Women’s Issues in SHTF

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Something that I don’t think gets discussed or mentioned much in SHTF preparations is women’s issues.

I know that guys don’t want to hear about it (at least not my guy friends), but the secret is, at least for me, girls like to deal with it as much as guys like to hear about it – not much! A monthly period is not fun in oh so many ways, but it is something that we have to deal with.

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Fun story…..my younger brother had a girlfriend and called me from the “ladies aisle” at the local WalMart. He was so confused…I went through the cycle of questions – what’s her brand? does she use pads or tampons? He was still confused and didn’t know the answer. I ended up telling him what I used and to grab a box of each. Then I went for extra bonus round – what is her craving? Again, confused. Pretty much it’s salty or sweet. If you aren’t sure get cupcakes and salty pretzels or chips. Personally, I am a Reese Cup gal and kinda get an ‘all in one’ sort of thing with them.

If need be, you likely have your phone on you. Open the cabinets under the sink and grab a picture. Then match the picture to the mind-numbing aisle of products in the store….or find another girl in the aisle and get her help.

If I still have the attention of the guys, get an extra box of the assorted size of tampons and get a small package of normal pads – add them to your first aid kit. There are a number of stories where tampons were used to plug a bloody nose or a gunshot wound. The pads were used to cover a large cut until better medical treatment could be obtained, plus they have the sticky side which may be helpful depending on the situation.

For the ladies, if you have had your cycle for a while, by now you know how generally many pads/tampons you use every month. Or is it just me? Personally, I try to get the best deal that I can when I buy basically anything. I shop around to see who charges what and I break it down to a comparable price per unit.

If you are fortunate enough to have a Costco/BJ’s/Sam’s Club membership, take a look down that aisle and see if they have the best deal. Yes, you will be buying an insane amount and have to store it, but it will get used and will likely be enough to keep you stocked for at least 3 or 4 months. I believe at my local Sam’s Club, there are options that break down to about 11-15 cents per pad and about the same for tampons!

What happens though, if you are in a situation where stores aren’t an option and you have run out of your normal supply of pads/tampons? – a true SHTF type of situation for us ladies! There are a couple of options:

• Mooncups, DivaCups, or other menstrual cups
• Re-usable pads and tampons from Lunapads or Amazon

These options will wear out over time and replacements will be needed, so in a SHTF event where deliveries and online ordering aren’t a thing anymore, you will need to have further backups.

At one point in my past, I was curious about how monthly periods were handled before the current pads and tampons were the norm….again, just me? What I found was kind of interesting – for example, the ancient Egyptians apparently used tightly rolled papyrus to create their equivalent of what we now consider tampons. I don’t recall papyrus being a particularly soft type of paper, so I would imagine that would be highly uncomfortable, but they get points for creativity and they totally would deserve Reese cups if they were around then!

Recently, I watched a “reality” type show where they took people in 2001 and put them in an Edwardian estate for three months to live and work. According to that show, women would take white cotton and cut it into strips and create their own version of what we see today as the Thinx underwear using safety pins and cotton strips to hold it in place since our current version of underwear was apparently not in existence then.

No matter what one can come up with in devising multiple alternatives to solve this problem, if using the reusable pads or tampons, menstrual cups, or using cut up cotton strips, it will likely be necessary to get skills in sewing if you haven’t got them already.

Beyond this, you will also need to figure out ways to wash them in the event of a normal washer/dryer not being an option, which is likely boiling water to sanitize the cloth again for its next use.

How have you started to figure out how to handle feminine needs in a SHTF situation?

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