What preps are you doing this week? Part 3.

[Yorkshire Andy]

Any pointers for a 'Van Kit' would be appreciated.

Ohh a whole van to fill with preps


Amber led magnetic light bar..... (makes your van far more visible if broken down / stranded)

half a dozen road flares (led "ice hockey" pucks)



warning triangle or 2...

high vis jacket and trousers...

Thats breakdown immediate safety / warning sorted

decent Jack and breaker bar and the correct socket for the wheel nuts (most vans jack and wheel brace just look hellishly unstable and braces useless if been windy gunned on by the fleet tyre fitters)

Spare oil / PAS fluid/ 5l of water (both drinkable and useable in the radiator / screen wash) few random hose clips and basic hand tools

spare bulbs / fuses

24 hour army ration pack (food / drink mixes / snacks to keep you going for err 24 hours

little camping stove,

box and bin bags

Cat litter (both for if stuck on ice and a slack handful will help stop the bag leaking/ smelling should you need to use the box and bin bags as a "contractors toilet"

loo roll

Decent fire extinguisher for a van i'd be looking at a 4KG+ Dry powder

First aid kit

spare glasses / contact lenses,

few cans of red bull / energy drink to keep you awake enough to get off the main road,,,

emergency cash or prepaid credit card for panic hotel room stays


change of clothes (season dependent)

sleeping bag and something to lay it on and a goretex bivvie bag

sounds a lot but should fit in a plastic storage crate easily

[Britcit]

Wow Andy, that's quite a list. But I do see the logic in all of that.
Some of that I can get ready for the trip south on Monday. The rest, I can work on for the return trip in a few weeks.

Today's prepping (other that working on the van kit) - Gas bottle refill for Mrs Britcit in case it runs out whilst I'm away. Top up the 'over the counter' meds as we have run out of a few things. Will buy extras as its a long way to nearest chemst\supermarket

[Arzosah]

Best of luck with the mega sort Arzosah-I was in sort out shed mode till I found shed had robins nesting in it.Fabulous excuse to put off cleaning and sorting!

Thanks 7 lives! That is indeed an excellent excuse I had a bit of a double take yesterday - took a break, to sit on the patio, and the cat thats taken over the bottom of the garden had moved to the middle, to deeper shade and long grass. Now, I've been kind to this cat - I look at it in cat fashion (sideways, eyes practically closed) I keep my voice low when I chat to it, don't come too near, and my movements slow when I first come out.

Damn thing hissed at me it was very funny then stalked off, at least it meant that after my break I could get on with chopping back the neighbour's useless box hedge.

ETA - the car list. If you have a builder's toilet and some toilet roll, you'd better have some antiback hand gel too!

[Britcit]

2 x High VI's vests and a warning triangle on order.

Went to check the progress of my veggie patch, and found the local bunnies have dug a lot of it over. Scattered all my onions, and probably disturbed a lot of my swede seeds

Tommorow we are putting up rabbit proof fencing and I'm gonna spend a couple of hours out with my rifle.

Bunnies are a big problem here.

[Deeps]

Wow Andy, that's quite a list. But I do see the logic in all of that.
Some of that I can get ready for the trip south on Monday. The rest, I can work on for the return trip in a few weeks.

Today's prepping (other that working on the van kit) - Gas bottle refill for Mrs Britcit in case it runs out whilst I'm away. Top up the 'over the counter' meds as we have run out of a few things. Will buy extras as its a long way to nearest chemst\supermarket

One thing to remember mate, its a process, unless you've got a hoard of Nazi gold or the like you'll be like the rest of us and just do what you can. Try not to get too bent out of shape about trying to do EVERYTHING at once, its not practical and as you go you'll change your view on stuff as you gain experience. From reading different threads a lot of us have leapt in to stuff and if not cocked it up at least not done it as well as we could have.

Cover the basics at home, water, food, something to cook it on, meds and lighting. After that its more of the same and starting to expand into the more exotic stuff. I'm not an expert for vans (or anything really) and Yorkshire Andy has already compiled a very extensive list but again, its unlikely you'll be able to do it all in a oner, do what you can but having something is better than nothing so see what you can do and expand on it as you go. Good luck with it mate and remember, its not a competition, we all have our own level of prepping and because someone else is prepping for X,Y and Z and you're only prepping for X you're no different, especially if the Z is for a member of the undead legions.

Try and enjoy the whole process too, while its a lifestyle, its something we choose to do to so some of it must be appealing.

[Wales1]

Sorted out the shed-Thats a bit of a Forth Bridge job, as fast as I keep it tidy it gets snarled up with stuff.
Repotted the tomatoes off the kitchen shelf into the greenhouse
Replaced the elastic strapping on my GHB with 350 paracord.

[Yorkshire Andy]

Wow Andy, that's quite a list. But I do see the logic in all of that.
Some of that I can get ready for the trip south on Monday. The rest, I can work on for the return trip in a few weeks.

Take your time as others have said I've ammased the crap in my car over the years high vis stuff I have doubles up as work clothing....

Led light bar came from a job where health and safety wouldn't let you on site without it on and flashing.



I got stopped by the police about a year ago as he wanted to know why I had "blue flashing lights". Well flick of a switch layer he was happy

On his coursory glance in the car he spotted my fire extinguisher and large first aid kit... Quick discussion started by him about how he wished others were more organised and able to keep themselves safe...

Likewise worst night of my life when I was with my immediate family walking to the local and 2 of them were hit by a car less than 200 m from the front door on a zebra crossing.... I sprinted home and blocked the road using my car kit. The coppers face was a picture both family members were wrapped up in Mylar blankets to keep dry and warm till the ambulance turned up...

. My preps have been used / tested / evaluated /culled / added to depending on situations I've been in buying stuff now and then plunder charity shops for s cheap sleeping bag , local selling sites / shop windows our local charity shops had half decent sleepin bags in about a month back £5 each

Got 2 army goretex bag covers for £3 each from a car boot..

But a old blanket from the bedroom cupboard will be better than nowt.

[Decaff]

Honestly, this year I'm really discovering how underrated a good cleanout and regular maintenance can be. Because I don't have much energy, I'm *still* on it, but the house is starting to feel really different, and over the weekend I might even have space enough to get the dehydrator out, and for the first time ever I'll be cropping from my garden, plus a few foraged blackberry leaves and nettles.

Hows the clean out coming along? It makes everything easier to find doesn't it and the space is no longer stressful.

Not bad thanks! I'm scanning old letters (I can't just chuck them out, I'm a genealogist, I can't help it, its a disease ) and I have a jolly little kindle book planned now about my months scarpering about Europe in the autumn and winter of 1976 came across an American woman who'd written about her year in France au-pairing, thats what gave me the idea.

More books are going. Lots of sheets are going - I use them for work (don't ask ) the stash of chenille will soon be coming out of the airing cupboard to be used for fingerless gloves, legwarmers, bedsocks and hats (little projects that can be done one at a time and won't hurt my arthritis too much). All my flower pots that aren't in use are going to be stored in a plastic dustbin thats going out to the bottom of the garden - I expect to soon dispense with the double width bookcase by steps like that

The overgrown cherry laurel is cut back as high as I can reach - next job is to get the stepladder out from the collapsing shed and cut back further up. May need a blokey to finish it off, as they're about 25 feet high, sadly. The decking it was growing over needs the teak oil I have waiting, needs it desperately - that may also do for the ants that have colonised the area

And plants that haven't been planted because I was never sure if I was moving on are going to be planted - two bays (which have done really badly in the pots), a sage, a couple of fruit trees ... I may get rid of the seed stash, which has some *very* old seeds, by experimenting with micro greens this autumn.

The cleaning isn't going too well and a lot of this has slowed down anyway cos of the huge family emergency thats happening over the next 5 weeks or so. It does put everything in perspective. Still, the maintenance and clearing up sort of keeps me sane.

Sorry! This just grew and grew ...

The first week of my retirement, in September, my sister's going to help me take all my counselling room equipment to the tip - its all its fit for, apart from a few bits and pieces.

A little at a time will get it sorted, a bag a day either binned, donated or sold will soon add up. Sounds like you have a plan for getting the garden sorted too! I hope the emergency is as painless as these things get, hang in there and stay strong x

[MissPrep]

Lakeland have all the Easiyo yoghurt mixes etc... on offer until Sunday (half price for most of it) so have stocked up on my favourite flavours.

It's the last time Tesco are doing Clubcard boosts, so I used all my points up getting a portable DVD player.
Now my food/water/fuel etc... stocks are so well established it's all about maintaining them & adding things to make life more pleasant for us.

Have the first buds forming on my baby kiwi plant which I only got last year so it's still only about 4 foot high at the moment.
That's strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, gooseberries & the baby kiwis doing well on the fruit front plus my lemon tree has finally produced a load of buds so might even have lemons on the way too.
Can't wait to try my first baby kiwi.
This year I am going to definitely try & get a satsuma tree - my all time favourite fruit.

Potatoes, green beans, cucumbers & courgettes are all powering away but for some reason NOTHING else has come up.
I'm going to try & replant even though it's very late to do so, as last year most stuff seemed to run later in the year & it's that or very limited fresh food this year.
One lettuce has peeked up, it currently is the proud possessor of one leaf, so who knows? I might get a lettuce.
This means I still have an empty allotment as none of the stuff I've planted to go in it has grown
Never had this happen before so I'm really puzzled.
No tomatoes, onions, spring onions, brassicas etc... not even peppers.


Had an unexpected plumbing emergency & woke to discover my kitchen doing it's best imitation of a floodplain but was able to fix it myself - now checking through my (limited) plumbing tools to see what small but handy bits I could add to the mix.
My five year old told me he was really proud of me fixing it myself so I feel pretty pleased about the whole situation.
I am living in a house with no isolation valves fitted ANYWHERE, so I plan to rectify that.


Have also added alcohol to my stores which is a first for me. If the SHTF, I'll now be pulling out the Pina Colada!

[Deeps]

Lakeland have all the Easiyo yoghurt mixes etc... on offer until Sunday (half price for most of it) so have stocked up on my favourite flavours.

It's the last time Tesco are doing Clubcard boosts, so I used all my points up getting a portable DVD player.
Now my food/water/fuel etc... stocks are so well established it's all about maintaining them & adding things to make life more pleasant for us.

Have the first buds forming on my baby kiwi plant which I only got last year so it's still only about 4 foot high at the moment.
That's strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, gooseberries & the baby kiwis doing well on the fruit front plus my lemon tree has finally produced a load of buds so might even have lemons on the way too.
Can't wait to try my first baby kiwi.
This year I am going to definitely try & get a satsuma tree - my all time favourite fruit.

Potatoes, green beans, cucumbers & courgettes are all powering away but for some reason NOTHING else has come up.
I'm going to try & replant even though it's very late to do so, as last year most stuff seemed to run later in the year & it's that or very limited fresh food this year.
One lettuce has peeked up, it currently is the proud possessor of one leaf, so who knows? I might get a lettuce.
This means I still have an empty allotment as none of the stuff I've planted to go in it has grown
Never had this happen before so I'm really puzzled.
No tomatoes, onions, spring onions, brassicas etc... not even peppers.


Had an unexpected plumbing emergency & woke to discover my kitchen doing it's best imitation of a floodplain but was able to fix it myself - now checking through my (limited) plumbing tools to see what small but handy bits I could add to the mix.
My five year old told me he was really proud of me fixing it myself so I feel pretty pleased about the whole situation.
I am living in a house with no isolation valves fitted ANYWHERE, so I plan to rectify that.


Have also added alcohol to my stores which is a first for me. If the SHTF, I'll now be pulling out the Pina Colada!

For me my preps are for living as normally as possible if 'something' happens. I intend to stay put for starters unless in the most of extremely extreme situations of extreme extremeness so for us that usually involves a glass or two of vino so I have a fair stock put away. I add to it when I can, its unlikely to go 'off' in Casa Deeps. Not a fan of the cocktails myself but it sounds like you've earned one with the plumbing debacle.