I thought I was prepping

How are you preparing
butterbean
Posts: 94
Joined: Fri Nov 29, 2013 3:29 pm

I thought I was prepping

Post by butterbean »

So I have been on this site for a while now, and I’m sure I’ve probably said this sort of thing in the past, but I tend to get into prepping in waves.
Something somewhere will remind me that being prepared for something is just logical and well worth doing. So I think I get really into it, I come on here and read as much as I can, I break out the bushcraft books and check all my “gear” stored away in the garage, because on previous waves of prepping I have thought the way for me to go is to get loads of camping stuff and ex-military stuff and have this that and the other.

Then normal life continued, whatever it was that got me into that wave seemed to drift from my consciousness and I left it a few more days each time between visits to this site and to my supplies.

And then another wave starts and I decide this time let’s get down to the real stuff, stock up loads of food, apply for an allotment, build something in the garage that allows me to store 3 million litres of water and then, again I start spiralling out of control, looking at all the stuff I can get hold of that would be useful should SHTF.

And then I stop for a while, I get busy with work, with my uni stuff, the wife and the new baby, a new TV show, anything.

Another wave comes along.

Needless to say, as much as I agree with being a prepper and really wanting to be one, I’m not. I don’t really know how to be. I know everybody does it for different reasons and all do it in their own way, I just haven’t found mine yet. I have so much paracord, 12 torches, different knives, a few tarps, 2 tents (1 big 1 small), backpacks, life saver straws for me and the family, solar phone charger and a couple of hurricane lanterns, just lots of random stuff for basically camping for a bit. And a few empty gas bottles and oil drums for making something when I get around to it, like a wood burner.

If SHTF, as much as it pains me to say it, I would have no choice but to join the masses raiding the supermarket, knowing full well it would be daft and hopeless. We have a chest freezer full of food, stuff in the cupboards, and as long as power stayed on and taps were working ok we would be good for 2 weeks at most. If I had been sensible about it from the beginning, when I first heard and got interested in prepping back in 2013, I would have a very impressive stock pile, if I had directed the funds to something sensible, rather than watching funkyprepper and thinking that’s the way to go, then I wouldn’t be feeling this now.

I kind of feel like an imposter on here, I want to be a prepper, I know it’s something I believe in and understand it’s a way of life, I just haven’t quite figured out how to make it work properly for me yet.
Needless to say, I feel another wave coming on and I’m going to try and keep hold of this one and start making the small changes to make sure I stay on track.

Forgive my ramblings but am I alone in this or has other people found themselves doing the same sort of thing? Wanting to get into it and have more of a secure feeling of something or do you find it easy to get pulled off to something shiny and fun?
success leads to complacency, complacency leads to failure. Only the Paranoid survive!!
User avatar
Decaff
Posts: 1680
Joined: Tue Apr 22, 2014 8:59 pm

Re: I thought I was prepping

Post by Decaff »

Whoa!!! Take a deep breath, you are still more prepared than the general masses out there and you should feel quiet relief at that. Just take it one step at a time rather than just 100 miles an hour, every so often skid to a halt, then start again.

To keep yourself on track without going at it warp speed, just get a little extra each shop that you do and add into your food storage, remember to rotate this food into your "normal" cupboards so that you do not end up with out of date or stale food. It truly doesn't take long to get a good supply of food in, remember little and often is better and it makes it easier to get into the swing of it all. Store what you eat and eat what you store should be your mantra here! No point storing 100 tins of beans if you hate them and also try out new foods before you stock up so you know that you will eat what you have put aside.

We all prep for different reasons here, there really is no one size fits all so you should do what you feel will be best to help your family.

You sound like you have enough of the "shiny goodies" so how about focusing on other aspects that are not as costly? Water, food, shelter, cooking ability are the main things you should concentrate on for those unknown situations that come along in normal every day life.

You have a baby to think of also, how about stocking up on his/her needs in advance? See clothing, nappies or any other baby related items on sale but you don't need anything for right now? Stock up in the bigger sizes and save money, as long as they have no expiration dates then you are good to store things in advance.

Learn a new skill that you will also enjoy doing, no point in sitting by a river bank fishing if you absolutely hate it, you should enjoy whatever skill you are learning and it will also be helpful for the future whether prepping or hobby related.

Keep on planning ahead, do you have money put buy for emergencies? What if your car needed to be replaced, your cooker, fridge, freezer. If you have any spare cash then put it aside for those things that come along every now and then that throw a spanner in the works.

Hope this helps BB
Behind every great man is an even greater woman. She carried you, raised you and made you who you are.
pseudonym
Posts: 4549
Joined: Wed Jul 27, 2011 10:11 am
Location: East Midlands

Re: I thought I was prepping

Post by pseudonym »

^^^ great advice.
Two is one and one is none, but three is even better.
User avatar
Jamesey1981
Posts: 983
Joined: Fri Sep 12, 2014 11:46 pm
Location: A Postbox on Baker Street.

Re: I thought I was prepping

Post by Jamesey1981 »

I think we all get distracted by shiny stuff to some extent, I'm forever buying new mess kits and molle pouches, if you can afford to do that as well as doing some arguably more useful preps then it doesn't matter unless you have so much gear that you can't actually get to any of the bits you need to use, in which case it's probably a good idea to have a sort out and eBay anything you don't think you'll need.
As Decaff said, just chill out and buy a bit extra when you're shopping, either when it's on a deal or if it's cheap anyway and you'll soon have plenty of stuff stored, and if you do it slowly and cheaply enough you'll still have the cash left over for shiny things.
That is not dead which can eternal lie, and with strange aeons even death may die.
Toddie
Posts: 201
Joined: Sun Mar 04, 2012 5:30 pm

Re: I thought I was prepping

Post by Toddie »

Decaff makes some excellent points. I noticed about a year ago i was doing the same thing, but apart from trying to stop it, i just made sure with each "wave" i focus on a different aspect of prepping. For example if one month i've got a feel for prepping, i'll focus on food/water. The next time i get that urge, just go at it with first aid as the theme.

But no, you're not alone and it's nice to know someone else has the same habit.
Area 8.

"Better to have and not need, than to need and not have"
User avatar
Deeps
Posts: 5797
Joined: Sun Nov 09, 2014 8:36 pm

Re: I thought I was prepping

Post by Deeps »

You don't need to constantly be on the prepping bandwagon, if you have your preps then they can pretty much be left to look after themselves until you need them. If you are concerned about what you've got have a 'stock take' and see what you think you're missing, you don't need to get it all in a oner, just work towards it as and when you can. You'll probably never be fully satisfied with what you have but don't get bent out of shape about it, there's always something that catches your eye. Having any preps and the mindset will put you ahead of the majority and with the best will in the world you (or me) can't prep for everything, especially everything that you read about either on here or elsewhere. If my house caught fire my stuff would pretty much be gone and I'd be back to square one, some might want to have caches elsewhere to avoid this potential disaster, I have no plans to hide gear anywhere, I'll take my chances, I'm using this as an example of not being prepped for everything.

Take a chill pill and don't worry about it, what you prep for is very much down to you, I might be expecting the zombie hordes to descend so have a house full of samurai swords, you might live on a flood plain and prep for too much of the soggy stuff, who's wrong ? Well I would be in this instance, bloody zombies. :lol: but you get my point. Another point is don't believe everything you see on youtube or read, they're maybe not out and out bullshitting but if you're trying to tell anyone who'll listen/read that you're 'all that' then you're going to play to your strengths and maybe 'exaggerate' a bit, take a lot of these guys with a wee pinch of salt. Its not a competition so don't be put off by 'super preppers. Try and enjoy it, while its a lifestyle, I'm guessing most of us do it because we enjoy aspects of it as well as seeing the sense of it.
User avatar
BadgerSE
Posts: 107
Joined: Mon Jan 04, 2016 8:49 pm

Re: I thought I was prepping

Post by BadgerSE »

Some good advice knocking around here.

I think what you are having waves of is "usual life routines". Everyone has a life outside of prepping and everyone has a different way of prepping.

I must admit I am guilty of that myself 100%. I've got a nice little stock pile going on, more than the average family household will have. I've got a broad selection of survival tools and the like. I gives me comfort thinking that should the worst happen or we come a cropper with a blip in local emergencies (water, electric etc) then I've got the basics covered for me and my family.

Having said that I work full time with crap hours and have to deal with daily life - that's normal. If anyone can live the full prepping experience and dedicate their whole time and energy into learning new skills and being self sufficient then excellent that's what I would call the "prepping ideal". But for the majority of us that's simply not possible. Not just that but money comes down to it as well as none of us have an endless supply of cash! (Unless there are some secret millionaires on here haha).

You can only prep when you can and when it's convenient for your lifestyle. It doesn't matter that you have waves of prepping and not prepping, the main thing is you have more than most therefore you are more prepped aren't you? Is that not being a prepper?
“Tough times don't last, tough people do, remember?”

Area 3
Arzosah
Posts: 6323
Joined: Fri Jun 22, 2012 4:20 pm

Re: I thought I was prepping

Post by Arzosah »

butterbean, thats a great post, and some great responses as well. I agree with it all :mrgreen: handy that!

What's the most common danger round where you live? Power cuts? Flooding? Car breakdown? Across the UK, it's a house fire - prep for that little lot, and you'll be even *more* streets ahead of everyday folk.

The only kit you haven't really mentioned is a first aid kit - I strongly recommend you have the basics in, maybe you already have - paracetemol, aspirin, ibuprofen, calpol, plasters, bandages, wound disinfectant, really really basic stuff.

The other thing that strikes me - do you know how to use the kit you've got? Can you put up one of those tents in the living room? What's it actually like to cook on a camping stove? Have you used a lifestraw? Can you change your torch batteries in the dark (think power cut in six inches of snow for that lot :) ).

Everything needs to take account of the capabilities of you and your partner, and how you protect the baby.

As for you asking if everybody feels something like this, absolutely! I still don't have my solar set up finished, my haybox is only half made, I don't dehydrate fresh food regularly although I bought a dehydrator, I haven't set the frequencies on the little Baofeng I bought, and I've never actually used my Katadyn water filter. Is that enough to show you you're not alone? :oops: :oops: :oops:
Lanky Yankee
Posts: 104
Joined: Sun Sep 01, 2013 9:21 am
Location: Bedfordshire

Re: I thought I was prepping

Post by Lanky Yankee »

I have those same thoughts all the time butterbean. I feel your pain. Sometimes I just stop thinking about what I need to get and take a step back till I get the bug again. One big thing I focus on in my preps is BOOKS. I'm building a pretty good library up. I might not have read them all but at least I have the knowledge there when I need it. I've got enough food and water to get me through a couple months so I need to build that up a lot more. I also got medical kit coming out my ears with a view of trading my skills.

Reading your post has actually got me thinking what to do next so THANK YOU!
butterbean
Posts: 94
Joined: Fri Nov 29, 2013 3:29 pm

Re: I thought I was prepping

Post by butterbean »

Wow, thanks for so many responses so quick, and all decent with valid input.

After reading my way through it all I have decided to put myself a 6 month plan together, who doesn’t like to tick things off a list as they go? Things I want to stock up and skills I want to learn that I think I will enjoy.

So I need to find a skill I want to learn, I have fishing kit from 15 years ago and its back at my parents house in the shed, I have minimal skill there and when I fished for a while as a teenager I lacked the patience to get into it. So I don’t think that would keep me interested these days, and it’s a lot of time away from the family, they wouldn’t come with me.

As for putting money aside, afraid not. Too busy paying debts off for now, its too easy borrow money these days, so whilst I have the insurances on everything in the house I know should they pack up I would need to replace them, should it happen anytime this year I think its going back on the plastic I’m sorry to say.
Car breaking down I’m not overly worried about, its still under warranty, convinced myself in between a wave of being sane that going for a new car was the best option for the family. If it were to breakdown and the dealership not be in a position to sort it out, I’m decent enough with mechanics to keep it on the road, just not good enough to keep the aircon and DAB going.

I think there’s a great point in there about flogging some stuff I don’t need on eBay, but its hard to part with something that I think could come in handy at some point in time.

Tbh I’ve never considered what could TRULY affect me the most, I don’t live in an area likely to flood (not that I know of anyway). Never even thought about a house fire, I’ve always considered should something be our downfall it would be an external source, not internal. I shall definitely take that into consideration.
I live south Leicestershire and over the past 3 years have had at least 10 power cuts, some for 10 mins, some for up to 4 hours, the wife still panics but the torches and lanterns are good to go there. And yeah, first aid kit, forgot to mention it, I have one, not a huge thing that would be much use to more than a cut or something and have maybe 2 or 3 packs or paracetamol in the house, so maybe that will be factored into my plan.
I can use the stuff I have, perfectly fine with the tents and stoves and all that, been camping plenty of times, decent with all my tools so happy with that. Never used the life straw though. It’s just sitting in its packet with the instructions waiting to never be used.

Books, now there’s something I haven’t really considered, I suppose we really do take for granted the internet nowadays, as I read that post I said to myself, why bother with books, just Google it, and then I realised that the whole point is Google may not always be there.

Thanks again for some great replies, its given me a lot more to think about and its nice to know I’m not surrounded by extreme 100% preppers who look down on the pretenders, part-timers and newbies but in actual fact, normal people with there heads screwed on. For the most part.
success leads to complacency, complacency leads to failure. Only the Paranoid survive!!