Prep for short and long term sustenance

enjoy the ride

Sufficient Life
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There are three kinds of scenarios for problems here.

One is the short term, week or two power outage. I think I have that pretty well organized. Wood stove and water stored with food supplies.

Second is the widespread damage to roads and infrastructure. No power and no way to drive to safety. Here that would probably mean a major earthquake or floods. This can mean a month or more with no way to get supplies in or people out. I'd still do OK if my house was standing. Probably OK if one of the outbuilding were standing and I was not hurt. Doable but not happy if I had to camp out.

Third would be a fire or something that mandated I leave my home in a hurry. Now that is one that sort has me unprepared. I have mostly avoided thinking about it although is it not terribly unlikely living in a wood area. But I can't seem to make myself organize even mentally.

So what would you have ready to prepare yourself to pick up and be a refugee somewhere?
 

Wifezilla

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My camping gear would work in a bug out situation. I have pretty much everything I need and I keep it all in one sport ready to go.
 

tamlynn

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shoot, I just had a long response typed up and it disappeared! :(

Anyway, we have our 72-hour kits.

Each person in the family has a backpack packed and ready to go. They hold basic essentials for 3 days; food, water, a change of clothes. We could also use our bicycles if the roads were jammed, which they probably would be in our high population area. We try to go through the backpacks every 6 months and rotate the food and make sure the clothes still fit. The backpacks are in an easily accessible place in the garage.

My backpack holds a little more because my kids are small. I have a small tent, first aid kit, etc.

Other items:
flashlights
pen and paper
money in small bills
permanent marker
photocopies of important documents like birth certificates
toilet paper
meds
radio
rain poncho/tarp
soap and washcloth
toothbrush/paste
hard candy and gum
feminie hygiene items
baby needs if applicable

for kids: lightweight games/entertainment such as string for cat's cradle, uninflated balloons, playing cards, marbles, jacks, etc.
comfort items such as stuffed animal, photo of family, blanket
 

TanksHill

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We weren't evacuated in the fires a couple years ago but left by choice. We had a desert trip planned and when the kids schools were shut down and the roads opened we just grabbed extra stuff and left early. Some things I took with me.

All my digital copies of the family photos and our folder with birth certificates and shot records etc.. Other than that I think everything else is replaceable. Maybe a large thumb drive with important documents scanned onto it. :idunno

It is so hard to prepare for an emergency when your not sure what it's going to be. I hope if there every is a "situation" we get to stay home. That's where I feel the safest.

g
 

Bettacreek

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One thing that many don't account for is the very short term "emergencies". If your power goes out for a day or so. You really don't want to tap into your long term storage for something that is more of an inconvenience, because, face it, some of the stored stuff can be expensive.
 

TanksHill

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I think is where the "eat what you store and store what you eat" comes in to play. When I stock my extra pantry it is usually with the basics and things that I have upstairs but just won't fit in the house. This is also why they say you should learn to incorporate beans into your diet now. By having them once a week if possible. So if you are forced to eat them in an emergency it would not be such a shock to your system.

I do also have a few thing dehydrated for emergency purposes that I don't use all the time.

gina
 

Wildsky

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TanksHill said:
We weren't evacuated in the fires a couple years ago but left by choice. We had a desert trip planned and when the kids schools were shut down and the roads opened we just grabbed extra stuff and left early. Some things I took with me.
g
We also evacuated by choice when we were in San Diego in 2003 fire season, the fires of October.
I was 8 months pregnant, and we took all our important doc's and photos and video's etc.. we went to stay with family so we didn't need any emergency supplies otherwise.
We took our pets and such with us and the cats were not very impressed.
 

dacjohns

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Bettacreek said:
One thing that many don't account for is the very short term "emergencies". If your power goes out for a day or so. You really don't want to tap into your long term storage for something that is more of an inconvenience, because, face it, some of the stored stuff can be expensive.
Not for me. I don't buy into the packages or kits. I feel that most of the them just sit in a closet and go bad before they get used. We store what we eat and eat what we store.
 

SKR8PN

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dacjohns said:
We store what we eat and eat what we store.
Yup, same here. We only buy something for long term storage if it is on sale, and is a heck of a deal.
 

justusnak

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Altho its not likely that we would have to "bug out" If that ever DOES happen, we have a plan. We have 2 trucks, and a flat bed trailor. IF we would be able to use them, and had at least 2 hours notice, we could easily get all the animals in cages...feed for them, bedding, meds, water, food for us, and important doc's and pics loaded up. Everything is already in convienent containers...galvonized trash cans, and tubs.
Now...if it was a "30 minute grab and go" All the camping gear is easily accesible, stove, coffeepot, tent, utensils. That would take 5 minutes...then I would grab the dogs and thier food, and a few tubs of food for us,meds, blankets, and important papers, and family pics, tarps and firewood.
If we had to go on foot....I would protest, and stay here. LOL
 

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