Posted: 7/26/2010 8:07:04 AM EDT
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I just wanted to share several observations I made from a relatively simple weekend trip. First a bit of background.
The wife and I are in the midst of moving to our new property in Arizona. I'm still living and working in California about 5 hours from the new place. She is staying in Arizona with her mother, about 1 hr and 20 minutes from the house. We meet up on weekends, work on the place, and hopefully we'll both be there full time in a couple of weeks. So, on this particular weekend several things occurred which really made me sit up and take notice. 1) Your skills are probably up to speed if the SHTF, but what about your spouse? I'm not even talking about shooting or field medicine, I'm talking just really simple stuff like how to load and lash down a trailer. This weekend the wife was taking our 8x12 trailer from her moms, with a load of stuff we had stored there. She had to stop about 4 times within the first 15 miles to fix the load, and couldn't have done it without me talking her through it. She initially had the load tarped, but the tarp was just affixed with bungee cords and it shredded itself from flapping in the wind. After the third time she tried to fix it, I finally convinced her to get the cargo straps out of the tongue box and walked her through how to lash it down properly. She didn't even know how to feed the end of the strap into the ratchet piece. She finally got the load lashed down tight, but it took about 15 minutes on the side of a busy freeway, with gusty winds, and our 11 month old screaming in the back of the car. She was an emotional wreck after that. Even after all that I still have a shredded tarp and two ratchet straps that are bound up, because she let the strap twist as she cranked it down. In an emergency we either would have lost cargo from the trailer, got our cargo wet from the shredded tarp, or been unable to release the load in a hurry without cutting the straps. Lesson learned, make sure the wife is up on basic skills you take for granted. 2) Happened as I was approaching the city of Riverside. There was a small wildfire in the area, roughly 3000 acres. However the smoke from the fire lay heavy across the freeway. It didn't quite come to the level of restricting visibility, but it was rather acrid and unpleasant to breathe. Though the fire was not that close, I wouldn't have wanted to breathe that air any longer than necessary. Fortunately I was just driving through and was past it in about 20 minutes. For residents living in the area, they would need either a good filtration system on any A/C unit or might want to think about bugging out until the air cleared. Again it was a small fire, and I think it was contained relatively quickly. It wasn't that close either, but it made the air very unpleasant, and even dangerous to breathe especially for anyone with existing lung problems. Lesson learned, even though a fire might not threaten your home itself, the smoke might make you want to think about bugging out for a few days until the air is cleared. 3) Lesson three came by way of a single car vehicle accident along the 60 freeway outside of Beaumont. The road there is a divided highway, two lanes to a side with concrete jersey barriers separating the north and southbound lanes. For a good portion of it, there is no shoulder on either side as it's either sheer cliff wall or sheer drop off. I was the very last car to make it through after the accident where a car went off the road, hit a billboard and started on fire. As I was approaching the accident (fire truck was on scene already) the CHP vehicle directly behind me began running a traffic break, stopping all northbound traffic. I was the very last car to make it through, and had I been stuck in that jam, there was zero way to go anywhere else. 4x4 BOV's that can cross medians and drive on shoulder be damned, there was nothing to be done no matter what you were driving. Lesson learned, if your planned route out during an emergency contains any sort of bottlenecked terrain, you may be stuck with nothing more than a simple accident that occurs every day. 4) This one came on the way home. Stopping for gas as I usually do at the last Arizona side fuel station, there were about 7 cars waiting for EACH pump. In total there were some 40 cars waiting to gas up, plus the dozen cars currently at a pump. This was just a not particularly special Sunday afternoon, not even a holiday weekend. It took me about 30 minutes to gas up and get out of the station when there was absolutely nothing going on. Had this been a SHTF fan event and everyone trying to bug out that station would have been impossible to reach, even if the tanks didn't run dry. I stopped because I had the time, but fortunately I always plan to fill up at half a tank. I could have bypassed the station and kept going had I needed to. Lesson learned, always plan on filling up at half tank or better. Storing gas on the vehicle as well is even better. You don't want to be forced into needing gas when doing so puts you at risk. You want the option to keep going, hopefully until out of the affected area. |
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Sound advice all the way around. My wife is pretty good in a pich, but when it comes to getting the genny ready to go and hooked to the house, she just isnt interested. That tends to get right on my last nerve since I spend alot of time on the road for work, and so far we have been lucky to not lost power when I wasnt in the area. Like I said, very good advice for making sure the other half knows what to do when things start to head south |
To save time last night (in a hurry to get to the drive in), the wife said she'd finish the line triming (weed eating) while I used the pruning shears to trim a tree. I took it for granted she knew how to use the weed eater...She started it alright and but after a minute then asked why it wasn't working very good....She didn't realize there was a throttle! 
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Quoted:
To save time last night (in a hurry to get to the drive in), the wife said she'd finish the line triming (weed eating) while I used the pruning shears to trim a tree. I took it for granted she knew how to use the weed eater...She started it alright and but after a minute then asked why it wasn't working very good....She didn't realize there was a throttle!
Yeah, NOT to start a wife bashing thread by any means, but really, there are a lot of things women just don't know and men just take for granted. When we met my wife didn't know how to check the air in her tires. She knows how now, but I don't think she remembers how many PSI she is looking for, or where to find that info. I think every guy born knows that information genetically. She's actually very handy with most tools. She can use a drill or screw gun to hang damn near anything, and she can paint like an artist (literally, we have some of her art in the house). She just can't do anything with a car or other power tools. It was definitely eye opening to find she didn't know how ratchet straps worked. I'm sure she would have eventually figured it out but after how long? Oh, and I forgot to mention she towed the trailer without chains! |
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the Princess is very capable in some areas, not so capable in others. We make a good team, she is strong where I need help.
the kid can load the trailer, strap it down, back it up thru the eye of a needle, and take it anywhere you want to go. We do need to gt him a driver's license... He also knows how to hook up the PTO generator, knows and under stands load management, and generally can do what I do. I'm here at home (retired) and the kid does cyber school at home, so one of us is always almost here. the only possibility would be if the kid and I are on a trip. So far, we've been no more than 12 hours from home, and could return if necessary. Ops |
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yup...amazing what we guys just look at as common knowledge.
the Mrs however....has stepped up to the plate and has added about a million skills to her arsenal.....the biggest thing that really got her on it was starting our Cub scout den.....she didn't want to look like a idiot..... 
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I see so many men refuse to give their spouses responsibility and training. The men want to do everything themselves and consequently I see their mates wind up incompetent WRT SHTF issues.
Also, if the SHTF really breaks bad, there is going to be so much fail going on I don't want to be within 25 miles of it. Many folks' reactions will be unbelievable. |
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Quoted:
I see so many men refuse to give their spouses responsibility and training. The men want to do everything themselves and consequently I see their mates wind up incompetent WRT SHTF issues. Also, if the SHTF really breaks bad, there is going to be so much fail going on I don't want to be within 25 miles of it. Many folks' reactions will be unbelievable. I've read several survival instructors who notice the same thing in their classes. Couples come in for training, but the husband is carrying 90% of the gear and doing 90% of the work, while the women really aren't learning any skills or even really pulling their own weight. This creates a situation for a catastrophic failure, as any incapacitating injury to the male half of the couple leaves both partners in trouble. As has been said, a chain is only as strong as it's weakest link. In my personal case, it's even more critical I get my wife up to speed on essential defensive and survival skills as she usually has our son with her while I'm at work. She's going to be responsible not only for herself, but also for his welfare until I can arrive to assist, IF I can even get home to assist. She's on board, but with daily life being hectic already we really need to make the time to cover the basics. |
| The biggest gripe I have about my wife is her confidence/independence. She is more than capable of doing many things that most women wouldn't know how to do (her dad made sure of it). But sometimes she can't do the smallest little things. Like if she has a simple problem and doesn't know how to fix it, rather than even attempt to figure out how to do it she comes running to me. She refuses to use google for anything; she runs to me and I end up having to use google to figure out how to fix certain things. It really drives me crazy when she wants me to do things that I know she is more than capable of doing (especially because she is always complaining about how bored she is at home all day... she's unemployed right now). |