Preppers - are they seriously mad?

[piggys]

Or are they taking sensible precautions in case of Brexitgeddon or WW3 ?

I have been absolutely aghast at the prepper threads on Mumsnet recently. I also made the mistake of watching a bit of a Netflix series called something like 'extreme hardcore preppers' or similar, in which the preppers have stashed away enough food to last 8 people 20 years, plus weapons, underground bunkers...

I seriously can't be bothered with prepping, plus on balance I think I'd probably rather get zapped in the first wave.

What do other people think? are any of you preppers? should I stop being so blasé and start planning for the Day of Reckoning?

[Tinkers]

I think you either have fully committed or not bother.

I’d guess having certain skills are just as important if not more so than having a hoard of canned food in the cellar.

[stroudydad]

Only 20 years of food? Clearly they're just playing at it... we all have to make our own choices that's the great thing:-)

[Guest55]

Is this the new 11+ test somewhere?

[Tolstoy]

Is this the new 11+ test somewhere?

[sportsforall]

I have enough trouble prepping for next week let alone after Brexit. Although I reckon if I carry on with my random Amazon Subscribe & Save orders we should be good for loo roll and it looks unlikely the cat will go hungry any time soon.

[Tolstoy]

My cupboards empty faster than I can fill them with 4 grown boys our cats are pretty good hunters, dog too for that matter. Maybe I'll stop muzzling him, those munchjacks he's after will supplement the rather meagre food supplies.

[Amber]

I had to look this up but I see it is a real thing. As someone said, 'Steps taken to ensure adequate food supplies' wouldn't have looked so good on the side of a bus.

For the first time since the referendum though, yesterday I was in the company of a large number (well 8 ) people who had voted for Brexit. I chose not to argue as it was not the right occasion and I would have caused An Incident, plus I was massively outnumbered and am a coward, so I listened instead. The blame for the mess has fallen squarely onto 'the politicians' who after 'the people had spoken' 'should have got together and implemented it, then we would have got a good deal'. Only one of these people agreed with my rather feeble assertion that people did not know what they were voting for - all the others claimed that they 'were not stupid' and did know that they were voting to reduce the number of European criminals resistant to deportation, spongers on the NHS and benefit fraudsters who only come here because they will get handouts with no questions asked. 'People who want to work' were still welcome and one went so far as to praise a foreign (non-criminal, non-sponging) nurse who had attended to her after recent surgery. I found the whole thing utterly fascinating and utterly depressing in equal measure.

Anyway all of these (very lovely) people had lived through or been born during WW2 and were sure that we would be fine as the British are used to rationing and it is in our spirit to survive through adversity.

[Tolstoy]

My MiL had the misfortune to find herself travelling by train from Cardiff after a match.

She too chose to remain silent... but these were youngsters.

[mike1880]

As far as the broader "prepper mentality" is concerned, my limited understanding of the mindset is that there's a lot of stockpiling food and (in the US case) guns (you can never have too many guns) and not much thought about clean water. So as long as whatever catastrophe they're preparing for doesn't involve the collapse of civilisation they'll be fine. (err...)

The only authoritative advice I've heard was an expert on R4 advising us to stockpile olives and capers. Stockpiling capers I can cope with, I expect the jar in our cupboard was probably best before about 2008, so another one of those should keep us going until the survivors have rebuilt a functioning society, but we get through about 400 kilos of olives a month and are single-handedly propping up the entire Greek economy. I'd have to buy the isle of Wight to have enough space to stockpile olives.