Do you have a plan if you CAN'T get home?

[Morgan101]

Just what the title suggests. You are away from home be it work, travel, family outing etc. for whatever reason, and SHTF hits. Bridges and roads may be out or closed. The landscape may be devastated from natural disaster. EMP?

What do you do? Communication with other family members? An alternate meeting place? Preps in your car or a cache?

 

[Snowman]

Never far away...!!!

 

[Magus]

I'm never more than five miles from home.

 

[lonewolf]

I'm usually within a 25 mile maximum radius, mostly more like 10 miles and have a GHB in the car.

 

[Magus]

My GHB has a 6-pack of water, a pistol, a knife, a flashlight, 6 mags, a tuned med kit and some go bars.

 

[Morgan101]

I'm usually within a 25 mile maximum radius, mostly more like 10 miles and have a GHB in the car.

My situation is very much the same. I am within a 10 mile radius of my home 75% of the time, and a 25 mile radius 95% of the time. Even within that radius I have a river to cross in three directions. An earthquake or a tornado could close any or all of those bridges.

I too carry a GHB in my car, and truthfully, I could shelter safely, in my car for three days, God forbid, we are stuck on the highway in a blizzard. If it happens I am ready. As long as there is cell phone service somebody is at my house 99% of the time, so we could communicate, and I know they would be safe. That would be my biggest concern.

 

[Tirediron]

The ease of modern travel will put a lot of people in this situation, How many people make sure for example that they have enough fuel to get home if the pumps stop working, or know what they can scavenge to make the difference. 2 years ago the interact system was down in most of Canada, but there were are ways around that. for instance some commercial card locks were operational, Things to investigate.

 

[Peanut]

I made a very serious study of this about 20yrs ago, took 6 months. What's the old cliché? When you up to your a$$ in alligators it’s too late to drain the swamp? Since there are only 3 towns within 50miles or 3 start points to travel from… I started with the premise I’d have to walk, possibly injured. My big advantage is I was born here, family been farming here since the 1840’s. I know 100’s land owners and farmers. So I studied every road, lane, power line, RR track, small airport and navigable waterway within 50 miles.

And since I already spend weeks each year in the bush I know 100’s paths, game trails, logging roads including those on timber company or forest service lands. Since I know all the farmers in the area, I know who has horses, tractors, farm trucks or a canoe. Good things to know if I were injured and trying to get home. Of note… the last 10yrs a lot of hobby farms have been started out here. City guys buy land, build a shed or hunting cabin, park a tractor, unattended except on weekends. My mental map has several such locations marked.

I preselected camp sites, good water and routes I can take without being seen by people. I verified all these locations, routes and distances on foot, not from a map. A map might show a creek but what’s actually there is a small swamp that would swallow a bull dozer. I visually verified all my possible routes.

I monitor these routes yearly, keep up with changes, new homes built etc. My ghb is good for anything less than 50miles. Doesn’t have to be complicated, basic supplies, water bottle, weapons, firstaid, 48hrs rations, fire and weather gear. For me the hardest part of getting home would be choosing which route to take. I have dozens of routes or alternatives to choose from. That’s the key… pre-planning!

Can't get home is sort of vague... more like a delay in getting home. Each of my main routes home have places to lay up for a few days if need be. Since i study medicinal plants and hunt them I have medicine. Depending of time of year foraging could be iffy. My state has 130k miles of rivers, creeks and streams, over a million acres of fish ponds and lakes. The easiest source of protein is fish. I have a small trotline in my ghb.

Over 50miles walking home gets more complicated, extra gear is required. I have a few items I add on longer trips. Because of my age and health I added a game cart, made to haul deer out of the woods, solid tires. Why carry 50lbs of gear when I can pull it cross country? It fits behind my truck seat. Turn it upside down and toss a tarp over it and i have a sturdy shelter.

 

[poltiregist]

My solution " walk " or " swim " . whatever the situation dictates . I am 74 years old and would have no problem walking a few hundred miles . -- An interesting observation on my part - a college took up a donation for Hurricane Katrina victims and I was sent on a trip with my daughter and I to deliver food and other items . This trip gave me the opportunity to observe the reaction basically from stem to stern of the devastated area . For maybe 100 miles like in a apopaletic movie was vehicles bumber to bumber that had run out of gasoline sitting on the interstate . Very few vehicles other than myself was traveling that inteterstate as no fuel was available . The reason I was able to penetrate the disaster zone was because I was hauling a lot of gasoline in the back of my SUV covered with a blanket to keep the desperate from seeing what I was hauling . -- The point being along that catrostopic end of the world type scene I saw not one person trying to walk out of the devastation . That mindset is not mine as I would have simply started walking .

 

[Magpie]

I'm never more than a 10 mile radius from home. If I'm further its because I'm in the city (once or twice a year) I'll not have the car, but I've relations about an hours walk out. If I'm anywhere else husband will be with me, as I can't drive long distances. If it's that bad here, I'll have to go cross country. I can walk miles but not swim.

 

[Alaskajohn]

I have to travel a great distance to get home whenever I go to town. I always have a plan and so does the wife.

 

[Caribou]

If I’m at home most of the daily chores are within a ten minute drive, I’d just walk, with plenty of breaks. If I go into Anchorage that is about 50 miles. That is a problem. My big problem is that I’m taking care of Mom. She lives on an island accessible only by boat or plane. If there are no planes it is a day plus on a boat and 13 hours of driving or six hours on a boat and 32 hours of driving. I’ll either be stuck away from Mom or from home.

If I’m at Mom’s town is 12 to 15 miles for the stores I’m likely to be using. The good thing is that her town is outside the radius of any likely EMP effect. There is a Coast Guard Station on the far side of an island that we look at from our front window. The locals have theories that would make that a target. If that theory is correct Mom’s house wouldn’t be left and neither would I, if I was there. So I’m either dead or I drive home in my truck, taxi, or with a friend.

 

[AMC]

Die.

 

[Alaskajohn]

Die.

There are other options available.

 

[Hooch]

Most of the time, I'm within 30 miles from home.
What I keep in my vehicles changes with the seasons but I have what I need to get me home.
The farthest from home is on occasion I go down to onterio oregon when I have too.
I can still get home..it will just take longer.
I'll walk, bike , swim across whatever if I have too.
Once I retire, if I'm on a road trip I guess I'll have to figure that out or make do with where I'm at if it goes down.
Now that I'm still working, I just dont get far from home 99% of the time . On my weekends , the farthest I get is on the walks with the pups and being in a rural mountain area..I'll just start heading home by foot. Likely I wouldnt know what's going on at first since alot of places dont have cell service. I'd probably assume I just broke down if the vehicle wont start.
The pups are getting old tho and so more n more i tend to stick even more close to home since the 100 pounder putters out faster and small creeks are drying up on the trails I like.

It is definitely a good topic to constantly reevaluate often.

 

[Hooch]

The 100 pounder..she would need alot of naps to get home..but we'd make it. Now that it's getting hot I'd be hiking at night likely.
I love the stars..just gotta avoid the buzzy worms.

 

[UserNameTaken]

Of course I have a plan. I'm comin' to yer house! You got plently to share, right?

OK seriously. Normally I'm close to home. My shop is 5 miles. The nearest town is 50 miles, with a few stop n robs along the way. We are in NW AZ, about 150 miles from our big city, Las Vegas. Locally I don't worry. Even at 70 I can walk home from anywhere (in town) in a few hours. We always take a 6 pack cooler of water in the summer. Everything else I might need is on me, or in a small "bag of doom." My doctor's office is out in the sticks, about 15 miles away, and about the farthest I go locally.

I usually drive my tweaker-beater around town so I don't worry about door dings. I leave nothing else in it but a blanket, jumper cables and a flashlight I got for free. If going out of town, I'm usually in my truck. My wife has a Corvette, and sometimes we take that on trips. Our Jeep never goes past the next town unless on a trailer. Driving it on the interstate (25 mi away) would be a death wish. Both the 4x4's have full survival / off road kits. Everything from tools to trauma cases, etc.. The only thing we don't store is food, due to the summer heat.

I have a Keltec Sub2000 that currently serves as my "truck gun" in the pickup. Same ammo, mags as my Glock 19. If we are going out of the immediate area, we'll add one or both "Get Home Bags." They are basic "day hiking bags" with the essentials. This would be for like a day's errand run to Vegas or actual hiking.

On a longer trip, like in the summer we traditionally try to bail out of the heat for 3-6 weeks. Maybe as far as Idaho or MT. In that case we will add a full on "Bug out" bag or two with appropriate sleeping bags, and all that. Usually we take a 12 ga and an AR on such trips with the appropriate accessories. In bear/moose country either my .45 or a .44 mag Redhawk with Buffalo Bore in addition to our EDC's.

If something happened say 1,000 miles from home and left on foot. We'd have to assess:
1. Is home still there?
2. Will it still be there when we do get back?
3. What exactly is going on?
4. Mauraders? Roadblocks?
5. Is cross country feasible, advisable?
6. Supply sources along the way.
7. Is there fallout or something in the way.

There may not be much point in going home if it's gone, looted, etc..

 

[Haertig]

We're never terribly far from home, except when we go to Hawaii to visit my daughter. If disaster strikes during one of those trips, my plan is to swim to California, then walk the rest of the way back to Colorado. I'll hold off on drinking, eating and sheltering during the trip home, to save on unnecessary weight I would otherwise have to carry.

 

[d_marsh]

My response falls into 2 categories. (1) In the states (2) not in the states

(1) I have a plan, I have a backup plan and I have a tertiary plan. I have the appropriate skills, appropriate gear and appropriate armaments. I am physically fit, I am mentally sound and I am properly motivated to achieve my objectives... at all costs.

(2) I will find shelter, I will take a lover and I will learn the language. Soon enough I will begin my reign as the leader of their new republic or the leader of the resistance. Hard to predict. Either way I will die in my 40's leaving behind a very sad foreign woman, who I fully expect to avenge me.

 

[AMC]

 

[Neb]

We're never terribly far from home, except when we go to Hawaii to visit my daughter. If disaster strikes during one of those trips, my plan is to swim to California, then walk the rest of the way back to Colorado. I'll hold off on drinking, eating and sheltering during the trip home, to save on unnecessary weight I would otherwise have to carry.

Ah.

The classic Galadriel approach.

Ben

 

[UserNameTaken]

Oh, I forgot "The Plan."

Depending on the incident it might be as simple as driving home, cautiously. Possibly fuel supply or traffic issues. A widespread regional disaster, volcano blows and covers Oregon in ash, Cali falls into the sea, hurricaine.

Also, is my wife with me or at home. That's a big difference. Home is where my wife is.

Level 2 might be roads unsafe due to Mauraders, domestic combat, government blockades? Are secondaries available? There are off road routes in much of the west.

Level 3 maybe on foot, EMP, massive unrest, starvation. In that case, depending, we could use railroads, back roads, or overland. I am fortunate to know the west almost like the old mountain men. The landmarks, where (some of) the rivers go. At my age a 1,000 mile hike may not be feasible - if it was I'd sure be in good shape when I got done. Maybe I should give it a try?

Alternatives, bicycle, maybe an old plane. I was a pvt pilot but haven't flown a plane in about ten years now. But if the magnetos aren't fried, maybe I could land one in one piece. Or not...

Anyway, I think knowledge and skills are key. Knowing what's going on, where you are and how to get where you are going. It may shock some, but probably the majority of urban Americans seem unable to find their location geographically. Or read a map.

 

[Jen]

At present, I never go anywhere without my husband. He does work away from home. I told him that if the car doesn't work not to take any unnecessary chances to get here. I'll be fine.

I hope he's here if/ when everything goes down. He'd probably try to walk home. There are no bridges between here and his work at least.

 

[teeceetx]

Being retired, I'm very rarely more than a few miles from home. Not a worry for me.

 

[Magus]

Die.

He lives dead center of another ground zero.

 

[Magus]

I need an EpiPen for burn victims and another for bee stings in my kit.

 

[Haertig]

I need an EpiPen for burn victims and another for bee stings in my kit.

You don't use injectable epinephrine for burns, not to my knowledge anyway. Aerosolized epinephrine for smoke inhalation sometimes. But that's not an EpiPen.

EpiPens have gotten dang expensive these days. Unless you're allergic to bee stings, don't waste the money. You shouldn't be able to get a prescription for an EpiPen for bee stings unless you are allergic anyway. They are not a generic treatment for bee stings, they are a treatment for allergic reactions. They can be a lifesaver if you have severe allergies. Much cheaper than EpiPens are vials of epinephrine and syringes. Not as quick and easy for emergency self administration, but fine for a med kit usually.

 

[EastenerWesterner]

Do I have a plan when I am going to spend EOW developing our new property.400 miles away. YBYAID.
Do I Got a cache set up if I need it., yes.
I can’t prep for everything, no. But can do the best I can? I sure as heck will try.

 

[Magus]

You don't use injectable epinephrine for burns, not to my knowledge anyway. Aerosolized epinephrine for smoke inhalation sometimes. But that's not an EpiPen.

EpiPens have gotten dang expensive these days. Unless you're allergic to bee stings, don't waste the money. You shouldn't be able to get a prescription for an EpiPen for bee stings unless you are allergic anyway. They are not a generic treatment for bee stings, they are a treatment for allergic reactions. They can be a lifesaver if you have severe allergies. Much cheaper than EpiPens are vials of epinephrine and syringes. Not as quick and easy for emergency self administration, but fine for a med kit usually.

Where can I legally buy fast working painkiller? I need one dose because I know I'll be in agony walking home.

 

[Neb]

Do I have a plan when I am going to spend EOW developing our new property.400 miles away. YBYAID.
Do I Got a cache set up if I need it., yes.
I can’t prep for everything, no. But can do the best I can? I sure as heck will try.

Ditto that.

Being retired I less than 0.1 miles from home 99% of the time. If the timing is bad I will have some walking to do.

Ben