I am with ya...these are a bit of a hard sell, but they are damn functional devices.

How did the hurricanes hit you over the past few years....any power outages or worse evacuations.

It took me several years but I finally got my wife thinking along the same lines as me. In 1991 we had a moderate earthquake here...my worksite was badly damaged...hers was just fine. Communications were a mess between us. She found our local CERT classes (which I highly recommend) and in the course of several years we just keep adding to our prep. She got her HAM license, we volunteer at our community EOC for communications, have shelter management training, etc.

I highly recommend CERT training not for the actual skills learned, but for the entry point they make in family discussions and prep. CERT and any subsequent training opens up the ability to plan, prepare, and yes spend on some of the things that you mutually agree would be valuable.

Now a few 5gal bottles of water in the basement, 24 packs of batteries, a gallon or two of coleman fuel, a decent stove, tarp, rope, cord, sleeping bags, decent boots, tools....well you name it no longer has to have an immediate and daily use. Buying a few things for a kit that hopefully will never be used is hard to do, but CERT or similar training at least opens up the discussion.

I do love these Kettles for their very unique and fun abilities. I bought my first 1-pint Kelly for the fun of it and learned quite quickly just how nice they can be for more dire needs.

$100 on a wood fired water boiler seems high....and likely would not be my first emergency expeduture....but as part of an overall plan I do highly recommend it as a discussion item at least.

They are fun too