Prepping In A City

What are some of the images that prepping and preppers are most likely to bring to mind?

Chances are you’ll be thinking of the lone survivor, with next to no stores or provisions, deploying his or her full range of bushcraft skills in the desert, a jungle, or some other remote wilderness.

Imagination is rarely a good clue to reality, of course. The far more realistic likelihood is that you will be in the home you’re living in now when some disaster or emergency hits. Figures published by the World Bank and cited by Trading Economics found that in the UK almost 84% – that’s more than 8 out of ten of us – live in an urban area.

Prepping in a city

It might be time to put away those fanciful thoughts about holing out in a cave somewhere and, instead, getting down to the serious – and highly practical – business of prepping in a city.

As an article in the Independent newspaper on the 13^th of December 2020, pointed out, it’s not so much the apocalypse we should be preparing for, but rather food shortages, disruption to energy supplies, and difficulties in accessing medical care. This emphasised the efforts currently made by urban-based preppers in stashing away food and learning how to use water purification tablets.

Although many of the challenges you’re likely to face in the city are similar to those you’ll encounter in any environment, urban prepping might take a slightly different slant:

Water

• you might have been inconvenienced from time to time if your mains water supply gets shut off – but practically every home in the city has a water storage tank that will meet your needs through most circumstances;

• but it is right to worry about where your drinking water will come from – and to give it absolute priority since you’re unlikely to find any natural spring in an urban back garden;

• consider water purification tablets;

Shelter

• shelter is important in any emergency or crisis – you might think it’s hardly going to be any problem in a built-up urban environment;

• nevertheless, you’ll still need to make sure your home is wind and watertight and can be kept warm in winter and cool in the summer;

• give some thought, too, to the best layout of rooms and the available space in your home during any emergency – you might find that some adjustment or variation might make it even more useful;

• if you have wider family members living nearby, consider whether they are likely to want to join you in your home – or, indeed, whether you would want them there;

Heating and cooking

• even in a well-insulated town house, you’ll still need the ability to cook – and, depending on the season, continue to heat your home;

• with the possibility of power outages and disruption to any gas supplies, therefore, invest in a camping stove or even consider cooking on an outside gas-cylinder fuelled BBQ;

Food

• the herd mentality that often sets in during mass panic typically results in your stocking up on all the wrong things, pointed out the Organic Prepper on the 28^th of August 2020 – toilet rolls might be very handy, for example, but won’t go far in feeding your family;

• one of the great advantages of living in a city is that today and tomorrow – before any crisis or emergency disrupts the supply chain – food is readily available from any number of nearby supermarkets;

• make use of that time by stocking up now and starting to lay down stores of non-perishable, long-life foods such as pasta, pulses, and grain – or buy specialist MRE (meal ready to eat) kits. If you have pets, don’t forget to stock up on supplies for them too;

Communications

• in the city – just as elsewhere in the country – you’ll be relying on the television or solar radio for news and your landline or mobile phone for contact with friends and family;

• during a crisis or emergency all fixed and mobile communications may be inundated, so ease the load by having a recognised chain of friends and family members for passing on messages to one another – rather than you having to call each one in turn;

• prepping means being prepared for TV and radio stations going off-air and for phone lines and signals to fall silent – you might even be forced back to the use of traditional means of communication by pen and paper;

Hygiene and medicine

• the last thing you’ll want to happen to you or anyone in your household is to fall sick or suffer an injury;

• that means maintaining hygiene routines to prevent getting sick or infected in the first place – and, as a first responder, learning the basics of first aid at the very minimum;

• ensure you have an update to date First Aid kit and that anyone on medication has a realistic supply. If you have pets, get a Pet First Aid kit for them too.

Prepping is a realistic response to the reality of unexpected events, crises, and emergencies. For anyone living in the UK, therefore, you are almost certain to find yourself in an urban environment or will need to take shelter in your home in the city.

Urban prepping relies on your recognition of this reality – and you responding accordingly.

Further reading: Difference between Urban and Rural Prepping.