The Anti-prepper prepper

[Tiercel]

Whilst I expect it is unlikely that somewhere there is a group of people preparing for SHTF purely by thinking "I COULD prep myself, but why bother, Ill just rob Mr Prep down the road", however I think that the likelyhood of people turning to robbery, looting and pillaging in SHTF/breakdown of law & order is very likely and something that should be considered, in which case as already stated the best defense is simply not advertising what youve got... and if things get to the point where things get so bad gangs are roaming the streets going door to door robbing people of supplies Id hopefully be long gone by that point, or armed to the teeth

[KrisWard]

Another anhle on this, is most preppers also prep for defence reasons, and as such have bows, crossbows, machetes etc.

Surely there will be easier targets, people who have no such defences. Preppers are ready for certain situations, and I personally think they are able to defend their own (group/gang sizes dependant tho) lol

[rik_uk3]

Lets be honest if a group want your stocks they will eventually get them whether your armed or not. Look back at Ye Olde days and castles, big fortified storehouses in effect but very very few survived a concerted attack and the same is true of your home. Siege mentality if a fundamental weakness in many a preppers planning IMHO.

You mobility planning for alternative stocks and locations will be of prime importance should things in the UK go pear shaped. Three of us (three families in effect) prep with the aim to be able to support the other two families if needed which to me (and us) is sensible, combined with alternative locations we stand a good chance of coping, far more than the prepper who barricades his or her front door and hopes the 'bad people' go away...they won't if they even sniff you have something worth taking from you.

As for weapons? Its very easy to say you could/would defend your family (before your killed) but its a different ball game in reality.

Mobility is the key to survival.

[poppypiesdad]

I disagree with mobility , you have more things to be taken off you the vehicle, the fuel, the contents, you could be watched from a distance for example over open countryside then ambushed, what happens with a break down and no part to fix . And it dosent matter the size of the vehicle. It has limited storage and range with availability if fuel.

However if you have secured your home , know your area , and link you with surrounding people the area can be yours.

And having multiple caches around your ground means they won't get to everything shine you be hit
J

[matthopkins]

.where does taking derv,food etc stop and the taking off the weak start??
im sure that scavaging would keep us going for a long time BUT some sort of conflict WILL happen at some point,,,i can see that single family units couldnt servive long term if it was to get serious.......

This is what will happen, no doubt about that and on the whole i think most preppers are wise to this in their preps. In my opinion both bugging in and bugging out make you a target in one way or an other.
Bugging out will put you in the path of others till you get where your going and will in turn see you facing the same probs as those who bug in.
Bugging in will see you defending your castle should someone want what you have and lets face it, in a really bad shtf situ if they know you have something worth defending they will want to know what it is. Either way has its pros and cons and all you can do is prep the best way you can and do what you have to do to survive.

[ready]

not being detected in the first place is surely the wisest way forward?? i think you would be safer in a rural situation if you can servive..towns and cities will harbour easier food and fuel for a while but will have higher risks of confrontation...im not ashamed to say id be more than happy to retreat in the face of potential injury or loss of kit.........i think the first 12 months would be the hardest to survive by then im sure most of the masses would have been prayed upon of starved......having handy needed skills would earn you a place in a group if that was the way you wanted to go.i couldnt see any survivable groups taking on dead wood without anything to give to the group..

[sfcfinchrs]

I thought I would chime in on this discussion.

This is a worry that needs to be thought about.

I may or may not be alone in my thoughts on how to handle this.

I still maintain a belief that the majority of society does not have malicious intent at their core. Given direction and purpose most people will do good things rather than bad if given the chance.

So in my preps I am working on a different set of goals.

1. Prepare to take care of mine and my own. (Not to difficult really. Being sensible you can take care of this on a budget.)
2. The intent is to bug-in. With the ability to bug-out if absolutely necessary.
3. Centering my preps on the fact that with my values I will help others.

Let me explain. I am of the belief that the prepper community without intending to be so, are the beginnings of a civil defense corps. Think about it. It is in the nature of our society to come together in disaster to try and solve problems together. Looking for leadership, direction and/or purpose. Lets be honest. a group of people working together is safer and more productive than the individual.

So as I have said in previous posts. I buy in bulk. I buy wholesale. Here is an example. Instead of paying a bunch for the latest and greatest medical kit. I bought a box of 80 surplus field dressings from a surplus wholesaler for £25.00 ish. The dressings are still sealed individually and will last as they are forever ish. Another example is something as simple as rice. Go to your nearest supermarket and price up a kilo of rice. Then go to your nearest Asian market and price up a 25 kilo bag of rice. It is worth it to buy in bulk. 25 kg will feed alot of people you can have enough to feed yours and your own while having the excess to help others.

I don't splurge. I just pinch the penny as hard as I can. Buy a felling axe for not much money and set it aside. The axe in the hands of a few people can bring down a good amount of firewood.

I intend to do what I can to work with those around me if SHTF. They may not know it, but I care about what happens to them and am willing to provide them with any help I can. I have no interest in perusing a position of leading a bunch of people. (Did that a bunch in the Army) I am more interested is spreading my knowledge in the aim of helping the many weather the storm.

I'm not sure if I have explained myself well enough and am happy with constructive criticism.

Thanks All.

[lonewolf]

been having this conversation elsewhere, I do not believe roving gangs of looters (armed or otherwise) will be a large problem in the UK, okay probably in the cities we will see an extension of the Autumn Riots of a few years ago, but I do not believe they will roam very far from their "base" or home, just imagine trying to carrying back anything they had looted over a long distance-they'd drop half of it before they got a few miles!!

[nickdutch]

been having this conversation elsewhere, I do not believe roving gangs of looters (armed or otherwise) will be a large problem in the UK, okay probably in the cities we will see an extension of the Autumn Riots of a few years ago, but I do not believe they will roam very far from their "base" or home, just imagine trying to carrying back anything they had looted over a long distance-they'd drop half of it before they got a few miles!!

The flooded houses got looted. Humans can be opportunistic scavengers at the drop of a hat, but I dont see the point in worrying about it.

[lonewolf]

sure the flooded houses got looted Nick, people had evacuated and there was no one around. post SHTF there will be someone on lookout and anyway without fuel and electric to pump fuel anything they loot will have to be carried and anyway I cant see looters travelling far on foot, like I said watch out in the cities, but outside cities? cant see people travelling far on foot.