Questions about preparedness and ... man-bags. :-)

ok: from Honey and Chloe
in NC/USA.......
1. what's the FIRST thing a US
citizen should do? get a passport?
get a gun? get in shape?

You could do all of those at the same time, but I’d say that out of common sense your priority should be getting into shape. I assume you mean healthy, controlled weight type and not competition level athlete. You should do all of the above with losing extra weight and working on your cardio as a top priority. You can start eating less, get your passport, buy a gun and gets your CCW license in the same week.

2. your wife said that before 2001, it would have been nice to stock up on more food....ok...just exactly HOW much more? some more than others?

The average person has less than a week. While FEMA, Red Cross recommend a week or two, that’s more of a disaster type stock supply. When you’re stocking in preparation for that, but also may be losing your job and not finding another one for months, then the scenario changes some. You’re measuring it in months, not weeks.

Given how cheap food is in USA, the minimum is 6 months, and 12 months would be much better, going heavy on canned food, sealed staples (go heavy on white rice and hard red winter wheat) and dehydrated foods, lentils and beans.

3. finally, how does your super
expensive man-bag fit into your
"gray man" concept of not standing
out in the crowd?

That would be my Saddleback Leather Briefcase .

 

A Dark Coffee Brown Leather Briefcase, Backpack, Handbag "They'll Fight Over When You're Dead" (X-Large) 

It’s a bag, not a man-bag, that sounds kind of gay. :-)

Stading out depends on where you're at. In the capital district of Buenos Aires you'd be just another guy with  a leather briefcase.

How does it fit? First of all, its about likeability. I just liked it and think its awesome, and you’d be surprised by how many people think the same when they see it. Life’s too short for not spoiling yourself a bit every now and then with something you really like. Other than that, it allows me to carry my stuff, its of terrific construction and I also needed a bag that looked better than my other ones. I’ve got several bags, the Saddleback briefcase is of course the nicest one. It fits by being a good looking bag for the situations where an olive canvas bag would just look like crap and out of place. Mostly when traveling, meeting certain people, some seminars, you can dress casual but yet a minimum level of formality is appreciated in some cases. That’s where this bag fits.

Usually, I just take one of my canvas bags, and I of course keep testing other stuff. Right now for example I’m using this one, that happens to look ok, its functional olive drag canvas and pretty cheap.

Heavyweight Classic Messenger Bag - Olive Drab

I’ve been using it for about a week now on daily basis, just carrying it with my usual EDC stuff. I’d like a big zipper to close the main compartment but other than that, man, I cant complain for less than $20. The bag is light, tough, the main compartment is huge, has two exterior pockets, two exterior water bottle pockets (one on each end) and a small internal pocket with a zipper. Highly recommended bag.

FerFAL