Thank you Preppers

[LittlePrepper]

I only started reading the prepping board last year when I was worried about a no deal Brexit. Using the advice here, I created a little pantry and began making sure my freezer is fully stocked at all times and that I always have a few packs of painkillers.

I am so glad now that I did this, as I haven’t had to deal with the stress of going to the supermarket and finding everything I need gone. I have probably enough food for a couple of weeks if things got really tricky.

I will always be a (very small scale) prepper now, its a damn wise thing to be!

Thanks to all of you for sharing your tips on here, stay well everyone.

[FredaFrogspawn]

I also learnt a lot from these boards. I live in a tiny London house and have been careful not to overload but am very grateful for my extra essentials keeping me out of crazy shopping scenarios.

I’ve always though the preppers here defended their actions calmly and with confidence when invaded by harsh critics.

And yes indeed - the preppers are not the ones causing shops shelves to empty. The very opposite.

[DontBuyLangClegCashmere]

Morning,
I hardly ever visit here as I didn't think we'd need to for Brexit (and I'm usually a very much 'wing it' kind of person) but my husband a few weeks ago suggested getting a few extra bits, just in case.

So (nearly a month ago) we got loo roll, tins, dried goods, nappies, meat and milk for the freezer, I've even bought a few extra onions potatoes and prepared for the freezer, and extra flour (we make our own bread).

So I don't feel we have bulk bought or panic bought, but I am seeing a lot of hostile sentiment on twitter and here about all these 'awful panic buyers' and I wonder - am I one of them? Where is their difference between panic buying and prepping?
I didn't go and clear the shelves anywhere, is that the difference?

Thanks for all your posts, preppers, when I have visited I've got some good ideas and tips.

[LunaDeet]

A big thank you from me as well. I prepped for Brexit and am so happy to have full cupboards right now. We went to Aldi this morning and it was honestly like The End Of Days! I won’t be making that mistake again. We can live off of what we have in for a good few weeks.

[Fivefourthree]

I'm grateful too. Although listening to some people complaining when I was out just now, I'm feeling just a touch guilty.
I know it ridiculous, because many people complaining now would have laughed at the idea of steadily prepping a year ago.
In fact I mooted it in real life a few times and got lectures about scaremongering.
So relieved not needing to shop at moment.

[Aerielview]

Thank you all, and especially @bellinisurge. Ever thought of starting your own prepper blog or website? I think you would do really well!

[bellinisurge]

Thank you @Aerielview .
No I haven't because I prefer to nick all the hard work done by other people .
It just happens to be something I've been interested in for a while. As Brexit, and specifically the risk of No Deal Brexit, was starting to trouble lots of posters on here (not the politics although I'm a gobshite on the politics threads) I realised that I and others had some ideas that might be practical and useful.
People find tbe idea of "prepping " a bit off putting because they think it means camo wearing, gun toting, tin foil hat merchants.
I hope people are starting to realise that it doesn't have to mean that . And you can apply some prepper ideas to make them fit in with your life and your circumstances.

[Speminalium]

Another adding thanks. Brexit supplies slightly depleted but so calming to have the drugs, loo roll, bread flour etc ready to go. Not needed to go to a supermarket since this kicked off, and had pre booked Ocado weeks ago when this all kicked off. I can sleep better thanks to these boards (about supplies anyway!) Anyone offer any reassurance re NHS please?!

[Twenty2]

I'm also a prepper-light, stocked up for brexshit and still have loads in; could do with more butter, possibly, plus bits like toothpaste and contact lens solution, as I used up my stash of those. I had a Sainsbury's delivery yesterday, which was pretty much our normal stuff and the driver remarked it was one of the smaller orders he had that day - and we shop 4-weekly! This thread actually inspired me to get out the dehydrator and do one of the two punnets of mushrooms I got: top tip, use an egg slicer to slice mushrooms, I thought it was so cool! I'm a bit of a saddo.

[KedsAndTubeSocks]

I'd also like to add my thanks. We're in quarantine and have loads of protein & carbs, and just enough veg. I'll be learning lessons from this and making sure I'm even more organised in future. I may buy a second chest freezer.

[Bitsinboxes]

A thank you thread is a great idea! I wanted to say the same for a while, so thanks also to OP for the opportunity. I have lurked on the board for a couple of years after finding it a wonderful source of info for home food growing and preserving but didn't feel I had anything useful I could add myself.

I think it has subtly been a good influence on my shopping habits though, as we had a situation some months ago where we missed our online shopping delivery due to being in A&E for hours with one of our children and I was able to say "Never mind, I think we can make do with what we have already until the rearranged delivery slot". That really surprised me, especially as we are dealing with multiple dietary requirements in the family. Of course, the children have developed a cold with a temperature as soon as the rules on staying home were issued and again we are managing ok, so many, many thanks to all whose advice has helped.

Racking my brains for something useful to share in return: I keep fenugreek seeds. You get small jars of them in the spice section of supermarkets or large 1kg bags in south Asian stores. They make the most delicious 3 day short sprouts, to be stir fried with any root veg or potatoes and are fast growing as an even more delicious leafy windowsill veg, plus they are high in iron. They also keep forever, I think. One of my bags is BBE March 2015 as I haven't used them much during pregnancy and breastfeeding (they are supposed to have a possible hormonal effect) but they are still sprouting and growing nicely.

[bellinisurge]

I love sprouting seeds. Never thought of fenugreek. Thanks for the tip.

[Applesandpears23]

Yes thank you. I am a long time lurker and started prepping for brexit. DP used to complain but he is not complaining now!

[USirName]

A huge thank you to everyone on the prepping threads, especially Bellinisurge from me too!

I found the threads way back when the Brexit issue first began, I'm not from the UK, so I wanted to understand more about it. I found the prepping for Brexit threads v. interesting. I had grown up poor and when I hit adulthood, I had anxiety around not having enough food, so I would save bits and pieces. Later found out our country expects us to have at least a week of supplies, so they can focus on the really needy in times of trouble (snow storms, earthquakes, flooding, never expected a pandemic!).

I didn't have guidance until I found the prepping threads (I had a different UN then), so I was missing many things I hadn't considered. All the way back to when Brexit still had its initial date to leave, I discovered thanks to Bellinisurge that I should have supplies as well as food. I then bought plenty of TP, cleaning supplies etc, so didn't need to be out fighting for it in the shops!

Thank you again you are all awesome!

As a side note: I read a story when I was small about an ant and a grasshopper. All summer the ant worked to prepare for winter to feed his family while the grasshopper lazed about in the sun laughing at the ant's efforts. Then winter arrived, and you can guess the rest. I think of that story often when I read threads where posters are furious with preppers because they are set while the 'I'll just order...' troop are not.

[bellinisurge]

You're welcome.

[Inmyivorytower]

USirname, I agree that the prepper threads are fab, they helped me be quietly more organised. Bellinisurge has been a model of calm rationality, whatever the questions or insults.🥰
Aesop’s fable has been true for me, I’m an ant, married to a grasshopper! Fortunately, I need fiddle music in my life too, and he respects my efforts, so it works.

[MarshmallowManiac]

A MASSIVE, MAMMOTH thank you to Bellini and all the wonderful people on here and the Brexit threads for guiding me to prep for things like this!! I do not know what I would have done without you all

[MarshmallowManiac]

Thanks Bits as an anaemic I'm always looking for good sources of Iron

[Willow2017]

Another person here who loves the prepper threads. They are full of common sense and calm amid the storm. Thanks guys.

I never prepped to any large degree (although i love reading about and watching the homestead life style on tv) i
just always had extras of the basics and toiletries etc 'just in case' but on the run up to brexit after reading the prepper threads i did up my shopping by just a little bit more each week to put a bigger store by.
Of course its paid off in the current climate. No mad shopping, no battling for loo rolls or pasta. 😀 Just getting normal fresh stuff as possible. As checkout staff i had front a row seat to the madness😀

You guys rock keep up the lovely friendly informative threads. I wonder how all the utterly vile "i will just get a next day tesco delivery you f'ing idiots" types fared when tshtf? (I dont wish them harm cos unlike them I aint bloody nasty, and some of the posts were beyond nasty, but just would loved to have been a fly on their wall when they realised thier 'next day' was 3 weeks. Karma😉)

[bellinisurge]

I'm very sweary on the Brexit politics threads. Very sweary But with this I just want to help people.

[bedtimebrew]

Another thank you from me. I have anxiety so was pretty sure I was being unreasonable when I started to read about prepping and then started adding a little more to each weekly shop. But doing so meant we've only had to go one food shop outside of the house since Late March.

I often think to thank you so it's nice that this thread is here for me to add to.

[BlackeyedSusan]

I remember way back when preparing the December before the March non Brexit,
thinking that three days worth of everything ( a spare of everything) was quite a task. Now I am sitting on three months of some stuff, a bit les maybe now we have eaten some.

[TheFlis12345]

Thank you from me as well. I also stocked up for a no deal Brexit After reading about it on here and it has been a huge benefit. We haven’t actually struggled to get many things in London but knowing we have enough in the stash should one of us become ill and have to fully isolate for 2 weeks or more is hugely reassuring.

We actually got a food delivery last week and the driver commented that we were the only drop he had that day that did not include tinned tomatoes, pasta or loo roll! We already had loads so left them for people who don’t.

[Pannacottaformeplease]

Thanks preppers, my brexit cupboard has been a godsend - especially the 20+ tinned tomatoes bought gradually over the last year. Went into lockdown feeling very relaxed!

[AutumnCrow]

Another thank you to bellinisurge for all her very calm and patient advice ever since Brexit was just a careless whisper of impending doom.

The most important lesson for me was learning to sort medication out in advance and not relying on GPs and pharmacies necessarily to be able to provide the drugs I had prescriptions for - I had to learn to do a lot of legwork on availability and supply.

[bellinisurge]

Thank you. There's been plenty of good advice from many regulars (I've learnt loads too).