What is prepping? Who is a prepper?

[Sideorderofchips]

Hi everyone

I feel that with the current state of the world, that more people are leaning towards becoming preppers and have questions. So I thought I would start a thread about what prepping is, who is generally a prepper and what you should really have.

Most people have seen doomsday preppers or similar and it's all a bit crazy with forts, bunkers etc

Thing is, that isn't all there is to prepping. Prepping can be as simple as having candles and torches for a power cut. Or it's having enough food, water and medication to last years. And so much in between

If you are interested in being a prepper ask yourself what you want to prep for. Reason being that, whilst there is a general list everyone should have, some are more specific. If you live in an area prone to flooding do you have a plan in place? Do you keep valuables upstairs, do you have insurance etc. If you lived next to a nuclear power plant do you have a plan in place OR do you know what the local authority will do if there is an accident?

First thing is would you be staying at home (bugging in) or would you be leaving for elsewhere (bugging out). In reality there are very few situations that bugging out would be the best option.

Food: most governments emergency plans recommend having 2 weeks of food in your house in case of emergency. There are many foods that are really prepper friendly and store for a long time. Make sure you rotate them with your normal food and keep an eye on dates.

Water: this is a fun one. If something happens like a longterm power cut or contamination of your water supply you won't last long unless you have water. And don't rely on local authorities or your local supermarket as everyone will have the same idea. Keep some bottled water and like food rotate.

Medications: I'm on daily medication. I try to have a months back up at all times. Keep painkillers, antiseptics etc as well. You don't need to go full surgical kit. Try and get a first aid course sorted as well.

Heating: we all saw it with texas. No power no heating. Winter is about to get cold. How will you keep warm?

Light: torches are great. Candles are great. Think safety, think lighting it, think batteries

Cooking: how will you cook?

Misc: daft things like a spare tin opener. I saw on twitter during the texas freeze a great thread about the person's brother. Who was a self proclaimed prepper. Had all these tins and guns and ammo... But couldn't open his tins because he didn't have a tin opener.

My advise to all? Always have a back up. Work at two weeks of everything. Only buy what you know you will use. Look for calories. The more calories for less food the better.

Hopefully this is helpful

I’m in uk, semi rural location and we have power cuts all the time. I have soooo many lanterns and touches. Handy when we go camping though.

I've 'prepped' for two specific events in my life where I anticipated a significant reduction in income for about 6 months. Essentially 6 months of non perishable food, cleaning stuff and toiletries.
The second anticipated event did not happen in the end, but it meant the at the start of lockdown I has plenty of essentials and didn't need to shop except for fresh stuff.
I'm 56 and remember the winter of discontent and power cuts very well. We had a paraffin heater, an oil lamp and candles.
Significant power cuts wouldhave much more impact now, we didnt have freezers full of food or any of the electronic gadgets we rely on now

@Ted27

I've 'prepped' for two specific events in my life where I anticipated a significant reduction in income for about 6 months. Essentially 6 months of non perishable food, cleaning stuff and toiletries. The second anticipated event did not happen in the end, but it meant the at the start of lockdown I has plenty of essentials and didn't need to shop except for fresh stuff. I'm 56 and remember the winter of discontent and power cuts very well. We had a paraffin heater, an oil lamp and candles. Significant power cuts wouldhave much more impact now, we didnt have freezers full of food or any of the electronic gadgets we rely on now

I get what you mean about the impact now compared to then. An under-counter fridge with an ice box that was only big enough to hold a tray of ice-cubes and a packet of fish fingers. The fridge itself being unpowered not really mattering because the kitchen was so cold. It would very much matter now, though! Mum making a flask of tea just before the power was cut - they were scheduled, weren't they?

@Legoandloldolls I love this! Thanks for sharing

I don’t consider myself a prepper, I always have 2 or 3 spare of our usual toiletries, enough food in the house that I could go a couple of weeks without shopping - including uht milk, frozen and tinned veggies. I simply replace as I use and buy more when things are on special offer.

The house and car have a full first aid kit and a fully charged power bar, and we have candles and camping kit (stove, lanterns etc). I do have a packed grab bag because my dd has reasonably frequent hospital stays at short notice.

I guess I feel fairly well organised without going too over the top. When there were shortages in shops at the start of Covid I didn’t need shopping for a couple of weeks by which the worst of it had passed.

@TuesdayRuby lucky you in London. Meanwhile in rural Scotland storm Arwen knocked out the power for 000's for upto 8 days. And Storm D (forget full name) was another 5 days!!!

To be fair, I can only remember 2 unplanned (few hour long) power cuts in the years since I was young but these storms have taken a massive toll on our infrastructure. With thousands of trees still teetering treacherously, even small storms now pose significant risk.

Oh and most of us are on private water supplies, where the water is pumped from the well... guess what that needs to work??

I remember when I was younger my flat mates and friends mocking me for my prepping. One of the main mockers then moved away and shortly after was stranded her apartment, just her and her bf, both not cooks who ate out most days so never had food in. There had been massive floods and people were cut off for weeks. I remember when I was talking to her that I wanted to say I bet your not fucking laughing at my prepping now, but I didn’t.

I’ve had several people I care about effected by natural disasters, I also have friends who are privy to non public information that LAs and governments keep from citizens (not UK). My DH also use to work in civil defence and was very active in emergency and evacuation protocols. All this made my prepping even more important to me.

I have slacked since being back in the uk though. It’s only this week I’ve noticed gaps in my plans especially in case of a nuclear fallout.

Putting that aside I’m generally good in day to day prepping. I hate running out of food in the house, my grandparents, post war babies were the same, I remember them having cupboards full of sugar and butter etc… our water supply here isn’t the best so we only drink bottled water. I do have to keep on at my DH about drinking our reserves though and have to hide bottles from him. My cupboards are always full of canned and dry foods, every year I do a clear out, usually for the local harvest collection, so everything is regularly rotated. I also keep a camping stove, gas cylinders and a calor gas fire for emergencies. Ironically since I bought the fire (we didn’t have one for a few years) we’ve not had any power cuts. Can opener is a big one, I have 2 spare ones after being caught short once. There is also one on the army knife. Everything is to hand and I make sure my DCs are reminded regularly where everything is and what to do in emergencies.

The one thing I’ve realised over the last few days is we don’t have a radio though. We had a really good one as part of DHs old civil defence role but have moved countries and cities multiple times since then and it seems to have vanished, so I will be purchasing a new one ASAP. I’m thinking of getting a generator too.

my main Go Bag has everything needed for a first aid/medical scenarios. I went through it last night with my DD, she knows where everything is. I’ve separated everything into thick sealed planting bags (think plastic pencil cases rather than sandwhich bags). Everything is labelled, there are medicine for everything from paracetamol, antihistamines & diarrhoea pills to burn gels & a small oxygen cylinder. I’ve made sure there is a supply of prescription meds for anyone who needs them too. The bag also contains a note book details what everything is and what it’s needed for in a language my DDs can understand, just in case. There is a folded water canister, water purification tables, masks, goggles, bracelets with whistles attached, compasses & even small knives on them. There is a Swiss Army knife I’ve gone through how to use, pens, torches, batteries, emergency blankets, power banks and so much more.

I have a clothes bag for DCs, but need to go though what as they have grown and I can’t remember what’s in it.

I was never worried about running out of anything with covid, as soon as it was announced I knew we needed to prepare so by the time uk lockdowns were announced I had a house fully stocked, medicine was my main concern as I’m immune compromised. One of my DDs also has allergies so I made sure we had plenty of her food products in, as well as nappies and wipes. Ironically the one thing I didn’t think about stocking up in immediately was toilet roll 😂