To be disturbed by the "Prepping" board.

[TheoriginalLEM]

Is this a thing now?

Is there really a need to be stockpiling food, medicines and creating a bolt hole?

Am i missing something? Seriously (this is not a light-hearted thread), i suffer from anxiety and this is really disturbing me.

Hopefully people have just been watching too much walking dead.

It's not just power cuts or being snowed in (although I've had to deal with both and was thankful we had supplies in), but also illness. A couple years ago both my little ones came down with chicken pox. First one, then about a week later, the other one. Over two weeks of contagious chicken pox-y dcs, so we were pretty much housebound. Thankfully, I had plenty of supplies in the house and didn't need to worry about getting to the supermarket or trying to organise an online shop. We've had the same situation occur with a stomach bug that went through everyone in the house last year.

I like being prepared so something like that won't be any hassle to us. It's not hurting anyone else, and it makes life easier for us when it's needed.

Moneysavingexpert has an ongoing yearly thread called "Preparing for Winter" that is hugely popular and has been running for years.

but not quite sure why it would only be rural people that need one for that.

Because people seem shocked that people may have something I. Their house that's also a weapon

I can never find a torch with bloody batteries in. Maybe I should start with that and see how I get on.

People are having power cuts for 5 days plus all over the place. Likewise being snowed in for a week, as my parenrs were not long ango. I also genuinely believe it is important to lessen reliance on fossil fuels, as there will come a time that it will be scarce to the point that we may struggle. What you think is up to you, my opinions don't matter a jot nor hurt anyone else, hence my not understanding why the other topic brothers people so.

Power cut concerns www.theguardian.com/big-energy-debate/2014/oct/14/-sp-how-close-uk-power-blackout-energy-data

We have an axe and don't live in a rural area. Our garden had some trees that needed to be cut back (and eventually down) and we did it ourselves using an axe years ago. Axe is still in the shed. It's not like it's disposable, so there it sits. Not sure why having an axe is a issue.

It's a shame that we are incapable of having a PARD about this subject, or even that so many people are not content for preppers to exist and talk to each other.
How if we just keep our chit chat and recommendations on the topic MN gacve us and don't mention being prepared for possible emergencies on all or any of the other boards
Do you think you could all hold back on the accusations of mental illness, being ridiculous and generally vile specimens of humanity?

We have an axe, and a gun. Neither used for anything remotely 'preppy!' We are rural though o guess.

Not sure why having an axe is a issue.

It's not, that's the point.

We've loads of axes and 4 chainsaws and several guns but we use them so we need them.
If you don't need them don't buy them

Lived through natural disaster. Looting. Power, water off for weeks. Nowhere to shit but a hole in the garden.

Our emergency kit was fucking wonderful, esp. Gas stove & sanitation stuff. Oh, and drinking water... ran out v quickly (a very kindly former colleague dropped us around several huge bottles, along with breakfast foods, uht milk and nappies for my newborn... or, honestly, we'd have been a bit effed. There were twelve of us in a little bungalow- two families displaced because our houses had collapsed).

Even when some of the basic shops opened up to sell non-perishable items, you had to pay by cash- cards wouldn't work as no electricity. Almost NO ONE had any cash, as we were so card dependent.

Oh, and when a sibling developed a tooth abscess, it aS bloody GREAT to find that another family member had chucked an unused jar of antibiotics in the back of the bathroom cabinet.

Why you'd mock people for taking simple steps now in order to make life more bearable if the worst happensis beyond me.

By the way, we lived in a very civilised, pretty town on a famously friendly country. The looting and violence was unbelievable.

I've got a hand axe and a felling axe, but then my dad used to take us on wood forages to see how much free fuel we could collect. He taught me how to use them both, and I inherited them when my parents downsized.

I have three different types of cheese knife.

And a grapefruit spoon.

That article says the risk is small and based on a number of things all going wrong at once.

I am happy to ignore the minute threat of a prolonged, nation wide power cut and if in the unlikely even that it does happen, your neighbours with gas ovens will cook for you. Really they will.

If you live next door to one of the twatty, every man for himself, tory preppers I will cook for you. Bring chickens and wine

In the event of localised power cuts I am certain that outside help would be sent to those in the most need and no-one would be hacking their neighbour to death in order to steal their gas bottles.

Its not twatty to have the every man for himself approach. While I would share if I could and it wouldn't affect my own chances of survival, I wouldn't save another life over my own. That is a perfectly legitimate view to have the same as the "I would rather die than let someone else die" approach. Neither is twatty it's just different approaches to a situation.

I have a gas Aga. But it still needs electricity to run (as we discovered two weeks ago). As does my gas central heating.

But I am prepared for that.

AllOfTheCoffee my neighbours with gas cookers live about 15/18 miles away from me as there is no mains gas here......

Our village was cut off for 5 days in 99 or 00, and that wasn't a bad winter - in 63 apparently it was awful.....

In about 04/05 we were expecting the Broads to flood - which would have put us on an island, at the time I had a boat on the drive,but I haven't now (maybe I should rethink that one)

My parents & G'ma were stuck on the M11 for nearly 11 hours and my G'ma was very ill- someone was giving out bottles of water thank goodness

My gas oven needs electric for the clicker thingy, but I can use matches if I accidentally soak the clicker thingy while cleaning it and it takes a week to dry.

I learned that last week.

Thanks LEM for starting this thread. I too have anxiety - often fixating on zombies and the collapse of civilisation (I know, I know and I am getting help!!!) WAs too afraid to click on the topic and just feeling worse and worse, but am very relieved to find it is just people being prepared for mundane emergencies rather than a community of enlightened ones waiting for the end of days! Can't wait to boast about my feeling the fear and doing it anyway approach to my psychologist next month explore the dynamics of fact finding and my coping skills. Thanks LEM and all the sensible tongue in cheek preppers. Smiling to bed.

I can never find a torch with bloody batteries in. Maybe I should start with that and see how I get on.

Get a dynamo one from Wilkos. Costs pennies and you just wind it up to power it.

I was once plunged into darkness, literally pitch black, while doing the dc's teeth. I knew exactly where the torch was - in the kitchen - which (we have a rather long house) was along a long landing, down the stairs (with stair gates), and then through another room. I had to negotiate this without being able to see a thing - leaving the dc in the bathroom- and with various horror film scenarios going through my mind.

That was fun.

Thanks to the religion I was raised in, I grew up in an extreme prepper household.

The basics were - a 72hr emergency kit for each family member, and two years...yes TWO years supply of every essential that you need, stored in the attic or cellar of the house, plus sufficient camping gear and knowledge of how to use such stuff efficiently.

Frankly, having emergency kits, camping gear, and a reasonable supply of necessities is sensible, no matter where you live.

I'm quite appalled at the posters who think it's big and clever to throw vile names and mental health insults towards other posters.

"I'm quite appalled at the posters who think it's big and clever to throw vile names and mental health insults towards other posters."

Me too.