New Member

[Norfolk Prepper]

Hello everyone!

I have been prepping on a low level for around five years, I didn't tell the wife incase she thought I was mad, so I have hid it in the guise of camping equipment for the odd holiday, a small cupboard of emergency bits like batteries, torches and that sort of thing to get through power cuts which we have quite often and some bits mainly tools in the shed.

We had our first child nearly 8 months ago and that has sent my urge to prep through the roof so I openly told the wife and she is on board! Unfortunately not with buying a tank and a bunker yet.....

So I have joined here to hopefully get some ideas on how best to protect my family from any sudden issues that may pop up, I suppose I'm mostly worried about large scale issues like no power across the country, internet taken down or civil unrest and that is what I am working towards now.

But my big priority is to get fit and healthy, my weight has ballooned in the last few years and I barely exercise so that is my main prep if you can call it that.

Sorry for the waffle, hope your all doing well!

[Yorkshire Andy]

Welcome to the forum an 8 month old good luck finding time to exercise fill the pram and get pushing

Kids tend to focus the mind can never have enough nappies / wipes / feed oh and before you know it the pile of clothes is too small and little one needs a whole new wardrobe

[jennyjj01]

Hi and welcome. Lots to learn from and contribute to on this forum. Don't be shy.

[Arzosah]

Welcome, Norfolk Prepper! Having an 8 month old is a great reason to prep, and one of the most difficult times in our lives to prep, Yorkshire Andy has it absolutely right

With things the way they are *right* now, it makes me think about flood preparation - do you have an upstairs, ie do you have a house where you can retreat to the bedrooms if necessary, or if you're in a flat, are you at least on the first floor, not the ground? Are your papers, any medication and your computer backup gathered together if you had to get out fast? Just this week, people in Hackney in London were woken up in the middle of the night and had to be walked out to safety when a canal overflowed https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-67892011

If you didn't have to evacuate but got stuck at home, how long could you cope for? Do you have a little camping stove, with gas cartridges, to heat stuff? I'm thinking you probably do if you've been prepping in the guise of camping holidays (very good!) but check the number of cartridges you have.

Warmth? Waterproofs? It's a great time to up the prepping a gear, good for you.

[Norfolk Prepper]

Thank you!

We are lucky in terms of flooding, our house is in the corner of a field and the field opposite slopes gently to the river about 600m away, I would say the river would have to rise in excess of 10m to make me even worry about flooding.

We have a couple of gas stoves and one has an adapter that lets me use different types of gas cartridges, they come in handy warming baby bottles during power cuts. We also have an open fire to keep the downstairs of the house warm if the power is off. As an estimate we have enough gad to keep us going for 2 weeks of normal use, and wood to keep the fire going for a month or so, which we top up every spring when it's cheaper.

I also have just started on a large allotment with about 350sqm of growing space that should give us some food security.

For losing weight I have recently given up my office job and started working in a factory, I struggle with exercise for the sake of exercise, I get bored. So I thought a job that forces me to be on my feet and moving heavy things all day will get me started on the fitness and weight loss.

I think a big weakness is water storage, we don't have a lot of space indoors for storage, but I have a couple of filters at least.

Thanks for the suggestions!

I will also try to put a post together soon about the trailer I am building from an old caravan chassis.

[Nurseandy]

Hi Norfolk prepper, handy exercise with a baby is to get a backpack baby carrier and walk places, basically you're rucking with a baby instead of 40lb of kit. Baby loves it too.
The baby backpacks cost a fortune new but often come up on marketplace/ebay etc.

[Norfolk Prepper]

Hi Norfolk prepper, handy exercise with a baby is to get a backpack baby carrier and walk places, basically you're rucking with a baby instead of 40lb of kit. Baby loves it too.
The baby backpacks cost a fortune new but often come up on marketplace/ebay etc.

Great idea, might be something I look for this weekend

[Norfolk Prepper]

Hi Norfolk prepper, handy exercise with a baby is to get a backpack baby carrier and walk places, basically you're rucking with a baby instead of 40lb of kit. Baby loves it too.
The baby backpacks cost a fortune new but often come up on marketplace/ebay etc.

Great idea, might be something I look for this weekend

[Peter]

Hi Norfolk Prepper, I’m fairly new to this site, I only joined last year.....but.....

.....like you I started prepping because I had a very young family, at the time it was just buying a
little extra food each week and when I had a little extra cash some camping gear or some first aid kit.

This was in the 1970’s, we are now both 80, at the time we never thought it was prepping, just common sense.

Now 50 years on I can honestly say we are still prepping and still learning .

[jansman]

Hi Norfolk Prepper, I’m fairly new to this site, I only joined last year.....but.....

.....like you I started prepping because I had a very young family, at the time it was just buying a
little extra food each week and when I had a little extra cash some camping gear or some first aid kit.

This was in the 1970’s, we are now both 80, at the time we never thought it was prepping, just common sense.

Now 50 years on I can honestly say we are still prepping and still learning .

It is common sense Peter.