Preppers Report on the BBC

Today, there was a report on the BBC about preppers in the USA and mention of the American Preppers Network and founder Tom Martin. It is worth taking a look at..

Never Too Early To Learn

Your kids are never too young to learn. This weekend I took my kids to Jula, a store near us, to begin to put together their own BOB. We walked through and looked at what was available. They have just about everything from camping supplies to generators. My kids already have a lot of things from scouting. We ended the excursion with each one picking out a battery-less flashlight. When it was all said and done, we left with one wind up flashlight and two shake flashlights. When they help pick out their own stuff, they take more ownership in their BOB and prepping in general.

Water

Water is essential to life. You can’t survive without it. That is why it is key to your emergency preparation. What if there was a disruption in water service or the electric went out and the pump doesn’t work? You need to be prepared. We recommend at least four liters of water per person per day with a minimum of one weeks supply on hand. Save the water in special water containers or cleaned out soda bottles. Donje makes a great 10 liter and 20 liter water container (dunk) that is available at Jula and Clas Ohlson. 98 SEK for the 10 liter and 149 SEK for the 20 liter.

Now I know what you are thinking… we have plenty of lakes, rivers and streams here in Sweden. Why should I worry? I have a stream 100 meters from my house, but I would not want to carry water back and forth for days to cover our water needs for a week or more.

It is best to be prepared and have water on hand. We also recommend changing the water every 6 months to keep the water fresh. (Whenever you change your clocks in the fall and spring, change you water and update your 72 hour kits.) You can also add oxy stabilizers that will allow you water to be kept up to five years in the same container.

Food

Putting together a supply of food to help you through a crisis or emergency is easy to do. It just takes planning. In the USA or Canada you have easy access to bulk, dehydrated and freeze dried foods as well as pre-packaged emergency foods. In Scandinavia, we need to be a little more creative.

• The first thing you need to plan for is an immediate emergency. Start by putting aside three days of food to add to a 72 hour kit. This should be food that is easy to prepare and not heavy to carry if need be. Things like canned tuna, rose hip soup (nyponsoppa), energy bars, quick macaroni and ramen noodles. For many of us, we will be tempted to make a quick stop to the refrigerator for the cheese, pålägg and Polarbröd rågkaka, but the idea behind a 72 hour kit is to have food already in your kit that you can just grab and go.
• Start to build up a three-month supply of foods that you eat on a regular basis. You buy a little at a time and build up a supply. Use stores like Martin Olsson, Willy:s and Lidl that are not as expensive and have deals on larger sizes. Think about rice, pasta, pasta sauce, ingredients for pancakes, canned food, etc. Remember freezer items that can be bought when on special, like: falukorv, ground meat, chicken file, etc. We have about 5 kilos of ground meat flatly repackaged in freezer plastic bags in our freezer.
• After you have 3 months of food in your storage, you can begin to increase your food storage up to a year or more. This is made up of foods that have a long storage life. Grains, rice, beans, sugar, flour, dehydrated foods and freeze dried foods.

Basic Terms

• 72-hour kit – A small bag, box, or other transportable container with everything your family would need to survive for 72 hours outside of the home. Designed for emergency, where you have limited notice to leave your home.

• BOB – Bug Out Bag. Small bag for the “Grab and Go” emergency situation. Designed to be lightweight, and cover the basics for a limited amount of time.

• EDC – Every Day Carry. The things you always have on you. In your pockets, on the belt, purse or otherwise readily accessible in any situation

• FAK – First Aid Kit

• BOL – Bug out Location, where you go when you can’t stay at home. A family member’s house, summer stuga, or a place in the wild.

• BOV – Bug out Vehicle. Your transportation away from the crisis.

Preparing for the Future

There is no greater challenge for the future than emergency preparedness in Sweden, Scandinavia and Europe. We are so used to the government doing everything for us, that we have not adequately taken care of ourselves in the area of emergency preparedness. We imagine we will always be taken care of. Those of you who lost your electricity during the winter storms this year know that that is not true. No one came knocking on your door with a generator, heater or food.

The near financial collapse of Greece has awakened us to the thought that a financial meltdown in our lifetime is a very real possibility. What other European countries are next? Spain, Italy, Ireland, Holland, Slovakia? Being on the kronor and not on the euro will not insulate us from the fallout. And there is no escaping how the continued escalation of debt in the USA and the potential collapse of the dollar will impact us.

The Swedish Preppers hope that we can be a catalyst to get you thinking, to get you motivated and preparing for whatever might come. We hope to give you input on resources, books, food storage, backyard farming, emergency preparedness supplies, camping gear and much more.

We wish you the best as you prepare for the future.