In the UK is prepping a guaranteed waste of time?

[Vortex2]

YouTube recent;y recommended some prepping video for me.

It seems pretty clear that, for example, a mains grid collapse lasting longer than about 3 or 4 days would result in total mayhem.

Any form of major systems failure lasting more than a week or two would result in massive disturbances, crime & violence.

A long term failure would see maybe a 90% death rate in our population.

In the cramped UK context, I really cannot see how even avid preppers could survive a year in a collapsed society.

In general, we do not have firearms to defend ourselves - or our carefully stashed pickled fruit and vegetables.

Homes with visible solar will be seized by local government 'for the greater good' .. or by marauders.

Do YOU believe that UK preppers could come out of a social collapse relatively unscathed?

[Catweazle]

It's going to be a lottery for everyone, but preparing changes the odds slightly.

In a total SHTF scenario the cities are going to be unpleasant. You have to imagine what most people will do, I think they will lock themselves inside their houses until they are forced to leave by lack of water or food. By then they will be in no fit state to travel far and will riot and loot locally for as long as they can. There will be no mass exodus to the countryside, shops along that route will be empty, roads will be blocked by either gangs of civilians or armed forces.

The authorities will be collecting as many resources as possible from rural areas and ferrying them into the cities, so rural preppers better have their stashes well hidden. Farmers will have to hand over any spare food to the authorities for the city relief efforts.

I believe the best place to be will be at a discrete, remote location, with very well hidden supplies and the ability to hide yourself.

[Vortex2]

I believe the best place to be will be at a discrete, remote location, with very well hidden supplies and the ability to hide yourself.

You would have to be 100% self-sufficient.. and undetected ... for maybe a year before you could have a hope of rejoining whatever remained of society.

That's going to be a challenge.

[Vortex2]

The authorities will be collecting as many resources as possible from rural areas and ferrying them into the cities

The 'authorities' ... jumped up civil servants .. will use 'the law' to steal for themselves.

[clv101]

All depends on what the 'social collapse' actually involved. Covid disruptions showed 'preppers' to be in a good state, in that they didn't have to bother with all the supermarket hassle, booking delivery slots in a fortnight's time, etc. Any amount of prepping a likely positive, in event of any disruption, be it extreme weather, infrastructure failure etc. It makes things easier, adds resilience, improves your chances - but in some kind of a hard crash, where half the population die over a year - the preppers odds of survival likely aren't much better than average.

[UndercoverElephant]

In the case of a really hard/fast crash, no prepping will help much. But that's not the most likely scenario, I think. Far more likely we are looking at a slow, grinding deterioration, with occasional lurches downwards, but also with resilience building from the bottom up in all sorts of ways. And in that scenario prepping is absolutely not a waste of time.

Living standards can fall a long way before the whole system starts to collapse. Boiled frogs and all that.

[BritDownUnder]

In the UK, the prepper will need to hide in plain sight.

Also depends on the type of crash. A fast crash will need you to be able to defend your stocks from a period of initial looting and general zombieism and then watch people die off quietly from behind your net curtains.

A slow crash is in many ways more unpredictable. You could quietly gain advantage over those with high power bills from your well insulated house and well stocked stores/garden.

[adam2]

Prepping is good against an uncertain future.
Might not help enough in a TEOTWAWKI situation, but for lesser disasters can save your life, and will certainly avoid or minimise discomfort and loss.

Consider for example the recent prolonged power cuts resulting from a winter storm, those who had prepared were glad of this. See this thread for an example of what preps worked, and what was found wanting. viewtopic.php?f=10&t=27976
Remember the covid induced food shortages, those who held stocks were of these.

[mr brightside]

Never mind the food shortages, what about bog roll? I recall the great pandemic bog roll wars with severe angst.

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=502149800471963

[adam2]

Never mind the food shortages, what about bog roll? I recall the great pandemic bog roll wars with severe angst.

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=502149800471963

No problem here. I buy toilet rolls in lots of over 100, and reorder when stocks drop below 72 rolls.

[kenneal - lagger]

If we have a protracted worldwide recession I am sure that it will soon turn into a complete collapse because the world economy is so interconnected and fragile. Once we lose our supply of computer chips most of our technology will disappear which will hit much of the control of the power supply. Once we lose the power supply, or it becomes an interrupted supply, we will have problems with our food supply: dairy, frozen and chilled foods and even simple retail sales will become impossible to maintain and carry through as people are so reliant on card sales and many don't carry cash. Banks dispensing cash personally is a thing of the past and cash machines are reliant on electricity as are transfers between employer and employee and food suppliers and retailers.

As machines wear out there will be no replacements or even repairs as spares will not be available. Petrol, diesel and gas supplies will break down so food deliveries to towns and cities will stop or be interrupted as electricity interruptions compound shortages of machinery and manufacture.

As a prepper you would need to have food available for at least 15 months either in the ground or preserved so that you would be able to get the next season's crops into the ground and growing. If you wanted meat and dairy you would either have to have your own animals or have an arrangement with a neighbouring farmer for a supply on barter. You would also need an arrangement with a blacksmith for the supply and repair of tools and probably weapons for defence. Living alone as a family would be difficult so being a member of a prepper community would be essential as there is strength in numbers. Living in a community would enable a much wider array of skills to be maintained within the community such as a range of agricultural activities such as horticulture, dairy farming, animal rearing and bee keeping. Bee keeping would become important as the on site electricity generation gradually breaks down and the LEDs cease to function requiring the manufacture of candles made from beeswax as well as animal fat.

I have little faith in any version of our government's ability to overcome vested interests and make decisions which will not lead to eventual collapse. The very fact that growth will be pursued by all governments means we are doomed to collapse.

[adam2]

I was glad of preps during the recent exceptional rain and consequent flooding.
I was not directly affected as am on a hill, but had several power cuts, two of which were prolonged. VERY glad of the UPS and even more glad of the new batteries fitted last year.
A supermarket home delivery was en-route to me and was "lost at sea" Long wait for replacement order.
Also glad to have a camping type gas cooker and supply of propane. A fry up is not exactly essential but was nice to have.
And a battery radio, and plenty of torches and battery lanterns.

[Default0ptions]

I Keep a homemade rocket stove and regularly coppice a couple of hazel tree stumps in my garden to fuel it. I also have a couple of petrol stoves and a couple of regular gas camp stoves. Just in case. I did actually have to boil water for hot drinks on one when the electricity went off.

I have a Jackery explorer 1000 https://uk.jackery.com/products/explore ... er-station which I keep charged with two solar panels in my attic windows.

So it’s a power bank for torches, phones, lanterns etc

I’ve got a good supply of tinned food that I actually like and so rotate out of storage.

I keep a stash of cash - if the power’s down your bank card won’t work

I also keep a stash of vacuum sealed tobacco which I use and so rotate - but in a crisis tobacco is hard currency.

None of these preps have cost me more than just buying as I go along

It seems plain sense to me to be a bit prepared

[Lurkalot]

It seems plain sense to me to be a bit prepared

plain or common sense is largely the way I've viewed what is now called prepping. Hardly a new idea to me at least , more something I inherited from my parents. They kept a full pantry , stocks of linen , toilet rolls and numerous other items. There was alternative heating and lighting and vegetables in the garden. Money was also used as wisely as possible and a stash was kept in cash. All I've really done is follow on in their footsteps. With regards to "financial preps" we've never been high earners but have looked after our money to the extent that 15 years or so ago when my sister in law's marriage broke down we were able to put down a substantial sum towards a house for her and more recently we were able to fork out 6 months rent for our daughter as she starts her degree apprenticeship in manchester. As I say we've, never been high earners so I find my sympathy tested when I hear of those on £30,000+ moaning of struggling but that's another topic.
I don't have any illusion that if there's a Hollywood style apocalypse we'd be guaranteed to survive ( the millions of rotting corpses that Hollywood seem to ignore might have some impact there) but our preps or common sense serve to keep us comfortable day to day or during a slow crash.

[Default0ptions]

It always amuses me when some prepper, usually American, claims bitcoin is a good store of value or that central bank digital currencies will end freedom as we know it.

Umm - a reliable and fully functional electrical grid is vital for those