Hello

New Members - Introduce yourself, and say a few words
Lin b
Posts: 0
Joined: Wed Apr 24, 2019 7:55 pm
Location: Oxfordshire

Hello

Post by Lin b »

Hi, I'm new to the idea of prepping and am just starting to get organised.
I think I will start with getting my home ready, looking at security, food store and water store. Supply of meds/ first aid. Ways of providing heat and light in event of prolonged power cuts and water shortages. Am I on the right track.?
Thanks
Lin
Yorkshire Andy
Posts: 8735
Joined: Thu Oct 03, 2013 4:06 pm

Re: Hello

Post by Yorkshire Andy »

Welcome ....

First question is what are you looking to achieve?

And then assess what you forsee happening...

Good old risk assessment style.

Very little risk of flooding on the top of a hill for example....

Once you know what your preparing for do an inventory of what you have ..

Eg planning to be cut off in cold / snow at home loosing electric...

So you will probably have warm clothing...

A spare quilt?

A car phone charger?

Have you got a way of boiling water??

Cooking dinner?

Lighting?

Spare food to see you through been snowed in a week for example..


You will find lots of overlaps eg clean water cooking equipment

Remember you can survive

Days without water

Weeks without food

Shelter depends on time of year....

Look into common issues

House fires,
Flooding,
Loss of utilities eg power cut

Before you buy anything think before you spend a £8 camping stove will still boil water the same as a £100 pure titanium ultra lightweight magic stove inmost instances


First aid stuff depends on your skill level but a decent first aid kit will never go amiss for medication remember it has a life span before it degrades so 100 boxes of paracetamol might be a bit Ott


As with food stuffs

Buy what you use, use what store, rotate and replenish your stocks after use...


And check your insured correctly many people when setting up contents insurance think of the value as things like TV /washer but don't take into account clothing, carpets, kids toys ...

Likewise ensuring you have the correct door locks to the insurance cos list to ensure they will pay out after a burglary
If your roughing it, Your doing it wrong ;)

Lack of planning on your part doesn't make it an emergency on mine
Arzosah
Posts: 6323
Joined: Fri Jun 22, 2012 4:20 pm

Re: Hello

Post by Arzosah »

Welcome to the forum, Lin.

I'm sure you're on the right track for most things - as Andy says, check out what your local risks are. But focussing on security at home, food and water, and first aid, that's going to help with any short term emergency - bad storm, power cut, water main break, flu (even your own flu, let alone a pandemic).

If you have pets, remember to cater for them too.
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Jamesey1981
Posts: 983
Joined: Fri Sep 12, 2014 11:46 pm
Location: A Postbox on Baker Street.

Re: Hello

Post by Jamesey1981 »

Yorkshire Andy wrote: Wed Apr 24, 2019 9:38 pm
And check your insured correctly many people when setting up contents insurance think of the value as things like TV /washer but don't take into account clothing, carpets, kids toys ...

Likewise ensuring you have the correct door locks to the insurance cos list to ensure they will pay out after a burglary
This is something a lot of people overlook.

Let's say you have 50 grand's worth of stuff but you underestimate it on your insurance at 25 grand. If half your stuff gets stolen or destroyed your insurance will only pay out 12 and a half grand because you have only insured half of everything.

Better to pay more for a policy that will pay out than less for one that won't.

If you use a comparison site then check the terms and conditions when you get them, some policies specify the types of locks that need to be fitted to both doors and windows. You don't get the small print up front if you use a comparison site, so you need to check it when you get it, and do it within your cooling off period so you get a refund when you cancel if it turns out that your bargain policy doesn't give you the cover you need.

I deal in insurance and the policies that I am involved with have blanket cover so you don't need to estimate the value of what you have unless its specified items that you want covered away from home, that's quite unusual though, most require you to estimate, and in that case go high, it'll make your premium more expensive and it will only pay out the true value, but I personally would rather that than not have enough in the event of a claim.
That is not dead which can eternal lie, and with strange aeons even death may die.
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itsybitsy
Posts: 8435
Joined: Sat Nov 27, 2010 5:51 pm
Location: East Yorkshire

Re: Hello

Post by itsybitsy »

Hello and welcome. :)