Anyone else feel overwhelmed with trying to keep up with BOBs, car kits, household disaster supplies, first aid kits, EDC gear, etc?

I feel overwhelmed with "stuff".

My wife just emptied the trunk of the car of all my emergency supplies to make room for a girl scout cookies/supplies for a booth sale, and I looked at this pile of "stuff" in my kitchen and thought "man, this is ridiculous".

Then I think "what if this happens or that happens" or "this happened once before and boy was I glad I had "X" on hand".

It seems that it's never enough sometimes.

There's got to be a simpler way of me to do this.

Hurricane season is approaching and I know better than to do nothing but I don't know where preparing becomes overkill.

Reality check anyone?

It never rains when you carry an umbrella . . . until it starts raining. You need to decide when it's wise to increase readiness and when you can relax. Hurricane season, winter . . . things change.

That said, I keep a lot of stuff in my truck because it's always earthquake season. When wildfire season strikes I have time to really fill the truck.

Hi Samhain,

The reality check is that you looked at it and started analyzing what you have and started thinking again about the probabilities and likelyhoods of issues happening to you and yours.

Look at the glass as half full. The stuff has been used for its rightfull purposes in the past and it will again (if it is present at the time). Don't get wound up second guessing yourself.

Take the opportunity to check for expired items, items that can in reality be replaced with something better in a practical manner given the resources at your disposal and move on.

When it is needed (again) you will feel much better about having stayed the course.

HTH

Regards,
Comanche7

You can never have too much stuff. As long as you have room for it, know how to use it, and it isn't expired, you are good to go...

The task is daunting and never ends. I get 1 area up to my standards and then start working on another. When everything has been brought up to that minimum standard, I raise the standard and start all over again. I also have to replace expired items while keeping track of what has or is about to expire.
THEN something happens and these supplies are needed and used. My wife and family has weathered the worst in relative comfort and I feel like the wisest man in the world. In between, I prepare and prepare and prepare. I don't do without and I don't try to do everything at once. I'm too stupid to quit doing what I know is the right thing! Take heart.

Look first for the things that are overly redundant (do I need a deLorme book plus the state road map plus quad maps for the country, or can I get by with the deLorme maps?).

Then look at the stuff you can consolidate with a multipurpose item (do I need a bivvy bag plus a poncho plus a box of 55 gallon bags, or can I get by with just the 55 gallon bags?).

Then look at the seasonal items (do I need the -20 sleeping bag, or can I get by with the 20 degree bag?) and the modular items (do I need the 20 degree bag, or can I get by with the 40 degree one and a spare blanket and the spare beenie and sweatshirt I've got in the car)?.

And the items that aren't needed, but you put in just in case, and ask if those cases have existed in the past five years (do I need a snake bite kit in Ireland?).

And remember, duct tape, brass wire, paracord and a mix of various sized of zip ties can fix almost everything.

My wife and I spent a good deal of yesterday getting rid of the junk stuff in our house to make way for valid stuff. Examples -

50 or so pieces of tupperware was overkill, now 20 pieces of tupperware is plenty and probably overkill too...

Placemats, seasonal adornments, mixing bowls (convinced my wife to whiddle the number down to 11!), and the list of junk stuff goes on and on...

Now we have room for good stuff, like more food, water and gear...

If you need a check, as the wife. I would never be able to argue another flashlight, but she has been all about food prep lately.

I too, work on a few different areas at a time - Food, Water, First Aid, Gear, and home saftey/defense. Food and water lately because of affordability but I am about to shift to home defense (tax refund and 3 checks in May, hurray!)

You can never have too much food or water stored. Concentrate on food and water for a while as you reasses your situation. It is cheap and you can never have enough.

If you are a pack-rat, GET RID OF THE PACK-RAT MENTALITY. Donate overlyredundant gear and get rid of the clutter to make way for meaningful equipment.

As time goes on we acquire better gear:
Example- The MnM's candy propaganda auto-scan FM radio becomes a Coby AM/FM radio becomes an Sony AM/FM/TV radio which becomes a Grundig crank AM/FM/SW with light and cellphone charger accompanied by Cobra walkie talkies with NOAA WB capabilities. So get rid of the autoscan, the coby and possibly the sony.

Also, try to incoorporate the Concentric Rings theory and eliminate some of the redundancy for better capability...

And one last thing - your family, neighbors or friends might be looking to you when TSHTF...

Just some random thoughts...

Yep, it is real easy to go overboard ain't it. I try to think in terms of what I can comfortably carry on my person should the need arise. I think something on the order of a small cheap backpack or duffle bag full of essentials is the max for day to day transit situations. If you know you are going to be in a situation with an elevated risk factor, then augment your basics with what makes sense, but still think in terms of minimalist.

That said, have a BOB that is more robust yet easy to stow, so that if TSHTF situation comes up you can grab it and go, but you don't have to have it with you or in the vehicle otherwise.

I keep a daypack sized backpack with my semi-EDC goods in it with about 2 cubic feet of stowage max. This is not encumbering in the trunk of a car, and is easily donned and transportable should I need to go afoot instead. Let's face it, if I can get by for two weeks with a 50 lb pack out in the nasty wilderness, then a 10-12 lb daypack full of essentials ought to do me well enough for a few days. The BOB in my garage has the other 40 lbs of gear, and the 4 water jugs sitting next to it take care of what's left if things got really bad and I had to run away.

I look at it like this; I can put a full ton of gear into my rig for a two week stint in the Cascades in winter and have a home away from home. If I can find a water source near where I can pitch camp, I can be there all winter if I want to, save for maybe running out of food, which one elk in the pot would resolve. Of course, I've spent two weeks at elk camp with 50 lbs of gear and a rifle, too. It can go either way.

I'm also facing the same problem. In the year that I've been active on this forum, my survival equipment/EDC/FAK has grown like a 200% Now I'm trying to slim it all down again. The worst problem are all the items that expire. I found that the key is making scedules of when to replace it all.

Good luck!!

I think what we need is a modular system. We dont have to carry eveything all the time. That is definitely an overkill.

My preparedness philosophy is a combination of modular BOBs plus CACHES (pre-deposited items) in areas I frequently visit. In normal times, I only carry the smalllest EDC, the car has a small BOB. Office has a Cache (which you can call another BOB but is different in contents), and that way you dont feel like carrying a ton of stuff in your car all the time.

Split the stuff and be reasonbable. Split it in differenmt areas you could visit, and also split it among the family members who are old enough to know what it is for.

And of course, if you are continuously seduced to buy toys .. er.. survival equipment, let your wife keep the wallet for you. At least that way someone else is blamed for wasting the family money. HAHA HAHA