Valentine’s Day is approaching and it’s important to express how much you love that special someone in your life. If you are a person with a preparedness mindset, then you have probably crossed off Valentine’s Day in your calendar altogether because you can’t think of a way to make a Bug Out Bag seem like a romantic gift. Fear not! I suggest you take the bull by the horns and embrace this evil commercially inspired holiday with the spirit of a true survivalist.
I have pulled together some ideas for this season of love and some simple, yet practical ways you can seduce your mate into thinking you are a romantic clever bundle of heart-throbbing thoughtfulness. First, you will have to determine which category of lover you are buying for depending on their prepper status. And as a bonus, I have included a few love poems that you can write on a tag or in a card to add an extra touch. Each poem is specially written to accompany the suggested gift and is guaranteed to melt the heart of your lover as long as they don’t see this post. Even then, they might just accept your thoughtful gift with a lusty gleam in their eye knowing that, although you used a poem written by someone else, that at least you cared.
I have broken it down into three categories that most people should fit into. These categories will work for both men and women and should, if administered correctly, reignite any dying flames in your relationship.
FOR THE PRACTICAL PREPPER
These gifts are strictly for the no frills kind of prepper. They are already in tune with the idea of prepping and they would cringe at the idea of you buying flowers or candy. They want you to give it to them straight with as little fuss as possible.
Idea #1 – The seed vault
So maybe you have been gardening already or have been talking about it. They see the need for a sustainable solution for long term food depravity. They can embrace the idea of a garden and are not afraid of getting their hands dirty. The survival seed vault will allow long time seed storage so that if the need arises and you want to grow more food because there are no more groceries stores then you are set!
Here’s a poem I thought up that you can write on your homemade card so they will love you even more.
Let’s Get Dirty
There’s nothing more romantic than digging in the soil.
It’s better than receiving candies wrapped in foil.
So let us steal away together, strolling hand in hand,
And dig, and sow, and nurture our little plot of land.
Idea # 2 – The food dehydrator
Dehydrating is the world’s oldest form of food preservation, it requires no preservatives, and it yields great tasting food with months of shelf life. This is one of those gifts that people don’t buy for themselves. A food dehydrator makes wonderful nutritious snacks as well as amazing jerky. It is a fantastic way to preserve food without additives or chemicals and is super easy to use.
Here is a sample food dehydrator poem:
Our Love Will Never Be Stale
Keeping love from growing stale,
Is always on my mind.
A love like ours is rare and perfect,
Impossible to find.
I want to preserve my love for you,
And make it last forever,
I also want to preserve our food
So I bought you a dehydrator.
Idea # 3 – Canning kit
Home canning is one of the best ways to fill a pantry with farm fresh foods for winter. Canning is a simple technique that everyone should be able to do, and once you have the proper equipment, the amount of food is only limited to the number of jars you have to fill. Some canning requires a pressure cooker while other canned foods, such as jams or pickles, requires no pressure and use what is called a water bath. With the water bath technique, it is easy to put away a lot of food in a short amount of time.
Try this canning poem on your special someone:
Take a Water Bath with Me
I’m ready to take the plunge
And go further than ever.
With you– a water bath
Could be a romantic endeavor.
So let’s get steamy and hot
And do some preserving,
There’s a lonely spot in my pantry
That’s oh so deserving.
FOR THE BURNED-OUT PREPPER
Maybe this special someone has reached a point in their prepping and have hit a plateau. They have stocked up enough to survive for several months, maybe a year. They have watched every Doomsday Prepper episode and doomsday movie they can get their hands on. They have imagined every scenario possible and they are ready, but nothing has happened yet and they have hit a wall. What do you give the prepper with everything?
Idea #4 – A night out.
This prepper needs a break. I suggest you get dressed up and go out for a lovely dinner that doesn’t look remotely like an MRE. Give them an excuse to get out of those tired battle fatigues or camo. Go dancing. Take lots of pictures of the evening and don’t leave them on your camera. Have them printed and make a scrapbook or stick them in an envelope inside your Bug out Bag. You may look back at these photographs one day and remember a night of extravagance. It’s important to remember the world as we’re in it now because one day, it may not be this way. I guarantee when you are holed up with your MREs, possibly watching the world burn, you will be thinking about that steak dinner you had before it all went south. Those are the memories that can help a person push through to the other side even when everything is crumbling around them.
FOR THE “NOT ON BOARD YET”
Yes, it’s true. There are still those non-believers. I don’t have statistics because it hasn’t been documented yet, but I dare say that there are a lot of couples out there that have opposing views on the Prepper Movement. The worst tactic you can take with someone who doesn’t want to prepare for anything is to get in their face and bully them into doing it. Giving this person a thoughtful gift of MRE’s might land you in divorce court. Worse yet, they might totally sabotage your preps by poking pin holes in your filtration straws or reloading all your magazines in your Bug Out Bag backward. This loved one needs a gentle nudge. So put on your most diplomatic demeanor and bring them over from the dark side.
Idea # 5 -Romantic dinner at home
Light the emergency candles you have been hoarding and cook them an amazing dinner. Absolutely NO MREs. Only the finest foods available should be served up on this spectacular evening. Shower them with out- of- season fruits and vegetables and delectable meats. Serve their favorite desserts. Don’t hold back. As the evening progresses and their waistline expands, discuss the importance of clean water, nourishment and a light source to see in the dark. Casually bring up how much they mean to you and that you want more than anything to protect them in the event ANYTHING should happen. This is not a time to go black helicopter on them. This is an evening for opening the dialogue. If you find yourself getting frustrated and discussing eugenics or mass pandemic wiping out the world as they know it then you need to abort the mission. You have failed and will have to wait until St. Patrick’s Day. In the event you have botched your mission they are stonewalling you then I propose it’s time to suggest a movie. Maybe World War Z? Who doesn’t like Brad Pitt? With any movie in this genre there is still a change you can plant a seed for the need to be prepared.
Once again, a poem never hurts:
I Can’t Love You if I’m Dead
Our safety and protection
Are high priority.
If the grid should ever go down,
Things could go horribly.
I want to have the preps
In case of emergency.
Without the best supplies
We’d be left in a calamity.
Please don’t think so harshly
When I buy gas masks and gold.
Or MREs and a generator
In case we should be cold.
It’s because I love you deeply
That I’m planning far ahead.
And quite honestly my dear,
I can’t love you if I’m dead.
There is absolutely no reason for you to fail this Valentine’s Day. All bases have been covered. And in the event you refuse to participate in this Valentine’s Day, the option to shower your sweetie with practical gifts all year long is always a good choice. Believe it or not, the connection between prepping and Valentine’s Day is strong. The bottom line is that if you have people in your life that you love then you want to show them that by providing for them in ways that keep them healthy and safe. And if all else fails, you can dance for them in nothing but a Ghillie suit singing:
“If you think I’m sexy and you want my preps
Come on Sugar let me know.”
Who knows where prepping for Valentine’s Day could go? What are some ideas you have?
Image Credit: 2dForever