Bug Out Bag/Emergency Camping

JanetMarie

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In the article below Deanne Criswell, head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, stated "This is going to be our new normal", in CNN's State of the Union.

This thread is not about that statement, but I do want to say since she seems to know, and I won't say more than: "Angels Don't Play this H.A.A.R.P."


Getting to the SS discussion:

Are you prepared with a bug out bag in the situation where there is no habitable shelter anywhere?

If so what items do you have in your bag?

Do you have bug out location(s) in mind?

What skills do you have in building a shelter?

How quickly can you grab your stuff and run to the hills?

Will you take your pets?
 

NH Homesteader

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We have a couple places to go, one is a house in a smaller town that’s easier to get away from things and the other is a hardcore hide out, live in a cave type place (I hope that is never necessary lol). I am definitely going to be quite reliant on my DH if the situation ever arises because I am clueless about loads of things unfortunately.

We’d bring our house dogs, once we have a trailer we could bring our sheep and LGDs without much of an issue. The LGDs protect us as much as the livestock.
 

flowerbug

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Are you prepared with a bug out bag in the situation where there is no habitable shelter anywhere?

i always have a list in my head of things to grab, but no one bag already packed. there's not much i'd really bother to take if things get that bad - because the more stuff you are lugging the less quickly you can move and the easier target you become for someone else.

If so what items do you have in your bag?

water, food (a few jars of peanut butter, any dried fruits or nuts, beans/bean collection, peas, garlic), clothes, tent, blankets, personal care stuff, books. the more time i have the more of each i'd be able to move.


Do you have bug out location(s) in mind?

family and/or friends since it is better to have people to watch your back if things get that bad.


What skills do you have in building a shelter?

enough, i've camped for months at a time so it is only the transportation that becomes the issue.


How quickly can you grab your stuff and run to the hills?

i've done it before in 5 minutes. stuff isn't as important to me as surviving.


Will you take your pets?

no pets here other than the worm farm and those buckets are too heavy and too many to take them all quickly, but if i had a place to take them where they'd be welcome i'd move them. :) they're easy to take care of but they cannot freeze or bake so they do need some protection from the elements.
 

tortoise

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Are you prepared with a bug out bag in the situation where there is no habitable shelter anywhere?
No, because I don't think this is a realistic enough situation. If I lived in hurricane, wildfire, or earthquake territory it would be different! In my region the severe weather concerns are tornado, winter storm (power outage in freezing temps) and heat wave. In the case or a tornado, we shelter in the basement. The swaths affected are narrow, so there's the ability to walk or drive to areas with housing/power/water. Hotels out of the area, etc. However, if you expect to drive out of a tornado aftermath, expect to need a chainsaw and patience while roads get cleared of fallen trees and maybe down electric lines. Alternately, we could stay with friends, at DH's work, in our camper if it survived (if our house it hit, likely the camper is destroyed), or camp on our property until we can find a local hotel or buy a camper or trailer home as temporary housing.
Do you have bug out location(s) in mind?
Yes.
How quickly can you grab your stuff and run to the hills?
I'm in the hills :gig Plan is to bug-in with the exception of a wildfire approaching. Hopefully, we would have enough time to hitch the camper. Otherwise we leave, find a hotel and buy what we need when we get to a safe place.
Will you take your pets?
Yes. We have 2 dogs. If there was a massive disaster, then my older frail dog would be euthanized. In a lesser disaster, take her with and board her away from the disaster area. My young dog is my service dog, so he is trained to go everywhere with me and I have the right to bring him into a shelter or hotel with me.

Livestock would be left with a water source and a prayer. Our pasture has standing water most of the summer, particularly after a storm. That would buy some time to get them sold, moved to another farm, or restore shelter/water.

DH and I picked this place with SS in mind. It's pretty decent. Of course anything can happen anywhere, but we're rather insulated here. (other than being just barely south of a tornado alley, yikes!)
 

frustratedearthmother

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I have said it before and I'll say it again - I have no plans of leaving. In our area hurricanes are the largest threat. That's why I bought the storm shelter. For those who have more recently joined this is what we invested in.

https://www.safesheds.com/

We are south of Houston and worry more about hurricanes and the tornadoes that they can spawn...but the shed is rated to withstand both. Evacuating for a hurricane can be a lot worse than it sounds. My son tried to evacuate for Hurricane Rita, in 2005, (which reached Cat 5 strength) and spent 12+ hours on the road and never made it north of Houston. Ludicrous! If the hurricane would have made a direct hit on this area - thousands stranded in their cars during a storm of that size would have perished. Also, if you go, you have to be able to get back. That's a problem in and of itself.

We have several generators that run on different fuels. I try to stay stocked up on both propane and gasoline.

I know the shelter doesn't cover any other type of disaster but I think we've got storms covered.
 

tortoise

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I have said it before and I'll say it again - I have no plans of leaving. In our area hurricanes are the largest threat. That's why I bought the storm shelter. For those who have more recently joined this is what we invested in.

https://www.safesheds.com/

We are south of Houston and worry more about hurricanes and the tornadoes that they can spawn...but the shed is rated to withstand both. Evacuating for a hurricane can be a lot worse than it sounds. My son tried to evacuate for Hurricane Rita, in 2005, (which reached Cat 5 strength) and spent 12+ hours on the road and never made it north of Houston. Ludicrous! If the hurricane would have made a direct hit on this area - thousands stranded in their cars during a storm of that size would have perished. Also, if you go, you have to be able to get back. That's a problem in and of itself.

We have several generators that run on different fuels. I try to stay stocked up on both propane and gasoline.

I know the shelter doesn't cover any other type of disaster but I think we've got storms coveredW
When I was a kid my family was visiting family in FL. The day we were going home, there was an incoming hurricane and evacuation. The traffic was unbelievable. There's just 2 interstates running north/south in the state (they split off in the north), 1 diagonal in across the middle. This was before GPS, navigation, and we didn't have a county road map - nor was there a chance of getting off and back on the interstate. It was really scary even though we were not feeling threatened by the weather and were not concerned about property or pets. It was an enlightening experience. It helps me understand why some don't evacuate. I cannot imagine living in a hurricane area.
 

Hinotori

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We're set up that I could leave in 20 minutes except the cats. Give me an hour and all the birds would be crated and ready to go. Important papers are in a small document safe in the big fire safe. Give me 5 minutes to toss meds and a few more clothes in the bug out bags.

We had that scare with the fire coming this way 2 summers ago. I do keep everything mowed away from buildings.

If the mountain starts bulging this way, Im gone. Not going to be in the zone for a repeat performance of a lateral blast on a Cascade volcano. We are close enough that ash will be an issue with a normal eruption. We are not in a Lahar area. I kept that in mind when we got a house.
 

Trying2keepitReal

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Tornados and winter storms are our biggest threat, not enough to evacuate here and we are probably safer in our 1920 build farm house than on the road. We have a wood stove in case we lose electricity and a generator for back up.

But we do have bug out bags, more for if the SHTF or something else that would endanger our safety. We have another plot of land in the woods that we could go to and then another place farther remote. Everything is ready to go- food, water, supplies, animal crates and firearms. The only thing I would have to gather is the hens. We would take a car and a truck with trailer.

I got through the bags every 6 months and trade clothe sizes for the kids, check food dates, etc.
 

JanetMarie

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SS was also our plan living where we do, as our property is our bug out location.

If having to get away totally, well it depends on the situation if hiking, or driving. Hiking seems safer in some situations, and if trying to hide. I could be ready to go in maybe 20 minuets, and think I need to get more organized.

Things still needed to be packed would be some clothes, peanut butter, seeds, and books.

The dog is couch potato, and not fond of going for walks, so he would not do well with hiking, so he would have to toughen up. The cat could follow us.

I would like to spend some time this winter building an outdoor shelter out of the wild materials on the property.
 
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JanetMarie

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We also have another property that is less ideal, but a lot of wild food there. It's surrounded with farmers' fields on three sides that drain into the ponds, so water is an issue.

There used to be a group of people who lived/camped there in the 70s. Some of their litter is still there, and we need to clean up more. They ate a lot of peanut butter and Mrs. Butterworth's syrup.
 
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