Tips on prepping for the wife...

[Aim2Maim]

Man i fell ya. My wife is all about shoes and purses, we were in gander mountain getting me some new boots and I said ok hunny were gonna pick you a pair of good hiking boots.... "They're all ugly.." i believe was her response.

[Phoenix David]

Large bucket and I'd got the nitrogen replacement method. she should keep for 20 to 25 years.

[Murgatroy]

The only thing that woke my wife up was an ice storm that knocked our power out for a couple of days. Here in the Tennessee Valley, we don't get snow. We get ice. Lots of ice. The kind of ice that will shut the entire town down for days. All the grocery stores will be cleaned out, there won't even be any Twinkies at the corner store.

After her first storm of a decent magnitude she took an active role in planning, stocking up and preparing. She already coupons, but now she tries to find deals on items in bulk. Five hundred cans of green beans? Not a problem, just rotate them and get used to having green beans with nearly every meal. Cooking on a camping stove? Not an issue. Playing cards by lantern light? Go fish.

The only problem I still have is stocking up on ammunition. It is fine to go out and buy another fifty pound bag of rice, but I am in the dog house for picking up a box of Federal 115g FMJ when I am at Wal-Mart.

I guess you can't win them all.

I wish that I had some sage advice to give, "well if you do this..." but I don't. Women don't always work the way we think they should. They are not prewired like a man is. For me the day my daughter was born the entire world changed. And not entirely for the better. My only purpose in life is to ensure that she survives. Whatever happens. My wife can't wait to plan her wedding, to see her graduate school, etc... I dig that, and I look forward to that too, but at the same time, every decision I make I think about how it will affect my family, given any circumstance.

If it hadn't been for that power outage, I would still probably be sleeping on the couch for buying a case of MREs a few years ago.

The daughter loved them.

[DUNCAN]

My wife gave me the "eye-roll" when I first started talking about zombies...

I brought her around by not starting with tacticool gear and weaponry, but with updating our smoke detectors to AC/battery, updating our fire extinguishers, buying an emergency weather radio, cleaning/preparing our emergency shelter room in the basement, etc. She liked all those ideas.

Now we're talking about a generator, water and food storage.

I'm expecting her to ask what our BOP is any day now...

[huntingohio]

My best go at it yet [with my only long term live in girlfriend] Was to talk about job loss.
me- "frank lost his job today"
honey "oh?"
me "yep workd for that company for 26 years, just gave him a weeks notice, his wife and 3 kids gotta live on pennies and welfare now"
honey "well thats a damn shame"
me "yep, damn sure hope that dont happen to us and our boys!"
honey " baby we cant do that"

Two days later i came at her with a plan to start squirreling away food, she not reluctantly agreed but told me to drain 80 percent of the savings to get it set.

About a week later i took her to see my grandpa, he is quite the political old hilbilly and loves his cnn

gpa " boy this economy seems like its gonna go ass backward"
me "yes sir, hey you lived around the depression right?"
gpa "well i was a boy but yeah i did"

now heres the big shocker
honey "what do you think we should do incase it happens?"

i almost did a backflip at those words, and my grandpas statement made it even better

gpa "well you youngins gotta watch out for the kin, you oughtta stock your pantry full of cans, beans, and rice... you got kids so best add dryed milk too

... now boy come to think of it your pretty good with your hands huh?"

I have always repaired and maintained my granpas firearms, knives ,and boats

me " why yes sir i am"

gpa "you ought go to the flea market and load up on handtools, screws and nails, hell get all of em you can find, help yourselkf to my scrap would ifin ya need it when the time comes ..... and if i were you id get a whole mess of 22 ammo"

me " i got a few hunred rounds left"

gpa "no no boy i mean a whole mess, like fill up a tote with it, That stuff was gold when i was a boy, hell i even remeber your great pawpaw trading some for a car and gas. Ya gotta think if theres one gun everyone has its a 22 or a shotgun, I reckon thatl be good for barterin.

honey "well the paper said finfeatherfur is having a sale..."



That little chat over dinner sealed it.


my most recent gf went into my pantry and said my food supplys were borderline paranoid, then her moms hours got cut. Needless to say I gave her a bunch of food, and she came to understand why i had it.
Basically market it to her as a tangible insurance that you can touch, see, hold, and that can never be taken away by clauses or limting provisions. to do nothing but ensure the safety health and wellbeing of your family.

As far as items different from you ,tampons/pads, femanine cleaning products, MIDOL [dopnt forget this one seriously], and nice smelling soaps and shampoos. Looking good and feeling clean will help most females help cope with disasters [atleast thats my exs words]. that little shred of normality may well help her keep her sanity.

[hard2kill]

Guys I finally got to her. Turns out I just had to be consistent. I just threw prepping into any conversation I could, anytime I could. She just said to me that "I'm concerned that our bug out supplies aren't where they need to be." My response was " no shit, want to help?" Haha. Long story short, she wants to sit down this weekend and sort through what we have and get an idea of what I've been doing. Now she's interested and asking questions. Ill count that as a win

[breacher]

Way to go! I'm still working on mine, its a struggle that's for sure

[MrsHard2Kill]

Just wanted to pop in and say hi and thank you for all the help you gave my husband. Now that he's convinced me that we need to be prepared can you guys help me convince him that the air mattress counts as a necessity?
Thanks

[colinz]

Air mattresses' are a necessity if they are required to prevent you from tearing his head off due to a lack of sleep.

Welcome to the boards.

[Vel454]

... I don't even want to know how many hours this poor bastard had to walk around the fabric store to get his wife to join ZS.

Welcome to the boards, both of you.

[eugene]

Job loss and the economy is a good way to get started stocking supplies.
Then to get into the idea of bugging out we went for a surprise picnic to a state park. I got up early one Sat morning and loaded a few supplies and we left and spent the day. We grilled a lunch then went fora small hike to the waterfall then laid out by the water for a while. Kind of an outdoor but romantic day.
Then I did similar for an overnight stay in the nice resort lodge or a nice luxury cabin, surprise her Friday evening so she has chance to pack. After you get back tell her you like to do things like that and assuming she does too suggest keeping an overnight bag packed so you can take an unplanned overnight trip. Start working in more activities, hiking, biking, fishing, boating, whatever. Work toward more primitive camping, stay in less fancy cabins but do the occasional nice trip too. Each trip evaluate with her what would make it nicer and easier to go on a whim, what can you buy extra of, what would make it more comfortable. Add gear little by little. For example matches were added to our bob after we had trouble lighting a fireplace in a nice room.

[MrsHard2Kill]

... I don't even want to know how many hours this poor bastard had to walk around the fabric store to get his wife to join ZS.

Welcome to the boards, both of you.

Don't worry, he didn't have to go to the fabric stores, my hobby is fixing up old cars. Although, come to think of it, that hammer and dolly set he bought me last week may have been a bribe.

[Vel454]

... I don't even want to know how many hours this poor bastard had to walk around the fabric store to get his wife to join ZS.

Welcome to the boards, both of you.

Don't worry, he didn't have to go to the fabric stores, my hobby is fixing up old cars. Although, come to think of it, that hammer and dolly set he bought me last week may have been a bribe.

Ahh, the sound of a light flicker.

[oldasrocks]

Prozac, large bottles of Prozac.

[bacpacjac]

Sorry for bumping an old thread but I didn't want to create a new one.

Prepping for a woman and a man are very similar, except when it comes to hygiene. Our female bodies have a monthly cycle and they're pretty sensative. Some of the specific things I pack, that my husband might not think of, are:

-dark pants
-extra underwear
-an extra bra
-feminine napkins (a.k.a pads. They are a gazillion kinds and everyone prefers something different. Have a look under to the counter to see what she normally uses and then grab a few packs. (everyone uses a different amount every month as well, so if she won't tell you, more is better. I hesitate to put a number on it but maybe a half a pack a month as an average? As well, younger girls tend to use more. Something to keep in mind.)
-tampons (ditto everything I said for pads)
-extra toilet paper
-wipes (femine or baby)
-a little squirt bottle
-a wash cloth or bandana
-water for cleaning if at all possible
-disposable bags for garbage
-a bottle of cranberry extra pills
-OTC meds like ibuprophan, acetominaphin, anti-nauseant, Midol
-a yeast infection kit
-chocolate (because PMS can be a bitch!)

Every woman is different, but this is my guideline. Pay attention the next time you go away together and see what she packs?

[Tater Raider]

Ok guys here's the deal, I've been prepping for about a year but my wife thinks I'm kinda nuts. She gets my reasons as to why I do this but is not a lot of help and giggles a lot lol. So to my question, how do I make sure that she is taken care of in my/our BOB? I've asked her what she needs and cant get more than an "I have no idea" out of her.... How do I get her more involved possibly?

Late to the game but...

Ask her, in mock horror, what she plans to do when The Inevitable Zombie Apocalypse™ happens? Then bust out laughing with her - that part is key. Laugh at yourself.

Then when you've got that out of your collective system ask her, be very serious here, "What if the smoke alarms go off at 2am? Can you fix yourself up a grab bag for that?"

Give it some time and then mention another scenario, like, "Hey, if our water got shut off because of the main breaking, what would we do?"

Small steps, keep her in the loop. She'll either get on board or start humoring you. Either way is a win honestly.

[goofygurl]

Diva Cup...solves the feminine product issue, good for 5 years supposedly.

[Tank Woman]

The Diva Cup is really an excellent idea for truly SHTF times. I wont go into details here, but its by far the most practical solution *if* you can get past the ICK factor. During a very rough financial year, I sewed my own reusable pads, and had good enough results. They do require special care and washing, but if you are bugging in and have the facilities, they are also a good option.
Another thing mentioned previously that I had not thought of for the BOB...dark pants. VERY good idea.

[Chantrea]

Probably advisable to at least try out the Diva (or Keeper, or Luna, ect.) for a couple of cycles before just adding it to your stash. IME there seems to be 1-3+ cycle learning curve for a lot of women, and it's handy to be able to look on the internets for folding techniques, ect. that you may not have access to if your net is down. It's definitely easier to deal with, from a waste perspective, than pads (either disposable or cloth) or tampons--at least in my opinion.

[goofygurl]

The Diva Cup is really an excellent idea for truly SHTF times. I wont go into details here, but its by far the most practical solution *if* you can get past the ICK factor. During a very rough financial year, I sewed my own reusable pads, and had good enough results. They do require special care and washing, but if you are bugging in and have the facilities, they are also a good option.
Another thing mentioned previously that I had not thought of for the BOB...dark pants. VERY good idea.

I would LOVE to be able to have one..but I'll go with the hygiene items I have in stock and then a few re-useables for a PAW situation..honestly? For me? The diva was a waste of money..I could only use it once per..and then it was EXTREMELY painful.

and that's about as delicately as I could put that..lol

[goofygurl]

Probably advisable to at least try out the Diva (or Keeper, or Luna, ect.) for a couple of cycles before just adding it to your stash. IME there seems to be 1-3+ cycle learning curve for a lot of women, and it's handy to be able to look on the internets for folding techniques, ect. that you may not have access to if your net is down. It's definitely easier to deal with, from a waste perspective, than pads (either disposable or cloth) or tampons--at least in my opinion.

You are 100% correct..which is why I'm glad that I went ahead and bought one..I know now that I can't wear it..even the smallest size was painful to say the least. Ah well, $24.99 out the door but now I know.