I'm ex british army and I'm putting what I know from there combined with what I find in places such as this, in turn combined with common sense (and budget constraints!) to be generally prepared for 'stuff'.
I've seen society and the normal way of life fall apart in yugoslavia in the 1990's and other places more recently, as well as floods/storms/snow closer to home more recently.
I live alone in a 1-bedroom flat which has it's benefits such as being able to do whatever I see fit in terms of storage and being on the first floor, I'm also in a semi-rural location in Cambridgeshire.
There are also my close friends who are not so inclined to prepare like this but I'm factoring them into my preparations.
Preparations so far:
1x go-bag, using a black daysack I've customised to about 30 litres, containing:
I think thats everything in the bag. Everything is sealed in grip-seal bags to survive immersion or miserable-ass rain.Several AA flashlights (LED)
AA powered radio (receiver)
AA powered phone charger
A pile of AA batteries
small notebook and pencil
2x sturdy knives
3x small folding knives
1x small, 1x large multitools
Fence Cutters
Crowbar
2x wire saws
1:25000 map of local area, laminated
1x decent 4x basic button compasses
Hexi stove & fuel (1 pack within)
big-ass aluminium mug
instant coffee sachets (with milk & sugar complete)
10 snickers bars
racing spoon
1x 2l water bottle
2x 500ml battles of water (sealed)
Water purification tabs
coffee filters
cotton shemagh
£60 in pound coins
insect repellent (strong DEET)
First aid kit
antibacterial wet wipes
prescription painkillers
10 days of my meds.
several 10m lengths of paracord
Monocular (10x)
Lightweight mesh bags (for grabbing quantities of stuff from wherever)
a handful of disposable lighters
Zippo petrol hand warmer & 1 tin of fuel
a couple of mylar blankets
Standard survival tin (outer pocket (quick access)).
Hat. Wooly. Head Warming. for the use of.
lightweight goretex jacket.
Some things may seem like odd choices such as so many flashlights, tools & there are also collins gem books on Wild Food, First Aid & SAS survival handbook, as mentioned above I may well be looking after not just myself and with the info in the books the gear is usable by my friends without me.
I'm also soon getting a 5.5x7m tarp which will be in a separate bag with a load of bungee cord and paracord, to be grabbed or-not on the way out, it's a bit big for adding to the main bag.
Home preparation has been mostly a case of buying a little extra food with my regular shopping, Beans, Pasta, Pesto, 5L of water, tea, coffee, some powdered milk, packets of rice, that kind of thing.
I've also been getting my prescriptions more regularly to build up a stock of painkillers and other meds. I've also got one of those gas stoves with the aerosol-looking-gas canister, and a handful of spares.
On my shopping list is:
A home-built UPS that will keep my PC running for a couple of days or my Laptop for alot longer, so we are in touch with the world should the power go down in something minor.
Solar power battery and phone charger (something very compact, freeloader maybe)
Antibiotics
A couple of suture sets for my first aid kit
KFS with can opener (more civilised than the spork racing spoon)
& anything else I find on here that seems like a good idea.
I think that covers me and my preparations so far, though I don't have a great memory and may have missed some stuff.
Questions and advice always welcome & I'll be doing alot of reading here and adding bits from my experience and training as appropriate.
Mark.
