Great self-test.

http://www.alpharubicon.com/survpage/walkinghomejoe.htm


I think he needed a walking staff espcially with the presence of snow and unfriendly neighborhoods.

He can keep one in the truck for such a possibility.

Wow, seventeen miles in six hours, with a couple of snack stops and one sitdown meal. That guy was strokin' right along. Second the hiking stick idea...

Downside, a staff turns an invisible pedestrian into a noticeable walker.

Other things to factor in are time, weather and situation, all three were conducive for a 16 mile trek. What if you decision to trek home comes at 3pm in winter, with snow falling when the roads have iced over and traffic is gridlocked? What if a 10am earthquake pancakes your car (and BOB) in the parking garage? Either case, substantially less likely to hike home.

Its very good though to test things out, and get a sense of the real distance between your home and daytime locations.

I last walked home in the 3pm winter scenario, 9 miles through snow/ice in about 3 1/2 hours - got home before my brother who lives a few blocks away and left work at the same time. It was very unusual for anyone under the age of 9 to be out on foot alone in Seattle snow. If I was 16 miles away from home might rethink and wait out the storm/traffic or just bed down for the night at work (which may folks did).

If it was a 9.0 Seattle fault quake my objective would still be to get home, after some local work/CERT response obligations. Hereabouts lots of people live 30 or more miles from work, across floating bridges that may not be floating no more. Assuming my car or infrastructure are kaput, I'll still walk home if not injured, and expect to take a train of co-workers home with me for temporary shelter, seeing as it will take time to get back across the lake or up to the next county where they live. I hope the rest who start the long trek home have given their walk a try beforehand.

It is a good test, even when there are a number of ways to get there without a car. I do it every know and then, and our car hardly ever leaves the garage during the week. It's also good to do just in case you have to walk that far or further.

If you test it and it works, it may be a better option that sitting tight in an office or other location. Once you know you can do it and can assess how hard it is, then you can compare it to your others options when need arises.

I work in a major city, I use the car, I only know the express way, which is in some places not for pedestrians. This got me to thinking about route planners, do they take walkers in to consideration? So I went to find out. I found a site that calculated a route for me, 23km or 14 miles. So doable compared to "Joe".

I think the walking speed was abit leisurely as the time duration given was over 6 hours. Although given my current level of fitness that might not be far off the mark. Only one way to find out, right.

I will however review car kit in light of this, as here and now I don't have the clothes or boots to consider walking home now.

A good exercise.

My commute is 52 miles one way. I'll probably walk to a hotel - twice!

I've kept a copy of Joe's experience since I think it can provide more thought & usefulness after I go through it more slowly & carefully.

I think there is more useful info to be gleaned after more study.

Thanks for posting this link!

Me too. I used to walk to work daily. Then the dotcomm bust caused me to have to drive another 46 miles. Each way.
I have good walking shoes and some BOB stuff but.... it would be a LONG walk.

I've thought about and plan on carrying a Mt Bike or some sort of folding bike in my truck for just this purpose, add a rack on the back and a couple bags for your gear and your set to go. I work different places owning a cleaning business so walking would be hard if I had to go back and forth, especially carrying supplies, so either a two wheeled bike or even a three wheeled one would best suite me. But I agree, trying it before you actually have to do it in any type of emergency is the wise course. Another thought is the less obvious you are (camo yourself according to the surroundings) the better your going to be. Situation's would dictate weather or not you would attempt to walk home or wait out a given emergency, so having supplies at work, in you car/truck or your route home might also help. Sounds like he's on the right trac so to speak, something we all need to consider.

He took 2 liters of fluids with him, which worked in the below freezing temperatures, but I'd want a lot more than that for a summer walk. I'd suggest he try it again in July or August.

I don't know what his disaster scenario is. In the San Francisco Bay Area, walking home after an earthquake is very likely. Most roads on the peninsula have overpasses or are overpasses, and collapses are likely. As a corollary, this means don't bet on getting a room anywhere. Don't bet on buying a meal if the power is out.

Don't bet on a convenient time of day for the earthquake, so have glow sticks and reflective tape - but don't bet on people having lights to reflect off the tape if they're on bikes. A letter carrier I know was run down by a guy on a bike - he wasn't hospitalized, but he was unable to work for several days and thought his spleen was ruptured. If you're hit by someone on a bike, you'll be hurt.

I would absolutely take a camera. If this is the Big One, having photographs to document the conditions will be very nice for later years and generations. Notice how his photos and comments about them added to the story? "Luke! Use the camera!"