Prepping

[Toddy]

I think we're very fortunate here, I really do. We have very little trouble, and most arguments and disagreements dissolve into discussion.
The occasional ill tempered posting does rather stand out; differing world views are just that; and so long as we all accept that we will never only meet people we agree with 100% of the time, then it all meanders along peaceably enough.

The way my luck's going this week I'm not tempting fate by claiming internet trolls are a threatened species

atb,
M

 

[almac]

One thing that spring to mind when your a prepper......

Nice target for people with a bigger stick........ if it happens

since the majority of people have been disarmed, if I prepped in the uk, I wouldn't tell ANYONE.
less likely to get hijacked...

 

[British Red]

I
Different world view, methinks. I know that folks like British Red are very practical, but they don't quite conform to the common image of 'prepper'; but then it seems as though the media portrayal of preppers is singularly lacking in the common sense variety.


cheers,
M

Labels and pigeon holes are usually imposed by others on their recipients I find. I don't describe myself as anything really. I don't know where the boundaries are between "Bushcraft", "Survival", "Survivalism", "Prepping", Self Sufficiency", "Simpler Living", "Gardening", "Downshifting" and many other silly made up labels.

We often say on here that its important that old skills are not lost. I guess if we think it is important to preserve them, they must have the potential to be needed again. I think that is true of "day to day" living skills as much as it is of backwoods skills. Even a couple of hundred years ago most households made, grew, reared and otherwise produced much of their day to day needs. In these days of the "integrated global supply chain" most households are less self reliant than they have ever been in human history. I seek to remedy that for my family and share what I learn with others who feel similarly. I'm not sure that a badge for that is warranted or that any of the available ones fit

 

[Toddy]

You know ? it's a funny thing, but on the whole the UK doesn't do anarchy. No denying there are horrendous incidents, but on the whole we're peaceable.
However, I am minded of the Winter last but one. Snow and ice closed down everything. Major motorways seized so badly that folks ran out of fuel as they sat and waited in traffic jams, etc., .....yet, the supermarkets never closed. They managed to get their access roads and their carparks cleared even before the main roads were done. They got supplies of bread and milk, fruit and veg, and fuel, on site and available for sale despite the horrendous weather and the concommitant issues of getting people to and from work. The local supermarket even set up a creche for the workers who had children kept home from schools so that mums (and dads) could get to work.

I wondered at the time at the level of organisation that supermarket managers displayed, and I thought about it, and realised that 'if' the country does go into some real catastrophic meltdown that the best thing to do would be to put the supermarket managers in charge because unlike bankers they actually could manage a menage

cheers,
M

p.s. Total cross post with BR synchronicity rules
But it was Preppers who called themselves that, no ?

 

[British Red]

p.s. Total cross post with BR synchronicity rules
But it was Preppers who called themselves that, no ?

No idea - I suspect so. It always struck me as one of those silly names "I'm not a survivalist, I'm a prepper", strikes me like "I'm not a twitcher, I'm a birder" - a distinction without a difference! (Flame on twitchers!)

These groups are just....sources of information. Peoples whose interests are not identical to my own - but intersect with mine in a Venn diagram way. I learned pressure canning from a survivalist forum, rushlights from a bushcraft forum, and received some really good advice on tyre choice from a preppers forum. I also got a damned good fudge recipe one Diwali festival for what that's worth .

I think the term "preparing" is okay - I believe in preparedness - I prepare for Winter by cutting wood, not leaving it to the last minute. I believe in gardening too, and many other skills. Some people might not enjoy them - that's okay - I can't stand amateur theatricals - but I believe in their right to enjoy it

 

[feralpig]

It all depends on what someone is prepping for, and where they live.
I live out in the sticks, prepping to me is second nature, Winter is always on the way. I don't get into growing vegetables, but Father does. Wood needs to be cut and seasoned, unless you want to spend money on fuel to keep warm. Also, money needs to be put away, to last the winter months when work is slack.

What is the most likely scenario to severely affect ones life?
Energy supply is the greatest risk, in my mind. How would you house run if the electric was cut, even for a few hours a day? Would you still have heating, hot water, cooking capability/ Would you be able to flush the toilet?
I know that if there is a breakdown in electricity supply, it will be the sticks that get it first, not the citys.
I run Veg oil in my truck, so I have a bit of insulation from glitches in the fuel supply. I have a wood burner, and hopefully soon will have a thermal store heated by waste motor oil, which I also collect.
Once that is done I'm going to look into getting a three phase generator, running off a diesel engine.
The lights can go out, the economy can collapse, and I will still be nice and warm. If things come really tight, I can shoot bunnys.
I'd wouldn't really call myself a prepper though. More like I'm trying to move myself away from dependence on the system.

 

[Toddy]

I agree about the names I had a row on another forum because I objected to being called a sewer because I sew.
On line we 'read' a word, and I am no drain for noxious effluent

Preparation is practical, and the more able one is then the more contented. However, there is no way that everyone in this country could live the ideal 'prepping' lifestyle. The pollution from all those unfiltered fires alone would be horrendous. Like many here I well remember every house having an open fire, and the rain pouring down black soot on everything. I am very glad for the advances in heating, lighting and good water supplies. Our water used to run brown with the peat after heavy rain, and anything 'in' the wash ended up stained and needing re washed. Bathing in tea coloured water wasn't pleasant either. Not now, though I could happily do with a little less chlorine in it.....better than Legionnaire's disease or bluegreen algae I suppose.

atb,
M

 

[British Red]

Are you a seamstress?

I'm not sure that's any better in a post pratchett world

 

[Toddy]

That was the arguement put forward in favour of being a sewer
I reckon I'm a needlewoman
Indeed my sig line is, "Crewel, sharp, lady "

M

 

[Swallow]

Or you can just obsess over words and their perceived definitions.

I'm not obsessing over words. Words point to experiences and different words point to different experiences, and I think Toddy has done a better job that I could have, of making it clear the differences between those experiences.

Red has also (kind of) pointed out that several of these labels can be applied to him, but his posts show that he transcends the limits of these labels. I think it also shows several people carrying out the same or same kind of activities with different mindsets.

A label acquires baggage from the way the majority of people who have that label think and behave, or are perceived to. If people are going to go on TV and makes themselves (i.e. preppers) look like they have a paranoid mindset, then they are setting that perception up themselves.

Rebadging something and activity or person rarely changes it's nature. Thinking about it with a different mindset does.

Rik called himself a prepper earlier but looking at his posts I would not say he has any of the mindset I would associate with the label "prepping". It's a mind set I would associate with the label "common sense". Rik doesn't seem to be carrying any baggage in his "prepping".

The OP stated he wanted help to start prepping because he scared himself. What I have been trying to point to is that a better mindset would be to unscare yourself and then choose your activities, whatever their label.

 

[Swallow]

What is the most likely scenario to severely affect ones life?
Energy supply is the greatest risk, in my mind. How would you house run if the electric was cut, even for a few hours a day? Would you still have heating, hot water, cooking capability/ Would you be able to flush the toilet?

I was advised that in Lebanon (in the 70s and 80s anyway) that Italian fridges were seen as very reliable and German ones as rubbish. The reason for this was that Italian fridges were quite used to having gaps in their electric supply and could cope with this and run for a long time. The German ones couldn't cope with the interruptions and broke very quickly under those conditions.

3 way camping fridges also seem like a good option. Especially if you could get a working solar setup.

I think in city or town the flushing the toilet has to be the worst, I can't say I find Cody Lundin's vision of huge plastic barrel with lid and a stack of shredded newspaper something to look forward to, but it sure beats the alternative for a short term situation.

 

[British Red]

I think the problem with "label baggage" is not just implication but inference (connotations by both the writer and invented by the reader). I have been lucky enough to meet and correspond with some of the worlds leading "survivalists". On one occasion with a heavy bearded leader of a survival forum about his Beatrix Potter crockery set on which he was consuming a cream tea - having corresponded with me about how to make clotted cream - I kid you not

Most people are three dimensional, and I have never encountered the paranoid bunker dweller type amongst serious "survivalists", "preppers" or what have you - any more than the average Bushcrafter spends all his available time drinking his own wee . Most are much more into "self sufficiency". I find it a very "positive" mindset - one about taking personal responsibility, learning skills and taking a positive forward view of the future by taking control. I have dabbled in many "groups" to learn from them and many (especially many of the "green" forums) seem fixated on how "others" must change to save the world. What I like about the preppers - and self sufficiency forums too - is it is all about how "I" must change to make a difference to my life. I see that a positive mental attitude.

 

[santaman2000]

I'm not obsessing over words. Words point to experiences and different words point to different experiences, and I think Toddy has done a better job that I could have, of making it clear the differences between those experiences.

Red has also (kind of) pointed out that several of these labels can be applied to him, but his posts show that he transcends the limits of these labels. I think it also shows several people carrying out the same or same kind of activities with different mindsets.......

Maybe. But most of us on this forum are somewhat more sensible and generally know what we're "prepping" for (less likely to be TEOTWAKI events and more likely natural or weather disasters) Why do we care what the other conotations are?

 

[Swallow]

I think the problem with "label baggage" is not just implication but inference (connotations by both the writer and invented by the reader). I have been lucky enough to meet and correspond with some of the worlds leading "survivalists". On one occasion with a heavy bearded leader of a survival forum about his Beatrix Potter crockery set on which he was consuming a cream tea - having corresponded with me about how to make clotted cream - I kid you not

Most people are three dimensional, and I have never encountered the paranoid bunker dweller type amongst serious "survivalists", "preppers" or what have you - any more than the average Bushcrafter spends all his available time drinking his own wee . Most are much more into "self sufficiency". I find it a very "positive" mindset - one about taking personal responsibility, learning skills and taking a positive forward view of the future by taking control. I have dabbled in many "groups" to learn from them and many (especially many of the "green" forums) seem fixated on how "others" must change to save the world. What I like about the preppers - and self sufficiency forums too - is it is all about how "I" must change to make a difference to my life. I see that a positive mental attitude.

 

[Toddy]

Beatrix Potter was weird; she anthropomorphised pest species to the extent that entire generations of children grew up believing rabbits wore wee blue coats and mittens and that they lived happy lives buying groceries in woodland shops and going to school

Cartoon mind fodder 101.

M

 

[British Red]

Beatrix Potter was weird; she anthropomorphised pest species to the extent that entire generations of children grew up believing rabbits wore wee blue coats and mittens and that they lived happy lives buying groceries in woodland shops and going to school

Cartoon mind fodder 101.

M

She also created the impression of the "mean farmer" in that nasty Scot Mr McGregor ....whilst farming herself

 

[Swallow]

Maybe. But most of us on this forum are somewhat more sensible and generally know what we're "prepping" for (less likely to be TEOTWAKI events and more likely natural or weather disasters) Why do we care what the other conotations are?

Up to you what labels you take on or promote and whether you care what the connotations are or not. I certainly didn't place it on you.

 

[santaman2000]

Up to you what labels you take on or promote and whether you care what the connotations are or not. I certainly didn't place it on you.

No worries. I realized you weren't being personal about it. Just wasn't sure why it seems to matter what others think; as long as they're not moved enough to have any of us adjudicated a menace of course.

 

[boatman]

Worrying about being seen as a prepper or survivalist is to give far too much importance to oneself. It is the same with people that apparently agonise over wearing camouflage lest their neighbours and passing "sheeple" immediately summon the squads of armed police just waiting round the corner to pounce.

Relax, hardly anybody gives a damn what you do and they never did. Ray Mears was mentioned as popularising and making respectable Bushcraft. Well he did it along with many others before he was famous and never, as far as I know, suffered the slightest attention from the law or public opinion and nor did the others. We certainly didn't 50+years ago and subsequently.

When in panic fear and doubt
Run in circles scream and shout.

 

[Marco1981]

Personally, I don't care what they call it. I think BR got it spot on though, it is a little bit of everything so could go under countless names. My biggest commitment to "prepping" is my garden - I seem to spend day after day gardening so I am much more akin to being a gardener. But the word "prepper" doesn't sound right to me. Not because of any images that pop into my head of extremists running around in underground bunkers with 15 years supply of food. I just don't like the word, but it does the job of labeling - which is undeniably something that people like to do.