The grim film of John Christophers harrowing novel of world wide famine is on youtube
You can watch it in 10 minute segments.
For those who's spouse has subjected them to watching 'Eastenders', there's the pleasure of seeing Wendy Richards get shot.

No Blade Of Grass Clip 1 John Christopher
No Blade of Grass by John Christopher

The Sock

Thank you Sock, for sharing this. I did watch the whole movie after you posted - yep, I stayed up very late! I had never heard of this movie before.

A warning to anyone who hasn't seen this movie and still plans on watching it - I am going to talk about some of the scenes, so I may give some of it away. If that bothers you - you might want to watch it and then read this thread.

One of the things I am kind of obsessed with is how to bug out after a major emergency or societal breakdown. Where I live at the moment, I would just stay here since I live in the mountains. But even here there might be situations where I would have to leave. And I imagine lots of people from the cities around us would head this way.

After watching the whole movie, I could see where traveling in a group might be advisable and have it's advantages. I would tend to want to travel in a very small group, but bands could over-take you very quickly. So I can see where having a lot of people traveling together would be a safer situation, even though it would also be more visible. There are advantages and disadvantages to both ways of course.

They covered some of the things I think about, like people getting sick or injured and being left behind. People having different kinds of carts to carry their things in. Rape, killing loved ones. etc. etc. I don't remember any scenes showing how they filtered water.

It seemed to me that they didn't try very hard to carry those that needed help. To me it seems like keeping babies with you would be important, because we would need children to repopulate the country. That is just how I see it.

One scene that made me mad was killing the man and his wife at their home. They didn't try very hard to get what they needed without killing them. I know the man had a rifle, but it just all happened so fast. I might have to watch that scene again, so I can see what happened closer.

I hope something like this never ever happens!

Joy

That was the amazing thing; in most post apocalypse films the saintly heroes are under attack from bands of killers. In this film the heroes ARE the killers!
In fact they were worse than most. The farmer and the village with a road block, get the drop on the Custances and then tell them to move on, unharmed. The Custances kill the farmer and the soldiers at the roadblock, without even trying to disarm them.
John Custance is killing his governments soldiers at the road block just a few hours after he's had to abandon his normal law abiding life, without batting an eye lid.
There was a lot wrong with his tactics. Why, when you know you are going to bug out, be unarmed? You could buy guns in 1970s Britain. Why travel during the day? Why have no backpacks in the cars in case you lose them or they simply break down?
Other things like using a railroad crossing as the perfect ambush (they don't even realise why they are being stopped) and carrying back-up concealed handguns, in case someone gets the drop on you and you, I'd never thought of.
The 'no cars; they are just an invitation to an ambush' made me think too.
A lot was wrong with the film as you say:
Why were his the only children in the film and why with famine in asia, were the rest of the world not planting non-grass crops?
But the film and the book aren't guides to surviving the end of the world. They are about what we'll do to survive.
Imagine the tv announced "the country has 1 weeks supply of food and no way to replace it" NOW. what would you do to ensure your family lived?
The book is a lot better than the film.
Did you notice the boys saying 'global warming is going to melt the icecap' in clip 5? This is a film made in 1970. So much for the 'global warming is a new invention' myth.

> "hope something like this never ever happens!"

It's happening now; there are food riots all over the third world as prices rise......
The Sock

Joy wrote:
> One of the things I am kind of obsessed with is how to bug out > after a major emergency or societal breakdown. Where I live at > the moment, I would just stay here since I live in the > >
> mountains. But even here there might be situations where I
> would have to leave. And I imagine lots of people from the
> cities around us would head this way.

This is something that is discussed a lot on this site and I don't really understand. I asked one time why no one seemed to include a sleeping bag in their bug out bag but still didn't really understand after people answered.

The answers were often:
'I would include a sleeping bag' in which case I wondered why they didn't include it in their bob contents.

or
'I can't keep a sleeping bag with me' really? your car is that small? You have no locker room or coathook (put the sleeping bag in a dress carrier) at work? And your work bag is too small for a sleeping bag?

or
'I know I have somewhere to get to, I can reach before I need sleep'
That must be a close place if you have to bug out at 3am. I'd need sleep straight away. But is feasible. But if it is that close, why do you need all that kit to get you through ONE day? You are carrying enough water purification for 10 gallons for one day? I had a place that close I'd bring just a packed lunch and a water bottle. And if I'm bringing the extra in case I don't get their on day one; then you need a sleeping bag.

I for one need my sleep and don't want to be in a survival situation where I'm making all my decisions dead on my feet, because I've had to shiver in the cold all night. IF i survived a night without a sleeping bag; depending on climate.
I think bugging out is something we haven't really thought through a lot of the time.


How to bug out?
Seems what the Custances did is the obvious way to go. Use a car while it is safe, then foot. Though since 1970 we have invented mountain bikes, which is another option and you can carry hundreds of pounds of gear (the north vietnamese did) if you are planning on living off it.

Really it depends where you are bugging out to, that determines what you need. If you are in a hurricane or forest fire region just get in your car and drive out before it happens. The only thing that could cause a 'societal breakdown' for the USA is a nuclear war. In which case the worst thing you could do is bug out while the fallout is dropping.

I carry a tent, sleeping bag, self inflating pad, along with a game cart to haul, everything including two duffel's with personal items and food, water etc. I'll stick with the truck as long as its safe, then hoof it into the woods to get where I need to be. I read a Post SHTF story on Frugals called The Long Road Home where the guy had to abandon his truck and walk home, got me to thinking and making a few adjustments to my Bug Home Plan as well as Bug Out.

It's hard to think of something that would make you bug out where you could guarantee the roads would be passable unless you left before it happened. So your plan makes sense to me. One item I'd add if in flood prone areas is an inflatable boat :-).
The Sock

I haven't been able to post because I have been busy with my daughters wedding stuff. She is getting married in September, but there is a lot to do right now. So I haven't been able to post.

I do have a sleeping bag and tent in the trunk of my car. I have camping stuff, a small back pack, food and water. I have other stuff too, like a wind up radio, etc. My husband complains it is too heavy for the trunk of the car, so I will have to get lighter gear, like a smaller tent.

The 2 big things in my area that I would have to bug out because of are fire and earthquakes. If the fire is below my house, then I am trapped and would have to get out through the woods on foot. But fire can travel fast. So I would be stuck. I have often thought of getting one of those fire tent things to get under. They have talked about them on this forum, but I can't remember the name at the moment. Someone here will probably remember the name. There were links to some really neat ones. I have the links, but don't have time to look them up right now.

The other is earthquakes, in which case I could just camp out here if my house were destroyed. I have enough stuff in my car to do that.

If I was able to escape during a fire, there are only 2 roads within a mile that I could escape on. I would hope to get out before the crowds, or it might be very slow going. Traffic seems to come to a stop when there are problems here in the mountains or on the highways our side of my immediate area. If that happens, then people drive up here and sometimes block our road so we can't get out until the traffic clears. Because of that I know how bad it would get if there were a major problem in the city like a nuclear war. I think I am far enough away that I could hunker down, but I am not positive. It would be a problem if I was downwind of the blast.

From what I have read, I would only have to hunker down for a few days. I might be able to leave before the crowds get up here. I would have to head south, but I would have to do if FAST. I know about building a thick walled small space to crawl into that the radiation won't be able to penetrate very far. I have read about it on this site: http://www.ki4u.com/products1.php

But those are the reasons I am obsessed about it. I know I could get trapped here very easily and I am not in shape enough to hike out that far or take a bike through the mountains. I have thought of a scooter or something. Meanwhile, I just hope nothing ever happens to cause that. I might have to try to hitch a ride if I get stuck.

Joy

Could you use a small motor cycle through the woods?
Does your husband realise how much a car weighs and how little in comparison to that, some camping gear is?
It's probably costing you pence a year in extra fuel to carry. If you break down and camp once, the cost of the motel bill saved will vastly outweigh that.
The Sock

Shadow ooOO

(I read a Post SHTF story on Frugals called The Long Road Home where the guy had to abandon his truck and walk home, got me to thinking and making a few adjustments to my Bug Home Plan as well as Bug Out.)

I tryed to find that story but did not succeed, as I am also interested in that subject. can you help me by leading me to the spot?? Thanks

The Long Road Home by puternut

Is that the one you were referring to?