I was pleasantly surprised when a local healthcare provider sent us a “welcome to the area” kit featuring a little bug-out kit for a car. With such things as a flashlight, a few 8-oz water packets, chocolate energy bars, and a “survival” blanket among other things, it’s perfect for my wife’s vehicle. When we looked at it, she said “I could use this for my car” and I was pleased. We stowed it in her vehicle, and then she even mentioned that she needed blanket(s) for her car in case she and the little fella ever get stuck somewhere. Not surprisingly, I had two wool blankets to spare!
My wife actually got stuck in the snow in Colorado with a friend when they were trying to get to a good snowshoeing point and went one snow-drift too far for a 2wd Saturn, so she knows how quickly things can turn from a day away from things to a day without things.
She knows that I’m paranoid as all get-out, generally a doom-sayer, great in the sack, have some preparations (and of course, protection-guns and ammo, that is), but hasn’t embraced SHTF prepping as her thing.
I’m looking at these preparations as prudent measures. What if I get stuck in my car someplace and can’t get home? What’s the one thing you need in that situation? To me, it’s time. This little kit and the clif bars I threw into it are enough (if she remembers them) to give time for one to either get out of a bad situation or plan for the next thing.
Do I think the S is imminently going to HTF? I don’t think tomorrow (as in the literal tomorrow-I have questions about the proverbial tomorrow) we’re going to be fighting off the “golden horde” looking for a piece of our food. But on a number of different scales (namely economic and foreign/unconventional enemies), we’re a heck of a lot closer than we’ve been recently.
So what does a G.O.O.D. (I pronounce it “goodie,” but it means “get out of dodge”) or bug-out bag help you with? It gives you the option that if you must bug-out, you have time before you make your next move. I may share mine soon, it’s an interesting discussion piece.
What you have in your pantry/vault/hideaway also matters, as do other survival supplies (like band-aids and bullets). If you wake up one day and the dearly incompetent leader’s people tell you you must shelter-in-place (i.e. duct tape and plastic, turn off your HVAC, and go to a safe place in your house), what are you going to do? Most of us could probably survive on the weird combinations of stuff in the cabinets for a while, but what if they tell you to shut off the water? Yeah, that sure puts a wrinkle in things… This all assumes that there’s electricity (my assumption would be that at some point there’s not), so your prior preparation and planning will prevent poor psurvival.
Right now the BadIdeafamily has adequate bug-out and shelter-in-place provisions, but we’re lacking in retreat specifics. At this point, my beloved great-aunt and uncle would be receiving our company in bumbleburg, but I’m working on something better, alternate even.
While the concept of a SHTF survival farm within a commute of my life (friends, work, church, etc) seems like a good idea, the realities of real estate make it impossible. So until such accomodations either become reasonable, the shtf and I die from lack of preparation, or I find an alternate plan, my SHTF planning approach is “buy time”.
If the economy is able to limp along here, I’m planning to buy a “weekend getaway” that conveniently has some tillable land. I understand that you don’t just wake up one day a farmer, and I have some other ideas as to how to become one soon.
The economic doomsayers (doomers) have a lot of legitimate points, and are notably riding high right now. So if you realized the tenuous nature of our civilized society many years ago and were afforded more time to prepare, God bless you. If not, maybe we can share some tips. Either way, those who are praying folks, please say a prayer for our country (and its inept leaders) that we can find a Godly way toward real prosperity for all.