When "bugging out" or "getting home" Most people think of either driving or walking -- both good but what about other ideas; a bicycle, electric scooter, public transit, canoes etc.?

I personally, keep a small pair of bolt cutters in my E&E Bag. A master key can be a wonderful thing to have on oneself.

Wildman800: your bolt cutter comment raises an interesting issue. My EDC/GHB is a kit for a city pedestrian, 11lb.s., all up. Limited tools due to security searches, but I keep a LM Blast, most of the time. In my car, I have a much larger 72hr. pack and vehicle based tools, ax, shovel, Ti pry bar (21") and a 24" bolt cutter. That's a master key, but heavy as hell. I also keep a Channelock 369, 9.5" linesman pliers, with added silicone tape for cushioning & insulation. That small master key will cut fence wire and the like. I can add it to my bag in a walk-out situation. But it weighs more than a pound. Where did you draw the line in weight vs. limited utility in your E&E kit? Do you propose to walk-out with your bolt cutter?

I include a bicycle in my evacuation plans primarily because I have done a fair amount of bike touring and I have good equipment readily at hand. Traveling by bike, I can slip through traffic jams, take routes not available to larger vehicles, and even lug gear over obstacles.

My bicycle is a Surly LHT, currently with 32mm touring tires (37mm are recommended - much more versatile) with front and rear racks, and low gearing(although not low enough - the next time in the shop I will go even lower, if possible).

The load on the bike is basically light weight back packing equipment, stuffed into front and rear panniers. Included is a lightweight backpack which would allow me to abandon the bike and continue on foot, if necessary.

This works fine for one person, but I have a wife and daughter, non-riders both, so the bike won't work in all situations.

I can easily travel 75-80 miles a day, fully loaded, and can exceed 100 miles if necessary.

Acropolis5... a lightweight alternative, but slower would to be a hacksaw blade.. in the simplest version, a split key ring and a stick the ring could slip over with a sawn groove would work as a handle... a pocket knife clip is my probable go to... if you practice with this, cover the teeth of the blade or it will eat up the knife scales

If you are more limited on weight and size for your tools, here is an option for serious cutting:
Stanley Carbide Grit Rod Saw

This will cut chains and other difficult metal objects. Just tie a loop of cord into each end as a handle.

Usual disclaimer, no affiliation.

Here we are talking about bikes for bugging out, and you guys bring up bolt cutters and hacksaws. this definitely makes bike owners like me very uneasy!

I plan on walking out with my bolt cutters. I debated about 6 months whether it was worth the weight or not. I finally decided that because of the distances involved, that it is worth the weight. It is about a 12" pair. The tool that lost the internal debate was a fencing tool which has many uses but it doesn't do anything as well as the actual tool could except for the staple puller. I don't see a big need for it's staple pulling or hammer capability. The wire cutter is only good for cutting wires up to a barb wire size.

Be afraid, young Hikermor, be very afraid!

When I worked downtown and depended on commuter rail to get there, I had myself a think about hoofing it home 40 miles.

I stashed a good pair of broken-in boots and some other gear in my office, but I didn't have a place to store a bike.

Assuming that the commuter rail was down and it didn't make sense to stay somewhere downtown, my preferred options were as follows:

• Hop in a taxi and go
• Rent a car and go
• Buy a bicycle and go
• Hoof it

Towards those ends, I always had credit cards and plenty of cash on hand -- enough to buy a decent hybrid bike, which was more than enough for a 40-mile cab fare. I also knew where the car rental places and bike shops were, and where cabs could be successfully hunted.