Hello from Houston

[pakrat13]

Hey y'all (I thought I would be remiss if I didn't throw at least one "y'all" in there). I'm a life-long camper, and been a self-described "survivalist" for about 15 years now. My wife isn't much into the camping thing - her idea of "roughing it" is a Marriot when the cable is out; but she's starting to come around to the idea lately. Despite not wanting to sleep outside, she is big on the preparedness thing; so she gets me (insert "awwwwww" here).

I've been on a few of the other forums; some good, some bad. I figured I would give this one a try for a while and see how it fares.

[hunter63]

Hunter63 saying Hey and Welcome.

[pakrat13]

I just saw the "posting your introduction" thread. here my basics:

Age: 45 (next week)
Gender: Male
Geographic Location: Houston, Texas (still stuck in the city - for now)
Occupation: Past - ex-military (US Army, 19K, SGT/E-5, 1 each); present - Operations Manager of an industrial paint shop
Prior Relevant Training: Industrial Air Compressor Mechanic; Combat Medic; ARC BBP, CPR, and Advanced First Aid qualified
Nature of Your Prior Experience: Mountains, Deserts, West Coastal, Gulf Coastal regions; all seasons; 6-10 times per year; longest duration - 10+ days (solo) / 20+ days (group)
Level of Experience: Depends on the skillset, probably intermediate/advanced, expert in a few
Preparedness Planning: Not sure what you want to know here
Interests and Hobbies: Camping, gardening, food storage, skill acquisition, hiking
Membership and Learning Objectives: Learning more, becoming better, increasing the level and variety of my skillset

[crashdive123]

Hello and welcome. Thank you for your service. Happy Birthday next week.

[DSJohnson]

Welcome to the forum. Thank you for your service! Glad that you are here. I hope you enjoy the information and ideas here.

[Pennsylvania Mike]

Hello and welcome from Virginia.

[Rick]

Welcome home and thank you for your service.

[1stimestar]

Welcome from Alaska.

[TXyakr]

Welcome to the forum. My wife tent camped BEFORE and shorty after we got married then began to make more and more excuses not to. Easy enough to find other people who like to camp. My daughters camped with me when they were younger but are teens now and very busy with school sports activities every weekend. I teach other people's kids outdoor skills. Go figure.

My advice is only show your wife beautiful pictures of wonderful wildlife, never tell her anything about any hardship you may encounter. Say nothing significantly bad ever happened... No one got crushed by a falling tree or stuck by lighting, was eaten completely by a bear or puma... That you will take a very thick super comfortable inflatable air mattress and battery powered or extension cord fan for her. She can read books while you cook for her... Ya never know it might work. Last time I attempted to take my wife canoeing she slipped and damaged her knee and had to go to the doctor later, has not been back since. Life is just messy. But she did let me paddle her around the swampy East Texas Bayou holding a bag of ice on her knee that day, after she said some colorful words that shocked a little girl in a canoe near by. LOL

[MrFixIt]

Thank you for your service and welcome from GA!