By TOM LAYTON
Published: | Updated:
It is a growing phenomenon as people stock up on food to last them years in case of a global disaster.
And now a Scottish engineer has revealed he has spent thousands of pounds to pack a shelter with enough food and power banks to last 25 years.
Brian Forbes, 52, built two shelters in his garden with solar panels, their own power supply and enough food to last 25 years.
Last year he spent £5,000 on the two sheds and stocked them full of medical equipment, army rations and radios in case of a war or environmental catastrophe.
‘I’ve probably spent around £6,000 so far this year. I’ve spent around £2,500 on freeze dry foods, £2,000 on power banks, £500 on a new generator,’ he said.
Mr Forbes’s wife, Donna, 51, accepts his lifestyle but his children aged 15, 27 and 29 are more sceptical. He said: ‘They think dad’s nuts, dad’s crazy, he’s lost his marbles. They go to great lengths to tell me why I’m wrong - I may well be wrong but it’s ultimately my money and time.’
Brian Forbes built two shelters in his garden with solar panels, their own power supply and enough food to last 25 years
Forbes has spent thousands on supplies for his shelters
The shelters are stocked with supplies including tins of produce, power banks and night vision goggles
‘I do no harm to anyone else. I only need to be right once.
‘Whether they think I’m right or wrong, I have a responsibility to care for them and I take that pretty seriously.’
Mr Forbes, who works as an engineer surveyor, is a member of The UK Preppers Club, an online group of more than 16,000 Britons who prepare their families for disaster.
Brian said: ‘The spending has gone up this year, because I perceive the risk as higher.
‘We have a lot of risk, like a crumbling power grid and water shortages. 40,000 people were on bottled water for a month this year.’
He began prepping in 2010 when a freezing winter meant his children had less to eat.
Forbes has admitted his children are sceptical about his plans
He said: ‘The roads were gridlocked up here, people were sleeping in cars overnight, they had to be rescued by police.
‘In the highlands that’s not an unusual occurrence. But here, we weren’t prepared.
‘Shops weren’t making deliveries, kids weren’t going to school.
‘My children were young at the time and things were running out, like milk, cereal bread.
‘I felt bad that my kids didn’t have a lot in the house. I decided from then it would be a good idea to stock up on unplanned emergency.’
Brian said the prepper community in Scotland have received death threats for their unorthodox lifestyle.
‘I get emails all the time threatening me. They say they’re going to murder all my family. There are some crazy people in the world, and you have to expect a bit of flack. I just laugh it off,’ he said.
‘I only have to be right once for this to pay off.
‘And it doesn’t have to cost thousands. You can prep on a budget, just start small.’
Prepping became more popular in Scotland after the Covid pandemic. There are 22,700 members of the UK Preppers and Survivalists Facebook group while online stores like Preppers Shop UK sell water purifiers, axes and solar panels.