Any Preppers in London?

[diamond lil]

How prepared/ worried/ cautious are you going about your daily life in London, after the terrorist attacks of the last decade or so?
How aware are you on the street?
How do you react to multiple sirens screaming past you, or a car suddenly accelerating past you?
Does the possibility of an attack enter your head?
Have you got a backup plan on how to get home?

[Jan Smits]

Yes, for now. I've been here since the early 90s - in those days there were 'regular' tube closures, etc. I remember usually just tutting and heading for the crowded bus stops. I was shaken by one blast when I was living out East. I was packing to go catch a flight at the time, I just finished off what I was doing, and headed out early as I knew there'd be a tube closure. Airports were twitchy even then, it's a long flight when you can't turn round and say, "that was a big explosion this morning, wasn't it?", but even then we just took things in our stride.

Personally there was a big change after 7/7, and although the internet was full of "it won't change us", I think it did. I may be biased by personal experience - I was unlucky enough to be rocked by one of those blasts too, only this time I knew exactly what had just happened. I remember later wandering round Westfield (big shopping centre at Shepherd's Bush) on Christmas Eve one year when it occurred to me it might not be the smartest place to be, and I did leave pretty quickly. Things like that, though again you just kind of get on with it, blitz spirit and all that.

The backup plan, not that I've planned one out as such is that I know my way around and can walk if I need to. The nature of the threat has changed though, it used to be high-profile places but has become more random, less predictable for want of a better word. Avoidance would seem to be the better option and I've noticed I do tend to avoid crowded places as much as possible, though you can't avoid everywhere all the time. I said I'm here for now, I've taken it one step further and am moving out in the very near future - not mainly because of the threats, but I can't say they have nothing to do with my reasoning, maybe 5%. I'd say prepping for general disorder has had a bigger influence, I don't need to be here, so why hang around.

Generally attacks are in the back of your mind, but not on your mind, I don't know if that makes sense if you don't experience living in such a place for yourself.

Hope that answers some of your questions, and maybe gets the ball rolling.

[Alloneword]

Given your location Lil it's an interesting question.
I moved from Luton (I know i got out while we could) to London in late 70's and main issue then was the IRA what with chelsea barrack going up, harrods, the hyde park bombing so it's never been far from my mind to some degree, it's not something that worried me then and it does not worry me today what with the real IRA, isis, and any other nutter who wants to jump on his/her platform, i don't go out as much as i used to but still away of sirens but i must admit i'm guilty of wearing earbuds so deaf as a post when using them.
I know London fairly well so don't think i would have issue getting home and taking cover in some half sensible places, I always carry 2 phone (one smart, one dumb) portable power pack, water, and normally £50 to get me home one way or another.

The only thing in life that is guaranteed is death, how you go is up in the air to some degree, I'm quite lucky in some respects as i don't fear death in fact i look forward to it, all i ask is no pain, so if i'm shot in the head or killed instantly by a car then i'm happy, as you can see from my sig i'm worried about other issues

All1

[diamond lil]

Very interesting answers, thanks both of you. I've never been south of Blackpool or York. I got fedup of being knocked off pavements by crowds of tourists so we only lasted a day in each, then came home. Always wanted to see London but not going to happen, it looks like stress I don't need. But if I had to live there I would have plans always in place, and am interested to know if other preppers do as well.

[Plymtom]

Always wanted to see London but not going to happen, it looks like stress I don't need.

I'm a city boy but can relate to that, I went on a trip to the Hendon air museum in the 70s with the ATC and a day trip to Uxbridge which is more like here, but the tube stations were hectic, I've heard it all described as fast paced, if you come form a smaller city or town it's one thing but a village or out in the wilds.. a real shock, I wouldn't go there.

[Le Mouse]

I lived in London for 16 years and moved back home nearly 4 years ago now. I still go to London fairly regularly to visit friends and for OU Day Schools. While living in London I worked out a walking route for the 6 mile journey home, plus got used to walking when in central London. If I can, I'll get buses for longer journeys or where time is a bit of an issue. I'm not a great fan of the tube and avoid it if possible. With buses, one can get off between stops if necessary (while being careful of traffic obviously!). I often find getting round London quite stressful now.

My decision to move out wasn't because of the terror risk, but I won't pretend that it wasn't in the back of my mind as a definite issue. I had a bug-out plan in place, which I realise in hindsight wasn't at all realistic. I'd have been screwed if I was caught up in anything really big. At best, I could have got as far as my home in North London, but further than that would have been really difficult. Like Plymtom, I'm a city bird anyway, but there's an awful lot less fuss in my city!

[diamond lil]

When I lived in Edinburgh I was younger fitter and sharper, and it was more or less home ground. Now I've been away for nealry 30 years and I find it too hectic - but Edinburgh isn't big at all, or especially busy. London would overwhelm me I know.
When you live in a city it's always just "home" - and what you see and feel isn't what the visitors do, so it just made me curious to know how you London preppers approached things.

[Jamesey1981]

I grew up in London during the IRA years, in fact I felt the shockwave from the Canary Wharf van bomb at home many miles away, that thing was huge.

I don't go to central London very often now, only occasionally, but I do visit my father in law in Chiswick fairly often.

The thing that stops me from going into central London isn't terrorism though, its trains, I was caught up in the Ladbroke Grove rail crash, I will use trains if I have to, but they make me pretty twitchy and I need a glass of wine to calm my nerves when I get on!

[dazthechippy]

I travel to london a fair bit and have to go into some buildings (like the Gherkin) where they x-ray your bags. I carry a scaled down get home kit, strictly no blades at all unless I'm working on the tools.In my laptop rucksack I do have a torch, a glowstick, water, snack bar, sharpie pen and a few other things that can be explainable like a pair of trainers and a goretex...

i also have a fold up face mask and sung fit goggles in my bag - I remember the 9/11 pics of the dust

I do use the tube but VERY vigilantly and always plan ahead in case there is disruption. I've been stranded at a tube station (never inside a tube train) and at waterloo (overground) due to strikes and jumpers onto the lines.

Most important for me is planning an exit route, having £100 cash on me to get a taxi out of the city as far as it'll take me in the general direction I need, and a credit card for a hotel stay somewhere like Weybridge or wherever the taxi drops me off.

If i'm at waterloo i get the first train I can out of there to anywhere in my general direction and worry about it when down route but the best thing is to be aware...not to listen to music on headphones, listen to announcements AND your fellow travellers discussions for intel and to be aware of surroundings/situations - most people dont do this and i figure that gives me maybe a 30/60 second lead on them when things change quickly - thats often enough to get to the head of the queue/get off/move the opposite direction etc.

[shocker]

I grew up in London during the IRA years, in fact I felt the shockwave from the Canary Wharf van bomb at home many miles away, that thing was huge.

I don't go to central London very often now, only occasionally, but I do visit my father in law in Chiswick fairly often.

The thing that stops me from going into central London isn't terrorism though, its trains, I was caught up in the Ladbroke Grove rail crash, I will use trains if I have to, but they make me pretty twitchy and I need a glass of wine to calm my nerves when I get on!

Most of my young life was on the rural (then!) edge of London, near to the end of the tube lines, so went in often. I moved there in my mid teens and spent a lot of time in "the smoke", when not away with work, until I left for the USA.

Likewise I lived with the bombings and so on and it didn't really change things, back then in the 70s/80s. I was a few doors down from a bombing on Oxford street and only missed Kings Cross by chance - a friend I had bumped into took the northern line elevator and died. But as I said, it didn't change things much.

However, London never sleeps and when I came home from the US a few years later things had changed a great deal - it wasnt home anymore and I had to move away, to another city that I had friends in. This wasnt the action of terrorists or anything like that. London just changes and changes fast, constantly.

I havn't been back much, since the rest of my family moved west, and when I do I dont like it. The last time was about 6 years ago and though I still speak with a noticeable accent (people often refer to me as "that cockney bastard" or similar) I felt totally unconnected. No one would look me in the eye and there was none of the street banter between strangers in the bus queue that there used to be. I felt that people were very insular, suspicious and tense. The whole thing was sort of surreal, I felt like a stranger, out of place and time.

After that, I made a point of getting in touch with old mates from London and found that though they still lived there, they felt the same. Its not a race or class thing, I have a broad range of acquaintances. But people there do comment on the non-specific tension. To me, at least.

PS- the city I moved to had an PIRA bombing as soon as I got my own place. Right next door. Makes you feel a little like someones out to get you...