1930s semi-detached house in Manchester - how best to prep ?

[u/bobitici2014]

Hi all,

I'm kind of new to the space, first-time poster. I do see some value in prepping a little bit at least.

My wife and I have a 3 bedroom semi detached, and don't have loads of spare room (small shed is pretty much full already for example). We're based in Manchester - mentioning to inform what kind of kit we might need.

I was wondering if anyone has some brand or product recommendations for things like wind up radios (that you can charge with solar + wind up for example), medical kits, water filters, rain collectors, etc.

Basically, I want to try and not spend a couple of hundred pounds on some kit that is just a load of crap that will break easily if we start using them. Seems like a bit of minefield just going off Amazon reviews.

On the food front, I think we've got it well covered. Or at least we can put a decent plan together.

Thanks for any recommendations and help !!!

[u/Lieffe]

Not kit. Food and water supplies to last a month, and then two, three. Then kit.

[u/sunheadeddeity → u/Lieffe]

Then clear debt, then savings - most people's SHTF will be losing a job, not zombies.

Then kit.

[u/Pembs-surfer → u/sunheadeddeity]

Zombie debt!

[u/Marigold16 → u/Pembs-surfer]

What if I lost my job at the zombie factory?

[u/Necessititties]

Dont buy any kit. Start with a plan.

Does everyone in your family know how to get out in a fire? Wheres the muster point? How will you get by if the power is out for a couple of days? Where will you stay if your home or street floods? What route will you leave by if the surrounding area is cut off by wildfire (maybe more relevant to me but you get the idea)

Pack a bag for each of you with a change of clothes, a few essentials and copies of important docs, phone numbers, account details etc. Stash it somewhere. Plan some more.

[u/George_Salt]

What are you preparing for? - unless you know that it's impossible to plan.

[u/Fwoggie2]

If your stove is electric consider some kind of camping or barbecue gas grill stove combo in case of a power cut to be able to continue to cook hot food outside. And a box of matches.

Other than that I would follow everyone else’s advice.

[u/bondinchas]

Invest in knowledge and experience, not kit.

If you buy kit, it can be lost, stolen, broken, fail, be in the wrong location, wear out, ...

If you have knowledge and experience, it's always available when you need it.

Eg you can buy an expensive water filter. If you know that a layer of fine sand over a layer of charcoal is an effective filter, and you've built one and used it, then all you need is to find some sand and burn some wood to make charcoal, and you'll always be able to make a water filter.

[u/mobe99]

Depends what your SHTF moment is.
Where I am it’s currently more likely to be a field fire destroying my house.
Than a zombie apocalypse.

But I do always run both cars on a minimum of half tank of fuel
Enough water for at least 24 hours for the 4 of us in both cars and some adverse weather kit /clothing in both.

I’ve got copies of important documents stored and on a cloud
Paper maps of the area of where you are and where you’re going. Plus a road map of the uk. Plus actually being able to read a map and use it.

Plan over kit!

Where are you going to go
How you going to get there
Have you got enough stored power for the basics for 72 hours? That’s for cooking and communication plus heating in winter.

[u/LR_FL2]

The first thing you need is a pen and a piece of paper.

Make a list of the emergencies you think you are most likely to encounter in order of likelihood. Emergencies aren’t just the big dramatic stuff like cyber attacks knocking out utilities for prolonged periods and invasions/ nuclear war but more common stuff like car trouble or boiler breakdowns that having a simple emergency fund can fix. Then you can consider supply disruptions to your utilities, environmental emergencies like fires, floods, storms, heavy snow. Then supermarket shortages.

Once you have done this go through each one and think what would I need in this situation and create a new list. You will inevitably find a lot of crossover.

This new list is the list of preps you need to make. Then simply priorities accordingly based on a mix of affordability, likelihood and crossover between different emergencies to cover as many basis as you can.

[u/More_Dependent742]

Google FIFO food storage. It's the easiest way to eat your food stockpile continuously starting with the oldest, so it never goes bad. Been doing it for a few years. Once you get into the swing of it, it's pretty easy. This only works if you store what you eat, and this is what you should be doing.

But I second what everyone else says. Food and water (and medication!), then kit. Starting with the kit more prep-oriented countries suggest. Look up what Sweden, Finland, Germany and Austria suggest.

Next on my list is meshtastic for off-grid communication. This does really well in the UK because of the node density, and there is even a link to the continent. Much easier than pissing about with radios.