What made you become a prepper?

[Jerseyspud]

Hi all. I'm just interested as to what made you want to start prepping?

I have to admit mine was since I watched blackout on YouTube and realised that whilst I had a few candles that I was seriously not prepared for a major blackout that lasted longer than a few hours and the thought of that with my kids was quite scary. So that's when I started looking into being a prepper and now I'm well on my way

[Cocotte]

I started probably back in 2011, not long after the big freeze.
I was lucky, living in a small flat (renovationed Victorian house) the city centre. The heating for me was cheaper with families on the 2 floors below mine trying tondefrost small children.
5 minutes away there were streets with no running water. 15 minutes drive away there were towns without water for around a week.
I've known for a long time that our current world is a spinning plate.
Covid just slowed the plate a bit and look how it wobbled!
If a CME or EMP knocked out the electricity of the country or continent, bye bye plate.

So why not just have a few safety measures in place?

Personally I prep for small disturbances rather than global catastrophes and keep it at a slow pace.
Most are good hobbies to have. Cooking, gardening, foraging, homebrewing, machine maintenance, raising chickens, weaving. Hopefully hunting soon, just need to wait for the clubs/ranges to reopen for the paperwork.

And common sense approach for supplies.
My medicine cabinet has takeaway boxes filled with common pills or for similar ailments.
My cupboards are filled with long life goods such as tins, jars, pasta, and extras of sugar & flour, etc...
Simply, just have plenty of extras that won't go to waste.

[Jerseyspud]

I have a cupboard in my bedroom with a mirror in that just looks like a framed wall mirror. So I use that for alot if my preps. And under my bed is where I store as well. At the moment I am well prepared for a minor power outrage

[jennyjj01]

Hi all. I'm just interested as to what made you want to start prepping?

Trump and Brexit almost simultaneously triggered a deep sense of foreboding and a dash to stash. So that was tail end of 2016* and starting from a few bags of pasta, I now have much more than a robust preparation for bugging in.

Covid, whilst unexpected, really brought that preparedness into use and into focus, so much so that I no longer need to hide my silly hobby from MrJJ. Also highlighted things to improve.

* Last night I dined on a 2017 can of soup. It was fine.

[jansman]

I have always hunted , fished and gardened, but it never had a label.Then I had a serious industrial accident. The children were toddlers and I was the only wage earner.No work meant no pay ( that was put right in court, but took over a year). Quite quickly we burned through our savings,as I earned zero for three months, and Statutory Sick pay didn’t go far.We came close to losing the house. I vowed after that we would never be in that position again. I became a prepper it would seem.

[Ara]

Until recently I didn't call myself a prepper, I just thought it sensible to have a few spare tins/packets of food there in case of unexpected visitors; I keep an emergency bag packed in case of having to leave home in a hurry for whatever reason and when I was working, kept supplies in my car in case of getting stuck in the snow: "Mum, why do you have a sleeping bag in your car?" I didn't get caught out but one winter the lorries were nose to tail for 24 hours on the main road which was my secondary route to work which I only used in particularly bad weather. Now I live with my significant other on a smallholding in the middle of nowhere so make sure we won't run out of essentials if we get snowed in/ill/cars are broken. This proved useful and practical when the first lockdown was under way. We didn't run out of anything but were down to our last 4 tins of tomatoes. At least we can laugh about that part of it. One weakness in our prepping occurred fairly recently when one of our freezers broke and we did not realise for a few days. Regrettably this meant we even had to throw some food out! I decided then to stock up on more dried foods. When I checked previous stores I found some chickpeas BB date 2010. I used them with no problems. I think prepping helps me feel safe and in control .

[bobble]

I was aware of various "threats" over the years but the event which actually "woke me up with a shock" was the Sep 2000 tanker drivers strike.
My dad was due to come home from hospital with a care package for home help and "meals on wheels", then everything stopped and he had to go to a nursing home! Carers/meals on wheels couldn't guarantee getting fuel for their cars etc and he wasnt able to fend for himself and i lived miles away. Huge queues in petrol stations, queues in shops for "only one per person" goods, bread, milk, nappies etc all sold out.
I was amazed how everyday life suddenly changed just because the tanker drivers were on strike. I started researching on line and found out that our whole modern technical/electrical society was built upon the availability of cheap oil. I found "peak oil" "nine meals from anarchy" and "food, agriculture and oil".
That really gave me the kick up the exit to get organised and I've tried to stay stocked up since. Fuel tank full, spare can, full, generator, candles, camping stoves and refills, food, water, purifiers, medicines, cash, etc

[Jerseyspud]

I was aware of various "threats" over the years but the event which actually "woke me up with a shock" was the Sep 2000 tanker drivers strike.
My dad was due to come home from hospital with a care package for home help and "meals on wheels", then everything stopped and he had to go to a nursing home! Carers/meals on wheels couldn't guarantee getting fuel for their cars etc and he wasnt able to fend for himself and i lived miles away. Huge queues in petrol stations, queues in shops for "only one per person" goods, bread, milk, nappies etc all sold out.
I was amazed how everyday life suddenly changed just because the tanker drivers were on strike. I started researching on line and found out that our whole modern technical/electrical society was built upon the availability of cheap oil. I found "peak oil" "nine meals from anarchy" and "food, agriculture and oil".
That really gave me the kick up the exit to get organised and I've tried to stay stocked up since. Fuel tank full, spare can, full, generator, candles, camping stoves and refills, food, water, purifiers, medicines, cash, etc

Sorry to sound a bit stupid but what is peak oil and the implications on society?

[ForgeCorvus]

I was aware of various "threats" over the years but the event which actually "woke me up with a shock" was the Sep 2000 tanker drivers strike.
My dad was due to come home from hospital with a care package for home help and "meals on wheels", then everything stopped and he had to go to a nursing home! Carers/meals on wheels couldn't guarantee getting fuel for their cars etc and he wasnt able to fend for himself and i lived miles away. Huge queues in petrol stations, queues in shops for "only one per person" goods, bread, milk, nappies etc all sold out.
I was amazed how everyday life suddenly changed just because the tanker drivers were on strike. I started researching on line and found out that our whole modern technical/electrical society was built upon the availability of cheap oil. I found "peak oil" "nine meals from anarchy" and "food, agriculture and oil".
That really gave me the kick up the exit to get organised and I've tried to stay stocked up since. Fuel tank full, spare can, full, generator, candles, camping stoves and refills, food, water, purifiers, medicines, cash, etc

Sorry to sound a bit stupid but what is peak oil and the implications on society?

Peak Oil is where Production is at its maximum, this will cause problems if (when) demand exceeds that level.


I was a Cub Scout with Ex-Navy parents, both of whom are from working class backgrounds and lived through rationing....... I didn't know I was a prepper, and never could understand how friend's parents had no food in the house payday morning and didn't fix things when they broke.
So I couldn't say exactly when I acquired the mindset, physical prepping?..... Probably since the early 90's to a greater or lesser degree

[Jerseyspud]

I saw something about that on twitter from Shell but couldn't make heads nor tails of it