Enthusiastic new prepper from Scotland

[colb16]

Hello,

I live in the south west of Scotland and have always known in the back of my mind that it's important to prepare for emergencies, disasters, shtf situations but am embarrassed to say that I have done absolutely nothing about it until now! Well that's all changed in the last few days.

I've finally kicked myself into gear, made my first few purchases and have been carrying out lots of online research. I want to learn and develop the skills required to give myself and my family (husband and 3 kids) the tools to survive in a variety of situations. I don't have one specific situation in mind that I think will happen but want to prepare for as much as possible - bad weather, storms and the knock on effect of that, extended power cuts, fuel shortages, shops running out of food due to any of the above, civil unrest, terrorist attacks, public health emergencies. Some of these things are obviously more likely than others.

The other half is lukewarm to the idea of prepping. He laughed at me coming in with lots of water and additional food today but then said he would be glad of it if we ever need it so I think I can gradually get him more interested in the idea. He has some skills left over from his days in the military (although he keeps them well-hidden) so I am hoping that I can motivate him and tap into these too. My eldest (aged 12) is also quickly showing an interest and wants to get involved and help out.

I only moved into my current house in April and we've already had 3 power cuts (apparently we are on old lines which are very volatile) so immediate concerns are making sure we can stay warm and have a way of preparing food if (probably when) this happens again.

In the winter of 2010 I just managed to make it down the M77 in one of those terrible snowstorms that year. That same night many people were stranded on the M8 and I know people were in similar situations all over the UK. I'm very lucky that I wasn't stuck out there all night as I wasn't at all dressed or prepared for that so one of the first things I am doing is getting winter car kits together. I'll make a post of my initial preps in the appropriate forum in the next few days so won't go into all the details here.

I am really pleased to have found this forum - just through a google search - and look forward to learning from the other members, sharing my preps and experiences and I would definitely be interested in meeting up with others in the future if this is something that you do. Also, I see people posting Area 3, Area 4 and so on. I'd be interested to know which area I am in.

Thanks for reading!

[Hamradioop]

hello and welcome to our on line community. a camping stove would suit you need to prepare food they start around 30pounds and run on bottled Gas

[colb16]

hello and welcome to our on line community. a camping stove would suit you need to prepare food they start around 30pounds and run on bottled Gas

Thank you. I am going to get one of these asap.

[featherstick]

Sounds like you've got absolutely the right mindset and motivation.

Your first move should be a needs assessment.

- What are the risks? (fire, flood, weather, economic collapse)
- What are the mitigation actions? (smoke detectors etc.)
- Who do you need to look after and what are their specific needs?
- What resources do you have already?
- What do you need to fill in?
- Can you beg, borrow, trade for other resources/skills/items?

Don't go mad buying kit initially, it can seem like a good response when one realises the enormity of our vulnerabilities but a bit of planning will help immensely. And get the OH on board as soon as you can.

And then the longterm plan can start.

Enjoy the forum.

[diamond lil]

Hi

[gadgetguy]

A Warm welcome from your opposite corner the NE

[Yorkshire Andy]

If your planning on having a working stove in the cold weather make sure you get a propane cylinder instead of the usual Butane..

[colb16]

What a friendly bunch! Thank you for the helpful information.

[tigs]

Welcome to the forum

[Decaff]

Hello from down south! welcome to the forum!