I've got it all wrong

[Lollypop27]

There has been a few ww3 and prepped type threads in main chat the last few days. And I have been reading and watching a lot more about it.

I have a huge stockpile of food and extra blankets, water, wind up radio etc but I I have it all wrong. In my head when I think of war I think ww2. Now I'm not glamourising it know what a truly horrendous time it was... but That's how I seem to think it will be. Me making do and mending. Being the good little housewife who cooks from scratch and sits and knits in the evening by candlelight. In reality if ww3 (which I believe is already going on in some places) hits the uk I'm screwed. I am actually petrified.

I am on a few U.K. Preppers Facebook groups and the stuff they talk about is eye opening. I don't know how to defend myself or my family!

Get off the websites is my advice....

I know not with what weapons WW3 will be fought, but WW4 will be fought with stones and sticks.
I believe that was Einstein.
Maybe avoid the more extreme prepping sites, I agree.

Some groups on Facebook are extreme.

A book a lot of us have read on here is powerless: the year he lights went out

That's a really good read for considering a terrorist cyber attack on the power grid (something I think will happen)

Also look at 'blackout' on you tube. Very chilling but realistic

I came to this realisation that we'll be unable to prep for ww3. Like you, the keeping the home fires burning and making do and mend will probably have no place in the next world war. I'm concentrating my prepping efforts on less apocalyptic events.

Although my specific worry is an economic global collapse, in which case stocking up and concentrating on paying off debts etc, is still very much relevant.

Lolly

I can't be reassuring, I'm afraid.

Keep smiling for the sake of any children or youngsters in the family and buy some decent whisky in case you get 20 minutes' (or so) warning.

I'll be honest. If it's nuclear war I would just pray you are one of the first ones to go.

No way would anyone in their right mind want to survive a nuclear attack.

Watch Threads or The Day After. Both from the 80s and absolutely chilling.

It's best to prepare for short term blackouts, floods etc. Nothing globally disastrous is worth surviving.

Are you, Lollypop27, sure it's a good idea to hang around on those Facebook groups you mention? Bertrand is probably right... get off those sites. I haven't seen any of them but can imagine people start to theorise about this or that unlikely event, I saw a TV program once about some UK "preppers" and it seemed a bit off the charts, one guy had planned to swim out to an island where he had buried some tins of food, etc. ... Personally I'm only on some positive FB sites people posting nice countryside pictures or pictures of things or animals that may cheer you up, etc

In defense of prepped groups you will always get the extreme. But a lot of them are just ordinary people who are stocking for when shtf in a normal
Family way. I

A lot of those groups can be very extreme. The main posts can be quite jolting but often the comments below them are more useful and balanced.

Stocking up still has its place if only to provide a buffer of food incase of economic collapse, cyber attacks and job loss. Making do is very useful in adding to savings, paying down debts and providing a bit of a buffer.

If it should come to nuclear war, walk toward the cloud. The only thing to fear in that instance, would be surviving.

Learn some skills and get fit, it gives you something to concentrate on, keeps your mind of the notion of WW3 and is still proactive.

*off the notion

"Walk toward the cloud". Urgh. Makes sense, though.

OP I think the trouble with this topic is that it can eat your brain. There is so much stuff out there to read and some of it is very extreme. If you are even vaguely anxious as a person then it can actually become all consuming.

I prep on a fairly low level (I'm on this board quite a lot under different user names). For me that means that I have a decent supply of food (about 4 months at present) and water in the house, I have decent camping supplies including lamps, solar chargers, water purifiers etc, the house is secure and we have back up power (for us a large wood supply which would mean we would be warm and could cook - and if I get a small back up solar panel we could have hot water too due to the way our burner works). We have cash in the house just in case, OFRS stuff within easy reach (although no longer packed since tbh in 99% of scenarios we'd be better of saying put) and cars are always kept well stocked depending on the season and with a good level of fuel.

This means that we could cope better than lots in a reasonably foreseeable "disaster scenario" e.g. power black out or contagious illness scenario (and actually in those scenarios your "make do and mend" skills might be reasonably useful to an extent). As others have said, who would even want to survive an extreme nuclear scenario?

I don't think that in this country there is an awful lot you can do to defend yourself since only a very few have guns and they would clearly have all the power. You could only realistically be sensible with your supplies and have back ups stored in different locations/not advertise that you have any.

Sensible, 'do-able' approach, I think.

I’ve watched a few prepping videos on YouTube but I wouldn’t go near an actual FB group. Step away from the extreme things and stick to general prep for a buffer against things like job loss.

Then maybe continue to build up food reserves and clear debt.

As has already been said, there really is bugger all we can do to prepare for WW3.

From what I have read and seen on the nuke maps, unless you are near a big city or defence base you probably would survive nuclear attack.
If you try and survive and it goes to pot and you end up suffering, I would take a load of meds and end it. Better than maybe not making it to the cloud and dying more painfully??