Hello

[MaxThunder06]

Hi everyone. I'm Max from South West England. I am new to this site and also new to prepping. I decided to become a prepper due to the pandemic and found this forum while I was searching for prepper related tips&knowledge. I am keen to learn and will probably be asking a lot of questions.

[Arzosah]

Hello Max, welcome to the forum - good for you for exploring what steps to take to safeguard yourself and maybe your family too, in this increasingly uncertain world. Check out the boards of the forum, and see what speaks to you within each one. Check out your resilience for "ordinary emergencies" - broken water main, electricity cut, flooding, that sort of thing. Questions are good!

[Yorkshire Andy]

Welcome I authorised your post then had to go deal with a recorder "playing" toddler at gone 9pm. First prep ear plugs



Before you start spending stop and think it's very easy to spend a blooming fortune and have little to show for it.

As above start to think about the day to day mundane problems. If you drive a £100 super survival knife or a years breakdown cover which is more worth while



Start a list of situations and events take as muted tonight a power cut....

Short term.. kit

Torch
Head torch
Spare batteries

Medium term ongoing several hours or a couple of days
Battery Lanterns
Camping stove
Power bank for mobile / usb devices


Longer term

Alternative heating
Candles& suitable containers
Extra gas for stove
Blankets

Once you've then done flooding / house fire / loss of mains water / gas you'll see some kit overlapping that's what to buy first....

As for food buy what you eat... No point stuffing your cupboard full of spam if you can't stomach it

[MaxThunder06]

Hello Max, welcome to the forum - good for you for exploring what steps to take to safeguard yourself and maybe your family too, in this increasingly uncertain world. Check out the boards of the forum, and see what speaks to you within each one. Check out your resilience for "ordinary emergencies" - broken water main, electricity cut, flooding, that sort of thing. Questions are good!

Thank you for the tips!

[MaxThunder06]

Welcome I authorised your post then had to go deal with a recorder "playing" toddler at gone 9pm. First prep ear plugs



Before you start spending stop and think it's very easy to spend a blooming fortune and have little to show for it.

As above start to think about the day to day mundane problems. If you drive a £100 super survival knife or a years breakdown cover which is more worth while



Start a list of situations and events take as muted tonight a power cut....

Short term.. kit

Torch
Head torch
Spare batteries

Medium term ongoing several hours or a couple of days
Battery Lanterns
Camping stove
Power bank for mobile / usb devices


Longer term

Alternative heating
Candles& suitable containers
Extra gas for stove
Blankets

Once you've then done flooding / house fire / loss of mains water / gas you'll see some kit overlapping that's what to buy first....

As for food buy what you eat... No point stuffing your cupboard full of spam if you can't stomach it

Much appreciated. I will note these down.

[Smudge]

Welcome

[jennyjj01]

Hi, and welcome
I see Yorkshire Andy has given a great tip. I believe he's the go-to guy for torches and tech. We have go[to guys for a few things, see if you can spot them. Hint, Jansman is the go-to guy for catering. One day, someone might do a list!

Stop, think and do a bit of research, then prep like your life depends on it. It does.

Be realistic and do preps which have multiple chances of being worthwhile. E.g. a fully stocked overflow pantry is useful for pandemic lockins, job loss, societal breakdown, just being temporarily unable to go shopping, and zombie apocalypse
.
Buying a tent and camping stove is good for going on a camping weekend if you love camping.

Personally, I put food and water security top of MY list. But even there, one can go wrong. Give thought to what foods you have in your regular diet rotation, and aspire never to go short on them. Figure out viable substitutes for hard to stock things like milk and cheese. Then adapt. Don't go full tilt buying freeze dried stuff by the bucketful*: Figure out what your local supermarkets do better. I go for max bang for my buck.

*Learn how and when to ignore or redefine BBE dates. Buy some marker pens.

Also, think outside the box. A first aid course for each adult family member is a great prep.

Finally, Preppers are usually wise to keep their prepping discrete. Get immediate family on board (tricky) but beware that there are some who scoff and some who would come begging and guilt tripping you when TSHTF for them. Prepare your attitude as much as anything.

Please be forthcoming with your own contributions here. Shared experience is what makes this the place to be.

[Cocotte]

. E.g. a fully stocked overflow pantry is useful for pandemic lockins, job loss, societal breakdown, just being temporarily unable to go shopping, and zombie apocalypse
... A first aid course for each adult family member is a great prep.

Can't agree more.
First aid training only takes half a day and so far I've saved 2 lifes with it and helped a few more.

And buying an extra 5% per week in your weekly shop of long life goods pays off in so many ways.

For storing water, clean out old pop bottles and rinse and refill them at the start of the month.
This will be annoying but you will have fresh water if the mains are off.
It might be pipes freezing in winter or it just road maintenance for half a day. Either way, having a couple of days of water stored for you and yours gives such peace of mind when needed.

Most on here aren't the mad Yanks believing there government are taking over or the world will end tomorrow.
Generally here it's 2 groups which follow the same principles.
1. --it happens and be ready for it.
2. Resources are getting scarce, get ready now while you can.

1 can be sudden unemployment & 2 can be a sudden but permanent increase in the cost of living.

It's generally just using a little extra storage space for some stuff and learning some very practical skills which also make for fun hobbies.
Even if the future is doom and gloom doesn't mean preparing for it can't be fun.

[bobble]

Hi Max, welcome from Merseyside!

[jennyjj01]

For storing water, clean out old pop bottles and rinse and refill them at the start of the month.
This will be annoying but you will have fresh water if the mains are off.
It might be pipes freezing in winter or it just road maintenance for half a day. Either way, having a couple of days of water stored for you and yours gives such peace of mind when needed.

Sorry to thread Hijack, but I slightly disagree with this.
Aldi, Lidl and, used to be Tesco, have 2 litre bottles of spring water at 17p each. They even have carbonated at the same price.
You can buy 116L for £10 and stash it away for years untouched. It's nicer than my tap water too.

Chemical leeching and plastic taste have never been an issue for me and I keep mine for years while rotating it. Never had one leak or burst or spoil in any way.
Re-using plastic bottles for water storage can, allegedly, introduce harmful bacteria and is not a good idea, let alone with all the faff. Some bottled water explicitly recommends not re-using the bottle.

https://www.verywellfit.com/can-i-reuse ... le-3435422

Now, if you do want to re-use those handy 2L bottles, they are pretty tough for keeping rice and pulses and pasta in, with a silica gel pad.