For general preppers - what lessons, if any, have recent events taught you?

[bellinisurge]

Like most general preppers, Brexit related issues are just another thing for me. It has been interesting, though, to reflect on how robust my preps are or what I might have overlooked/put too much emphasis on.
Lessons for me?
Vegan cooking options from shelf stable food.
Keeping friendly and civil with useful people locally whose views I disagree with in private.
Be adaptable because curve balls can mess up the best plans
That kind of thing...

And you?

Not (yet) a general prepper.

Keeping up to date with medicines and building up a buffer would be my need to learn skill. Sadly I am not doing very well at this given we keep getting ill and life keeps dumping stuff on us.

I really need to think of our general preparedness which is patchy. Autistic children need more consistency and working out what works for them in an emergency situation is worth doing.

I think I will get some sort of storm kettle, finally get round to replacing flask and buying food flasks.

I spend several days muttering about a certain poster's ( ahem) advice about filling the car up because I know they are right but it really isn't my favourite job.

Vegan cooking... Reasonably good at that need to increase repertoire to find stuff ds will eat as well as dd. Save doing two options. Also reduce the reliance on freezer veg and go with store cupboard only.

Ways of grouping, storing, and stashing different products and foods.
Now Brexit has been delayed, I can think about a more logical system.
I’ve also created a series of lists that I can add to and tick off.

I haven’t really Brexit prepped - been a general prepper for years. But it’s made me think more about non-essential preps. Things like keeping up to date with dental/eye care, getting long term things sorted (replacements for gas fire, minor car repairs etc) when I have the funds, rather than waiting until I need it.

Stores wise I think it’s proved I was ok in the first place and nothing there has really changed.

That prepping has now become something the mainstream are more aware of.
Before the recent Brexit related interest, the majority of people didn't really seem to think there were many preppers about, or that they were easy to spot with their camo outfits & tin foil hats.
Staying way under the radar was easy.
Now the general public who have prepped even 2 days worth of stuff (which lets be honest is an amount no serious prepper would even count as preps) have realised that a prepper might look just like them.
It's harder to be grey now.

it’s got me thinking more about the “long slow burn” scenario - I was fully prepared for an instant SHTF scenario of bugging in vs bugging out; or the instant problems like house fire or powercut - but Brexit has got me thinking about things like what if i’m Still expected to get to work but there’s no petrol available? What if there is food available in the supermarkets but it’s severely restricted in quantities and arriving at certain times? What if I can get prescription meds but not things like thrush cream or cough medicine?

I’ve been spending lots of time building up family fitness by going on walks and bike rides. As well as being great fun, it’s building resilience for if there are petrol shortages but life is still more or less going on - what if we want to go visit friends or family?

I do worry. I store things, then I realise the latest crisis hasn’t kicked off. Then I remember that woman in Japan befire Hiroshima who ate all her stores just before they were bombed, so I have to get more stores...

I do have a really emergency collection of things I don’t like to store in case of emergency. God willing, I never have to turn to them.