Hi,
I very been lurking a little bit and thought it was time to say hello.
I'm a bit of a prepper lite, I've always enjoyed reading about self sufficient life and the like but in my 20s and early 30s I prioritised other things. Work and pubs really. When I became a mum, I started letting my prepping instinct out a bit more. I'm down in Cornwall and when I had a small baby the beast from the east hit, it took weeks for normal supplies of bread to be back on the shelves...if you eat the shop sliced white anyway.
I stocked a brexit cupboard, which became the covid cupboard. Now I just maintain a pantry. Nothing major, just aiming for about 3 weeks of food and extra medication etc. We've used my bottled water supply 3 times in the 12 years we've lived here due to mains supply issues. Money was tight but I'm back at work full time shortly so have been investing more cash in the garden...we have a few chickens and I've started filling up with a few fruit trees, some soft fruit bushes and a cobb nut bush, I've got way to many seeds this year that I'm going to try. I used to have a badly maintained allotment which i stopped due to v young children, life feels a bit more settled now the children are older so im hoping for more time and energy. Food supply seems as shakey as ever so I feel a bit of urgency around this, especially to get learning a build more skills. We also have 4 chickens. I like the little garden building projects so overspend in this a bit by trying things out and learning, most projects end up being done a few times as ive got no-one to learn from and struggle comitting to plans. The kids also like joining me so I like thinking I'm helping them to learn a skill. We take them nearly wild camping for this too.
I kind of feel like I'm prepping for everything, short term crisis, the car always has 300miles of fuel in it as minimum, cash in the house, car prepped with stuff etc. No bail out bag, but had one once.. But long term, the climate is dodgy, the shift in global politics alarms me (don't worry I won't go there) and it just feels like decline is baked in. Overshoot an collapse as I read here, so I'm just trying to out some resilience into our life to smooth the bumps and descent.
Hello - new member
Re: Hello - new member
Hello and welcome to the Forum. 

Two is one and one is none, but three is even better.
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Re: Hello - new member
Welcome and thanks for the great introductory post 

If your roughing it, Your doing it wrong 
Lack of planning on your part doesn't make it an emergency on mine

Lack of planning on your part doesn't make it an emergency on mine
Re: Hello - new member
Welcome from Cheshire.
Great intro post.
Great intro post.
Graceful Degradation! Prepping's objective summed up in two words. Turning Disaster into Mild Inconvenience by the power of fore-thought
Not Feeling Optimistic. Let me be wrong
Not Feeling Optimistic. Let me be wrong
Re: Hello - new member
As the others have said, great intro post!
I want to be a bit more useful than that to you, though
I hope you don't mind, it's just about what you're calling your bail out bag (I like that
people on here probably also call it a bug out bag, or a hotel bag). Sometimes we need to get out in a hurry - whether it's a house fire, flooding, a WWII bomb being discovered (unlikely round you, from the sound of it, I confess) there can be all sorts of things that interfere with your ability to stay in your home.
I love that you've planted a cobnut bush, and that you're having a go at little projects - doesn't matter if you have to re-do them, as you say, it's about the skills. Worth the extra bit of dosh. And sadly, I think you're right on the "decline is baked in" thing. All you can do is make sure that you're on the right side, and joining here is another good step in that direction, though you sound like you're already doing great.
I want to be a bit more useful than that to you, though


I love that you've planted a cobnut bush, and that you're having a go at little projects - doesn't matter if you have to re-do them, as you say, it's about the skills. Worth the extra bit of dosh. And sadly, I think you're right on the "decline is baked in" thing. All you can do is make sure that you're on the right side, and joining here is another good step in that direction, though you sound like you're already doing great.
Re: Hello - new member
Getting 3 weeks food & water for your family is an excellent start and 99% ahead of the rest of the world. Keep it on the down low though so people don't come knocking in times of need (if it does happen barter & exchange is the way to go instead of outright gifts). Make sure pets have equal supply of food too and I found from being snowed in/5 day power cuts that a good supply of wine & chocolate is also invaluable in keeping adults & children happy.
Re: Hello - new member
Thank you. I knew bail out bad didn't sound quite right! But I just couldn't get the right term to mind. Coincidently I had to quickly pack this morning as my mum was taken very ill in hospital, it's a 3 hour drive to her town. She's on the mend we think. I managed to remember medication and enough clothes but popped to the shop for toothpaste and shampoo.
The pets are included in the 3 weeks, plus some extra tins that they don't really like, but could eat it if they were hungry enough.
The kids favorite chocolate biscuits (digestives and oreos) are also well stocked but there are loads of holes in our preps for sure! We'v made mistakes and have 2 rather fussy children so food for them is quite restricted.
I'll be honest, we don't really share that we have a good stock of stuff BUT when the water to our street was cut, I did give some bottles of water to neighbours who had kids. I encouraged them to get and keep some given we've lost water a few times but im sure i was a bit marked as having preps . I also keep giving away strawberry runners and tayberry cuttings to neighbours and friends...just trying to passively aggressively get other's to prep
I do tend to do long posts...as you can see!
The pets are included in the 3 weeks, plus some extra tins that they don't really like, but could eat it if they were hungry enough.
The kids favorite chocolate biscuits (digestives and oreos) are also well stocked but there are loads of holes in our preps for sure! We'v made mistakes and have 2 rather fussy children so food for them is quite restricted.
I'll be honest, we don't really share that we have a good stock of stuff BUT when the water to our street was cut, I did give some bottles of water to neighbours who had kids. I encouraged them to get and keep some given we've lost water a few times but im sure i was a bit marked as having preps . I also keep giving away strawberry runners and tayberry cuttings to neighbours and friends...just trying to passively aggressively get other's to prep

I do tend to do long posts...as you can see!
Re: Hello - new member
Join that club too

Sorry to hear about your mum, but a big positive that she seems to be coming through it well. And it doesn't matter what the bag's called as long as its got the right stuff for you

Water is such an important prep! A friend of mine had the water go off recently, and his mum, who lives an hour away by car, took his toddler home with her to look after, it was just too difficult to mesh with full time work. Really makes you think.
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Re: Hello - new member
Hope your mum has a speedy recovery ..
Most on here probably don't have a bug out bag packed rather than a "hospital / hotel bag"
Which unless something utterly catastrophic happens will be far more use than some bag of random camping kit....
Think you and the kids as sods law dictates you'll end up in hospital with them needing lego surgically removed from a left nostril or similar
Change of smalls each a warm jumper each a shrunk down wash bag (one of those air travel packs small bottle of shampoo/ soap/ toothpaste and a wash cloth / small sponge spare phone charger and cable to suit little power bank. A old wallet / purse of change fir vending machines and enough cash for a taxi home from your local hospital.... £50 in our case
Possibly a blanket a diary of important contact numbers and any medication you take regularly and something to read / puzzle book
We lost water the other year for close to 2 weeks .. we coped but been doing the prepping thing for years
Most on here probably don't have a bug out bag packed rather than a "hospital / hotel bag"
Which unless something utterly catastrophic happens will be far more use than some bag of random camping kit....
Think you and the kids as sods law dictates you'll end up in hospital with them needing lego surgically removed from a left nostril or similar

Change of smalls each a warm jumper each a shrunk down wash bag (one of those air travel packs small bottle of shampoo/ soap/ toothpaste and a wash cloth / small sponge spare phone charger and cable to suit little power bank. A old wallet / purse of change fir vending machines and enough cash for a taxi home from your local hospital.... £50 in our case

Possibly a blanket a diary of important contact numbers and any medication you take regularly and something to read / puzzle book
We lost water the other year for close to 2 weeks .. we coped but been doing the prepping thing for years

If your roughing it, Your doing it wrong 
Lack of planning on your part doesn't make it an emergency on mine

Lack of planning on your part doesn't make it an emergency on mine
Re: Hello - new member
Welcome. It sounds as if you are well on track.
With family on a restricted diet due to food allergies & intolerances, I found that prepping saved my bacon when covid hit and the supermarkets emptied.Specialist foods were not a priority so it was very good news to already have them around.
I also saw posts from a poor woman desperately searching for specific food brands/flavours for her autistic son who would rather starve than eat anything else.
So it may be an idea to prioritise stores of anything that might put your "fussy" kids at risk if unavailable.
With family on a restricted diet due to food allergies & intolerances, I found that prepping saved my bacon when covid hit and the supermarkets emptied.Specialist foods were not a priority so it was very good news to already have them around.
I also saw posts from a poor woman desperately searching for specific food brands/flavours for her autistic son who would rather starve than eat anything else.
So it may be an idea to prioritise stores of anything that might put your "fussy" kids at risk if unavailable.