# New here...



## LadyHarter (Nov 5, 2013)

Hi y'all! I'm starting a bug out bag, don't ask me why because I'm not all that sure myself. I just see the way our government is going and I don't like it. I am a mom to twin girls and I want to be prepared if we need to book it quickly. My friends look at me like I'm losing it and my husband thinks I'm nuts for it. I'm doing this on the dl so I don't have to hear anymore of their ridiculous remarks. Any tips? Advice? I have a list compiled from other sites going, but would like some input from some people who are prepared. Thanks in advance y'all! Have a great Tuesday!


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

Welcome!

It should not be to hard to build a BOB, and there is a ton of great info here to help guide you!

I am not convinced there is no way to reach your husband. Things would be much better if he were "on board" instead of you being on the "down low". If the two of you "are practicing the art of conversation", then hopefully he will begin to see you have a valid concern. How does he respond when you say you have a concern about a current event?


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## PrepN4Good (Dec 23, 2011)

Welcome! :wave:

As far as DH, maybe frame it initially in terms of being prepared for a natural disaster or car breakdown: "What if the car breaks down on the way to granny's & we don't have cell service? We need to have some supplies in the car to KEEP THE KIDS SAFE."


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## rawhide2971 (Apr 19, 2013)

Welcome to the site. Read Read Read....best advise to give you from my point of view. Your making a great start at being prepared.


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## hiwall (Jun 15, 2012)

Welcome! If you look at the buttons near the top of this page you will see one marked 'Bugout Bags'.
I am glad to see you are serious about your self-preservation.


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## CrackbottomLouis (May 20, 2012)

Welcome to the forum! My advice is to read all the bob threads, make one up, then hike with it for 5-6 miles, then start paring down the weight and adjusting gear. Rinse and repeat until you have something that works for you. Then put everything you took out in a seperate bag prepared for a vehicle bug out. Tell hubby he can get cool big boy toys like guns if he humors you on the rest


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## dixiemama (Nov 28, 2012)

Welcome from KY! Your husband will eventually come around, just give him some time. Best advice? Stock what you use/eat and let the girls make their own BOB. All the kids in our group have their own and it helps get them on board, involved and dispels any fears they might have. 

Have fun with it, its not all serious.


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## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

Not sure what your financial situation is. But if you have gone through hard times prepping and setting aside a little extra each week for the lean times can make the hardasses in our lives see the good in it all.

After my daughter was born K had been laid off. It made things hard for us as food was always put on the back burner to bills. Once things got better and he found a new job I started adding extra food and supplies to the weekly shopping. Soon we had a nice amount put away. The next time there were lay offs we didn't even need to think about food as it was in the pantry. That relieved a lot of stress and made things easier to deal with. K saw the logic in what I was doing and quickly got on board. Now he helps add preps to the cart when we go shopping. 

Good luck and your Hubby will come around sooner or later.


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## Geek999 (Jul 9, 2013)

Welcome.

A Bugout Bag (BOB) is the right place to start. The government even recommends you put together a 3 day bag aka Bugout Bag, in case of natural disasters. Anything in the bag can also be used if you have an emergency where you stay in place, e.g. Hurricane.

Use that to bring your husband around.


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## GrinnanBarrett (Aug 31, 2012)

First of all welcome to the world of prepping/survival. the thing that a group like this one can offer you is support. You are going to need it without support at home you are going to feel like you have hit a wall at some point very soon. People generally feel threatened by anyone who tries to be prepared. they are threatened because they live in a world of fantasy. you burst their bubble of someone one will be there to bail me out. 

The best thing you can do is keep low key and do not make a big deal about prepping. get yourself and your kids ready to survive. My wife fought preparedness for a long time. It was only when we had an ice storm that kept us indoors for ten days and we had the resources to make it just fine. Many of our neighbors wound up at our house eating our food and in the end taking a lot of our supplies with them when they left. She learned two lessons. One you do not tell everyone what you are doing. they just plan on coming to your house and taking and never paying you back. the other was being prepared does not really cost you anything. You store the food and things you already use and rotate them in your supplies. 

Do not fall prey to buying stuff you do not use. I know one guy who bought cases of TUNA FISH and he hated tuna. He never ate the stuff and it just went out of date. 

For your kids store the things they like. Like Toothpaste go for what they know since it makes it not so scary for them when something does happen. Kids need stability. make preparedness a game sometimes for them. take them camping and make it fun. If you do have to get out of town it will make it much easier for you and for them if they are not fearful. 

Build up your PRINTED LIBRARY of survival materials. Work the used book stores heavy. Look for stuff like HOW TO books about basic carpentry, wiring etc. Obviously look for ones from Kearney on NUCLEAR WAR SURVIVAL SKILLS, or Making the BEST Out of Basics and others you will find mentioned here. 

Most of all find people here you can identify with. Use their experiences to help you. Also be careful of who you share personal info with. Even here there are lurkers. take care of yourself and your kids Best wishes, GB


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## lovetogrow (Jan 25, 2011)

Welcome - Lots of great advice and support here (especially about the kiddies) - you're off to a great start!


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## hiwall (Jun 15, 2012)

Oh and in case you did not know there are alot of ladies here. And I can tell you they are not shy either 
You can always ask us anything. We will always genuinely try to help.


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## brightstar (Apr 24, 2012)

Welcome and nope us ladies aren't shy here  We all have very different skill sets to share too. I'm a mom of a 4 yr old girl and 7 month old boy. My husband isn't really a prepper either but he def doesn't mind letting me do my thing with it. 
If you have any questions, fire away!


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## Sourdough (May 22, 2010)

Welcome to the forum............You might need new friends.


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## readytogo (Apr 6, 2013)

Many in this site have been called paranoid and crazy too, including me so with that been said don`t worried about the opinions and do whatever you think is proper for your family,( An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure)
Ben Franklin


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## LadyHarter (Nov 5, 2013)

Hey all! Thanks for all the great replies! I've been reading the forums every chance I get! I've mentioned it to my husband a few times and the conversation always ends the same. Someone will be sent to save us. He's very into modern technology and doesn't quite believe that it may not be here one day to guide him. My twins are almost one so they can't participate too much, but I do have a list of items for their packs. I'm very organized and always prepared for everyday emergencies, but this is new territory for me. I am on a tight budget so there's not much room for big purchases so it will be be a buy as I can kind of thing. Thankfully my girls are almost off formula and we have a decent stock of diapers. I already buy all baby food and snacks in bulk so we have a cabinet full almost always. Definitely glad to be getting some great information from y'all!


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## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

LadyHarter said:


> Hey all! Thanks for all the great replies! I've been reading the forums every chance I get! I've mentioned it to my husband a few times and the conversation always ends the same. Someone will be sent to save us. He's very into modern technology and doesn't quite believe that it may not be here one day to guide him. My twins are almost one so they can't participate too much, but I do have a list of items for their packs. I'm very organized and always prepared for everyday emergencies, but this is new territory for me. I am on a tight budget so there's not much room for big purchases so it will be be a buy as I can kind of thing. Thankfully my girls are almost off formula and we have a decent stock of diapers. I already buy all baby food and snacks in bulk so we have a cabinet full almost always. Definitely glad to be getting some great information from y'all!


Here is my 2 cents... (again)

*Use one, Replace with two.* (This goes for toothpaste, canned goods, cereal etc)

*Two is one and one is none.* (Backups and spares are smart ideas)


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## mountainjock (Oct 21, 2011)

Welcome. My wife thought I was crazy too. I have just dabbled in prepping until lately, still a novice though! What changed lately? All the floods we had in Colorado (fairly close to us) really opened both our eyes. Plus with winter coming there is the chance of blizzards. After the floods I asked my wife what we would do if all that rain was snow. What if we were out road tripping and the storm hit and we could not get home? What if a tornado hit her office (had a very close call a few years ago)? There are a lot of scenarios! Mass blackouts....She doesn't make fun of my anymore, but it's still me doing the work. And I DO NOT tell people except a few very close friends that are survival oriented and might contribute. It is fun for me, and gives me piece of mind. I guess I'm saying that just because your hubby isn't on board now doesn't mean he won't be in the future. Good luck


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## hiwall (Jun 15, 2012)

Being very frugal is half the fun of prepping!


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## Lake Windsong (Nov 27, 2009)

hiwall said:


> Being very frugal is half the fun of prepping!


Definitely! For the OP, using extra diaper bags and some of the bulk food and diaper stock is a great start on a BOB. I have a toddler and still use a diaper bag as my EDC (everyday carry bag). When thinking of basic ways to start, look around at what you already have in your home, upgrade supplies and equipment when you can-thrift stores and yard sales are good places to look when on a budget. Pack up what you can now in a BOB, make a wishlist of things to look for on sale/clearance, and don't forget skill sets: first aid, map reading evacuation routes, gardening, canning, many many others you can find info about here at PS. Welcome!


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## TrinEire (Jul 23, 2012)

LadyHarter said:


> Hey all! Thanks for all the great replies! I've been reading the forums every chance I get! I've mentioned it to my husband a few times and the conversation always ends the same. Someone will be sent to save us. He's very into modern technology and doesn't quite believe that it may not be here one day to guide him. My twins are almost one so they can't participate too much, but I do have a list of items for their packs. I'm very organized and always prepared for everyday emergencies, but this is new territory for me. I am on a tight budget so there's not much room for big purchases so it will be be a buy as I can kind of thing. Thankfully my girls are almost off formula and we have a decent stock of diapers. I already buy all baby food and snacks in bulk so we have a cabinet full almost always. Definitely glad to be getting some great information from y'all!


artydance:Welcome to Prepared Society, this is a great place for info and ideas. I think someone already said take baby steps, it can be overwhelming with all the information and especially if you're learning and then getting grief from someone that doesn't get it. Remember that your preps have to be "Your Preps" and that we all have been in the infancy stages of Prepping at one time or another. Good Luck and welcome again to this great site.


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

LadyHarter said:


> Someone will be sent to save us. He's very into modern technology and doesn't quite believe that it may not be here one day to guide him.


There's 325,000,000 people in the USA and about 400,000 disaster relief folks.

That's about 813:1

Ask him how long it takes to get from "Now serving #126" out of 813 to get to y'all... assuming supplies haven't run out by then,

and also assuming all the "helpers" that will be sent to "save us" are not also battling issues of their own. They are people that have families, too.


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## Geek999 (Jul 9, 2013)

I am in the area impacted by Sandy. Once it hit, you were stuck due to downed trees. The power was out at my location for 8 days and 3 weeks was common.

What would you do if trees blocked the roads and power was out for 3 weeks? Would you have enough food?

Somebody will come in most scenarios, but are you okay until they do come? If you don't have a 3 day bag, what are you going to do for 3 weeks?


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## Sybil6 (Jan 28, 2013)

As a child myself, baby steps is half the fun. I'm 17 and live in Georgia. It's nice to see another mom prepping. A lot if the moms on this site are incredibly helpful. I'm on a budget too, since I only work when I can and I'm still in high school, but take my word for it, you'll accumulate plenty supplies quicker than you think. Just think about the canned food you have in the back on your cabinets, a lot of people ignore those little things. Also, prioritize the things you use daily and NEED not WANT. That'll help you stretch your dollars too. :flower: and start a garden if you can/want. It's fun and useful.


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