Welcome SuzieQ!

Don't know your hubby but I'll let you in on a little inside "male secret" (Correct me guys if this has changed because I may have not gotten the memo yet. I'm a little out of the loop)

We love gizmos!!! It doesn't matter what our interests are, if we've never walked into the Craftsman section of Sears before in our lives, we love gizmos. And we love to show the women in our lives how much we know about gizmos even if we really don't know anything about them in the first place.

While at the store; "honey, how does this solar powered radio work?" Next thing you know, y'all have gotten it and you can't get him to leave it alone except when it comes to finding one better...



"honey, if you were going to store 100 pounds of rice how would you do it?" would at least get him thinking about how to make it work..

Under-bed boxes, etc. Main thing is to keep it dry/critter proof, and relatively accessible. I don't think everything needs to be in the same place. There was a thread a while back that might have some ideas.
ETS: preparing an apartment




Practice, practice, practice...

Adult learning theory in a nutshell: we learn only that which we have practical use for. The best way is to get someone to teach you and then do it.

Ditto what others have said about going camping and using that as a training ground for some of your skills. You can camp in your backyard, when testing out something I'll try it in the backyard first so if it doesn't work, I can just go back inside.

Start small, don't worry about felling trees. Better to learn how to build a fire in the fire place or backyard bbq pit. Practice tying a few basic knots and continue practicing until it becomes natural.

Really cool site my wife sent me.
Animated Knots by Grog

Have fun!

Welcome to the forum...
ETS is a great site for you to read and absorb a lot of information. Another Web site I just started reading and am really enjoying is Listening to Katrina

The site gives you a road map of steps you can take to prepare for a "60-second emergency" - you have to leave your house right now, then expand and expand on that level of preparedness up to and including a hurricane, or whatever.

Stick around - there's a lot to be learned here.

Dave

Thank you all so much for your help! These answers are a great start. I think my husband may for the "new gizmo" approach. He also seems to like new tools. I have never seen him do anything with them, but at least we'll have them!

I also like the camping idea. We already have a tent and sleeping bags that we have used with our son. Would this be for sleeping in the backyard in hot weather if we stay put, or just for use when "bugging out"?

I am going to try out different combinations of words while using the search function. I am sure I will find the threads you referenced.

Thanks again!

Welcome Newgal!!!

You're not the SuzieQ who is married to my wifes brother are you???

Welcome Suzie!

There are a few of us girls on here and we're slowly getting more visable. This is a great place to get started in your learning. The forum is great and be sure to read the articles too. There's lots of pros, sharing great info. I'm constantly learning something here!

My husband was slow to get onboard too - until the East coast power failure in 2003. Because we lived on the fringe of a major city, he made his daily commute by subway. Consequently, he had to walk for several hours to get home, only to be faced with climbing 24 stories to our apartment, with blisters on both feet. When he arrived, he left again to go find water for drinking and to make baby formula for our one month old.

That was a serious lighbulb moment for both of us. Even in what now seems like a tiny apartment, we found room to store extra supplies for just in case. We bought a small metal jam cupboard and filled it with canned goods. Also think about using boxes under the bed or shelves at the back of the closet.

We were already avid campers and first aiders, so we had lots of equipment and were comfortable and competent with it's use. If you're just getting started, you can learn a lot at your local outfitters. Study some local tourism pamphlets too.

*One tip on the husband/significant other front: Take a boarder view and don't undervalue their personal preferences and skills. Although my husband didn't actively seek to "become prepared", when I took an inventory, I realized that my avid camper was also someone who was proficient in first aid and CPR. He could maintain our vehicles very well and actually practices and "planned" in advance to do so. He was pretty good at plumbing, electical and home construction work too. He knew how to paddle a canoe, set up a tent and a coleman stove AND he could catch a fish!

There's lots of news currently that underscores the importance of achieving a minimal level of prepardeness for likely events in your area. Here's but one example that my husband brought to my attention. It's from Hookpunch's neck of the woods. I find it interesting because this is the second (on-going!) such event recently in this area and yet these people were still caught completely off-guard:

http://www.insidetoronto.com/news/Villager/Column/article/53533

My husband still isn't as committed to preparing for "just in case" as I'd like, but during those occassional times when he's less on-board, I just do like BobS suggested: "Even if your husband can’t be made to become part of your preparedness preparations, you can still put away food."

Welcome aboard, Suzie.

1) As mentioned, there are more women in this group.

2) Not knowing where you're from, I can't make any specific suggestions, but a person doesn't have to believe that TEOTWAWKI is around the corner to come to the conclusion that it's wise to prepare for potential bump in the road.

Some of the people in different regions prepare for different potential disasters as a way of life such as hurricane season, tornado season, winter, and so on.

3) I don't know the layout of your home, but there are quite a few places in the average home where a person can store supplies and they'd never be seen. I live in a relatively small apartment and I've utilized space in closets, under beds, under couches and so on. The hardest part about doing this is remembering where I've stored everything.

Along with finding space I will have to admit that I have thrown away items to make space for food storage and emergency supplies. I realized there were a lot of things that I've collected over the years that I would never need that took up space where I could store something that I may need in the future.

Welcome to the forum SuzieQ



chisel is one of them
if there is anything "good" about the high inflation we are seeing, it have started to convince my wife to accept my bulk purchases.

Hi SuZieQ! Here are some quick answers/thoughts:
(1) I am a female
(2) Don't nag your spouse; just go about your business, gaining knowledge, having supplies, stocking up, and you can be the "go to guy" in an emergency. When the elec. goes out at my house, I hear "Dear, where are the candles? Where is the flashlight? Where's the hand-crank radio?" I, of course, know all those answers
(3)Fill your pantry slowly with ready-to-eat meals for short=term and bulk beans 'n rice items for long term.
(4) Your location is similar to mine. I plan on bugging in and "living off the land" if needed. Be sure you have access or plans for water. Learn edible wild plants, put in a garden, be aware of possible supplies around you.

Don't think you have to know it all overnight; you are already ahead by knowing you need to prepare!

SuzieQ:
here is a starter food plan that doesn't take up much room,or much money and will get you by for a couple of days.

http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/yago104.html

as far as other ladies, we have quite a few, But they do a lot of lurking before us guys get there dander up and then they come on the forum to let us know where our thinking went wrong

Welcome to the fire newgal.

Lee