The stuff I have in my trunk is a combination of both car and backpacking camping gear. But by the time I add food & water, a tent for 4 people (only size I have right now), etc., it adds up - at least in his mind. I would love to add even more. I think mostly he doesn't like it all in one place in the trunk. He wants it spread out over the whole car. But I don't want my stuff visible.
I think mostly I need to get lighter gear. I have no idea how much it all weighs. I have a 5 gal. bucket with 4 cans of butane gas for my camping/emergency stove (which is a burton stove), a small solar battery charger, accessories that go to my Baygen Radio, etc. in the bucket. The bucket can be used for water, or other things. I will eventually get a lighter stove. This is the stove I use in power outages here at my house. But I keep it in the car for if I ever have to bug out.
http://www.thewhitewhale.com/burton.htmI think the next thing I will get is a lighter thermolite sleeping pad and sleeping bag liners - instead of a large sleeping bag and heavy air mattress, which is what I have now. I also have an AMK heatsheet for if I ever have to abandon my car.
I also have a first aide kit that has bottles of things like poison oak wash, activated charcoal, as well as Kerlix and other first aide items I have read about here on ETS. The poison oak wash came in handy one day earlier this year at a park, when 6 people having a picnic next to us got into poison oak. They were very happy I had it! They probably got a rash anyway since the oils were still on their clothes. I hope it cut down on how bad their rash was though.
I have extensive 'favorites' on my computer of things that I read about here on ETS that I would eventually like to get. So when I have some money I can reread what forum members have discussed and then I can decide what I would like to get. But until my husbands BOB is finished - most all 'light weight' equipment will go to him first.
Thank you for suggesting better shoes. I will talk to him today about putting his hiking boots in his car. As far as being prepared to hike that far, my husband is in pretty good shape. He walks approximately an hour every day. He 'works out' at the gym at work and takes pretty good care of himself. His company is approx. 32 miles from us. About half of that would be through heavy city with gangs. I very carefully chose a map of the area for him that he could use to find the best route. He is a big guy and most people would not want to mess with him.
I could not walk that far. I would have to take it in very small sections, hide and then walk a little more and hide. Etc. I would probably be left behind if I were with a group.
I honestly don't know if anyone would try to take my transportation in an emergency. It is easy to get trapped in a car in the mountains if everyone is trying to get out. If they are desperate enough, they might decide that my motor bike was a better way to go. Especially if it is a fire traveling fast because of heavy winds and they felt their life was more important then mine. I can easily imagine it after watching "No Blade of Grass" and reading "The Long Road Home." There are quite a few low life's that live in the mountains.
Joy