I’m not a prepper. Preppers have bunkers and views on gold. I have a shelf of tins in date order, a lantern on the bookshelf and a laminated card of phone numbers. I’m not expecting the end of the world. I’m expecting a Tuesday in February when the power goes off for nine hours, and I intend to spend it warm, fed and faintly smug.
What this site is
A list. Britain gets power cuts, cold snaps, the odd run on petrol and the occasional week when the shelves look thin. None of these is a catastrophe, and all of them are nicer with a torch and a cupboard of beans.
For each thing a household might want, I give one pick per budget. If you have £20, here’s the one. If you have £100, here’s what the extra gets you and whether it’s worth having. I don’t do top tens, because a top ten is a way of not making a decision.
What it isn’t
- It isn’t a government site. The official advice is at beready.campaign.gov.uk. I follow it and link to it.
- It isn’t doom. No collapse, no politics, no camouflage. If you came for those, there’s a whole internet out there and you’re welcome to it.
- It isn’t a test lab. How picks are made says exactly what I do and don’t check.
How it pays for itself
Some links go to Amazon. If you buy through one, the site earns a small commission and you pay the same price. That’s the whole business model. It never decides a pick: plenty of advice here is “buy it at the supermarket” or “you already own one”. Full disclosure.
A note on the name
Graham is a pen name. I’d rather the neighbours didn’t know about the lentils.