More people starting to prep

[aimee309]

Hi. Do you feel more people are starting to become aware and think about prepping? Ty

I saw yesterday that fuel and mIlk have the shortest odds for being the first thing on ration (yes, people are betting on it) but it was followed by something saying that we have petrol here but import diesel. We also have surplus milk but a deficit of cheese and butter. I think milk always suffers from panic buying regardless of the surplus.

You can’t stockpile petrol though, unless you want your relatives to read about your final moments in the newspapers

I make sure I have never less than half a tank of petrol. If it runs out, I walk or I don't go anywhere. But I can say that because my parents are dead and my siblings are either abroad or too far away. I can work from home rather than commute. In the unlikely event the power goes, I won't be able to work and my office can't function.
My in-laws are a walk away. My DD's school is a walk away. Shops are a walk away but as I am a prepper, I plan to avoid shops where I can.

I've been prepping since December (slowly) and hadn't heard of anyone else mentioning it outside of MN.

However, now I know at least three other people that are prepping. I suspect more are that just haven't mentioned it.

We've been stocking up on dried foods/tins/household items so far. Have also purchased a breadmaker.

I'm waiting to see what happens next week with TMs deal and then her 'Plan B' three days later. If it's still a shitstorm we'll be ramping up to getting a second freezer in the garage for protein and frozen veg and getting a couple of Jerry cans of diesel.

Thanks for the info re cash, very helpful. It occured to me that cash for petrol might be very useful; again I can see card machines going haywire over panic buying there. And as I'm the nearest member of the family for an elderly relative I'll have to take over the schlepping up the motorway rather than my mum who usually does all the daughter-like/power of attorney duties, since it'll take me less petrol.

What about prepping for the car? I'm already stocked up on de-icer, antifreeze, etc, and we carry snow shovels/blankets/flasks/cereal bars as soon as it looks like a few flakes might turn up; it's very hilly here and easy to get stuck. DH's route home is closed at least three times every winter we get snow. Is there anything I'm missing?

Torch
Books
Emergency power bank for mobile phone
I have those emergency foil blankets as well as wool blankets.
Spare gloves and hats
Bottled water

Make sure some food and water is in the front. If you are in a standstill traffic jam on a motorway, it’s still not safe to get out and get food from the back.

It’s a lot worse if you’re sitting hungry!

I know this isn't the point of the thread, but WHY ARE WE DOING THIS?

Is this how it feels to be a lemming?

Prepping generally and prepping for Brexit are not necessarily the same thing. People with absolutely no interest in prepping are thinking about (and actively) getting preps together for Brexit. And other people, like me who are preppers generally are advising them on here. Prepping is just an easy shorthand word for what people are doing for Brexit. The question of whether we are making a Brexit catastrophe a self fulfilling prophesy by prepping is an interesting one. I don't think we are, we are just being sensible. Nothing would make me happier than for people to send unwanted stuff to a food bank because it turns out we don't need it for Brexit. Being wrong and having egg on my face would be brilliant.
However, I doubt most people prepping for Brexit are turning to full on prepping for grid down/ possible bug out etc scenarios because a) this is unlikely with Brexit and b) that's not something they are looking at because they aren't into prepping per se.
If I can dare to use an analogy, it's like learning to check your oil in the car and your tyre pressure because that could be handy but not learning more about being a mechanic.

Bellinisurge - yep, you have just described me and my Brexit prepping!

Many thanks for your advice on this and other threads, by the way - very useful indeed.

You are welcome TopicalUseOnly

I think it's becoming more mainstream, I've wanted to do it for a while but DH has never approved. Brexit is kind of prepping lite though.

Brexit is kind of prepping lite though

See that in itself is an interesting comment about prepping and shows the perception of "preppers". Do people think that those in the UK who would say they prep have bunkers and garages bursting with food and supplies? We really don't. We tend to have vegetable plots, full pantries plus a bit extra stashed, and lots of candles and batteries! All fairly normal stuff. We just maybe tend to think about these things a bit more than most.

I would say Brexit is the most significant event requiring prepping for a very long time. I would regard myself as a medium level prepper in that we always have the ability to cope with a few weeks of self sufficiency if that was absolutely necessary. But for the past couple of decades or so there has not been any real imminent need. Possibly the potential impact of swine flu ten years ago was the last spike? But Brexit issues are currently a very real potential problem which could have an enormous impact on people's day to day lives. I would say Brexit is 'full fat prepping'' territory rather than 'prepping lite'. This level of ramping up is not the norm.

I guess I consider it prepping lite because it's a shorter term prepping and because we are expecting to still be able to use our freezers.

That said I guess it's a spectrum, I ended up binge watching preppers while cluster feeding so I'm kind of biased .

It is entertaining to watch those types of programme. We once looked at a house which had a bunker and a panic room (we didn't know it had either when we viewed it). It was fascinating and a bit freaky.

In case this hasn’t been mentioned, today’s Financial Times mentions MN preppers on the front page and most of page 3 is devoted to prepping. Unpredictability is the general theme.

I have started to prep for a no deal Brexit. Last week my husband was about to throw the bread maker out and it got me thinking. Never done this before, so read through a lot of the posts to get some ideas. Not sure how long our stash would last, but as many have mentioned it will give us a bit of breathing/planning space. As we are about to enter the usually coldest months of the year, I do worry that bad weather and Brexit is going to create a perfect storm. I also believe that next week will see a lot more people preparing.

One thing I did add to the stash was tortilla wraps (they have an August date on...goodness knows what they are made of) and I thought they would be good to stuff full of leftovers.

I have spent an hour this morning auditing my supplies as I’ve been buying for a little while now.

Discussing Brexit with friends and one mentioned that she’ll have to start getting a few extra tins of beans in. When I said I’ve been buying a bit extra for a while she immediately replied “maybe I should start doing the same”. We both live in a big city and I don’t personally believe it’s crazy or silly to prep, for me it’s sensible as the next chapter is unknown and quite scary.

I’m really chuffed at what we have so far and makes me feel we will be okay for a little while if it all goes tits up. Still a few bits to get, but I’ll be buying long life milk this weekend before the vote and butter, having found out I can feeeze butter from this thread! Thanks poster who mentioned that 🙌🏽

We have just done our first prepping shop after chatting about it for a while. Brexit is the catalyst I guess, but it crossed my mind as I thought about it more that there are lots of reasons to have a few days of food about. I have a restricted diet for medical reasons so availability of food is something I worry about. I now feel a bit silly for not doing it before to be honest.

I would definitely say we are small time preppers at the moment. The aim being to have essentials for a few days or to supplement available food in a shortage. It's only a small amount but I feel much better knowing if there are issues with supplies or we can't get to shops I have nice things I can eat (including chocolate and coffee). We're also planning on getting a bit of cash out and keeping it somewhere just for emergencies.

As someone mentioned above I suspect more people are just putting a few bits in a box somewhere or making sure the cupboards are full, but not mentioning to anyone else.

We always keep at least half a tank of fuel in the car. For us it’s more to avoid being stressed at running on fumes with no petrol station in sight.

I think more people are beginning to prep, even if it’s just a few bottles of milk and some bread in the freezer. With all the press coverage and commentators saying it will either be perfect or anarchy it’s not surprising that some people are trying to be ready for whatever the future holds.