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