ussian cyberattacks, nuclear war, rolling blackouts, P(doom), climate change, renewed threats in the US-Israel-Iran conflict, food shortages, AI bubbles, agents, consciousness and data centres. Billy Joel’s 2026 version of “We Didn’t Start the Fire” isn’t sounding very catchy…

Amid global tensions, storms and several cyber attacks knocking supermarket fridges and banks offline, the doomsday preppers are the most vindicated group out there at the moment.

The national conversation became much more acute last week when the government weighed in and The Independent’s writers have been hard at work asking experts about how to prepare for emergencies and even trying out doomsday diets themselves. As stockpiling becomes the new status symbol, we’ve found readers and members have had quite a lot to say about it too.

Whether it is giving their own advice, sharing their experiences of blackouts and what they did to cope without power, prepping is now part of the national conversation.

As food writer Hannah Twiggs wrote about those elements that people might be missing, our readers had some additional tips to add too. Here are some of our favourites.

Independent member Paul delved a bit deeper into the subject of expiry dates, suggesting that one take a sensible but optimistic approach to their tins:

“This article touches on an important issue, amongst others. Expiry dates. Remember that expiry dates are intended to protect the producer, so many of them are laughably conservative, especially on tins. There have been instances of tinned foods being ok after many decades, though perhaps not an experiment you want to try. The key thing is to watch out for botulism – a can which looks like it has been inflated must be discarded.”

Independent member Maverick1956 was one of many to suggest the humble camping gas stove is an essential, as well as a few quick tips that could come in handy:

“I really do recommend a camping gas stove with a decent supply of cartridges. There are some cheap ones on .

And a small kettle to go on it. And some dried milk powder.

A cup of tea can solve many problems.

And a (deep) frying pan for flatbreads that can also double as a saucepan.

Warmed-up soup is definitely more appetising than cold.

You will find that you really don’t need as much food as you think.”

Another Independent member, PhylisStein, provided some salient suggestions concerning those in other countries and their preservation habits:

“People in many countries salt, smoke, freeze or pickle foods to last them through the winter months. Go to any Scandinavian/Slavic country and they pickle the heck out of everything. With a decent-sized freezer and kitchen cupboards, you could probably last the winter if you needed to.|

“I'm with Hannah on the flavourings: along with the rice, beans and veg, we have bags of fried onions, a big bag of dried chillies, tomato powder, onion powder, garlic powder, curry powder, nutritional yeast, soy sauce (dark and light), chilli powder, chilli oil, plenty of salt, and some flavour enhancers – we will not go blandly into that good night!”

KDM, an Independent member, had some short, sharp advice that will prove useful in a summertime of (apocalyptic) sadness:

“Store olive oil in a cool, dry place away from light. While it does not need refrigeration, it does not like temperatures above 18C.”

Independent member StigStag gave some insight into army rations:

I have stocked up with long-life (good for 20 years) army rations, but the problem is once you open it, you only have 24 hrs to consume it, assuming you can keep it chilled. Oh, and the other problem is the military catering packs you can purchase contain 40 portions of whatever. I'm not going to tell you how you can acquire stock, because I don't want to risk anyone already starving to death going down with food poisoning on my watch.

Our writer Katie Rosseinsky was watching the doomsday prep discourse evolve on social media and couldn’t help but feel that things were taking a bit of a silly turn, which she wrote about in a member-exclusive piece. Being prepared is great, but survivalism is becoming a status symbol. Readers waded into the debate with advice and their own views.

No one could have expected to see humble bragging in the article about humble bragging, but Timbotaxi seemed to delight in listing their wares:

“I've got in some Belazu chickpeas and butter beans, a few cans of Ortiz sardines, 2 small jars of lumpfish caviar, some Peter's Yard crackers, lots of No.1 pasta, plenty of water and some wine and bubbles, batteries for the DAB radio and some gas cartridges for my luxury camping stove. Should see me through a power cut or 2. If the bomb drops, it won't matter as where I live will be turned into a post-nuclear, radioactive wasteland and I'll be beyond caring!”

User nocomment brought up just how reminiscent of Covid prepping the current situation is, and pulled from their recent experiences in Spain:

“We have a well-stocked storeroom because we don't like shopping. About once a month we do a ‘big shop’ and have it delivered. All the heavy, bulky stuff , tins, water. Then we just top up with fresh meat, fish and veg from local shops.

A friend of ours used to laugh and call it our ‘nuclear bunker’.

Then Covid came and we got a message from him ‘Everyone needs a nuclear bunker’.

We had the long power cut here in Spain. Started early morning and ended sometime during the next night. The worst part was not knowing what was happening and how long it might be. Our Spanish neighbour had a battery radio and kept us informed but we still didn't know when it would end.

Lessons from Covid: keep one month’s extra supply of prescription/essential medications in case you cannot go out for some reason (we were too ill) and rotate it.

From the power cut add batteries to our solar power.”

Member Gray Goods had a different kind of outlook on the anxiety surrounding the current situation than Katie:

“I don't think it necessarily leads to “apocalypse anxiety” to be prepared for an emergency situation, but rather soothes the nerves. But that's a matter of perspective, ok. Anyway, I, for one, am a bit surprised that my rows of cans, other non-perishable foods and the camping gas burner are seen as status symbols nowadays, but this doesn't matter to me. I'm not the kind of guy who tries to keep up with the Joneses, just doing my own reasoning instead. Imho that attitude helps against useless anxiety.”

In a spectacularly creative article, food writer Hannah Twiggs ate for a week as if the apocalypse was already here. Tinned food and no cooking allowed.

Independent Member xenocleia wasted no time in questioning Hannah’s choices, but had some fantastic tips as well:

What, no olives? Tinned seafood (mussels in a tangy sauce / squid in ink) makes a nice change from tuna, sardines and mackerel. Cold soups, e.g. gazpacho. Dried fruit can be eaten as is, or soaked and, unlike tinned, there’s no added sugar. Soaking isn’t a waste of drinking water, because you're still consuming the water. Definitely agree on the need for varying texture.

Let's hope the apocalypse happens in the winter, when the lack of a fridge is less of a problem. Or, better still, that it doesn't happen at all!

More army talk from Independent Member PorkRoll who gave a little more information on rations. As alarmist as I am, I just don’t know if I can bring myself to that level – though I’ll be fairly upset when it all kicks off.

The author might want to look into military surplus field rations. In the US that would be the MRE (Meal, Ready to Eat) but there is a British equivalent. All modern armies have something similar for their own troops, and many sell off these rations after they reach their very conservative use-by dates. There are even a few versions originally made for distribution by the UN.

Not crazy expensive and guaranteed to be reasonably healthy. Shelf stable for at least five years and often longer, with no major degradation in quality. A decided advantage over stocking up on civilian food as suggested in the article is one or another version of the flameless ration heater, which gives a piping hot main course in 20 minutes at the most

Independent Member Tanaquil2 commented with some more first-hand experience:

Invest in a small camping stove and a couple of spare gas cartridges. I’m old enough to remember the power cuts of the 1970s, during which our trusty picnic stove kept us in soup, baked beans and hot drinks on days when the electricity was off.

Some comments have been edited/condensed.

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