Totally agree. I recently took a group of friends camping to a semi-primitive camground. I knew they had very little gear so I did most of the planning. The trip was lots of fun but it gave me a whole new perspective on the amount of gear and planning it takes to feed and sleep 5 people. It ain't easy. The most important thing I learned is that planning a good menu is invaluable. Do as much prep work at home, it really pays off. Oh, and bring an extra headlamp or two, people love 'em.

I agree with Blast, Susan and others here, bugging out to the woods is not for me or my family even though we are all very comfortable and skilled in that enviroment. Just going on normal multi-day hikes and 2 week long camping trips sometimes takes on the logistics bordering on a military operation.

It is one thing to go a week or 10 days roughing in the woods, but any longer then that, the food, gear/kit and other items you will require for a longer term situation really adds up and is more then what will fit in most people's vehicles. Also the terrain around here and where you would need to go if we wanted to bug out is some of the most rugged in the PNW and as I have previously posted many times, it is a very unforgiving and harsh country.

Those who say it is possible also have to face the reality that if there was such a scenario to evac, the traffic jams in most metro areas would be ugly and brings to mind the scenes on TV when they tried to evac Houston some years ago.

In my AO, the biggest threat (and more then unlikely) is an earthquake. We live far enough away from any major industrial areas and dangerous goods routes that these threats are mostly non-existent..not to say it may not happen though. Even then, none of these events would be cause to head for the hills to try and eke out a meager life. I would rather stay at or near home (or relatives) and take my chances here in which there is shelter, food and plenty of drinkable water from multiple nearby natural sources if needed.

If you have those above 3 crucial things, you are miles ahead of that person and his family who decided to bug out for the supposed safey and sanctity of the woods where I can easily envision them sitting around a campfire this time of year while being cold, damp and not relishing the thought of sleeping another night in that unheated, drafty tent or that all too small, crowded and uncomfortable trailer and bed for another umpteenth night in a row...

I talked to someone who is an expert in IT security, Disaster Recover and Business Continuity planning about his personal 'disaster recovery plan' (rather than using the 'survivalist' term bug out) He has instructions left with his wife that if she has to evac the home to drive x number of miles in y direction, take the first exit and turn right then travel to the third hotel she finds. Something like that is a realistic scenario, fire, flood, storm, etc that forces you to leave your home chances are you'll end up in a hotel/apartment/etc. Hurricane Katrina was an example, some people had to leave for a few days, others weeks, others never went back. Another example is a bad ice storm we had here a few years ago that downed power lines all over the city for up to a week and people had to bug out to hotels and other family homes that still had power so they could have heat.
Thats the most likely scenario, I for see us having to leave Columbus OHIO for Zanesville, Wheeling, etc, 60 and 120 miles east, or Dayton, Cincinnati, Cleveland etc and staying in a hotel until whatever even passes.
now say we get stranded on the way, remember the highway in new york that shutdown one winter and people had to find shelter? Thats where some of the non urban gear might be handy.

I'm going to take a stab at this one, although I'd rather go to my folks or friends 50-100 miles away. And people who've been hear long enough have heard me say this before.

The only circumstance where "run to the hills" is anything other than suicide is when you know where you are going, and there are people there who will welcome you.

A lot of people have the very romantic notion of running away to the great unspoiled wilderness. Well, guess what: that means the desert, very deep swamps, or places where it gets lethally cold in the winter and stays there for months. It also means no where near any coasts, large lakes or major rivers. If you are going some place where people haven't settled, there is a reason for it. A reason called unless you are very lucky, very skilled, and very well adapted to it, that place will kill you and simply disappear your corpse.

Stay in the city. There is more to scavange from the city than most people know- assuming you city folk don't burn it all to ash. The "countryside" is dependent on shipments a week of food and power and fuel and parts to keep the water flowing, same as you. Bury any demented fantasies of being the love child of Robinson Crusoe and Nessmuk in a shallow, unmarked grave, and walk away from it.

I carry some of the things in my bag (tarp, small fishing kit, tent stakes and such) because I don't care to put together a separate "urban" bag and "woods" bag. My bag contains items for both scenarios.

Like someone else stated, the contents of your bag is just "stuff". It's what you can achieve with that stuff that makes the difference.

For instance, I carry an ammo can full of tools in my Jeep. Between myself and several close friends, we have gotten vehicles out of the woods with missing or broken axleshafts, driveshafts, wheels/tires, shocks, springs, you name it. I've seen a vehicle driven out of the woods missing an entire axle.

We don't have a 10' long x 5' high Snap-On box worth of tools, but most professional mechanics couldn't accomplish what we "engineer" out in the woods.

And thats probably without water and extra vehicle fuel.

Also, realistically, if the situation is so awful that you're leaving home to head for the woods, it's going to be really CROWDED there. If it's bad enough for you to bail out, it will be bad enough for thousands of others to bail, too. I can't fathom the thinking of some people who think they will actually be alone out there, hunting and fishing and living off the land -- they won't be.

And any dreams of hunting and living off the land are just that: fantasy. Look at the refugee camps in the Middle East -- THAT'S what it would look like.

At home I have an acre of arable land, shelter of some kind, tools and books, food and six young hens. I've also got neighbors who could be very useful. There would be none of that in the woods.

Sue

Susan touches on a good point-if you are bugging out due to shelter issues, you are likely going to another shelter-your BOB is going to be, in essence, a kit bag, to get you from where you are, to where you want to be. You wont actually be LIVING under a tarp for any appreciable amount of time (one would hope), its a kit to get you from here to there. And, depending on the situation, possibly hundreds, or thousands, of others, too.

Susan, to touch on what you said-all my temp bug out areas are high places-I am banking on the laziness of people to NOT go there

Or bugging in. When we have the tornado warnings/watches and head to the basement I grab my BOB, it has the scanner, change of clothes, flashlight, etc. If my wife is home and me at work it has the CB radio so she could contact me if phones/cell phones don't work. If our house collapsed on top of our basement shelter we have food, water, first aid, etc.

I must confess, I don't know much about CB's as the initial CB craze passed me by as I was a bit too young for that era.

In an emergency / crisis situation in medium to larger population centers, wouldn't the CB channels be as busy and thusly suffer the same difficult methods of comms as POTS or cell service would?

I would think that Ham radio would be a better solution in this case, especially considering how easy it is to get a Technician Class license now?