[Ricekila]

It finally clicked in with Wifey #2 --- during the weeks / months after Sandy -- food was a little scarce / gas was hard to get / no power or nat. gas on the street --

I had to impress on her ---- when yacking with her hen's at work -- agree with them -- :

"Yes - I was on a gas line for 3 hours"

"Yes theres no heat in the house"

"Food -- what food" :

Now when I tell her - I'm getting another 5 gal. gas can to fill & store away -- and I ask her to get a few dozen food cans ------- I dont get the 3rd. degree anymore :thumb:

 

[OldBlackWater]

I've experienced many people who are not even affected by my prepping get adversarial with me about it.

Took me awhile to figure it out but what I believe now is my prepping challenges their world view.

They want to live in their fantasy world of unicorns and rainbows where nothing bad ever happens and even if they did big brother will immediately show up and fix things for everybody.

What my prepping reminds them, albeit if only subconsciously, is that they have done nothing to protect themselves and would be in deep doo doo if ANY kind of emergency happened.

Most people don't even have a contingency for if the power is out for more than a couple of hours.

As for couple's, most cases I've seen is that the non-prepper is being selfish and only seeing that this money is not being spent on things THEY want rather than seeing that it is most likely being spent on things the household would need to buy anyway and you are actually saving money long term by buying it in bulk and when it is at sale prices.

That's my theory anyway and so far it's holding water.

.

 

[willthrill81]

It's very nice of you to worry about your neighbor's survival, but as cold as it sounds, their survival is their responsibility...not yours. Worry about your own family. If they want to survive...they'll do the same.

I understand your sentiment, and I once shared it. But no longer.

Do you really want to be the person who let's the sweet old lady down the street who has baby sat your kids and given toy baked goods to starve over a two month disaster? I certainly don't, especially when I can very cheaply invest in some extra rice and pasta.

 

[OldBlackWater]

I understand your sentiment, and I once shared it. But no longer.

Do you really want to be the person who let's the sweet old lady down the street who has baby sat your kids and given toy baked goods to starve over a two month disaster? I certainly don't, especially when I can very cheaply invest in some extra rice and pasta.

I don't think Paul or most Preppers are saying don't do anything to help others as it will take some community for any of us to survive most emergencies.

But it is foolish to think you can prep enough to save everyone else, unless you are filthy rich.

And it is unwise to openly give to others in emergencies because you suddenly become the hoarder who has everything and suddenly you have a big target in your back.

If you wish to help others I would recommend you drop things off anonymously or go through a third party like a church or something so you don't make yourself a target.

YMMV
.

 

[Dobbs]

I see a lot of post on here about only need to keep what you can carrie,You can't take two trucks loads of food or 10 guns with you will from what i can see or have read unless you are living in a major city this may be true.Most any thing that happens is not going to be mad max the next day at least 90% of what happens . unless Yellow stone blows or nukes start raining down or an Asteroid hit us it going to be a while before you have to run for the hills. Its going to be a fw days to maybe a month before you have or can leave out so having two loads of food and stuff would be better

 

[IamZeke]

I have begun joking about it and saying.....well the food is good for 25 years. We can eat it on year 10 and we wont have to buy groceries for 6 or twelve months! its impossile to hide....I have bought a lot of # 10 cans that announce their arrival with bells and barking dogs lol....and he found my water stash downstairs. He opened a closet ant it was full of water bricks

You recall my mention of the holistic approach.

When the doorbell rings tell your mate that dinner has arrived, next year's dinner.

Use the stuff now to show him it is part of your overall new house diet plan. Start using fresh and wholesome preserved foods for almost all of your cooking. If your mate whines you tell them a good diet is cheaper than medical bills and they have a lot more years of work to pay off their investment of marrying someone of your esteemed stature. :

Just filling all the empty spaces in your home leaves a nonprepping mate a little flat feeling. They start to feel like they are enabling a hoarder and because they are deep in "normalcy bias" they feel something is mentally off with you. So your preps have to look like they are being used regularly. Take up home canning and dehydrating. Drag your mate out on trips to local farms to buy fresh stuff for your preservation efforts. Throw a few large extended family dinners. Send your mate to work with baked goods and jars of preserves to pass out. By engaging in all of these activities the deliveries quit being the prime focus and just a component of a larger effort. Perhaps your mate might even fondly remember the deliveries as the lazy easy days when he's hip deep deboning 20 chickens.

And always remember to run a private log showing your food savings. The first years will be all negative as you stock up, but with some written analysis you should be able to prove that your method of dry and fresh foods is cheaper than what it would cost to go back to the easy packaged grocery store stuff. If you can prove in a few years that you are saving money, putting enjoyable food on the table, and eating healthier then your mate has no real basis for complaint. At that point your mate is just whining for its own sake and you should be able to squash that with a bit of attitude.

 

[Grotius]

"How do you deal with friends and family while preparing? My hubby is done humoring me and isn't happy when I spend money on it."

I don't deal with "friends" about it. I only deal on a limited basis with family (outside my nuclear family). I encourage you to be very careful with whom you share any preparedness planning also.

In terms of your husband, however, when you married him you believed he was at least a rational type of guy (hopefully). Right?

Try going to these websites:

www.ready.com

http://www.fema.gov/pdf/areyouready/areyouready_full.pdf

http://www.fema.gov/media-library-data/20130726-1549-20490-2111/basic_preparedness.pdf

https://www.fema.gov/what-mitigation/plan-prepare

http://www.nasa.gov/centers/hq/pdf/552384main_484113main_Revised2emergencySupplyKit_TAGGED.pdf

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IoBvDIlgiRQ

Review the material on planning, and some of the scenarios and case studies.

Then depending on where you live, your circumstances, etc., put it on your husband. Just sit down and in a non-aggressive tone inquire "if X happened", what would YOU want us to be able to do? "If Y were to occur, as it has to so many others, what would be our plan?? What would we do?"

Share some of your thoughts, concerns, and questions with your husband. show him any material you've printed from the above websites, and impress on him that this isn't wild-eyed bloggers, but input from the US government - specifically FEMA and NASA. The US government is recommending that US citizens at least consider these matters.

Many guys are problem solvers. Lay out a problem and tell them to solve it.

If you can co-opt your husband into trying to put down on paper exactly, in detail, how he would respond to specific given situations that might happen in your part of the US, or what he would want to have in place for both of you; you may find that he will understand your efforts from a different perspective.

Start with just him. Worry about others later.

Hope this helps.

 

[Coral]

Lol ricekila! I had one redeeming moment. Last september we had a freak heavy snow while the leaves were still on the trees. Our power went out......guess who had wood for the fireplace and most importantly, a percolater for coffee. I lost him again when I bought a gas powered chainsaw LOL

 

[NJPrepper]

Don't ask. Don't tell.

I asked a similar question when I started prepping not too long ago. Many people told me to have a good heart-to-heart discussion with my wife. I did. She humored me, but I could tell she didn't feel the same. So now I just do my thing without mentioning it. For example, I got up early this morning and went to the flea market. I bought a few "normal" things and a glass oil lamp. Later, we went to another flea market together. She bought what she wanted. I bought another oil lamp. Just don't go overboard on the spending so there's nothing to argue about. I'm sure your spouse spends $ on what he likes, so what can he really say about you spending $ on what you like? You'll only run into trouble when you spend $$$.

 

[Ricekila]

That when -- the next black out --- you light "your" lamp - and when she sayz -- can she use one to go potty - you say -- :

"Use that sweater ( ? ) you bought -- it should stay lit long enough"

 

[Kalashnikov47]

I see a lot of post on here about only need to keep what you can carrie,You can't take two trucks loads of food or 10 guns with you will from what i can see or have read unless you are living in a major city this may be true.Most any thing that happens is not going to be mad max the next day at least 90% of what happens . unless Yellow stone blows or nukes start raining down or an Asteroid hit us it going to be a while before you have to run for the hills. Its going to be a fw days to maybe a month before you have or can leave out so having two loads of food and stuff would be better

I actually never looked at it like an of the world type of scenario, we've been through natural disasters and that is what we prep for, at any rate, we don't plan on heading for the hills, regardless we'll be staying put but we live in a more rural area so we probably have that luxury compared to people in the cities. We'd rather croak at home than some place inhospitable anyway.

 

[OldBlackWater]

I actually never looked at it like an of the world type of scenario, we've been through natural disasters and that is what we prep for, at any rate, we don't plan on heading for the hills, regardless we'll be staying put but we live in a more rural area so we probably have that luxury compared to people in the cities. We'd rather croak at home than some place inhospitable anyway.

Everybody plans for different emergencies, at least initially.

When I first started, it was because we lost power for 3 weeks and we had no water and we lost $1000-$2000 in meat and other goods we had stored in our freezer and fridge.

As my preps have grown, the possible scenarios I am preparing for have grown as well. I just kept thinking well I have that covered but what if "THIS" happened.

Now it isn't about any particular event, so much as just being generally prepared for whatever may come, from financial collapse to storms to war.

I sometimes ponder what the most likely scenario is but it really doesn't change how we prepare anymore.
.

 

[Kansas Terri]

I asked a similar question when I started prepping not too long ago. Many people told me to have a good heart-to-heart discussion with my wife. I did. She humored me, but I could tell she didn't feel the same. So now I just do my thing without mentioning it. For example, I got up early this morning and went to the flea market. I bought a few "normal" things and a glass oil lamp. Later, we went to another flea market together. She bought what she wanted. I bought another oil lamp. Just don't go overboard on the spending so there's nothing to argue about. I'm sure your spouse spends $ on what he likes, so what can he really say about you spending $ on what you like? You'll only run into trouble when you spend $$$.

exactly. Everybody needs a hobby.

 

[K David]

Everybody plans for different emergencies, at least initially.

When I first started, it was because we lost power for 3 weeks and we had no water and we lost $1000-$2000 in meat and other goods we had stored in our freezer and fridge.

As my preps have grown, the possible scenarios I am preparing for have grown as well. I just kept thinking well I have that covered but what if "THIS" happened.

Now it isn't about any particular event, so much as just being generally prepared for whatever may come, from financial collapse to storms to war.

I sometimes ponder what the most likely scenario is but it really doesn't change how we prepare anymore.
.

Agreed. We all have our personal reasons for prepping, We then put our unique twist on how we get it done.. My reason is my kid...Katrina showed me just how quickly a parent can become helpless to feed a child.. .. its grown from there....truth is I ALWAYS had a prepper in me..I just needed a reason greater than my self...

 

[OldBlackWater]

Agreed. We all have our personal reasons for prepping, We then put our unique twist on how we get it done.. My reason is my kid...Katrina showed me just how quickly a parent can become helpless to feed a child.. .. its grown from there....truth is I ALWAYS had a prepper in me..I just needed a reason greater than my self...

You hit it on the head,
While the MSM likes to label Preppers as paranoid and selfish, the reality is just the opposite. We are ALL thinking beyond just our own selfish needs.
While those who don't prepare at all, are only thinking of what can I get for ME today?

It's kind of like how liberals have vilified people who save their money as being selfish and those who are wasteful as being the poor needy who should get what those evil rich earned and saved.

It's twisted logic.
.

 

[Brew]

I would be happy, if I was just paranoid. Unfortunately I'm good at assessing the risks in life.

Have used up a year stock of Kerosene before. Used up a stock of stabilized gasoline. Ate during a financial crisis for two months off stores. Used almost every tool and camping prep several times. Medical supplies of every kind, including sutures. Sometime something needed parts, was lost or broken, I grabbed replacements out of stores. Supported and fed 3 adults for several months during a divorce a few years ago.

OP you might want to leave that last one off your list, or not lol.


Edit: yeah, just remembered.I have lived good through all of the crisis and disasters and helped my friends and neighbors a few times.

 

[firstforcerecon]

How do you deal with friends and family while preparing? My hubby is done humoring me and isn't happy when I spend money on it.
Also, what if your neighbours need food and water, how could I deny them? I wish everyone would prepare!!!!

Good luck dealing with that, You know you can't fix stupid.

 

[Ricekila]

Who said -- you can lead morons to knowledge - but cant make them think ?

 

[amx4080]

Also, what if your neighbours need food and water, how could I deny them? I wish everyone would prepare!!!!

To me, this is the key question. Say something bad happens and 50 people show up at your door wanting/needing what you have painstakingly prepared, then what?

It really is the fable of the grasshopper and the ant.

I know who I'd keep from my neighbours and friends. The hunter, the surgeon, those who have prepared. The "friend" who spends his spare time playing video games? Not a skill I need, or anyone needs when survival is the issue - he just won the ultimate Darwin award.

 

[inMichigan]

Wouldn't hurt to back off just for a little while and let things mellow. No sense in causing strife over prepping.

What actually has your husband upset -- spending money? If yes, stop spending $$ and start focusing on fitness and skills.

Upset about you potentially feeding the neighbors? Maybe he doesn't like the thought of his hard earned money going to feed folks who should be feeding themselves.

The time it takes to research and acquire supplies? Maybe he is feeling ignored and needs a little cuddling time.

If it was me, I would try to figure out the root cause of his displeasure.

Re-reading the OP, I think this sums up a very key point. What is the root cause? There are many good solutions proposed in this thread to possible root causes but no sense applying the wrong one.