Is "preparedness" a state of mind?

[British Red]

I'm not technically minded, so I couldn't recommend one, but can anyone here give a recommendation as to what she should be looking at, size wise, (to power the pump)⁷ and which would be the cheapest but most reliable make.(plus solar panel)
I don't know her set up, but info so that her husband can start to look at things without having to wade through tons of information from various companies and try to figure out what they need. That seems to be their sticking point. What exactly should they be looking at. Thanks

We have made a number of videos on the subject & tested a dozen or so types & sizes.

This video is a good introduction & the illustrated model is just right for the needs you describe.

Your friend can reach me through the YouTube channel. I can happily offer advice plus I have discount codes for several makes if anyone wants one

 

[Broch]

We have just suffered our third power cut in a week. So far they have been at night, so I'm not sure how long they lasted, but I woke this morning with my electric bedside clock , radio flashing yet again. This will tell me that it's been 1 hr or however long since the power was restored. Not a big problem realy, I just have to reset the clock, but...my friend has her own pumped water supply, and chatting to her today, she was telling me she had to go to her bottled water stash, as the pump wasn't working, and the tap was dry. I suggested she got a solar power generator, well I'm not technically minded, so I couldn't recommend one, but can anyone here give a recommendation as to what she should be looking at, size wise, (to power the pump)⁷ and which would be the cheapest but most reliable make.(plus solar panel)
I don't know her set up, but info so that her husband can start to look at things without having to wade through tons of information from various companies and try to figure out what they need. That seems to be their sticking point. What exactly should they be looking at. Thanks

OK, just a word of warning, none of the small solar powered (or IC engine powered) inverter style generators will power a borehole pump if that's the kind of thing she has; the motor stalls at the flat spot of the synthesised sine wave. She will need a very good quality inverter generator with surge capacity to overcome the stall point (potentially many times the running power requirement) or a full AC generator.

 

[Falstaff]

That is an excellent video and explanation, paced and covered at a speed and level I could follow, a big thank you.
It answered all of the queries that had jumped up in my mind before it started, including specifically the name. which I initially wondered if that meant a generator, or what the diffrence was to a straight lithium battery.
The cost/benefit explanation was also very useful, and showed that I don't need something that big or expensive.

 

[leon-1]

My apologies if this is echoed by other comments, I have read the first page and only the first page.

"Prepping is Perception"

It matters very little what people say or do. It's the same as one man's meat is another man's poison. It's the perception of the action by the specific person.
What I may perceive as prepping someone else may percieve as normal or what I perceive as normal someone else may perceive as prepping.
Anyone who has a military background would be familiar with the phrase "No Plan Survives First Contact With The Enemy!" and probably many others would be as well. To many not having a contingency plan or backup is foolhardy.

Anyone who has planned a multi day hike has normally built in some form of contingency plan (what if we don't reach a specific point, what happens if you have a walking wounded casualty, what happens when you have a casualty that cannot be moved, where's the nearest walk off point, etc...)

On the other hand some would say "Why bother?", society provides you with everything you need anyway.

Some peoples perception is being prepared involves knowing what to do more than having loads of kit which requires maintenance, but still having the knowledge how to use it should you require to or if you come across it.

Best bet is to take a good look at yourself and see what you truly consider to be prepping and why.

 

[Woody girl]

I think skills are probably as if not more important than kit. Maybe you can't afford a camp stove and a store of gas, so learn how to make a twig stove out of an ikea cutlery drainer, or a metal expanding steamer basket, sort of thing.
Many years ago,(too many to count) I attended an "urban survival from rubbish" workshop at the green festival. I learned how to make many things from cans and bottles,etc. It was great fun, and though I filed the info for years in my head, I only started making these things during lockdown, mostly out of boredom and to keep my mind and hands busy.
Now I feel confident that I can make most of what I might need with found stuff, some string, an old t shirt, a good knife, and a small file.

 

[Silverclaws2]

Looking at recent threads on preparedness and also on the usual video channels, I see a lot of stuff about (a) kit and (b) some specific huge event.

But I wonder.... is "preparedness" really all about a state of mind....? (And if so, what state of mind is optimum?)

What I mean is, how many people consider "what might go wrong" when they go out somewhere, or in general life?
- if your train ticket is on a phone, why not have a power bank and make sure it's charged?
- on a long/multi-day road trip, do you have a second car key with you and a bottle of water in the vehicle (even before you get to more sophisticated stuff!)?
- how many people check the weather forecast for their route/destination before heading out ? (On Wednesday, it was 13C and low cloud when I left home, but was 29C and sunny/hot by the time I arrived at my destination in the Midlands).

This is not "prepping" for a specific event, more like having a basic level of consideration of the "what ifs" of general life and mostly being able to deal with it at a level of comfort.

I suspect that many/most people on here do this as part of normal life, but in my working life, I've seen/see a lot of folks who don't.

I wonder why this is.....and if it's a societal thing? Was just debating this in an industry group the other day, we were reflecting on how after the Harrow and Wealdstone train crash, much of the rescue was by volunteers yet these days we tend to/be told to "wait for the professionals" to deal with stuff. (We talked about the possible reasons too).

I am interested on what others think about this, and also what proportion of society would be capable of rendering assistance to themselves or their community in the event of a difficult situation vs the number of folks who would wait for the "authorities" to come and rescue them.

(I'm curious, that's all!)

GC

Yeah I would say it is a state of mind and with that a state of a conditioned mind, and a mind conditioned through Scouting's ' Be Prepared ' motto that appeared in one's formative years.

To have learned it's not necessarily about kit but the creativity and knowledge of mind to create what one needs out of what one has.

Other that may or may not motivate an individual to act in a given scenario can have a lot to do with earlier life trauma, the need to not let what happened happen again or the need to get the hell out of dodge, both of which are mental health survival practices

 

[Broch]

Well, it's official, the BBC has spoken, Prepping is OK

https://www.sciencefocus.com/future-technology/most-doomsday-preppers-have-it-wrong-this-is-actually-how-to-survive-the-apocalypse?utm_campaign=Monday%2028%20July%202025&utm_content=Most%20doomsday%20preppers%20have%20it%20wrong.%20This%20is%20actually%20how%20to%20survive%20the%20apocalypse&utm_term=&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Adestra

 

[TeeDee]

Well, it's official, the BBC has spoken, Prepping is OK

https://www.sciencefocus.com/future-technology/most-doomsday-preppers-have-it-wrong-this-is-actually-how-to-survive-the-apocalypse?utm_campaign=Monday%2028%20July%202025&utm_content=Most%20doomsday%20preppers%20have%20it%20wrong.%20This%20is%20actually%20how%20to%20survive%20the%20apocalypse&utm_term=&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Adestra

I wonder who paid them to say that?

 

[Wildgoose]

I wonder who paid them to say that?

Given the ads I’m now getting it’s Starlink

 

[GreyCat]

I wonder who paid them to say that?

Prob the govt influenced it. The BBC is after all the "national broadcaster" and has a long history of disseminating govt propaganda......

.... to be fair, this sort of soft comms is probably going to be more effective in UK than if they sent out something along the lines of the leaflets being distributed in other countries in Europe.

The sort of soft news articles that we've been seeing recently has the same messages as some of those pamphlets, but in a format that is less likely to be laughed at or ignored. Probably a good thing overall as if everyone does a bit for themselves, then in the event of a big storm/flood etc, the emergency services can better focus on the vulnerable who really need the help rather than those who can reasonably be expected to help themselves.

Given the ads I’m now getting it’s Starlink

Hmm, unlikely when there's a waiting list for the system in quite a few areas of UK. Our area of west Wales was officially "congested" (unless you have business priority data) for a while in the wake of Storm Darragh....

GC

 

[Silverclaws2]

Dunno if anyone has seen this stuff, but, from the UK gov.

Get prepared for emergencies

 

[TeeDee]

Dunno if anyone has seen this stuff, but, from the UK gov.

Get prepared for emergencies

< From the linked website >

Dunno whats being discussed here but looks more like an emotional family intervention...

" Listen Dad, I just can't justify going all in on freeze dried Mountain House whilst tins are so inexpensive... "

 

[Broch]

No, I think it's "look Dad, with the two little ones, Sarah and me, there just isn't room in the bunker for you and Mum"

 

[Woody girl]

Of all the people I know in my local, who say they are prepping, not one has a water filter of any sort.
They all think a brita water filter will be sufficient if one is needed, or they will buy bottled from the store.
A picnic stove with a can of gas..no spare gas, will get them through a prolonged black out.
They have a few cans of extra food in the cupboard, no milk powder though. And they can get deliveries from tesco, so they will be OK.

No filled spare petrol cans for when the pumps don't work.
The incident with the empty shelves in the co op for nearly two weeks didn't wake anyone up.

 

[grainweevil]

Well, it's official, the BBC has spoken, Prepping is OK

"...and now on BBC 1 it's "Bunker Hunt" followed by "Celebrity Tins of Food In The Attic" with *reality TV person you've never heard of* finding out just how much lip gloss you need to adequately survive a nuclear winter."

 

[Toddy]

Many years ago, when the UK had a functioning, fully integrated Civil Defence, my husband was one of the scientific intelligence officers....they were volunteers who gave up their time for training weeks through the year, when they learned the state of play, how to work through the data, make rational choices...such as resources safe to be used after nuclear issues....on that note, one nuclear bomb exploded down the Clyde at the sub base and the normal weather pattern would carry the fall out right across the Central Belt, take out over 70% of the population....no wonder we protested at the site....food and water supplies fit to be consumed, crops and animal grazing, etc.,

Anyway, in the ethos of money pinching the Govt. in it's wisdom (hah ) disbanded the Civil Defence, and in doing so lost all that wonderful knowledge built upon decades of experience of people who had been involved since wartime, and the recruits they'd trained.

Rather short sighted really.

 

[Woody girl]

Many years ago, when the UK had a functioning, fully integrated Civil Defence, my husband was one of the scientific intelligence officers....they were volunteers who gave up their time for training weeks through the year, when they learned the state of play, how to work through the data, make rational choices...such as resources safe to be used after nuclear issues....on that note, one nuclear bomb exploded down the Clyde at the sub base and the normal weather pattern would carry the fall out right across the Central Belt, take out over 70% of the population....no wonder we protested at the site....food and water supplies fit to be consumed, crops and animal grazing, etc.,

Anyway, in the ethos of money pinching the Govt. in it's wisdom (hah ) disbanded the Civil Defence, and in doing so lost all that wonderful knowledge built upon decades of experience of people who had been involved since wartime, and the recruits they'd trained.

Rather short sighted really.

Head in sand syndrome. rampant for years.
I'll guarantee the powers that be are sorted with nice comfy bunkers while the rest of just take our chances.
I read somewhere
Switzerland have bunkers for the populace, and all new builds have to have them by law.
It's like during the war, anything south of a certain point was to be sacrificed in event of an invasion by Germany. Ports like Southampton Dover Plymouth etc which we would have needed and given Germany every advantage sacrificed.
Not joined up thinking realy.
The point of defence was a canal! Sure, they'd never have made it over that, even if they'd managed the channel.
Sometimes I despair at so called intelligent people in charge..
It's the people on the ground, doing the hard work that have the knowledge and would be sacrificed as they try and save their own paltry skins...

 

[Laurentius]

Of all the people I know in my local, who say they are prepping, not one has a water filter of any sort.
They all think a brita water filter will be sufficient if one is needed, or they will buy bottled from the store.
A picnic stove with a can of gas..no spare gas, will get them through a prolonged black out.
They have a few cans of extra food in the cupboard, no milk powder though. And they can get deliveries from tesco, so they will be OK.

No filled spare petrol cans for when the pumps don't work.
The incident with the empty shelves in the co op for nearly two weeks didn't wake anyone up.View attachment 96635View attachment 96636

That was my co-op for a while, but I survived. It is when they run out of Henry Weston's that I worry.

 

[TeeDee]

Of all the people I know in my local, who say they are prepping, not one has a water filter of any sort.
They all think a brita water filter will be sufficient if one is needed, or they will buy bottled from the store.
A picnic stove with a can of gas..no spare gas, will get them through a prolonged black out.
They have a few cans of extra food in the cupboard, no milk powder though. And they can get deliveries from tesco, so they will be OK.

No filled spare petrol cans for when the pumps don't work.
The incident with the empty shelves in the co op for nearly two weeks didn't wake anyone up.View attachment 96635View attachment 96636

Whilst those people who maybe have prepped somewhat basically , but not in full joined-up-thinking its at least steps for them to take on becoming somewhat more durable and self reliant. They ( in my opinion ) shouldn't be mocked but gently educated - everyone starts a journey of learning somewhere and Prepping is no different - everyone learns from either better guidance or their own mistakes

There can be an air of ' my prepping is better than your prepping ' to people whom practice it. And its a little unsavoury.

No Gas masks? Amateur

No iodine pills?? Noob...

Etc

I'm not having at go at you WG - I get what you are saying and yes , its somewhat short sighted , but guesss what , people learning can make mistakes and not have it off too a 'T' from the get go.

Its a niche , activity that I suspect few would discuss in person or at work because its seen as a somewhat fringe activity with certain assumptions made.

Will Government produced steering and leaflets make the thinking aspect a little more automatic? maybe / maybe not.

I Just don't think its coming from a good place to criticise someone starting an activity and making mistakes.


Just my opinion.

 

[Falstaff]

In folks view, if one is underprepped and push came to shove, whilst at home - how easy would it be to jury rig a water filter ? with say, a stack of 2-3 buckets of sand for water to dribble through like the water treatment plants? or any other sort of alternative.
In such a scenario there might also be some limitation on fuel/ability to boil after the filter - if necessary? any common household products viable to sterilise? ( I remember there was a thread on bleach usage in the US, but that sounds a bit scary).