no one i know beleives in being prepared

This gets brought up all the time on the boards I have been on. I currently think the best approach is that You have lead them to the water. You can't force them to drink. Stand back and let them come to you for help. During the next power outage, when they complain about being cold and hungry, tell them that you actually enjoyed the quiet time and cooked up a nice hot meal and didn't notice how cold it was. They will be jealous, but maybe start to think you aren't such a wack-o... until a month later when they forget again.

 

I agree with dukman, my own wife thinks I'm nuckin futs. She forgets all about Huricane Ike comming through Ohio last year, we were powerless for 4 days. She forgets about all the times we are snowed in for a day or 2 and a couple of years ago when part of Canada, NY, Pa and Ohio were off the grid for a couple of days. I just go on preparing with out her. I am able to spend ten or twenty $'s here or there and save my pocket change in jar to put toward larger things that I keep out of the way. I work at becomming more prepared for us when my wife is away.

 

"Why do you want to buy that? We don't have space for that stuff. What do we need that stuff for? What are we ever going to do with all that?"

I hate to say I'm a packrat, but I hate throwing things out. Cause you never know when you will need something that you threw out the day before. I'm working on her... slowly... but she hates "piles".

People have to come around on their own. Most see 'preparing' as a bunch of wackjobs waiting for the world to end... but it's those 4-days without hydro in the winter. When it's not just about keeping warm and fed, but protecting your property, ensuring the pipes don't freeze up, being able to help your neighbours.

Like said before... you can lead them to the water, but you can't make them drink.

 

I know how hard it is to those that do not want to believe. They think they are invisible.... but they are not. When we get into a discussion about this, I bring out several topics from when we had the 1998 ice storm in Eastern Canada and part of the States... some places were without power for several weeks. Then you can also bring the topic of Hurricane Katrina. I have even went so far as talk about Noah and how the people scoffed at him and his family until the flood began....

 

Ya, we got lucky with the power-outage a few years back in the middle of August. Widespread outage across most of Ontario and a bunch of the US states. Not sure if it hit Quebec or not.

Imagine if that had been in February!

We had 4 days without power at my father's house just after Christmas this year. Wind storm knocked things out. Luckily it wasn't *that* cold. Fired up the fireplace that hasn't been used in years.

 

I guess I'm the lucky one. Even the 13 year old has her own BOB.

 

I remember the big ice storm from my childhood - about 10 years before that. My parents were one of the last to be hooked back up, 32 days without power. The only thing we lacked was running water for baths. Hot food cooked on the fireplace, which also provided the heat for the house. And my parents are not even "preppers" per say.

 

Part of Toronto got hit by a massive lightning storm last night. I had no phone and internet until this afternoon. Some of the city is still without power. They are predicting massive electrical storms again tonight. Feels good to be prepared.

 

Sgt. Doug, your not nuckin futs, just remember when you least expect it expect it.

 

Hi guys i havent really started preparing just yet so im more on the side of 'all you guys are crazy' hehe.

Well that was until i spoke to my friend the other day, which i still think is a bit crazy.

I've been fortunate in never experiencing a 'real' emergency but as i get older i become more aware of how fragile life can be.

As a result i would like to convince my partner she should get prepared but i dont really know what to say to her so she can see the importance of doing so.

Any thoughts?

 

There is a thread around here somewhere that I started that addresses the same topic. All members here were more than helpful with ideas and input for how to bring this subject up with friends and loved ones. My wife is a bargain shopper. So we buy what we can in bulk. I've just been nudging to buy more in bulk so that we can "stock up" and get better deals. I'm working on rearranging some shelving so that we can store more supplies. There are little things you can do to further your cause very subtly.

 

Thanks Jas

Bargain hunting is a very good idea. My partner loves to shop, but she loves a bargain even more.I'll also take a look at the thread you mentioned. Thanks for the tip.

 

You have to take into account the time tested 95-5 formula. Throughout time that average has been pretty accurate, 95% of any given population tend to be sheeple, 5% think for themselves. 95% work for someone else, 95% seem to want someone else to do the thinking for them, 95% don't want to take personal responsibility (that's why so many want to have the government make decisions for them!). Probably 5% or less wanted to be free of king George. Thank God for the 5%. So if you are in the 5%, feel good about it because in the end you will have been right because we are the true "Outside the box" thinkers and appliers of what we think. So people may believe that what you tell them is right but don't have the guts to apply it in their lives. Many of those that my wife and I talked to years ago are now seeing what we warned about, sadly they fear changing their lives, they just want to stay in their comfort zones and as we know that is not going to end well.

 

Sgt.Doug Here is the thread that Jason is referring to.

http://www.preparedsociety.com/forum/f2/how-does-one-not-sound-like-wacko-1646/

 

When talking with others I don't let them know the extent of my preps, ever. I point out things like one can save some money by buying items in bulk when they are on sale. I also might mention that it's good to have some water on hand just in case. One of the local providers has a problem with their system causing everyone to have to boild water for a couple weeks. I also might mention that carring water in the car is important around here - it's mighty hot and one could get into serious trouble when traveling about the area if they broke down and had nothing to hydrate with. I think you have to approch it from a set of common sense items to get them pointed in the right direction, then you can slowly discuss other needs that people have been conditioned to believe are no longer necessary.

My wife used to think my prepping was crazy, but she's coming around. I just started with buying extra food when we went to the store, and plan to build a large food pantry in the basement this fall. For now I store a lot of stuff in an extra room at my mothers house a couple miles away. At least I can get me stuff when I need it as there is a separate door for that room of the house.

I was also able to get a generator and set it up for tri-fuel use by justifying that I can keep the food cold / frozen as well as at least run the air conditioner in the basement if power goes out. It would be miserable to sleep in the heat of the desert during the summer...

John

 

A great eye opener is the novel "Patriots" by James Rawles. I wasn't huge on prepping... my husband was. I got that book for my birthday and now it seems I'm more into prepping than he is!

But yes, some people think we're crazy. I don't give out info on exactly how prepared we are (we are far from well-prepared... but we think we could handle just about anything), but when asked direct questions I answer as honestly as I can.

Q-"Why do you load your own ammo?"
A-"Because it's cheaper"

Q-"Why do you have so much of this"
A-"We like to stock up when there's a sale"

 

Just today a co-worker was pimping Dave Ramsey and financial independence to another co-worker. I mentioned having food/energy alternatives, and the same Ramsey fan told me he thought such preps were ridiculous. I mentioned recent hurricanes, etc., and he relegated such to the coastal area. I reminded him happened the last time people storm-panicked in our metro area and cleaned out the grocery aisles. One officer mentioned the fact people stocked up on cold-storage foods, lol. I also mentioned the fact we would likely be required to work max hours and maybe not allowed to go home in such an instance... and his wife and newborn didn't need to be mixing with the other idiots in such a time. Got a nod from a few people, but he was unfazed. I think I have a few co-workers agreeing with me, now, and they're planning to at least put some food away.

Weird, but probably half my co-workers have only their issued sidearm in their house. Several of them responded to my shots-fired call and deployed long guns this weekend, but it doesn't cross their mind just a few days later. Oh well.