Sep202012
It’s a woman’s world. A list of female survival tips.
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PDFThis list, by Alice, received an Honorable Mention in our List Contest.
image by bmillermoro
Most people who compile these kinds of survival lists are men. As a woman, my list has a few differences. I know the first thing on my mind after a disaster hits will be, “Where is my family? Are they ok?” The second
is, “How do I care for them and myself?” With that in mind, here is my list of survival tips and issues
1. Establish a place to meet and rejoin family members, or to leave notes if phone service is down. A note saying, “I am o.k., gone to Aunt Martha’s,” would be so welcome.
2. A “get away” or “bug out” bag is needed for each family member. These bags need to contain a small first aid kit, bags of hard candy and/or dried jerky, bottled water, water proof matches, lighter, or other means of starting a fire. Also there should be a change of clothes, especially socks and gloves if weather is cold. Add one or two emergency “space blankets.” These are lightweight and could save lives. Then add water purifying tablets and a small flashlight with batteries.. For children, a small toy. For ladies, tampons! For babies, washable diapers, and baby bottles. Maybe a “binky”!
3.If you will be staying put, water, water, and more water. Bottled water, water filters, water purifying tablets, big plastic barrels of water, or a hand pump connected to a well if you are in the country. If you aren’t, better plan on going there soon.
4. As much food as you can hoard, grow, can or dehydrate. Refrigerators and freezers may not work. Don’t forget baby food and pet food if you have them in your family.
5. Prescription medications for those that need them.
6.First aid supplies. There may well be no “second aid”, or doctors and hospitals may be out of reach.
7. Sanitary supplies. Toilet paper. Sure you could live without it, but wouldn’t you feel better with it? Smell better too! Ladies, lots of tampons and pads. You may not get to the store for a long time. If there is a store. Same goes for soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste and shampoo. It’s good for your health and morale.
8. Hatchet and or machete for cutting wood to burn or build shelter.
9. Decide what to do with your pets if you must leave home, and how to provide for them if you stay.
10. Light sources if you are staying put. Candles, (be careful with them) lanterns, flashlights and batteries. I think I will look into cheap solar powered lights, meant to be used outdoors, but why wouldn’t they work for inside after the sun goes down?
11. Speaking of solar, a solar or crank powered radio would be great to maybe find out what is happening.
12.Entertainment. Very important if you have children. Card and board games would work well. Books and hobbies for grown ups. Knit some socks and hats! Keeping your mind occupied would be important when you are in shelter, rather than worrying and stressing out!
That’s about it for my woman’s survival list. These things should come first, but I am sure your needs could be different from mine. Good luck, and do your best!
© 2012, thesurvivalmom. All rights reserved.
(25) Readers Comments
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Sierra Dave
Good list.
All I would add is self sufficiency books. Gardening books. Wood working books. Medical Books. Books on herbs/alternative medicines. Educational books too. There might not be any public schools for years/decades.
H. (eyes wide open)
Hi SurvivalMom,
I am sorry to ask you here in the comments. Is the “organized pantry” webinar available to watch yet?
Thank You,
another prepping mom
thesurvivalmom
Yes. Here’s the link to the recording. http://connectpro19068335.adobeconnect.com/p7kzkm4duwv/
H. (eyes wide open)
Thank You Lisa! Have a great weekend! Hey just a thought, I got from APN. I think it would be encouraging if the moms that visit your site could add a quick sentence to an ongoing list here of what they prepped today. Like I said, just a thought. It is nice to see what others are up to for encouragement, ideas.
Al Gore
Nice list, I like the #3 “water, water, water”, if you don’t have water you don’t have life.
Dwynen McLeod
Tampons and pads may be more important than you realize. In an emergency situation pads are excellent for pressure dressing wounds and tampons may be useful for nosebleed and some puncture wounds.
Carli
If you are thinking long term, you may want to give some thoughts to re-usable menstrual supplies. Either in the form of cloth pads, or a cup such as a Luna Cup. I’ve used a re-usable menstrual cup for 14 years and would never look back. That tampon supply will eventually dwindle
winnie
You put my thoughts up already – and save the pads/tampons for first aid needs.
Jane Sturdivant
Today, I learned of another (huge) candle source…a can of Crisco (never used for consumption, of coarse:). Just put a wick way down into the Crisco, and viola, instant candle!
Just a thought.
SingleMom
I keep far more Crisco on hand than we’ll ever need for cooking, because it can also be used for making soap. I don’t have the link, but there was a great on-line guide with simple instructions and photos. I think that soap and cleaning products are often underrated in men’s survival lists.
Brittany
One thing women may want to consider is getting (and learning to use) a menstrual cup rather than tampons/pads. It takes up WAY less room, and can be used for several years before needing to be replaced. A Diva Cup is what I have in my survival kit, and I love that I don’t have to worry about disposable feminine products.
pioneerprepper
My thoughts exactly. I use cloth baby diapers for pads and have done so for approx 3 years. They work great, are cheap, and I havn’t worn any out yet so they seem to last for quite a while.
Julie
I have never heard to this before but its a great idea and something I will be adding to my stash.
Norma
Speaking of solar powered lighting…….the little lights that go along a path that they sell at “everything mart” for $1.00 at the end of summer are wonderful for a lights out scenario! You take the stick off and put them into a jar of any kind and it glows and doesn’t get too hot. My kids love them and I can stock up at seasons end with no worries! As long as you don’t take the little tab off the light before you store them, they store for a really really long time. You could have one for each room in your house and not worry about an open flame. Just leave them outside during the day and at night you have a cheap, kid friendly light source.
m.
All very good tips, but what makes them “female” survival tips?
SingleMom
I get your point — Anyone can benefit from any and all survival lists. As a female, though, I like seeing a list by another woman. Too often, they’re written by men with a lifetime of hunting, camping, or military service behind them, and one of the first things I had to do when I began prepping was to acknowledge that I’m not Chuck Norris.
My ideal SHTF would be when my son was home from college or my best (male) friend was over for dinner, but more than likely I’ll be at work some miles from home and my kids will be scattered. While we’re making all these lists of water, food, and weapons, we’re forgetting that most adults work outside the home and many households have no resident male. Even if you have a husband, chances are good that you’ll be home alone with the kids when disaster strikes. Not that women can’t function well on their own, but too often we rely on the idea of our men being there and don’t set up an alternate plan.
Alice’s #1 should be at the top of every prepping list, because all the preparations in the world aren’t going to matter if you can’t get to your family or get them home.
m.
Sorry but I’m not relying on a man to take care of me or my child. I don’t care if a list is written by a man or woman, if it has good advice, I’ll listen to it.
pioneerprepper
For flashlights, I went with LED headlamps that take 3 AAA batteries, then purchased A bunch of Nimh rechargeable batteries and solar NimH battery chargers from sundancesolar.com. One thing I don’t see in this article is self defence. What good is prepping in you can’t defend what you have? Take classes on hand to hand combat and firearms classes. Also, train with your gear. How can you bug out if you’ve never carried a load that heavy on your back for long periods of time? Also in your preps should be knives. Knives are worth more than gold in shtf situations. Without a knife, you cannot butcher meat or do a million other things. On toilette paper, having a few year’s supply of toilette paper is a waste of space. Instead of toilette paper, buy a few extra soft wash cloths and clean up the old fashion way. Oil lamps may not be the best way to go. The fuel takes a lot of space to store and goes quick. I preffer candles. When your fridge goes out, there is an alternative. For a little over a hundred bucks I constructed a ‘zeer’. These are used in africa to keep food cool and are very easy to construct. These things also need to be thought on: What do I do with my fecal waste if the septic or city sewer no longer works? What happens if the power goes out in the winter, how will I heat my home? Do I know how to stitch a wound in case little johnny gets a nasty laceration? What if it gets infected? Do I know which plants around me I can eat or use for medicine? What if the local area gets too dangerous to venture out but I run out of something important? Mental exercise will also be needed to keep sane during such a time. My last addition to this list is something no woman should be without under any circumstances. Chocolate. Lots and lots of chocolate.
Sally
I would add to all of these ideas, how are you going to get around if you need to leave your house and can’t take a car? A bicycle in good condition, maybe with a basket for carrying wood, etc.?
Sarah
Amen on the chocolate! A very cheap and easy to store cough drop? Jolly Rancher Fire (cinnamon) flavor. I kid you not!!! After a particularly nasty bout with an upper respiratory infection and bronchitis, followed by strep, I gave into my mom’s insistence that they work. Mom, you’re right. Since they are a hard candy, they are easy to store!
Also, hard peppermint candies for upset tummies. Or just a morale booster. Yes, yes, I know that the peppermint is minimal in the candy, but it works for minor rumbles and tumbles.
For women to consider, birth control. I know I’ll get a few evil eye glances for this, but I can name 3 times it didn’t work using “natural” methods: my sister, my brother and me.
Megan
When it comes to pads and tampons, they only last so long. Try a Divacup (http://divacup.com/). They last up to five years and it’s just one small thing to carry so the space can be saved for more important things.
blah blah
Mineral oil on the skin helps with staying warm. I ride motorcycles year round, and my secret to staying warm is to apply mineral (or baby) oil on during or after the shower. Then, a pair of long johns, jeans, shirt, jacket … I’m good to go in 40-degree weather, which feels like 20 on a motorcycle. At work, I’m usually sweating some, b/c I’m so warm. I always put mineral oil into any first aid or camping kit I take.
Dawn R.
Don’t forget about birth control. Just in case.
Gloria
So this is months after the last post, but I just wanted to add something about birth control. Like menstrual care products, stuff like hormonal contraceptives and condoms run out. They also expire. I am a big supporter of natural methods. I realize there’s a lot of negativity towards it because of the old calendar/rhythm methods, but there are newer, much sounder ones now that I’d advise everyone to look into them. Big ones in the U.S. are Creighton, Billings, Sympto-thermal, and Marquettemethods. I’ve found class schedules easily through Catholic parish websites, if not through the official pages of those methods. And if there’s no apocalypse, wwe can take advantage of medicine now because many of those methods are also good for uncovering hormonal or nutritional imbalances. Now, I’m going to read up more on this Diva cup thing.
thesurvivalmom
Gloria, I just love the Diva Cup. I wish I had discovered it years ago.