Starting Prepping and Why We’re Doing It

Starting Prepping and Why We’re Doing It. Prepping has become a ‘thing’, it’s been around for a while – actually it’s been around for decades since the end of the second world war, people became aware of nuclear power and potential of nuclear weapons so they started building underground bunkers.

These days, while some preppers go to the extreme prepping is done for a variety of different reasons so what exactly is ‘prepping’?

We, like many others became aware of prepping after stumbling across a few Youtube videos, now some are pretty extreme and others take a more level headed approach to being prepared. Essentially prepping is gathering all the tools, food, knowledge and skills you may need in the event of a disaster or an event which is likely to significantly change everyday life, a few examples could be:

• Power outage/EMP, the grid goes down for an extended period of time, scientists are warning that a sun flare could knock out the grid and cause damage that would take months or even years to repair.

• Pandemic, we’re all aware of this, lockdowns, PPE and the affect that Covid has had on the world. Health care systems [despite what government will tell you] were/are at breaking point, consider what happened in India in late 2021. All it would take would be a new strain [perfectly possible] that has a higher mortality rate or a strain where the vaccine has no affect. We all know what happened to toilet roll supply at the beginning of the pandemic, being a prepper means you already have it.

• Natural disaster, being a prepper does not mean getting ready for the zombie apocalypse, there are valid reasons for having the likes of food stocks etc if you live in a country where you may be affected by earthquake, Hurricane or other natural occurrences that would affect power supply, medical facilities, food stocks etc

• Climate change, we all know it’s happening but any progress being made appears painfully slow, by 2030 in some areas the heat and UV will be so extreme workers will no longer be able to task outdoors resulting in shortages of many things we take for granted.

• Food shortage/hyperinflation, food shortages are a fact, distribution has been affected by Covid 19, Brexit in the UK and if we look at container ships in late 2021 they are all gathered around the US coast with supermarket shelves becoming empty. Demand fuels supply and if the supply is not there then prices rise.

• Financial collapse, history has shown that every superpower declines, nothing lasts forever and the US will be next, a financial collapse is not a matter of ‘if’ but ‘when’, it is inevitable, what will be the determining factor will be how severe, the repercussions it has around the globe and how quickly. The financial crisis in 2008 and all those before it are a taster, what would happen if we had a modern day great depression like in the 1930’s?

What is the goal?

Our own main goal starting prepping is to build up a supply of all the items we need to last for three months. Prepping is about being pro-active and not ‘reactive’, if a scenario quickly becomes a reality then we can batten down the hatches knowing that we’ll be ok instead of rushing to the supermarket to compete with hundreds of others in a last minute panic buy – by this time it’s too late.

Safety is crucial so putting yourself in a position where you have contact with others in a pandemic situation is far from ideal, prices may go through the roof and after 72 hours there is the potential for violence, none of which we intend to be involved in. Anyone from the UK may remember the fuel crisis in 2000, vehicles queuing for miles just to fill up hoping that there would be fuel left at the pumps or the ten pound ration which was all you were allowed… A couple of 20ltr drums of fuel [used and stock rotated every 12 months for diesel/6 months for petrol] eradicates the need for any of this and involvement with the maddening crowds.

Post [update] – fuel prices knock on affect from Russian invasion of Ukrain 2022

Prepping & Overlanding

If you enjoy your overlanding then you already are a ‘prepper’, this is advantageous from a vehicle perspective. You already have your vehicle kitted out, you can live from it and be self sufficient for an extended period of time and it will get you places most others can’t if needs be.

Our own vehicle is ready to leave at a moment’s notice, all we’d need to do is throw some boxes of food in there and off we go for a minimum of 72 hours, spare clothing, tools, power, sleeping, fuel and water are all in there ready.

What we are buying

Being prepared is not just about food although food is one of the main things to have in your arsenal. We are also upgrading and stocking up on the likes of fuel for the 4×4, ignition sources, firewood, lighting and other items. Here is a brief list:

The above is just a taster of what we are buying initially to get started but it is just that – a start.

We are collecting glass jars with the intention of jarring, pickles, jams and salsas, these are kinds of food items which are cheap and easy to make with the bonus of a long shelf life.

Knowledge

Knowledge is power, there is little point in getting prepared with all the gear if you don’t know how to use it. There are a myriad of things to learn and many are worth knowing anyway such as first aid skills and what to do in a medical emergency. Emergency fire starting, communications, weather, water supply etc etc.

As such we armed ourselves with a couple of good books, there are many books on the subject but if you only buy a handful then these should be at the top of your list

• Just in Case: How to Be Self-Sufficient When the Unexpected Happens
• SAS Survival Guide: The Ultimate Guide to Surviving Anywhere

‘Prepper’ or just well prepared?

‘Preppers’ have been tarred with the same brush to a certain extent, people imagine underground bunkers, Rambo type nutballs preaching the end of the world and zombie apocalypse.

The thing is, if that’s what you want to do then fine, go for it. For us though we need to be prepared for us and organize that in a way that works.

Everyone thinks preppers are crazy until something happens then they’re the most sensible people they know

We mentioned a level headed approach at the beginning of this post, an approach which does not overtake your daily life or become an obsession, simply a behind the scenes practice that makes sense to us as a family and gives us peace of mind and security should something happen.

In some ways we look at it like preparing the home like we prepare our rig for an overlanding trip, just the scale and the duration of the intended excursion is more lengthy.

Starting Prepping? Here are some terms:

• Bug in – Stay at home, hunker down in a well stocked home for a period of time in the event of a dangerous situation
• Bug out – To leave your home quickly in the event of an emergency or dangerous situation
• Gray man – Someone who blends in/hides in plain site [gray man theory]
• Rule of 3 – 3 minutes without air, 3 hours without shelter in adverse conditions, 3 days without water, 3 weeks without food
• SHTF – S**t hits the fan
• BOB – Bug out bag
• BOV – Bug out vehicle
• EDC – Every day carry

Resources

• The prepared
• Primal Survivor
• Canadian Prepper [Youtube]
• Wiki

Are you considering starting prepping? Concerned with the way things are going at the moment? Tell us about it in the comments below.