My wife is pretty resistant to the whole preparedness idea. She tolerates the 63 gallons of water I keep in the basement, and the fact that I insist on cargo pants to carry my gear every day. She rolls her eyes and complains from time to time, yet I think deep down, she's glad that I'm doing things to look after our family.

She had a small breakthrough recently, and I don't think she even realized it. I've become fond of Hefty Handi Sacks...compact size, small plastic bags with handles (like mini grocery bags). Very handy with small children in the family...small trash bags for the car, or great for holding soiled clothes when the kids just don't make it to the bathroom in time.

So we were getting a few things at the store for a trip to the Mall of America (in hind sight, it's just a mall, and not nearly as much fun as when my wife and I were dating). Anyhow, my wife was at the store and got something for me to take in my Mall of America bag of tricks (EDC bag plus a few family extras...speaking of which, carrying a laptop at the MOA is a waste of weight and not good for the back, note to self). She bought this little plastic Eddie Bauer dispenser that holds a small roll of plastic bags. Now granted, it was Eddie Bauer, and it was redundant for something I already carried, but it showed me a change in the way she thinks. Her heart (and prep thinking) was in the right place, so I thanked her and added it to my bag.

When she starts buying gear on my want list "just because", we'll really be on to something! For now, I'm thankful for the progress I see. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Yay, sometimes we have to be converted by taking "baby steps" as I tell DH when he pushes me to be more prepared. Your wife sounds a lot like me when it comes to preparedness. As she finds that it is easy to carry/obtain/use these little things that make life easier, she'll eventually start to carry/obtain/learn to use more of the items that you think are so useful for preparedness. For example, when DH took us camping over the weekend I found myself in a small group that was comparing the different knives that they carried and I actually had my own to show off too.

Oh, and I agree those plastic grocery bags are great. I always keep a few grocery bags rolled up in my bag.

-Kuovonne

EDC thinking will certainly rub off on spouses. My wife now has a SAK on her keychain, small first aid kit in her purse, and we keep a small box of emergency supplies and snacks in the van. The largest example is this weekend she asked me to put together a small emergency kit to give to her sister as a birthday present. After seeing for themselves the value of having tools, first aid supplies, snacks and other things available, others will want to spread the idea of being prepared. I too got the rolling of the eyes, but after a while that turns into a look of acknowledgement and agreement.

SRMC

So what all did you put in it, may I ask. I'm curious.

-- Craig

I've always been a prepared kinda guy, growing up in the desert and retired military and all. My wife came around on 9/11 when i called her from work to get the kids from school in case things continued. I was home and ready to go before she got home. We obviously didn't need to leave but she was impressed that if we needed to we could bail and still be comfortable.

Craig, sorry for the delay in my response. I didn't see your question until today.

The bag we put together is more of an emergency kit than a BOB. I included: a basic set tools for the car (screwdrivers, wrenches, pliers), multi-tool, zip ties, small first aid kit, power bar type foods, work gloves, handi-wipes and hand sanitizer, Maxfire flashlight and extra batteries, cyalume sticks, and a bag that could also fit some water bottles. She has three kids and isn't usually out in the boonies, so it was more geared toward the things she might need should the car break down or she need to take care of the kids on a trip to the park. I'm not sure my sister in law fully appreciated the effort, but I was just happy that my wife has started thinking about planning for contingencies.

SRMC

It's kind of funny because afterwards she was more than willing to help me put together a layered disaster plan with meeting points, lines of communications and minimum vehicle kits, and calulating who will get which kids from where. it's been an evolutionary thing.