# Help, where do I start?



## Plumbum (Feb 1, 2016)

The concept of prepping is fairly new to me but as im getting more and more concerned with where the world is heading if feel the old saying "better safe the sorry" becoming more and more relevant. We have two small children and if the all the markets should close tomorrow i could perhaps keep the family fed for a few weeks with what we have in the freezers and the pantry. So where do I start in terms of food, water, medical supplies, securiy?


----------



## rstanek (Nov 9, 2012)

We started a couple of years ago, first of all ,don't panic buy, there is a lot of places on the Internet to buy dehydrated food, but shop wisely, stock up on bottled water, if you can install a,rain barrel for water collection, for hygiene purposes, buy a good water purifier, we also invested in some military survival manuals, they have a lot of useful information, you will need to defend your family, and also teach your family to defend each other, don't let yourself become a resource for someone else, I'm just scratching the surface here, everything we take for granted today , people wil kill for tomorrow,you will get a lot of useful information on this site, there are many good people here with good advice, good luck and God bless you and your family.


----------



## Targetshooter (Dec 4, 2015)

Welcome to the PF ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, first things first ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, stock up on all the can food you eat every day ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, buy extra can meat " tuna , chicken , spam , ect." stock up on sugar , salt , flour , rice , beans all the dry goods you can ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, I stock up on the 5 gal. of water " I have 10 of them " as for meds ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, what do you take daily ? ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, do you live in the city / country ? you need heat in winter ? security ? do you have a gun ? ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, read some of the post that have been posted on the forum " survival ",,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, and go from there. good luck ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, read lots of post .


----------



## Prepared One (Nov 5, 2014)

Start with your most likely scenarios first. Floods, Hurricanes, Tornadoes, any natural disaster likely to befall your area. Start with the essentials. Food, water, light, communications, 1st aid, and protection. Starting is the main thing, you are ahead of the game by just starting. Work within your budget and stay with the more likely immediate needs first, then work concentrically outwards from there. Do your research. ( This is a good place to start )


----------



## Plumbum (Feb 1, 2016)

Perhaps I was a bit unclear, we live in Sweden (suburbs of Stockholm) so climate wise its like the northern US or Cannada and freezing in the winter. We have a very efficent wood burner installed and a good supplie of firewood, I did this years ago to save heating costs and not as a prepp. I guess we need a much bigger stock of non perishable food as you suggested and we absolutly no water stored! No one in the family takes any daily medication but I was thinking of stuff like pencilin? As far as securit goes I compete in pistol shooting and occationally hunt and so I am skilled with a firearm and own several handguns and rifles. I was thinking more along the lines of stuff like gas masks, bio suits, perhaps even body armor?


----------



## Slippy (Nov 14, 2013)

Plumbum said:


> Perhaps I was a bit unclear, we live in Sweden (suburbs of Stockholm) so climate wise its like the northern US or Cannada and freezing in the winter. We have a very efficent wood burner installed and a good supplie of firewood, I did this years ago to save heating costs and not as a prepp. I guess we need a much bigger stock of non perishable food as you suggested and we absolutly no water stored! No one in the family takes any daily medication but I was thinking of stuff like pencilin? As far as securit goes I compete in pistol shooting and occationally hunt and so I am skilled with a firearm and own several handguns and rifles. I was thinking more along the lines of stuff like gas masks, bio suits, perhaps even body armor?


I wouldn't worry about the gas masks, bio suits, body armor. I'd work on getting the muslimes out of Sveden.


----------



## rstanek (Nov 9, 2012)

I'm not familiar on how your government works as,far as warning about gas or biological attacks, I don't think our government would warn us, buy the time we figured it out it would already be to late, you can get surplus OBA's here at surplus stores, I just don't know what shape they would be in, lm focused more on food, water ,medicine ,shelter and defense. Sorry, not much help....


----------



## A Watchman (Sep 14, 2015)

Ever heard the old saying "I'm not from Texas, but I got here as fast as I could"?


----------



## Farva (Aug 26, 2015)

Be deliberate. Be focused. Do something every week. A little extra, not frozen, food. Learn something, even watching a youtube video is better than nothing. It all adds up over time. If you are at 72 hours now, try to get to a week a month from now.

And you're gonna need an assload of guns, preferably 50bmg and above, and 75 million rounds of ammo and a 400 pound BOB that has 8 firearms, 37 knives, and a bag of cheetos in it. 

Seriously though, thirst, hunger and freezing to death are probably more pressing issues than the evil Swede hordes gassing and shooting you.


----------



## Plumbum (Feb 1, 2016)

rstanek said:


> I'm not familiar on how your government works as,far as warning about gas or biological attacks, I don't think our government would warn us, buy the time we figured it out it would already be to late, you can get surplus OBA's here at surplus stores, I just don't know what shape they would be in, lm focused more on food, water ,medicine ,shelter and defense. Sorry, not much help....


Protection gear is not a priorty as we dont have any cemical och nuclear plant around the corner and mild hurricans are the worst we get in the way of natural dissasters, so food, water, medicines, shelter and defence is what I need to focus on. Would be nice to have some support from the misses thou, the other day I was doing an inventory of my ammo storage and she said - Why do have 8000rnds, stop watching "The walking dead"!


----------



## Plumbum (Feb 1, 2016)

Farva said:


> Seriously though, thirst, hunger and freezing to death are probably more pressing issues than the evil Swede hordes gassing and shooting you.


You are right about that.

p.s Love your avatar! - Want me to puchersize your face for free, where is my god damn liter of cola!


----------



## Kauboy (May 12, 2014)

Firstly, breathe.
Many get into this area as an offshoot of panic. That can't be the driving force behind your decision. Panic is temporary, and if that is all that motivates you, soon your prepping will be temporary too.

Now, if you've already prioritized your possible threats, you can move on to the important parts of actually surviving them.

1. Maintain a safe and survivable environment
You mentioned a wood stove, and that's great. Stock up enough wood to last longer than you'll need.
You'll freeze to death long before you dehydrate or starve.

2. Water
Develop a means to collect and store ample amounts of water. Since you've already determined your most likely threats, start with the top one and plan for a period of time that it may take to recover from it. Double that time. Store enough water to maintain a 1gal(3.8ltr) per person per day rate of use. Have a means to filter and purify this water. Basic particle filters are easy to make, and you can boil it over your stove if you need to.

3. Food
Using the same amount of time you calculated above, develop a means to collect non perishable food to sustain your family. The average adult needs about 2,000 Calories a day. You can adjust that number for your children.

4. Protection
With the actual survival elements covered, you must now face the reality of protecting what you've put aside for your family. Being well versed in firearms, and owning a few is an excellent start. If legal, stockpile extra ammunition for every firearm you own. It doesn't have to be a crazy amount. I try to have 1,000 rounds in each caliber for all firearms I own except for the .22lr which I keep about 8-10K on hand. It's the most versatile, and I own 3 that can use it.

5. Trade goods
You will want to keep certain things on hand in the event that you must trade for something you need but don't have.
These items should be limited to "comfort" items, and not something another person would be willing to harm you to steal.
Sugar, salt, coffee, alcohol, cigarettes, spices, toilet paper, candy, and other similar things make excellent trade items. If it is of a type that can be easily divided into smaller amounts, that's excellent.

Each one of the above things can be worked on in order, or at the same time. That's up to you. The order is intended to give you the most amount of time to get to the next one before survival becomes a real issue. If you can do a little of each, that's great!
Start small. Enough for a week, then 2 weeks, then a month, then 3 months, then 6... and so on. Your own plans for what *could* happen should determine how much you decide to save.

Again, breathe and avoid the panic. We make bad decisions when we react to panic. Make a plan, and stick to it.


----------



## Camel923 (Aug 13, 2014)

Starting. What is number one? clean drinkable water. You do not last long with out it. Do you have a well, stream or lake? Rain water from the roof. Barrel or cistern. Two you have to eat. Storage, farming, do you have a greenhouse? Shelter, personal protection and meds, first aid kind of run together. Make of list of your resources and see what falls into which category. Do time lines. Enough for a week, 2 weeks, a month, 2 months and so on. Make the tasks manageable. Look for deals.


----------



## budgetprepp-n (Apr 7, 2013)

Congratulations you have already taken the first and most important step. 
You are now awake.


----------



## Plumbum (Feb 1, 2016)

I few years ago inherited a house way up north. The property is in good condition and in a very sparsely populated area that has a river with good fishing and vast forests for hunting. The down side is that the house is located in a small town and not on a big isolated property. Its probobly still a much better choise then Stockholm as you besides the natural resources up there only have 5000ppl occupying the same area as over a million ppl do in Stockholm.


----------



## Prepared One (Nov 5, 2014)

Plumbum said:


> Perhaps I was a bit unclear, we live in Sweden (suburbs of Stockholm) so climate wise its like the northern US or Cannada and freezing in the winter. We have a very efficent wood burner installed and a good supplie of firewood, I did this years ago to save heating costs and not as a prepp. I guess we need a much bigger stock of non perishable food as you suggested and we absolutly no water stored! No one in the family takes any daily medication but I was thinking of stuff like pencilin? As far as securit goes I compete in pistol shooting and occationally hunt and so I am skilled with a firearm and own several handguns and rifles. I was thinking more along the lines of stuff like gas masks, bio suits, perhaps even body armor?


Start storing ammunition, water, over the counter drugs, pain killers, antiseptics, alcohol, etc. How about TP? People always forget TP. dried, and canned goods. Figure several ways of escape if forced, Have you thought about BOB's and GHB's? Fortifying your home? Gas storage? Start with the basics and work out to gas masks and body armor. One last thought, as Slippy mentioned, have you thought about electing a government that will keep the Islamic terrorist out? We have made the same mistake with Oblunder and his criminal immigration policies and will be paying a price for that oversight.


----------



## Plumbum (Feb 1, 2016)

Prepared One said:


> Start storing ammunition, water, over the counter drugs, pain killers, antiseptics, alcohol, etc. How about TP? People always forget TP. dried, and canned goods. Figure several ways of escape if forced, Have you thought about BOB's and GHB's? Fortifying your home? Gas storage? Start with the basics and work out to gas masks and body armor. One last thought, as Slippy mentioned, have you thought about electing a government that will keep the Islamic terrorist out? We have made the same mistake with Oblunder and his criminal immigration policies and will be paying a price for that oversight.


My vote is on right wing, the newest polls show that the right wing has gone of a tiny party to and estmated 21% of the votes in just a few years so more and more ppl are sharing my view and have decide that they dont want former massmurdering ISIS soldiers as neigbours.
The olny part i have coverd atm is ammo, the funning thing is that Im new to the idea of prepping but for some reason I have always kept a semi auto .223 hi cap rifle with 6 extra mags and 1000rnds and seems to be a popular prepp?:joyous:
Im going to make a list and prioritize (TP have never crossed my mind buy is sure comes in handy). BOB´s and GHB´s, please enlighten me?


----------



## Prepared One (Nov 5, 2014)

^^^^^^^^^

Bug out Bags and get Home bags. Usually 3 day packs with essentials. First aid, fire, light, water and water purification, food bars knife, etc. used for if you are forced to leave your home or if your forced to leave your vehicle. There is a lot of info on these systems both here and you tube.


----------



## Carp614 (Jan 21, 2013)

BOB is Bug Out Bag. So, if you decide you have to get out of Stockholm quickly, it will have what you need. 
GHB is Get Home Bag. 
Think portable survival/preparedness equipment.

All great suggestions so far. 

We have purchased books on gardening, herbal medicine, wild edibles, food preservation, and farming.


----------



## Plumbum (Feb 1, 2016)

Ok thx, so a GHB is something you keep in your car or at the office?


----------



## rstanek (Nov 9, 2012)

I keep my GHB in my truck, being a contractor, I'm never to far from my truck and never more than a days hike home, cross country that is, never take the road home when walking.


----------



## Plumbum (Feb 1, 2016)

I dug around in the basment and found my old copy of "solider in the field" its the Swedish army manual from my service days. I can prob skipp the pages about placing mines and covering windows with chicken wire to prevent the enemy throwing in grenades but does contain som interesting reading.😄


----------



## Swedishsocialist (Jan 16, 2015)

Plumbum said:


> I dug around in the basment and found my old copy of "solider in the field" its the Swedish army manual from my service days. I can prob skipp the pages about placing mines and covering windows with chicken wire to prevent the enemy throwing in grenades but does contain som interesting reading.


Join Hemvärnet, lots of preppers & prepper-ish there.


----------



## Kauboy (May 12, 2014)

A GHB is a bag of essentials to get you to a known location with minimal weight or rest. This differs for each person depending on how far the trip, and under what conditions. If you have a personal vehicle, keeping it there is the best option since you're likely not far from it at any time.
If you use public transportation, you would want to keep it in a static place, like your office. In the event that your transport option is not available, your bag should contain sufficient equipment to get you home on foot.
You need to protect yourself from the elements and stay hydrated. Those would be your primary functions with a GHB.
If you anticipate the distance to be great enough that you may need to sleep, prepare for a fire and warm bedding.
Keep a change of weather appropriate clothing and proper footware for walking long distances, and keep a small first aid kit to handle blisters.
If you can spare the weight, a few high energy snack foods would help to keep you going. Nothing bulky or heavy. Go light, you won't starve.
Speaking of light, have a flashlight or two.

Pack what you think you would need for the trip. Only you can really know. Cover the basics, and not much more. A GHB is supposed to offer a light and fast method of getting home quickly. You aren't packing for a camping trip.


----------



## Plumbum (Feb 1, 2016)

Swedishsocialist said:


> Join Hemvärnet, lots of preppers & prepper-ish there.


Alot of my firends and members of my gun club are members or ex menbers of the national guard but I always felt it took up to much time just to get my hands on a full auto rifle and some free ammo. And as I understand it the weapons are locked nowdays and you are not allowed to keep the key at home?


----------



## Plumbum (Feb 1, 2016)

Kauboy said:


> A GHB is a bag of essentials to get you to a known location with minimal weight or rest.
> A GHB is supposed to offer a light and fast method of getting home quickly. You aren't packing for a camping trip.


Thanks, good point so i light hiking bag with the essensials is the way to do. My daily driver is a station wagon thats always full of tools and other items anyway so a bag more or less makes no difference.


----------



## Swedishsocialist (Jan 16, 2015)

Plumbum said:


> Alot of my firends and members of my gun club are members or ex menbers of the national guard but I always felt it took up to much time just to get my hands on a full auto rifle and some free ammo. And as I understand it the weapons are locked nowdays and you are not allowed to keep the key at home?


depends, some have them at home, some not.


----------



## Plumbum (Feb 1, 2016)

Swedishsocialist said:


> depends, some have them at home, some not.


Well I dont feel that I need more guns. And as was pointed out earlier the risk of have to resort to firearms to protect yourself or your family is slim to none, especially in a country like Sweden where just having a firearm gives you a huge advantage over the 93% of the population that doesnt own any firearms at all. What I do find concerning is stuff you cant buy over the counter peniclin, almost everything requires a prescription. But most things can be bought over the net so im sure its solvable.


----------



## thomas_boxler (Jan 19, 2016)

Plumbum said:


> The concept of prepping is fairly new to me but as im getting more and more concerned with where the world is heading if feel the old saying "better safe the sorry" becoming more and more relevant. We have two small children and if the all the markets should close tomorrow i could perhaps keep the family fed for a few weeks with what we have in the freezers and the pantry. So where do I start in terms of food, water, medical supplies, securiy?


Food: Canned food which wont get spoiled easily.Also don't forget to include energy bars for a quick fix.
Water: For an anticipated disaster or calamity, one gallon of water per family member is the safest to go. I know someone who can consume one gallon per day so have to be particular with this also.
Medical supply: first aid kit for burns, cuts, wounds, pain plus maintenance meds
Security: supplies such as axe, whistles, lantern, etc.


----------



## Auntie (Oct 4, 2014)

Do you have enough firewood to get you through a whole winter season? Learn about canning and food preservation. What kinds of fruits and berries grow wild around you, do you like them, can you legally pick them? Learn how to preserve them, there is nothing better than free food.


----------



## Plumbum (Feb 1, 2016)

As im used to using a wood burner to save heating costs in the winter I buy just just over a years supplie at a time, so I got enough to last for about 2 years atm.
And today I did something realy strange, I stopped by the market on my way home from work just to buy some milk and yougurt for the kids. Walking along through the market I though I might aswell pick something extra up today, when I came out to my car a realized that I just bought $250 worth of canned food, rise, pasta, sugar, flower and cooking oil.


----------



## Auntie (Oct 4, 2014)

Is your wood burner the only source of heat that you have? If you are supplementing it with electrical heat you might want to consider having extra wood.


----------



## Plumbum (Feb 1, 2016)

No, the main heating is from two electrical heat exchanger systems, very efficent but they do new power to work. You make a good point if I was heating with only wood my stock would last less then a year.


----------



## Will2 (Mar 20, 2013)

Plumbum said:


> I could perhaps keep the family fed for a few weeks with what we have in the freezers and the pantry. So where do I start in terms of food, water, medical supplies, securiy?


More is better.

If you are on a budget I'd recommend this to start

2 10KG (like 25lb) bags of rice per person 
1 10KG bag 25lb bag of whole wheat flour per person
5lbs of protien powder per person
10lbs of powdered milk per person
2KGs (like 2 bags) of dried beans per person
2KGs (like 2 bags) of dried lentils per person
SALT (1KG) per person
SUGAR or honey 10KGs per person
pack of potassium iodide per person
4 Litres of olive oil per person
4 Litres of canola oil per person
atleast a 30 pack of multivitamins per person
10 gallons of water per person
1L bottle of high proof liqour. per person
--------------------------------------------

repeat this up to 6x but only if you intend for it to be your regular diet.

------------------------

The other factors depend on your personal circumstances and where you live.

Check with your local LDS for a more established system.

-----

Suppliment the above with long term storage items like canned goods of foods you like to eat, as you have money to spend.

Cheap buys are often things like tuna. The issue is that tuna weighs a lot more than protien powder.

What you have should depend on what your situation is.

Ration bars are also fairly cheap but I do not recommend more than say 2-3 weeks worth of ration bars.

Likewise I would limit the amount of MREs if you are packing MREs.

Powdered foods you hydrate to make tend to be relatively light.
Oils have the highest calorie content but have consumption limits.

You also want fire starting capablity however if you are somewhere without natural fuel supply you will need something to cook with unless you only buy prepackaged foods that are edible out of the can/box etc.. without heating.

things like hard candy etc.. can be an additive value.

Also coffee beans, and some instant coffee, the problem with instant coffee is that it easily turns into a tar. but this tar actually has a lot less volume so tarring up some instant coffee if you are short on space can be an option. Caffeine pills tend to be relatively cheap though.

I would consider wines for long term storage.

Also you might consider aging cheeses.
I don't seem much use as a prep in prepping for more than a year in duration for food and water

However, if you are saving up for retirement and expect food prices to increase, getting long term storage foods can be useful, as you end up saving money by stocking long term food supply. You want it somewhere disaster can't ruin it and it can't be stolen though.

Heat itself is not "required" proper clothing for extreme weather should be a higher priority than heat itself. Heat is a luxury that is ideal for normal living, in an emergency context though you can make due with proper clothing. You might want heat to bathe however everything else it is a luxury. Having a sauna/tub that is able to be activated with firewood is probably the best thing you can have as a prepper the heat will heat the tub as well as the enclosure it is in killing two birds with one stone for the purpose of hygiene. If you develope it right you can also cook in the sauna on the wood stove in there, and heat water for the tub.


----------

