Stacey Dooley: Face to face with Armageddon

[Doingreat]

It's on bbc iplayer right now.

Has anyone watched this programme about people prepping in case of natural disasters, nuclear war, 9/11 style attacks? Does anyone think this is a sensible approach or ott?

I did find it made me anxious that I would be woefully inequipped to deal with any sort of emergency situations.

Haven't watched it but I'm a prepper. I prep for likely scenarios like power cuts and being snowed in - all of which I have had. Sadly, impending Brexit chaos means I prep for keeping my family fed, watered, warm and safe through any impending shit following that. We can survive in our house without "the Grid" - power , water, food at supermarkets etc for a month or two. Maybe more.
My preps would cover more dramatic stuff. I've given thought to nuclear Armageddon. Only because I am old and this was part of my teenage years.
I live in a part of the world, NW England, that has seen terrorism on our streets.
But I don't live my life expecting Armageddon. That's stoopid.

The way I see it, the unexpected is just that and while you can prepare for many things, prepping for the temporary or permanent collapse of civilisation probably isn't worth it. The kind of situations that would render such 'action plans' relevant would probably also render them obsolete as let's face it, most of us will not survive a major catastrophe - that's what makes it major - and you can't prepare for all of them at once as they cancel each other out - for example, what if you prepare your tinned food underground bunker to avoid nuclear radiation and instead it gets submerged (along with the rest of your town) by a huge tsunami?

Really, life is too short and too inconsequential to devote more than a minimal proportion of it towards its preservation.

Not much you can do but I always like keep at least 2 months supply of staples in the house just in case (rice, pasta, tinned fruit,veg dry goods and other stuff). I also have an outline plan how to escape my city /home in a crisis and what to take for a weeks unscheduled homelessness. The car is always kept full of petrol. Admittedly the safest place in a real crisis is in your own home and neighbourhood . running to your heavily armed and fortified bunker in the hills is unlikely to happen or be any better for most crises.

Just taken a peek and all the jars of food are stored wrong. You don't leave the rings on and you don't stack em on top of each other.
Stacey does a programme on CBBC - show me what your made of- she gently takes the piss out of teenagers that are freaked out by anything that isn't in their comfort zone. Maybe she needs to accept not being in her comfort zone too.

This!

Really, life is too short and too inconsequential to devote more than a minimal proportion of it towards its preservation.

You don't leave the rings on and you don't stack em on top of each other. why?

Well, if you leave the rings on the vacuum seal you created might get damaged and you wouldn't know. It can unseal and reseal and get contaminated.
You don't stack them because that undermines the seal by putting exterior weight on it.
It's a pain in the arse but it's more of a pain to lose what you have canned in jars.

This is the UK. Considerations here are different as is the gun culture. I agree with a pp. Plan to stay in, stay anonymous and keep your head down. And have some stuff put by to feed your family, keep them warm and entertained in case you need to hunker down for a while.

You don't have to be a shit kicking redneck that lives in a bunker armed to the teeth and not letting your kids play.

Oh I see! Thanks!

It seems there is an element of scaremongering and profiteering from companies who are selling the survival gear.

I found it difficult to understand the logic of the family who live miles from civilisation.

Absolutely. It's a big problem in US. Particularly as it is being wrapped up in religion and politics.
But there are plenty of sane prepper voices in the US as well - Prepper Pot Pourri, Prepper Princess, Sutton's Daze, Praxis Prepper.
I watched the rest of the programme during my lunch break. It seemed a bit exploitative to be honest - let's all laugh at crazy Americans.
Canadian Prepper does a funny skit with a guest appearance by his alter ego the All American Prepper.
Taking the piss out of yourself is an important prep. As is letting kids do something other than prepping. Preferably anything other than prepping. If they learn some handy skills on the way, then great.

Yes and no. It can be completely bonkers, and I think prepping for a non-specific may never happen mystery event is a total waste of time. We used to live in the hurricane corridor in the US though, and in those circumstances it's prudent to have a 2 week supply of food, water and candles etc. In fact I think it's state legislation in some areas.

I agree @FenellaMaxwellsPony . Trouble is a lot of people just assume that any kind of prepping is tin foil hat territory even though everyone does some kind of prepping if they, e.g. buy insurance.
It is utterly prudent to plan for bad weather if bad weather is common for you - snow in my part of suburban Manchester, for example.

The cultures are different, like we laugh and mock them but many live in hurricane belts etc.
Also the gun culture there means in a survival situation there can be a lot more violence.

I plan to keep enough food to feed us for 2 weeks minimum, have rain collectors, off grid electric etc

I couldn't sit through a Stacey Dooley documentary, however IMO really life is too short to be getting obsessed other things that might happen that are totally outwith your own control. I guess if it makes some people feel more in control then fair enough, I can understand why some people behave like this. I prefer to try and sort things that are within my control.

I think bellinisurge has a very prudent approach to prepping which seems reasonable and not ott in the least. I think this would be a good level of prepping for any of us to aspire to without allowing it to completely dominant our lives.

Thank you @Doingreat .

@luckycat why don't you like stacey dooley documentaries?

I live in London and have no idea how I could live off grid!! Might buy a few extra tins of beans though...

@Doingreat - are you in a flat or a house? There are bits and bobs you can do either way.
A mini camping stove used carefully and a hot water bottle or two. A head torch wrapped around an four litre milk bottle filled with water and pointed inwards so the light diffuses through the water in the opaque bottle.
Better than nowt.

I have about 300 bottles of wine stored around the house. I also have at least 4 corkscrews. I am well prepped me.

Probably have some dry crackers somewhere if I get peckish

Oooh I do love her so will give that a watch!

I have one of those big bottles of water in case for some reason we need it.

That is all.

And it's years old. But figure it's been sealed the whole time. Maybe I should replace it though?

If I know a big snow storm is likely I'll stock up.

Beauty of living in the U.K. I guess.

@QueenDoris - that would be called "morale boosting preps" - just don't tell your neighbours. Sounds like a plan.

@PoxAlert - get some extra bits of stuff you actually like.
Sometimes you need to have an emergency binge watch of something.

Thanks bellinisurge. I live in a flat. But I will do a mini prep with torches and hot water bottles etc. If only to feel more in control if nothing else. Which, I suspect, is one of the reasons many people prep in the first place. To have a bit more control in situations beyond their control.

I watched it. Was struck by what a sad existence it seemed. They're basically living like doomsday has already happened anyway. I wouldn't want to look back at my entire adult existence and realise I've been simply surviving, not living Iyswim. Ultimately if it happens yes they've got more supplies and are more prepared than many others but the kind of scale they're preparing for, would I actually want to be alive for that anyway?