Sound advice, Susan and Rebwa, thanks.

This is a Samoyed puppy. An older puppy - 5 months. So there will be three white big white furballs in the car at the height of shedding season.

Am going to pack a couple lint rollers.

:-)

Thanks to reading reviews from Izzy and other’s on this site, as well as the review on Izzy’s, ‘Timbuk @ A Tippy Canoe’ blog. I’ve found the nearly perfect stainless water bottle in the Guyot design backpacker. Last fall I picked up one of Klean Kanteen’s 27 oz wide mouth after doing some research and finding that the single walled (non-insulated) Klean Kanteen can be used to boil water. To me that seems like a really good option to have in a water bottle.

There are several things I like better about the Guyot backpacker. The shape of the Guyout fits perfectly in the cup holders of my SUV while the Klean Kanteen doesn’t fit as snug and more likely to tip over. The lanyard attachment between the cap and the bottle on the Guyot is very useful and well thought out and it easily slips off it you want to boil water in the Guyot. The cordage lanyard looks and feels sturdy and should hold up well to hanging from a carabiner There is no attachment between the bottle of the Klean Kanteen and the cap. Nice feature from Guyot to assure not dropping your cap.

I also like the 32 oz capacity better as that will make it super easy to use with the Katadyn water purifier tablets that I’m now carrying, also thanks to the expertise on this site.

While I haven’t boiled water in either bottle and probably won’t unless in a situation where I needed to, it’s nice to have that capability in a water bottle. Just another option to be able use my water bottle to sanitize water by boiling or heating water for a meal or hot drink.

I was able to buy both bottles locally, paid $20 for the Klean Kanteen and $25 for the Guyot. For me the Guyot is the better design. The lid openings appear to be the same size but the threading doesn’t match up, so no swapping lids. The lid on the Klean is lined with stainless but no stainless lining on the Guyot lid. So for those who don’t want their drinks touching anything but stainless then the Klean Kanteen would be the way to go. The Klean comes in a variety of colors but if you have any plans to use it over a flame then they recommend the brushed stainless.

Links for both bottles

http://www.guyotdesigns.com/Product-Bottles;jsessionid=0a010b421f43f9f3bbf2def5486d95c18b325f89ac95.e3eSc38TaNqNe34Pa38Ta3aNbNv0

http://www.kleankanteen.com/products/wide/klean-kanteen-27oz-wide.html

Camping and hiking have been the most useful activities for me in honing my own awareness of preparedness and the ability to survive away from home sweet home. It's also where I "practice" using gear.

I was camping for recreation (because it was an affordable, dog-friendly vacation option) before I became mindful of the gear's applicability to preparedness or even a need for preparedness. Was about a year into camping as an adult when we were hit with a severe ice storm in the 1990s accompanied by a week of temps in the teens and rolling blackouts instituted because the entire northeast power grid was overloaded. The camping gear I already had -- especially sleeping bags, candle lanterns and campstove -- were priceless in that situation. I promptly escalated gear acquisition, with priorities shifted to also emphasize preparedness.

We've camped about 100 nights in just the past few years. Each camping trip is instructive about what is needed to maintain a desired level of comfort, what my vehicle can reasonably carry, what should be in it at all times, what can be jettisoned, what should be purchased.

Food storage and prep are a constant camping issue. Best coolers, best methods for storing food in a cooler, different ways of cooking (over the campfire, Dutch Ovens, charcoal grill, campstoves, "storm" kettles), dry food storage, meal planning.

Shelter -- tenting, sleeping in my SUV (Honda Element) and now a teardrop trailer. Different degrees of comfort (insulation) and levels of security in those arrangements (locking doors in Element and teardrop).

Camping has also caused me to experiment with different tarps and configurations of tarps for daytime shelter from rain.

Water portability and potability -- nothing like lugging water around to appreciate how heavy it is. And nothing like living off a finite supply to gauge how much you need and how to conserve (such as in washing dishes) or acquire a safe supply on the trail (purification tabs, filtering and/or boiling).

Lighting -- no street lights at camp so I have a bevy of flashlights and headlamps and have developed preferences based on their output measured in lumens, battery life and battery storage (love the e-PICO headlamp for the itty-bitty wafer batteries -- now keep one in my purse).

Clothing -- nothing like camping and hiking (or backpacking, which I don't do) to appreciate the value of layers and the extreme importance of a waterproof-windproof shell.

Hygiene -- the best thing about coming home from camping is the long, hot high-pressure shower. Campground facilities differ and so I have "bath wipes," different soaps, lots of quarters (5 minutes of hot shower for $1) and just this week a new Zodi hot water-on-demand device (30% off at Costco) which I'll be testing out soon at campground without shower facilities.

Camp tools -- axes, knives, shovels. These are much-used whenever we camp (the folding shovel is mostly used for fire-tending).

Routes out of town -- I live in the city and my commute to work has been less than a mile for the past twenty years. It's only because of camping that I have emblazoned on my brain all the routes to the mountains from where I live. It's only because of hiking that I have an extensive collection of topo maps for those areas.

Security -- my familiarity with bear spray came with hiking in bear country (see subsequent pics). I now have a few canisters and one is always within reach in my teardrop trailer as well as on the hip-belt of my backpack (and with an eye toward human predators more so than bears, with whom we've had no problems to-date).

Organization -- my camping gear is permanently-packed and ready at a moment's notice to be loaded into the car. Even a few days worth of clothes. All that would remain is to load the cooler. Dry food goods, plates and utensils are permanently packed in a "camp kitchen" container. I'm organized in this manner to make it less likely I'd forget to bring something on a camp trip. When we're getting ready to go camping, the only thing to pack is food and t-shirts (an array of jackets and clothing accessories are permanently packed in the teardrop trailer).

Ladies -- do you all do much camping or hiking?

Rebwa -- do you do camp trips on horseback? That would be a packing challenge, I should think.

I camp because its fun, relaxing and a respite from the summer heat and city congestion. Preparedness has been a side-benefit.

In the city I have to be prepared for who I may encounter if walking after dark. In camp, you never know what you'll encounter at all hours of the day. These three I came across while in route to a campground bathroom one morning last week at 6:30a (was not carrying bear spray but did have my camera because I love sunrise pics).

Have run into several Mama Bears + cubs over the years, mostly on hiking trails. No problems, whatsoever. But I do always respect Mama B's might. We were a bit too close at one point, because she was coming toward our campsite.

Some pics of last week's camp:

If I may add to an interesting and insightful post, I would comment that the next step from car camping would be to venture into overnight trips and backpacking, where you face definite weight constraints. Realistically, for most normal mortals, forty pounds is the heaviest weight one can manage well. Living safely and comfortably, as well as maintaining mobility, within that constraint is both a physical and mental challenge.

The advantage is that you have several options in an emergency situation that are not workable for the non-backpacker. And you will be in better physical condition. You also get to visit some pretty nice places that the general public never views.

Backpacking gets down to the real fundamentals, and you develop a sense of what you, individually, find indispensable and what is superfluous.

Dagny, you raise an issue interesting to me, I was just reading a report of a 5 state disaster scenario in which local DC residents were polled and asked about their preparations in the event of an attack, it was a dirty bomb scenario - locally destructive, but not so heavy in terms of loss of life, but also likely to prompt many to evacuate large areas of the DC region. I thought it was interesting that the overwhelming majority in Virginian and DC/Maryland would plan to evacuate north and south, with only a small number heading west, to Pennsylvania and West Virginia, and the mountains. Report at http://www.vdem.state.va.us/library/behavior_study/index.cfm if you're interested.

This may just come down to local topography and available routes, but it strikes me that either you would head for the west because of where you live in relation to DC, or maybe because you are already familiar with the terrain, and you are truly prepared to head for a lesser populated region, which can support you in the event of a crisis?

Backpacking would be instructive, challenging and a good workout. Much like hiking, which I do, with overnighting, a heavier pack and no showers.

But I wouldn't feel safe backpacking solo and it's hard enough to find people to hike and car camp with, let alone backpack with. Most of my camping buds actually stay in the lodge and "camp" only from sunrise to bedtime.

Two women were murdered in their tent while backpacking in Shenandoah NP in 1996, a few miles up the AT from where I car camp.

Was just talking to a couple this weekend who were car camping at the time and were interviewed by the FBI in the case. The husband had reported a creepy character on the AT that day. No one was ever convicted in the case. It is believed that the perp may have been a serial killer who may have been prosecuted in another case, or maybe not.

Backpacking has its benefits but car camping in a patrolled campground is safer, especially for women.

Car camping is also a more realistic scenario and relevant to most evacuation or camping-at-home during power outage scenarios. But by all means, backpack if that appeals to you. If I were in the Pacific Northwest or northern California, I would simply to get high up on the volcanic peaks and into the backcountry. But the topography back here is not as interesting. There's just not the payoff. And in VA the road was conveniently put atop the mountain (Skyline Drive).

There is much to be said for superfluous steak, wine and goat cheese brie. So I will remain a committed car camper who hikes to the camp store for ice.

For when there is no ice, I have freeze-dried meals and noodles.

:-)

Thank you so much for that link, Lono, I will read it momentarily.

My plan is to head west, to the mountains (and valleys). That's all my close friends' plan because we've hiked and camped out there so much. I'm from Oregon, all my instincts are to go west.

My teardrop trailer (and quite a bit of camping gear) is in storage 100 miles from DC in the mountains due west of here.

There is no reason for me to head toward Baltimore or Richmond. And I have no desire to go to those places, especially in the company of millions of evacuees on I-95. And the wind here usually comes out of the west so especially in a dirty bomb or some other scenario involving air dispersal, I'd want to be heading west.

A dirty bomb is the most likely survivable mass evacuation scenario where I live. If an actual nuke went off then by every study I've seen, I live in the zone of vaporization.

Thanks to years of car camping, I'm far less daunted by evacuation or shelter-at-home scenarios. I know I can get a good night's sleep in my Honda Element, wherever it is parked (well, except the bad neighborhoods), or my teardrop trailer or a tent (I have five tents).

Thanks to car camping (and the ingrained habit of topping off my car's fuel tank), I'm packed and ready to go at a moment's notice.

Even Gidget's food and med bag is packed and in with my stuff.

Lono -- I read the entire survey and methodology discussions. Very interesting. I'm delighted that DC residents are biased toward Maryland but I still expect I-66 westbound to be hideous as it already is much of every day.

Interesting that men are significantly more likely to evacuate than women.

I'd be even more interested in such a survey focused strictly on DC residents. The Tyson's Corner, VA dirty bomb scenario is absurd. The attack would be WH, Capitol and/or Pentagon. Therefore the residents in the greatest peril are in Arlington County, VA, all DC neighborhoods, and close-in Maryland residents -- especially PG County, Maryland which is nearly always going to be downwind of whatever happens.

The survey data is instructive -- pet ownership, prescription meds, car ownership (a DC-only survey would show that over one-third don't have cars) jump out at me.

Fairfax County VA should have been left out of the survey or broken out into separate results.

The survey failed to ask how much gas is typically in respondents' cars. If a dirty bomb hits, within an hour there will be a thousand cars lined up at the one gas station (2 pumps) in my neighborhood.

That's one of the reasons I have a locking gas cap.

Again, thank you for posting that. If The Washington Post ever reported on it, I missed it. Maybe we were camping.