New Here with Questions

Hi everyone. I am new here. I have been doing some reading and have a few questions. Thanks in advance for your help. From what I have read, it seems like a great group of people willing to help each other.

Here goes:

1) Are there any other women in this group?

2) I can't seem to get my husband to understand that we need to be preparing for hard times ahead - whether that be earthquake, tornado, hurricane, whatever. How can I convince him of this without being a nag?

3) When we have talked about preparedness, the first thing my husband always says is, "Where are we going to store all of these supplies?" That is a good questions for which I don't have an answer. Any suggestions on where to store it and how to transport it if we had to leave home quickly?

4)I have read alot on here about having acreage in the country. We live in a neigbhorhood of about 150 houses with tons of acreage behind us. The acreage is not ours, but the owner lives in another city and wouldn't mind if we hunted on it in an emergency. We live about a mile outside of a city of about 7,000 people. In case of martial law, is it a problem to live this close to other people? We are totally CITY people and know absolutely NOTHING about camping out, wilderness survival, etc. I don't know if my husband or I could cut down a tree safely if we had to. Are we going to be toast in an emergency? How fast could we learn all that we need to know?

Thanks for your help,
Suzie

I've only seen one female name. But this is the internet, so who knows...



Some people have to learn the hard way.



Can't answer that, since I've never been to your house.



I was born and raised in the city. Doesn't mean you can't go out to the natural world once in a while. Weekends, vacations, holidays, sick days (wink, wink). Lots of good books on the subject. Also lots of great stuff on YouTube.

I don't see why you would ever need to cut down a large tree. Use deadwood for fires. Small trees for building shelters.

Where do you live? Chances are you don't have to be prepared for "earthquake, tornado, hurricane, whatever. ", I live in Toronto so I am not worried about any of that. Right away you can cut down on a lot.

Right away it will cut down on your supplies, so you should be able to get away with at least a 72 hour kit..Doug's main page has links to government sites etc. that have a listing of supplies, then you can add to it for your specific area.

Here's a great video of Ray Mears showing how to build a shelter in the woods.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsbSMplJ6g4

There are a lot of women in this forum actually... There was a post about 2 months ago and several of the residents had roll call...

Draw up a plan of what you think you may need for the disasters you are planning for. Be especially mindful of what is common in your area.

This forum contains pages and pages of information on food storage, supplies, etc...

When only one person has an interest in something in a marriage it’s going to be a hard sell to do a lot of things as the disinterested person just doesn’t care.


Tent camping is an excellent way to develop outdoor survival skills. A lot of the things you need to tent camp lend themselves to self reliance. Through primitive camping you develop skills to survive in a disaster, you develop the skills to know what to take with you when you have to leave your home. You acquire the items and tools needed to survive in the middle of nowhere. You develop an idea of how much food to take, how to keep warm on a cold night, how to build and cook over a fire. And a lot of other things I can’t think of off hand. And if you go at it with the right frame of mind, it’s a lot of fun.


Hard to say where to store items, not knowing what your home looks like it’s impossible to say. Food is the most important and will probably take up the most space. Buy a nice cabinet or shelving unit and put it in your basement and fill it with food that doesn’t require refrigeration. The local grocery store is filled with a very large selection of food that taste good, is long lasting, easy to prepare and a lot less expensive then freeze-dried food. If you only buy a few items every time you do the weekly shopping it will take no time to have a good supply of food.

Also buy a good water filter. I have a Katadyn (there are many good brands out there) water filter; you need clean safe water to cook with. Camping stores will have them or look on-line.

Buy some duffel bags (I find used ones for $2.00 or less at garage sales all the time) and fill them up with the food you think you need to survive if you were ever in a position to have to bug-out.

As far as the space it takes up I live alone and a large duffle bag full of food can feed me for 2-weeks and I will have food left over. I go on camping vacations and this is how it works out. So even a small space can give you the needed room to store a few weeks of food.

Even if your husband can’t be made to become part of your preparedness preparations, you can still put away food, after all I would guess you to the shopping.



As far as hunting, it’s not a skill I think most people should depend on without doing it a lot before a survival situation arises. Best to get into it now (legally, no poaching a few animals in the neighbors field) to develop the skills. Game animals don’t like to die any more then you do, they all have developed the ability to avoid danger. You need to understand how to hunt them to consider them as a source of food. That includes the work of field dressing and cooking them. This alone keeps a lot of people from hunting game. It’s a messy job in a lot of peoples mind and they just can’t get past it, better to find out now if it’s for you.

But if you can get him interested in the camping (it’s a lot less money to go camping then to stay in a motel, pick places that you can vacation and camp) he will through doing it develop survival skills that could pay off down the road. It also gives you the ability to know what does and does not work for you. What one person says is an absolutely needed item, another person will not use. Neither one is wrong, they just do things differently. I see almost no need for a lot of the knifes you see people talk about on this site, I would not and in 50-years have not needed them. But the people using them do find a valuable use to them. Using things while camping allows you to thin out all the unneeded items and have the ones that work for you. This way in a bug out you are not carrying a bunch of dead weight you will never need.

Welcome!

I think you hit on most of the questions frequently discussed here, and a couple of new ones.
As to your numbered points:
1) +1 on the "roll call" thread a couple of months ago.
2) Maybe start asking "what if" questions. What if the electricity or water or gas goes out for a couple of days/week during the winter? What if I have to walk home from work? etc. Use these as a springboard. Keep things realistic to where you live, work, travel etc. Asking the right question is always a good place to start.
3) there have been lots of treads on storage, but the first questions should be to look at different scenarios and decide when you Bug Out and to where, and when do you Bug In and for how long. Once you decide what you want/need to do, then you can start supplies planning. Just buying stuff without a plan is not the best way to approach things. Again, your personal/family situation and location drive many of the answers you need. The folks in Florida have a different problem than those in NYC, etc.
4) While a large portion of the discussions and information here relates to "wilderness survival", a lot also relates to urban/suburban survival. IMO, a single family home (which it sounds like you may have) is a real dandy start for a good Bug In plan. You can never take as many resources with you as you have there, and with a little time and effort, can greatly improve. One simple thing to consider is a generator, even a small one can keep your home livable. Many other things can be done.

As to vehicles, what to take etc, if you do need to bug out, again, it depends on where your are, where you are going and the expected conditions. The guys in California have to consider in an earthquake that the roads may be impassable because the highway overpasses are down. The guys in the mid-west probably don't worry about that.

So, I don't think there are easy answers to your questions. But I think if you give us more details/thoughts etc., you will get a lot of useful comments that will help to focus you thoughts and plans.

Finally, if you can learn to master the search function, you will be amazed at the wealth of information on these topics that has been posted in even the few months I have been a member.

Greetings SuzieQ! I'm glad that you have decided to join us.
In regard to your questions, I offer the following:

1) Yes, there are several ladies that have joined this site and they ALL make valuable contributions.

2) Look at www.standeyo.com Stan and Holly Deyo have a great deal of preparedness info at their site and Holly has written a very good piece dealing with getting your "significant other" to come onboard the "Preparedness Wagon". It greatly helped me out with my DW but it still took time.

3) There are a couple of good threads already written on this website concerning storage of goods in homes, small apt's, etc. Use the search engine to find those threads.

4) "The longest journey begins with the first step".
Keep hanging with us and you will receive a "Survival Education" in a rapid order. You'll also learn about other websites that teach specifics about woodsmanship, survival, etc. Above all,"ASK QUESTIONS", we love to share knowledge around our campfires.

Good Luck!!!

1. Never over-represented. Susan, Joy, and others are frequent posters.

2. Joy has expressed similar concerns. The reverse situation also is a concern to many guys.

3. Maybe start with the core tools; they typically fit into small containers as a EDC, PFAK, PSK – then build a BOB for each of you in a couple backpacks. Food – maybe in 5 gallon buckets that can live in your garage rafters if need be.

4. How about taking a wilderness skill course? Start with a short introductory class and see how it goes. Your local park and rec agency, or college may offer courses.

5. In California the Department of Fish & Game puts on “Outdoor Women” courses to encourage participation by the “fair sex” in male-dominated activities. If you are not in California, consider checking with your state’s equivalent agency. Check on the internet for groups near you. Look to your local sporting goods retailers – many host seminars by manufacturers of gear yin which you may be interested. Check the phone book for outdoor oriented clubs that may run free introductory events to increase membership. Consider joining a local Scouting group. See if your church or one in your area has an outdoor program. #1 – make some friends who share your interests and learn from them. Consider posting your general location ans see who pops up on this and other forums. #1 – make some friends who share your interests and learn from them.

1) We have several. Keep trying to get my DGF here, but she likes Zombie Squad. *shrugs*

2) My dad was like that. Then my folks lost power for a week. They have well on a pump. Less than a month later, he bought a generator. He doesn't think my mom is crazy any more.

Although, since this is one of my major bobbies, he still thinks I'm eccentrically morbid. *laughs*

3) Hard to answer. What do you need, and what do you have for underutilized shelf space right now?

4) Hunting is one of those thigns you want to learn from someone, not from a book. Trust me on this one. *laughs*

Welcome SuzieQ!

Don't know your hubby but I'll let you in on a little inside "male secret" (Correct me guys if this has changed because I may have not gotten the memo yet. I'm a little out of the loop)

We love gizmos!!! It doesn't matter what our interests are, if we've never walked into the Craftsman section of Sears before in our lives, we love gizmos. And we love to show the women in our lives how much we know about gizmos even if we really don't know anything about them in the first place.

While at the store; "honey, how does this solar powered radio work?" Next thing you know, y'all have gotten it and you can't get him to leave it alone except when it comes to finding one better...



"honey, if you were going to store 100 pounds of rice how would you do it?" would at least get him thinking about how to make it work..

Under-bed boxes, etc. Main thing is to keep it dry/critter proof, and relatively accessible. I don't think everything needs to be in the same place. There was a thread a while back that might have some ideas.
ETS: preparing an apartment




Practice, practice, practice...

Adult learning theory in a nutshell: we learn only that which we have practical use for. The best way is to get someone to teach you and then do it.

Ditto what others have said about going camping and using that as a training ground for some of your skills. You can camp in your backyard, when testing out something I'll try it in the backyard first so if it doesn't work, I can just go back inside.

Start small, don't worry about felling trees. Better to learn how to build a fire in the fire place or backyard bbq pit. Practice tying a few basic knots and continue practicing until it becomes natural.

Really cool site my wife sent me.
Animated Knots by Grog

Have fun!

Welcome to the forum...
ETS is a great site for you to read and absorb a lot of information. Another Web site I just started reading and am really enjoying is Listening to Katrina

The site gives you a road map of steps you can take to prepare for a "60-second emergency" - you have to leave your house right now, then expand and expand on that level of preparedness up to and including a hurricane, or whatever.

Stick around - there's a lot to be learned here.

Dave

Thank you all so much for your help! These answers are a great start. I think my husband may for the "new gizmo" approach. He also seems to like new tools. I have never seen him do anything with them, but at least we'll have them!

I also like the camping idea. We already have a tent and sleeping bags that we have used with our son. Would this be for sleeping in the backyard in hot weather if we stay put, or just for use when "bugging out"?

I am going to try out different combinations of words while using the search function. I am sure I will find the threads you referenced.

Thanks again!

Welcome Newgal!!!

You're not the SuzieQ who is married to my wifes brother are you???

Welcome Suzie!

There are a few of us girls on here and we're slowly getting more visable. This is a great place to get started in your learning. The forum is great and be sure to read the articles too. There's lots of pros, sharing great info. I'm constantly learning something here!

My husband was slow to get onboard too - until the East coast power failure in 2003. Because we lived on the fringe of a major city, he made his daily commute by subway. Consequently, he had to walk for several hours to get home, only to be faced with climbing 24 stories to our apartment, with blisters on both feet. When he arrived, he left again to go find water for drinking and to make baby formula for our one month old.

That was a serious lighbulb moment for both of us. Even in what now seems like a tiny apartment, we found room to store extra supplies for just in case. We bought a small metal jam cupboard and filled it with canned goods. Also think about using boxes under the bed or shelves at the back of the closet.

We were already avid campers and first aiders, so we had lots of equipment and were comfortable and competent with it's use. If you're just getting started, you can learn a lot at your local outfitters. Study some local tourism pamphlets too.

*One tip on the husband/significant other front: Take a boarder view and don't undervalue their personal preferences and skills. Although my husband didn't actively seek to "become prepared", when I took an inventory, I realized that my avid camper was also someone who was proficient in first aid and CPR. He could maintain our vehicles very well and actually practices and "planned" in advance to do so. He was pretty good at plumbing, electical and home construction work too. He knew how to paddle a canoe, set up a tent and a coleman stove AND he could catch a fish!

There's lots of news currently that underscores the importance of achieving a minimal level of prepardeness for likely events in your area. Here's but one example that my husband brought to my attention. It's from Hookpunch's neck of the woods. I find it interesting because this is the second (on-going!) such event recently in this area and yet these people were still caught completely off-guard:

http://www.insidetoronto.com/news/Villager/Column/article/53533

My husband still isn't as committed to preparing for "just in case" as I'd like, but during those occassional times when he's less on-board, I just do like BobS suggested: "Even if your husband can’t be made to become part of your preparedness preparations, you can still put away food."

Welcome aboard, Suzie.

1) As mentioned, there are more women in this group.

2) Not knowing where you're from, I can't make any specific suggestions, but a person doesn't have to believe that TEOTWAWKI is around the corner to come to the conclusion that it's wise to prepare for potential bump in the road.

Some of the people in different regions prepare for different potential disasters as a way of life such as hurricane season, tornado season, winter, and so on.

3) I don't know the layout of your home, but there are quite a few places in the average home where a person can store supplies and they'd never be seen. I live in a relatively small apartment and I've utilized space in closets, under beds, under couches and so on. The hardest part about doing this is remembering where I've stored everything.

Along with finding space I will have to admit that I have thrown away items to make space for food storage and emergency supplies. I realized there were a lot of things that I've collected over the years that I would never need that took up space where I could store something that I may need in the future.

Welcome to the forum SuzieQ



chisel is one of them
if there is anything "good" about the high inflation we are seeing, it have started to convince my wife to accept my bulk purchases.

Hi SuZieQ! Here are some quick answers/thoughts:
(1) I am a female
(2) Don't nag your spouse; just go about your business, gaining knowledge, having supplies, stocking up, and you can be the "go to guy" in an emergency. When the elec. goes out at my house, I hear "Dear, where are the candles? Where is the flashlight? Where's the hand-crank radio?" I, of course, know all those answers
(3)Fill your pantry slowly with ready-to-eat meals for short=term and bulk beans 'n rice items for long term.
(4) Your location is similar to mine. I plan on bugging in and "living off the land" if needed. Be sure you have access or plans for water. Learn edible wild plants, put in a garden, be aware of possible supplies around you.

Don't think you have to know it all overnight; you are already ahead by knowing you need to prepare!

SuzieQ:
here is a starter food plan that doesn't take up much room,or much money and will get you by for a couple of days.

http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/yago104.html

as far as other ladies, we have quite a few, But they do a lot of lurking before us guys get there dander up and then they come on the forum to let us know where our thinking went wrong

Welcome to the fire newgal.

Lee

Welcome SuzieQ,
As you can see there are many people including women here that are willing to share thier experience.
Enjoy

First and formost do not panic if you don't have an elephant gun by tommorow. I did have an elephant gun once. Well, actually I carried it in Alaska for brown bears, but they never asked to borrow it. My L.A. raised, nicaraugan sister in law asked why I had an elephant gun. I said " Elephants keep walking on my roof at night." She became indignent. " You don't have elephants on your roof!"I said " SEE! it works!" A lot of survival kit is nice, but it's a lot like elephant guns. Do you really need a army surplus, field surgical kit in a web wallet or a dosimeter for fallout? First and foremost; take an inventory. $100 survival knife? Do you have a real nice HENKLES paring knife? Survival food? so buy a few extra cans of peaches and a can of coffee and sort of forget about them each shopping trip until you have this small cache.Toss a flashlight and some batteries back there. Possessions that are good enough for daily use are probably good enough in a pinch for a basic emergency. So DO NOT feel utterly unprepared.

If you are going to try camping, get a sleeping pad to put under your bag. The ground is hard and lumpy, the aches and pains in the morning can take the fun out of it real quick.

Everyone has their own starting point. I don't think mine is the best, but I'm slowly building my knowledge.

Personally I found this book to be a useful one to have around. Some of what is discussed is a bit too severe, and you wouldn't run into. But other detais, like "in your latrine, cover your poop so that you don't have contamination issues with flies" is something you slap your head and say "of course!". But maybe if I hadn't read it, it wouldn't be instinctive when needed.

And this kit is a really useful start to any bug out bag. Strangely, Amazon.com has them as part of their "subscribe and save" program, so I had them delivering them to me monthly for the shockingly low price of $21.25. I got 3, one went to my Dad, 1 went in my camping stash, and 1 went in my bug out bag. (in case I'm camping when my wife has to bug out). Right now they are out of stock but being reordered.

Both items are more engineered toward bugging out, which is my tendency because of my situation. but I don't have that much time to build these kits from scratch, so I am starting with some pre-made stuff and then when I've got my list complete I can start tweaking what I already have.

There are many books about surviving (check cody lundin) and sometimes they are best starting points, so you can get your thoughts organized. There is a lot of information to absorb before you start in earnest.

Plan your work, work your plan.

That's some solid advice Chris.

Far too often enthusiasts of any kind point folks toward a gigantic list of items that will take a good deal of time and a great amount of money to put together.

I can't speak for anyone else but I've noticed that since I've started preparing, over the course of about 2 years, I've accumulated enough stuff and gear to equip about 25 people. Just getting a little here and there really adds up.

Hi SuzieQ,

It's always nice to see other women on this forum! I'm glad you joined us.

My husband shares a bit of your husband's skepticism, so I know how you feel. It is a pretty natural response. What helps is just to keep going anyway, slowly buying supplies here and there, and learning what you can. Perhaps there is something you don't quite understand about your husband, but support him on it anyway? That keeps it in perspective for me.

Preparedness can be as simple as buying a few extra cans of food every week. The way I see it, if you're gearing up slowly because you're doing the research and buying what works specifically for you and your budget, then you're doing it right. We live in a small condo, so storage space is a concern. We can't possibly fit a whole year's worth of food in our place, but we can stretch out several weeks, at least. Don't look at things as "limitations," but rather as parameters for your own personal plan.

As far as moving your stuff, it helps to have a variety of gear systems. If we have access to our car, we can take our trunk of heavy-duty, robust gear and more supplies. If we have to proceed on foot, we have similar, but lighter "backpacking"-style equipment in packs.

Honestly, testing your skills and gear is a fun part of this learning process. It doesn't need to be "hardcore" at first, either (heck, I consider cooking in the wilderness to be an important skill), and I can't imagine any guy who wouldn't enjoy it. Just start camping with your husband and see how it goes from there.

Anyone miss Burt Gummer? Every now and then the news or Doctor Phil will spotlight some compulsive hoarder. You know; stacks of old newspapers, 12 microwaves and multiple sets of Nancy Drew mysteries to the point they sleep in the back yard with the 18 dogs.

If the ancient Anasazi god TEOTWAWKI ever blows past his brother KOKOPELLI's fake copper windchimes it should be fun. I expect half the survivalists to die in the first 5 minutes, likely crushed by falling boxes of black beans and rice MRE's. The other half will emerge thinking every nieghbor they've known for 20 years is a NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD zombie and start shooting. Once they've exausted the 10,000 rounds of chicom ammo ( defending the american way of life)the bricks of .22 and gold bullion come out of the buried PVC tubes to barter for chocolate bars. Trouble is, everybody is going to be standing there with more .22 bricks and gold bullion.

Makes note to myself: take recyclable earnings this week and buy more chocolate,catfood and rotate water.

Survival preparation is about preparing for crisis and how to come out alive and well.

It is risks management and identication.
1. what is the chance of each type of natural disaster(flood, earthquake, bushfire, etc) impacting your neighbourhood.
2. Prepare for the most likely disaster.
3. although the goverment advise to prepare a 72 hours / 3 days kit. The idea is that help will arrive within 3 days. You may want to prepare for a longer term such as 2 weeks or 3 months. Recent disasters, such as the flood in NO, earthquake in China, etc, help take longer than 3 days to arrive.
4. your survival kit should only contain essential items that will keep you alive.
5. Food - when you do your weekly shopping, you may want to spend 5 dollars to buy something extra for your pantry. eg. instead of buying 5kg of sugar, you may buy 7 kg. So that you can deposit the extra 2kg into your pantry. After sometime, your pantry will be well stock. To prevent food spoilage, I would suggest when you finish your sugar, take from your pantry. Then remember to topup the sugar on your next shopping trip.

Example - water for consumption & use, it is not necessary to store 2 weeks worth of water. It is more realistic to store a few litres of drinking water for your immediate needs. Then find a water source and process it with a portable water filter & water treatment kit for further ongoing water requirement.

Hi SuzieQ.

There are other women on the boards - myself included.

Sorry I can't really say what to do about your husband except - do not nag him about it. Go slowly. Camping is a good way to get some things you might need - there is a large crossover in things that work for camping and things that would be useful in an emergency.

Personally I pick up extra food when it goes on sale - pasta, batteries, rice, canned goods - etc. I also have some freeze dried because it stores long term so well and some MRE's for convienience. Most of the basic food is in the pantry being rotated for use. The rest is in large rubbermaid containers in a spare closet. I keep stored water in my laundry room, such as it is. Water is important. If you have pets don't forget about them.

I also save cash (on hand - some goes to the bank - but this is cash I'm referring to) from each paycheck - a little here and there. When we had the huge multi state black out a few years ago it was hard to access the bank - it would be good to have some money at home and not all in the bank.

A little bit here and there and soon you'll be ready for anything but an alien invasion.

Oh heck yes Chris, as I recall in Tremors 3, Burt's place went up in a fireball, despite having a 10 year supply of TEOTWAWKI material.

Yes, you can overprepare wastefully for this sort of thing. In fact, as Chris points out, many of us get carried away; I am as guilty as anyone of that, but then I have a certain amount of disposable income at times...

SuzieQ, the best you can do is prepare your mind, the rest will follow. We can usually figure out pretty easily what needs to be done and how to do it if we take the time to conisder the possibilities. The unfortunate are the ones who fail to foresee what can happen and be able to respond to it while there is time.

Cant help you with all the rest but I was able to get my wife "on board" by letting her simmer on ideas for a while. For example, "Honey, I am worried that if the power was out for X amount of time, how would we get by?" and "you know we have insurance if the house was get damaged, how would we make do if the insurance did not take care of things for a few days...." It worked! Now my wife has her own bug out bag (BOB) and an emergency kit / mini - BOB in her vehicle. Worst case scenerio - everyone thinks your a paramoid ecentric.

Hi SuzieQ,

Welcome! So glad you joined us! I was out of town over the weekend and wasn't able to post.

Here is the link mentioned in this thread that drew out some of the women. You might enjoy reading it.
http://forums.equipped.org/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=135349&page=1

If you want to read posts by women, I suggest you click on their name, click on "view posts" to see a list of all the posts that person has made.

It is after 3 AM. So I need to get to bed. I hope you will continue to post and ask questions! :-)

Joy

Welcome. We still don't know where you're located or what the most likely natural disaster might be for you. Concentrate on that at first with "What If" questions to your husband. Just let him understand that you don't want to be a refugee.

For me it's earthquakes -- I'm in southern California and they are real here so it's a no-brainer to be ready for the next big one. Assuming the house stays upright and I can continue to live in it, with infrastructure damaged we may need to make due with what's on hand for a while. I don't count on shopping after the shake.

Why would anyone bug out and leave home? For me in SOCAL it's the threat of wildfires. How long would it take to pack up and leave? The local FD here gave a friend of mine 5 minutes in the middle of the night. What would threaten your home enough that you'd be forced to vacate at a moment's notice? (For the record, by the time he received the vacate notice, my truck had been packed for two days. Fortunately for me the fire went his way and not mine. We could have easily switched roles.)

As for your Q about using bug-out gear in your backyard, the answer is "Yes, if the situation dictates." Using survival gear helps you gain experience and familiarity with the gear. "Emergency" equipment may be held for use only in a real emergency. Survival gear may be gear you use every day and might keep in your purse for daily use as needed. The term EDC comes up a lot around here, Every Day Carry also means every day use as required.

BTW, if you have your own car, you might consider starting with a 72 hour kit that stays in the trunk. Using a car kit at home is fine too if the situation dictates.

What an excellent thread this is! By the way, I am a woman.

There are many aspects to preparedness. First is knowledge and thanks to the Internet you can acquire that with minimal outlay and no commitment from your husband. If he happens to pick up one of the Cody Lundin books (you might strategically leave "When All Hell Breaks Loose" in the bathroom) or the thin and very readable "Surviving A Disaster, Evacuation Strategies and Emergency Kits For Staying Alive" by Tony Nester, then his appreciation for preparedness may increase.

If you are by nature organized then you start with an advantage. I break it down into "sheltering-in" and evacuation.

I backed into preparedness through an early 1990s week of ice storms and rolling blackouts that was made far more tolerable by camping gear I had recently (thankfully) acquired in anticipation of going camping the next summer. After that episode I accelerated my camp gear acquisition and did so with a newly keen eye toward its dual-use for preparedness. You already have a good start since you own a tent and sleeping bags -- useful for both evacuation and sheltering in. Camping more would be an excuse to acquire more survival gear. Meanwhile here are a few things that it occurs to me are easy to do, cheap yet priceless if an emergency arises:

Evacuation: keep your cars well-maintained, the gas tanks topped off and keep an air compressor in the car(s) for inflating the tires. Keep what camp gear you have organized in one or two plastic tubs that you can quickly grab and throw in the car. Keep some cash on hand (perhaps in one of those tubs). Imagine what food, water (and medications-first aid) you all would need for two weeks and keep it on hand. Do these things and you are way ahead.

Shelter-in: You've got your two weeks of food on hand already. Imagine hot and cold weather scenarios -- what would you need to stay comfortable if the power went out for several days? Are your sleeping bags warm enough? How would you cook? Do you have a gas grille? Do you have plenty of matches? Do you have a manual can opener? Do you have flashlights/batteries and candles for light? Do you have a hand-crank radio so that you can hear the news in an emergency? How much water will your water heater store?

Preparedness is about more than paranoia, prudence or gear acquisition. Do you have easily retrievable copies of financial statements, insurance and other important papers?

I have found that I enjoy the logistical exercise of preparedness to the degree that I have pursued it. Living where I do I'm skeptical about the feasibility of evacuating no matter how much fuel I have or even if we'll have any warning. And the truth is I'd have to be very hungry before I'd even attempt to gut a fish, let alone hunt down Bambi (with the bow and arrow I don't have). Further incentive to keep more canned tuna on hand.

Meanwhile, we enjoy camping -- periodic recreational exercises in survival -- and being prepared for power outages.

Good luck and best wishes!

Think of terms what you do everyday of your life:

Sleep; Eat; Drink; Bathroom calls; Bathing; etc. In cold, hot, rainy, and dry weather!

This will help you organize your priorities.

Part of it is having to look until you find the one that's right for you. I worked my way through a bunch of flashlights until I found the one that works for me.

I generally build kits from the stuff I upgrade from and give them away. It gets people in the be prepared mode and I figure if I slowly equip the people around me, I wont have to take care of as many people if there's an emergency.

Well, I think most people will advise you to take it one step at a time.

A good place to start is simply to build up a reserve of food and water. Instead of having one can of refried beans on hand, have ten. Every time you go to the store, but one more than you need for that week or month and stock/rotate what you normally eat.

Water storage is also easy if you keep an open mind. Simply filling washed two-liter soda bottles begins to build a supply that is easy to move and store.

Add a few flashlights, batteries and first aid kit/medicine as well as battery powered radios will get you through quite a bit if you are staying through the emergency in your house.

Regarding your husband, one technique would be to play into a guy's natural desire to provide and protect his family. I wouldn't be blunt about it, but most guys are a bit thick in the head and could use a few hints.

Good idea. I've got a couple family members that need to be jump started.

I am just blown away by the number of replies there have been to my questions. You guys (and ladies!) are so great. You have given me great things to think about and a good place to start. I am sure I will have more questions along the way.

Thanks again for the encouragement.

by the way.....I live in the Southern United States where the disasters can be frequent and varied. In my lifetime I have seen an entire neigbhorhood destroyed by a tornado, an ice storm that left people stranded at home for days, floods that destroyed an entire town (twice), temperatures so high that those without air conditioning (and knowledge) died of heat stroke and although nothing like in California, we've had the occasional earthquake. When I was a senior in high school, the police knocked on doors in our neighborhood in the middle of the night and told us we needed to leave immediately because of a gas main break. We left with our dog and the clothes on our backs. Everything turned out fine, but that situation gives me a personal point of reference from which to begin.

I think you have just answered one of your questions as to how to get your husband involved! Just point out to him what you have just told us. That would give me enough to get on board (but I am easy that way)

SuzieQ, some other reading material you may stash in the bathroom is gear and camping catalogs. There are alot of free ones out there. You can just go to their websites and request a catalog. Some good ones are Cabelas, Cheaper than dirt and Brigade Quartermaster. Everytime my neice comes for a visit, her husband and 2 boys clean me out of all my catalogs. The boys even hit me up for gear they don't have so I make a special effort to keep gear on hand that they dont have. They love coming to my house. I think deep down everyone loves gear, sometimes you just have to find the right motivation.

Living in that climate (it seems you listed everything but hurricanes), the first thing you need to address is your husband's mindset, because his seems to be defective. Unfortunately, if he doesn't get it by now, it will take a disaster that strikes too close to home to shift his view on preparedness.

Set the example. Don't talk -- Do. Find a way to store extra food that you already eat (not "survival" food). Just buy more of it a little at a time and find a way to rearrange what you have to be more efficient.

A car kit is easy, it stays in your car. If a disaster strikes while you're at home your car is likely parked there too so those supplies aren't wasted.

Good luck, stay in touch here.

Russ, you are right. I have figured that I would just buy stuff and not tell him too much. He won't be mad when he doesn't have to run to the store and fight crowds at the next sign of a storm! I forgot to mention hurricanes, but yes, we have had those too. They are rare. Usually when we get them, they are tropical storms, which can be bad enough. We've had power outages and neighbors with downed trees. When Opal reached us, she was still hurricane strength. That is remarkable because we are waaay north of the coast.

I went through Opal and Ivan and I was the one in my family that was prepared. Opal was worse than Ivan where I was (central Alabama) because the ground was already saturated so we lost more trees but I did have 4 tornadoes go through my back yard during Ivan, they didnt touch down it sure left a mess. I have noticed that those close to me listen more now than before and they don't think I'm as crazy.

With so many risks, IMHO, it is better for your family to relocate to another area that is less risky.

With jobs, family and many times the like for the weather it makes moving an option people don’t want to explore. I know I would not want to move away from my son.