing veg but we live in a tiny house with a postage stamp backyard.

If shit really did hit the fan DP is an outdoor type and we live pretty rurally. We could bug out to the mountains and DP could take care of us.

I also sometimes worry about natural disasters. Or village has flooded before and it’s also not impossible for us to be cut off by snow. Landslides could theoretically happen.

Every now and then I worry about the things I used to worry about before DS, like intruders. I have a bug out bag in the boot of my car and always keep my keys in the same place. I also have a sling for DS who is two - mostly for leisure purposes but a small part at the back of my mind likes to know that I’ve got it in case we need to make a break for it

@theanonymum1 - good idea to think about stuff that could happen but don't be consumed by it.

This is really interesting! Have you made a conscious analysis of what would go missing in which kind of crisis, or are you prepping for a general type catastrophic event? Obviously a nuclear event would need a very different kind of preparation (bunker type location etc) from the kind of food rationing which we can expect post 'Independence Day"? 😩😩

Do you have bottles of iodine and gentian violet? When anti-biotics go, cease to become efficient, what are your plans?

@PestymcPestFace - I have those. In a country I used to work in, gentian violet was regularly used.
Obviously we need antibiotics. Hygiene and cleanliness is part of the battle against infection in tricky situations. And yes, I have some fish antibiotics (a prepper thing). I entirely accept that infection is a danger - I have MS; it's a danger now.

@Pinkbatrobi I look at the most likely problems. I know that any interruption to the supply of food and water for whatever reason is something to prep for as best I can.
Preppers think about less likely scenario s too. For a possible EMP e.g. from a sun burst, I have some electronics that I think are important in a little faraday cage - phone radio torch in cardboard protection inside an old saucepan that is sealed with aluminium tape. Whether that would save them or whether I even need it, I dunno but it sits in a corner of my garage and didn't cause me any expense or aggro.
I had bought a cheapo sun oven- basically a bag lined with reflective material not a fancy one. In the recent heatwave, I tried it out. Made delicious pasta sauce.

@Pinkbatrobi I lived a country that had some rationing while I was there. This wasn't a country that, at the time, had a "Just in Time" economy. Everyone sort of worked with it and around it - people fed me from their stash with fruits and veg - I had no support network and people were very kind. Storing eg the winter harvest was pretty normal.
I would plan to be as unremarkable as I could if we end up in a similar situation- using rations etc. As mentioned earlier, I would only help anyone who could help me.
But I hope those theories and plans are never tested.

I’m not consumed by it at all, I hope it didn’t come across like I am I just have these thoughts that slit through my mind every now and then! It’s much more on my mind now that financially me and DP are going to struggle over the next few years, so I like to think we can ‘prep’ a bit for that.

@theanonymum1 - my apologies. I suppose I can't tell from people's posts what is the level of intensity in their thinking. I'm really keen to encourage people to be level headed and practical about prepping.
It can be pretty scary and people can get themselves wound up with it. I want people to ignore what is , in effect, the male (and too macho) domination of this concept and to encourage them to think about what prepping is reasonably suitable for them. Anything is better than nothing. Even thinking about it is better than ignoring it or dismissing it.
Hope I didn't dishearten you @theanonymum1 .

And a bold text failure

Do you have a list for my emergency box?

I have
Candles
Matches
Wind up torch
Wind up radio

I think what you should have is personal to you.
Food, water, light, heat. Don't go mad spending money.
Food? Something you add hot water to, for example. Or even just some energy bars.
Water? Cheapo bottle from Aldi or similar. Rotate it.
Light? Head torch is good because it keeps light when your hands are free.
Heat? Even cheapo hand warmers are a good idea.
Jumper/hoody. Spare knickers and socks.
A multi tool is a good idea generally. If you don't have one maybe someone can get you one for birthday or Christmas.
Scale it up from there as suits you.

A wind up radio is always handy. Make sure you know where your local radio station is on the dial.
A permanent marker is handy generally and to write it on the back.