There’s no right or wrong way to prepare. It’s unique to the individual - where you are, where you work, which emergencies you’re prepping for etc. So if you're new to this then welcome to the community and we hope you enjoy the learning journey you’re about to embark on. There’s no better time to start than right now.
It’s a huge subject but this first info sheet aims to be brief. Let’s get started.
Reasons to Prep
- To save money
- Self sufficiency and independence
- Power cuts
- Severe weather - hot or cold
- Floods
- Economic collapse
- Tyranny
- War / invasion
- Nuclear disaster
Bugging In or Bugging Out?
Whichever it is, a prepper means to meet their basic needs as a human. Food, water, shelter and everything that goes with it.
Bugging In
This is staying at home and prepping your house & garden.
- Keeping chickens
- Growing veg
- Candles & oil lamps
- Paraffin heaters
- Firewood
- Batteries
- Torches
- Food preservation
- Solar energy
- Ration water
- Rainwater harvesting
- Tools
The ultimate bugging in setup is the rural off-grid smallholding. Most UK preppers don’t have that luxury but still manage to prepare for all sorts of disasters, whether urban or rural.
Bugging Out
There are plenty of reasons to bug out. The scenarios are endless. If you do have to bug out then something has generally gone wrong.
But this is when the prepper comes into his or her own. Preppers stay calm and put their trust into their bug out bags because they know their gear well. They can stay warm, make a shelter, filter water, heat up food, check their map and make a plan.
We’ll delve into this subject more later, but for now here’s a scenario:
You’re working 100+ miles from home - the grid goes down and after some time the roads start to fill up - the traffic isn’t going to move so people leave their cars - you have your bug out bag in the car which contains a tarp, sleeping bag, approx. 72 hours of freeze dried food, a water filter, water bottle, gas stove, med kit and more - You walk home comfortably
Some Prepping Language:
- SHTF - Shit Hits The Fan
- EDC - Every Day Carry
- BOB - Bug Out Bag
- Grab bag - a pre-prepared bag to grab if you need to be out quick
- GHFW bag - Get Home From Work bag
- INCH bag - I’m Never Coming Home bag
- Cache - a barrel full of supplies, usually kept enroute to you bug out location
- MOLLE webbing - MOdular Lightweight Load-bearing Equipment - A modular way of attaching pouches to bags, belt rigs, chest rigs etc.
