Interesting idea...I think of risk assessment as a first step with preparedness being the application or action taken on one's assessment. But you may be right, "risk assessment" may be less off-putting for some.

In trying to get others to think about risk assessment/preparedness, I point to current events (power out for days in St. Louis and Queens) or historical events that affected masses of people (Katrina, huge ice storm in Canada, 9/11) and encourage people to put themselves in those people's shoes. Usually gets people thinking. Or, I look at something fairly minor like the recent CTA train derailment/fire in Chicago where a filter mask and small flashlight would've been simple EDC items that could've made a differenc.

This is what going crazy must feel like.

They go into overwelm. There are those of us who Preach the Sermon of Preperation, and we bring into it things like hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, et al. The first thing that the average person thinks of is the media images, which are frequently the worst of it, and focus on bigger-than-human issues (levees, overpasses, et al) and every horrible post-nuke/plague/mad max/disaster movie they've ever seen. They think of 55 gallon drums of water and fuel, stacks of MREs, those accursed field surgery kits, and exotic tools, while juggling fall out and brain sucking mutant alien cyborg zombie biker gangs. Ones that are on fire.

Thier brains just shut down.

I start them small, ask them how much they have in thier mad money collection, and either sit down with them with a website or three, or just drag them to wally-world, home despot and a grocery store. Buy NOTHING (ok, at the grocery store buy something or they will follow you). Instead, write down prices and quantities. then sit down with them, and look to see what they do have (chainsaw, shovels, sleeping bags, etc). Take those off the list. First thing is water containers, a thing of bleach, some extra canned/dry goods, and an extra container for lawn mower gas and a sign that says "if I'm empty, fill me" go over the cans. Put a similair sign under the fuel gauge in the cars. Work your way down the list, showing what can be done now, what should be done as soon as finances allow, and what is just nice to have. It suddenly become managable to them.

Only problem is is that you have to hold thier hand while they are learning, it has to be one on one. It's just teaching most people to use a computer if they've only had limited (or no) experince with them. Or drive a stick shift, or to shoot, or ride a horse, or any of a thousand things that you really can't learn out of a book.

Also, no one likes a know-it-all. I think a lot of us might have issues of presentation, becuase a lot of this is just "duh" stuff to us.

Great poll! It would be interesting if you could have some follow-up questions to see if they are being truthful or are they just fooling themselves. Most people have no idea how much they actually have at home and will give the "right" answer so as not to sound unprepared, stupid, wrong, etc. It's typical of almost every survey ever conducted, kind of like people telling you what you want to hear. How are they actively working towards preparedness? What have they done this week in that direction? What method is their means to make drinkable water? Have they actually tried this method?
I like to ask people what they would do after a hurricane (I live in Houston, TX) when the power is out for a week. When they stumble around and don't have a good answer then start going in the direction of "Well FEMA is going to come and...", I say one word - KATRINA! Then they get this panicked look and I just shake my head. They don't want to acknowledge the fragility of their existence so they live in a delusion that everything's going to be OK. Sad isn't it!

I've followed up informally with many of the people. Though my intention was for this to be a poll, many perceived it to be a test and probably did tend to make themselves look a little better. Though many said they were actively working towards preparedness, most evidence was to the contrary.

The question about when folks fill their tank was missing an option--the quarter tank fillup. I think folks were hedging between "half tank" and "low gas light" and didn't want to look like chumps. But several admitted that "half tank" was overly optimistic.

There were some responses that didn't surprise and others that did. One guy is a responsible father of four but he "failed" almost every question. Yikes! To me, it's one thing if you're a young, single person who's only responsible for yourself but those with others in their care need to be a bit more on the ball.

Several of these folks are from my church and I have a blog that I've done preparedness posts on, primarily targeted at them and just "city folks" in general. One thing that seems to really hit home is when I say, "During a crisis, you are either going to be a blessing or a burden to those around you." That seems to really hit home and get them thinking beyond themselves.

Well, speaking as a father of four (oldest is 8), it is a bit intimidating to prepare and account for all the things that need to happen. Just water, for example. FEMA recommends 1 gal/person/day, with 3 day supply. So that is 24 gallons of water, just for 3 days. And, as we know, that is an optimistic assessment in some areas. Doesn't sound like much until you are trying to actually figure out where to keep it. But what about if we bug out? I can't keep much in the van, if preparedness/backup supplies encroach on grocery or packing space then I hear about it.

If your friend with 4 kids is intimidated, or anyone for that matter, hopefully you'll have a chance to follow up with some of the good recommendations from this thread. I've been slowly accumulating supplies, rather than all at once. Also, having a good plan is probably the most important thing.

Anotherinkling,

Your blog sounds interesting. Any chance of you posting the URL?

-Blast

At the risk of losing some of my online anonymity, here you go: Another Inkling. The "Building Tangible Margin" series is the preparedness effort. Religion, politics and other miscellanea are thrown in for free. <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Great thread. IMO and as has been mentioned already the media bias against those who are preparing is high on the list of why people don’t. Not only do you have your movies like Mad Max & Waterworld, but also even the cartoon movies like Ice Age make those who are preparing for the worst look like we are nuts. If you’ve seen that movie & you are into preparing you are represented by the DODO birds. (My kids love that part by the way) Of course “It’s too expensive” and Laziness are also high on the list, but at the top has to be “It won’t happen to Me”. That has to be one of the biggest flaws in human thinking – why else would thousands of normal people climb behind the wheel of a car drunk every weekend?

Don’t forget the 40 gal. in your water heater that could come in handy if you lost water pressure immediately. If you have to bug out really quickly hauling all that on foot would be impossible. But if you have the time to drain it into inflatiable water bags & your vehicle is working that is several days supply even for a family of six. Especially if you conserve it by not working in the sun, etc.