Discussing prepping with others

[Anonymous475]

Hello

I have been prepping for a little while as I have became more concerned with the state of national and global affairs. I won't burden anyone on here with politics, however, I'm concerned that certain problems are progressing. The main problem I would like to address is that it is somewhat isolating as a prepper. I am the only person I know doing it, and hardly anyone else knows. I wish to get my friends and family involved since one of the most important things you can have regarding difficulties of any kind is a supportive team. Though I do not fear judgement regarding being a prepper, I am concerned about having 50 people knocking on my door when things go wrong because they know I've got supplies, and they never bothered to prepare at all. Could anyone please suggest how I could persuade my friends and family into prepping without giving away too much information, or scaring them?

Thank you

I imagine preppers like any other group of people are a mixed bag of differences.

Prepping might mean preparing for snowy weather and to ensure enough food to the other extreme on the conspiracy theory end, the zombie uprising.

Therefore maybe people do it but don't discuss much. Or they might feel judged if they share.

Perhaps start at the wow the storm/snow was bad, glad I stored extra provisions just in case, do you do that? Or wait and see the response.

Some preppers live off grid and are very careful not to tell people they have supplies to avoid a run on them.

Good luck

I tend to hide my prepping in plain sight.

I introduced the other half to camping (before she met me she though staying in a Travelodge was camping), so we have sleeping bags, gas cookers and a portable toilet to name just a few of the double duty bits of kit.

if the weather is nice we like to sit out in the garden, so I bought some solar lamps to hang from the fence, but they also work during a power cut.

The first winter she was up here the Beasty from the East hit, so now she understands why I have a larder.

As AliceA2021 says, start the small stuff, power cuts and bad weather etc and see who takes an interest. Just remember its a bit like fishing, give them time to nibble the bait before you try and land them.

First rule of prepping? Don't talk about prepping!!

Enough information is out there and if people were genuinely interested in doing it they would. Most people just assume these events would never happen and if they do the state (or you!) would sort it for them.

. Though I do not fear judgement regarding being a prepper, I am concerned about having 50 people knocking on my door when things go wrong because they know I've got supplies, and they never bothered to prepare at all.

Surely if it was a snow storm you would help your family out & if it was a zombie apocalypse you’d have other things to worry about!

I don’t talk about prepping because I don’t want to be seen as mad or fearful - haha. I do it because I am relatively isolated being overseas as a British expat and don’t have a big personal network to call upon if there is global war and the infrastructure goes down. people will understandably be helping their close family members first.

Hi there, i have been a ‘prepper’ for many years. For me being prepared simply means making sure I am able to get myself out of trouble in most situations. Whether this be having jump leads, tool kit torch etc in my car or having lightbulbs, extra food, spare fuel and a mountain of other things at home for when needed. I have also increased my food supply and power needs as thr older i get the more aware i am of the precarious world we live in! I think ‘prepping’ has a stereotype image which people laugh at. As for trying to get family members to be prepared… its hard but my approach is to remind them of our grandparents who all had supplies to rely on if heating, food, light etc was disrupted. They all had larders and made seasonal food last with pickling etc. They arent sen as whackos, just having common sense. I also say to family, isnt it better to be self empowered rather than hopeless and totally reliant on other people and outside services… eg powercut… having no alternative light source. I have found that approaching fanily members in this way they begin to think about prepping inna different way and things can grow from this.

I've been a prepper, in one way or another, pretty much all my life.

In recent years, I've tried to think ahead so I get things before the last of the old runs out and to have a buffer. I have thought about what are potentially likely things to happen and how would I manage if they happened - and bought/put things together to find to manage those potential scenarios. And I have used some of those skills and supplies for various things over the years.

I don't talk to people about it because they either mock or are totally bewildered. Even DH didn't realise the extent of my preps and my planning for a long time. And he couldn't understand why I would have first aid items or extra food (and particular types of food) put away quietly - but very much appreciated them when things like the big freeze, burst pipes, blackouts and Covid hot over the years - and we managed just fine to get through them all.

My DH has told his siblings we are prepping and got the standard reply - well come to your house then. I said I’ll donate everything to charities/food banks.

I wouldn’t tell anyone that I’m prepping but if you are concerned about family without preps then maybe just suggest they could have an extra jar of coffee/pack of biscuits/etc to get them to think about it.

I don't talk about it. I get mocked. But I wasn't standing bemused in a empty shop the day of lockdown. I only prep for a short time period like snow, power cuts. Covid like runs on shops and at times my food prep is totally run down like spring and summer.

I can help people without explaining that I prep.

I’d be interested in emergency prepping for power cuts, floods. And emergency supplies for the car (got stranded once overnight).

Agree with pp to start with specific short term prep.

But do you have to have a lot of space as I have a small house? Where do you store it all?

I tend to have a few decent slow burning candles and matches as part of mine (and safe holders for the candles), and the matches are also for lighting the wood stove. Candles are for decoration and ambience, but I always make sure I have at least 3 long burning ones in case of emergency, and restock my nightlight ones when there are half a slab left rather than just 1 or 2.

Lots of my gear has dual uses - camping stove and thin small pots work well for power outages as well as camping. Small solar panel for camping can recharge a phone very slowly. Wellies for gardening are useful in a flood. Backpack for hikes is useful in bad weather when walking home in snow rather than getting the bus and to carry in some spare milk rather than head out driving. I like using powdered milk in mashed potato destined for freezer (batch cooking shepherds pie etc) but handy if the weather is bad and shop shelves are bare. I tend to have a bunch of tins that are food I eat anyway - but instead of just 2/3, I might have 10-15 in the depths of winter and can have cold or easily heated foods from a tin. Or a couple of sachets of microwave rice that can be "cooked" using some boiling water into it for a couple of minutes if no power (I have the ability to boil water). And I use my gas bbq in the garden as an alternate cooking option - as well as many happy summer bbqs. My linen basket is the solid one from ikea - doubles as dog bath on occasion, but also to hold a fair amount of water if water is off, or to wash laundry if machine goes kaput or the water is off. That sort of thing - having multiple uses for things that I'd use anyway, but getting the options that have additional functions.

The only people who know are my children, they pull my leg about it, but have promised they maintain their bug out bags and travel arrangements to get to me in time if crisis.

I don’t believe in letting anyone else know, I’ve tried in the past years ago with siblings but they made fun of me, so I’ve gone quiet and I assume they’ve forgotten, not that I would turn them away.

i keep my prep stuff away from the general house stores, but friends and neighbours have seen my kitchen cupboards of course, and it drove me mad they would be forever asking for a tin of beans or a bag of flour, knowing I always have spare, I’ve now reduced my kitchen stores right down and blamed the costs of living, just can’t afford to keep helping people out

I would like to but don't know where to start because:

A) there are SO many things that can go wrong I don't know which to focus on first or exactly what I need - it's overwhelming

B) I live in a tiny house and honestly don't know where I'd keep it all

@Rorelius just start with the most common issues where its good to be prepaired.

Snowed in - we are rural but never snowed in for more than three days. We can't walk to any shops in bad snow as we in the hills but on a A road where cars skid off. Its too dangerous to walk to the remote shop. So I'd need reserve of loo roll, long life milk, bread, beans and some food in the freezer. I have 2x 1litre long life or Almond milk cartons. I either use them up before the go off or rotate them into the food bank while they have two months left.

Next power cuts. That's never off for too long but it could be 24 hours. So I need to add matches, candles, fully charged power banks and two fully charged usb light sources each. Matches! You could add a cooking source if you don't have a gas cooker.

Water cut off? I have 6 x 2l of water I rotate very rarely. In fact I'm not sure I'd want to drink most of it. I'd have 1 litre of drinking water each. We had water cuts this winter and we got water driving to collection stations. What I learned from that is you don't want to br queueing on day 1 as some was queueing for hours. If your in no rush I followed the town FB group and went when I heard it was quite ( nighttime on day 2)

Covid zombie apocalypse? Have you everything you could possibly need for a normal fortnight? Basically never let anything run down to zero if its winter or a storm or you hear about a global pandemic. After two weeks everything normally goes back to normal for every situation above.

I only prep for the above. Before covid I knew what was coming as I was following world news as I am a biologist do it was very interesting to me. I had been buying my autistic son a few extra packs of his safe foods in that situation. I went to Costco and bought my loo rolls and a sack of rice. I normally but it like this from Costco anyway. I just replaced it sooner

@Legoandloldolls that's really helpful, thank you

Hi I'm wanting to get some advice on how best to prepare to lock down my home in extreme events. I'm wanting to protect my family the best I can and have started collecting various things in my cellar to help us survive: food, tools, medical supplies, camping style heating and cooking facilities. It might sound extreme putting it that way but I'd like to be prepared for the worst case scenario.
My main concern at the moment is making sure my house is secure by blocking off windows and the main door. I've had ideas of using doors within the house to secure the windows or even metal sheeting but some advice from others if they have any recommendations on this matter would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

@Parentprep I don't think about securing the house. Just appear outwardly clueless and unprepared. Who's going to know?