‘Preppers’ are often seen as tin-foil hat wearing members of a Doomsday cult – but many have celebrated Christmas ‘just like the rest of us’, while keeping one eye out for impending disaster.

The survivalist movement is broad enough to include those who build up provisions for a minor power cut through to those who build nuclear bunkers, stockpile secret weapons and make detailed plans for living beyond the apocalypse.

Now three self-identifying preppers – people who ‘prepare’ for major emergencies – have told Metro.co.uk how they ready themselves for flu pandemics, water shortages, natural disasters and more.

We asked each of them to tell us why ordinary Brits should follow their lead.

John Hughes, 44

Gym worker John Hughes admits his prepping is seen by some as ‘elitist’, and others as ‘barking mad’.

But the former servicemen, originally from Haverfordwest in Wales, is all set for any number of scenarios from his hill-topped home in Mold.

How long have you been prepping?

‘I don’t know precisely – I joined the army in 1991 and it teaches you to prepare for literally everything. But for actually placing preparations down, I would say early 2015.

‘I’ve also done a course in the military to evade, resist and extract, along with many survival and Bushcraft courses. Some of my prepping equipment would also be seen as elitist – such as NVG goggles, thermal imaging and a drone.

‘What actually spurred me into it was that in December 2014 I was made redundant from the army. When that happens it’s like “ok, you’re on your own two feet now, get on with it.”’

What should the average Brit be doing to prep?

‘This is a simple one: the average Brit needs to think. I’m not suggesting for a moment that they are thick, what I’m suggesting is that they should think about what happens if the power goes off, or the water doesn’t just come out of the tap.

‘Just ask yourselves the questions – everyone is different so just consider a few scenarios.’

What are you most concerned by?

‘In my opinion we are looking at power outages and things like that. If you consider if the power goes out it might be a minor inconvenience. But what about if you pop down the supermarket and they are shut because of that power outage? People get desperate – you need to think about longer term power shut downs. The average person doesn’t think about if the power goes down mainstream, you can’t flush the toilet. It wasn’t hard for me to prep for that stuff, everyone can.

‘I’m always keeping an eye for natural disasters, flooding for example. And it doesn’t have to affect me, I’m keeping an eye for my loved ones as well.’

Tell us something about prepping?

‘It is wise a thing to do and shouldn’t be demonised. Some of my own friends think I’m barking mad. But I’m not prepping for zombies. If anyone thinks that a person like me is mad, just ask yourself: why don’t we get rid of the fire brigade and the ministry of defence? They prepare every day for something that might not happen.’

Source:
courtesy of METRO

by Harrison Jones

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