Is it possible to stay put when you're near London?

[John]

(7 August 2013, 18:15)Rachel_K Wrote: Apologies if this is not the correct forum.

I want to start preparing for a disaster but I keep getting stuck at the very start - should we stay or run? I would really appreciate your thoughts.

We live in Sutton, S London, in what would otherwise be a pretty well-placed community I think. The community spirit is high and I know we have several different tradesmen (and their tools) amongst our neighbours. We have allotments and a park across the road and wetlands at the end of the road, all mostly enclosed. Across the main road is a carbon neutral housing development and the local school and community centre have lots of solar panels, so I hope there is some good knowledge locally as well as equipment. There is a river behind the park which would be bad if the problem was flooding but otherwise useful (although there is a sewage treatment works about 3km away so I assume it would get pretty nasty if that wasn't working). If we weren't near London, I would absolutely want to dig in here and try and build a community here for the long term. But London is London and it scares me.

Just me and I would be gone at the first sign of trouble but I have a 4 and a 2 year old to think about. How long do you think it would be reasonable to expect to be able to stay here safely? I think we would have to move at some point (and no chance of relocating before a disaster, unfortunately) but when would that be? A week? A month after everything went off? How long until the hungry hordes come knocking? We're only 8 miles from the centre of London as the crow flies, but obviously there are lots of very built up areas much closer to us. Could I rely on the fact that most people have never heard of where we are, even people within a couple of miles? I don't think people would think "ahh Hackbridge, they have allotments, let's go there!", but how many people would find us by chance? I want to prep but I keep getting stuck at this. Should I be buying food for 6 months or should I be concentrating on plans to leave?

Thanks for any advice.

Bugging out or bugging in is a difficult subject and decision.
You may find the following of help although it is, as appears to be the case with much, American.

Beyond Collapse: Surviving and Rebuilding Civilization From Scratch.
Either a free download from https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B6e3oH1L...edit?pli=1
Click file and download or you can buy from Amazon.co.uk.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Beyond-Collapse-...1480140805

It is very thought provoking and absolutely full of thoughts and consideration that may give you lots of help in making your own decision.
Hope this helps

[Grumpy Grandpa]

Thanks John, I've downloaded it too. Looks detailed and up-to-date - perfect bed-time reading!

[Tibbs735]

Anyone can improve their quality of life by adopting the prepared lifestyle regardless of where they live. It will come in handy so much even during the good times (now) and overlaps a lot with the whole eco, carbon neutral way of doing things. You will be much more resilient and able to withstand hardship (I believe our economic/social hardship has only just begun.)

In the even of a full blown collapse however, or even just something big hitting london...

TPTB will have a greater amount of control over areas like London, so you may be chewed up and spit up by the state, and end up in a overcrowded sports stadium, minus your preps, viewed as just another refugee.

You will need to be able to go into hiding for at least 3 months after London becomes uninhabitable. Think hiding in a hidden basement, before emerging when the time comes. Otherwise they will break up against your home like so much driftwood until you are swamped, all your preps in vain. Sorry to be blunt.
After around 90 days (It will fly by if you have food and stuff to do.) You can emerge and start rebuilding, keeping an eye out for looters and raiding bands. Only after the first hard winter can you relax. This will make it difficult to keep much livestock other than rabbits, fish and chickens (You could still do a lot.)

[BeardyMan]

You've got young kids, like myself. Well, that makes things much trickier when it comes to bugging in/out.

Bugging out with child in tow won't be easy. You tried to keep children quiet in a restaurant, or when you're out? Impossible. Now imagine that in a high stress situation when you're trying to hide - you're in trouble. Then you have to carry all the usual stuff, as well as all the gear they need too.

It sounds like you're immediate area isn't too bad, and you do have resources available close by. BUT, what's the area like 10 minutes walk down the road?

People say that they can't move for X, Y and Z reasons, which is fair enough, but if you sit back and think about these problems objectively, 90% of them are "I don't want to move because of..." rather than "it's impossible for us to move because of..."

I leave my missus & 2.4167 year old on a Tuesday morning @ 0445-ish, and return at 2130 on a Thursday - just so we can live out in the sticks. I travel just over 200 miles to work. Costs a fortune in fuel, but rent is cheaper. I put up with the 400 miles a week so I know that should anything happen they're both 100% safe. Only been here 8 or 9 weeks and I've already built up a decent support network in the village. It was a good friend from here who actually found us the house.

So, never say never, nothing's impossible.

[Tarrel]

I grew up there (went to Greenshaw!). I think I know roughly where in the Borough you are living from your description, though I might be wrong!

I can think of worse urban places to bug-in. Plus, if you pick your route carefully, you're really not that far from open countryside in the Banstead / Woodmansterne direction.

A lot of fairly mundane problem scenarios can be turned from a right pain to just a minor inconvenience by having some basic preps as discussed on here; keeping a decent store of food, having a few 20 litre containers of water, water purification tablets (from Boots), keeping the car full of fuel, keeping some cash to hand in a concealed place at home. This would go a long way towards riding out a fuel shortage, power cuts, interruption to the food supply, water cut-off, bank crisis, etc. without having to leave the house for a week or so. Therefore you avoid the difficulty of, say, having to go and queue for food/fuel/cash while trying to look after young children, and you miss the unpleasantness that can arise is these situations.

The nightmare scenario that many people have is a break down of law and order in their immediate vicinity. The London Riots showed that this is indeed a possibility. In this eventuality you might need a bug out plan as well, involving taking the essentials that you can carry, and leaving.

Multi-layered plans for multi-layered scenarios is the best bet. "If X happens, I plan to do this. But if then Y happens, I'll plan to do that. Etc."