I've really gotten into the prepping mindset over the past six months. So far, my wife views it more of a hobby of mine than something that should be taken seriously. She's gotten more vocal recently about spending time and money on gear and supplies. I on the other hand think that more needs to be done rather than less. So my question to the forum is what are some suggestions on how to incorporate my wife and kids into my efforts? I'd like them to see that some form of preparation is necessary and I'd like to make them understand that it's not just about buying a "survival knife" and a bunch of gauze pads, but that knowledge and experience is important too. Thanks for any suggestions.

Here is how I related this to my wife. She is vocal about buying things, but less so than she used to be.

We enjoy the outdoors. Mainly hiking, fishing, and hunting, but we do go camping occasionally. Whenever we do any of this, we carry the same gear as we would if we were surviving. My wife doesn't fully realize this, she thinks we are just carrying what we need for our trip. On these trips I put my gear through it's paces. If a piece of gear fails, I normally don't catch any flack by upgrading so we can be more comfortable on the next outing.

I try to talk about emergencies that have happened recently, or are happening in the world, and try to put it in terms of how we can use what we have to survive if it happened here. She seems to be coming around.

I was never able to buy large quantities of anything when working on my preps. My food preps were done by getting an extra item here and there at the grocery store, and putting it away. The extra cash outlay isn't really noticed, and you would be surprised how fast your stocks can grow if you stick with it.

You can work slowly with your other stocks as well. With proper searching and planning, you can buy reliable used equipment at much lower prices. Prepping isn't only about how much money you spend, but about how smart you spend it.

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Hope for the best, but plan for the worst.

NRA Certified Instructor for Basic Handgun and Personal protection in the Home.
V.F.W. Life Member
NRA Member
U.S. Army Veteran

I would also like some opinions about how to get my husband on board with emergency planning. I am new to emergency planning and I am new to this forum. Just tired of being unprepared for even minor emergencies, let alone a moderate or large emergency. After almost 20 years of marriage, I know him well enough to know that this will not be received well. I handle the money, so I know that I could get away with some purchases without his knowledge. However, I don't really like doing this. I have always been honest with him, and I have no reason to believe he has not been honest with me. The "sneaky" aspect of it bothers me. Any suggestions?

Turn on the news with some footage of Haiti and then ask him "What would we do if.....?" The "if" could be anything; winter storm, flood, hurricane, earthquake, train wreck with a chemical spill, anything that could happen in your area that might cut you off from obtaining things you need to live on. Mainly food and water. That may at least start a discussion that you could elaborate on in small increments.

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And To The Republic For Which It Used To Stand

Codegirl,

Does your husband enjoy the outdoors? maybe starting camping and stuff like that would be a way to start getting stuff together. All of my survival gear is used for camping and gets used regularly. I do that so I know it will work for me if I need it.

As far as food preps go, slowly laying extra food and water in is not sneaking.

Like UncleJoe posted. Taking events from the news and asking what you would do if this happened to you is a place to start also.

Good luck and keep trying. Some people are slower to seeing what could happen, especially in our comfortable life we live now.

_________________
Hope for the best, but plan for the worst.

NRA Certified Instructor for Basic Handgun and Personal protection in the Home.
V.F.W. Life Member
NRA Member
U.S. Army Veteran

How have things gone so far? Have you talked or gotten your husband into prepping?

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If it's in your pack, but you don't know how to use it...it's useless. So, always test your skills as a form of preparation...Don't wait until your life depends on it. That's a lesson you don't want to learn the hard way.

Thanks for the ideas folks! Things are progressing nicely and my wife is much more on board with prepping these days. We've started to work together taking inventory of our food stockpiles, first aid supplies, etc.