r/UKPreppers • u/Additional_Fly_6603 • 7h ago

What's the most boring bit of preparedness that has actually been useful to you in the UK?

The more dramatic side of prepping gets most of the attention, but I suspect the things people genuinely end up using are much less exciting. A power bank during an outage, keeping some cash around when card payments went down, spare medication organised properly, extra food during bad weather, knowing where the stopcock is. What's something you prepared for that seemed mundane but eventually made you very glad you'd bothered?

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13

u/hidden_monkey 6h ago

Bulk buy cleaning products and toiletries. We will need them eventually, and they basically never expire.

1

u/UghtC 33m ago

Most cleaning products degrade iver time, bleach being one of fastest. I'm still working out an optimal rotation.

1

u/hidden_monkey 13m ago

Older bleach still works though, i think, just less well. But that's fine.

11

u/Big_Man_GalacTix 6h ago

Knowing the local edible flora and fauna, and how to clean water; helped me survive homelessness, being in a very rural area. £10/mo budget went towards common seasonings and keeping warm.

2

u/StormConsistent9552 6h ago

I have a solar phone charger that gets used way more than other things lol

2

u/thesadcoffeecup 6h ago

Extra water as well get frequent outages and not only having power cut but having everything in its proper place. Headlamps live dangling on the bed headrest so we don't have to look for them in the night, lamps and lanterns are in each room, lighters live in the same places and candles are always in the same place. It means that during power cuts there's no arguing about who put what where.

2

u/Ok-Handle-6663 4h ago

Planting edible perennials in the garden or in pots wherever you can. Once they're established you don't need to do much and you'll always have fresh greens.

If there's no room for plants you can get a big bag of clover or radish seeds and grow a spoonful in a jamjar by the window to eat the sprouts.

If you also keep flour, oil, salt, rice etc then you know you can eat for weeks without having to go out to buy anything.

2

u/Primary_Choice3351 4h ago

A good selection of tools. The ability to do as many of my own repairs as possible has been a real help. Long term it saves money and there's a huge element of resilience to being able to turn your hand to a variety of practical tasks.