What are you prepping for?

[Alleycat]

Personally for me it is to protect my family from events unknown that will affect the way we live. I think that as a society we have lived way beyond our means for a good while now and the systems in place to support that are beginning to creak. Not just because the scale is getting too big, but because those systems are entirely reliant on finite resources to work.

My thoughts exactly!

I prep first and foremost for unforeseen circumstances at a family level, job loss, illness etc that would cause financial hardship - my preps would ease that pain and allow more time to fix the situation.

Next would be financial/societal crises at a national/international level - which I have a nasty feeling will happen sooner rather than later.

Next would be pandemics and environmental disasters which affect society for months rather than years

And (much) lower down are the EOTWAWKI scenarios.....and zombies

[ro2935]

Many years ago I realised I needed extra food in the house, my daughter was in & out of hospital so often that I felt she should have had a hospital ward named after her and a reserved note put on her bed, & when she was home we couldn't go shopping for the first few days. So on the good days I stocked up, it became a habit.
These days I buy extra on sale as an edge against rising prices, adverse weather conditions & the flu season, power cuts.
A few weeks ago we had the water and power turned off for 8 hours after a water mains ruptured, it was no big deal for us, my neighbour on the other hand was running around like a headless chicken, she had no water to flush the loo, and couldn't make a hot drink because her electric kettle didn't work, she has a gas stove but didn't think to put a pan of water on too boil.

[bulldogeagle]

she has a gas stove but didn't think to put a pan of water on too boil.

duh!!! we are breeding a nation of idiots!! not so long ago that would have been second nature to people/done without thinking.

[nickdutch]

Its an issue of money really. When two of the agencies that i work for screwed up their payments to me, the couple of kilos of rice and lentils that I had in stock became very very useful.
The solar stuff? just a hedge against electricity prices going up and a potential emergency power supply if there is a power cut. Learning about how to make bio-ethanol? two Decembers ago we had a powercut on December the 21st. Gas and electricity died. it was cold. making a bio-ethanol fireplace could save me some trouble and could warm my fingers. The fuel would be useful for heating water on Tangiers and cooking, as well as space heating (via Tangiers and bio-ethanol fireplaces) thus stopping me from freezing. That's why learning how to make alcohol is sooo important to me.
The slingshot? Possible way to get meat if I am starving.
The canner? Make meals for holidays or times when I need quick home made meals but could be arsed to cook. Also maybe more stores in case of the flu (not being able to work due to illness) or the agencies screwing up.

End times? Nah. Economic collapse? Nah. SHTF? Running out of money IS SHTF!! WROL? Nothing can save you from that apart from owning a military base and that will cost money which in my case I ave not got.

I just want to live a slightly more cautious life than most folks who only think a person is cool if their trainers cost £100.

I like the "prepping" community as there is a respect for function over fashion. That's important.

Its all rather normal and boring actually.

[TwoDo]

Personally I think we will soon have a serious worldwide economic depression of a magnitude that will make people think the ones in 30's and 60's Britain were a cakewalk. The thing is, it will be permanent. Every time the economy starts to improve the demand for fossil fuels will increase, hence driving up the price and killing the recovery off due to peak oil supply issues. IMHO, right now is as good as its ever going to get and it is all downhill from here. I wish it were not so, and I hope I am wrong, but looking at the numbers I just don't see any way out. The human race is in serious overshoot on dozens of fundamental issues: fuel, water, soil, minerals, population, fish .... the list goes on.

I am laying in supplies but most of what I am doing is setting up an infrastructure to support my family in the face of what I anticpate will be fewer and harder to get external sources of supply. Got a bit of land, planting fruit trees, creating a big garden, learning how to grow food on it, learning how to seed save, going to get a well dug and put a hand pump on it, going to get some IBC's for rain catchment.

Have a look at Orlovs Closing the Collapse Gap presentation: http://www.energybulletin.net/node/23259 and maybe read Kunstlers book "The Long Emergency". Thats what I am prepping for.

[transformer84]

specifics? i dont know, i have told my partner im stocking up in case of power cuts ect, and i guess thats one reason... but there are so many things that can go wrong why take risks? the way i look at it, i have only been in one small car accident in my life, but i always put my seat belt on... why take the risk? you never know whats around the corner.

[bulldogeagle]

How long have you got? try these: power outage,severe winter storm,hurricaine, tornado(maybe not in UK),severe drought(happening now),tsunami,grid failure,crime wave,terrorism,food shortage, fuel shortage/strikes(sound familiar?),pandemic,flood,fire/arson,unemployment/redundancy,solar flare,inflation,economic collapse,nuclear war,earthquake,over population(yep, thats happening right now),martial law, the end of civilisation.

[kmoon84]

How long have you got? try these: power outage,severe winter storm,hurricaine, tornado(maybe not in UK),severe drought(happening now),tsunami,grid failure,crime wave,terrorism,food shortage, fuel shortage/strikes(sound familiar?),pandemic,flood,fire/arson,unemployment/redundancy,solar flare,inflation,economic collapse,nuclear war,earthquake,over population(yep, thats happening right now),martial law, the end of civilisation.

I'm just off to lock myself in the seller

[bulldogeagle]

How long have you got? try these: power outage,severe winter storm,hurricaine, tornado(maybe not in UK),severe drought(happening now),tsunami,grid failure,crime wave,terrorism,food shortage, fuel shortage/strikes(sound familiar?),pandemic,flood,fire/arson,unemployment/redundancy,solar flare,inflation,economic collapse,nuclear war,earthquake,over population(yep, thats happening right now),martial law, the end of civilisation.

I'm just off to lock myself in the seller

[nickdutch]

How long have you got? try these: power outage,severe winter storm,hurricaine, tornado(maybe not in UK),severe drought(happening now),tsunami,grid failure,crime wave,terrorism,food shortage, fuel shortage/strikes(sound familiar?),pandemic,flood,fire/arson,unemployment/redundancy,solar flare,inflation,economic collapse,nuclear war,earthquake,over population(yep, thats happening right now),martial law, the end of civilisation.

I'm just off to lock myself in the seller

In an ideal world, i would be heading for complete off grid living, but that can be difficult living in an urban flat, so I will prep for lack of money, periods of not being paid etc.