Small flat prepping

[Cityprepper]

Hi all,

I was hoping to get your thoughts on prepping in central London. I live in a 1 bed flat in central London with no outside space.

I have currently stocked 2 months supply of food, my BOB just in case, my small library of prepping books and guides, multiple power banks to recharge any phones, a few torches with spare batteries.

I have just bought a 100 hour pillar candle as well as multiple tealights. I have binoculars coming (this is more for wild camping, but also thought it would be useful as I am three stories up).

My main problem is storing water. We just do not have the room, at all, in the flat. We have looked at water bricks, but even they seem to take up too much room. Does anyone have suggestions on how I should be getting around this? Stocking up on Sawyer minis?

We are looking to move out eventually in the next 2 years to either Warwickshire or Manchester dependent on jobs, but we will get a lot more for our money when I will really be able to start our road to self sufficiency!

[Brambles]

I was in your position for a year or so, so I understand how difficult storage can be. Everything was under, inside or tucked away in the most peculiar places. You've probably already filled up the space under the bed, how about on top of the wardrobe? Another favourite place that would work well for 2L bottles of water is behind the kickboard of your kitchen units.. You'd be amazed at what fits there!

And good luck with the self suffiency thing. There's a lot of us here.

[Arzosah]

Is any of your furniture on a plinth, a plinth thats flat to the floor? My chest of drawers is like that, and when I take out the bottom drawer, there's a nice big space, like the one behind the kitchen kickboards, and very easily accessible. I filled it with about 20 half litre bottles.

Do you still have a bath, or just a shower? There's space if you take the bath panel off, but that may well be easier said than done.

[Hillbilly]

How about a window box? Something like this http://babytalkbungalow.com/images/2013 ... ow-box.jpg (if it is not freezing outside ).


Or like this inside?
http://www.diyncrafts.com/wp-content/up ... askets.jpg

[featherstick]

Assuming you've filled all the available space in the flat with water, have you gone out and mapped local water supplies? These might be water butts in gardens, rivers and canals, ponds etc. In London you're never far from a park, and many have ponds and streams.

This of course means that you need to be able to move it and make it safe to drink, as I think you realise. But there's a lot of learning around improvised water purification which is interesting and informative - home-made milbank bags for instance.

Can you also store the means of storing water? By this I mean WaterBOBs in an empty state or similar. We have 2 80l water carriers under the bed. With enough warning they'd be filled in the bath and kept there. If TSHTF, clutter will be less important than keeping hydrated.

[Cityprepper]

Thank you for all the fantastic advice. I will definitely be making a list of all of the above to work through as much as possible. Hidden storage is a great idea as my fiancee has not bought in to the idea of prepping more than beyond a bit of extra food and some candles.

I cannot wait until I get a shed and will really be able to play and plan though!!

[Deeps]

I don't know if access is a consideration for you but I was after something like this when I was living in a flat, never found it though, but this was before I had the internet.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/4-75m-15-Easy-T ... 377&sr=1-5

[ForgeCorvus]

City: Have you a safe means to cook if the gas and 'lectric are shut off ?

This Here is the Waterbob that Featherstick mentioned

[alwayscross]

No such thing as a disadvantage, your small space can be made an advantage. Having less space means your more likely to only buy the necessary preps, you also learn how to make the most of small space. Just google how to make the most of small space, loads of tips there.

[Deeps]

[quote="alwayscross"]No such thing as a disadvantage, your small space can be made an advantage. Having less space means your more likely to only buy the necessary preps, you also learn how to make the most of small space. Just google how to make the most of small space, loads of tips there.[/quote
At the risk of being picky, there are advantages and disadvantages to life, you make the most of what you've got but I'm not one for 'gilding the turd'. I'm not having a go at the OP but "No such thing as a disadvantage" smacks of cliche.