what first?
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woodpecker
what first?
right,I'm new.iv got an empty garage so I'm good for space,what are the first things I should invest in? and what food should I start storing?
Re: what first?
Hi there woodpecker I am a newbie so someone more "prepared" will probably be along shortly.
First what are you prepping for? Me it's a security against a financial problem/collapse and rising food prices.
How many are you prepping for.What your location like could you stay if something happened?
As for food whatever you like it doesn't have to be something that lasts for twenty years,I've slowly built up a food store of things we regularly eat and added longer lastingly stuff and im about to do some vacuum bagging inti Mylar bags for some long term stores.
Hope this helps there lots of lists in the list section that will help other than that try what I did and read all the threads which I found very helpfull
First what are you prepping for? Me it's a security against a financial problem/collapse and rising food prices.
How many are you prepping for.What your location like could you stay if something happened?
As for food whatever you like it doesn't have to be something that lasts for twenty years,I've slowly built up a food store of things we regularly eat and added longer lastingly stuff and im about to do some vacuum bagging inti Mylar bags for some long term stores.
Hope this helps there lots of lists in the list section that will help other than that try what I did and read all the threads which I found very helpfull
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WhiteWolf
Re: what first?
Hi woodpecker and Welcome to the site.
Now have you got sole use of the garage (i.e. no car to put in it)
Do you need to gain access through the garage door/s (from the outside)
Are the rest of the family on-board with your prepping
If the garage wasn't needed for anything else and access wasn't needed from the outside, I would secure the door (locks, shackles, bolts, whatever), insulate the walls and roof to help stablise the temperature, then put up a racking system to store your preps on.
Also if You had the cash laying about (like we all have
) I would buy one or two IBC containers place these inside the garage ready for storing water.
Then slowly start to fill the shelves, whilst reading, reading reading.
WW
Now have you got sole use of the garage (i.e. no car to put in it)
Do you need to gain access through the garage door/s (from the outside)
Are the rest of the family on-board with your prepping
If the garage wasn't needed for anything else and access wasn't needed from the outside, I would secure the door (locks, shackles, bolts, whatever), insulate the walls and roof to help stablise the temperature, then put up a racking system to store your preps on.
Also if You had the cash laying about (like we all have
) I would buy one or two IBC containers place these inside the garage ready for storing water.Then slowly start to fill the shelves, whilst reading, reading reading.
WW
Re: what first?
hello and welcome to the site
imho the first thing you need to do when prepping is sit down for a few hours with a pen and paper and sort out what your prepping for, how many you're prepping for and how long you think "it" might last. once you have done that sit down again and sort out a menu that meets nutritional requirements and that you like the taste of (no point of food you wont eat ) and then when you go shopping just put a few of whatever you have got on your menu in your basket, its easier on the wallet to do it a little at a time and more "grey man-ish". while your slowly building up your food suppies look into storing water it is easily overlooked in a survival situation, living in britain it so wet most of the time people dont think about not having any. while rain water will give you a fair amount of water it probably won't give you enough to live hapily unless you have a very large roof space or space for a well. once you have food and water sorted defence is your next priority i wont say much about that here but the us sites are by no means lacking in that sort of stuff. all in all take it one step at a time and before you know it you'll be ready for most things good luck and good prepping.
imho the first thing you need to do when prepping is sit down for a few hours with a pen and paper and sort out what your prepping for, how many you're prepping for and how long you think "it" might last. once you have done that sit down again and sort out a menu that meets nutritional requirements and that you like the taste of (no point of food you wont eat ) and then when you go shopping just put a few of whatever you have got on your menu in your basket, its easier on the wallet to do it a little at a time and more "grey man-ish". while your slowly building up your food suppies look into storing water it is easily overlooked in a survival situation, living in britain it so wet most of the time people dont think about not having any. while rain water will give you a fair amount of water it probably won't give you enough to live hapily unless you have a very large roof space or space for a well. once you have food and water sorted defence is your next priority i wont say much about that here but the us sites are by no means lacking in that sort of stuff. all in all take it one step at a time and before you know it you'll be ready for most things good luck and good prepping.
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preppingsu
Re: what first?
If you are looking at food then our mantra is stock what you eat and eat what you stock. So look at what you eat and just buy a little extra each time you shop.
Include toilteries and most importantly toilet paper (TP)! Don't forget items that ladies need each month.
Water is vital. IBC Containers are great but not for everyone. I personally use old 2l pop bottles, washed and filled with tap water. Also consider a water filter (Berkeley or such like).
There is a lot of information on this forum.
Try here:
viewtopic.php?f=9&t=817
and here:
viewforum.php?f=43
Some great responses already. I hope they help. I'm sure you will end up with more questions so don't hesitate to ask. We've all had to start somewhere.
Include toilteries and most importantly toilet paper (TP)! Don't forget items that ladies need each month.
Water is vital. IBC Containers are great but not for everyone. I personally use old 2l pop bottles, washed and filled with tap water. Also consider a water filter (Berkeley or such like).
There is a lot of information on this forum.
Try here:
viewtopic.php?f=9&t=817
and here:
viewforum.php?f=43
Some great responses already. I hope they help. I'm sure you will end up with more questions so don't hesitate to ask. We've all had to start somewhere.
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Ogre
Re: what first?
What's the garage construction like ? I made the mistake of forking out for a 4 x 4 metal construct only to discover that it sweats like a fat bloke outside Greggs.
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WhiteWolf
Re: what first?
Ogre wrote:What's the garage construction like ? I made the mistake of forking out for a 4 x 4 metal construct only to discover that it sweats like a fat bloke outside Greggs.
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TomW
Re: what first?
Hi, welcome to the forum!
I had a very similar reaction when I found out I was gonna be a dad too!
The first thing is not to plan too big straight away as you'll just feel depressed, unless you've got the resources of bill gates behind you
First off what are you expecting to happen? We all prep for different reasons ranging from divorce, job loss, pandemic, terrorist attack, all out war, NBC accident, solar flare or zombie apocalypse. None is less valid than another (except maybe the zombies ).
Figure out what you have, if you've been camping before you'll already have some gear that will come in use. Assess what food you have, how long could you go without visiting any shops? Then think what you would need to extend that time, as sue said don't just buy 50 cans of spam cos its cheap and lasts forever try and get what you eat anyway. Aim to have stock for two weeks to start off. Then a bit further down the road you can extend it to a month, then 6 months, a year, whatever...
Water is a major one as you wont last long without it. A guideline is 4l per person per day but you cant store enough!
Gear wise I think alternative cooking is the most important though heat and light would be nice to have.
Comms can cover everything from a spare mobile to a full ham radio rig. But a windup radio to get the news is no 1 for me.
It becomes a lot more interesting when you have young children too. Breast is best but what happens if your OH is injured or killed or just separated from you? Even if you decide to go with formula from the start there is still a limit to how much you want to store, particularly at the price of the stuff! Then theres clothes, bottles and worst of all nappies!
Well there's a start for you lol
Don't panic, keep reading through the site and you will start to get a handle on it all!
Tom
I had a very similar reaction when I found out I was gonna be a dad too!
The first thing is not to plan too big straight away as you'll just feel depressed, unless you've got the resources of bill gates behind you
First off what are you expecting to happen? We all prep for different reasons ranging from divorce, job loss, pandemic, terrorist attack, all out war, NBC accident, solar flare or zombie apocalypse. None is less valid than another (except maybe the zombies
).Figure out what you have, if you've been camping before you'll already have some gear that will come in use. Assess what food you have, how long could you go without visiting any shops? Then think what you would need to extend that time, as sue said don't just buy 50 cans of spam cos its cheap and lasts forever try and get what you eat anyway. Aim to have stock for two weeks to start off. Then a bit further down the road you can extend it to a month, then 6 months, a year, whatever...
Water is a major one as you wont last long without it. A guideline is 4l per person per day but you cant store enough!
Gear wise I think alternative cooking is the most important though heat and light would be nice to have.
Comms can cover everything from a spare mobile to a full ham radio rig. But a windup radio to get the news is no 1 for me.
It becomes a lot more interesting when you have young children too. Breast is best but what happens if your OH is injured or killed or just separated from you? Even if you decide to go with formula from the start there is still a limit to how much you want to store, particularly at the price of the stuff! Then theres clothes, bottles and worst of all nappies!
Well there's a start for you lol
Don't panic, keep reading through the site and you will start to get a handle on it all!
Tom
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woodpecker
Re: what first?
cheers everyone,great help ,some fantastic advice.
although iv no specific crisis to plan for,as any of them is possible (even zombies!) il try my best to give my family the best chance possible.
il begin planning first, then start buying
,some fantastic advice.although iv no specific crisis to plan for,as any of them is possible (even zombies!) il try my best to give my family the best chance possible.
il begin planning first, then start buying
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buttystella
Re: what first?
Don't neglect gardening tools spades, hoes, and rakes may, just may be a life saver if the worst happens. A few seeds to start growing food but better to plant those that you can collect seed for the following year.