advice on starting out

[Arron James]

Im new to prepping and im looking for advice on home prep in case of a blackout and what to put in a bug out bag in case of worse events. I'm also wondering on good places or websites while to get equipment and supplies thanks to any one who can advise me

[junmist]

Hi and welcome you will find the answer's to all your question on the forum so grab a cuppa and have a good read

[Yorkshire Andy]

Start small and THINK carefully about what YOU need........

Take a blackout.... due to say a storm (lets not go to the end of existence just yet)

Then do a mental risk assessment.... everyone dives for the Box of candles and matches..........

but think

small children or pets? lots of nice soft furnishings? Chance of you dozing off leaving them lit?

suddenly a candle seems rather dangerous

LED torches cheap , readily available, battery use isnt too bad compared to torches of old (unless you go for the modern super cree based LED torches)

and a pack of spare batteries

gas lantern can be hung from a light fitting with care...


How are you going to cook again not end of the world but the power might be off for several days.. if you have a electric cooker....

How are you going to cook? what are you going to cook? and what with? What do you already have that you can put to use... for home cooking why buy a mess tin when there is a perfectly good pan in the kitchen for example.....

water storage get a couple of camping water containers and swap it weekly or a few bottles of mineral water from the supermarket.. and again rotate it.. base what your planning for and work out an absolute minimum of 2l per day per person for drinking.. (got a water butt for watering the plants? theres some nice "brown water" for flushing the loo even filtering through a few layers of fabric to get a quick wash....



Then people will start shouting about a generator... Can you REALLY JUSTIFY one??

eat the contents of the freezer.. if your mobile goes flat do you drive or have a friendly neighbor with a car? get a fag lighter charger off ebay for a few quid....

say the weather turns bad have you got enough food in if your stuck at home for a week say? few tubs of powdered milk a weeks supply of tinned meals to sustain yourself (get stuff you actually like)


As for a bug out bag... think more along the lines of a home emergency kit... all your stuff together in one place with a bag handy..... depending on the situation load it accordingly If your been sent to a emergency reception center like a school sports hall where there will be food laid on do you need hunting kit? or a big rambo bowie kife


For a test go turn the household electrics off now for half an hour........ and see how you cope....

From where i am sat now there is a big maglite torch hung on a clip under the book shelf by the side of me, there is another at the end of my bed hung on the tv bracket by a belt loop.. a small super bright led torch by the landing window on the curtain hook and a wind up torch in the cupboard with the electric meter in.... and i also have a couple LED wind up camping lights where my camping stuff is piled up in the spare room



Where my bug out bag is there is a LED head torch clipped to the outside of it and a gas lantern hung in the shed with spare mantles and some matches ....

It needn't cost the earth but it will if you let it, start small and cheap......

amazon for example

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Super-Bright-LE ... =led+torch

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rolson-61762-9- ... torch+head

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Portable-Campin ... ping+stove

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Silverline-Wind ... rn+wind+up



or ebay.......

even the local hardware shop or supermarket once you get into prepping you will soon start spotting strange random bargains where ever you go.... Went to lidl the other week and came home with a £5 transistor radio.....

[pseudonym]

Hello and welcome to the Forum.

[Quercus-robur]

Hello and Welcome to the forum.

Qr

[KrisWard]

Hi Arron and welcome to the site.

Firstly try not to get overwelmed, there is so much information on here, it is easy to get lost. Look at your situation, you area, what may be your potential prepping emergencies i.e. floods, from there, then look at information on that subject and prepare based on the information and your wallet lol

Bug Out Bags - there is a wealth of information on here but I always like to start with 4 basics -

Fire (Fire starting kit, loads to play at..needed for heat and light)
Water (as well as water in containers, methods of purification from fire,tablets to water firlter pumps)
Food (Tins/bag of rice.pasta/dried fruit/porridge - also Tea, coffee etc)
Shelter from a Basha/Tarp to a family tent - dont forget sleeping bag and maybe bivi bag.

these are the basics to survival. You then build on this dependant upon your requirements and being better prepered. You can have a kit for just about anything, all these little kits can go into your BOB i.e. toiletries kit/first aid/ligting equipment/emergency power/fishing kit/snare pack/spare clothes etc.

Hope this helps, and good luck.

[m4me]

Im new to prepping and im looking for advice on home prep in case of a blackout and what to put in a bug out bag in case of worse events. I'm also wondering on good places or websites while to get equipment and supplies thanks to any one who can advise me

A good place to start is as follows - later this weekend shut off the utilities in your home... electricity, gas, water, telephone the lot. Now, simply see how long you can cope without leaving your house or reinstating utilities. How did you do?

If you did less than 24 hours, think about what you could do to increase your overall capability to hunker down to 72 hours. If you could easily manage 72 hours then work out how you could prepare for 10 days, a month etc.

How could you drink, cook, maintain basic sanitation, stay warm, have light, combat boredom etc.

[Arron James]

thanks for all the advice I will start having a good look through the forum and look into getting more supplies

[PreppingPingu]

Hello and welcome -and don't panic! Have a good browse through these forums but don't try to take everything on board at once! Take your time

[nickdutch]

a yard of round lamp wick and some galvanized wire can be the makings of an olive oil lamp if you have a kilner or similar thick walled jam jar.

Or alternatively bend the wire into a stand for the wick and just use a bowl.

I don't have much olive oil on hand, but I have enough to keep me going if the batteries die in the led torches.