'I'm getting ready for World War 3 - you could be more prepared than you think'

When thinking about it's easy to conjure up visions of a dystopian hellscape straight out of a Hollywood blockbuster.

But on this front, survivalist prepper has slightly more faith in humanity and believes many of us are far more prepared for than we give ourselves credit for.

He's keen to challenge a dominant narrative within the that ruthlessly guarding your own homestead and supplies while toting a gun is the way to go.

Indeed, the 33-year-old, who is originally from Northern Ireland, believes community is essential in the face of catastrophe, and has urged people to get to know their neighbours before a potential disaster strikes.

Cheerful and good-humoured, Dan isn't exactly what you'd expect from a fully paid member of the survivalist community. Although he has more food stored away than most, Dan doesn't yet have a bunker in his back garden, quipping: "I'm certainly not ready for nuclear winter. I'd like to be, but I live in a terrace!"

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For now, Dan is "very much preparing for the things that are more likely, in order of likelihood". He jokes that he doubts he'll ever be "death proof" or "apocalypse proof", but strives to become more prepared year on year.

Now based in Liverpool, the married father of two works as a digital marketer, barista, and survivalist writer. This last job on the list has become more in demand as of late, as the state of the leaves many with concerns about what's around the corner.

With two young children, one of whom is just about to start school, Dan is worried about the future. Until "fairly recently", Dan didn't think a potential World War III was "on the cards", but he now says: "The more time goes on, the more I can imagine a broader conflict occurring."

Dan reflected: "I like to think that it won't happen, but it is considerably more likely now than it was a few years ago."

On top of fears over the already visible effects of global warming, Dan also has concerns over an increase in cyber attacks going forward, as well as more extreme, more specific political extremism, shaped by internet algorithms.

He predicted: "As our material conditions become worse, I can only see that getting more severe. People will become more politically extreme as their day-to-day lives become less stable. People are more afraid, they're hungrier, you know."

And although Dan doesn't want people to panic, he believes being prepared can actually enhance your life in a multitude of ways, whether or not the end times are coming, making it "more resilient and less frustrating and generally richer."

Keen gardener Dan revealed: "I'm growing a bunch of veg and herbs and stuff at the minute, and I just really like that. Realistically, it's not going to be enough to feed me in the event of societal collapse, but it's a boon to the stocks and the vitamin levels. After a couple of days of cupboard meals, you'd be desperate for some salad greens."

As well as ensuring his own resources are plentiful, community-minded Dan runs the website www.startprepping.co.uk, where he advises others how they too can get ready for situations where normal systems break down, resulting in potential chaos. For instance, as we have recently seen following the blackouts in Spain and Portugal.

This doesn't necessarily have to involve anything too "severe or dramatic." Dan suggests buying a second bag of rice for the back of the cupboard or looking up ways in which fresh or refrigerated ingredients can be substituted for tinned, such as using canned spinach in a curry.

As noted by Dan, the dark days of the Coronavirus pandemic have significantly shifted perspectives on the topic of preparedness. After all, people have now seen for themselves how quickly situations can shift and how life as we know it can change in a matter of days.

Dan kickstarted his own website in 2021 in a bid to offer an alternative to a lot of the primarily American-focused prepper content out there that simply wouldn't be applicable to UK readers. As Dan remarked, it just wouldn't be practical to advise Brits to head out and camp in the woods, as this would very quickly become overcrowded. The idea of a self-sufficient homestead also doesn't translate.

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Instead, Dan promotes interconnectivity and helping each other during times of need, pointing to the famous British spirit of the Blitz as an example. He noted: "People didn't put hockey masks on and become warlords. Like they pitched in and helped one another, created mutual aid groups, and did the right thing."

He added: "I really didn't want that to be subsumed in like a tide of American-influenced stuff. That's like, no, no. 'You gotta be ready to shoot your neighbours because they're gonna come and eat you'. No, they're not, no they're, no stop telling people to do that. Because the more people who read that and believe it, the worse for everybody else."

Having always been interested in survival culture, Dan first started preparing in earnest at around the time of the vote, fearing supply chain disruption, but thinks he likely would have gotten into it regardless. He's since become "hooked on never running out of stuff."

As someone with ADHD, Dan finds that his interest in survival perfectly complements his tendency to "hobby jump", which has seen him learn everything from first aid to archery, foraging to making jam. Going forward, he'd love to start dehydrating his own trail mix.

When it comes to survival, Dan reckons plenty of people are far more equipped for disastrous situations than they might realise, with everyday skills such as weight lifting and batch cooking likely to be useful come the apocalypse.

He explained: "I mean, I'll have plenty of jobs if there is some sort of big nationwide blackout. I'll have plenty of jobs for the people who didn't think they were preppers, but they did go to the gym a lot.

"The people who don't think they're preppers, but they do all their own DIY, and they do all their plumbing. You know, they don't think they are preppers, but they love to do a big food prep thing where they are good at cooking and making a little go a long way."

Dan emphasised that survival really is a "richer topic than you would think", as he added: "I don't think we'll do it alone - humans never have."

Therefore, come Doomsday, those with good interpersonal skills, who are actively involved in their community - and who have a knack for de-escalating conflict - will likely do well.

According to Dan, it's important to view the key to survival as a triangle. One side of this triangle is the stuff you might need should disaster strike, which can range from kitchen cupboard supplies to the equipment needed to block a drain. Then there's the skills side, which Dan has been steadily accumulating over the years. The third, lesser discussed side, is interpersonal relationships.

Rather than viewing those around you as competitors for resources in a brutal dog-eat-dog world, Dan urges people to get to know their neighbours. He warned: "In the event of disaster, your neighbours are most likely to be the people you're gonna be working with. Just by virtue of the fact that you're right next to each other. And coordinating with other people is something that I would want to do pretty much immediately once I realised how bad things actually were."

On a positive note, Dan has faith that "people have the capacity to really help one another".

He shared: "One uplifting thing, I guess, that you do often see, if you read any disaster studies in the aftermath of things like Hurricane Katrina and basically any big disaster, is that spontaneously organised civilian groups are usually the first responders and are usually the best responders. Because people have an instinct to help, whether they think they've got it or not, which is another issue I take with a lot of these bunker mentality preppers that are like, 'No, I'm gonna lock my door, and everybody around me can starve'.

"You feel like you're gonna do that, but the more I read about the way people, societies react to disaster, the more I think you wouldn't do that at all. Or at least not that very many people would do it because the instinct seems to be to wanna help. And that's an encouraging thought."

Do you have a story to share? Email me at julia.banim@reachplc.com