If you thought deeply, or at all about my last post then perhaps you are ready to ask yourself a few questions - some of which I can list, others that only you can ask because of your specific knowledge of you, your family and the exact environment in which you live.
What sorts of scenarios do you foresee (buy into) for your particular geographic area? Are these just natural disasters with the potential for the occasional two-legged misbehavior? Do you believe it possible that someone, somewhere might actually use one or a hundred of the thousand(s) nuclear weapons around the world - do you think your city would be a target - do you believe you would have warning?
Do you plan to leave your city? Where would you go? How would you communicate with your family and those that would go with you if you decided that leaving right now was necessary? What if the cellphone and landline networks were clogged as in the aftermath of the NYC attacks?
What if you could not get money out of an ATM and your tank was on empty? I bet at least one of your cars is below half full right now isn't it. How much cash do you have in the house right this second? Leaving in a forced or rush evacuation might get a little ugly with those facts being real.
Do you have a 72 hour kit? A spare pair of glasses, a supply of your required prescription meds? Important documents? Do you know where all this and could you grab it and go? Don't worry, most Americans could not either.
Before your turn off the terms survivalist and prepper think about the simple and straightforward things.
(Insert here any reasonable reason why you and 10 million or so other people in your area have to leave your homes very fast)
Imagine yourself if you will, sitting on a interstate with all traffic going away from your city. Your half a tank of gasoline is edging ever nearer to empty. You are far behind the rush because it took you a very long time to get hold of your wife, as the cellphone network was jammed with people doing just what you were. You spent way too much time at home, running around trying to figure out what to grab.
You took a chance at one exit on what you considered the perimeter of the city to attempt to buy gasoline. After leaving your place in the long line of cars leaving the city and waiting in another long line at the pump you find out that: One, they are experiencing the same problems with phone lines as everyone else and are selling via cash only; Two you cannot get cash from the ATM for the same reason - and in any event if it did work it would have been sucked dry by now anyway; Three, because you rely almost exclusively on your plastic (debit or credit cards) neither you or your wife have enough cash to make a dent in the tank anyway.
We could go on with this...you and your family stuck now on the side of the road with others that prepared as well as you. Imagine spending the night out there with angry, scared people -- would you sleep very well thinking of what COULD happen to your family? In any case where the heck are you driving anyway? If this is just a local or regional thing then one assumes most people have family everywhere. If it is more national than regional - did you just become a refugee? We will talk about that.
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First things first - if you will continue to journey down this path with me is to build/do the following:
- Make a plan
- Carry around kit
- 72 hour kit (Bug out Kit)
Make a Plan:
The news says any number of events on the list you develop occur (or heaven forbid the news outlets are silent in the very worst-case sorts of scenarios). You plan assumes that cell communication may be spotty or unavailable. Your plan allows you to begin execution of key tasks; i.e. pick up the kids, ensure the car in filled with gasoline, everyone meets at home (or where ever makes sense and grabs the 72 hour kits). At this point you are able to make wise informed decisions about your next move. Such a plan might, I say might, include a rendezvous point outside the city if everyone does not get home when expected and contact cannot be established. (You dead on the subway is no reason for your family to die waiting for you if your plan is to displace). ---This topic probably deserves a lot more discussion, in a future post I will point to areas where people are already discussing this a great length
Carry Around Kit:
A small backpack that should be with you at all times and contains essential items that you just might want to have if you are at the office, on the subway etc when things start going all wrong. Moving across a city in chaos could be perilous and will take time.
72 Hour Kit (Bug-out Bag)
This is everything you and each member of your family needs to survive for 72 hours (you need one bag per family member). Many suggest having one or more of these bags at different locations (work, office, car) effectively doing away with the "Carry around bag". There is merit to this because setting up a 72 Hour Kit is not inexpensive and while it is not overly bulky it is not terribly small. While I was in Korea I opted for a smaller "carry around bag" simply because I did not want to haul a full kit on the subway with me - it is a personal risk assessment decision that you have to make.
At a basic minimum, your kit at home should contain all the document, or copies of such, you would need to establish critical elements of who you are in addition to your prescriptions, food, water, clothes etc. (remember this is the stuff you use to allow you to get to where you are going and make good decisions along the way - not desperation decisions).
Just google Bug out bag - the discussions and options are too many to list here.
No mater what you read and what you decide I think the following ought to be in your bag:
Multitool, meds, First Aid kit, cash, small flashlight, matches, fleece jacket and cap, working gloves, charged prepaid cell phone, copies of important papers, photos of family (for missing persons boards), maps of your route and surrounding area, compass, rain parka, small AM/FM radio (or better), antiseptic hand wash (use it often, as an old field Soldier I can tell you what happens if you do not), can opener, toilet paper, headache/painkiller, nodoze/caffeine pills, small bottle of water purification tablets, water bottles (72 hour supply), baby wipes, duct tape, plastic trash bags x4, 100 foot parachute chord, energy bars
You can fit all of that nicely in back pack (here and here are nice ones but cheaper models will do)
That is the cheap man's version basic kit - many will suggest more; Motorola Talkabouts, GPS, pistol and I would too, but the above list is a nice starter for anyone - whether you stay in place a few days or bug out that kit ought to save a lot of burden.
Next Post: Where are you going and why?
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