Beginners Guide to Prepping in the UK

Intro

Prepping. You’ve almost certainly heard of the term. And if you were tempted to have dismissed it as a fad or fashion that was likely to go away, you’ve discovered that it is instead gaining ground.

Though it might have originated abroad, even in the UK now increasing numbers of converts are won over to the common-sense benefits of prepping and being prepared.

To examine just why that is the case, it will be helpful to understand what prepping means. As part of the background to that understanding let’s also look at how prepping differs in the UK compared with its origins in the United States.

We can then consider any differences between prepping and survival, the relative merits of “bugging out” and “bugging in”, the food you might want to stockpile, and items likely to be essential to any survival kit.

What is prepping?

Prepping – the word says it all. It simply means preparing, being prepared – and preppers like to boast they are prepared for anything at any time.

Whatever kind of life an individual happens to be living at the moment, it can be turned completely upside down in an instant by some emergency or crisis – whether that’s brought about by severe or unexpected weather, some other natural event or man-made failure.

Prepping is about being prepared mentally and physically. It requires a mindset of constant preparedness, the skills to survive in challenging or even extreme situations, and the forethought to have laid down stores of supplies and stocks of supplies to last for as long as possible in any emergency.

That state of emergency may be relatively short-lived, or it might go on for weeks or months; it might be minor enough to cause little more than a succession of inconveniences or it might progress to a major catastrophe.

There is no rule-book, there are no hard and fast requirements, for the prepper – just that permanent state of preparedness. And that is because being prepared not only softens the blow and minimises the disruption caused by any crisis or emergency, it might even save your life – and the lives of those around you.

Fad or here to stay?

Weirdos, cranks, and oddballs – those are some of the names that you might have associated with preppers and prepping movement. They are just some of the names, after all, suggested by the website Survive UK when describing the North American origins of prepping.

Your introduction to the early North American variant of prepping, for example, might have emerged from the pages of London’s Evening Standard newspaper on the 6^th of April 2020, which described the apocalypse brought about by massive civil unrest, nuclear war, or an asteroid colliding with planet Earth.

Although there remain major differences in the interpretation of prepping here and in the USA – with the latter still affected by a different history, geography, and a climate that is subject to major extreme weather events – the similarities could soon be bringing the two together.

On the 10^th of December 2020, for instance, the BBC carried a report which argued that the prepping movement in North America was becoming more mainstream as more and more people appreciated the value of being prepared for any natural or man-made disaster – at a time of worsening confidence in some of the infrastructure of government.

In the process, prepping is something now adopted by rational, level-headed, people – rather than the fringe elements that once occupied the preppers’ environment.

Preppers and survivalists

There is a close and symbiotic relationship between preppers and survivalists – but you are likely to find some differences in the approach taken.

Both preppers and survivalists anticipate some emergency or crisis heralding the breakdown of the current order of society. Infrastructure is fractured and unable to provide not only the social cohesion to which we are accustomed but a shortage or lack of the very supplies and provisions we need to live.

The approach taken by the prepper is to prepare for any such eventuality by laying in the supplies and stores of food that are likely to be needed during those initial days and weeks of any crisis.

The approach taken by the survivalist, on the other hand, places greater emphasis on the techniques and skills that will be required when normal sources of supply are disrupted. Survival skills go back to the very basics of fire, shelter, and food – the type of backwoods skills you might have seen in television programmes. They are also the skills that are being taught in the context of a wide spectrum of outdoor pursuits available in the UK – just make a quick search of “bushcraft and survival courses in the UK”.

One way of looking at the essential differences in the approach taken by preppers and survivalists is to see that the prepper relies on gathering and storing all the supplies and food likely to be needed during a lockdown situation that may accompany any crisis or emergency; the survivalist, however, will look to rely on his or her wits and skills to survive on whatever nature provides.

Although you may find preppers and survivalists in both urban and rural environments, the prepper might have stayed closer to the infrastructure formerly offered by an urban setting (in which supplies and stores could be more easily assembled), while the survivalist may feel more at home in the wilds.

Bugging out and bugging in

It is from these slightly different approaches and emphases that you might want to consider two further terms taken from the prepper’s vocabulary – bugging out and bugging in.

The origins of these phrases are a little unclear but the Phrase Finder suggests that to bug out means to leave suddenly and rapidly. It was probably coined by US troops during the Second World War and became quite widely used during the Korean War.

To bug out came to take on a particular meaning in prepping terms. When faced with imminent danger – and a potential risk to life – you want to leave your present location rapidly and take refuge in an alternative place of safety until the crisis or emergency has passed.

But it is also recognised that a rational response to some dangers and emergencies might require the very opposite reaction. If you are faced by uncertainty and danger outside, you might want to hunker down and take refuge where you know it is safe – in the security of your own home. Doing the opposite of bugging out, in other words, you might decide instead to bug in.

At this point, it is worth stressing the importance of your bug out bag. This is the bag you will carry with you at all times with everything you are going to need to survive for at least two weeks if an emergency develops and you need to leave suddenly and rapidly to find an alternative place of safety.

But a bug out bag may also be necessary even if you are planning to bug in – by hunkering down at home. Although home is where you will have laid up supplies and food stocks in preparation for just such a crisis, you might be some distance away when everything begins to fall apart. You need to get to the safety of your home as quickly as possible – and that is where your pre-packed bug out bag is designed to sustain you for however long that journey home.

Whichever direction you are headed in, a bug out bag can make the difference between life and death. If you are taking shelter together as a family, you will need to spread the load of bug out bags between all members – distributing the size and weight accordingly.

Bugging out – survival kit

When packing your bug out bags, remember the key essentials to surviving in the face of extreme challenges. Your life – and the lives of your family members – are going to depend on:

Access to water

• each person is going to need a minimum of 1.5 litres (that’s around four pints) of drinking water a day. Not only is that a large volume, but it is also heavy to carry. Supplies for just three days, for instance, require 4.5 litres (1.5 gallons), which weighs 4.5 kilograms or nearly 10 pounds;

• after that initial three days, you will need to find alternative sources, when water purification tablets, purification straws, and a filtration bottle may help ensure it is fit to drink;

Fire

• you may need a fire to boil water for drinking, for cooking, or to keep yourselves warm;

• a basic fire-lighting kit of waterproof, all-weather matches, a flint and striker, or a windproof lighter will be needed;

• collect suitable tinder and kindling in advance so that you have the dry material to start a fire even when the weather is wet;

Shelter

• preppers have to be ready to face any type of weather – and that means preparing material to make a suitable shelter;

• depending on the size of your bug out bag, you might be able to pack a tent – and, if not, a tarp which can double-up as a canopy and groundsheet;

• in the absence of space enough for a sleeping bag, pack a waterproof and heat-preserving foil blanket;

Food

• your bug out bag needs to contain enough ready-to-eat meals for at least three days and preferably as many as seven to ten days – with sweets, dextrose tablets, and long-life survival biscuits as a standby.

Bugging in – Long-life, non-perishable foods

If you are bugging in and hunkering down at home, of course, your food stores will have been put together and kept in one secure place well in advance.

You can go shopping for these supplies from your local supermarket while you are prepping for whatever lies around the corner. You do not have to scour the high street – or the internet – for specialist “survival” foods.

Instead, make a point of choosing long-life, non-perishable foods, such as:

• canned goods – but, for the healthiest options, you might want to avoid those cans with a high salt or sodium content;

• it is not necessary to specify particular types of canned food because the choice is so wide and may keep you going perfectly healthily for many months – tinned fish (such as tuna or salmon), potatoes, tomatoes, peas, carrots, or sweet corn will get your food stocks off to a good start;

• rice, pasta, dried beans, and other pulses may last more or less indefinitely and will provide more than your daily needs for carbohydrates;

• dried fruit also remains just as nutritious as the fresh variety and will last for up to a year if kept in a cool, dry, and dark part of your larder;

• since electricity supplies to power a fridge or freezer are likely to be less than reliable, you probably won’t want to buy in frozen vegetables – but remember the many root varieties (such as parsnips, swede, carrots, and turnips) which can last up to several months if you keep them somewhere dry, cool, and dark.

Summary

If you are thinking about preparing or just beginning as a prepper, you might now have an understanding about what is involved and the extent to which it might also draw on your skills and aptitude as a survivalist.

Your preparations might sooner or later come around to deciding whether you are more likely to be bugging in or bugging out in the face of a crisis or emergency – and will pack your bug out bag accordingly.

Packed items need to include the essentials for a survival kit, while any plans to bug in must also take into account the types of food you need to stockpile.