Hey everyone,
I came across this forum through some random google search a couple days ago, and I have since been reading the threads til my eyes are crossing. Now my account was approved and I can jump in and say hi. I don't know much about much when it comes to survival stuff, but I think I'll learn a lot here.

I'm a mom to a three year old girl, stepmom to 3 teenage girls. My dear husband is a Marine, and I often worry about what will happen if he is not around one day when the SHTF. So, here I find myself scouring the net for information.

I think my first step is going to be to prepare an emergency binder like I saw mentioned in another thread. Meanwhile, each time I do my shopping I will be working on food and first aid stocking. Any third step suggestions are welcomed!

I suppose my biggest worry is that some disaster will happen, and I alone will be responsible for keeping my kids alive!

Anyway, nice to meet you all, and I hope I am able to contribute something here or there that someone might find useful!

Welcome!

To tell the truth, I think women are a little better mentally set up to deal with some of this stuff. The guys are more interested in gear! You can do it!

Shelter
Fire
Water
Food
First Aid

Just start with the basics and keep going. Don't be afraid to ask questions. There ARE no stupid questions!

Identify what problems you are most likely to face where you live, and then work on how to deal with them.

If you think it might be likely that you would have to go to a shelter, why not start with that? A couple of carryable totes with lids with what you think the four of you would need for a stay in a Red Cross shelter. Then branch out to sheltering at home and in your car, or at a friend's or relative's place.

Even thinking that something could happen is farther than most Americans will plan ahead. You'll do fine.

Sue

Welcome to the fire! We're glad you found this place worth of joining.

-Blast

You're already a survivor. Mothers of teenagers are among the toughest people around. That's a survival situation I haven't faced. I'd sooner deal with a month-long power outage in July.

Also check out this blog by a mom who became interested in preparedness and in classic achiever-mom fashion, is learning everything she can and sharing her knowledge.

http://thesurvivalmom.com/

Susan got you off to a great start. It helped me to organize learning and prep around the basic tenants of survival.

Welcome aboard! Good to have another chick around here.

:-)

Hello, Krista. Welcome aboard!

Howdy.

Hello new person. *waves*

If it gets rough, how together are the teenagers? I'm not trying to be mean, I knew some who were already thinking about prep (JIM, Climberslacker) enough to come here. Others... not so much. In any case, talk with them, be open about what you are doing with the preps and why.

And the why is the good part. What kind of dangers do you have, how long do you think you can stay if you have to bug in, and if you have to bug out, where are you going? How are you getting there, becuase with a three year old you probably aren't walking.

So far, you've got a good start in terms of the gear. Take your time on the food and medical, you can do that in bits and peices as you are now. And a Blast Book is a serious tool, and very drool worthy if you can do a complete one. The third step is to plan, like I mentioned. What can go wrong naturally? What are y our man made threats? How to get out, and when that route turns into a parking lot, now what? That is the real tactical thinking in prepping IMHO.

Welcome to the fire, good people here.

Lee

Welcome to the Fire and Semper Fi!!!

I totally agree with Susan's advice and Blast's Book has been an invaluable asset (Guidance) for my wife since I am also gone from home a great deal. We are also a military family that are now retired.

Possible problems to look for and at, IMO, are:

Natural - Hurricanes, Earthquakes, Winter Storms, Volcanoes, Tsunami, etc. Look at how probable these are likely to occur in your area and then you can start figuring out ways to mitigate the effects such an occurrance would have on you and your family.

Manmade - Any highways, railroads, or navigable rivers near you? If commercial traffic comes near your home, then Hazardous Cargoes are using those routes and a HazMat Incident could occur that would force a quick evacuation. The possibility of a terrorist incident, a nuclear power plant accident upwind of you should be determined and assessed, as well, IMO.

I definitely recommend that each person in the household have a BoB. These can be assembled over time and improved upon over time.

Every place has it's STOBOR!!!

Okay, LOL, let’s see if I can get replies to you all in here, I’m not really used to “chatting” in forums, it might take me a bit to figure out the most efficient way to reply to multiple posts!

Susan- I love your idea for getting totes ready for emergency. I’m a bit OCD and already use them like crazy! I am not really sure if the red cross shelter is applicable to my situation… you see, I live on a military base and quite honestly, I don’t know what would happen here in an emergency situation. I can guess that the first thing would be base lockdown (no one in no one out). I am definitely going to make an emergency kit to keep in my vehicle, though, that’s just practical for even a regular old break-down.

Blast- Thanks for the welcome, I have to say your emergency binder sucked me in! And the wild edibles blogs are great. The one link in your signature says for mobile devices…. How can I get that on my phone, just bookmark it as a favorite page through the browser? (sorry, I’m not all the tech savvy)

Dadgny- Thanks for the link, I‘m enjoying it with my morning coffee!

Hi Doug, Art and leeman, thanks for the welcome!

Ironraven-You definitely made some good points. My teenagers are aware of the possibilities of things that can happen. They have pretty good heads on their shoulders (one per kid I mean, not multiple heads). They take direction just fine, but if they were alone I’m not sure they would fare to well….

Wildman- I think it’s a great idea for everyone to have their own emergency bag. Do you think I should have similar items in everyone’s…. Or a variety in each bag so that as a group we have more options? As I type that I realize the flaw… if we were separated one person might me more “screwed” if their bag wasn’t sufficient….. hmmm.

The only thing more frightening than being between a bear and her cubs... would be to obstruct an infuriated mom fighting for her kids!

Welcome to the forum, I'm sure I'll learn plenty from you. (My own disaster preparedness is ... let's just say, on the way to improvement...)

lol- thanks harmless! that's a great way to look at it, I get angry just thinking about a threat to my kids.
We may still be learning, but at least we've made the step to try and learn more! most people wouldn't bother.

Welcome aboard, Krista.

HI!
WELCOME!

Welcome,

While you may feel that you are here to learn (and there are a lot of knowledgeable folks here willing to share and help out), I am sure we can also learn from you as well. Sharing your experiences, both good and bad can give other members the chance to evaluate their situation and glean ideas for improving their preparation plans. Disaster/Emergency preparation should be viewed as dynamic and each individual/family should take a regular accounting of their situation and what they can reasonably do to improve their preparedness.

On a side note, my daughter and son-in-law live in Wilmington, NC, so I have a vested interest in the area. My son-in-law is in the Coast Guard and is currently assigned to Station Wrightsville Beach.

Pete

Hi Krista,
First - welcome, pull up a log, kick back and relax. I'm the Dad of a girl who becomes a teen next week - Oh boy. (and a guy who turns 9 later in the month)

As someone above said, there mere fact that you've thought about this puts you head and shoulders above 99% of the folks out there

From what I've seen from friends who are "in", there seems to be a fairly good support network among the families, which is a good thing, and I would NOT be surprised if there was a set of SOPs that either your husband, or the spouse (I'd say wife, but that would be sexist) of one of his higher in the chain could show you/talk to you about

Being prepared is "smart". I'm glad to see you here.

Welcome.

Yep, just bookmark it. Unfortunately your mobile device does need to be connected to the internet to access my website. It's not a stand-alone app, I'm not smart enough to make one of those.

Sidenote: I'm looking for a programmer to help me turn it into an app.

-Blast

Krista, glad you've joined up! This is a great, if not sometimes a little goofy, place with really intelligent and thoughtful (and polite) contributors. The information flows in all directions so please post more about your experiences on the never ending road of preparedness.

Zoombies are the chief inside joke here, just our way of having a little fun.

I was vey lucky to have survived two teenage daughters and more blessed than I can say with the wonderful young women they've become. But talk about journeys...

Thank you too for your family's service.

Come back often!

Those dammed zoombies. Just like a real zombie buy WAY faster!

Welcome, Krista! I teach at an all-girls school so if you can handle 3 teenage girls, you'll be able to handle just about any drama.

Looking forward to learning from your ideas.

I’m still surviving 3 daughters (last one graduated a year ago), and know my kids’ talents, strengths and weaknesses. I’m sure you do too, so use that to your advantage. All 3 are living 4 hours from our rural home, now in the urban jungle, working and going to school. I still sleep pretty well.
Growing up they each learned 4 important things, how to build a fire safely, how to fish (and find their own bait), how to change a flat tire, and locating foods that grew (or graze) in our surroundings.
We went primitive camping at least once a year.
Our local High School offered a course that included reading maps and compasses, firearm safety, and some other basic survival skills. My youngest really enjoyed the course and even received a marksmen award.
Knowing first aid is a must, having a kit too, at the least have a handy book on the basics. I keep an old Bell South telephone from the 70’s in my home office as it can be used in a power outage – doesn’t require batteries or recharging.
I have checklists for most everything and for various activities my family participates in.
For stockpiling food I have a list of those store bought items that normally carry the longest expiration dates. Don’t forget the OTC meds.
Oh, there is plenty of advice in the forums, so enjoy.

Best wishes to you and yours

Welcome. Enjoy the free flow of knowledge (and sometimes frivolity).

Hello Krista...
I am a newbie here. I have gone through this thread.

I think you have more self confidence. So go ahead with your thoughts. Luck will be yours Krista.

stair ice mat

Welcome to the fire Jenny and stay a while.

Lee