Prepping for a total beginner

[Woollypullover]

What would you recommend a newbie to prepping should
A) be mostly prepping for - war, disease, famine?
B) have in their basic stock
please?

I have candles and a first aid kit, but that's it! 😆

Thank you

It depends how serious you are about prepping.

If you believe in the pole shift stuff and expect it to happen soon then you need a least a years food, water and firewood as well as weapons to make sure you keep it. More important though to be fit, off all medications and cultivate hunter, gathering and farming skills.

If you’re worried about being snowed in with a power cut for a week then a couple of six packs of bottled water, a bit of uht milk, a weeks worth of food in the fridge/freezer, pasta and a bbq or camping stove should do you.

Start with the B) 🙂
Following this thread for suggestions on prepping 101!

I would start with prepping for ill health, redundancy, power cuts etc which are more likely to happen that war or famine. Candles and a first aid kit are a start, keep a stock of OTC meds (paracetamol, ibuprofen, flu capusles, rehydration sachets etc). A packet of 16 paracetamol will only last 2 adults 1 day if you had something like flu or a nasty virus. Torches, batteries, power banks. Some water in case yours is cut off, try and buy a couple of extra tins or packets of food at each shop, but only buy what you will eat and rotate it. Think about how you would cook food or heat water for something like a pot noodle if the power went off, so a small camping stove and gas to fuel it. think about what you would do for entertainment if there was a power cut or no internet, a pack of cards and a lantern perhaps. Spare reading glasses if you use them. Warm blankets and hot water bottles in case your heating goes off. Duct tape, a basic tool set, a sewing kit, cable ties. Most important is knowledge, a first aid kit is good, but do you know how to perform CPR, deal with bleeding etc? Do you know how to turn off your electricity, gas, water? Keep copies of important paperwork and telephone numbers. Perhaps make yourself a grab bag. There are lots of online resources if you spend some time on google.

To start

Candles & Lighters & Matches

Torches - Multiple Batteries

A wind up radio - Again with multiple batteries

Bottled water

Dry foods that dont need to be stored in a fridge or cooked
Biscuits, Crisps, Chocolate, Rice cakes, Baby food pouches of things like fruit etc (they dont need to be cooked or put in the fridge so will come in handy)
and Honey is very useful

Multiple power banks - Ideally ones that can be charged by solar power

A supply of warm clothes and blankets

Medications - Pain Meds - If you have children then i very good supply of Calpol and nurofen

OP, Pp has some great advise!
I want to recommend a book for beginners: "Just in case. How to be self sufficient when the unexpected happens", by Kathy Harrison. I found it very useful for begginers. American, so some things don't apply here (although you never know...).

Multiple power banks - Ideally ones that can be charged by solar power

what would the power banks be needed for?

Your phone or ipad

But those things won't work if there's no power to run the internet / phone networks.

You can't make calls or go online when there's a powercut

Ofcourse you can make calls with a mobile phone in a power cut and you can use the internet as well if you have it with your mobile network

IF the whole system is down - Then i agree useless, but that is VERY unlikely

Well whenever we have powercuts (quite regularly at least 3 times a year for 3 or 4 hours at a time) we can never use mobiles or landlines for callsand the internet is off. Mobile data off too as it needs to network masts to be powered to work. If there is an area powercut, it all goes off.

So it's not that unlikely at all.

Umm, what have i walked into here?

Its in the PREPPING section

So feel free to LEAVE

We have powercuts regular as well and can ALWAYS use mobiles and the mobile internet

We lost power for 5 days once and still could use the mobile and internet

IT DEPENDS ON WHY THE POWER IS OUT

"IF the whole system is down - Then i agree useless, but that is VERY unlikely"

Not unlikely, nor would a owner bank be useless. There are many more things you can charge up. Watches, health monitors, kindles, handheld fans.

Are you sure you've got what it takes to survive if you render a powerbank useless and believe it's VERY unlikely that the network would go down in a power cut? 😅

I said VERY unlikely for the whole system to go out

Power, Wifi, Internet, mobile networks down - I have never known all of that to be down, Not where i live anyway , i live in the country and have been without power alot, the longest time was 5 days and mobile and mobile internet still worked.

I didn't say power banks were useless. I said they are a good thing and come in handy

I said VERY unlikely for the whole system to go out

"Power, Wifi, Internet, mobile networks down - When have you ever know all of that to be down? Me never and i live in the country and have been without power alot, the longest time was 5 days and mobile and mobile internet still worked.

I didn't say power banks were useless. I said they are a good thing and come in handy"

You said if everything internet wise was down then "agree, useless". They're not useless as I pointed out.

When have I known it to happen? Storm Desmond 2015. The whole city was out for 4 days. Completely cut off. No internet, no electricity, bridges smashed up so no way to get out, no petrol stations, no cash points, no card payments. That do you? 😂

I've prepped for when my maternity leave ends and I go back to work, I'm halving my hours.
I've collected loo roll, toiletries, laundry products etc..
My area has blackouts often in the winter so I'll be stocking up on batteries and candles at the end of September
If I see a deal I will snap it up.

Very unlikely - Doesnt mean 0% chance

I stand by what i said -

Iv never had it - You have - Fair enough but its still very unlikely to happen in the realms of a ‘normal’ power cut

Anyway…. This is the point of prepping
Hopefully all those people were all prepared for the almost once in a lifetime disaster!!

and with regards to Power Banks i was talking about the need for one for Phones and ipads potentially being useless ,, as thats what we were talking about.

I didnt say useless for other things.
Im not stupid but thank you for your useful advise , I wouldnt of known it otherwise 👍

Mobiles will work in most areas in a power cut. But not in some "not spots" which would need battery back up for broadband to work. Mobile phone battery back ups are also recommended everywhere.

Landlines are being digitalised in 2025 so they won't work anymore during a power cut.

Storm Arwen: Why power cuts left people unable to phone for help
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cumbria-59564480

So things that you might like to consider: (and we have had past threads for, which are worth a read)

Car preps

Fire (eg having insurance documents online/etc)

Floods

Illness

Hospital admission/A and E (hospital bag)

Terrorism/riots

Evacuation of home due to random incidents.

Summer preps

Winter preps.

Pandemic...

Power cuts

Water off.

Consider for each:
Food (how to heat water, or cook or snacks keeping food fresh)

Water/drinks

Keeping clean and toileting. (Carrier bag, cat litter, bucket, potty?) spare water, hand gel,

Keeping cool, warm, dry.

Keeping entertained

Power.

I would start with first aid kit. (Try home bargains)
OT meds.:
Paracetamol (adult/kid) two or three packs
Aspirin (soluble)
Ibuprofen (adult /kid)two or three packs
Syringe/spoon
Cough linctus.
Antihistamines (adult and kid)
Diarrhoea meds
Haemorrhoids meds
If you are prone to thrush, meds for that
Decongestants (adult and kid)
Vitamins.
Antacids.
Sick bucket and disinfectant

Place marking to read through in the morning.

I've done some basic prepping (lots of water stored, portable toilet, full medical kits, wind up radio, batteries, torches etc etc) but want to really organise it and do more.
I also have a list of important medications to have in an apocalypse type event that I read about in an article written before a dr (happy to share if anyone would like).

Part two:
Water (still for cooking) and drinks. (Could be apple juice or pop in cartons and bottles: extra ones of what you normally drink)

Lanterns (solar/battery) two minimum. (One for the main room and one to take to the loo)

Later add Torches
Head torch
Batteries (Aldi)

Woolly blankets, hats, socks, snood and fingerless gloves or wrist warmers . Warm slippers.

Shading for windows on south side.(An old sheet or duvet cover or extra set of old curtains. Also for winter power cuts) fan, ice pops,

Bag for hospital. (Rucksack) Look up old threads. I lived out of mine for three days.

Power banks. Supermarket £20 ones. One per person. Good teen Christmas present.

Easy to make food. (Illness)
Just add hot water: cous cous, mug shots, cup soup.
Just open and heat tins
'Kid can help self to' food and drinks cartons .
'Can eat cold' food.
Flasks.

Cooking: BBQ and charcoal? Will have to be outside .

There used to a very interesting thread on mse years ago for preppers everyone seemed to buy a Kelly kettle, gas camping stove, matches,candles cannot remember anything else.

I'm not a serious prepper but since COVID I have kept a few stocks. I have a freezer full of frozen food: meat, vegetables etc. I have a stock of dog food and cat food and sachets to last over a month which I rotate and many boxes of kibble. I have tinned food like corned beef, salmon, tomatoes, peas, carrots, baked beans etc. I buy rice by the sack so have plenty and lots of dried pasta too. I grow my own fruit and vegetables in my garden. I always keep a couple of spare boxes of laundry tablets and conditioner and cleaning products. I buy 48 loo rolls at a time and have a spare lot too. I have candles, matches, 3 torches and spare batteries and a gas camping stove and spare gas bomb. I have 4 power banks for charging phones and computers. I keep quite a bit of cash in the house and euros too. I keep both cars topped up with fuel and have a spare 10 litre can of fuel too. I know that might not be a lot.

I have 2 full first aid packs too.