Doomsday prepper reveals items stocked in fallout shelter and offers stark advice for others amid WW3 fears
Just in case the worst should happen and we end up in World War Three, a doomsday prepper has given his advice on what to prepare.
The world is a worryingly tense place at the moment with several ongoing conflicts and humanitarian crises, some of which involve nuclear-armed nations, and we don't have a clear idea of how they will end.
We're not saying that World War Three will break out, but if it did, then nobody could look at recent times and say it came out of nowhere.
Some people are preparing for the moment when things go sideways, like 50-year-old doomsday prepper Derrick James, who has been making plans for natural disasters and war to upend his life since 2007.
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He said: "Every event that we have lived through - whether it is Covid, the Iraq war or hurricanes - brings in a new wave of preppers. Then the threat will go away, and most people forget about it until another event comes along.
"My advice is to take a deep breath, come up with a plan that you can stick to, and don't stress yourself out."
He's shared his top survival tips for those who want to ensure they can give themselves the best possible chance of making it through the worst-case scenarios we might encounter in the future.
The food supply
First and foremost, Derrick advises that you should have about three months' worth of food to fall back on, as obtaining food will be very difficult in a disaster.
"A lot of preppers will suggest starting with water and say you can live three months without food, but three days without water - which is true," Derrick said. "But anytime you get a food crisis, food is harder to come by. If you have food for 30 to 90 days, you can weather any storm that comes your way."
He said you should pick food that lasts for a long time and contains calories and nutrition above everything else. In his shelter, he has rice, beans, wheat, canned meats and military ration packets.
Water of life
Although it may not take the top spot on this list, it comes in a close second. Humans can last longer without food than water, but Derrick reckons food will be harder to get.
He said: "We are living in a fragile society and things could unravel very quickly."
Derrick warned that cyber attacks could disrupt the water supply, and 'everything's going to spiral out of control very quickly' if you don't have a supply of clean water.
Communications conundrums
A disaster doesn't have to mean the end of the world, and it's best to have a device, which means you can still have an ear on current events.
Even if the usual information channels aren't working, the prepper advises keeping items like hand-cranked radios in your shelter, as they don't rely on batteries.
He said: "You can crank them up to get power; they have lights on them, and you can use them as a power source. Being able to have access to an evacuation order is important, whether it is due to a natural disaster or a war.
"Virtually every person has a cell phone, I still see cell phones as an important survival tool - I suggest people have the means to power those when the grid goes down."
Topping up on fuel
The Maine man said you should 'stockpile treated gasoline and propane' to make sure you had the fuel you needed to get through a crisis.
He also suggested that you invest in 'solar panels and power banks' so you have a means of generating more electricity and storing that energy somewhere for use.
"Blackouts are common in a major war and fuel can be rationed or unavailable," Derrick explained.
Just make sure you store it properly.
The 'bug-out' bag
This is the sort of advice many survivalists in the UK say you should follow, as having a bag with a few days worth of supplies ready to go means you can adapt to changing circumstances.
Derrick said it was 'prepping 101' to have a bag with three days' worth of supplies in case you needed to pick it up and leave immediately.
He said that, as well as the basics you might already think of, like food, it should also contain cash, water purifiers, changes of clothes, and fire starters.
Having a bag ready to go helps in the event of a smaller-scale crisis, too, especially if it's something that forces you to evacuate your home. Some natural disasters may require you to leave home for a few days, and having a bag packed and ready to go can be really useful in these cases.
Prepare your passport
Survival isn't just about making your own shelter and staying there; you may even need to cross borders or have some means of showing identification.
He said: "More people are pursuing a second passport if it is available to them, a lot of countries now offer them in terms of heritage. This won't be an option for some people, but it is a growing topic in the prepping community.
"I'm in Maine, if something happens I'm closer to Canada, it would be faster to go to Canada than to get to any other state."
You might not think that doing paperwork properly is a major part of prepping, but it turns out that it is.
That wasn't very cash money of you
In times of crisis, Derrick says it's useful to have a stash of cash to use.
Should technology fail us, then swiping your card or using Apple Pay may not be an option, and imagine trying to get your bank to play ball when all of their employees are trying to survive themselves.
Derrick said: "You need to protect your finances and make sure you have cash on hand."
However, he added that you should also have other valuables like 'silver' and 'gold' as the value of your currency might collapse in the worst-case scenario. He also said that if your plan involved trying to make it to another country, then you should have some of their currency ready to go.
You can't rely on the Bureau de Change if it's World War Three.
A support network
Some people think preppers are crazies waiting for the end of the world so they can survive alone, but many push back against that perception.
In fact, one of Derrick's pieces of advice is to 'build up a mutual assistance group now while the grid is still up' as he said, 'lone wolves never do well in a prolonged crisis'.
So make sure you know who is around that could be of help and knows you.
Joe Harker