When Fleeing Disaster, What's in Their Bag?
http://mobile.nytimes.com/article?a=873556&f=35&p=0

The Go Bag items of New York's rich and famous are clearly not the stuff ETS lists are made of. Is there anything on your list of the not so practical nature? Anything that's purely for comfort, a sense of home and family or something you just want to make sure survives?

If I was from Ontario,Canada & had to to flee south(gulp!)into/thru Buffalo,NY,I'd want to have a Canadian made Browning Hi-power with +p+ ammo & a Maple Leaf Hockey jersey!

Rich people who fled out of Lybia, Tunisia and other countries, had bags upon bags of jewelry, diamond, gold, Euros, and dollars !!!

I didn't hear or read they had any Japanese Yen !!

for the younger set that doesn't remember the large metal ID bracelets of the 50s... the Christians In Action in SE Asia could usually be identified by the star sapphire ring, gold Rolex (with black bezel ring), Browning P35 High Power, and a "get out of jail" gold ID bracelet, where the links could be easily separated and used like a "blood chit"...

many locals and most of the bar girls had the same type of "di di mao" jewelery... your worth was carried on you and you could leave at a moment's notice... many of the Chinese grandparents would give a gold coin at the birth of a child, and usually had some elephant ivory stashed (not very transportable)

Go bags of the rich and clueless. I'd love to have my stuff and be asked by one of these twits for something. Eat the art sweetheart, or Hey buddy, how's that blackberry working with no power/no internet.

I have no clue who most of these people are anyhow, should I?

Speaking of carrying your wealth on you, that's how my one branch of my family came to America. As refugees with great-grandmother's jewelry sewn into their clothing.

Do you carry anything in your kit that's maybe a little less than practical but cram full of comfort or sentimentality? Many here carry cigars, alcohol and family pics, me included. Anything else?

When I travel I do not like to get stuck. Over the years I've become quite comfortable buying my way out of a bad situation. For instance, on a recent bus trip to a racetrack with 40 people, and traveling about 250 miles from home, I carried my regular Visa credit card plus my Citibank Black card (no limit), plus my Amex card, $3,000 in cash, and 2 ounces of gold, along with my Rolex and a necklace that has another 1/2 ounce of gold. I also carried my cell phone and two extra batteries and I had my satellite phone tucked away in my backpack. If the bus broke down, I would not have hesitated to buy my way out (or trade my way out) of being stuck on the side of the road, and yes I would have left my 39 fellow passengers to sit it out in the heat, although I'm sure a couple of them would want to pitch in on a limo or rental car to get out with me. While the rest are waiting for a replacement bus, I'll be propping my feet up in the nearest hotel suite.

It doesn't stop there. I've gone as far as purchasing a brand new car to drive out a town that had no rental cars available, purchased an entire new wardrobe to replace lost luggage, and chartered private planes more than once to escape cold fronts and cancelled flights. Like I said, I don't like getting stuck while traveling.

I know this rubs a lot of people the wrong way but oh well, I'm too old to worry about it anymore and I have the means and funds to back up my desires so I use that to my advantage when I travel.

My mother was born and raised in western Africa to ex pat American parents. Gold and silver rings and chains, small emeralds, rubies and diamonds, along with small bars, US dollars, UK pounds, Krugerands, watches- my grandparents had these in their bug out bags.

Heck, if you believe one of the stories, my grandfather got himself out deep trouble in Egypt during the 52 coup with a Rolex. That and the silver and gold got him to where they getting the Westerners out via landing craft- have the pictures of that. His first rule of bugging out was if there are people around, money talks. That is why I have cash in BoB and in the truck- a dollar per mile to get home.

That being said, I do agree with this quote: "If I'm going to witness the apocalypse, it's going to have a soundtrack."Of course, I keep my music stored in my head.

"Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me. They possess and enjoy early, and it does something to them, makes them soft, where we are hard, cynical where we are trustful, in a way that, unless you were born rich, it is very difficult to understand." -- F. Scott Fitzgerald

F. Scott Fitzgerald is very romantic, but unrealistic - many, many of the rich are for more resourceful than Fitzgerald ever imagined. And they are ruthless, in a way you won't understand until it is too late. Don't underestimate the rich.

Kruggerands, jewelry, dollars, euros, whisky and a .45. That's an ideal carry-on for the rich. The numbered Swiss bank accounts, those are for your memory or keeping outside your BOB. For reciting when the border guard has his gun trained on you ready to kill you, in hopes that he might not, wanting the ransom, in addition to your Kruggerands. Because the poor always want more. As do the rich. They understand. The whisky is also useful, after a few drinks perhaps the guard doesn't want to kill you, in preservation of his soul, if he has one.

As a kid, I can remember my father doing work for two gentlemen who had numbers tattooed on their hands. When I asked my father about the tattoos it became quite a solemn moment, as my father had to explain to his young son the horrors of WWII and the holocaust.

The reason I bring this up, is that I can remember him telling me, before the war, those two gentlemen hid their diamonds and gold in the ground. When they were finally free of the camps, they were able to return and retrieve it. That small bag of diamonds and gold is what they used to travel to America and start their company.

It might not be what one traditionally thinks of as a 'go-bag', but it worked out for them and that's really what matters in the end.

In reality, someone who is wealthy and smart doesn't need a BOB. They'll be gone long before trouble starts. Wealth usually entails connections to high level politics, which means they'll get word of whatever is happening long before we will. Access to privileged information enables wealth preservation. And thats the name of the game.

Perfect example is how then Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson warned major hedge funds about Fanny Mae and Freddie Mac's demise. While telling the public a completely different story. This just came out in Bloomberg.

Probably, but as long as you can afford it, why not?

I'm not at that point in my life where I can do that, but maybe in about 30 years I will be. And I plan on doing whatever my wallet desires.

My BOB doesn't really have comfort items. I mean, 2-ply TP might be considered that, but not by me.

That's true in the event of an impending political or economic implosion. Converting devaluing currency into something more stable or easily sellable may provide the lifeline needed in the aftermath. I can't see it helping in the traditional BOB situation (minutes or hours to evacuate unexpectedly). You'll still have to survive the next couple of days without assistance.

I dunno about converting a devaluing currency into art/jewelry/etc.

If I can't eat it, shoot it (ammo or weapon) or use it (tools/tp/clothing) I don't want it. Oh yeah, I really have a use for that Rembrandt that dude wanted to trade me for 10 cans of Spam. He went hungry, but the guy who had a brick of .22 got the Spam.

If those clowns think that an Andy Warhol will help them thru a SHTF experience, they best think again. And if the situation is wide spread and of a decent duration, where they gonna go? Even private aviation was under severe restrictions right after 9/11. They sure ain't gonna walk to their summer homes in Switzerland.

Made a friend think when he told me about all his food stockpile. I said I stockpile ammo and knew where he lived. The expression on his face was priceless.

Somehow, I get the feeling that all the wealthy people think that all the problems will be short-term. It's okay if they are, but what if they aren't?

What would be amazing to me is finding out that rich people don't stockpile food and 'stuff', when it would be so easy for them.

Sue

You bring up a complex question that doesn't have a simple answer.

I would fall into the category of what many of you would call wealthy. I own retreats/homes/property in Kentucky, Florida, Idaho, and Mexico. I have a sailboat moored on the gulf coast and can leave the country uninhibited anytime I need to. All are fully stocked with supplies and not just food. Am I prepared? Not even close.

My opinion is that people with a lot of money don't really think of stockpiling as prepping, it's just easier to buy in bulk. There are at least 20 cases of soft drinks in my pantry but not for "prepping". It's more for parties and convenience. I also own a lot of ammo, but a day at the range with my friends will burn up a couple cases so why not have a few on hand all the time. I'm not stockpiling ammo, I just have a ton of it around for recreation and it's easier to buy by the case. If TSHF tomorrow, I would be better off than most, and I have plenty of precious metals to buy my way out of a situation but I'm still not as prepared as someone who is on a full-time working farm (but I'm getting there). So, to answer the question, yes the rich stockpile stuff but they do it for entirely different reasons than you might think. Do they believe that only short term problems are ahead? Yes, for the most part. But some, like me, realize that we are heading towards the total collapse of the US Dollar and are preparing for that eventuality in earnest.

On the other hand, where I think most wealthy people are lacking is in the networking relationships necessary to confront TSTHF. For instance, when I was a dirt poor college student living in the student ghetto, I needed a Volkswagen transmission but couldn't afford it. All I had to trade was a waterbed. I found someone with a transmission but they only wanted cans of house paint or cash in trade. So, I found someone to trade my waterbed for several cans of house paint and I got a transmission - all in the space of a couple of days.

Now the rich folks might be able to broker a deal for a million dollar oceanfront condo, but there is no way in hell they have the contacts or wherewithal to trade a waterbed for a transmission amongst a bunch of get-it-done poor folks and they sure as heck don't know how to install a transmission. That will be the undoing of the upper class in a SHTF situation because money can't buy relationships or blue collar skills.

The other factor that you may not know about is that most wealthy people are only wealthy on paper. They don't have tons of cash in the bank for the most part. They own property, or stocks, or whatever and don't get a paycheck every week. Therefore, they have to have cash flow. That's their paycheck. It comes from dividends, or rents, or royalties and the cash flow is critical. Most rich folks will be completely wiped out because their cash flow will dry up and they will have to start selling assets to get cash, which will not be worth much in a SHTF environment and that's how they get wiped out - in an instant. All they will have is relationships and blue collar skills to fall back and well they aren't very strong in those areas.

In my opinion, small scale farmers who grow a diverse range of garden crops, feed crops, and tend livestock and have their farm in a remote rural area near a small community of 2,000 to 5,000 people and have separated themselves as much as possible from the banking system (read: no debt) will be the true winners in the upcoming turmoil. Notice I didn't say anything about whether said farmer is wealthy or not.

Good observations, Nugget! I hadn't thought of it that way, but it makes a lot of sense.

I guess that "It won't happen to me" mindset crosses a lot of boundaries.

Sue