Real Life Bug Out Bag

[Tractor Seabee]

Condoms. Very best ingredient to guarantee that you will NEVER need any part of your "Bob".

Condoms have a lot of uses beside their original intent. Thye will hold a lot of water for example.

Ron

 

[FarmWrench]

Seabee,
You are correct. They can also be used to keep lots of things dry. Limited by the imagination of the user.

It was a Dangerfield style joke. Far too frequently, disaster scenarios lean towards the Walter Mitty "last man alive".

Reading farmer reports of the Nun fire reveal the mess that will remain. County workers were repairing playground swing sets while roadsigns were burned to a metal post. Wells had the pumps drop when the fire burned off the pipes and ropes but well service people were keep out of the area.

 

[3930dave]

Condoms have a lot of uses beside their original intent. Thye will hold a lot of water for example.

Ron

I've often found Ziploc (R) bags useful when camping..... a dozen or so in a BOB wouldn't be a bad idea.....

Rgds, D.

 

[EddieWalker]

I'm totally unprepared to evacuate. I honestly don't know what I would grab, or where I would go. Tornadoes are my biggest threat. For that, I'm planning to build a storm shelter to hide in and then deal with the damage after the fact. Worse case scenario for that is buying a tent and camping out until I rebuild.

Fire is the second threat. We can have dry summers where fires become a threat. A massive forrest fire seems unlikely, but you just never know. I can see that creating a situation that we would have to leave our home and wait it out. Having read about the horses dying in Southern CA fires, I'm leaning towards opening up all the gates and giving them at least a chance of getting away. If I was to get really serious, I should start by taking pictures of everything for insurance. At least I would have some evidence of what we have if it's destroyed.

I have a backup drive on my computer, I'll take that, couple changes of clothes, and some pictures. Our dogs would go with us, and that's probably where most of the effort would be focused on. Food and water to a small degree, but not what I'm too worried about. I think we'll find that somewhere.

 

[RSKY]

I'm totally unprepared to evacuate. I honestly don't know what I would grab, or where I would go. Tornadoes are my biggest threat. For that, I'm planning to build a storm shelter to hide in and then deal with the damage after the fact. Worse case scenario for that is buying a tent and camping out until I rebuild.

Fire is the second threat. We can have dry summers where fires become a threat. A massive forrest fire seems unlikely, but you just never know. I can see that creating a situation that we would have to leave our home and wait it out. Having read about the horses dying in Southern CA fires, I'm leaning towards opening up all the gates and giving them at least a chance of getting away. If I was to get really serious, I should start by taking pictures of everything for insurance. At least I would have some evidence of what we have if it's destroyed.

I have a backup drive on my computer, I'll take that, couple changes of clothes, and some pictures. Our dogs would go with us, and that's probably where most of the effort would be focused on. Food and water to a small degree, but not what I'm too worried about. I think we'll find that somewhere.

I'm not trying to put together a 'live of the land for a month bag'. I just wanted some ideas about what should be grabbed in a 'get out now, your home may be destroyed and you may die' situation. Kinda like the fires in California or a hurricane changing direction at the last moment or an earthquake when aftershocks are expected.

That would not be the same as packing for a vacation.

Lots of good ideas but everybody's situation and location are different.

Another item that has come up in the talking about this is that I would drive NNE to pick up my mother and my wife would drive SSE to pick up her dad. So we would be separated for a while and in two vehicles.

Just trying to provoke thought before it actually happens.

RSKY

 

[ericm979]

A plan for what to do and plans for where to meet up with your wife or other family would be useful. In many scenarios cell service can be down or spotty. (SMS works best as it's the lowest bandwidth).

 

[3930dave]

A plan for what to do and plans for where to meet up with your wife or other family would be useful. In many scenarios cell service can be down or spotty. (SMS works best as it's the lowest bandwidth).

Many of us would have been through the drill at work - Designated Assembly Area <- done for a few reasons, one of the first being tallying up who is MIA.

Wide-area events can be hard to imagine, or plan for. Constant detailed immediate communication is such an ingrained part of today's world, that people take it for granted. In severe events covering a large area, until the military arrives, many times amateur radio operators are the only links up.

Good food-for-thought in this thread.

A family list of where to meet up, descending order of preference, covering alternate points of the compass, might prevent anxious hours/days of not knowing the safety status of members.

Rgds, D.

 

[MossRoad]

I'm not trying to put together a 'live of the land for a month bag'. I just wanted some ideas about what should be grabbed in a 'get out now, your home may be destroyed and you may die' situation. Kinda like the fires in California or a hurricane changing direction at the last moment or an earthquake when aftershocks are expected.

That would not be the same as packing for a vacation.

Lots of good ideas but everybody's situation and location are different.

Another item that has come up in the talking about this is that I would drive NNE to pick up my mother and my wife would drive SSE to pick up her dad. So we would be separated for a while and in two vehicles.

Just trying to provoke thought before it actually happens.

RSKY

Get yourself some 2way radios and practice using them. In a disaster, cell service frequently gets clogged with traffic. Everyone panics and calls everyone else.

 

[aczlan]

Get yourself some 2way radios and practice using them. In a disaster, cell service frequently gets clogged with traffic. Everyone panics and calls everyone else.

Get your ham radio licenses and then you can use ham radios which will have a much better chance of getting through than a cellphone.

Aaron Z

 

[Egon]

Keep the documentation and such in a fireproof safe on your property.

Stuff to grab: Medications, clothing, water(lots), non perishable food(canned beans) That should take care of your immediate needs for a week or so and give time to get organized into the public systems that will be implemented.