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M_M - check out walter filtration straws for hiking. They last a long time and are very small and packable. I also have the Platypus Clean Stream gravity filtration system... 4L of "dirty water" in one bag and it gravity feeds through an inline filter to the "clean water" bag in about 3 minutes. Doesn't help with viruses or toxins, but wicked good on protozoa and bacteria. It's also light and extremely packable.
As for at home medical, I agree with you about stocking up even if it isn't exactly legal. I could do surgery on my kitchen table if I had to... I hope I don't have to, but I could in a serious emergency. I'm never without at least 3 months supply of any of my medications and vitamin/mineral/supplements. I also grow herbal remedies (when applicable) just in case the pharmaceuticals disappear; heck, some of the herbals work better for me than the Rx anyway... like Fever Few tea for my migraines.
As for staying put or moving out, a lot depends on where you're at when things go down. There is no way I'd stay put in, or even near, a densely populated area if the poo begins flying toward the fan. And if there is a local catastrophic event, you'd need to move on regardless of where you're at. But living out here in the boonies, I'd be staying put through 99% of anything that could go wrong, for sure
Here's some things lots of (sub)urbanites fail to plan for and it routinely bites them in the butt:
1) no heat without electricity (ooooopps!)
2) no refrigerator/freezer without electricity (better eat fast before it spoils!)
3) no ability to cook without electricity (frozen dinner anyone?)
4) not enough shelf-stable food in the pantry (hint: you need more than 1 pack of Ramen, a can of pickled beets and half a bag of 6-mo-old flour!)
5) no way to obtain, sterilize/filter, or store drinking water (the bathtub and toilet tank will eventually run out or get funky!)
Now, for those of you who have gas heat & stoves, you *might* still be able to get some heat out of the system and be able to cook, but you will probably need to have some matches handy for the stove and remember that fans aren't going to work without electricity, so forced air heat is useless. AND in a SHTF scenario, you can't guarantee that the natural gas lines are going to be running properly either... so best to get a propane tank for your backyard (keep it full) and a quick/easy conversion kit for your appliances (or duel fuel appliances!).
Most homes have a 40 gallon tank of spare water in the hot water heater. Just remember to turn off the electric power to the heater if you use that water to the heating element will burn out before the heater refills when the power comes back on.
Travel may be restricted in the event of an emergency. You may need to go somewhere to pick up your kids, get to an elderly relative or simply go home. The "authorities" may not want you to do that. The alternative travel suggestions above are good. Here's another one. Learn where all bridges across rivers are between you and your destination. A full size pickup will cross many railroad bridges. Take a look and find out which ones are possible.
CAUTION: If the train is electric, stay off the bridge.
Recently I realized I was simply overwhelmed at home, had so many things to do, for many of which I am ill-equipped, that I bogged down and began to flounder, having no idea where to begin. Trying to reason everything out only seemed to complicate the picture.
How I got into such a position is a long story dealing with a strife-ridden marriage, but as of a couple of weeks ago I finally realized I had to do SOMETHING or it would all go down the tubes.
So I began to make a "To Do" list, just listing every single job I could think of which needs doing around the house and land, no matter how large or small, and in no particular order.
I posted the list on a kitchen cabinet (all six pages and still growing) and my plan is simple: When I'm home alone in the evening and don't have long, I simply find a job I think I can do in that amount of time and I go do it, regardless of what other jobs might have been better either before or after it.
I know full well that's not the best approach; the best approach would have been to grasp a couple of years sooner that I was on my own for taking care of and building up the place -- but I didn't.
When I wake up on Saturday mornings, if I'm alone I pick a larger job outside; if I'm stuck in the house taking care of my son I pick a smaller job inside. The point is to keep moving forward until these things get under control.
Now then...
The whole point of mentioning this at all is because forever and ever I've been wanting to make kits or gather supplies for "just in case". Reading through this thread has made me realize that I actually need TWO plans of action, one for if I can remain at home on my wee acreage, another for if we simply have to evacuate.
That being said, I'm just listing everything I can think of right now and later I'll sit down and begin to outline the two separate lists. I think it would be good to see other lists of this sort, compare them and fill in gaps or make suggestions. Someone else will always think of something you've forgotten, after all.
Sasquatch - I agree, you do need two lists "Stay Put" and "Bug Out". Luckily, a lot of stuff you need for one, you'll need for the other... so that's handy
The first thing I did was determine which scenario was more likely, you know a "probability curve". When I started I was living in a city metro... so BUG OUT was definitely the more probable plan. Now that I'm in remote Alaska, STAY PUT is definitely the more probable plan (it would take several tons of high explosive to get me off my land now!).
The first step to both lists is really fairly easy -- it's the run-of-the-mill 72-hour survival kit that FEMA recommends. If you keep one in each vehicle and one in a tote in the house, you're ready to go no matter where you're at... just make sure that each kit has enough supplies for each family member.
Second step in the Bug Out scenario is your typical Bug-Out-Bag (BOB). If you already did Step 1 and your 72-hour kit is in a tote, then you have the basics already ready to shove in on top of the rest of the gear in your BOB.
BOBs come in two flavors -- hiking and driving. Again, you have to do the probability curve. Which one is more likely in your circumstances? Driving means you can take much more stuff, but will you have time to get on the road before they get clogged with others and will you have enough fuel to get you to your destination? Hiking means you can only take what fits on your back, but you aren't as restricted by roadways and accessibility issues.
Best to start with a Hiking BOB - keep it packed with essential survival gear for your climate and the climate you're heading toward, and keep it where it's really handy (you might even want to keep a mini hiking BOB in your car if you're away from home a lot, although the 72-hour kit will normally get you home to get your real BOB). You can always grab it and throw it in the vehicle if you're lucky enough to have advance warning.
The Driving BOB isn't actually a "bag" at all, but a combination of several bags and large rubber totes and plastic buckets. Only you can decide what needs to be in there depending on your circumstances and climate... but food, water, shelter, tools, defense, important docs, etc should be in there and handy so you can grab them quickly and load up the vehicle at a moment's notice without thinking.
If you're really lucky, you can stock up one or more bug out locations in advance so you don't need to have all that stuff in your Driving BOB, and only need your Hiking BOB... but this is only practical if you know you have a very high probability of bugging out.
If you're Staying Put, you probably only need your 72-hr kit and a Hiking BOB in case of emergencies, and then you just need to stock up your homestead. Again, what you stock entirely dependent on your circumstances and climate; but whatever you have should provide you the ability to continue procuring your necessities... not necessarily the necessities themselves, but a way to keep getting them (i.e. not all the food you're ever going to need, but garden seeds and a way to hunt). You need to address medical emergencies. Everything you stock must be in good, usable condition with ways to keep them in good, usable condition... including any reference material you might need to assist you in that (we can't memorize everything!).
When choosing bug out locations, if that's your probability, make sure to consider: Can you reasonably continue to procure your necessities there? How far is it from you, and could you hike to it if you couldn't drive? Do the right people know about it and the wrong people not? Is the climate considerably different and do you have the right gear if it is? Are there any major threats to consider (i.e. you have to travel through/near large cities, through another country, through adverse terrain, etc)?
My lists will probably not be much help to you unless you live in rural Alaska or that's your bug out location, but I'd be more than happy to review the lists you come up with, and offer suggestions/ask questions, if you want to DM them to me. Assessing your circumstances is always the first place to start before any planning endeavors... once you know what you have to work with and what your goals are, the rest is pretty easy (but that's the part that's different for everyone, which makes a one-size-fits-all solution so difficult)
Great list, and a toilet is something many (including me) would forget about until they need it. Amazon has several that are affordable, such as a $19 one called "Reliance Products Luggable Loo Portable 5 Gallon Toilet" or a $30 one called "Reliance Products Hassock Portable Lightweight Self-Contained Toilet". They have some in the $100 range too.
Don't forget to cover up the smell with "Reliance Products Bio-Blue Toilet Deodorant Packaged (12-Pack)" which is about $7.
I have canned goods and water, but now I'll have to add a toilet to the list.
MA4S, I'm fairly familiar with the short-term BOB; 22 years of military, 11 of them Army, plus combat time in Iraq as part of a transportation company. There were certain items kept "at the ready" all the time -- of course, all based on knowledge and experience on the road.
The fascinating (almost FUNNY) thing about that was how the BOB changed from when you arrived in-theater and what you thought you'd need on the road versus what eventually ended up in the bag and what you managed to keep stored in the truck since it was your moving domicile about 95 percent of the time. Some of us got so comfortable with our trucks and were so determined to avoid the political ruckus of life in the tents when we were in home station that a rule had to be passed to keep us from just staying in our vehicles, essentially forcing us into the tents where we were officially housed.
However, no longer being single, now having a small child to consider, I've got to consider myriad potential scenarios, from being separated if they're in the city and I'm at home to being at work on a regular day in the city and discovering we can't go home; from being able to stay put on my slowly-developing 10 acres safely to having to pack up and move on short notice -- etc, etc, etc. You know the drill. Do we have to be on the move? Can we get somewhere and settle down for a lengthy spell?
The variety is endless and a person could "what if?" themselves to the brink of insanity.
Worse still for this stuff, I'm the ONLY one in my entire family who thinks this way. My wife is incapable of this kind of planning and her family disdains it entirely. That makes lots of things difficult for me.
Nevertheless, without planning there is just chaos the majority of the time.
I think it would be good to create a few lists and post them for critique and sharing ideas for several of us, give a short description of our situation as it stands now, locale, etc., and then open them up one by one for discussion.
I'll be working on my list (in the short term development, ie., shot-gunning everything I can throw at paper before I start whittling it down) for a while. Thank goodness I've got that soldiering background AND was an avid camper for years!
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