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The Wife is On-Board!!

C

catnphx

.270 WIN
So the wifey is on-board with prepping. This is important because I've heard of many spouses who don't see eye-to-eye on the issue of preparing for certain events. She has not done the extensive research that I have and she knows that's how I roll ... 20 years with the woman has taught her that. Because I don't believe you can prep for everything, we've defined what we are prepping for. Also, prepping for some events can help you with others. For example, if you are prepping for a pandemic, these efforts would also be helpful for a dirty bomb or nuclear reactor leak.

* Pandemic - Of all the world events we believe that this is the most likely to happen in our life time; we believe that some form of virus could occur. This would be the longest bug-in issue and we'll be preparing for a 6 month minimum stay. This is our most drastic issue that we are preparing for but we believe it's the most likely of the bigger SHTF events.

* Power Failure - As a resident in Phoenix (can you say 120 degrees), this would be difficult in the summer. We've had issues before and we are concerned if something larger happens.

* Water Issues - About 7-8 years ago, Phoenix residents could not use the water for 2-3 days. No bathing, eating with water or drinking. The water company put a spin on the issue but I'm not convinced of what really happened. For them to shut down the water supply to the 5th largest city in the nation for 3 days is concerning. Storing water will be a priority, especially if we plan on bugging in for a long-term pandemic. Also, the heat will require more water than most other places.

We've communicated with the kids (14 and 17) and they understand. They also know that this should be kept quiet amongst friends and neighbors. We'll probably select some high-quality people to work with in the hood but we've not done that yet.

Anyway, having a spouse on-board is important. We've promised not to be wacko about prepping but it feels good to start the process. Is your spouse totally on-board and what are your major concerns to prepare for?
 
MikeD said:
Frigtening how fast some of these things can spread
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I've always thought that some virus or water issue would be our biggest threats ... just always felt that for many years.

In Arizona, 30% of this season's flu cases have been reported in the last 7 days. Normally, the flu season here is December - February and this is one of the latest times it's ever been around. Think about that, 7 days constituted 30% of this season's flu cases ... that is how fast it moves. And we wouldn't know about it until extremely late in the game. Some bad virus could hit hard and fast and we'd be holed up in our homes trying to wait it out. Scary stuff and you need to be ready for that.
 
great to hear she is! i feel the same we can live without several things but good water is important ,, we all have that to deal with for sure
 
since you said you were very worried about power outage and since you live in pheonix, that is prime area for some solar panels.

Getting started with solar, from what I have found is expensive, but sounds like it could be very worth it to you.

I would like to get set up with a small backup solar system, but it will cost between $1500 and $2000 for decent panels, charge controller, invertor, and batteries.

Here is what I was thinking for us. Nothing extravagent but plenty enough for the bare essentials like a refridgerator/freezer, a few lights, laptop and window air conditioner.

(2) 280w panels from home depot (560 watt-46 amp charge rate) $896
http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/sto ... %2d%5f%2dN

50 amp charge controller $135
http://www.amazon.com/Sunforce-60125-Se ... 941&sr=1-1

2500 watt inverter $175
http://www.amazon.com/Cobra-CPI-2575-Po ... 851&sr=8-4

12v 200 aH (large) battery $447
http://www.siliconsolar.com/12v-200ah-agm-battery.html
 
Solar is on the agenda but I haven't done the research I need to do. At this point, I'm taking care of the basics first: food, water, etc... and buying small stuff like solar/hand crank lanterns, candles, etc... I've got a long way to go but we are on our way.

My first goal is a 6 month supply of canned food in fruits, veggies, beans, tuna, chicken and beef plus some other items like honey, peanut butter, tomato sauce, etc.... Soon I'll be adding in rice and pasta to 5 gallon buckets but I'm not there yet. We've also started our first garden with cucumbers, honeydew, tomatos, strawberries and many herbs. To tell you how onboard my wife is now, she actually mentioned she'd like to learn how to can her own foods ... that's a good sign. :D

Obviously, I've got the guns/ammo thing covered. I guess we'd already been prepping but didn't know it. :roll: We just started with security first and have now moved to other essentials. We've got a month supply of bottled drinking water, 4 WaterBobs, and soon I'll be purchasing a water storage tank and I've been thinking about some sort of rain harvesting system. We don't get much rain in Phoenix but what we do get I should harvest.

I've started on other things too (i.e. 90 rolls of TP, 1,100 ft of aluminum foil, 1,000 paper plates, 500 plastic spoons, 100+ 45 gallon outdoor garbage bags, 50 mylar thermal blankets, lots of paracord, etc...) but I'm getting those when I get some extra funds. For now, food and water are the focus. Like I said earlier, I've got a LONG way to go but we are well on our way in a short period of time. It's a journey and we have lots to learn but it does feel good to know we are working toward something positive if something negative happens.
 
You sound like you're off to a very good start. I started looking into solar about 6 months ago and feel comfortable with the little setup that I linked above for our needs.

Like I said, it's not extravegant, it's basic, but it's enough for short term disruptions.

Food and water is a good thing.

I have open access to water so I don't buy water, but filters were a priority for me and dont' take up as much storage space either.

A lot of my preperations revolve around water and my access to it.

Drinking, bathing, cleaning, cooking.

mixable drinks (like tang and hot cocoa and coffee), soups, stews, rice, pasta, oatmeal, ramen noodles, etc. All things you prepare with water.

As for collecting some of the basic stuff (like toilet paper and canned food and things) we usually buy the big packs of toilet paper and paper towels and stuff and canned food and the likes anyway, so for things like that, I usually get 2 or 3 things out of every pack we buy to put back. You don't really even miss them and doesn't seem to affect the pocketbook.

I also decided specifically not to buy paper plates and cups and things for one simple reason. Lack of storage space.

So, we're going to keep 2 sets of dishes for each person and wash them when we are finished. That will take up much less space, and will last indefinately if we don't break them.
 
John A. said:
I have open access to water so I don't buy water, but filters were a priority for me and dont' take up as much storage space either.

I also decided specifically not to buy paper plates and cups and things for one simple reason. Lack of storage space.
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You are very lucky to have water around you ... not something I have readily available and that is a concern. Regarding paper plates, it really doesn't take up much space to have 1,000 paper plates ... about the size of a 12 pack of beer I suppose (to give you something to compare).

Have you actually done the solar kit yet and seen it in action? I'd love to do something simple like that but I really don't have the knowledge to pull something like that off. I've very uneducated in building/electrical things. I'd like to learn more about what you have or are trying to put together.
 
Yes I am lucky to have access to water. That is one thing I am greatful of.

There is a stream beside my house (I know where the headwaters are and there are no houses between my house and the start of the stream), and my neighbor's well water is an artesian well that always runs and I could catch the excess spill over that runs through a pipe from the well to the stream if something happened to one or the other water source.

And if worse came to worse, I could open up our well again, although it's been a while since it has been used and I have it capped off right now.

I have lived here for the better part of 30 years and either the stream or the wells have never ran dry and have been through severe droughts so I'm pretty good on water.

I haven't done the solar kit yet though it's on my short list to do.

But they are pretty straight forward from what I have seen.

I have contacted several companies and watched a ton of video's on youtube.

You set up the solar panels, wire them to a charge controller so the battery and the panels are protected from overcharging the batteries, and to prevent the battery from discharging back into the panels at night.

And then wire the charge controller to the battery, from the battery to the invertor to convert it to regular AC house current and run it to a few electrical outlets in your home to the devices you want to be able to use off the solar equipment.
 
My wife is on board too and it makes it easier. Last winter she all of a sudden had an interest in what guns I have, having me teach the kids to use them and she even went to a gun show and had me pick up a gross of 5.56 ammo.

Solar and water both sound like good starts for Phoenix. Maybe a gross of powdered electrolyte packs would be a good idea for the heat.

Good Luck!
 
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