What is Prepping?

In light of current events I have noticed that more and more people are searching for information about preping. The majority of the people not knowing exactly what to do once faced with disaster are buying in bulk and stocking up and a lot of them end up throwing away the food that they thought that they would need.

I read an article by DailyMail which I will link here, that talks about the 30% increase of food waste that the United Kingdom has experienced in the past 2 weeks. There are pictures of trash cans full of unopened packages of bread, bananas, and chicken that were all passed their expiration date. It seems safe to say that most people don't know what prepping or stockpiling is.

    I grew up around stockpiling and I have picked up on a few things here and there, but I wanted to learn more about prepping and what it really is. 

What prepping is:

“Stated simply, prepping is the process of
preparing oneself to survive without a
complex infrastructure such as that
which exists in modern society…”
By: John Walter for SuperPrepper.com

What prepping isn’t:  Panic buying

    Prepping is thought out and planned, not something that you decide to do once disaster hits. Most people start out small and then over time grow their stockpile, this is important so you don’t end up wasting food and money. Remember to store what you eat, eat what you store.

Emergency situations to prep for:

1. Unexpected job loss
2. Unexpected Illness or injury
3. Natural disaster
4. Utility failure
5. Economic collapse
6. Pandemic
7. Nuclear blast
8. Fire
9. Complete collapse of civilisation 

How long to prepare?

The best way to figure out how much you should stockpile is making a list of different events, such as the ones listed above, that are most likely to happen to you and your family. Once you have those events, organize them so that they are ordered from most likely to least likely to happen. Then give each event a time frame. For example, job loss - 3 months, power outage - 3 days. 

Now you will be able to see the minimum and the “maximum” pantry that you will need in case of emergency. Most preppers agree that the absolute minimum pantry that you should have at all times is 3 weeks. You should also note if you are prepared to survive with out running water and electricity.

Who to prepare for?

Yourself and anyone else in your household, including children, dogs, and cats.

Daily situations to prepare for:

Cooking

Showering

Using the toilet

Washing dishes

Washing clothes

Drying clothes

Storing food

Preserving food

Drinking water/purifying water

Throwing trash away

Throwing pet waste away

Cleaning children's diapers

Sleeping

Heat

Shelter

3 types of prepper pantries:

1. Working pantry - with this pantry, you only buy food that you eat and it is rotated out on a regular basis as you use it.
2. Emergency pantry - people use this pantry to store food, water, and other items that are used ONLY in the event of an emergency.
3. Trading pantry - the most extreme pantry that people use to store food and items to barter and trade after a disaster.

To wrap things up, prepping is a safety net for you and your family. It also takes time, space, and most importantly, PLANNING!