[Kartographer]

Never mind a reasonable med kit, which most people simply do not have. Why not, given how cheap this is?

Normalcy Bias I see it often. Since it has never happened to me it won't ever happen.

“There is no greater disaster than to underestimate danger. Underestimation can be fatal.”

[Kartographer]

Preppers’ PING!!

I my post I mention ‘Normalcy Bias’, a good article on ‘Normalcy Bias’ is on our own ChocChipCookies Blog The Survival Mom:

http://thesurvivalmom.com/2010/12/29/normalcy-bias/

[laplata]

Normalcy Bias I see it often. Since it has never happened to me it won’t ever happen.

---

I also see it all the time. The scariest part of SHTF will be the idiots.

[Lazamataz]

I prep for being so screwed.

[ThomasThomas]

Never forget your mother’s advice. Clean sock and under wear. And a hand operated can opener. It is how I survived Y2K.

[MHGinTN]

This month working on long-term water collection from rain ... toilets to flush, baths to take, when TSHTF. Barrels for collecting roof runoff

[Marcella]

I was in Bob's car last year and a man drove his car into the side of ours, on my side. He hit just down from my door. Bob got out to deal with the man, but I couldn't get out, where the man hit pushed that part of the car in front of where the door hinges are, so when I pushed the door to open it, it wouldn't budge. Bob did not have life hammers to break out windows to escape a car. I could not get out - luckily that was okay for this accident. The EMTs forced the door open.

Bob didn't know about Life Hammers. For Christmas, I gave him two, one for each side of the car. He was glad to get them as he saw a real problem when I couldn't get out of the car. Sometimes it takes a real situation happening to understand what could happen.

If any of you don't have a Life Hammer, get one or two. When you strike a car window (won't work on windshield), with the hammer, the glass breaks (copy cats of Life Hammer may not work, get the real thing). There is also a recessed blade to cut a seat belt.

[greeneyes]

I must have grown up in “abnormal bias area or times”. Most of this sort of stuff wasn’t called prepping, it was considered common sense, and everyone I knew did it.

My biggest problem with respect to my car, is that sometimes my family will help me out by cleaning out my car. Sometimes they take stuff in the house that I consider a necessary “just in case of problems” item, and maybe I don’t notice it for a day or two.

[Secret Agent Man]

Normalcy Bias. yes.

I also call it Societal Inertia. Things will just keep moving along like they always have.

[Lurker]

“Do you have a small, easily-toted “get me the F out of here” bag in your car? “

Two, actually.

L

[matt1234]

Really you need a backpack with everything needed to get you from your disabled vehicle to home. In the event of a prolonged crisis, I am heading home. Won’t an EMP disable every modern civilian vehicle?

[PA Engineer]

It is good to remind people of the "BOB." Mine is a get home bag and I have one in every family member's car. I also have first aid kits (extensive) and extraction devices.

One of the important considerations in the get home pack is weight. Having backpacked extensively in my younger years I realize we all get older and at times out of shape. I think it is important to spend the extra money on light weight gear.

I agree with Karl on medications (and would recommend at least 7 days), however I disagree on food. Mountain House single servings are very light weight and cheap. They have a long shelf life and I believe they provide more than a psychological advantage in an emergency. All the packs have four days of food with solid fuel to heat water. Everything is very light weight.

One item Karl did not mention is the importance of having slip on shoes near your bed. Window breakage during storms or worse could ruin your preparation plans. Further, invest in fire extinguishers for each room. Many fires can be put out with the aid of smoke detectors before the fire department arrives.

[kjam22]

I live in South Oklahoma City. I’m a mile north of where the Moore tornado went through a couple of years ago. We have a nice concrete cellar with food, clothes etc. Also have a generator and a fuel pump. Swimming pool with lots of water in it. We’d be good for a few months.

[rfreedom4u]

I’ve got a kit in my car that I could go for three days on. But it just needs to get me home. Then at home I have the “big” kit. At my alternate location I have much more....

[samiam1972]

Ice/snow storms are pretty common around here. Actually, it’s been fairly mild for years now but that is how I first started thinking about prepping. How would I keep my family warm? How would I cook their food?

One of the first things we did when we moved into this house last summer was to get the fireplaces up and running with new liners. They are gas/wood so we are prepared to use them either way. They would keep a large section of the house warm with a few strategically hung blankets to block off the two rooms.

We finally have space for food/water storage and have been working on that, too. We have four rain barrels that my husband hopes to get up and running before summer. They would help with the flushing of toilets (septic so will hopefully just continue to run) and to keep the animals watered. I wish our baby steps were bigger!

One of the biggest challenges in our house right now is keeping the three year old out of all the stuff. There is no cabinet high enough, no lock strong enough, etc. to keep that child out of stuff! I found some of my seed storage all over the basement floor, pudding cups all lined up in a row (these are super important with kids- ha), and just this morning she had managed to put bandaides on her back. I don’t know how she does it. Quiet, sneaky, curious, and thankfully, really cute. I need to put bells around her neck.

[Ellendra]

What I prep for:
(More or less in order of likelihood)

-Illness/injury
-Job loss
-Power loss (up to 3 days, both summer and winter)
-Unexpected repairs (DIY)
-Unexpected emergency expense (such as non-DIY repairs or medical expenses)
-Stranded in vehicle (Ok, my 3-day emergency stash is no longer in my truck, because my truck no longer runs, and I had to clean it out so I can sell it. But when I replace the truck, there will be a stash with a sleeping bag, food, etc.)
-Stranded at home (1 month, working on building that up)

I'd like to improve that list, but I have the added complication of a family member who likes to throw things out that he doesn't think he'll need. Several times I've had to replace my food stores because of that. When my house is built and I'm on my own, there will be both a well and a supply of stored water, backups for electricity, some chickens and rabbits for food (garden is already started), and I'll be able to start working on my mechanic's skills. Not having family members around who throw things out would also mean I could have a bug-out bag and it would stay where I put it!

This year I'll have almost 2 acres tilled and ready to plant, on part of my land that one of my neighbors had been borrowing for a hayfield.