I have been working on a Get-Home-Bag (GHB) to help me get from my office to home in case of some large-scale emergency. Currently I am living in Washington state and work in downtown Seattle. From downtown Seattle, I am trying to make preparations so that I could hike to my home up north in the town of Lynnwood. To get to/from work, I commute by bus. Via bus, the distance from work to home is roughly 18 miles. According to Google maps, it could be anywhere from 17-20 miles if I have to walk.

Currently I am single, so only have a dog to get home to. (the dog is outside and should be able to survive a couple of days without me) Like I imagine most of you, the reason to walk home is that 1) I don't believe the local authorities can help me more than I can help myself, and 2) the majority of my preps are at home and that is where I want to be holed up if TSHTF.

In the Seattle, WA area, I consider the most likely large-scale emergency to be an earthquake. Other emergencies such as volcano's, wind storms, nuclear/biological/chemical attacks, etc. are also possibilities, but I am prepping less for those specifically.

17-20 miles would be a long way for me. While I know that many of you keep yourselves in fantastic shape and could probably jog the whole way carrying a 100lb pack, I am 50, 250lbs, and (obviously) out of shape. I have no doubts I can hike the roughly 20 miles, but figure I will need to rest several times and also stop to spend the night along the way. So I am planning on basically a 24-36 hour trip with one overnight. It could take even longer if things are so bad that I have to take a lot detours do to damage, or am having to pick my way through broken concrete, collapsed houses, fallen trees, etc.

Also, all of you that can't help telling me I should simply move to someplace safer, or get a job closer to home, I'm basically going to ignore you. Sorry, but that is my own view. I hope the rest of you will ignore as well, rather than start sniping back and fourth.

My plan is to have a GHB permanently stored at work. I carry some basic supplies with me in a backpack on the bus, as well as some other basics on my person. However this post is regarding the GHB I will be storing at work.

Of the fast-and-light vs. slow-and-heavy trains of thought I tend more toward the latter. I am certainly looking for suggestions on stuff I obviously don't need and stuff I may not have thought of. However, those of you that suggest all I need is a poncho, a water bottle, and a candy bar are probably not going make much head-way with me.

Seattle has a fairly mild climate. It occasionally gets down to about 20 in winter (rare) and occasionally gets to 100 in the summer (also rare). I very rarely snows, and when it does it is usually only a couple inches or less. However, it does rain. A LOT! Now it doesn't usually pour rain. Instead it tends to be a very light drizzle which alternates with heavier drizzle and no drizzle. This type of weather occurs 8-9 months out of the year. During this time the highs tend to be in the 40's with lows in the 30's. Getting below freezing is fairly rare as well. As I said a pretty mild climate. With this climate in mind, I am thinking of ways to keep warm and dry or get warm and dry more than dealing with ice or snow.

What I consider the biggest obstacle to hiking home is having to cross the "Ship Canal", which is a canal for shipping which links Lake Washington to the ocean. This is a pretty wide (1/4 mile or more) canal that lies between my office and home. There are several bridges crossing the canal, but in the event of an earthquake, any and/or all could be down or at least closed. There is no other practical land route. If bridges are down/closed (and it would take me several hours of hiking to check them all), then I could possibly swim a narrow section. I am a strong swimmer and have experience with cold-water swimming, but getting warm again after wards would be a huge issue. If I could hire/borrow some sort of boat, I would try that before swimming. Any other suggestions on what to do about crossing this canal would be welcome.

There are no firearms on my list as I don't carry and don't plan on it. I do have a selection of firearms at home, but locked up in a gun safe. I'll probably ignore suggestions to start carrying a firearm as well.

I have considered a bicycle, but don't really have a place to store one at work, even a folding one. However, I consider it a good way to get long distances fast and that is one reason why you will see a bolt cutter at the bottom of my list of items to have at the office ;-)

Since I am thinking that an earthquake is the most likely large-scale emergency, my current plan in the event is to:

a) survive the earthquake (no guarantees there)
b) help, as best I can, those around me (am adding some preps for that)
c) try to evaluate the situation (stay or go. if go, how)
d) hike home if I have to
e) if hiking home, would avail myself of any bus, boat, car, etc. I happen across)

My plan is to have my GHB (as well as other items I plan to have but leave behind), stored at the office in a non-descript cardboard box by my desk. I don't plan to advertise what I have others either.

With all this in mind, here is my GHB. Currently all this weighs in at about 22lbs including water, minus boots/walking stick. Any comments welcome.

*** backpack ***
medium backpack - northface recon
pack cover (for rain)

*** clothes ***
socks, wool 1x heavy, 1x light crew
underwear 1x under-armour boxer
t-shirt 1x polyester
long underwear 1x duofold top/bottom
pants 1x ex-officio amphi

hat - outdoor research seattle sombrero
hiking boots - leather high-top

(the following are packed into the boots)
socks, wool 1x medium
1x 5hr energy
2x pain reliever - tylenol - individual packets
1x potassium iodide pill - iosat 1 tablet with instructions

*** personal hygiene ***
camp towell
sunscreen - travel size
insect repellent - repel 100
lip balm - banana boat
toilet issue - charmin travel size
tissue - travel size
handwipes - wet ones travel size

(the following is mostly if I can't get home or am forced into some shelter)
sanitizer - purell
tooth brush - folding
tooth paste
bar soap in ziplock bag
shampoo
disposable razor
comb
ear plugs


*** outer ware ***
soft-shell goretex jacket with hood
leather work gloves (for dealing with broken pavement, etc)
balaclava
wool gloves
glove liners

2x little hotties (8hr)
1x foot hottie
bandana - cotton

*** food/water ***
food bars (3x datrex bars)
2 ltr's water
water filter - aquamira frontier
water purification tabs - potable aqua
3x drink mix

metal cup - gsi 18oz (fits bottom of water bottle)
water bottle - nalgene 1 litre

3x drink mix
4x tea bags
3x bouillon cubes
spoon - alphalight 7075-t6
fork - lexan
esbit stove with 3x tablets
3' aluminum foil


*** shelter ***
4x8 tarp - coghlan's all purpose thermal blanket
emergency bivy - american medical
survival blanket - american medical large heat sheet
mosquito head net
100' parachute cord
sleeping pad (with stuff sack)

*** firstaid kit ***
basic kit - american medical ultra-light .5
10 flexible fabric band-aids
moleskin
6 blister pack of Pepto Bismol tablets
4 cough drops
4 safety pins - 2" size 3
%potassium iodide pills - iosat 13 tablets
%2 pair latex gloves
1 roll 2" cling bandage
1 ace bandage
10x pain relievers - tylenol travel
2x N95 filter mask
%handwipes - wet ones travel size
knife folding - spyderco finch BY11SBK


*** firemaking/signaling ***
match case, waterproof, orange
windproof/waterproof matches - coghlans
3x cotton balls
striker
stormproof matches - uco
quick tinder - coghlans 10pk
cotton balls
2 birthday candles
disposable lighter
thermometer/compass (clipped to pack)


*** lights, safety, and tools ***
monocular - alpen 10x25
2x green chemical light stick
1x LED 1xAA flashlight - Tank 566
2x AA battery - lithium
LED flashlight (head) 1x tikka plus
spare batteries - 4x AA lithium
spare batteries - 6x AAA lithium
cloth "slow-moving-vehicle" sign - jogalite reflective yield

knife, folding - victronix outrider
wrist strap

walking stick


*** misc ***
am/fm radio - sangean dt-180
ear buds - jlab jbuds
ear phones - coby cve207
1x AAA battery - lithium

cell phone recharger - 120v
cell phone recharger - 12v
usb charger cable

sun glasses
sun glass case
watch - casio f201wa-1a
carabiner - Mad Rock Super Tech Keylock Straight

reading glasses - bifocal
reading glass case

maps - seattle
maps - everett/edmonds/lynnwood

1x 5hr energy
1x gum
3x plastic grocery bags

2x garbage bags
1x kitchen trash bag
twist ties
4x zip-ties - small
4x zip-ties - med
2x zip-ties - large

2x wooden pencil
2x pen
1x perm marker
1x small spiral notebook - 5x3
survival cards
6 rubber bands
cash (see docs/money)
change - 1/2 roll quarters

folding dog bowl - bison travel bowl
leash - 6ft
whistle
spy capsule

safety pins - 2 large
sewing kit - with extra button, pre-threaded needles
3" extra-heavy duty sewing needles
needle threader
15' fishing line

*** docs/money ***
cash - $200 ($1x10, $5x2, $10x2, $20x8)
1x envelope ($1x5, $5x1, $10x1, $20x4)
1x wallet ($1x5, $5x1, $10x1, $20x4)

wallet - nylon
cash (see docs/money)
reading glasses - rescue reader +2.00

usb drive
drivers license
birth certificate
ssn card
family pictures
will
insurance policies
passports
immunization records
bank account numbers
credit card account numbers and companies
inventory of valuable household goods
important telephone numbers
family records
birth
marriage
name-change
death certificates
pet
shots
microchip registration numbers


*** other stuff - leave behind at office for others ***
emergency radio (crank, am/fm/wx, flashlight, usb charger)
8x light stick
2x leather work gloves
4x AA flashlight
6x AA batteries
8x dust mask
crowbar
bolt-cutter
hardhat
tool kit

*** other stuff - leave behind at office for others ***
first aid kit - First Aid Only FAO-442/FAO-452
4 3x3 sterile pads
1 roll 2" cling bandage
trial size Coricidin D decongestant tablets
blister pack of 9 Cepacol throat lozenges
blister pack of Pepto Bismol tablets
Neosporin antibiotic ointment
safety pins
5 flexible fabric band-aids
tweezers
scissors
thermometer
tongue depressors
ant-acid
petroleum jelly - tube
laxative
medicine dropper
moleskin
pain killers
first response aid book
hemostat
disposable scalpel


*** insure I have/get before leaving office ***
wallet
cell phone
keys
bus pass (in case bus is running somewhere along the way)
hat
jacket
fill water bottle (if possible and safe)


Well, there is my GHB. Let me know what you think and let the rotten tomatoes fly.