new prepper

[Arzosah]

Hi Terry, welcome to the forum.

How are you dealing with the issues you're raising? Or whats your sense of how you might deal with them in the future?

[Mad Scientist]

Hello, Terry! If it makes you feel any better my hubby isn't a great prepper but we have a great skill set together, so I've just accepted things the way they are. We've coped well in the past. One thing I would suggest is that you research data very thoroughly from reputable journals like Scientific american or New Scientist before believing it especially geological, climatic, disease or astronomical stuff. Don't frighten yourself or your loved ones preaching about stuff that won't happen for 500 years or so. If ever. Far better to say something like " well this awful thing happened and if it hadn't been for this device/emergency supply of xyz I had tucked away, we would have been really stuffed!" Everyone will smile at your amazing organisational skills and think it's brilliant.

[junmist]

Hi Terry welcome. To answer your questions it depends on what you are prepping for and where you live ie: town country in town where rough or good. Bug out your a prepper so its always good to have a bug out plan but even better to have a bug in plan. Just think how much stuff you take when you go out as a family just for one day and its easyer to keep the kids entertained if they have there own stuff with them. You will find most of your answers on the form so a few quite minutes and a cuppa and have a good read

[terrytaylor84]

Hi all thanks for your replies, its a great help. I currently live in leicester and i do not drive either so a quick escape is pretty much out of the question. The area is geographically sound and we do not live dangerously close to any water ways. We do have a country park with man made canals and a river thats about a 10 minute walk, but we are on high ground so are very safe (unless we have a noahs ark full of rain). Im prepping more for any eventuality economic collapse, a series of natural disasters, those kinds of things. In a way im quiet lucky as my girlfriend is a nurse in orthopeadics(bones n stuff) and im a former nursing assistant in the medical and surgical areas. I also have a son who goes to a school that has a farm and as parents we are expected to help look after all the animals, ducks, chickens, pigs, goats rabbits all sorts. and the children are taught how to make a campfire in a woodland area, so we are both learning skills that could be of value. I was raised near a woodland area too and my dad used to take me out to the woods after dark to find materials and make bow and arrows and how to sneak through thick areas of brush without being detected, he was ex military!!.

what sorts of food would you advise stocking up on and any tips for shelf stable foods other than MRE's and freeze dried foods. I already have a stock of things like dried pasta and rice, (still in the bags) any ideas how to make these last longer.

[Oody]

Well Terry, apart from toilet paper (I'm serious! There'll be a shortage of that WTSHTF, and it is quite a luxury, not to mention energy-intensive and resource sucking to manufacture) there are 'grains' (apart from the rice you have - only white rice keeps for a long time by the way, not brown rice, which although much healthier to eat, has oils that don't store well) such as oats, wheat and barley etc. If you buy certain untreated (chemically or heated wise) you can 'sprout' them yourself, in dire times. The rest you can just eat as normal.

A good source is the food co-operative near Brighton, called 'Infinity Foods'. Look at their website; it has a lot on it; and don't be put off by the 'wholesale' element, as they still sell to individuals. In fact they have such a wide (vast?) range that you can pretty much buy all your long-term food storage supplies from them. They are also great folks, and very helpful if you need to know anything.

As I have also mentioned to someone else on the forum, only a few days ago or so, you can source Mylar bags, which must be used with oxygen absorbers (not with or in liquids of course, which the other thread was about) and normally these are prohibitively expensive (Mylar being a brand, and so one paying through the nose to a large extent - I think Dupont are behind it, the non-stick people); however there is one very reasonable source, and it's far cheaper than most others, but genuine stuff. Someone working from home, who imports them in bulk from the US, and only marks it up marginally. I can point you to her (yes it is a 'she') if you decide to go this route.

Once you use Mylar, with oxygen absorbers and vacuum-seal the bags, you can store food for anything between 20-30 years. This is the way to go really, much as I dislike plastic and the fact that it leaches phalates (spelling) over time. But on balance, it's better than dying through starvation or malnutrition! So I'd take the phalates

Hope this helps in some way.

[terrytaylor84]

Hi all. I have to say im not really prepping for anything in particular, i just want to make sure im prepped for anything from economic collapse and societal break down, loss of income, bad weather, collapse of the power grid, hell even a zombie outbreak lol. I think if you are prepared for anything even the weirdest and most unlikely and outlandish scenario then you can cope with even the small problems. Im not going to go over board stocking up on items, we basically have enough food for around 2 weeks for all four of us. I cant afford to stock up as i havent got the money. I am also in rented accommodation so i cant make modifications either. Hopefully when when we have enough to buy our own home intend to make the best use of my skills and make some security mods and also install a wood burning stove and a wood fire.

[terrytaylor84]

I also have some skills in butchery that im hoping will come in handy, should tshtf in a big way, whilst at school in my last year and my 1st year at college i volunteered to work for free on a saturday and also on a wednesday evening. I absolutely loved it, not to mention the free meat i used to get, especially the offal which is really nutritious, tasty and is very cheap if you have to buy it. Its just a shame the supermarkets killed off the local butchers, as i would have gone and worked full time and made a career out of it. Instead im stuck in sales, although it has made me very good at negotiating and again hopefully this is a skill that would come in handy. Ive also been a regular visitor to a gun club over the last year, where i have been learning to clay pigeon shoot, use a high powered competition air rifle and ive also been learning archery. I have to say ive become a damn good shot, but it takes a lot of practice, i would recommend it as a skill that should be learned by anyone interested in prepping, when i first started i had no idea about prepping, but now im so glad i learned.