Prepping

[dtaylo2]

I lived through a hurricane in the USA (Harvey). Took 5 days for my 8 month pregnant wife and I to be rescued. Had 40L of water in my apartment, that provided a huge safety blanket (I collected rain water for flushing toilets etc - there was no shortage of rain water!).

My most useful things we had was water, old school radio, torch, batteries. For food we just had a ‘cupboards always full’ mentality to grocery shopping. Changes I made after the event were water purification tablets and a water filter.

Then moved to Africa (again) for three years (again). Covid came. Electricity failed multiple times a week. Water failed few times a year (2 days - 2 weeks each time). Had plenty of water and food. Nothing excessive. Drinking water you don’t need that much, it’s flushing the toilet that quickly becomes your worse job. Living without electricity becomes pretty easy pretty quickly. Lanterns, long life batteries. Food we always have all cupboards full so we could always go weeks. Challenge was when alcohol became unavailable for a few months. We went camping lots so had a really good gas camping stove. Just always had a 9kg gas bottle available for it. Used it often in the kitchen.

So changes made after that - buy a years supply of alcohol and keep in the garage.

Now living back in UK away from hurricanes and civil unrest. Downsized the water to just 20L container in the garage, mainly because I had the containers so sold one and kept one. Food and booze - just keep the cupboards full really. Got a small plastic container with water tabs, filter, radio, torches and loads of batteries. They are left over from other places, if I was building from scratch I would just have water filter and batteries I think. Also have kept the habit of having plenty of gas to suit the camping stove.

I reckon in the UK, you just need ability to not have to panic if you can’t buy water or food for a week. And most people can achieve that simply by not waiting until the cupboards are empty before grocery shopping. We tend to create our own supply chain issues in those country by panic buying stuff. Just ensure you don’t need to do that.

And don’t underestimate the comfort of listening to a radio in the evening.

So I’d say my ‘prepping‘ is based on experience and is actually just mostly ensuring I have reasonable stocks of stuff I already need and use rather than running my life on a minimum supply.

[The_Doc]

I think we shouldn't forget what Justin Timberlake had to say about all this

"
I'm staying right here, in my bunker where it's safe.

[i] Oh, that's great. You're the one guy who knows more about Bergens than anyone...
but when we finally need you, you just want to hide here forever? [\i]

Forever? Pfft. No.
Oh! Yeah... I really only have enough supplies down here to last me 10 years...

11, if I'm willing to store and drink my own sweat.
Which I am.

You all said I was crazy, huh? Well, who's crazy now?
Me.
Crazy prepared.
"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sep5QzN5Ahc

are we prepped for all eventualities?

[DonkeyApple]

egor110 said:

So you learn all this stuff then when the st hits the fan where to you run to ?

The country ? the place where people like farmers / gamekeepers / children grow up knowing how to catch fish , butcher animals , repair things .

You think they want you in there locality killing there animals ?

Won't the country folk be 'farming' all the city folk?

The whole prepping thing is a branch of walt life mental illness where blokes fantasise about being something else and then start shopping for loads of specialist material. The fact that it inevitably ends with planning how to murder people who might look at your turnips funny just says it all. Some walt loonies buy Battenberg and swan patrol stickers for their car and drive around pretending to be defenders of the realm, other nutjobs buy Armageddon kit and fantasise aboit midering their neighbours. It's all walty loon stuff by blokes who feel inadequate and haven't progressed in life all that well.

Meanwhile, putting some money aside to protect the family from the normal every day risks or bolstering the family camping equipment to give extra cover based on one's local geographic risks such as flooding etc is really just normal behaviour.

I have a generator that my father bought back in the 70s so that when the power was cut to the house it just fired up and gave us lighting and heating etc. I now live out in the countryside and the genny has just been sitting in the barn doing nothing. The other year I had some spare time so I removed the old and rotting fuel tank and adapted it to take the outboard fuel tank, which makes much more sense. We have relatively frequent power cuts but I've never bothered firing it up. Modern appliances like freezers retain their temps very well, you really don't need any lighting that can't be surprised by one's phone or the camping lamp from the garage and if you need heating then the log burner gets fired up. None of these things have ever actually been required.

A local village that's a little more remote lost power the other year during a storm and it was over a week before it was restored. People just went on holiday, moved in to a hotel, went to visit family or just stayed where they were as if nothing had happened. They set up a genny and a movie projector in the village hall and they went and watched a movie in the evenings while getting merrily tipsy.

In London we used to have the occasional issue. Sometimes floods which wiped out a load of ground floor or garden apartments or power cuts. There was even a big lockdown thing because someone fked a pangolin or something but everyone just adapted and carried on as normal humans do. The most aggressive most forms of 'bugging out' got was people deciding they really ought to make sure that for the next home move they got a place with a garden. I'm sure a few people started to have dreams of apocalypse trucks, going to live in the woods and murdering people to protect their lucky charms but these people are nutters. Walts at best and sickos at worst. Either way, it's creepy weirdo territory.

[Dog Star]

LimaDelta said:

True prepping is about acquiring knowledge, not stockpiling goods. Learn to grow food, catch fish, butcher animals, repair stuff, perform medical procedures, defend yourself, etc. Extra beans and bottled water is all well and good, but it is still eventually going to run out and you'll be no better off than anyone else.

"the more you know the less you carry."

I would have thought that if you are in a location that is bigger than a tiny hamlet or live in proximity to a town, city, residential area etc it’s almost totally down to having the ability to take stuff from those who have got it and making sure others can’t take yours. That’s the ability you’ll need, not 200 tons of beans. I’m coming for YOUR beans.

[LimaDelta]

Dog Star said:

LimaDelta said:

True prepping is about acquiring knowledge, not stockpiling goods. Learn to grow food, catch fish, butcher animals, repair stuff, perform medical procedures, defend yourself, etc. Extra beans and bottled water is all well and good, but it is still eventually going to run out and you'll be no better off than anyone else.

"the more you know the less you carry."

I would have thought that if you are in a location that is bigger than a tiny hamlet or live in proximity to a town, city, residential area etc it’s almost totally down to having the ability to take stuff from those who have got it and making sure others can’t take yours. That’s the ability you’ll need, not 200 tons of beans. I’m coming for YOUR beans.

Which is why in reality, any post-apocalyptic world will be dominated by those who already have no respect for the rule of law, and use violence to get what they want. The sort of bloke who will push a pint glass into your face for 'looking at his bird', or pour a kettle of boiling water over your child to get your RS6 keys is not going to hold back while society collapses around them. The overweight incel 'sheepdog' with a basement full of baked beans and special forces cosplay kit is not suddenly going to rise to the occasion to save the sheep, no matter how many YouTube airsoft videos they watch.

[Caddyshack]

DonkeyApple said:

egor110 said:

So you learn all this stuff then when the st hits the fan where to you run to ?

The country ? the place where people like farmers / gamekeepers / children grow up knowing how to catch fish , butcher animals , repair things .

You think they want you in there locality killing there animals ?

Won't the country folk be 'farming' all the city folk?

The whole prepping thing is a branch of walt life mental illness where blokes fantasise about being something else and then start shopping for loads of specialist material. The fact that it inevitably ends with planning how to murder people who might look at your turnips funny just says it all. Some walt loonies buy Battenberg and swan patrol stickers for their car and drive around pretending to be defenders of the realm, other nutjobs buy Armageddon kit and fantasise aboit midering their neighbours. It's all walty loon stuff by blokes who feel inadequate and haven't progressed in life all that well.

Meanwhile, putting some money aside to protect the family from the normal every day risks or bolstering the family camping equipment to give extra cover based on one's local geographic risks such as flooding etc is really just normal behaviour.

I have a generator that my father bought back in the 70s so that when the power was cut to the house it just fired up and gave us lighting and heating etc. I now live out in the countryside and the genny has just been sitting in the barn doing nothing. The other year I had some spare time so I removed the old and rotting fuel tank and adapted it to take the outboard fuel tank, which makes much more sense. We have relatively frequent power cuts but I've never bothered firing it up. Modern appliances like freezers retain their temps very well, you really don't need any lighting that can't be surprised by one's phone or the camping lamp from the garage and if you need heating then the log burner gets fired up. None of these things have ever actually been required.

A local village that's a little more remote lost power the other year during a storm and it was over a week before it was restored. People just went on holiday, moved in to a hotel, went to visit family or just stayed where they were as if nothing had happened. They set up a genny and a movie projector in the village hall and they went and watched a movie in the evenings while getting merrily tipsy.

In London we used to have the occasional issue. Sometimes floods which wiped out a load of ground floor or garden apartments or power cuts. There was even a big lockdown thing because someone fked a pangolin or something but everyone just adapted and carried on as normal humans do. The most aggressive most forms of 'bugging out' got was people deciding they really ought to make sure that for the next home move they got a place with a garden. I'm sure a few people started to have dreams of apocalypse trucks, going to live in the woods and murdering people to protect their lucky charms but these people are nutters. Walts at best and sickos at worst. Either way, it's creepy weirdo territory.

Apocalypse truck sounds ace! I would also like a belt fed machine gun for all the neighbours. They won’t get my turnips.

[DonkeyApple]

Dog Star said:

I would have thought that if you are in a location that is bigger than a tiny hamlet or live in proximity to a town, city, residential area etc it’s almost totally down to having the ability to take stuff from those who have got it and making sure others can’t take yours. That’s the ability you’ll need, not 200 tons of beans. I’m coming for YOUR beans.

That's why you have to have a bunker in the woods and a stash of Claymores.

If you, for example, fire up a genny and light up your suburban home it is merely a beacon for scroungers who are going to come knocking to ask for things. Ultimately, the chaps who have piles of gold and beans are just paying to look after all that stuff for other people, it's not theirs just because they bought it and are looking after it.

[Dog Star]

LimaDelta said:

Which is why in reality, any post-apocalyptic world will be dominated by those who already have no respect for the rule of law, and use violence to get what they want. The sort of bloke who will push a pint glass into your face for 'looking at his bird', or pour a kettle of boiling water over your child to get your RS6 keys is not going to hold back while society collapses around them. The overweight incel 'sheepdog' with a basement full of baked beans and special forces cosplay kit is not suddenly going to rise to the occasion to save the sheep, no matter how many YouTube airsoft videos they watch.

Yep. The apex predators of the new order are going to be caravan dwelling scamps, the populations of rough council estates and those scooter chavs you see nicking Ducatis in London brandishing an axe. Middle classes: you’re fked.

[DonkeyApple]

Dog Star said:

Yep. The apex predators of the new order are going to be caravan dwelling scamps, the populations of rough council estates and those scooter chavs you see nicking Ducatis in London brandishing an axe. Middle classes: you’re fked.

It won't be any different to today, if we think logically. The violent people from the lower orders won't suddenly inherit the Earth as they do in Hollywood. They have no value or worth beyond being foot soldiers so will be owned by the same people who currently own them. The middle income group won't change either as they have the brains and ability to do the middle level work. And those at the top won't change as they have the skills to be at the top.

It's why regardless of how many people are murdered, how many books are burned, the same people end up in the same place doing the same work. Civilisation always wins. There has never been any apocalypse where it hasn't.

The whole 'meek will inherit the Earth' stuff that runs through all societies in some shape or form is nothing more than basic propaganda to keep the masses content.

[Baldchap]

It is perfectly legal to own and use an automatic crossbow in the UK. It is slightly more difficult but still perfectly straightforward to obtain firearms.

Society is a thin veneer. A week with nothing on the shelves and there's no such thing.

You guys stockpile food and useful stuff. I'll turn up heavily armed and collect it when I need it.

(Clearly some flippancy in this, but hopefully it illustrates the reality of societal breakdown as seen throughout the world from time to time).

[Caddyshack]

Dog Star said:

LimaDelta said:

Which is why in reality, any post-apocalyptic world will be dominated by those who already have no respect for the rule of law, and use violence to get what they want. The sort of bloke who will push a pint glass into your face for 'looking at his bird', or pour a kettle of boiling water over your child to get your RS6 keys is not going to hold back while society collapses around them. The overweight incel 'sheepdog' with a basement full of baked beans and special forces cosplay kit is not suddenly going to rise to the occasion to save the sheep, no matter how many YouTube airsoft videos they watch.

Yep. The apex predators of the new order are going to be caravan dwelling scamps, the populations of rough council estates and those scooter chavs you see nicking Ducatis in London brandishing an axe. Middle classes: you’re fked.

Airsoft videos are really training videos for our elite. Airsoft doesn’t really happen. Call of duty is the same, if you are good enough we may just contact you.

[DonkeyApple]

Caddyshack said:

Airsoft videos are really training videos for our elite. Airsoft doesn’t really happen. Call of duty is the same, if you are good enough we may just contact you.

How do you convince their mothers to sign the permission slip?

[Caddyshack]

DonkeyApple said:

Caddyshack said:

Airsoft videos are really training videos for our elite. Airsoft doesn’t really happen. Call of duty is the same, if you are good enough we may just contact you.

How do you convince their mothers to sign the permission slip?

Training normally finishes before tea time and our nap. Mums come along to cut the crusts off the sandwiches so they are normally ok with it.

[Tim Cognito]

Obviously the council types already behave like cavemen so you'd think they would be top candidates to go into barbarian mode but how about the latent caveman that lurks within us all including the soft middle class office workers?

You may think Keith from IT is a bit of a wet wipe but when it's matters of life, death and toilet roll who knows what he's capable of...

[jameswills]

DonkeyApple said:

It won't be any different to today, if we think logically. The violent people from the lower orders won't suddenly inherit the Earth as they do in Hollywood. They have no value or worth beyond being foot soldiers so will be owned by the same people who currently own them. The middle income group won't change either as they have the brains and ability to do the middle level work. And those at the top won't change as they have the skills to be at the top.

It's why regardless of how many people are murdered, how many books are burned, the same people end up in the same place doing the same work. Civilisation always wins. There has never been any apocalypse where it hasn't.

The whole 'meek will inherit the Earth' stuff that runs through all societies in some shape or form is nothing more than basic propaganda to keep the masses content.

From what I’ve experienced over the whole Covid made up nonsense, I’d say your paradigm should be inverted. The people that actually behaved normally and could be trusted were the “working class” and didn’t go along with any of the bullst, and it was the middle classes that lapped it up and just stayed at home and obeyed orders. They will be the first to go if there was anything like an apocalyptic event, as they are utterly useless to society. No one needs a trader or insurance broker. But they do need a mechanic or electrician.

[DonkeyApple]

Tim Cognito said:

Obviously the council types already behave like cavemen so you'd think they would be top candidates to go into barbarian mode but how about the latent caveman that lurks within us all including the soft middle class office workers?

You may think Keith from IT is a bit of a wet wipe but when it's matters of life, death and toilet roll who knows what he's capable of...

He has the educational skills to construct a Faraday cage so we can guess what dirty little Keith will be doing.

[DonkeyApple]

jameswills said:

From what I’ve experienced over the whole Covid made up nonsense, I’d say your paradigm should be inverted. The people that actually behaved normally and could be trusted were the “working class” and didn’t go along with any of the bullst, and it was the middle classes that lapped it up and just stayed at home and obeyed orders. They will be the first to go if there was anything like an apocalyptic event, as they are utterly useless to society. No one needs a trader or insurance broker. But they do need a mechanic or electrician.

Covid isn't really a good example as there wasn't anything to rebel against or need to do anything, people were just paid to chill out and watch TV while enjoying more wine than usual and those that didn't 'go along' with that didn't do anything remotely impressive. Plus, there was no real class divide between those who adhered to the rules and those who didn't. It was some great uprising by the oppressed. Look to history of real examples and the mechanics and electricians inherited nothing and ended up worse off but historical reality doesn't ever fit the narrative of those who wish to replace the people at the top using the blood and lives of those they claim to be representing.

The other way to look at it is that those who made it to the top did so despite having to adhere to general social rules and regs so released, unfettered of those civilities one might get a shock regards their achievement levels seeing as all the rules and regs are there to protect the masses from them.

[jameswills]

DonkeyApple said:

Covid isn't really a good example as there wasn't anything to rebel against or need to do anything, people were just paid to chill out and watch TV while enjoying more wine than usual and those that didn't 'go along' with that didn't do anything remotely impressive. Plus, there was no real class divide between those who adhered to the rules and those who didn't. It was some great uprising by the oppressed. Look to history of real examples and the mechanics and electricians inherited nothing and ended up worse off but historical reality doesn't ever fit the narrative of those who wish to replace the people at the top using the blood and lives of those they claim to be representing.

The other way to look at it is that those who made it to the top did so despite having to adhere to general social rules and regs so released, unfettered of those civilities one might get a shock regards their achievement levels seeing as all the rules and regs are there to protect the masses from them.

Totally disagree with that, there was a massive thing to rebel against, it was to “save the NHS”, that was drummed in very early and the mantra is still being propagated. They even managed to get people to stand outside and bash a wooden spoon against a pan every Thursday, that is the very definition of a psyop for a cause. During it, the people I knew that didn’t play along were those that still had to work, the actual “working class”. The same will happen again. People who don’t have real jobs, middle management, trading, insurance, sales, they will be eaten alive.

Your definition of “top” is clearly different to mine, and it’s not related to bank balance or size of your house. It’s about your usefulness, and those you define at “the top”, are the most useless in reality

[Mobile Chicane]

DonkeyApple said:

Covid isn't really a good example as there wasn't anything to rebel against or need to do anything, people were just paid to chill out and watch TV while enjoying more wine than usual and those that didn't 'go along' with that didn't do anything remotely impressive. Plus, there was no real class divide between those who adhered to the rules and those who didn't. It was some great uprising by the oppressed. Look to history of real examples and the mechanics and electricians inherited nothing and ended up worse off but historical reality doesn't ever fit the narrative of those who wish to replace the people at the top using the blood and lives of those they claim to be representing.

The other way to look at it is that those who made it to the top did so despite having to adhere to general social rules and regs so released, unfettered of those civilities one might get a shock regards their achievement levels seeing as all the rules and regs are there to protect the masses from them.

You clearly didn't experience the Loo Roll Crisis in Dorking.

It got ugly, I tell you.

[r3g]

Baldchap said:

It is perfectly legal to own and use an automatic crossbow in the UK. It is slightly more difficult but still perfectly straightforward to obtain firearms.

Society is a thin veneer. A week with nothing on the shelves and there's no such thing.

You guys stockpile food and useful stuff. I'll turn up heavily armed and collect it when I need it.

(Clearly some flippancy in this, but hopefully it illustrates the reality of societal breakdown as seen throughout the world from time to time).

Daily life in much of South Africa offers a pretty good window to see what a complete societal breakdown would probably look like over here. There is no law and order there anymore. It's every man and woman for themselves when it comes to protecting yourself and your property. It's survival of the fittest, quite literally. How adept you are with a gun, knife, being able to run fast and vault walls, overcome razor wire, are 90% of the skills you'll need to survive, not a cupboard full of Branston beans as the former will simply smash your door down, walk in and take them.