Powys survivalist shop explains appeal of disaster prepping

The Bug out based in Builth Wells is looking to give people the skills they need to survive in an emergency – something that has become more popular due the recent conflicts around the world.

“There was a spike after Russia invaded Ukraine,” said owner Leigh Price. “People are obviously worried when these things happen in the news. It did go crazy for a time when that kicked off.”

Leigh says that people frequently have an unfair idea of what preppers are like.

“People have the impression that preppers are these gung ho Americans building bunkers and are armed to the teeth but its not that,” said Leigh.

“It is just making sure that you have enough supplies of yourself and your family for whatever reason.

“You do have a certain element who think they can go all John Rambo and survive in the wild but there is no real wild in the UK. The skills we teach are really more of an insurance policy.”

According to Leigh the people who contact him from all over the UK are more people preparing in case of disaster – natural or man-made. This has led to him setting up a community through his website so people in different areas can get help or advice locally.

“There’s always three things that people are worried about – food, shelter and water,” said Leigh.

“You also have the survival element if they did have to leave their house in an emergency and there was an evacuation or a disaster, have they got a grab bag with all their supplies ready to go? It’s what the Americans call a bug out bag.”

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The shop not only sells a variety of survival supplies such as freeze-dried food, camping supplies, lighting but also have started to offer a set of survival courses run by an ex paratrooper and Leigh who was in the military in the 90s.

“The skills building has seen a big rise in interest,” said Leigh. “We provide courses here on outdoor survival, navigation, a range of courses, skills people want to learn.

“Even if they find themselves in the Brecon beacons or the Cambrian mountains just having these skills so they can find their way back to their car or back to safety. It also has bushcraft elements as well, which is not taught in the army.”

Leigh said the appeal for many is actually based in an old-fashioned idea of being ready in case of a disaster.

“If there is a power outage, how do you keep warm? How do you cook food? Have you got torches candles, have you got food if there are supermarket shortages,” he added.

“If you go back to our grandparents generation they always had a good larder of tinned food.

"I remember growing up in Builth in the 80s, the town got cut off for four days because of the snow in 1982.

“It’s also an investment. A year of freeze-dried food was about £900 when I opened the shop in 2020 it’s now about £2000.”