Preparedness for when

GreyQueen

Hmm, I was about to take a not-much used pinboard off the inside of a hall cupboard door, but now that I think about it, it would be the ideal place to have dedicated to 'packing lists' if I had to make moves in a hurry. It can stay.

The thing about crises is that a certain degree of flappiness, even in an otherwise cucumber-cool personage like myself, is inevitable. And lists, carefully considered ahead of time and made available, allows one to have a simple list of things to grab and pack for a protacted stay away from the homestead. My flat is tiny, and things are virtually under my hands at all times, but it would be useful to have considered which items would be needed bar the BOB, so packing could be a case of grab 'em and run.

I have just gone through my small shelf of photo albums and pulled out family pix and put them in a handbag-sized photo wallet. And have finally labelled the outside of these identical albums so I can find the contents without pulling them off the shelf and flipping them open.

:cool: It was nice to see Skye and a few other lovely places again in the photies, my gosh, isn't the Quiraing on a sunny day out of this world? You keep expecting Legolas to ride around the corner on a white horse or something........:rotfl:

One thing I remember from travelling the world that it is sometimes very handy to have some passport sized photos with you, for various purposes. I will need to renew a photo-ID card in about 3 months, so will get some done then and keep the three spares as part of my personal documentation folder in the BOB. To which I am about to add letters from my hospital and my GP ref the critical nature of my medicatoin, which I obtained for international travel, in case any customs official decided to get difficult.

Frugalsod

GreyQueen wrote: »

Check out the bicycle trailer/ tent combo here:

http://www.happypreppers.com/bug-out-bike.html

My personal option would be a cargo bike with panniers for carrying heavy loads. I have seen one which can carry 150Kg of cargo which would be more than even the most extreme bug out bags that I have seen on Youtube. That excess capacity will be very useful if you have to move across a long distance without access to water. You could carry all that you need for many days.

I did like the Surrey bike option for the family bug out vehicle.


Though I suspect that it could be improved by toning down the colours and covering with camouflage netting for that trip down the country lanes. And in any post apocalyptic scenario it would probably have other advantages in that it keeps the family together which may not be possible if you are trying to escape zombies separately on bikes. Also the layout does have advantages should you need to use firearms on the move.

[Deleted User]

I'd use my feet and that would give me options that are not available in a vehicle. I will be carrying what I need and if at all possible to use it I will have light but necessary things in my trolly which will also go 'off piste' and across country should the need arise. Not easy I understand but I'll never have to risk running out of fuel even if getting anywhere will take me a lot longer.

GreyQueen

Realistically speaking, unless you were well ahead of the rest of the residents, it would be virtually impossible to drive yourself out of a crisis in an urban, suburban or even rural setting (doesn't take much to block lanes and bridges are always going to be pinch-points, although 4 WD gives you some over-the fields options a Focus doesn't have).

I couldn't work out what the heck was going on last Saturday but the traffic in my city was horrendous and the major roads were gridlocked in the midday to mid-afternoon period. I checked for footie colours, in case our team were playing at home but it wasn't that. Dunno why Easter minus 2 weekends was manic, but there you go.

A person on foot, with a backpack and perhaps a wally trolley, will get out a lot faster than a car in those situations. My R0lser trolley is rated for 18 kg, if memory serves. And a cyclist would be even faster, you don't need much clearance for a bike trailer, I used to have one but can't have one now as nowhere to put it. I've also seen very strong trikes - a housemate used to have one - which can tote two under fives and/ or a fair bit of cargo. For those who don't have the balance skills for a conventional pushbike, or who need load-bearing capacity, a trike is a winner and I'm only surprised they're not more commonly used.

[Deleted User]

A decent sturdy pair of walking boots cost a lot less than a 4 wheel drive don't they GQ?

GreyQueen

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

A decent sturdy pair of walking boots cost a lot less than a 4 wheel drive don't they GQ?

Very true, but going to be very difficult if not everyone can walk; kiddlywinks are dadblasted heavy in my experience, as are the elderly.

Funnily enough, I have just been putting my hiking boots on a high shelf (as in over 6ft high) as they nearly came to grief as part of my in-flat waterfall last weekend. They are bagged in those cotton bags for life, one in one bag, and that bag into the bag holding the other. Have the g0rtex gaiters in there as well, seems a sensible place to keep them. They are nikwaxed and ready to roll. Actually, I think I'll have them down again and tuck a coupla pairs of hiking socks in there with them.

Just about all my furniture is secondhand blockboard, so I don't have a lot of money or a lot of emotion vested in it, so if it got ruined, so be it, I'd have bigger fish to fry; the real money loss would be the appliances and my lovely mattress.

Frugalsod

MrsLurcherwalker wrote: »

A decent sturdy pair of walking boots cost a lot less than a 4 wheel drive don't they GQ?

They also do not run out of fuel. In a fuel crisis a 4x4 is next to useless. A bicycle does give you lots of options and then you still have the option of abandoning it after you have cleared the city and any chaos that is there. Walking boots are the ultimate last resort.

RAS

At home, I am "stuck" between two rivers, neither of which have many crossing points and neither of which are fordable except in extreme drought. Gridlock is common when any of these is blocked.

Unless the problem was in that direction my best bet is to get the express bus out of the city and pray it gets me over the bridge (about 20 minutes). It picks up 5 minutes walk away. My preferred city is on the same route, an hour away but as long as I can get over the bridge, I could walk out.

I have back packs of different sizes but must learn to ride a bike again.

The web-site did make me think about the rather spread out nature of my stuff; although all the quals are in one place and all the ID is in one place, they are not together.

By the way, it is possible to replace UK quals by contacting the exam boards, for a small fee.

I sometimes meet people who had to leave in extremis and have no documentation. Even if you could safely contact the authorities, what do you do if the central record office was looted and burned out and you were unable to return home one day when the house was siezed? Or if you escaped out the back window with the shirt on your back when the green jackets were breaking down the door?

GreyQueen

A combination of methods would probably be best. Those of us who have bicycles in regular use, tyres pumped and chain oiled, can get a wriggle on. A pushbike is surprisingly fast in an urban area, anyway. I am so accustomed to biking that it's something I can do on autopilot.

The journey from my flat to the allotment takes 15 mins by pushbike, using cycle paths. It takes 20 mins by car, due to the junctions which have to be navigated. Last Saturday, the journey back down took 35 mins due to being stuck a couple of hundred yards from home in mystery gridlocked traffic. If we were running in the opposite direction, I would have a 20 minute start on any car driver and be gaining ground by the second. I can also go through traffic like a hot knife through butter; have 40+ years cycling-in-traffic experience.

Another option could be a folder bike in a car boot, or a bike carried on a car rack, for those hybrid journeys, to maximise the amount of distance you can put between you and trouble/ towards family.

ETA; I should add that, with ME, my cycling speed is a steady but unspectacular 7 mph, and that should be easily achieveable by very many people not in the first flush of youth/ not very fit. I used to cycle easily at 13 mph for hours at a time and these speeds are laughably slow compared with a fit person.

Cycles have the advantage that they are pretty quiet in operation, they can be lifted over some obstructions and, if laid flat, they can be hidden pretty easily - anything I didn't want to have found, I'd hide in a nettle patch, f'rinstance.

Their disadvantages is that they can get punctures unless you've got solid tyres, that you can be knocked off them either accidentally or deliberately, that you are limited to muscle power. I have cycled 80 miles in one day, including through the Peak District, and was so tired I cried..........

RAS

My consideration of the bike came from watching cyclists commuting when I am on the bus; as a general rule they get into town as the same time or faster. And the bus is usually faster than cars because of the bus lanes and routes.

I could be seriiously tempted by a foldie that would go on the train or bus.