The Daily Telegraph - Features

15 ESSENTIAL ITEMS FOR YOUR PREPPERS’ KIT

Winter sleeping bag

If there is a cyber-attack in which the power infrastruc­ture goes down, or a fuel shortage caused by war, the heating will soon go off, warns Jones. He recommends buying a good quality winter sleeping bag: “It rolls up into a football and can stop you catching hypothermi­a.” Sleeping bag prices vary, but Jones says you can buy a reasonable one for about £40. Easy Camp Orbit 300 winter sleeping bag, £39.95, ukprepping­shop.co.uk

Paracord

This lightweigh­t nylon cord is so named because of its use by paratroope­rs during the Second World War, who would cut the cord from their parachutes after landing and keep it for other uses. “If you are out in the wilderness, in order to survive, you can use it to erect a hammock, to strap your goods to your backpack or to set a trap – you can do all sorts of things with it,” says Tucker. 15m roll of Kombat UK paracord, £1.60, prepperssh­op.co.uk

Medication

Jones recommends keeping a basic first-aid kit with a week’s worth of personal medication, in case of a cyber-attack or a pandemic. “If everything goes down and the hospitals are overrun, they will be using generators and won’t want to deal with minor scenarios – they will be focusing on lifeand-death stuff,” he says. First-aid kit (not pictured), £18, boots.com

Warm waterproof coat

Tucker’s first tip is to go back to basics and think about how to stay warm and dry. If power supplies go down or fuel sources run out, one of the first knock-on effects you will notice is the cold, she says. A warm, heavy-duty waterproof coat, such as those worn by the military, is essential. Ex-military cold-weather coat, £29.95, prepperssh­op.co.uk

Gas mask

This may make you look and sound like Darth Vader, but Tucker insists that it could come in handy during civil unrest or a war, when you might need protection from tear gas. Vintage Yugoslavia­n military gas mask and filter, £11.84, prepperssh­op.co.uk

Cash

Jones advises stashing around £500 securely at home in case the internet goes down. “There is definitely going to be a massive cyber-attack in the next couple of years,” he warns, ominously. “Online banking is going to be the first thing to go down, so you just need enough cash on hand to buy food and a tank of fuel before it all runs out.”

Three-in-one survival whistle

This multi-purpose tool is a whistle, a compass and a thermomete­r rolled into one and could prove useful in any form of emergency. “It could be that you have found yourself in a survival situation because you were trekking or hiking and couldn’t find your way back,” says Tucker. Kombat survival whistle, from £2.50, prepperssh­op.co.uk

NBC suits

Military-grade NBC – nuclear, biological, chemical – suits are designed to provide protection against weapons of mass destructio­n. However far-fetched that might sound, Tucker assures us that there is a market for them. “As soon as the Russia-Ukraine war happened, we saw a huge increase in people buying these,” she says. British Army NBC suit, £21.95, prepperssh­op.co.uk

Wind-up radio

This will keep going even if the shops run out of batteries and could be essential for tuning in to government announceme­nts. “The digital communicat­ions network would be quite easy to knock out, I’m sure,” says Jones. Emergency solar wind-up USB radio, £21.95, prepperssh­op.co.uk

Military-grade compact fishing kit

If supermarke­t stocks are running low, you may have to catch your own food, says Tucker. This kit contains everything you need to become an amateur angler, including a fishing line, winder, swivels to stop the line from becoming knotted, weights and lures.

BCB compact fishing kit, £2.96, prepperssh­op.co.uk

Axe

Tucker recommends keeping a small axe in your basic grab bag “so you can chop wood for fires”. Jones adds that self-defence is a “grey area” and, while he does sell crossbows, as do most prepper shops, he insists they are for “target practice”. They are not recommende­d for a survival situation. Prandi Segurin traditiona­l 400g hatchet axe, £79.99, prepperssh­op.co.uk

Map

Charts of your local area and of the UK are sensible investment­s in case the communicat­ions networks are brought down and Google Maps or your satnav no longer work. Jones says: “Everyone used to carry maps, but these days we all rely on our phones for everything.” Collins Road Map of Britain 2024, £10.99, amazon.co.uk

Wind-up torch

Better than a regular torch, these will keep going even if the shops run out of batteries. “Think Ray Mears,” says Tucker. “If you’re in the wilderness and you need to be able to see, you’re probably not in a position to go to a shop to buy batteries,” she says. A wind-up torch will do the trick. Silverline 3 LED dynamo wind-up torch, £6.99, prepperssh­op.co.uk

Freeze-dried food

In case of a blackout because of electricit­y rationing or a cyber attack, Jones recommends freeze-dried food from Fuel Your Preparatio­n. The tins last 25 years and contain meals such as pasta bolognese or chicken tikka with rice. “If you put it on a plate at a restaurant, you couldn’t tell the difference,” he says.

Four days’ worth of Fuel Your Preparatio­n meals, £80.95, ukprepping­shop.co.uk

Gas stove

A staple of outdoor campers, a gas stove is essential for cooking food and sterilisin­g water. Jones recommends it for a wartime situation or in the event of nuclear fallout.

ASAB portable camping gas cooker single burner stove, £24.99, amazon.co.uk