And to double down on what Mr. Trash and others have emphasized regarding footwear, moleskin, and other blister/foot care items should be part of the med kit.
And to double down on what Mr. Trash and others have emphasized regarding footwear, moleskin, and other blister/foot care items should be part of the med kit.
Think about what you would do in your scenarios realistically. Hiking out will not improve our situation in any way. We focus mainly on shelter in place (Cat 1-3 hurricane), leave in a reasonable amount of time (Cat 4/5 hurricane), leave right the fuck now (nearby nuke plant problem). In the last scenario we grab very little and plan to go wheels up in about 90 seconds. Time/distance/shielding is the priority, not gear. Leaving ahead of a storm we don't take survival gear. Important documents, prescription meds, and some basic travel stuff are sufficient. Availability of gas can be a major limiting factor, so we never let our cars get low on fuel. If I have a full gas can I will take that too.Originally Posted by Nephrology
"Gunfighting is a thinking man's game. So we might want to bring thinking back into it."-MDFA
Beware of my temper, and the dog that I've found...
Go ahead and flame me for stereotyping or whatever, but from my observations, unless a woman is actively breaking gender stereotypes as far as profession goes, she may as well go barefoot. Y(H)MMV.
Recovering Gun Store Commando. My Blog: The Clue Meter
“It doesn’t matter what the problem is, the solution is always for us to give the government more money and power, while we eat less meat.”
Glenn Reynolds
Just seeing the underwater roads yesterday after work (we almost never have flooding here) kinda made me giggle when I thought of all the business people coming home having to wade into their house in dress shoes. Nature occasionally still likes to bitch slap the world back to reality.
Last edited by Peally; 03-15-2019 at 02:00 PM.
Semper Gumby, Always Flexible
Spontaneously spontaneously, or "Out of the blueInspired by the recent bomb-cyclone that had us trapped in the house/at work?"
Because that is an excellent example of when not to bug out...
Recovering Gun Store Commando. My Blog: The Clue Meter
“It doesn’t matter what the problem is, the solution is always for us to give the government more money and power, while we eat less meat.”
Glenn Reynolds
On the drive down to Miami Dade on September 14/15, 2017, this was a common sight:
Evac to Alabama or Georgia, fill up every suitable container (and probably some not-so-suitable) container with gas.
We were impressed he had the coolers on the hitch rack, and the gas cans on the roof, where they would be less danger in case of being rear-ended. (Assuming the coolers are not also full of gas...)
Last edited by Drang; 03-15-2019 at 02:04 PM.
Recovering Gun Store Commando. My Blog: The Clue Meter
“It doesn’t matter what the problem is, the solution is always for us to give the government more money and power, while we eat less meat.”
Glenn Reynolds
I guess I'm a minimalist. I put together a bag when we lived in Kansas. Kansas is much farther north than any place else I'd lived, so a blanket was at the top of my list. Then water, food, first aid kit, and toilet paper. Then paracord and duct tape and a Mora knife.
My decisions were based partly on news reports of people who parked their cars and left for day hikes. A guy and two of his sons froze to death in Missouri. There was a couple who died from heat/dehydration in New Mexico, but their son survived. (That might have been after I set up my bag though.) Anyway, I'd be prepared for either if these scenarios. An unplanned day hike seems more likely than a gigantic natural disaster. I should add a compass, or at least move the one that lives in my hiking bag to the car bag.
I think all the time about having to walk home from work (13 miles), and the only thing I might add would be more water and an extra pistol mag.
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I've done a whole bunch of things mainly wrong.
Like a lot of replies, it is going to vary on what your needs or what you think might happen.
I have thinned down the gear in my truck to a dry bag with 2 liters of water, 1,500 calories in happy snacks, headlamp, Leatherman (I know I am suppose to hate them and they are taking my 2A right away as I type this), some hygiene needs - (TP and wipes), and some things I use in my daily life - floss, hand sanitizer, lip balm, and eye drops. I've resupplied myself a few times from the kit. It's low profile, fits on the floor and takes all the sand and snow my toddlers can throw on it. I used to have a fancy backpack but really that is just something to get stolen out the truck and for a very small chance event.
If I was in an urban environment I could see having a 20 to 25L bag with a little more, like a stove (but only because I really enjoy a cup of tea and having a cup of tea eases my stress greatly), a warm layer, some socks, a small med kit, an aux battery to charge the phone, and bivy sack in addition to what is in the dry bag. Something that would help me chill out in my vehicle until everything chilled or help me make the walk home if walking home is less than a 2 day affair. Things are shit bad if you can buy things along the way. The key is only what is needed and only that. Life is better, walking is better with the minimal of things and weight.
I've gone back and forth with trying to stock and keep stock bug out bags. What I have finally settled on is keeping my travel bag packed. The last two years I have gotten really into carry one only or one bag travel. I have the set-up down to 12 or 14 pounds for a reasonable change of clothes, 3 seasons clothing, comfort items, and a week or two of toiletries. With laundry and replacing toiletries used, I could travel indefinitely with the bag. Could I camp, no. Could I sleep outside one night if I had to, probably.
The bag is a Patagonia MLC and it works great with organization, I don't want to carry more than 20 lbs in it but with my stuff I have lots of room if I needed to add water or my kids clothes or whatever else. I also feel good having aging parents and other things happening, X happened and I can be booking a flight and walking out of the house to where I need to be with little stress.
My scenario is most likely needing to flee from wildfire coming. The packed travel bag will help, I got me taken care of. I can focus on getting the kids and wife packed and out, a few guns and important paperwork out of the safe, and a chainsaw in the bed of the truck.
Most everything else would be a bug in scenario for me, wood heat and plenty of food stored. If we had to go more then 2 weeks without power we'd probably go vacation somewhere, until it was restored. Those scenarios I would have some time to pack things in the vehicles.
Work to home is 7 miles of country road which I could walk or most likely hitch from a friend if needed, that could be busted out without food or water if really required.
A backpack type bag instead of something with a single strap is going to be much easier to carry if you have to move on foot with any amount of weight in the bag. For gear, a good baseline would be Dave Canterbury’s 5C’s/10C’s if travel thru any back country is part of your planning. Lots of youtube vids showing them. Add some food, $2K in cash, a handgun, a charged phone and a credit card and you’re in pretty good shape. A dry bag inside the pack is a good idea to protect the contents from moisture or be used to carry water.
The first indication a bad guy should have that I'm dangerous is when his
disembodied soul is looking down at his own corpse wondering what happened.
Actually, this does predate the bomb cyclone - we DEFINITELY sheltered in place. Given that the road to my job was closed by the Sheriff's Office yesterday, there was very little reason to leave the house at all.
Shelter in place is definitely the most realistic plan for most natural disasters (i.e. the blizzard that hit on Weds), so we are pretty prepared for that contingency (but could use improvement).
In my vicinity, nuclear disasters are exceedingly unlikely, so that is not an issue. Natural is most likely - I live in CO in the eastern suburbs of Denver, where the biggest natural threats are wildfire, blizzard, tornado (less likely).
Vehicle travel is an interesting question. Urban Denver's road and highway infrastructure as of this afternoon is utterly insufficient for the current population during rush hour traffic, let alone natural disaster levels of usage. Hard to say what I would do with vehicles as it seems very situationally dependent. Either way, my vehicle bags will be for reasonable vehicle specific contingencies (flats/common auto problems and medical, food, milsurp clothing for warmth); these bags would be to sustain my immediate survival needs wherever I happen to be.
See above for 1 + 2. Given that these bags would be at home, it would probably evacuate +/- never go back. I have other stuff pre-packaged for easy transport if there is more than a moment's notice that I have to go.
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