Preparedness for when

pineapple

These groups are a spin off from Chris Martenson's Peak Prosperity. Though they have an American focus - there is a lot of useful info. And - if you scroll down past the chickens, preppers without partners and the beekeeping, there is a UK section!
http://www.peakprosperity.com/groups?distance

Enjoy!

[Deleted User]

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

Gosh Bob, you have such a lot of emergency equipment, where on earth do you find the room to keep it all

My BOB (together with my Tanto and water bottle) lives in my wardrobe, while my tents, sleeping bag and full size bergen, live in my pantry.

Lamps, candles and stoves are in cupboards, but the fuel for them is in the pantry.

Actually, the equipment doesn't take up as much space, as you might expect.

thriftwizard

Just a quick aside to some of the newer contributors; bugging out features hugely in American prepping sites, and quite a bit here too, but for some of us, bugging IN is the best option in all but the direst & most extreme circumstances. Whilst it would be daft not to have the basics covered, i.e. vital documents copied & easily accessible, important medical supplies always to hand, and the ability to grab a bag & go if, say, one of your kids has had an accident & you're needed NOW at the other end of the country, for some of us accumulating lots of "survival" gear seems a bit OTT. That said, I do have camping gear & supplies I can grab in a hurry if I needed to, because camping is what we do for fun, but TBH in 99% of foreseeable emergency circumstances I'm better off staying put.

Obviously if I were in an inner-city area prone to riots or flooding, or had dodgy neighbours, or lived somewhere where landslips or tornados or earthquakes were likely, I'd feel differently & prepare accordingly. And I'm well aware how quickly things can change. But I'm also concerned that some newer readers may feel that they "should" go out & buy loads of kit that they'll probably never need.

I think what I'm trying to say has probably been said 100 times already in the course of the thread - that prepping is a state of mind, & will be different for each one of us. It's not as simple as acquiring pieces of equipment, no matter how inexpensive or useful! And it's worth stressing again that everyone needs to look at what is most likely to happen to them, where they are, that they need to have some plans and/or equipment to deal with, rather than just following a checklist set out by someone living on a different continent, with different weather, different demographics & an altogether different mindset.

OK - off my soapbox now! And finding out just how adaptable my general catering setup is. My cooker has gone belly-up whilst I have 7 family and two young German students (one of them vegetarian) in the house to cook for - I'm down to one small oven & two rings, and it'll be a month before the replacement is delivered. But we're coping!

fuddle

Excellent post thriftwizard and very valid.

When I was first introduced to prepping I wasn't in a brilliant place emotionally and still coming to terms with housing instability. I became overwhelmed very very quickly. I was dragged back out of it by kind OSers who knew and understood my need for feeling as secure as possible but also my worrying side.

I can now come onto this thread and enjoy the discussions, take from it what I need and quietly discard the rest.

I think prepping has lost it's way a bit. I think an OS prepper is an organised being with a head full of ideas for any given situation.

lobbyludd

I think also something that can be overlooked in prepping is the value of building up community. obviously that happens on this thread in a virtual and like-minded sense. But it is also very valuable to build up networks in real life with those who are geographically close but not necessarily like-minded.

I live in a just-off inner city urban cheek-by-jowl location. For the first 7 years here I knew 1 of my neighbours. Since then, by getting involved in things that scared the bejeezus out of me and were not necessarily "my thing" (street parties etc - I am not by nature a "joiner of groups") I have discovered that my wider neighbourhood is populated by people with innumerable skills that I never would have guessed and are to a wo/man people who would, and do, step up in a crisis. We have carpenters, engineers, ex-marines, organic farming nuts, biochemists, nurses, electricians, those who can hotwire a car in <2 secs or who can always "source" anything, people who have lived here all their lives and know someone who knows someone who can help with anything, etc.

Building a community, accepting and celebrating the differences, builds caring and resilience that outweighs any gadget or store.

nuatha

Well said Thriftwizard.
Our emergency bags are planned to cover anything from an emergency hospital stay, evacuation for a gas leak to suddenly deciding we want a weekend away.
We have camping kit because we camp and this forms the basis of our bug out kit, kit we have and use fairly regularly.
We haven't bought kit specifically for SHTF scenarios, though we do evaluate just how adaptable kit we look to buy for the life we already lead is. Sometimes this approach results in buying slightly more expensive kit, generally not.

[Deleted User]

My preps are also for bugging in. We chose our house and garden with a view to building up our own food self reliance and having a reasonably secure base. We live in a remote rural location so it is a necessity to have a well stocked pantry, storecupboard and medical supplies. We have regular power cuts, so solar lamps and lamps using re-chargeable batteries are a must rather than a "SHTF good idea" purchase.

For me it is about having a good stocks for when transport networks go down (which often do in the winter here), being able to keep going when the electricity goes off and having the peace of mind of knowing I could manage for quite a long while on my supplies if we don't have cash coming in (OH off sick the last two weeks). I'm three quarters of the way through reading 'The Long Emergency' and I'm now thinking of the long term decline of energy resources and a decent into a lifestyle very different to today's. I grew up on a smallholding, where family money was very tight. So I've experienced having to manage on what is in the garden, stretching stores and having to wrap up well to keep warm.

mardatha

And I live in a place like you Pink, and that's why I got into prepping

[Deleted User]

Some very good and thought provoking posts to read through this morning, thanks all. I feel that prepping is an individual occupation according to the personal perceptions and experiences of each and every one of us who looks forward in time to perhaps a very different world and also looks back to a different lifestyle in our history. I agree wholeheartedly that community contacts and community participation will make sense in the future I can see for all of us. It would make sense to add your own skills to the known skill base in the area and let it be known that you are a useful and supportive member of your local population. It might give you and yours added value and perhaps give you a little extra protection in the aftermath of a life change event.

I've been aware of the potential for massive disruption to life as we know it as a result of rapidly diminishing resources of every kind particularly oil, as we depend on it for most of the basics, luxuries and conveniences of modern living. Everything from our electricity to our medical drugs to fertilizers to carrier bags to throw away packets that contain our foodstuffs, life without it will be very different! Already we are seeing the emotions involved with fracking running very high and I can see both sides of the situation. I would fight tooth and nail to avoid it in our local area, but without it most of the easy life will probably dissapear and life will inevitably be much harder for us all. We have chosen, in the light of what is happening to our world to simplify our lives and learn to have much less expectation of having it all as the saying goes as a way of mentally preparing for the time when 'it all' is no longer available. Of course there will always be those few who can afford the prices for what they want but we would much rather do a voluntary limiting of expectations and be more content with what we have should TSHTF as I feel it will in the not too distant future for some reason or another. Skilling yourselves rather than collecting equipment would in my opinion be a better bet for survival, I can go and buy a box of candles today and feel secure that I will have light in a power cut but when the last candle is used I will have no light and if candles (another product of the oil industry) are not available I will be in darkness forever however, I know how to make tallow candles and rushlights so rather than rely on purchased goods I could get my light back from skills I have, worth a thought perhaps? Lyn xxx.

homesteadchick

We can get these doorstickers that say: NO religious preaching, NO door to door selling, NO advertisments.

It makes for lovely quiet living. ;-)

On my to do list, is deffinately a bug out bag. Just something I could grab in case of a house fire or flood. (although flood is unlikely here)
If our house went up in flames, I'd have nothing. no paperwork, no important documents.
That would make life pretty difficult.