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.

Actually, the fish antibiotics were from a website recommended by UK Preppers Guide. I don't visit either regularly but I must have been in that sort of mood - camo lovin'. Not really my thing, if I am honest.

Thank you. I have viewed the Christian woman prepper on YouTube. She suggests exchanging rice into a glass jar and placing in some moisture resistant packs, where do you source these?

Hi @ClicketyClackDroomDroom - amazon sells them.

The only war story (not from the UK) one of my grandmothers ever told me, that she swore back then that never in her life would she go cold and hungry again. :( I don't believe she ever did, luckily. They were never rich, but always warm and always had food when my DM grew up, during and after rationing.

But it does show how when things are not going well, it really does focus your mind on those basics: food/drink, warmth, safety. And I guess that's what prepping is about, too.

@GoneWishing - focussing your mind is a good way of putting it.

GoneWishing my late father said the same, only for him it was cold, hungry and wet. He said he could cope with any two but not all three.

And my mother told me about her father and his sister during the Depression. They were orphans and when bread was handed out he would put out one hand in front of him and the other hand out from behind another child. That way his much younger sister got more than 1 piece of bread per day.

I used to keep a stock of food and medicines when we lived in an earthquake zone. I was so glad of it, and the separate garage, when a sever quake struck. I have a small amount of extra food here, mainly because of personal financial instability.

Bellini, how do you feel about preparing for a very specific event by utilising one's own personal storage system? I am of course referring to my Brexit Belly - worth a good 4 weeks if it comes to it

Trouble with relying on your ... ahem ... personal storage is that the best way to cope with a nutritional or stressful challenge is to be pretty healthy in the first place.
I've seen people kidding themselves that facing tricky times would be ok if you are already carrying extra weight - more to burn etc etc. It's not realistic. It's a myth.
I'm not saying you should be a gym bunny or whatever but the better your physical shape and overall health, the better.
I have MS so I already have a series of setbacks that others don't have. All I can do is work with what I have.
And yes, I love chocolate and crisps.

Not bad! www.snopes.com/fact-check/survive-without-eating-382-days/

I take your point @LikesAnimalPark but your body works better with a regular intake of half decent nutrition and, if things get troublesome, you will certainly need to do more manual labour.
It's important to keep a level of fitness (not gym bunny if that's not you)and good eating habits.

How do you prep for disruptive hot weather? Like those forest fires in Greece now, or an extended heatwave like the Russian in 2010?

How would you have handled, with your current preparations and skills, the Eyjafjallajökull eruption in 2010, if you and your family had been on holiday in, say, Greece when the eruption broke and all aircraft were stranded?

@387I2 very interesting question. Living in NW England, I hadn't put that sort of thing high up on my list of likely things to go wrong. Until the moor fires quite near me. Near enough for it to badly affect air quality and have me wondering if we'd actually have to leave.
I have face masks - not scary full face ones but more than paper.
I'm good with "grey water" because I needed to be able to get at least two uses for one lot of water in a country I used to live in.
I have a supply of bottled water that I have been building up over the last few months- my late mum had a damaged water supply in her town a year or two ago.
I have stuff on hand if we have to leave in a hurry.
I use blinds and curtains to keep the house cool and, air quality and ease of access permitting, have the windows open at night.
I'm in my 50s so random feeling hot is kind of part of the deal. I have at least one wet flannel on me at any given time.
I work from home and got a cheapo air con thing but I know that it has many shortcomings.

@387I2 you also asked about being stranded abroad.
Paper maps. Flat shoes. Plenty of water. Photo ID and the numbers of local embassies/consulates - I have personal experience of needing this when I was younger.
Also an emergency phone in a mini diy Faraday cage set up.
And an SW radio that I've had and used since I was about 20 - 30 odd years.

I have general policy of sussing out where the nearest church/place of worship is when I'm in unfamiliar territory . To ask for help and f desperate.

What do you think is the psychology behind some people’s hostility to prepping? I’m thinking of the various Brexit threads and also when the Preppers topic started up a couple of years ago. People were disproportionately affronted by the thought of a complete stranger buying an extra tin of beans. Of course they’re free not to prep if they don’t want to, so why do you think some people get angry about others doing it?

I have been careful on other threads not to alienate people and to focus on just getting 3days worth of a buffer in. Obviously, I do more but if I piss people off then they won't get stuff in.
There's an assumption that preppers are hysterical right wing nut jobs with guns living in bunkers indoctrinating their families with creationist apocalyptic rapture shit.
There are, I assume, people like that but I'm not one of the them. Doesn't mean I don't see the need for being more self reliant and reflecting on likely negative scenarios.
As for the current- it's unpatriotic to think Brexit will be a disaster... don't give a shit. To be blunt.

Because people are alarmed/amused by prepping and are posting on prepper topic as if it is (yet) another Brexit one, I'm reviving this AMA.
Tin foil hat still at the ready ....

Do you keep go bags? If so, what's in them and do you rotate contents on a regular, seasonal basis (hats and gloves in winter, suncream in summer)? What supplies do you keep in your car? Thanks

I do have a go bag. I focus on modules for fire water food clothes etc. If I can be bothered to remember , I rotate for summer and winter.
I have stuff in the car - standard Euro stuff (actually needed it recently!). I also have a radio, torch, glow stick, towel , baseball cap, energy bars, and hoodie. As well as spare shoes with socks - that my dd needed recently.
I have sun cream in the glove box and always have water.
I have some Kendal mint cake which my sceptical husband was grateful for recently.
Because I have MS, I have a shewee! But never needed it so far.

Oh yeah, I have first aid stuff too. Tend to need that a fair bit - we are out and about a lot.

Thanks for doing this thread, OP. You mentioned fish antibiotics, earlier. Do you need a vet prescription for them and how do you work out how much to take?

It's a real "buyer beware" one this one.
I have MS and infections can be quite serious for me - they can have a knock on effect of an MS relapse which can have an unpredictable path. I guess I was having a "what if" moment and being a cliche.

Of the top of my head @PositivelyPERF , I can't remember. I have notes somewhere but I regretted it as soon as I got them. I bought them via a suggested link in the UK preppers' guide website in one of my less chilled out moments.
No prescription needed. However, they are not medicine to take casually and it is important to take the right type for the right situation.
My anti infection strategy would be very focused on hygiene and clean routines. Prevention So these would be hugely last resort or even barter material.

In other words, I got them. I'm not sure it was a sensible thing. You don't need a prescription. Do lots of research as to whether they are appropriate. I am not comfy with this prep and, as with all medical stuff I advise looking to appropriate and verifiable sources. Not Dr Google.

A practical question: what kind of an alternative cooking method would you recommend to someone who doesn't have a huge garden or lots of storage space for fuel of any kind?

@GoneWishing - I don't have a huge garden or loads of storage space for coal. I'd start with our camping stove but obviously the canisters won't last forever.
I know how to build a rocket stove - my Dad built one back in the 70s and we have some bricks literally lying around.
I'm going to try my hand at Dutch oven cooking- got a cheapo one from eBay.
Also bought a cheapo sun oven off eBay which worked surprisingly well in the heatwave. Obviously, this is the uk so heatwaves are rare. I'll experiment with it in autumn too before the cold gets too much.
I have bought a sack of charcoal dead cheap which sits in the corner of our garage.
I bought a wonderbag (again - I got a discount). Once you bring stuff up to temperature, it sits in the bag at that heat for however long you need it to. Saves using fuel on simmering time etc. And can be kept indoors.
We have a fair bit of wood nearby and I know how to collect and process it.
So - that is what I would do. Not superb but I am fairly confident I can heat stuff up in a small area. Again, we would need to keep an eye on whatever fire we get going.
Not perfect but not floundering.

Good stuff. :) I'm going to look out for end of season deals on small camping stoves. A few canisters I could easily store.

If the SHTF, I have transferable skills! You mentioning your rocket stove reminds me I was once involved in a "practical experiment" in one of those historical re-enacment villages, and among other things we built an oven out of the local clay... Let's hope it won't come to that, as much fun as it was!