What are you prepping for?

[AuntBess]

There's a thread elsewhere talking about a huge prepping thread and I couldn't locate it to research my answer so I'm asking.

What are you prepping for?

Of course, I understand prepping with a few bottled waters and canned food for extreme weather scenarios etc, but apart from that, what else is there to prep for? Furthermore, nothing is ever so bad in the UK that you'd need more than a few weeks supply at the very most!

Shit, sorry Athrawes I completely misread your post

that ZA has its own acronym now. And that I knew what it was!

Fuck I feel like a complete shit now, I am sorry Athrawes. :(

I shall take myself and my shitty sore throat to bed before I get the arse with another poor innocent.

Not in uk- day to day prep for minor power outages (ie carry torches, building with generator, usb back up battery and small solar panel), no running water (keep 20+ litres of drinking water + filter). Cash economy so keep reasonable amount of spare money at hand in different currencies, conflict in some parts of country though no direct threat have some security prep requirements like a radio walkie talkie, supposed to have ready go bag of imp documents and basic gear.

In another place lack of fuel and crazy inflation meant many basic goods were totally unavailable or v expensive at times and mobility was a problem so we had to maintain reasonable stores at home.

Apart from whatever the current context requires, and I'm still learning (can finally cook on the stove again today after four days without gas..) I do think about sustainable living and the need to work towards a low carbon footprint, the growing food and fuel crisis, building up self sufficiency life skills- maybe learn some basic plumbing, more about car mechanics in case of a roadside breakdown, even sewing.. There's a lot to learn- would rather do it while I have the time rather than last minute during an emergency.

The lack of running water is also just occasional and temporary btw. Don't want to mislead ppl into thinking I already have a primitive lifestyle- mod cons are currently all in place :)

Terror attacks where we have to move on quickly.

I live near as in at the end of the runway a major airport hub in the Middle East. Slightest hint of an actual issue anywhere in the country, I'll grab the clutch bag that's in my safe, which is in the under stairs cupboard by the door, and be off. We also have a tent in the boot of the car and plenty of water if air travel isn't an option, and a friend whose boat is moored nearby and well stocked.

My grab bag includes passports, UK driving licenses, a few grands worth each of euros and U.S. Dollars, birth certificates and marriage certificate.

I also have a pashmina that lives in te car and a jumper, so I have a makeshift headscarf Incase the need to be fully covered (like if I somehow end up in Saudi, or Islamic militants take over - may help me last that little longer till I can get away).

The biggest problem would be the pets - fine if we need to get in a car or on a boat, not so fine if we need to get on a plane. Id be utterly devastated, and I know I sound heartless I'm nice really but human survival is key.

My safe is also 2 hours fire proof. So all documents should be ok in case of fire. The building is fully sprinklered so should be controlled easier, but I'm happier that my passport is in a fire proof safe

My freezer and tin cupboard is also stocked for in case there is any type of embargo on imported products, or we get cut off due to flight/airport attacks. The country produces very little of its own food, so this is definitely possible. We could go, I reckon, 4 weeks on the stocks in the house. It'd take a lot for something to last that long and for us to be stuck here and not evacuated by the foreign office.

I'd also say to other expats - make sure your details are up to date with your embassy, so try can contact you in case of troubles. I'm not sure how much that would actually help, but it makes me feel safer that my address and contact details are logged so someone will be looking for me.

Stratter5 and Athrawes

Stratter5 don't let the arses on the AIBU thread get to you. I was always expecting some sort of backlash with a Preppers Board-just not quite so swiftly and in aibu, I thought it would be on the board itself! Which is why, mnhq didn't give it to is lightly, I would imagine. But along with the verbal putting the boot in by some posters, there were also a quite a number who were saying "hang on, I thought what a load of worrying nonsense prepping is BUT I can now see - thanks to you - having some extra food in and supplies is actually a really sensible thing for me to do. So I shall"

Great result, right?? After all that's pretty much all I'm doing (at the moment, although will be extending the stocks from the great ideas on this board) at the moment.

We have our board, and it's great. . Someone on that thread sneeringly said they would be surprised to see this board still active in 6 months time; I think she's wrong, I think it will be very active continually. And that's without any crisis necessarily happening in that time.

SteveBrucesNose you sound totally in control, very impressive. I think the pets thing would be heartbreaking; we have dogs and my prepping includes about 6 months worth of food for them. They would last longer than us! Hopefully you won't need to put any of your plans into fruition.

I'm in my late 50s and my dad was in the forces. I grew up with him able to tackle any and all emergencies that came our way, and I saw him help and plan and act to support our neighbours who hadn't got a clue. He talked about how and why and what to do, and I learnt.
So yes, floods, snow, extended power cuts, trapped on the motorway, no money available for a month. I'm prepared.
He'd be very pissed off if any of his children ran around flailing and wailing in an emergency.

SteveBrucesNose - impressive though it does make me wonder what country you live in to have such a detailed emergency evacuation plan at 'the slightest hint of any issue anywhere'

stevebruce I'd completely forgotten but my cousin and his family were living in kuala lumpar 15 years ago and twice flew out on twenty minutes notice to go to the airport due to civil unrest. Nice gentle euphemism that one.

I am visiting you thanks to the AIBU thread (as I hadn't heard of Preppers before). I think that it mostly sounds very sensible and it has spurred me into wanting to make some preparations- for power cuts and in case of heavy snow being the main things.

The country has been warned many times about the strain on the National Grid and the possibility of power cuts, they have told us how we were lucky last winter was mild. This winter could be a harsh one, which will mean power cuts so it IS sensible to be prepared.

A couple of years back we had a power cut on Christmas Eve- luckily ours came back, but other places near us (and not remote places by any means as we are in the London commuter belt) were out for several days. Anyway, at a basic level I was annoyed because I didn't have a battery powered radio so I couldn't listen to the local radio station and find out what was going on. I did have a fully charged phone, but if it was a longer term power cut, my battery would have run out and I would rather save the battery if I needed to call people than to go online. We now have a battery powered radio.

I was also unfortunate enough to be in London on 7/7. With all the transport out, I was trapped as were thousands of others. Hotels were full. I had no idea of how to get home. Luckily a colleague did know the way to walk to a mainline station and which trains to catch to enable me to get home. I would now always like to have worked things like that out for myself if necessary and also have (a) decent shoes to walk in (b) drink and food in case I had to walk home/ walk a long way to the nearest transport/ wait a long time. I no longer work in London, but could still get cut off due to snow or an accident and so would want to have a blanket, provisions, decent footwear and a book just in case (and a snow shovel and some cardboard).

I haven't made all these preparations yet, but the other thread and this board have made me think about it and it is very sensible to do (and I will start today!)

I am not preparing for an end of the world scenario.

I AM preparing for:

• fire (evacuating flat quickly)
• water cut off (happening for 48hours last year)
• power cut
• transport problems meaning I have to walk home
• supply problems (DS's medicine was out of stock in over 15 pharmacies last year, so now I always have 2-4 weeks supply)

A long term power cut in winter.

Without electricity, I wouldn't have a working boiler for heating and hot water. A lot of people would also lose the use of their landlines. Anything that relies on an electric switch or a charger, basically.

Illness
Bad weather
IT problem causing banking problems
Power/utility cut

No for Zombies or the apocalypse here.

Stratte5 I hadn't clicked those other threads were cod till you pointed it out. So obvious now. How ironic that someone who seems so put out by a niche board was so heavily involved in the nichest board of all.

Sorry, my apologise then. So prepping has feck all to do with the end of the world and no one even has thank in mind? Bizarre, the other thread was adamant you wanted to be world Heros.

I must admit, I'm a little arrogant towards prepping and that's purely because I've lived in London and now in Essex all of my life. The most I've ever had to deal with is chilly and slippery walks to town

Lol, AuntBess I used to live in Essex. I can think of 4 separate occasions that we got snowed in, once for nearly a week. Plus the big storm, which caused chaos, and depending on where you live, it can flood really badly - Google the '53 floods.

I haven't really checked out the topic yet, but in our case I'd think of it as preparing for rainy days - literal and metaphorical. Either a few days of disruption, or a few months of having very little money.

Both of those are relevant to us, as we live in a place where there are frequent power cuts and - whilst we've never been completely snowed/flooded in, there have been periods of a few days where taking the car out to the nearest town for shopping would have been dangerous. At times like that I'm glad of my candles and torch batteries and tins of soup. I even had to crack open the bottled water not long ago when our supply went dodgy. And with dh self-employed and me mostly a carer, we sometimes have cashflow problems. So we try to have a savings buffer and mortgage overpayment reserve in case clients are slow to pay at the same time that the car goes bang.

If civilization broke down we'd be fucked, but I think trying to avoid that would only prolong the misery. We do have good neighbours with a generator and guns so I suppose the best we could do is keep on good terms with them

Knowing and getting on with your neighbours roundandround'is one of the best prepping things you can do Imo. Very helpful, if not essential!

I live and work in central London. I carry a large tote to work which has work papers but also

-a light wool blanket
-water
-protein bars
-paracetamol
-small first aid kit
-comfortable flat shoes
-rain poncho
-extra power pack for my mobile
-address book with all the important numbers
-blister pads

I also got caught in the 7/7 bombings. Some of the above came in very handy.

i do it because i am a worrier and it makes me feel a bit safer. prepping is either some you get or you don't. i can see how it looks to non preppers but tbh, i don't really care how it looks as it is a private thing and is nothing to do with anyone else. it is a tiny part of my life, i don't live and breathe it. it's not something i discuss however it is great to be able to discuss it with like minded people here on MN towers. i guess i have seen far too many disaster films. i have issues with feeling safe, have had since i was very little so natural progression for me to be a (mini) prepper. I do worry about situations when store shelves may, for whatever reason, be emptied. i like to feel that i could provide for my dh & dd, even if it were for only a few days...

That is the thing though. Nobody knows about my long life milk etc in rl. It's nice to exchange ideas and information on line anonymously.

Personally...

• Minor things like the water going off short term. I use a wheelchair and cant get out alone, so couldnt go to collect from 'officials'. If i have my own few bottles, they can spend more time looking after other vulnerable people
• Snow. I live on a hill.
• Power going off for a bit. I have torches, candles, blankets (gas heating relies on electric ignition) and a gas camping stove if i got sick of cold food, as well as an analogue phone that i can plug in if needed. I have family members who work decomissioning nuclear power stations and they are worried enough about the power for me to pick up on it
• DWP or the bank deciding to not pay my money in for whatever reason
• any minor local epidemics. I am immunosuppressed so much easier to bunk down than risk going shopping

For any of these, i try to make sure i never have less than a week of meds for myself, again, not because the PTB couldnt get them to me, but because i like to aim to be one less thing for them to worry about!!