GF thinks I'm NUTZ!!!

[Garb]

Just keep doing your thing. She'll come around eventually. My fiance was the same way for a long time, and while she still thinks I don't need guns as bad as I think, she is all for keeping a get home bag in her car and in her apartment to get to my house if she needs to. Now my mom is a different story... lol

 

[longbow]

At first wife rolled her eyes .......then I asked her what we would need to have to avoid shopping for food and supplies a week or more at a time. That got her attention.

She still teases me at times, but over the years I still get the eye roll. I got the evil eye one time when she asked why I have five of those things. Now I have six and she doesn't even care..........

Just think of having gear and supplies to do the same task three different ways.

 

[irishfan]

I have been lucky as my girlfriend thinks we need to have things here to be prepared for short term and longer term disasters. Also, she believes in being prepared in case a situation ever arises where we are on our own. If I were in your shoes then I would seriously think about easing into things as not to "force" it upon her and show her how things were for people in other disasters. People sometimes get a weird feeling when you talk to them about prepping as they take it as if you are somebody who is a crazy person instead of someone who just plans ahead.

 

[Icarry2]

Well I know she read the thread to a point. If she returns to read more I don't know. She and I agree to disagree on some things. Having extra food, water, guns, ammo or whatever is just something I will keep working on. Hopefully I never have to rely on the stuff but I will sleep better knowing I have it.

The preparations continue. For now, figuring out what to purchase next with the spare income. I know she wants to start buying some things in bulk from Sam's or whatever.

Thanks to everyone for the info..

 

[shibumiseeker]

The preparations continue. For now, figuring out what to purchase next with the spare income. I know she wants to start buying some things in bulk from Sam's or whatever.

Thanks to everyone for the info..

Well the best strategy is to store what you use and use what you store. During an emergency is not the time to find you hate spam, and foods and other comfort items help keep your morale up in what is already a difficult time.

For just starting out, go with the rule of threes. 3 days of the basics first, then 3 weeks. Then 3 months. This is food, water, and all other things you use up.

 

[ATOMonkey]

What if one of you loses your job?

Having food, and TP and what not on hand sure would be useful without income.

Being prepared is just that.

To think that life is always going to be the way it is right now is what is nuts. The only certain thing in life is change.

Most people don't want to think about being prepared, because that means they'll have to think about disaster and loss and other sad things, and no one wants to do that. I'd go as far to say that we've been conditioned to only think happy thoughts. So, it's not unusual that she thinks you're the weird one for wanting to be prepared.

My wife has come along slowly but surely. Hopefully your g/f does too.

 

[trnsplntfrmohio]

my best advice and it was the adviced i used when i lived in my apartment..

have enough canned food and water and other supplies to last 3 weeks.

after those 3 weeks i planned on retreating back to my families farm.

if the **** storm was still going on after 3 weeks, i figure it just wasn't ment to be and accept my fate.

it would have been a 3.5 hour drive, if i walked 18 hours a day, i'd make it in 3 and a half days.

 

[Icarry2]

Well it was pointed out to me last night that there isn't a problem stocking up on food and supplies, but the guns and ammo is what is thought to not be needed. I know what has to be done to defend us so I will handle that area.

Funny that it has been mentioned a couple of times about loosing a job. In July my lovely GF was in an accident, actually wrecked my truck. She ended up with a serious injury and off work for about two months. We were semi stocked up at the time she got hurt and lasted quite a bit without having to go without.

I am thankful for all of the suggestions and all of the information I have recieved from the members of this forum. I honestly don't ever want to have to use what I know but incase it really does happen I want to be prepared to survive.

Thanks to all who have commented..

 

[shibumiseeker]

Well it was pointed out to me last night that there isn't a problem stocking up on food and supplies, but the guns and ammo is what is thought to not be needed. I know what has to be done to defend us so I will handle that area.

To be perfectly honest, if you have a month's worth of food and a lifetime supply of ammo then your priorities are screwy. Ammo is like any consumable, it's a good idea to have some stocked to insure against price increases and shortage of supply, but in the event of the zombie horde attacking the odds of you surviving long enough to use up thousands of rounds of ammo are pretty slim.

I have lots and lots and lots of ammo and reloading supplies stored. But I also have food, water, fuel, and other consumables stored as well. My stock levels of non-shooting consumables gives me about 2 years supply of just about everything we use, and I have about 5 years supply of ammo and reloading supplies at the rate I shoot now. I got my stock levels of ammo up to that point AFTER my other consumables were put away.

 

[teddy12b]

It's already been mentioned here, but buy her the book "One Second After". I've loaned my audiobook version out to many people and given away paperbacks because I think it's that important of a book to read. My wife is a reader, but she grudgedly read the book putting it off often, but still finished reading it eventually.

Mention that being prepared is just that. We had our water shutoff last summer because the company changed their billing address and my online bank payment didn't get changed. It was only off for a day and a half and as she was trying to figure out where we should go for running water, I pulled out a 7 gallon blue jug of purified water out of the basement. Problem was solved and it really showed me just how much water we'd go through in a day.

The big thing for me, wasn't to try and force it on her to do it also. I just told her it was something that I was going to do because I felt like it was a part of good stewardship on my part for my responsibility for taking care of my family.

 

[iwearcowboyboots]

The Ice / Wind storms a few years ago made my wife a believer.
Just don't talk about zombies....

OP: Marriage/co-habitation is psychological warfare.

Know your enemy and do what works for your situation. I could talk to my wife about ice storms and other weather related power outages until I was blue in the face. Zombie movies, on the other hand, sealed the deal.

My suggestion would be 28 Days Later, The Crazies (either version), the Romero zombie flicks), and Zombieland. When she doesn't want to watch a "scary" movie, Shawn of the Dead is a great comedy and My Boyfriend's Back is almost a stomachable chick flick.

Either way... Good luck.

 

[Icarry2]

Looking over everything I feel I am not in too bad of shape.

Ammo / Food - I have way more food stocked then Ammo.

Water, maybe three days worth on hand but I have a well and the means to hand pump.

Electricity - well my brother has my genny.. STRIKE ONE...

Fuel - Enough fuel for heat for maybe a month but need electricity to run the furnace.. STRIKE TWO...

Food - easily enough for a couple of weeks, some things more.

Consumables - hygine or other items, maybe a couple of weeks worth.

This is all without doing anything different, the way things are normally. So I don't feel too bad but I want to get out to that three month point and eventually farther.

As for the defense aspect (guns and ammo), I have enough to defend against everything but zombies..

Again, thanks everyone for the information.. I am looking into a MSG here in the Wabash Valley of I can get some like minded individuals or families to holler back..

 

[rooster007]

"To start I am armed and always carry a Kershaw Leek in my pocket, a spare 17 rd mag for the Ruger and a flashlight on my belt at all times. She said I look like a robo cop guy now.."

Lose the BATMAN UTILITY BELT.

OP: Marriage/co-habitation is psychological warfare.

Know your enemy and do what works for your situation. I could talk to my wife about ice storms and other weather related power outages until I was blue in the face. Zombie movies, on the other hand, sealed the deal.

My suggestion would be 28 Days Later, The Crazies (either version), the Romero zombie flicks), and Zombieland. When she doesn't want to watch a "scary" movie, Shawn of the Dead is a great comedy and My Boyfriend's Back is almost a stomachable chick flick.

Either way... Good luck.

Now for the really bad advice........Stage a fake robbery like in Mr. Deeds. See if that will change her mind ... My Wife really really hates to watch ZOMBIE movies with me. But she is on the prep wagon so I can't complain

 

[Icarry2]

Rooster, I am used to carrying a leatherman and a flashlight for work, sort of like a business man wearing a tie, as for a utility belt, I am looking for a concealable alternative, like a mag and light pouch from Fobus and I won't be leaving my leatherman at home either.

The other bad advice would probbably backfire in my face and I would end up worse off. She reallly only has a problem with the weapon part of my preparations. I am working on it, might even get her to the range with me..

Thanks again for all the information and advice, I appreciate it.

 

[HICKMAN]

My wife is a former Army Medic, so I can't BS her and wouldn't try.

We discuss events like Katrina/ice storms/tornado and I support her with funds to build a med kit, while I work on other things.

I get grief over the gun stuff... so I just don't tell her. Layaway is your friend.

Ammo you can buy here and there and store.

Food: I could never keep enough in the house because she didn't like to stock things. Kids would just eat them up. Now that we're moving out of the city, we know she's gonna have to keep a stocked pantry because it could be days before we get plowed out of a big storm.

The key thing is, you are doing your duty and doing what's right as a man to be prepared. So much of that is being forgotten and not passed down.

If you haven't yet, visit Dave Canterbury's youtube channel and refresh your basic survival skills. I believe it's under WildernessArcheryOutfitters or something like that, can't link as I'm at work, but will when I get home.

 

[rooster007]

Rooster, I am used to carrying a leatherman and a flashlight for work, sort of like a business man wearing a tie, as for a utility belt, I am looking for a concealable alternative, like a mag and light pouch from Fobus and I won't be leaving my leatherman at home either.

The other bad advice would probbably backfire in my face and I would end up worse off. She reallly only has a problem with the weapon part of my preparations. I am working on it, might even get her to the range with me..

Thanks again for all the information and advice, I appreciate it.

Wear her down
into submission , thats what they do to us , so I guess fair would be fair..
Good luck in bringing her around .. Keep it positive

 

[singlestacksig]

Katrina
Earthquake , 2 weeks ago
Ice storms, Indiana has a very bad one every few years.
Flooding . See down under right now..
Tornado
Blizzard, NYC a few weeks ago...

 

[RandyMarlar]

My wife thought I was nuts too so I double dog dared her to read "One Second After" on vacation last year. Now she's as nuts as I am.

 

[glock34]

I was watching a TV show a few weeks back and it was talking about stocking up on food and water and the thing that caught my attention the most was that the grocery stores don't stock item in the store like they did 20 yrs ago. It is all "just in time shipping" so most if not all stores would run out of item in 2 days should they not be able to get deliveries.

With this thought the disaster that you could be preparing for could be snow, ice floods, trucking strike or anything else that would stop deliveries to the store. It the disaster is something more that you are prepared for that also.

 

[teddy12b]

I was watching a TV show a few weeks back and it was talking about stocking up on food and water and the thing that caught my attention the most was that the grocery stores don't stock item in the store like they did 20 yrs ago. It is all "just in time shipping" so most if not all stores would run out of item in 2 days should they not be able to get deliveries.

With this thought the disaster that you could be preparing for could be snow, ice floods, trucking strike or anything else that would stop deliveries to the store. It the disaster is something more that you are prepared for that also.

If anyones emergency plan is to run to the store just before disaster hits they have already failed. If you want to run to the store before hand just to top off on some supplies I have no problem with that, but if that's someones primary plan to keeping their family alive then shame on them.