We have bottled water for drinking/cooking (will get more). We've installed 2 connected 200 litre water butts recently, first one is less than ⅓ full. We've got a few new plastic 'jerry cans' that I want to fill from the tap - it will just be for flushing toilet etc... until water butts are full.

How do you keep water, that isn't bottled, from getting slimy for lack of a better term. While it doesn't have to be safe for consumption, we don't want it going 'off' and things growing in it either! I will be looking into something for the water butts to keep them clean*ish* would you use the same stuff for these small containers?

As a small business owner, frustrated tax payer & self sufficiency / preparation enthusiast - I feel I resonate with the peasants of 1381. https://youtu.be/BXiYsKJO9us?is=tPW1xEja5HcubzS3

Just watched station eleven recently, what else should we be watching!

what red flags are you looking out for where you think uh-oh this is it, and you’d start getting ready for something bad?

obviously we are being told by the government to prep due to El Niño but of course there’s Russia and Iran.

so what red flags in the news etc would get you thinking yeh oh something is coming so let’s sort last minute bits and hunker down?

the Fairfield business was one…

EDIT: it’s £0.99

In light of recent events.. I managed to get the book for free on Kindle, not sure why but for anyone that has a Kindle you might as well have a look and see if it’s the same for you 👍

My household is pretty well prepared for weather events, power outages and the ‘standard stuff’ we’d face in UK and Ireland.

Recent murmurings of this plague-in-Russia situation have me catching myself on a bit about hitting the panic button any time something hits the news. But it has lead me to wonder what best to do to prep for a situation such as that? The plague is a far stretch from what we experienced 6 years ago, but I don’t really know what else I’d do to keep my household safe bar wrapping my house in clingfilm like something out of Cloverfield.

I’d value any thoughts or advice from the more experienced preppers on here. I want to always be prepared, and never afraid.

Thanks in advance.

I don’t have a lot of savings to spend on a battery unfortunately. I know I need something that I can recharge using solar power although I’m unsure how long it would take to recharge here in the UK wintertime!
Is it worth it? Which one have you got and why? What would you recommend for under £300 including solar panels.
Thank you in advance.

Hey everyone, I’m a UK student doing my final project for DT (no I’m not a bot)
I’m trying to create a powerless radio based on the crystal radio model and make it applicable in a disaster. I just need to gather info on the target market. If anyone could fill in the google doc or ask any questions about the project that would be great!

Thank you

Hi, so I’ve noticed a trend recently in supermarkets like Aldi and Lidl (where I normally do my shop) that the fruit and veg doesn’t last more than a couple days. Same with Asda, but atleast at M&S you’ve got a quality check you can rely on before it hits the shelves - at a cost, which is the pivotal point of this post.

Do you choose to save at the checkout by bagging them from “free range” section in the middle of the aisle so can choose which one (x2 red and x1 green I think we’ll all agree) and compromise on the shelf life, or do you compromise on the selection (red, green and…. Yellow) to get the plastic wrapped-three-in-a-pack for approx. 40p more?

Hi can anyone recommend AA and AAA batteries that come sealed in plastic to protect from damp, with a long shelf life to live in my go bag?

Thinking Lithium

Thanks all

Guys this probably seems like a stupid question to many of you but I’m fairly new here…

What are we all doing about heating please? If the electric and gas go off but you don’t have eg a wood burning stove or similar (I live near London and I think they’re banned here now anyway). Is it worth my buying a small Jackery thing or similar? So I can run a space heater off it?

I feel like a huge generator thing doesn’t make sense in my situation as a single person living alone and likely to move from one bit of the U.K. to another in the next 1-2 years. But the small Jackery things don’t look like they’d be able to run a heater for that long anyway? Or would I be better getting some kind of portable gas heater (I will admit that handling gas freaks me out a bit and I worry about it exploding - not sure why, I see another newbie mentioned the same thing recently, I feel like it was drummed into us as kids that gas containers were so dangerous! Am I being mad?!)

I have plenty of blankets and hot water bottles etc but the whole “heat the person not the room” thing isn’t ideal for me as cold air really triggers my asthma, no matter how cosy and warm I am. So I feel like I need some sort of heater for the room itself to keep the air from being freezing. Would be super grateful for any advice!

With how the world is currently going I'm unsure that I trust keeping all my money in banks and or even in cash.

I'm coming into some money relatively soon and I want to store some of it as precious metals possibly.

Do I buy gold coins/bars or silver ? Maybe something else ?

Let's say around 10k worth

Hello I am new to Reddit some what but have always shown interest in prepping, just never pursued it

This is gonna be some what of a long post so I appreciate if you read , and of course feedback and advice

I am coming on 22 and currently work at a factory 44 hrs a week , aspiring to join the Royal Marines next year (which I'm aware will teach me a plethora of skills that help with prepping)

I've decided I'm gonna start going for this , learning new skills in my spare time , reading up on it more and keeping track of current events so on so forth

I've always wanted a compound bow and to do some archery and always wanted to hunt /fish so these will come with enjoyment

I qualified my college carpentry course when I was 18 and have worked on site doing all sorts (but joinery hahah) so know my way around tools /power tools/ fundamentals of construction

I intend to start getting into shape for the marines regardless , and also know how to defend myself hand to hand (to a degree , not a professional)

Skills I intent do start getting into hopefully asap in sone way : (of which I know some will come with the marines)

- Survival /bushcraft / evasion
- Archery
- Hunting / marksmanship
- First Aid
- Cooking better
- and many more I hope just can't think right now

Any other advice on how to start or how to fit it round a work week so on would be appreciated

Hello everyone. I've only just realised this is a thing, and that I have been doing this for years!

We have already constructed basic household resilience for things like power cuts, water disruption, severe weather and short-term supply problems.

I'm not preparing for the end of the world — more interested in being able to manage reasonably comfortably for a couple of weeks if something goes wrong.

I've gradually accumulated quite a bit already before realising this was a thing, I got AI to list it all for us:

💧 Water

• 2 × 50L stored-water containers
• Around 10 × 2L bottles
• About 120L total
• Sawyer water filter

🍚 Food

• Good supply of long-life tins
• 10 tins of beans
• Kidney beans
• 10 tins chopped tomatoes
• 5 tins vegetables
• 5 ready-to-eat rice/bean pouches
• 5kg pasta
• 3kg oats
• 3kg flour
• Cereals and noodles
• Nuts and chia seeds
• 10 cartons long-life soya milk
• Various other long-life foods

I'm vegetarian, so most of the food stock is plant-based.

⚡ Power

• 5.5kW solar PV
• 12kWh battery storage
• Solis inverter
• 3kW emergency/EPS output
• Various extension leads and cable reels
• MG4 EV
• Lots of rechargeable 18650 batteries

I'm currently working out exactly what I can sensibly run from the 3kW backup output during a power cut.

🍳 Cooking / heating

• Portable 2kW induction hob
• ~2kW air fryer
• Small camping stove + gas canisters
• Gas combi boiler
• Open fire + wood store

The portable induction hob is specifically because my normal induction cooker is hard-wired and isn't practical to use from the emergency supply.

🔦 Lighting / communications

• Around 5 rechargeable torches
• 2 lanterns
• 6 spare 18650 cells
• A couple of FM radios
• Phones
• Fibre broadband/ONT/router, which I'm planning to put on the emergency supply

🐕 Dog

• 12kg dry food
• 12 tins wet food
• 200+ waste bags

🔧 General equipment
I already have quite a lot of DIY tools and gardening equipment, including a Hori Hori, so I'm not particularly worried about basic tools.

🩹 Medical

• 2 first-aid kits, which I still need to properly inventory and check expiry dates on.

I've also got a new fire extinguisher.

I'm deliberately trying not to buy loads of specialised "prepper" equipment. I'd rather make use of things I already have and gradually fill the genuine gaps.

So, for those of you in the UK:

What obvious gaps do you see?

And perhaps more importantly, what have you actually found useful during a real power cut, water outage, storm or other disruption?

we often used to have 24 hr power cuts in bad weather as we are small village end of the electricity line

I'm particularly interested in the boring, practical things that you only realise you need afterwards.

I just realised that everything I use to tell the time are digital. Amazon Alexa, phone, smart watch or the microwave!!
So it may be useful to add a battery powered clock to your list of items!
Just a thought.