The Bernardo Fire got me thinking about the logistics of evacuating a family with all the extra gear that comes with it. When I revamped my evacuation checklist after the kids were born, it went from one page to four.

One of the problems that arose is small, odd, and unusual shaped objects don't lend themselves to stacking in a car or truck. By this I means clothes, toiletries, toys, books and albums, documents, etc. What are everybodies thoughts about keeping dedicated boxes or packing totes for when it is time to run? Assume a wildfire or hurricane type situation where there is advanced warning, and not a "The house is on fire, get out now!" situation.

I'm using duffel bags of the same size so that when they are laid side-by-side in the bed of the truck form a soft bed for laying other things that need to go. Boxes would work but I'd use them to form another flat area to lay other items that won't fit in the boxes.

That's along the lines of what I was thinking. There's several 4-5 ft items that will not fit in a box and cannot support heavy loads. I've been using 18 gallon Roughneck totes to hold my emergency supplies, and there's about 20 inches of space between the top of the totes and the roof of my car.

I keep a travel toiletry kit for each family member. I've had to grab and run to another state twice, once when my grandmother was sent home for her final hours and once when my father was hurt.
Each of us has a backpack also (BOB) that would go.
Important papers are all kept in a binder in the safe so its just grab and go as well.

Do you have a roof cargo box? Amazon has a number of automobile roof cargo bags that are quite reasonable (as low as $40). In a rush, you could throw that on the car and load it up. Does not require a roof rack.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dautomotive&field-keywords=cargo+bag


You could also look at hitch-mounted cargo boxes. There are all kinds these days:

http://www.amazon.com/Rightline-Gear-100...words=cargo+bag


If I lived in wildfire country and had room in my garage or driveway, I'd also be looking at a teardrop or cargo trailer. You can buy them or build them:

http://www.tnttt.com/


I have a teardrop trailer for camping that would function for well for stuffing with cargo for evac.

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I keep my small hurricane electronics in the upper tray of this Craftsman rolling chest... a 72 hour remain overnight bag always in the car...short stop at the gun safe and pantry

I don't have any external cargo storage on my SUV or my Wife's crossover. I have been looking at a bike rack to hang the double stroller off of. That will free up 7 or 8 cubic feet inside the cargo area without killing my gas mileage. I'm not ready to eat the cost of a hitch receiver and cargo box or a sport trailer for just the occasional use.

Getting back to the original question... Dedicated storage/moving crates, totes, or boxes for packing efficiency.

In a truck, boxes are good. I think a mix of hard and soft is better. For a car, SUV, airplane, etc. I prefer a soft bag. It fits into odd spaces better. For the most part I like several that are the same size, with smaller ones that will fit in the corners. Rectangular ones like the GI parachute bag are great. Surplus store ones are usually cheap but not very good quality. Places like GoRuck make excellent ones, but they are pricey. A box or two of about the same size is good for fragile items. I use Rubbermaid totes. A box and two or three kit bags will fit across the seat of a car and leave a flat surface for larger items. The trunk fills best with a few large ones and some smaller ones.

Respectfully,

Jerry

A while back REI had their brand duffels on sale for some % off, I picked up a few for just this application. They are big enough that three of them will carry a lot, and they're all the same size. I think we're on the same page here in that a number of the same size box laid side-by-side creates a platform, but the final decision on how many and what size needs to be made based on specifically what is being packed and vehicle constraints.

More wind today, hopefully unpack tomorrow.

as Jerry commented, the Rubbermaid totes are a go-to item for tropical weather transport down here... somewhere along the line it's going to get wet

I prefer soft bags for most things, since you can squeeze them in tight corners.

I'm not a real fan of external cargo packs, rack and boxes for cars. Roofs and receivers have limited load capacity. You don't want to over stress you car when you really need the car to work well.

I agree with Tjin. Roof racks are fine for ski's, but for any serious packing it should be inside. I'm reminded of the insurance commercial when some guy drives into his garage with two bikes upright on the roof of his car

I like the idea of a trailer hitch bike-rack though. As it is if things go south due to a fire I will lose my bike, now hanging from the garage rafters. A bike rack would allow me to take it along and give me a transpo option when gas could be tight.

That shouldn't be a big issue. Just put light weight items in the roof box. Sleeping bags, extra clothing etc should not over stress any car. Just be reasonable what you put there.

However, with a trailor hitch bike rack, even a minor parking lot fender bender could destroy your bikes.

Everest also makes a couple of mildly mitigated bloody great sack duffles that are in the 12-15 gallon range. For a budget brand, they get surprisingly good reviews.

As far as what need what:
Religica and heirlooms, electronics, documents, etc. all need hard case protection. Food and tools, because of their weight, are also going in a hard case. Clothes, toys, diapers, and camping gear can go in duffle bags or suitcases. For the most part, they can go on the second layer of cargo.

Tony Nester also covers this well in his book, Surviving a Disaster. Very detailed plans in there.

Good plan. I may look for a low crate type container to form a layer under the duffel bags. There's room vertically for another shallow layer and below the duffels would be better as you point out. Thanks.

If you're looking for really low containers, the "underbed storage" containers might work. They're around 6.5" tall, but can be gotten in capacities up to 15 gallons.

It depends on both the "car" and the receiver. If it's a pick-up or SUV with a body on frame and a 2" (50mm) receiver, the limiting factor will be the cargo rack.

Yes, but still poses a issue with handling and fuel consumption. I'm more of the less is more approach. You can get a bigger car with more cargo capacity, but it will cost you more to run it, more to maintain it and in tight spots a small car is a lot more handier.

I've found frame based trucks / suv's cost less to maintain so the higher fuel cost evens out.

When it comes to big repairs, I'll agree that traditional truck based platforms are generally more robust and require fewer big repairs then sedans. But, the routine maintenance cost is still quite a bit higher as they wear consumable part (e.g. brake pads) out at a faster rate. My little Corolla 5 speed took 8 years to wear through a single sets of pads. My roommate's Explorer Sport took less then half that.

As far as cargo capacity, there's no argument that a pickup is better in most situations. But, a compact 5 door or crossover can still hold a fairly impressive amount of cargo without taking a hit on fuel economy or turning circle. It's more of a matter of "big enough" instead of "biggest practical".

For most passenger cars, it's going to be very hard to overload the "standard" 150 lb rated tongue weight without carrying tools or motorcycles back there. No comment on roof racks.

See, I found the opposite. Every vehicle I've tried until I went back to a truck needed new brakes once a year due to the WV mountains and had to have alignments and suspension repairs more often, try driving a minivan/cuv through those mountains and you'll quickly find out how high maintenance costs can get

150lbs is not much, remember that tow bar weight will subtract from the overall cargo capacity and actually be more since you have to account for the leverage due to the distance behind the real wheels. A couple jugs of water, box of food, and BOBs will hit the max cargo capacity of your average car pretty quick.

OK, that's where our differing opinions come from. My point of reference is urban SoCal, not the Appalacian Mountains. I understand that the WV mountains are like Banner Grade out here (steep and twisty), and not the relatively flat and straight stop and go pattern of urban driving. The wear patterns are going to be completely different.

My experience is also mainly urban and highway. Even the mountain roads I sometimes ride are generally very well paved.

Except for regular maintenance (oils, filters, tires, belts), I think the only that was replaced are the rear shocks after 11 years. I can't even remember replacing the brake pads (still plenty left). Regular maintenance is also cheap if you car only take 3.3 liters of engine oil and have massive 14inch rims.

There is at least one stretch of road in eastern KY / western WV that has a sign "GOV. MAINTENANCE ENDS". I don't remember if it was county or state. It went from decent back mountain road to patches of intact pavement. I've been on unpaved Forest Service fire roads in better condition.

I have empties ( boxes) ready to go and much gear packed in big duffles...with attached labels to identify contents. ( bedding, clothes, etc.)

I have seen a couple of (unofficial) signs in WV with wording such as "RIP WV DOT"

Even good roads sometimes can have issues. Driving I71 between Columbus OH and Cincinnati OH my wife was awakened and yelled at me because we were sideways in the middle of the highway. There was a hole that was deep enough to toss the whole truck in the air and turn it sideways requiring me to quickly correct to get back straight. Those are the kind that a lot of vehicles need alignments afterward. Wife hit a hole last winter that broke a swap bar link bolt.

Something I started a few years ago was basically organize everything. Any gear, tool, toy, whatever has to have some sort of box/bag/storage case/whatever. I did this in part to help be more organized and be able to find things, and in part because we knew we were going to have to move so having everything always in its container made it easier to move. That works well because I can just decide what containers would need to go should we need to evac, almost no little packing is needed.

I just purchased several heavy duty cardboard boxes, duct tape, and bubble wrap. Everthing is stored in tubs or in plastic.

I don;t have a lot of stuff presorted, but rely on an evacuation plan divided into tiers so we know what we're taking first, second, and last and where it is.

For what it is worth: I would lean towards the boxes egg cartons come in. They are basically 1'x1'x2'. Easy to carry/manage. I used them when I moved. It made loading and unloading quick and easy. However, I think that plastic containers in that size may be more durable, yet more expensive - $$ vs. free.

YMMV

My $.02

How long though will it take to pack boxes? If you can plan ahead a little now you can save time packing.
Important documents/papers for example, rather than pulling them out of a file cabinet or such I put them all in a zippered binder so its quick and easy to grab. It even has a pocket that my backup drives fit in so I don't have to pack and carry those separately, I just made it my normal procedure to store there when not running a backup.

Identical boxes has always been one of my goals. I like Rubbermaid tubs myself, they seem more durable than others and can be had in a couple colors if color coding is something you'd find helpful to sort contents.
Though I will admit, that the vehicle you are using to transport can definitely have an influence on your decision as I see pickups and vans being more useful for tubs rather than others.
I guess it has to do with how much stuff you want to take too.
I started with cardboard boxes ....cheap and readily available paper boxes from work that got thrown out if I didn't take them home. You can waterproof them some with matt clearcoat paint with helps durability, but I found myself reinforcing them to take heavy items and with money less of a concern switched to Rubbermaid.
I like milk crates too ...especially for transporting stored water as well as being able to stack it in an orderly fashion.
For anyone that's moved very often, like sized containers is the way to go.
Customizing containers to hold specific prep items and gear is my next step ....everything in its place helps with inventory and locating items.
Still have some 25 yr old paper boxes with segmented compartments for storing PVC sprinkler and plumbing parts. Makes finding stuff super easy. The tough thing with camp gear and such is picking what I'm gonna go with and not changing my mind when I find something I think is better so don't have to rework my compartments.
But hey ...having yer stuff packed up in something and all in one or two places ready to be loaded is REALLY, the first step.
Polishing the apple can always come later.

+1 on the rubbermaid brand. Relatively water resist and rustproof and a bit stronger than the rest

I have checklists for packings. Each list includes items/tasks sorted by person responsible, priority, beneficiary (son's diapers does not benefit the cat), and location of item or task. Ideally, I'd say 45 minutes from alert to full houehold evac, but it's more like an 90-120 minutes.

Copies of important documents, computer backup, and disaster related documents (i.e. pet friendly hotels, evacuation shelter locations, maps, etc.) are already prepacked in a waterproof bag.