New to prepping in midlands

[th1dood]

Hi all from the Midland,
I'm entirely new to the idea of prepping but having watched a few things happen in recent years and being acutely aware of what I believe will happen I have decided I can no longer leave it to fate and its time to make myself ready for what's to come. So here I am looking for hints and tips from actual preppers rather than watching some yank on YouTube who has no real idea of my particular situation (that being I'm in the UK in a city and don't have access to firearms or some random woodland with no one around for 100 miles). So after a little web browsing I ended up here.
So a short run down of my current situation.
I live on a normal inner city council estate in Nottingham
I work a normal low paying city job 40 hours a week 9-5
I don't drive (no 4x4 bug out van for me) I do however ride a motorcycle
There are local woods nearby but these are deffinately well travelled and not suitable bug out locations
I have VERY little knowledge about preppingand even less spare cash to throw at it

So basically I'm looking for help from people in the same kinda situationand advice from some of you more seasoned pros.

[pseudonym]

Hello and welcome to the Forum.

[th1dood]

Thanks looking forward to using this site I'm currently looking through a lot of post for useable material for my personal prep list lol

[Cromicon]

Hello and welcome. I live in Derby and agree it would be great to have a bug out location that was secure enough... but lacking that at the minute the plan is to bug in.
Ideas we found on this site and the UK Preppers Guide are leading us to take the following broad steps:
Water storage and water gathering
Food storage
Medicines
Security
Defence

[th1dood]

That's pretty much where I'm at right now. Haven't actually started doing anything yet (though that could bite me in the arse) I'm looking at water storage and food. Currently its looking like I'm gonna have to make the shed a lot more secure as its gonna be the main store as the house just doesn't have enough room to store much combined with what we need for day to day living with 3 children. I have concerns about legionella for large amounts of stored water but we do have a river within walking distance so may end up stocking up on purification stuff. Although that means leaving the house (and safety) more often. Food storage seems simple enough lots of tinned and dry goods anything with a good shelf life. Medicines I hadn't actually considered. I suppose it would be wise to stock up on antibiotics and stuff to kill infections from cuts and grazed. No one in my house needs any medicine for long term illness so that's a benefit I guess. Security worries me. How do you secure your home to the point you feel safe sleeping in a SHTF scenario without making your home look like a target extra locks and bolts on the inside are great but if I board up my windows..... I clearly have something I want to keep safe.

[th1dood]

Also as far as defense goes any suggestions are welcome. I'll never be able to have firearms for legal reasons . Sure I have a few good knives around the house and a baseball bat. But what should I be considering to up my game in the long term?

[tigs]

welcome to the forum

[Norfolkguy]

Prepping doesn't have to be expensive, eBay is a great place to look for tools and equipment that will help you out, OK, so prepping for armageddon, i.e have to live underground for years is ambitious (and expensive) but I personally think any calamities that are coming will be fairly short lived, maybe aim for a month or twos worth of prep, that's what I've done, storing water is the biggest pain because it's bulky and ideally needs rotating, Ive just purchased 6 collapsible water carriers on ebay - http://www.ebay.co.uk/bhp/20l-water-carrier these are well worth the investment because soon as you get wind of the SHTF (and we will get wind quikcly thanks to how connected the world is, smart phones, SM etc) fill them up!

In regards to food, every time I go shopping or nip into the local shop for a lottery ticket, or some milk, I grab a few tins, it does build up quick when approaching it like that Ive found.

Good luck

NG

[nickdutch]

I think the question is "what do you mean by SHTF".

In my case, I don't think that there will be in this nation, any long term Without Rule of Law situation at all. However, past experience has shown me that delayed pay cheques, periods of unemployment, bad weather, fuel crisis and the like can disrupt our ability to get food, for instance. This can be most inconvenient, therefore it seems to me that the "grid" isn't as safe as it should be, and the "grid" means more than just the power supply, its the system we live in and its weaknesses.

SHTF doesn't have to be being in "Shawn of the Dead".

And if you are prepared for a period without pay, then the likelihood of surviving a "Shawn of the Dead" is much higher anyway.

[th1dood]

Cheers guys been reading up a lot with the posts and threads on here and pretty sure I know my next move as for my shtf scenario ..... I have a couple the first being winter. The power failures and such, second being something like we saw in London riots only local. And the third most unlikely scenario would be the revolution up against the government that this country so desperately needs haha. Did I say most unlikely? Yep just checking so I'm aiming at preps for a week and then thinking more long term once I know I could last that long