Hello

[Yorkshire Andy]

this basic list by the government is a good basic starter package

If you are at home and an emergency happens, try to gather together:
A list of useful phone numbers, such as your doctor’s and close relatives’
Home and car keys
Toiletries, sanitary supplies and any regularly prescribed medication
A battery radio, with spare batteries
A torch with spare batteries, candles and matches
A First Aid kit
Your mobile phone
Cash and credit cards
Spare clothes and blankets
Also, it is always useful to have:
Bottled water, ready-to-eat food (e.g. tinned food) and a bottle/tin opener, in case you have
to remain in your home for several days

from

http://www.direct.gov.uk/prod_consum_dg ... 176618.pdf

In the early stages prepping doesnt have to cost a fortune seek out the poundshop and BM / Home bargains

a budget camping stove £10 (ideal if you have a electric cooker for heating your food / boiling water) cartridges for it are about £5 for 4 but shop about

http://www.millets.co.uk/equipment/1021 ... wgodKyAADg


few LED lanterns IMO are way safer than candles especially if you have kids / pets

http://www.millracegardencentre.co.uk/s ... wwodgCMAyw

and a couple of head torches for when your walking about again can be had for £5 all the way upto £100 plus


Start slowly Make a list of events your prepping for and what you will need then slowly stock up a couple of items a week thrown in with the weekly shop so you dont skint yourself,,, extra bag of rice or pasta, a tin or 2 of stew or meatballs (again echoing others buy stuff you will eat and rotate it in the cupboard so it doesnt go out of date / to waste


take for example :

POWER CUT

needs:

Alternative Lighting,
Cooking if fan oven or electric cooker)
Ways of charging phone (if you have a car a car charger would be the cheapest option)
Entertainment for you and any kids who will be cranky if the Ipad goes flat board games etc
ways of keeping food cool (big old blanket to wrap the fridge freezer in to make it stay cooler longer)
Possibly water depending on the scale of the blackout (water is pumped by electric)



So prepping for a powercut £5 for a lantern £5 for a head torch £10 for a stove £5 for a phone charger

which will also overlap into other emergency's you can forsee


oh and dont forget a camping kettle, tea bags and UHT milk... when everyone else is panicking they cant get on facebook as the phone network is down and they cant charge their phone.. you can be sat with your feet up with a decent cuppa looking somewhat smug


One thing though dont broadcast the fact that your prepping as everyone will think your nuts....... UNTIL there is a problem and they will suddenly want to be your best friend to leach off you "oh have you got a torch i can borrow" "ohh im starving what you got to eat" etc

[Decaff]

Just to prove mistakes are very easy to make... I'm sure I bought a couple of tin openers for when my electric one doesn't work, cant find them anywhere!! Only because I read this post did I think hmmmm I must have left them at the packing area in the supermarket.

I will put them on my next shopping list and hopefully these will make it home with me!

[Yorkshire Andy]

Just to prove mistakes are very easy to make... I'm sure I bought a couple of tin openers for when my electric one doesn't work, cant find them anywhere!! Only because I read this post did I think hmmmm I must have left them at the packing area in the supermarket.

I will put them on my next shopping list and hopefully these will make it home with me!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbxKbI9Ik4o

[Decaff]

Just to prove mistakes are very easy to make... I'm sure I bought a couple of tin openers for when my electric one doesn't work, cant find them anywhere!! Only because I read this post did I think hmmmm I must have left them at the packing area in the supermarket.

I will put them on my next shopping list and hopefully these will make it home with me!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbxKbI9Ik4o

Now I like that! I may get a good knife to go in with the time as well!

[Decaff]

Hi everyone,

A friend suggested I watch a program to called "Blackout" on Channel 4OD and the realisation of how fragile our society hit me like a train. How we take almost every aspect of our modern day lives for granted. I flick on a switch and there is light, I turn on the tap and there is water and don't think about how it happens.

Charlie

I just watched this as hadn't seen before OH hates me watching stuff like this... If only that young boy had kept quiet in the garden, good point raised was being too scared to use the generator due to the noise. Also shows why you shouldn't keep food all in one place, just in case of hungry thieves. Also made me think to remember to pull down blackout blinds and pull all curtains when its dark so no light can be seen outside... BBQ not a good idea either, smells would attract the hungry hoards so camping stove in the bathroom where I have no window but the door open?!

[Mally]

Hi Charlie and welcome. I'm sure you'll enjoy it here. Haven't been here long myself but have been made to feel really welcome.
My advice for starting out with the prepping would be to plan and prepare for a small event first such as a power cut.Make a list of what you'll need and begin. Once you've got this sorted you'll feel really good in yourself and you'll increase in confidence.

[charliec]

Hi everyone,

A friend suggested I watch a program to called "Blackout" on Channel 4OD and the realisation of how fragile our society hit me like a train. How we take almost every aspect of our modern day lives for granted. I flick on a switch and there is light, I turn on the tap and there is water and don't think about how it happens.

Charlie

I just watched this as hadn't seen before OH hates me watching stuff like this... If only that young boy had kept quiet in the garden, good point raised was being too scared to use the generator due to the noise. Also shows why you shouldn't keep food all in one place, just in case of hungry thieves. Also made me think to remember to pull down blackout blinds and pull all curtains when its dark so no light can be seen outside... BBQ not a good idea either, smells would attract the hungry hoards so camping stove in the bathroom where I have no window but the door open?!

Yeah that seems to be the scary side of social breakdown, when people get hungry and go looking for food they'll do anything to get it!

Over the last week I've been reading a book called "Last Light" by Alex Scarrow, it sent chills down my spine. It's about the disruption of oil flow due to terrorist bombing oil refineries around the world which results in no fuel and hence no food at the supermarkets... It's insane how quickly society can collapse and how people turn on each other!

Just starting his next book "After Light" which focuses on the years after social breakdown.

[charliec]

Thanks again everyone for the warn welcome and the helpful tips!

I've made a good start with my prepping, so far I've got:

Started with 12 gallons of bottles water
Bought a Lifesaver 4000 water bottle for filtering water
Lots of pasta products, mainly spaghetti because it takes up less space.
Lost of rice
Few tins of tuna (seems to have a fair few years shelf life)
Quite a few tins of fruit
Ordered some bulk packs of batteries aswell

I don't know if this has been suggested before but what about sports nutrution powders and meal replacement bars. My brother lives off that stuff and he's a huge bodybuilder. I know the shelf life of the protein powder is years and years and it must be high in nutritional value!

[Yorkshire Andy]

Hi everyone,

A friend suggested I watch a program to called "Blackout" on Channel 4OD and the realisation of how fragile our society hit me like a train. How we take almost every aspect of our modern day lives for granted. I flick on a switch and there is light, I turn on the tap and there is water and don't think about how it happens.

Charlie

I just watched this as hadn't seen before OH hates me watching stuff like this... If only that young boy had kept quiet in the garden, good point raised was being too scared to use the generator due to the noise. Also shows why you shouldn't keep food all in one place, just in case of hungry thieves. Also made me think to remember to pull down blackout blinds and pull all curtains when its dark so no light can be seen outside... BBQ not a good idea either, smells would attract the hungry hoards so camping stove in the bathroom where I have no window but the door open?!

Its a catch 22 situation if the rest of the street is showing candle light... join in a dark house is then going to be a target as much as a well lit house.... IMO matching whats going on around is important and been the "gray man" See all around queueing for water go join in even if you dont need it,.. why advertise that your "ok" someone locally is bound to notice "the family from no 23 haven't been seen" and some"kind soul" is bound to come and look for you .... then it gets out..... "those at 23 have a pile of torches and food in their hall way" and it snowballs from there

[Yorkshire Andy]

Hi everyone,

A friend suggested I watch a program to called "Blackout" on Channel 4OD and the realisation of how fragile our society hit me like a train. How we take almost every aspect of our modern day lives for granted. I flick on a switch and there is light, I turn on the tap and there is water and don't think about how it happens.

Charlie

I just watched this as hadn't seen before OH hates me watching stuff like this... If only that young boy had kept quiet in the garden, good point raised was being too scared to use the generator due to the noise. Also shows why you shouldn't keep food all in one place, just in case of hungry thieves. Also made me think to remember to pull down blackout blinds and pull all curtains when its dark so no light can be seen outside... BBQ not a good idea either, smells would attract the hungry hoards so camping stove in the bathroom where I have no window but the door open?!

Its a catch 22 situation if the rest of the street is showing candle light... join in a dark house is then going to be a target as much as a well lit house.... IMO matching whats going on around is important and been the "gray man" See all around queueing for water go join in even if you dont need it,.. why advertise that your "ok" someone locally is bound to notice "the family from no 23 haven't been seen" and some"kind soul" is bound to come and look for you .... then it gets out..... "those at 23 have a pile of torches and food in their hall way" and it snowballs from there