Helping you to ensure the safety and well-being of your family
Quite simply - YES!
First it is important to understand what it means, and then consider how to implement it.
'Prepping' is quite common in the US, but less well known in the UK, but this needs to change.
Events can happen at any time, these can range from fires, floods, earthquakes, to outbreaks of viral infection such as the recent Coronavirus, it can also be due to outbreaks of war or terrorism.
The everyday services that we rely on without giving them a second thought, can instantly become disrupted, food and medical supplies can suddenly become scarce and difficult to obtain, and our communication and transport links broken.
We all need to make some simple preparations now so that we are fully prepared and able to survive if the worst ever happens.
Rules and regulations differ greatly between countries, some of the information and videos included refer to the US and to the ownership of weapons such as Hunting Knives, Hand Guns, Rifles, Crossbows, Hatchets, Ammunition & Traps. Please remember,
IT IS ILLEGAL TO OWN, OR TO CARRY THESE ITEMS IN PUBLIC IN THE UK
'Prepping' has often been looked at as an 'American Thing', although the trend is now fast growing in places such as Australia and in Russia, the UK is well behind and needs to catch up!
The United States is many times bigger than the UK, it has vast areas of unpopulated wilderness, forests and woodland, large rivers and waterways, all which contain many wild and sometimes dangerous animals. The US bill of Rights allows those living in the US the right to bear arms and to use them for protection and for hunting.
The UK is much smaller in land mass and highly populated, Gun ownership and most forms of Hunting are illegal, and apart from one rarely seen and localised snake (Viper) there are no longer any wild animals classed as dangerous.
In the event of a disaster, war or otherwise, those in the United States have the ability to travel many miles to get away from the epicenter of the dissater zone, if neccessary travelling to these areas of park land or wilderness and trying to survive by living off the land and using its animals as food.
In the UK, due to its overall size, it would be near impossible to take the same measures, although forestry and woodlands exist, they are not of the same size and no longer have large supplies of animal life to utilise as food, they would also not be distant enough from the danger zone. In the UK, apart from moving away from major cities to more rural areas, most people would tend to remain at home.
Countries such as Switzerland have legislation that all properties or at least neighbouring properties have Nuclear fall-out Bunkers or basements. Most properties in the US also have basements, many of which are fortified in case of Tornado's, Hurricanes, and some against Nuclear Fall-out.
Due to the closeness of buildings and the lack of spacing, the majority of households in the UK do not have basements. A few remaining 18th/19th century and Victorian properties have levels below ground, these were commonly used as living areas for servants, later buildings might have 'Cellars', unprotected / uninsulated rooms built below ground used for storage.
Therefore 'Survival' methods would vary considerably, in the US it would more likely be based away from home, and the requirements of survival being more like an extended Camping trip. Where in the UK, 'Survival' is more likely to be 'Home based'.
A module within Woo's Safety Section called 'Simple ways to protect your home' is designed to help those in the UK to protect their families against Fire / Flood, but these also form part of Preparations or 'Prepping'.
'Prepping' is creating a personal 'Toolkit' that will enable you to survive and carry on with life even after a catastrophic event. This toolkit could be in the form of a bunker or strengthened basement, but for those without such a building, it maybe a place created off-site and away from the home. Many Americans have built hidden 'Off-site' camps in the wilderness away from town areas, these camps or bunkers are then stocked with all the items you would need to last the many weeks after such an event until help from governmental sources arrive. Bottled water, Tinned or foil packet food, torches, medications, radio, batteries, toilet roll etc. Some go further by creating hunting equipment and animal traps, in US storing weapons and ammunition.
Imagine it as a very long camping holiday, its wise to be well prepared !
There are many other aspects to consider, and I will try to explain these further below.
In all our long history, there has hardly been a time that we were not 'At' or on the verge of a war', and now is no different, poor relations with China, North Korea and again with Russia are placing us in a new 'Cold War' scenario. It would be foolish to just ignore it, hoping that as before war can be averted. Our families need and deserve the insurance we can create by making suitable preparations just in case!
Of course we are always under the threat of Nuclear War, which would devastate many millions of lives, but there are other 'Bombs' which are more likely to used first, designed to disrupt communication and manufacturing, and it is more these that we need to prepare against. And it does not take a war for an EMP Device to be used, acts of terrorism are even more likely, They are already in use by the military, localised versions designed to bring down Drones or attacking aircraft, it is even 'supposedly' fitted to America's 'Air Force One' the presidential plane. But these dangerous devices can be made by anyone, amazingly they even explain how to make them on the internet!
Solar Flares can also create EMP effects, these have happened in the past and can happen at any time.
An EMP or Electro-Magnetic-Pulse bomb or device, is a weapon that discharges very high voltage electricity creating a magnetic field that will destroy electronic devices. A EMP bomb detonated high in the atmosphere could obliterate ALL electronic devices across the UK, or the majority of States in the US.
Even if your device is not turned on or connected to the mains supply, the magnetic pulse wave will 'Fry' the many computer chips and electrical components inside them, rendering them permanently useless!
THIS IS THE FRIGHTENING PART!
Over the last twenty years, we have grown to be overly dependent on electronics, everything we now own carries computer chips and circuit boards, and would after an EMP attack be totally useless.
All our essential needs, our supplies of power, water, sewage, transport, all are reliant on electronics, our hospitals rely on electronic devices to monitor patients and to keep people alive.
Instantly you would lose the use of:-
Mobile phones, Landline phones, Household lighting, Electrical power outlets, Water & Gas supplies, Sewage, Computers, Games consoles, Cars, Washing machines, Fridges, reezers, Microwaves, Radios, Televisions, Railways, Aircraft.
It would be like having a household power cut,
BUT PERMANENT!
This article maybe written for the US, dealing with Tornado's, Hurricane's and the varied other disasters they encounter, but much still applies to those that live in the UK, especially those who live in rural areas in times of heavy snow fall, flooding, or fires.
Credit to: PREPSTEADERS.com
