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

From my experience the best useful things a sturdy multitool, waterproof jacket, and durable boots are great additions. Also consider a basic first-aid kit and fire-starting gear for extra readiness.

On the power thing when we lost power the networks went down too so I’d say a clock with batteries is soooo handy! Also music snd games downloaded onto iPad. Kindle always charged and we have a fab professional light that electricians/ carpenters used but we hadn’t bloody charged it beforehand 🙈

Fascinated by all this, but overwhelmed to be honest.

First thing that springs to mind is how long all this stuff sits there safely without falling foul of insects/mould/natural perishing of material ie:rubber ect/just going off or stale or out of date generally ?

How often are you going through it all to check for any of the above?

I can see me bunging loads of stuff away and then coming back to it in 2 years to find it all nibbled and/or manky ! 🤪

@Iasonnas I think we live in the same place
I'm not a prepper but Storm Desmond was very instructive
Supply chains were a big issue and it meant I did actually have a Brexit supply in my cellar. As it turned out, not needed, but when Covid came we had no need to panic buy toilet rolls or pasta
fresh drinking water is hard to store enough of

we have lots of rainwater in butts, for flushing the toilet, but we just have about 12l of bottled water
wouldn't last long I know
I suppose in real desperation we would have to boil the rainwater

Get some water purifying tablets in. They don't take up a lot of room. The problem with water is storing it. I've got a big house so have plenty room. If your baseboards come off in the kitchen there's a fair bit of room and under the bath.

Life straws are useful to have in as well.

Well you need to boil it first to get rid of the beasties.

As someone who lived through a war, in a situation where we did not have water, power, food, gas and ultimately money for multiple years, I would say the best way to prepare for any kind of disaster is not to collect things but to learn some basic survival skills. The problem with having extra supplies is, they ran out eventually.

@Klauem You’re right, practical skills often save you more than stockpiles. Which specific survival skills do you consider most essential for everyday preparedness?

Two things that hit you first and hardest is lack of water and electricity. You suddenly realize how much you rely on electricity and how much you use water. I think water is the most underrated luxury we have in modern world. It is important to have the ability and willingness to forget what you know and see things in a different way.

Water is everything: Learn to harvest, purify, and reuse it. Waste nothing.
Food creativity: Know edible plants in your area. Cook with scraps and no spices. Experiment. Learn how to grow edible plants in small containers.
Heat and shelter: Learn to build a simple stove for warmth and cooking.
Handy skills: Repair, insulate, adapt.

Just sent this to DSis who is starting from scratch having suddenly realised how uncertain things are at the moment.